Samuel F. B. Morse, His Letters and Journals Volume II Part 34

"After the review was over we took our carriage to return home. The carriages and cortege of the imperial personages took the right of the Cascade (which you know is in full view from the hippodrome of Longchamps). We took the left side and were attracted by the report of firearms on our left, which proceeded from persons shooting at pigeons from a trap. Soon after we heard a loud report on our right from a pistol, which attracted no further attention from us than the remark which I made that I did not know that persons were allowed to use firearms in the Bois. We pa.s.sed on to our home, and in the evening were informed of the atrocious attempt upon the Emperor of Russia's life. The pistol report which I heard was that of the pistol of the a.s.sa.s.sin."

Farther on in this letter he describes the grand fete given by the City of Paris to the visiting sovereigns at the Hotel de Ville. There were thirty-five thousand applications for tickets, but only eight thousand could be granted. Of these Morse was gratified to receive three:--

"Well, the great fete of Sat.u.r.day the 8th is over. I despair of any attempt properly to describe its magnificence. I send you the papers....

Such a blaze of splendor cannot be conceived or described but in the descriptions of the Arabian Nights. We did not see half the display, for the immense series of gorgeous halls, lighted by seventy thousand candles, with fountains and flowers at every turn, made one giddy to see even for a moment. We had a good opportunity to scan the features of the emperors, the King of Prussia and the renowned Bismarck, with those of the beautiful empress and the princesses and princes and other distinguished persons of their suite.

"I must tell you (for family use only) that the Emperor Napoleon made to me a marked recognition as he pa.s.sed along. Sarah and I were standing upon two chairs overlooking the front rank of those ranged on each side.

The emperor gave his usual bow on each side, but, as he came near us, he gave an unusual and special bow to me, which I returned, and he then, with a smile, gave me a second bow so marked as to draw the attention of those around, who at once turned to see to whom this courtesy was shown.

I should not mention this but that Sarah and others observed it as an unusual mark of courtesy."

Feeling the need of rest after all the gayety and excitement of Paris, Morse and part of his family retired to Shanklin, on the Isle of Wight, where in a neat little furnished cottage--Florence Villa--they spent part of two happy months. Then with his wife and daughter and youngest son he journeyed in leisurely fas.h.i.+on through England and Scotland, returning to Paris in October. Here he spent some time in working on his report to the. United States Government as Commissioner to the Exposition.

Among his notes I find the following, which seems to me worthy of record:--

"_The Sounder._ Mr. Prescott, I perceive, is quoted as an authority. He is not reliable on many points and his work should be used with caution.

His work was originally written in the interest of those opposing my patents, and his statements are, many of them, grossly unjust and strongly colored with prejudice. Were he now to reprint his work I am convinced he would find it necessary, for the sake of his reputation, to expunge a great deal, and to correct much that he has misstated and misapprehended.

"He manifests the most unpardonable ignorance or wilful prejudice in regard to the _Sounder_, now so-called. The possibility of reading by sound was among the earliest modes noticed in the first instrument of 1835, and it was in consequence of observing this fact that, in my first patent specifications drawn up in 1837-1838, I distinctly specify these _sounds_ of the signs, and they were secured in my letters patent. Yet Mr. Prescott makes it an accidental discovery, and in 1860 (the date of his publication) he wholly ignores my agency in this mode. The sounder is but the pen-lever deprived of the pen. In everything else it is the same.

The sound of the letter is given with and without the pen."

On November 8, 1867, he writes from Paris to his friend, the Honorable John Thompson:--

"I am still held in Paris for the completion of my labors, but hope in a few days to be relieved so that we may leave for Dresden, where my boys are pursuing their studies in the German language.... I am yet doubtful how long a sojourn we may make in Dresden, and whether I shall winter there or in Paris, but I am inclined to the latter. We wish to visit Italy, but I am not satisfied that it will be pleasant or even safe to be there just now. The Garibaldian inroad upon the Pontifical States is, indeed, for the moment suppressed, but the end is not yet.

"Alas for poor Italy! How hard to rid herself of evils that have become chronic. Why cannot statesmen of the Old World learn the great truth that most of their perplexities in settling the questions of international peace arise from the unnatural union of Church and State? He who said 'My kingdom is not of this world' uttered a truth pregnant with consequences.

The attempt to rule the State by the Church or the Church by the State is equally at war with his teachings, and until these are made the rule of conduct, whether for political bodies or religious bodies, there will be the sword and not peace.

"I see by the papers that the reaction I have long expected and hoped for has commenced in our country. It is hailed here by intelligent and cool-headed citizens as a good omen for the future. The Radicals have had their way, and the people, disgusted, have at length given their command --'Thus far and no farther.'"

CHAPTER x.x.xIX

NOVEMBER 28, 1867--JUNE 10, 1871

Goes to Dresden.--Trials financial and personal.--Humorous letter to E.S.

Sanford.--Berlin.--The telegraph in the war of 1866.--Paris.--Returns to America.--Death of his brother Richard.--Banquet in New York.--Addresses of Chief Justice Chase, Morse, and Daniel Huntington,--Report as Commissioner finished.--Professor W.P. Blake's letter urging recognition of Professor Henry.--Morse complies.--Henry refuses to be reconciled.-- Reading by sound.--Morse breaks his leg.--Deaths of Amos Kendall and George Wood.--Statue in Central Park.--Addresses Of Governor Hoffman and William Cullen Bryant.--Ceremonies at Academy of Music.--Morse bids farewell to his children of the telegraph.

It will not be necessary to record in detail the happenings of the remainder of this last visit to Europe. Three months were spent in Dresden, with his children and his sister-in-law's family around him. The same honors were paid to him here as elsewhere on the continent. He was received in special audience by the King and Queen of Saxony, and men of note in the scientific world eagerly sought his counsel and advice. But, apart from so much that was gratifying to him, he was just then called upon to bear many trials and afflictions of various kinds and degrees, and it is marvellous, in reading his letters, to note with what great serenity and Christian fort.i.tude, yet withal, with what solicitude, he endeavored to bear his cross and solve his problems. As he advanced in years an increasing number of those near and dear to him were taken from him by death, and his letters of Christian sympathy fill many pages of the letter books. There were trials of a domestic nature, too intimate to be revealed, which caused him deep sorrow, but which he bravely and optimistically strove to meet. Clouds, too, obscured his financial horizon; investments in certain mining ventures, entered into with high hopes, turned out a dead loss; the repayment of loans, cheerfully made to friends and relatives, was either delayed or entirely defaulted; and, to cap the climax, the Western Union Telegraph Company, in which most of his fortune was invested, pa.s.sed one dividend and threatened to pa.s.s another.

He had provided for this contingency by a deposit of surplus funds before his departure for Europe, but he was fearful of the future.

In spite of all this he could not refrain from treating the matter lightly and humorously in a letter to Mr. E.S. Sanford of November 28, 1867, written from Dresden: "Your letter gave me both pleasure and pain.

I was glad to hear some particulars of the condition of my '_basket_,'

but was pained to learn that the _hens'_ eggs instead of swelling to _goose_ eggs, and even to _ostrich_ eggs (as some that laid them so enthusiastically antic.i.p.ated when they were so closely packed), have shrunk to _pigeons'_ eggs, if not to the diminutive _sparrows'_. To keep up the figure, I am thankful there are any left not addled."

He was all the time absorbed in the preparation of his report as Commissioner to the Paris Exposition, and it was, of course, a source of great gratification to him to learn from the answers to his questions sent to the telegraph officers of the whole world, that the Morse system was practically the only one in general use. As one of his correspondents put it--"The cry is, 'Give us the Morse.'"

The necessity for the completion of this work, and his desire to give his children every advantage of study, kept him longer in Europe than he had expected, and he writes to his brother Sidney on December 1, 1867: "I long to return, for age creeps on apace, and I wish to put my house in order for a longer and better journey to a better home."

In the early part of February, 1868, he and his wife and daughter and youngest son left Dresden for Paris, stopping, however, a few days in Berlin. Mr. George Bancroft was our minister at the Prussian court, and he did all that courtesy could suggest to make the stay of his distinguished countryman a pleasant one. He urged him to stay longer, so that he might have the pleasure of presenting him at court, but this honor Morse felt obliged to decline. The inventor did, however, find time to visit the government telegraph office, of which Colonel (afterwards General) von Chauvin was the head, and here he received an ovation from all the operators, several hundred in number, who were seated at their instruments in what was then the largest operating-room in the world.

Another incident of his visit to Berlin I shall give in the words of Mr.

Prime:--

"Not to recount the many tributes of esteem and respect paid him by Dr.

Siemens, and other gentlemen eminent in the specialty of telegraphy, one other unexpected compliment may be mentioned. The Professor was presented to the accomplished General Director of the Posts of the North German Bund, Privy Councillor von Phillipsborn, in whose department the telegraph had been comprised before Prussia became so great and the centre of a powerful confederation.

"At the time of their visit the Director was so engaged, and that, too, in another part of the Post-Amt, that the porter said it was useless to trouble him with the cards. The names had not been long sent up, however, before the Director himself came hurriedly down the corridor into the antechamber, and, scarcely waiting for the hastiest of introductions, enthusiastically grasped both the Professor's hands in his own, asking whether he had 'the honor of speaking to Dr. Morse,' or, as he p.r.o.nounced it 'Morzey.'

"When, after a brief conversation, Mr. Morse rose to go, the Director said that he had just left a conference over a new post and telegraph treaty in negotiation between Belgium and the Bund, and that it would afford him great pleasure to be permitted to present his guest to the a.s.sembled gentlemen, including the Belgian Envoy and the Belgian Postmaster-General. There followed, accordingly, a formal presentation with an introductory address by the Director, who, in excellent English, thanked Mr. Morse in the name of Prussia and of all Germany for his great services, and speeches by the princ.i.p.al persons present--the Belgian envoy, Baron de Nothomb, very felicitously complimenting the Professor in French.

"Succeeding the hand-shaking the Director spoke again, and, in reply, Mr.

Morse gratefully acknowledged the courtesy shown to him, adding: 'It is very gratifying to me to hear you say that the Telegraph has been and is a means of promoting peace among men. Believe me, gentlemen, my remaining days shall be devoted to this great object.'...

"The Director then led his visitors into a small, cosily furnished room, saying as they entered: 'Here I have so often thought of you, Mr. Morse, but I never thought I should have the honor of receiving you in my own private room.'

"After they were seated the host, tapping upon a small table, continued: 'Over this pa.s.sed the important telegrams of the war of 1866.' Then, approaching a large telegraph map on the wall, he added: 'Upon this you can see how invaluable was the telegraph in the war. Here,'--pointing with the forefinger of his right hand,--'here the Crown Prince came down through Silesia. This,' indicating with the other forefinger a pa.s.sage through Bohemia, 'was the line of march of Prince Friedrich Carl. From this station the Crown Prince telegraphed Prince Friedrich Carl, always over Berlin, "Where are you?" The answer from this station reached him, also over Berlin. The Austrians were here,' placing the thumb on the map below and between the two fingers. 'The next day Prince Friedrich Carl comes here,'--the left forefinger joined the thumb,--' and telegraphs the fact, always over Berlin, to the Crown Prince, who hurries forward here.'

The forefinger of the right hand slipped quickly under the thumb as if to pinch something, and the narrator looked up significantly.

"Perhaps the patriotic Director thought of the July afternoon when, eagerly listening at the little mahogany-topped table, over which pa.s.sed so many momentous messages, he learned that the royal cousins had effected a junction at Koniggratz, a junction that decided the fate of Germany and secured Prussia its present proud position, a junction which but for his modest visitor's invention, the telegraph, 'always over Berlin,' would have been impossible."

Returning to Paris with his family, he spent some months at the Hotel de la Place du Palais Royal, princ.i.p.ally in collecting all the data necessary to the completion of his report, which had been much delayed owing to the dilatoriness of those to whom he had applied for facts and statistics. On April 14, 1868, he says in a letter to the Honorable John Thompson: "Pleasant as has been our European visit, with its advantages in certain branches of education, our hearts yearn for our American home.

We can appreciate, I hope, the good in European countries, be grateful for European hospitality, and yet be thorough Americans, as we all profess to be notwithstanding the display of so many defects which tend to disgrace us in the eyes of the world."

On May 18 he writes to Senator Michel Chevalier: "And now, my dear sir, farewell. I leave beautiful Paris the day after to-morrow for my home on the other side of the Atlantic, more deeply impressed than ever with the grandeur of France, and the liberality and hospitality of her courteous people, so kindly manifested to me and mine. I leave Paris with many regrets, for my age admonishes me that, in all probability, I shall never again visit Europe."

Sailing from Havre on the St. Laurent, on May 22, he and his family reached, without untoward incident, the home on the Hudson, and on June 21 he writes to his son Arthur, who had remained abroad with his tutor:--

"You see by the date where we all are. Once more I am seated at my table in the half octagon study under the south verandah. Never did the Grove look more charming. Its general features the same, but the growth of the trees and shrubbery greatly increased. Faithful Thomas Devoy has proved himself to be a truly honest and efficient overseer. The whole farm is in fine condition....

"On Thursday last I was much gratified with Mr. Leslie's letter from Copenhagen, with his account of your reception by the King of Denmark.

How gratifying to me that the portrait of Thorwaldsen has given such pleasure to the king, and that he regards it as the best likeness of the great sculptor."

The story of Morse's presentation to the King of Denmark of the portrait, painted in Rome in 1831, has already been told in the first volume of this work. The King, as we learn from the above quotation, was greatly pleased with it, and in token of his gratification raised Morse to the rank of Knight Commander of the Dannebrog, the rank of Knight having been already conferred on the inventor by the King's predecessor on the throne.

In another letter to Colonel Leslie, of November 2, 1868, brief reference is made to matters political:--

"To-morrow is the important day for deciding our next four years' rulers.

I am glad our Continental brethren cannot read our newspapers of the present day, otherwise they must infer that our choice of rulers is made from a cla.s.s more fitted for the state's prison than the state thrones, and elevation to a scaffold were more suited to the characters of the individual candidates than elevation to office. But in a few days matters will calm down, and the business of the nation will a.s.sume its wonted aspect.

"I have not engaged in this warfare. As a citizen I have my own views, and give my vote on general principles, but am prepared to learn that my vote is on the defeated side. I presume that Grant will be the president, and I shall defer to the decision like a peaceable citizen. The day after to-morrow you will know as well as we shall the probable result. The Telegraph is telling upon the world, and its effect upon human affairs is yet but faintly appreciated."

In this letter he also speaks of the death of his youngest brother, Richard C. Morse, who died at Kissingen on September 22, 1868, and in a letter to his son Arthur, of October 11, he again refers to it, and adds: "It is a sad blow to all of us but particularly to the large circle of his children. Your two uncles and your father were a three-fold cord, strongly united in affection. It is now sundered. The youngest is taken first, and we that remain must soon follow him in the natural course of things."

Farther on in this letter he says: "I attended the funeral of Mr. L---- a few weeks ago. I am told that he died of a broken heart from the conduct of his graceless son Frank, and I can easily understand that the course he has pursued, and his drunken habits, may have killed his father with as much certainty as if he had shot him. Children have little conception of the effect of their conduct upon their parents. They never know fully these anxieties until they are parents themselves."

But his skies were not all grey, for in addition to his satisfaction in being once more at home in his own beloved country, and in his quiet retreat on the Hudson, he was soon to be the recipient of a signal mark of respect and esteem by his own countrymen, which proved that this prophet was not without honor even in his own country.