Samuel F. B. Morse, His Letters and Journals In Two Volumes, Volume I.

is parents.-Letters of D

re.-Difficulty in keeping up with his class.-Letter of warning from his mother.-Letters of Jedediah Morse to Bishop of London and Lindley Murray.-Morse becomes more studious.-Bill o

od Puritan stock, his father, Jedediah Morse, being a militant clergyman of the Congregational Church, a fighter for

f those days, and, while many of the tenets of their faith may seem narrow to us, they were gospel to the godly of th

Republic; the author of the first American Geography and Gazetteer. His wife, Elizabeth Ann Breese, granddaughter of Samuel Finley, president of

eleven children, only three of whom survived their infancy. The other

, in a letter to a fri

so can say nothing of his eye or his genius peeing through it. He may have the sagacity of a Jewish rabbi, or

prophetic in the li

N WHICH MORSE WAS BORN

Reverend Mr. Wells is quaint a

nd in the Country I came from many people are fond of them. Your Papa will let you look at them and shew them to Edward, and then he will take care of them, and, by the time you grow up to be a Man, th

WE

, July

was taken by his father to Phillips Academy at Andover, and I believe he ran away onc

first one written by him of

2d Augu

Some quils Give my love to mama and NANCY and my little brothers plea

erries as I want I go

BREESE MORSE

f many written to him and to his brother

N, Februar

epistolary writing as practice. Take great pains with your letters. Avoid vulgar phrases. Study to have your ideas pertinent and correct and clothe them in an easy and grammatical dress. Pay attenti

iters. They are written with great uniformity in respect to the handwriting and disposition of the several parts of the letter. I wil

time. It is impossible that you can do two things well at the same time, and I would, therefore, never have you attempt it

asked how he could possibly find time to go through so much business and yet amuse himself in the evenings as he did, he answered there was nothing so easy, for that it was only doing one thing at a time, and never putting off an

ents in your memory, and give me your own opinion on the advice I have given you.

ectionat

MOR

years old. I wonder if he wa

rs which make interesting reading, there are so many more of the later years

ips Academy to prepare for Yale, from whi

tten while he was temporarily at home, and shows the dee

WN, March

een buried. Now you have three brothers and three sisters in heaven and I hope you and I will meet them there a

carry it away once in a thousand years, and you was to take your choice either to be miserable in that time and happy hereaf

called the "Christian Pilg

s more comfortable now than she was. We all send a

ur affectio

B. M

from letters of the good mother of the three

WN, June

very desirous, my son, that you should excel in everything that will make you truly happy and useful to your fellow men. In particular by no means neglect your duty to your Heavenly Father. Remember, what has been said with great truth, that he can never be faithful to others who is

in all that you do, and may you be so happy as to enjoy Him

ralists, by Dr. Putnam who is the president of the day, and all the gentlemen are to dine at Seton's Hall, otherwise called Massachusetts Hall, and the ladies are to take tea at the same place. The Jacobins are to have an oration at the Baptist meeting-house from Mr. Gleson. I know nothing more about them. The boys are forming themselves into companies also; they have two or three

30,

so pumped a great deal of cold water on his head. Let this be a warning to you all not to be guilty of the like indiscretion which may cost you your life. Dreadful, indeed, would this be to all of us. I wish you would

e of being always prepared for death, even a sudden death, as we know not what an hour may bring forth. This we are sensible of, we cannot be too soon or too well prepared for that all-important moment, as this is what we are sent into this world f

college, and the next letter describes the journey from

, October

being your son. I was treated more like his own son than a stranger, for which I shall and ought to be very much obliged to him. The next morning I hired a horse and chaise of him to carry me to Weathersfield and arrived at Mr. Marsh's, who was very glad to see me and begged me to stay till S. Barrell went, which was the next Monday, for his mother would not let him go so soon, she was so glad to see him. I was sorry to trouble them so much, but, as they desired it, and, as Samuel B. was not to go till then, I agreed to stay and ho

eno Dwight carried me to Mr. Davis's who had agreed to take me. While I was at Dr. Dwight's there was a woman there whom the Dr. recommended to Sam. B. and me to have our mending done, and Mrs. Davis or a washerwoman across the way will do my

e north college and, as he

to the college, for it appears to me now as though I was not a member

so much trouble to you and the cause of so much anxiety in you and especially in mama. I wish you to give my very affectionate love to my dear br

affectio

B. M

th his class, and that he eventually dropped a class, for he did not graduate until 181

k of steadfastness of purpose should mar his future career. His dominating characteristic in later life was a bulldog tenacity

are from a long lette

er 23,

our amusements than your studies, and there lies the difficu

ccount of a gunning party, both of which have given us pain. I am trul

g the students? We think it a very improper one, indeed, and hope the government of college will not permit it. There is no propriety at all in such young boys as you having

it. Pray, what do your gunning parties cost you for powder and shot? I beg you to consider and not go driving on from one foolish whim to

t, for in a letter to his parents dated December 18, 1805, young Morse says:

e at length, and for not answering every question asked by the parents. It is comforting to the present-day parent to learn that human nature wa

include as being of rather more than ordinary int

N, Decembe

ISHOP OP

to you to know the precise state of the property which origi

ed the law of that State resp

, in the same degree in which the right and interest of the said Church was therein derived from them," and authorizes the overseers of the poor of any county "in which any glebe land is vacant, or shall become so by the death or removal of

no other State in the Union has, in this

tracts for your acceptance in token of my h

e, sir, u

edient

MOR

er 26,

Y MURR

accompanying it, forwarded by our friend Perkins,

trangers neither to your works nor your character. It has given me much ple

spersed in the new settlements in our country, where I hope they will do immediate good, besides creating a desire and de

st edition of my "American Gazetteer" which I pray you to accep

fri

MOR

I set down without further comment, passing rapidly over the next few years. He was, how

ntend to be careful. I have no amusement now in the vacation, and it would gratify me very much if you would consent to let me go once in a while. I suppose you would tell me that my books ought to be my amusemen

7,

ot writing you sooner when I inform you that

ly after, recitation; then I must breakfast and begin to study from eight o

tation I must study another French lesson to recite at seven in the evening; come home at nine o'clock and study my morning's lesson until ten, eleven, and sometimes twelve o'clock, and by that tine I am prepared to sleep....

y bound in calf and gilt, for two dollars. The reason they are so cheap is because they are wicked and bad books for me or anybody e

er, Sidney Edwards. In a letter of March 6, 1808, he says: "Edwards and myself are very we

ame lette

ty, which keeps me constantly running after money. When I have money in my hand I feel as though I had stolen it, and it is with the greatest pain that I

e last term was fifteen dollars,

s.

tage

l

fines,

ter

owl .

lle

Catalogu

nd shot

tc. etc.

hanks.

n brid

ing a

eum

man

e for t

.41 14

skates .37-

ry .25 cutt

paper

r to be r

-1/2 1

clude my wood, tuition bill

ay would bewail the extravagance of fifteen dollars spent in one term on extras? In a postscript in this same letter he says: "The st

at present, for September 5 finds the boys still in New Haven, and

good effect in changing that thoughtless disposition which has ever been a striking trait in my character. As I grow older, I begin to think better of what you have always told me w

letter of Jan

age to and residence in Europe. I am very much pleased with it. I long for the time when I shall be a

ith all diligence for that purpose. Diligentia vinrit omnia is my maxim and I shall endeavor to follow it.... I shall be employe

e letter, but it was when travelling, many years afterwards, that the first idea of the electric tele

writes: "My studies ar

Homer, beside disputin

which I find very intere

o is now lecturin

hands formed the circuit of communication and we all received the shock apparently at the same moment. I never took an electric shock before. It felt as if some person had struck me a slight blow across the arms.... I think with pleasure that two thirds of this term only remain. As soon as that is passed

They obtain the ivories for themselves. I have taken Professor Kingsley's profile for him. It is a good likeness of him and he is pleased with it. I think I shall take his likenes

N, May 2

packet from New York. I left Philadelphia on Thursday morning

being insipid.] I went on board the packet on Saturday at twelve o'clock and arrived, as I before stated, on Sabbath evening. We had, on the whole, a very good set of passengers from New York to this place. On Sunday we had two sermons rea

25,

sorry it should have occasioned so many disagreeable feelings. I felt it my duty to tell you of my debts, a

t. My price is five dollars for a miniature on ivory, and. I have engaged three or four at that price. My price for profiles is one dollar, and everybody i

found him absent, sometimes for the whole day, sometimes for a week or two weeks, and once he was absent six weeks and made no sort of provision for us. Mrs. T. is never trusted with

ates for degrees. Edwards is admitted a member of [Greek: Phi][Greek: Beta][Greek: Kappa] Society, and is appoint

and good scholars, and are much esteemed by the au

ch arrangement with Mr. Allston for my studying with him as you shall think expedient. I should desire to study with hi

his letter his

WN, July

ved your letter of t

me. It will be best for you to form no plans. Your mama and I have been thinking and plann

to us that our sons are all likely to do so well and are in good reputation among their acquaintances. Could we have reason to believe you wer

y dear son, "while

ectionat

MOR

ZABETH ANN MORSE A

V. JEDEDIAH MORS

. Sargent, who also pa

gton f

ber 8,

e business in life, and I am pleased with it, for I was determined beforehand to conform to his and your will in everything, and, when I come home, I shall ende

e days past, and it still continues. I hop

spirits that I

rents were conservative and wished him to become independent as soon as possible. Their plan was to apprentice him to a bookseller, a