NOVEMBER 9, 1814--APRIL 23. 1815
Does not go to Paris.--Letter of admonition from his mother.--His
parents' early economies.--Letter from Leslie.--Letter from Rev. S.F.
Jarvis on politics.--The mother tells of the economies of another young
American, Dr. Parkman.--The son resents constant exhortations to
economize, and tells of meanness of Dr. Parkman.--Writes of his own
economies and industry.--Disgusted with Bristol.--Prophesies peace
between England and America.--Estimates of Morse's character by Dr.
Romeyn and Mr. Van Schaick.--The father regrets reproof of son for
political views.--Death of Mrs. Allston.--Disagreeable experience in
Bristol.--More economies.--Napoleon I.--Peace.
Morse did not go to Paris at this time. The permission from his parents
was so long delayed, owing to their not having received certain letters
of his, and his mentor, Mr. Bromfield, advising against it, he gave up
the plan, with what philosophy he could bring to bear on the situation.
His mother continued to give him careful advice, covering many pages, in
every letter. On November 9, 1814, she says:--
"We wish to know what the plan was that you said you were maturing in
regard to the Emperor of Russia. You must not be a schemer, but determine
on a steady, uniform course. It is an old adage that 'a rolling stone
never gathers any moss'; so a person that is driving about from pillar to
post very seldom lays up anything against a rainy day. You must be wise,
my son, and endeavor to get into such steady business as will, with the
divine blessing, give you a support. Secure that first, and then you will
be authorized to indulge your taste and exercise your genius in other
ways that may not be immediately connected with a living.
"You mention patronage from this country, but such a thing is not known
here unless you were on the spot, and not then, indeed, but for value
received. You must therefore make up your mind to labor for yourself
without leaning on any one, and look up to God for his blessing upon your
endeavors. This is the way your parents set out in life about twenty-five
years ago. They had nothing to look to for a support but their salary,
which was a house, twenty cords of wood, and $570 a year. The reception
and circulation of the Geography was an experiment not then made. With
the blessing of Heaven on these resources we have maintained an expensive
family, kept open doors for almost all who chose to come and partake of
our hospitality. Enemies, as well as friends, have been welcomed. We have
given you and your brothers a liberal education, have allowed you $4000,
are allowing your brothers about $300 a year apiece, and are supporting
our remaining family at the rate of $2000 a year. This is a pretty
correct statement, and I make it to show you what can be done by industry
and economy, with the blessing of Heaven."
While Morse was in Bristol, his friend C. R. Leslie thus writes to him in
lead pencil from London, on November 29, 1814:--
MOST POTENT, GRAVE AND REVEREND DOCTOR,--I take up my pencil to make ten
thousand apologies for addressing you in humble black lead. Deeply
impressed as I am with the full conviction that you deserve the very best
Japan ink, the only excuse I can make to you is the following. It is,
perhaps, needless to remind you that the tools with which ink is applied
to paper, in order to produce writing, are made from goose quills, which
quills I am goose enough not to keep a supply of; and not having so much
money at present in my breeches pocket as will purchase one, I am forced
to betake myself to my pencil; an instrument which, without paying myself
any compliment, I am sure I can wield better than a pen.
I am glad to hear that you are so industrious, and that Mr. Allston is
succeeding so well with portraits. I hope he will bring all he has
painted to London. I am looking out for you every day. I think we form a
kind of family here, and I feel in an absence from Mr. and Mrs. Allston
and yourself as I used to do when away from my mother and sisters.
By the bye, I have not had any letters from home for more than a month.
It seems the Americans are all united and we shall now have war in
earnest. I am glad of it for many reasons; I think it will not only get
us a more speedy and permanent peace, but may tend to crush the demon of
party spirit and strengthen our government.
I am done painting the gallery, and have finished my drawings for the
frieze. Thank you for your good wishes.
I thought Mr. Allston knew how proud I am of being considered his
student. Tell him, if he thinks it worth while to mention me at all in
his letter to Delaplaine, I shall consider it a great honor to be called
his student.
The father, in a letter of December 6, 1814, after again urging him to
leave politics alone, adds this postscript:
"P.S. If you can make up your mind to remain in London and finish your
great picture for the exhibition; to suppress your political feelings,
and resolutely turn a deaf ear to everything which does not concern your
professional studies; not to talk on politics and preserve a conciliating
course of conduct and conversation; make as many friends as you can, and
behave as a good man ought to in your situation, and put off going to
France till after your exhibition,--this plan would suit us best. But
with the observations and advice now before you, we leave you to judge
for yourself. Let us early know your determination and intended plans.
You must rely on your own resources after this year."
The following letter is from his warm friend, the Reverend Samuel F.
Jarvis, written in New York, December 14, 1814:--
"I am not surprised at the feelings you express with regard to England or
America. The English in general have so contemptuous an opinion of us and
one so exalted of themselves, that every American must feel a virtuous
indignation when he hears his country traduced and belied. But, my dear
sir, it is natural, on the other hand, for an exile from his native land
to turn with fond remembrance to its excellences and forget its defects.
You will be able some years hence to speak with more impartiality on this
subject than you do at present.
"The men who have involved the country in this war are wicked and
corrupt. A systematic exclusion of all Federalists from any office of
trust is the leading feature of this Administration, yet the Federalists
comprehend the majority of the wealth, virtue, and intelligence of the
community. It is the power of the ignorant multitude by which they are
supported, and I conceive that America will never be a respectable nation
in the eyes of the world, till the extreme democracy of our Constitution
is done away with, and there is a representation of the property rather
than of the population of the country. You feel nothing of the
oppressive, despotic sway of the _soi-disant_ Republicans, but we feel it
in all its bitterness, and know that it is far worse than that of the
most despotic sovereigns in Europe. With such men there can be no union.
"The repulsion of British invasion is the duty, and will be the pride, of
every American; but, while prepared to bare his arm in defence of his
much-wronged country against a proud and arrogant, and, in some
instances, a cruel, foe, he cannot be blind to the unprincipled conduct
of her internal enemies, and such he must conceive the present ruling
party to be."
On December 19, 1814, his mother writes:--
"I was not a little astonished to hear you say, in one of your letters
from Bristol, that you had earned money enough there to pay off your
debts. I cannot help asking what debts you could have to discharge with
your own earnings after receiving one thousand dollars a year from us,
which we are very sure must have afforded you, even by your own account
of your expenses, ample means for the payment of all just, fair, and
honorable debts, and I hope you contract no others. We are informed by
others that they made six hundred dollars a year not only pay all their
expenses of clothing, board, travelling, learning the French language,
etc., etc., but they were able out of it to purchase books to send home,
and actually sent a large trunk full of elegant books. Now the person who
told us that he did this has a father who is said to be worth a hundred
and fifty thousand dollars; therefore the young man was not pinched for
means, but was thus economical out of consideration to his parents, and
to show his gratitude to them, as I suppose. Now think, my dear son, how
much more your poor parents are doing for you, how good your dear
brothers are to be satisfied with so little done for them in comparison
with what we are doing for you, and let the thought stimulate you to more
economy and industry. I greatly fear you have been falling off in both
these since the éclat you received for your first performances. It has
always been a failing of yours, as soon as you found you could excel in
what you undertook, to be tired of it and not trouble yourself any
further about it. I was in hopes that you had got over this fickleness
ere this...
"You must not expect to paint anything in this country, for which you
will receive any money to support you, but portraits; therefore do
everything in your power to qualify you for painting and taking them in
the best style. That is all your hope here, and to be very obliging and
condescending to those who are disposed to employ you....
"I think young Leslie is a very estimable young man to be, as I am told
he is, supporting himself and assisting his widowed mother by his
industry."
I shall anticipate a little in order to give at once the son's answer to
this reproof. He writes on April 28, 1815:--
"I wish I could persuade my parents that they might place some little
confidence in my judgment at the age I now am (nearly twenty-four), an
age when, in ordinary people, the judgment has reached a certain degree
of maturity. It is a singular and, I think, an unfortunate fact that I
have not, that I recollect, since I have been in England, had a turn of
low spirits except when I have received letters from home. It is true I
find a great deal of affectionate solicitude in them, but with it I also
find so much complaint and distrust, so much fear that I am doing wrong,
so much doubt as to my morals and principles, and fear lest I should be
led away by bad company and the like, that, after I have read them, I am
miserable for a week. I feel as though I had been guilty of every crime,
and I have passed many sleepless nights after receiving letters from you.
I shall not sleep to-night in consequence of passages in your letters
just received."
Here he quotes from his mother's letter and answers:
"Now as to the young man's living for six hundred dollars, I know who it
is of whom you speak. It is Dr. Parkman, who made it his boast that he
would live for that sum, but you did not enquire _how_ he lived. I can
tell you. He never refused an invitation to dine, breakfast, or tea,
which he used to obtain often by pushing himself into everybody's
company. When he did not succeed in getting invitations, he invited
himself to breakfast, dine, or sup with some of his friends. He has often
walked up to breakfast with us, a distance of three or four miles. If he
failed in getting a dinner or meal at any of these places, he either used
to go without, or a bit of bread answered the purpose till next meal. In
his dress he was so shabby and uncouth that any decent person would be
ashamed to walk with him in the street. Above all, his notorious meanness
in his money matters, his stickling with his poor washerwoman for a
halfpenny and with others for a farthing, and his uniform stinginess on
all occasions rendered him notoriously disgusting to all his
acquaintances, and affords, I should imagine, but a poor example for
imitation....
"The fact is I could live for _fifty_ pounds a year if my only object was
to live cheap, and, on the other hand, if I was allowed one thousand
pounds a year, I could spend it all without the least extravagance in
obtaining greater advantages in my art. But as your goodness has allowed
me but two hundred pounds (and I wish you again to receive my sincere
thanks for this allowance), should not my sole endeavor be to spend all
this to the utmost advantage; to keep as closely within the bounds of
that allowance as possible, and would not _economy_ in this instance
consist in rigidly keeping up to this rule? If this is a true statement
of the case, then have I been perfectly economical, for I have not yet
overrun my allowance, and I think I shall be able to return home without
having exceeded it a single shilling. If I have done this, and still
continue to do it, why, in every letter I receive from home, is the
injunction repeated of _being economical?_ It makes me exceedingly
unhappy, especially when I am conscious of having used my utmost
endeavors, ever since I have been in England, to be rigidly so.
"As to _industry_, in which mama fears I am falling off, I gave you an
account in my last letter (by Mr. Ralston) of the method I use in
parcelling out my time. Since writing that letter the spring and summer
are approaching fast, and the days increasing. Of course I can employ
more of the time than in the winter. Mr. Leslie and myself rise at five
o'clock in the morning and walk about a mile and a half to Burlington,
where are the famous Elgin Marbles, the works of Phidias and Praxiteles,
brought by Lord Elgin from Athens. From these we draw three hours every
morning, wet or dry, before breakfast, and return home just as the bustle
begins in London, for they are late risers in London. When we go out of a
morning we meet no one but the watchman, who goes his rounds for an hour
and a half after we are up. Last summer Mr. Leslie and I used to paint in
the open air in the fields three hours before breakfast, and often before
sunrise, to study the morning effect on the landscape.
"Now, being conscious of employing my time in the most industrious manner
possible, you can but faintly conceive the mortification and sorrow with
which I read that part of mama's letter. I was so much hurt that I read
it to Mr. Allston, and requested he would write to you and give you an
account of my spending my time. He seemed very much astonished when I
read it to him, and _authorized me to tell you from him that it was
impossible for any one to be more indefatigable in his studies than I
am_.
"Mama mentions in her letter that she hears that Mr. Leslie supports his
mother and sisters by his labors. This is not the case. Leslie was
supported by three or four individuals in Philadelphia till within a few
months past. About a year ago he sold a large picture which he painted
(whilst I was on my fruitless trip to Bristol for money) for a hundred
guineas. Since that he has had a number of commissions in portraits and
is barely able to support himself; indeed, he tells me this evening that
he has but £20 left. He is a very economical and a most excellent young
man. His expenses in a year are, on an average, from £230 to £250; Mr.
Allston's (single) expenses not less than £300 per annum, and I know of
no artist among all my acquaintance whose expenses in a year are less
than £200."
Returning now to the former chronological order, I shall include the
following vehement letter written from London on December 22, 1814:--
MY DEAR PARENTS,--I arrived yesterday from Bristol, where I have been for
several months past endeavoring to make a little in the way of my
profession, but have completely failed, owing to several causes.
First, the total want of anything like partiality for the fine arts in
that place; the people there are but a remove from brutes. A "Bristol
hog" is as proverbial in this country as a "Charlestown gentleman" is in
Boston. Their whole minds are absorbed in trade; barter and gain and
interest are all they understand. If I could have painted a picture for
half a guinea by which they could have made twenty whilst I starved, _I
could have starved_.
Secondly, the virulence of national prejudice which rages now with
tenfold acrimony. They no longer despise, they hate, the Americans. The
battle on Champlain and before Flattsburgh has decided the business; the
moans and bewailings for this business are really, to an American, quite
comforting after their arrogant boasting of reducing us to unconditional
submission.
Is it strange that I should feel a little the effects of this universal
hatred? I have felt it, and I have left Bristol after six months' perfect
neglect. After having been invited there with promises of success, I have
had the mortification to leave it without having, from Bristol, a single
commission. More than that, and by far the worst, if I have not gone back
in my art these six months, I have at least stood still, and to me this
is the most trying reflection of all. I have been immured in the
paralyzing atmosphere of trade till my mind was near partaking the
infection. I have been listening to the grovelling, avaricious devotees
of mammon, whose souls are narrowed to the studious contemplation of a
hard-earned shilling, whose leaden imaginations never soared above the
prospect of a good bargain, and whose _summum bonum_ is the inspiring
idea of counting a hundred thousand: I say I have been listening to these
miserly beings till the idea did not seem so repugnant of lowering my
noble art to a trade, of painting for money, of degrading myself and the
soul-enlarging art which I possess, to the narrow idea of merely getting
money.
Fie on myself! I am ashamed of myself; no, never will I degrade myself by
making a trade of a profession. If I cannot live a gentleman, I will
starve a gentleman. But I will dismiss this unpleasant subject, the
particulars of which I can better relate to you than write. Suffice it to
say that my ill-treatment does not prey upon my spirits; I am in
excellent health and spirits and have great reason to be thankful to
Heaven for thousands of blessings which one or two reverses shall not
make me forget. Reverses do I call them? How trifling are my troubles to
the millions of my fellow creatures who are afflicted with all the
dreadful calamities incident to this life. Reverses do I call them? No,
they are blessings compared with the miseries of thousands.
Indeed, I am too ungrateful. If a thing does not result just as I wish, I
begin to repine; I forget the load of blessings which I enjoy: life,
health, parents whose kindness exceeds the kindest; brothers, relatives,
and friends; advantages which no one else enjoys for the pursuit of a
favorite art, besides numerous others; all which are forgotten the moment
an unpleasant disappointment occurs. I am very ungrateful.
With respect to peace, I can only say I should not be surprised if the
preliminaries were signed before January. My reasons are that Great
Britain cannot carry on the war any longer. She may talk of her
inexhaustible resources, but she well knows that the great resource, the
property tax, must fail next April. The people will not submit any
longer; they are taking strong measures to prevent its continuance, and
without it they cannot continue the war.
Another great reason why I think there will be peace is the absolute
_fear_ which they express of us. They fear the increase of our navy; they
fear the increase of the army; they fear for Canada, and they are in
dread of the further disgrace of their national character. Mr. Monroe's
plan for raising 100,000 men went like a shock through the country. They
saw the United States assume an attitude which they did not expect, and
the same men who cried for "war, war," "thrash the Americans," now cry
most lustily for peace.
The union of the parties also has convinced them that we are determined
to resist their most arrogant pretensions.
Love to all, brothers, Miss Russell, etc. Yours very affectionately,
SAML. F. B. MORSE.
He ends the letter thus abruptly, probably realizing that he was
beginning to tread on forbidden ground, but being unable to resist the
temptation.
While from this letter and others we can form a just estimate of the
character and temperament of the man, it is also well to learn the
opinion of his contemporaries; I shall, therefore, quote from a letter to
the elder Morse of the Dr. Romeyn, whom the son was so anxious to have
his father see, also from a letter of Mr. Van Schaick to Dr. Romeyn.
The former was written in New York, on December 27, 1814.
"The enclosed letter of my friend Mr. Van Schaick will give you the
information concerning your son which you desire. He has been intimately
acquainted with your son for a considerable time. You may rely on his
account, as he is not only a gentleman of unquestionable integrity, but
also a professor of the Lord Christ. What I saw and heard of your son
pleased me, and I cannot but hope he will repay all your anxieties and
realize your reasonable expectations by his conduct and the standing
which he must and will acquire in society by that conduct."
Mr. Van Schaick's letter was written also in New York, on December 14,
1814:--
"To those passages of Dr. Morse's letter respecting his son, to which you
have directed my attention, I hasten to reply without any form, because
it will gratify me to relieve the anxiety of the parents of my friend.
His religious and moral character is unexceptionally good. He feels
strongly for his country and expresses those feelings among his American
friends with great sensibility. I do not know that he ever indulges in
any observations in the company of Englishmen which are calculated to
injure his standing among them. But, my dear sir, you fully know that an
American cannot escape the sting of illiberal and false charges against
his country and even its moral character, unless he almost entirely
withholds himself from society. It cannot be expected that any human
being should be so unfeeling as to suffer indignity in total silence.
"But I do not think that any political collisions, which may incidentally
and very infrequently arise, can injure him as an artist; for it is well
known to you that the simple fact of his being an American is sufficient
to prevent his rising rapidly into notice, since the possession of that
character clogs the efforts, or, at least, somewhat clouds the fame of
men of superior genius and established talent.... I advised Samuel to go
to France and bury himself for six months in the Louvre; from thence to
Italy, the seat of the arts. He inclined to the first part of the plan,
and then to return home, but deferred putting it into execution till he
heard from his father. Mr. Allston intended to winter in London. Morse
has a fine taste and colors well. His drawing is capable of much
improvement, but he is anxious to place himself at the head of his
profession, and, with a little judicious encouragement, will probably
succeed. That patient industry which has in all ages characterized the
masters of the art, he will find it to his interest to apply to his
studies the farther he advances in them. His success has been moderately
good. If he could sell the pictures he has on hand, the avails would
probably pay his way into France."
Referring to these letters the father, writing on January 25, 1815,
says:--
"We have had letters from Dr. Romeyn and Mr. Van Schaick concerning you
which have comforted us much. Since receiving them we don't know but we
have expressed ourselves, in our letters in answer to your last, a little
stronger than we ought in regard to your _political_ feelings and
conduct. I find others who have returned feel pretty much as you do. But
it should be remembered that your situation as an artist is different
from theirs. It is your wisdom to leave politics to politicians and be
solely the artist. But if you are in France these cautions will probably
not be necessary, as you will have no temptation to enter into any
political discussions."
On the 3d of February, 1815, Morse, in writing to his parents, has a very
sad piece of news to communicate to them:--
"I write in great haste and much agitation. Mrs. Allston, the wife of our
beloved friend, died last evening, and the event overwhelmed us all in
the utmost sorrow. As for Mr. Allston, for several hours after the death
of his wife he was almost bereft of reason. Mr. Leslie and I are applying
our whole attention to him, and we have so far succeeded as to see him
more composed."
This was a terrible grief to all the little coterie of friends, for whom
the Allston house had been a home. One of them, Mr. J.J. Morgan, in a
long letter to Morse written from Wiltshire, thus expresses himself:--
"Gracious God! unsearchable, indeed, are thy ways! The insensible, the
brutish, the wicked are powerful and everywhere, in everything
successful; while Allston, who is everything that is amiable, kind, and
good, has been bruised, blow after blow, and now, indeed, his cup is
full. I am too unwell, too little recovered from the effect of your
letter, to write much. Coleridge intends writing to-day; I hope he will.
Allston may derive some little relief from knowing how much his friends
partake of his grief."
This was a time of great discouragement to the young artist. Through the
failure of some of his letters to reach his parents in time, he had not
received their permission to go to France until it was too late for him
to go. The death of Mrs. Allston cast a gloom over all the little circle,
and, to cap the climax, he was receiving no encouragement in his
profession. On March 10, 1815, he writes:--
"My jaunt to Bristol in quest of money completely failed. When I was
first there I expected, from the little connection I got into, I should
be able to support myself. I was obliged to come to town on account of
the exhibitions, and stayed longer than I expected, intending to return
to Bristol. During this time I received two pressing letters from. Mr.
Visscher (which I will show you), inviting me to come down, saying that I
should have plenty of business. I accordingly hurried off. A gentleman,
for whom I had before painted two portraits, had promised, if I would let
him have them for ten guineas apiece, twelve being my price, that he
would procure me five sitters. This I acceded to. I received twenty
guineas and have heard nothing from the man since, though I particularly
requested Mr. Visscher to enquire and remind him of his promise. Yet he
never did anything more on the subject. I was there three months, gaining
nothing in my art and without a single commission. Mr. Breed, of
Liverpool, then came to Bristol. He took two landscapes which I had been
amusing myself with (for I can say nothing more of them) at ten guineas
each. I painted two more landscapes which are unsold.
"Mr. Visscher, a man worth about a hundred thousand pounds, and whose
annual expenses, with a large family of seven children, are not one
thousand, had a little frame for which he repeatedly desired me to paint
a picture. I told him I would as soon as I had finished one of my
landscapes. I began it immediately, without his knowing it, and
determined to surprise him with it. I also had two frames which fitted
Mr. Breed's pictures, and which I was going to give to Mr. Breed with his
pictures. But Mr. Visscher was particularly pleased with the frames, as
they were a pair, and told me not to send them to Mr. Breed as he should
like to have them himself, and wished I would paint him pictures to fit
them (the two other landscapes before mentioned). I accordingly was
employed three months longer in painting these three pictures. I finished
them; he was very much pleased with them; all his family were very much
pleased with them; all who saw them were pleased with them. But he
_declined taking them_ without even asking my price, and said that he had
more pictures than he knew what to do with.
"Mr. and Mrs. Allston heard him say twenty times he wished I would paint
him a picture for the frame. Mr. Allston, who knew what I was about, told
him, no doubt, I would do it for him, and in a week after I had completed
it. I had told Mr. Visscher also that I was considerably in debt, and
that, when he had paid me for these pictures, I should be something in
pocket; and, by his not objecting to what I said, I took it for granted
(and from his requesting me to paint the picture) that the thing was
certain. But thus it was, without giving any reason in the world, except
that he had pictures enough, he declined taking them, making me spend
three months longer in Bristol than I otherwise should have done;
standing still in my art, if not actually going back; and forcing me to
run in debt for some necessary expenses of clothing in Bristol, and my
passage from and back to London. During all this time not a single
commission for a portrait, _many_ of which were promised me, nor a single
call from any one to look at my pictures. Thus ended my jaunt in quest of
money.
"Do not think that this disappointment is in consequence of any
misconduct of mine. Mr. Allston, who was with me, experienced the same
treatment, and had it not been for his uncle, the American Consul, he
might have starved for the Bristol people. His uncle was the only one who
purchased any of his pictures. Since I have been in London I have been
endeavoring to regain what I lost in Bristol, and I hope I have so far
succeeded as to say: '_I have not gone back in my art_.'
"In order to retrench my expenses I have taken a painting-room out of the
house, at about half of the expense of my former room. Though
inconvenient in many respects, yet my circumstances require it and I
willingly put up with it. As for _economy_, do not be at any more pains
in introducing that personage to me. We have long been friends and
necessary companions. If you could look in on me and see me through a day
I think you would not tell me in every letter to _economize more_. It is
impossible; I cannot economize more. I live on as plain food and as
little as is for my health; less and plainer would make me ill, for I
have given it a fair experiment. As for clothes, I have been decent and
that is all. If I visited a great deal this would be a heavy expense,
but, the less I go out, the less need I care for clothes, except for
cleanliness. My only heavy expenses are colors, canvas, frames, etc., and
these are heavy."
A number of pages of this letter are missing, much to my regret. He must
have been telling of some of the great events which were happening on the
Continent, probably of the Return from Elba, for it begins again
abruptly.
"--when he might have avoided it by quietness; by undertaking so bold an
attempt as he has done without being completely sure of success, and
having laid his plans deeply; and, thirdly, I knew the feelings of the
French people were decidedly in his favor, more especially the military.
They feel as though Louis XVIII was forced upon them by their conquerors;
they feel themselves a conquered nation, and they look to Bonaparte as
the only man who can retrieve their character for them.
"All these reasons rushing into my mind at the time, I gave it as my
opinion that Napoleon would again be Emperor of the French, and again set
the world by the ears, unless he may have learned a lesson from his
adversity. But this cannot be expected. I fear we are apt yet to see a
darker and more dreadful storm than any we have yet seen. This is,
indeed, an age of wonders.
"Let what will happen in Europe, let us have peace at home, among
ourselves more particularly. But the character we have acquired among the
nations of Europe in our late contest with England, has placed us on such
high ground that none of them, England least of all, will wish to embroil
themselves with us."
This was written just after peace had been established between England
and America, and in a letter from his mother, written about the same time
in March, 1815, she thus comments on the joyful news: "We have now the
heartfelt pleasure of congratulating you on the return of peace between
our country and Great Britain. May it never again be interrupted, but may
both countries study the things that make for peace, and love as
brethren."
It never has been interrupted up to the present day, for, as I am
pursuing my pleasant task of bringing these letters together for
publication, in the year of our Lord 1911, the newspapers are agitating
the question of a fitting commemoration of a hundred years of peace
between Great Britain and the United States.
Further on in this same letter the mother makes this request of her son:
"When you return we wish you to bring some excellent black or corbeau
cloth to make your good father and brothers each a suit of clothes. Your
papa also wishes you to get made a handsome black cloth cloak for him;
one that will fit you he thinks will fit him. Be sure and attend to this.
Your mama would like some grave colored silk for a gown, if it can be had
but for little. Don't forget that your mother is no dwarf, and that a
large pattern suits her better than a small one."
The letter of April 28, from which I have already quoted, has this
sentence at the beginning: "Your letters suppose me in Paris, _but I am
not there_; you hope that I went in October last; I intended going and
wished it at that time exceedingly, but I had not leave from you to go
and Mr. Bromfield advised me by no means to go until I heard from you.
You must perceive from this case how impossible it is for me to form
plans, and transmit them across the Atlantic for approbation, thus
letting an opportunity slip which is irrecoverable."