Samuel F. B. Morse, His Letters and Journals Volume II Part 8

Its practicability, hitherto doubted by savants here, is completely established, and they do not hesitate to give me the credit of having established it. I rejoice quite as much for my country's sake as for my own that both priority and superiority are awarded to my invention."

CHAPTER XXVI

JANUARY 6, 1839--MARCH 9, 1839

Despondent letter to his brother Sidney.--Longing for a home.--Letter to Smith.--More delays.--Change of ministry.--Proposal to form private company.--Impossible under the laws of France.--Telegraphs a government monopoly.--Refusal of Czar to sign Russian contract.--Dr. Jackson.--M.

Amyot.--Failure to gain audience of king.--Lord Elgin.--Earl of Lincoln.

--Robert Walsh prophesies success.--Meeting with Earl of Lincoln in later years.--Daguerre.--Letter to Mrs. Ca.s.s on lotteries.--Railway and military telegraphs.--Skepticism of a Marshal of France.

Thus hopefully the inventor kept writing home, always maintaining that soon all obstacles would be overcome, and that he would then have a chance to demonstrate in a really practical way the great usefulness of his invention. But, instead of melting away, new obstacles kept arising at every turn. The dilatoriness of the French Government seems past all belief, and yet, in spite of his faith in the more expeditious methods of his own country, he was fated to encounter the same exasperating slowness at home. It was, therefore, only natural that in spite of the courageous optimism of his nature, he should at times have given way to fits of depression, as is instanced by the following extracts from a letter written to his brother Sidney on January 6, 1839:--

"I know not that I feel right to indulge in the despondency which, in spite of all reason to the contrary, creeps over me when I think of returning. I know the feelings of Tantalus perfectly. All my prospects in regard to the Telegraph are bright and encouraging, and so they have been for months, and they still continue to be so; but the sober _now_ is that I am expending and not acquiring; it has, as yet, been all _outgo_ and no income. At the rate business is done here, the slow, dilatory manner in which the most favorable projects are carried forward, I have no reason to believe that anything will be realized before I must leave France, which will probably be in about six weeks. If so, then I return penniless, and, worse than penniless, I return to find debts and no home; to find homeless children with all hope extinguished of ever seeing them again in a family. Indeed, I may say that, in this latter respect, the last ray is departed; I think no more of it.

"I now feel anxious to see my children educated with the means they have of their own, and in a way of usefulness, and for myself I desire to live secluded, without being burdensome to my friends. I should be glad to exchange my rooms in the university for one or two in your new building.

I shall probably resign both Professors.h.i.+p and Presidency on my return.

The first has become merely nominal, and the latter is connected with duties which properly confine to the city, and, as I wish to be free to go to other places, I think it will be best to resign.

"If our Government should take the Telegraph, or companies should be formed for that purpose, so that a sum is realized from it when I get home, this will, of course, change the face of things; but I dare not expect it and ought not to build any plans on such a contingency. So far as praise goes I have every reason to be satisfied at the state of things here in regard to the Telegraph. All the savants, committees of learned societies, members of the Chamber of Deputies, and officers of Government have, without exception, been as enthusiastic in its reception as any in the United States. Both the priority and superiority of my invention are established, and thus the credit, be it more or less, is secured to our country. The Prefect of the Seine expressed a desire to see it and called by appointment yesterday. He was perfectly satisfied, and said of his own accord that he should see the king last evening and should mention the Telegraph to him. I shall probably soon be requested, therefore, to show the Telegraph to the king.

"All these are most encouraging prospects; there is, indeed, nothing that has arisen to throw any insurmountable obstacle in the way of its adoption with complete success; and for all this I ought to feel grat.i.tude, and I wish to acknowledge it before Him to whom grat.i.tude is due. Is it right or is it wrong, in view of all this, to feel despondency?

"In spite of all I do feel sad. I am no longer young; I have children, but they are orphans, and orphans they are likely to be. I have a country, but _no home_. It is this _no home_ that perpetually haunts me.

I feel as if it were duty, duty most urgent, for me to settle in a family state at all hazards on account of these children. I know they suffer in this forming period of their lives for the want of a home, of the care of a father and a mother, and that no care and attention from friends, be they ever so kind, can supply the place of parents. But all efforts, direct and indirect, to bring this about have been frustrated.

"My dear brother, may you never feel, as I have felt, _the loss of a wife_. That wound bleeds afresh daily, as if it were inflicted but yesterday. There is a meaning in all these acute mental trials, and they are at times so severe as almost to deprive me of reason, though few around me would suspect the state of my mind."

These last few lines are eminently characteristic of the man. While called upon to endure much, both mentally and physically, he possessed such remarkable self-control that few, if any, of those around him were aware of his suffering. Only to his intimates did he ever reveal the pain which sometimes gnawed at his heart, and then only occasionally and under great stress. It was this self-control, united to a lofty purpose and a natural repugnance to wearing his heart on his sleeve, which enabled him to accomplish what he did. Endowed also with a saving sense of humor, he made light of his trials to others and was a welcome guest in every social gathering.

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

"Tell Uncle Sidney to take good care of you, and to have a little snug room in the upper corner of his new building, where a bed can be placed, a chair, and a table, and let me have it as my own, that there may be one little particular spot which I can call _home_. I will there make three wooden stools, one for you, one for Charles, and one for Finley, and invite you to your father's house."

In spite of the enthusiasm which the exhibition of his invention aroused among the learned men and others in Paris, he met with obstructions of the most vexatious kind at every turn, in his effort to bring it into practical use. Just as the way seemed clear for its adoption by the French Government, something happened which is thus described in a letter to Mr. Smith, of January 28, 1889:

"I wrote by the Great Western a few days ago. The event then antic.i.p.ated in regard to the Ministry has occurred. The Ministers have resigned, and it is expected that the new Cabinet will be formed this day with Marshal Soult at its head. Thus you perceive new causes of delay in obtaining any answer from the Government. As soon as I can learn the name of the new Minister of the Interior I will address a note to him, or see him, as I may be advised, and see if I can possibly obtain an answer, or at least a report of the administration of the Telegraphs. Nothing has occurred in other respects but what is agreeable....

"All my leisure (if that may be called leisure which employs nearly all my time) is devoted to perfecting the whole matter. The invention of the correspondent, I think you will say, is a more essential improvement. It has been my winter's labor, and, to avoid expense, I have been compelled to make it entirely with my own hands. I can now give you its exact dimensions--twelve and a half inches long, six and a half wide, and six and a half deep. It dispenses entirely with boxes of type (one set alone being necessary) and dispenses also with the rules, and with all machinery for moving the rules. There is no winding up and it is ready at all times. You touch the letter and the letter is written immediately at the other extremity.... In my next I hope to send you reports of my further progress. One thing seems certain, my Telegraph has driven out of the field all the other plans on the magnetic principle. I hear nothing of them in public or private. No society notices them."

"_February 2._ I can compare the state of things here to an April day, at one moment suns.h.i.+ne, at the next cloudy. The Telegraph is evidently growing in favor; testimonials of approbation and compliments multiply, and yesterday I was advised by the secretary of the _Academie Industrielle_ to interest moneyed men in the matter if I intended to profit by it; and he observed that now was the precise time to do it in the interval of the Chambers.

"I am at a loss how to act. I am not a business man and fear every movement which suggests itself to me. I am thinking of proposing a company on the same plan you last proposed in your letter from Liverpool, and which you intend to create in case the Government shall choose to do nothing; that is to say, a company taking the right at one thousand francs per mile, paying the proprietors fifty per cent in stocks and fifty per cent in cash, raising about fifty thousand francs for a trial some distance. I shall take advice and let you know the result.

"I wish you were here; I am sure something could be done by an energetic business man like yourself. As for poor me I feel that I am a child in business matters. I can invent and perfect the invention, and demonstrate its uses and practicability, but 'further the deponent saith not.'

Perhaps I underrate myself in this case, but that is not a usual fault in human nature."

It was natural that a keen business man like F.O.J. Smith should have leaned rather toward a private corporation, with its possibilities of great pecuniary gain, than toward government owners.h.i.+p. Morse, on the contrary, would have preferred, both at home and abroad, to place the great power which he knew his invention was destined to wield in the hands of a responsible government. However, so eager was he to make a practical test of the telegraph that, governments apparently not appreciating their great opportunity, he was willing to entrust the enterprise to capitalists. Here again he was balked, however, for, writing of his trials later, he says:--

"An unforeseen obstacle was interposed which has rendered my patent in France of no avail to me. By the French patent law at the time one who obtained a patent was obliged to put into operation his invention within two years from the issue of his patent, under the penalty of forfeiture if he does not comply with the law. In pursuance of this requisition of the law I negotiated with the president (Turneysen) of the Saint-Germain Railroad Company to construct a line of my Telegraph on their road from Paris to Saint-Germain, a distance of about seven English miles. The company was favorably disposed toward the project, but, upon application (as was necessary) to the Government for permission to have the Telegraph on their road, they received for answer that telegraphs were a government monopoly, and could not, therefore, be used for private purposes. I thus found myself crushed between the conflicting forces of two opposing laws."

This was, indeed, a crus.h.i.+ng blow, and ended all hope of accomplis.h.i.+ng anything in France, unless the Government should, in the short time still left to him, decide to take it up. The letters home, during the remainder of his stay in Europe, are voluminous, but as they are, in the main, a repet.i.tion of experiences similar to those already recorded, it will not be necessary to give them in full. He tells of the enthusiastic reception accorded to his invention by the savants, the high officials of the Government and the Englishmen of note then stopping in Paris. He tells also of the exasperating delays to which he was subjected, and which finally compelled him to return home without having accomplished anything tangible. He goes at length into his negotiations with the representative of the Czar, Baron Meyendorf, from which he entertained so many hopes, hopes which were destined in the end to be blasted, because the Czar refused to put his signature to the contract, his objection being that "Malevolence can easily interrupt the communication." This was a terrible disappointment to the inventor, for he had made all his plans to return to Europe in the spring of 1839 to carry out the Russian contract, which he was led to believe was perfectly certain, and the Czar's signature simply a matter of form. While at the time, and probably for all his life, Morse considered his failure in Europe as a cruel stroke of Fate, we cannot but conclude, in the light of future developments, that here again Fate was cruel in order to be kind. The invention, while it had been p.r.o.nounced a scientific success, and had been awarded the palm over all other systems by the foremost scientists of the world, had yet to undergo the baptism of fire on the field of battle. It had never been tried over long distances in the open air, and many practical modifications had yet to be made, the necessity for which could only be ascertained during the actual construction of a commercial line. Morse's first idea, adhered to by him until found by experience, in the building of the first line between Was.h.i.+ngton and Baltimore, to be impracticable, had been to bury the wires in a trench in the ground. I say it was found to be impracticable, but that is true only of the conditions at that early date. The inventor was here again ahead of his time, for the underground system is now used in many cities, and may in time become universal. However, we shall see, when the story of the building of that first historic line is told, that in this respect, and in many others, great difficulties were encountered and failure was averted only by the ingenuity, the resourcefulness, and the quick-wittedness of the inventor himself and his able a.s.sistants. Is it too much to suppose that, had the Russian, or even the French, contract gone through, and had Morse been compelled to recruit his a.s.sistants from the people of an alien land, whose language he could neither speak nor thoroughly understand, the result would have been a dismal failure, calling down only ridicule on the head of the luckless inventor, and perhaps causing him to abandon the whole enterprise, discouraged and disheartened?

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

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

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

"I cannot conceive of such infatuation as has possessed this man. He can scarcely be deceived. It must be his consummate self-conceit that deceives him, if he is deceived. But this cannot be; he knows he has no t.i.tle whatever to a single hint of any kind in the matter."

I have already alluded to the claim of Dr. Jackson, and have shown that it was proved to be utterly without foundation, and have only introduced this reference to it as an instance of the attacks which were made upon Morse, attacks which compelled him to consume much valuable time, in the midst of his other labors, in order to repel them, which he always succeeded in doing.

In writing of his negotiations with the Russian Government he mentions M.

Amyot, "who has proposed also an Electric Telegraph, but upon seeing mine he could not restrain his gratification, and with his whole soul he is at work to forward it with all who have influence. He is the right-hand man of the Baron Meyendorf, and he is exerting all his power to have the Russian Government adopt my Telegraph.... He is really a n.o.ble-minded man. The baron told me he had a _large soul_, and I find he has. I have no claim on him and yet he seems to take as much interest in my invention as if it were his own. How different a conduct from Jackson's!... Every day is clearing away all the difficulties that prevent its adoption; the only difficulty that remains, it is universally said, is the protection of the wires from malevolent attack, and this can be prevented by proper police and secret and deep interment. I have no doubt of its universal adoption; it may take time but it is certain."

"_Paris, March 2, 1839._ By my last letter I informed you of the more favorable prospects of the telegraphic enterprise. These prospects still continue, and I shall return with the gratifying reflection that, after all my anxieties, and labors, and privations, and your and my other a.s.sociates' expenditures and risks, we are all in a fair way of reaping the fruits of our toil. The political troubles of France have been a hindrance hitherto to the attention of the Government to the Telegraph, but in the mean time I have gradually pushed forward the invention into the notice of the most influential individuals of France. I had Colonel Lasalle, aide-de-camp to the king, and his lady to see the Telegraph a few days ago. He promised that, without fail, it should be mentioned to the king. You will be surprised to learn, after all the promises. .h.i.therto made by the Prefect of the Seine, Count Remberteau, and by various other officers of the Government, and after General Ca.s.s's letter to the aide on service, four or five months since, requesting it might be brought to the notice of the king, that the king has not yet heard of it. But so things go here.

"Such dereliction would destroy a man with us in a moment, but here there is a different standard (this, of course, _entre nous_).... Among the numerous visitors that have thronged to see the Telegraph, there have been a great many of the princ.i.p.al English n.o.bility. Among them the Lord and Lady Aylmer, former Governor of Canada, Lord Elgin and son, the Celebrated preserver, not depredator (as he has been most slanderously called) of the Phidian Marbles. Lord Elgin has been twice and expressed a great interest in the invention. He brought with him yesterday the Earl of Lincoln, a young man of una.s.suming manners; he was delighted and gave me his card with a pressing invitation to call on him when I came to London.

"I have not failed to let the English know how I was treated in regard to my application for a patent in England, and contrasted the conduct of the French in this respect to theirs. I believe they felt it, and I think it was Lord Aylmer, but am not quite sure, who advised that the subject be brought up in Parliament by some member and made the object of special legislation, which he said might be done, the Attorney-General to the contrary notwithstanding. I really believe, if matters were rightly managed in England, something yet might be done there, if not by patent, yet by a parliamentary grant of a proper compensation. It is remarkable that they have not yet made anything like mine in England. It is evident that neither Wheatstone nor Davy comprehended my mode, after all their a.s.sertions that mine had been published.

"If matters move slower here than with us, yet they gain surely. I am told every hour that the two great wonders of Paris just now, about which everybody is conversing, are Daguerre's wonderful results in fixing permanently the image of the _camera obscura_, and Morse's Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, and they do not hesitate to add that, beautiful as are the results of Daguerre's experiments, the invention of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph is that which will surpa.s.s, in the greatness of the revolution to be effected, all other inventions. Robert Walsh, Esq., who has just left me, is beyond measure delighted. I was writing a word from one room to another; he came to me and said:--'The next word you may write is IMMORTALITY, for the sublimity of this invention is of surpa.s.sing grandeur. _I see now that all physical obstacles, which may for a while hinder, will inevitably be overcome; the problem is solved;_ MAN MAY INSTANTLY CONVERSE WITH HIS FELLOW-MEN IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD.'"

This prophecy of the celebrated American author, who was afterwards Consul-General to France for six years, is noteworthy considering the date at which it was made. There were indeed many "physical obstacles which for a while hindered" the practical adoption of the invention, but they were eventually overcome, and the problem was solved. Five years of heart-breaking struggle, discouragement and actual poverty had still to be endured by the brave inventor before the tide should turn in his favor, but Robert Walsh shared with Morse the clear conviction that the victory would finally be won.

Reference having been made to Lord Elgin, the following letter from him will be found interesting:--

Paris, 12th March, 1839.

Dear Sir,--I cannot help expressing a very strong desire that, instead of delaying till your return from America your wish to take out a patent in England for your highly scientific and simple mode of communicating intelligence by an Electric Telegraph, you would take measures to that effect at this moment, and for that purpose take your model now with you to London. Your discovery is now much known as well as appreciated, and the ingenuity now afloat is too extensive for one not to apprehend that individuals, even in good faith, may make some addition to qualify them to take out a _first patent_ for the principle; whereas, if you brought it at once, now, before the competent authorities, especially under the advantage of an introduction such as Mr. Drummond can give you to Lord Brougham, a short delay in your proceeding to America may secure you this desirable object immediately.

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

Yours faithfully ELGIN.

While it is futile to speculate on what might have been, it does seem as if Morse made a serious mistake in not taking Lord Elgin's advice, for there is no doubt that, with the influential backing which he had now secured, he could have overcome the churlish objections of the Attorney-General, and have secured a patent in England much to his financial benefit. But with the glamour of the Russian contract in his eyes, he decided to return home at once, and the opportunity was lost.

We must also marvel at the strange fact that the fear expressed by Lord Elgin, that another might easily appropriate to himself the glory which was rightly due to Morse, was not realized. Is it to be wondered at that Morse should have always held that he, and he alone, was the humble instrument chosen by an All-Wise Providence to carry to a successful issue this great enterprise?

Regarding one of his other visitors, the Earl of Lincoln, it is interesting to learn that there was another meeting between the two men under rather dramatic circ.u.mstances, in later years. This was on the occasion of the visit of the Prince of Wales, afterward Edward VII, to America, accompanied by a suite which included, among others, the Duke of Newcastle. Morse was invited to address the Prince at a meeting given in his honor at the University of the City of New York, and in the course of his address he said:--

"An allusion in most flattering terms to me, rendered doubly so in such presence, has been made by our respected Chancellor, which seems to call for at least the expression of my thanks. At the same time it suggests the relation of an incident in the early history of the Telegraph which may not be inappropriate to this occasion. The infant Telegraph, born and nursed within these walls, had scarcely attained a feeble existence ere it essayed to make its voice heard on the other side of the Atlantic. I carried it to Paris in 1838. It attracted the warm interest, not only of the continental philosophers, but also of the intelligent and appreciative among the eminent n.o.bles of Britain then on a visit to the French capital. Foremost among these was the late Marquis of Northampton, then President of the Royal Society, the late distinguished Earl of Elgin, and, in a marked degree, the n.o.ble Earl of Lincoln. The last-named n.o.bleman in a special manner gave it his favor. He comprehended its important future, and, in the midst of the skepticism that clouded its cradle, he risked his character for sound judgment in venturing to stand G.o.dfather to the friendless child. He took it under his roof in London, invited the statesmen and the philosophers of Britain to see it, and urged forward with kindly words and generous attentions those who had the infant in charge. It is with no ordinary feelings, therefore, that, after the lapse of twenty years, I have the singular honor this morning of greeting with hearty welcome, in such presence, before such an a.s.semblage, and in the cradle of the Telegraph, this n.o.ble Earl of Lincoln in the person of the present Duke of Newcastle."

Reference was made by Morse, in the letter to Mr. Smith of March 2, to Daguerre and his wonderful discovery. Having himself experimented along the same lines many years before, he was, naturally, much interested and sought the acquaintance of Daguerre, which was easily brought about. The two inventors became warm friends, and each disclosed to the other the minutiae of his discoveries. Daguerre invited Morse to his workshop, selecting a Sunday as a day convenient to him, and Morse replied in the following characteristic note:--

"Professor Morse asks the indulgence of M. Daguerre. The _time_ M.

Daguerre, in his great kindness, has fixed to show his most interesting experiments is, unfortunately, one that will deprive Mr. M. of the pleasure he antic.i.p.ated, as Mr. M. has an engagement for the entire Sunday of a nature that cannot be broken. Will Monday, or any other day, be agreeable to M. Daguerre?