Samuel F. B. Morse, His Letters and Journals Volume II Part 24

"_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, wis.h.i.+ng 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 Was.h.i.+ngton. 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 j.a.pan, 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 preeminent 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 a.s.sured, 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 Was.h.i.+ngton 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 s.p.a.ce 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 a.s.sociates 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 endors.e.m.e.nt 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 embarra.s.sment 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 cla.s.s 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 embarra.s.sed by litigations in self-defence yet undecided) a.s.sume 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 Was.h.i.+ngton 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 was.h.i.+ng-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 pa.s.s.

"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 hara.s.sed 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 G.o.d'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 G.o.d'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. G.o.d 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 a.s.sure him that the extension would legally inure to your benefit, and not to that of your agents and a.s.sociates 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 ingrat.i.tude 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 a.s.sociates 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 t.i.tle 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.