Great Fortunes, and How They Were Made Part 21

Samuel Finley Breese Morse is the eldest son of the late Jedediah Morse, one of the most distinguished Presbyterian clergymen of New England. He was born at Charlestown, Ma.s.sachusetts, on the 27th of April, 1791, was carefully educated in the common schools of his native town, and at an early age entered Yale College, where he graduated in 1810. He exhibited an early fondness for art as well as studies of a scientific character, and while a student at Yale displayed an especial aptness for chemistry and natural philosophy. Upon leaving college he decided to adopt the profession of an artist, and was sent abroad to study under the tuition of West and Copley and Allston.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SAMUEL F.B. MORSE.]

"When Allston was painting his 'Dead Man Restored to Life,' in London,"

says Mr. Tuckerman, in his _Book of the Artists_, "he first modeled his figure in clay, and explained to Morse, who was then his pupil, the advantages resulting from a plan so frequently adopted by the old masters. His young countryman was at this time meditating his first composition--a dying Hercules--and proceeded at once to act upon this suggestion. Having prepared a model that exhibited the upper part of the body--which alone would be visible in the picture--he submitted it to Allston, who recognized so much truth in the anatomy and expression that he urgently advised its completion. After six weeks of careful labor, the statue was finished and sent to West for inspection. That venerable artist, upon entering the room, put on his spectacles, and as he walked around the model, carefully examining its details and general effect, a look of genuine satisfaction beamed from his face. He rang for an attendant and bade him call his son. 'Look here, Raphael,' he exclaimed, as the latter appeared; 'did I not always tell you that every painter could be a sculptor?' We may imagine the delight of the student at such commendation. The same day one of his fellow pupils called his attention to a notice issued by the Adelphi Society of Arts, offering a prize for the best single figure, to be modeled and sent to the rooms of the a.s.sociation within a certain period. The time fixed would expire in three days. Morse profited by the occasion, and placed his 'Dying Hercules' with the thirteen other specimens already entered. He was consequently invited to the meeting of the society on the evening when the decision was to be announced, and received from the hands of the Duke of Norfolk, the presiding officer, and in the presence of the foreign amba.s.sadors, the gold medal. Perhaps no American ever started in the career of an artist under more flattering auspices; and we can not wonder that a beginning so successful encouraged the young painter to devote himself a.s.siduously to study, with a view of returning to his own country fully prepared to ill.u.s.trate the historical department of the art."

Morse spent four years in Europe in close study, and was then obliged to return to America by lack of means to carry on his education in the Old World. He had not indeed reached the high degree of proficiency which he had hoped to obtain before returning home, but he was possessed of natural talents and acquired skill, which fairly ent.i.tled him to recognition as one of our leading artists. This recognition never came to him, however, and his artist life in this country was a series of sorrowful disappointments. He found no opportunity of devoting himself to the higher branches of his art, and was obliged to confine himself entirely to portrait painting as a means of livelihood. His artist career is thus referred to by Mr. Tuckerman:

"Morse went abroad under the care of Allston, and was the pupil of West and Copley. Hence he is naturally regarded by a later generation as the connecting bond that unites the present and the past in the brief annals of our artist history. But his claim to such recognition does not lie altogether in the fact that he was a pioneer; it has been worthily evidenced by his constant devotion to the great cause itself. Younger artists speak of him with affection and respect, because he has ever been zealous in the promotion of a taste for, and a study of, the fine arts. Having entered the field at too early a period to realize the promise of his youth, and driven by circ.u.mstances from the high aims he cherished, misanthropy was never suffered to grow out of personal disappointment. He gazed reverently upon the goal it was not permitted him to reach, and ardently encouraged the spirit which he felt was only to be developed when wealth and leisure had given his countrymen opportunities to cultivate those tastes upon the prevalence of which the advancement of his favorite pursuit depends. When, after the failure of one of his elaborate projects, he resolved to establish himself in New York, he was grieved to find that many petty dissensions kept the artists from each other.

He made it his business to heal these wounds and reconcile the animosities that thus r.e.t.a.r.ded the progress of their common object.

He sought out and won the confidence of his isolated brothers, and one evening invited them all to his room ostensibly to eat strawberries and cream, but really to beguile them into something like agreeable intercourse. He had experienced the good effect of a drawing club at Charleston, where many of the members were amateurs; and on the occasion referred to covered his table with prints, and scattered inviting casts around the apartment. A very pleasant evening was the result, a mutual understanding was established, and weekly meetings unanimously agreed upon. This auspicious gathering was the germ of the National Academy of Design, of which Morse became the first president, and before which he delivered the first course of lectures on the fine arts ever given in this country."

In 1829 Mr. Morse went abroad for the purpose of completing his art studies. He remained in Europe for more than three years, residing in the princ.i.p.al cities of the Continent. During his absence he was elected "Professor of the Literature of the Fine" in the University of the City of New York. He set out on his return home to accept this professors.h.i.+p in the autumn of 1832, sailing from Havre on board the packet-s.h.i.+p "Sully."

As has been stated, he had manifested a decided fondness for Chemistry and Natural Philosophy while at Yale College, where he was a pupil of Professor Silliman in the former science, and of Professor Day in the latter, and after his departure from college he had devoted all his leisure time to the pursuit of these studies. So great was his fondness for them that some of his friends declared their belief that he ought to abandon art and devote himself to science. In 1826-27 he had delivered, at the Athenaeum in New York, the course of fine-art lectures to which reference has been made, and on alternate nights of the same season Professor J. Freeman Dana had lectured upon electro-magnetism, ill.u.s.trating his remarks with the first electro-magnet (on Sturgeon's principle) ever seen in this country. Morse and Dana had been intimate friends, and had often held long conversations upon the subject of magnetism, and the magnet referred to had at length been given to the former by Professor Torrey. The interest which he had thus conceived in this instrument had never diminished, and his investigations and studies had never ceased, so that at the time of his departure from France in the "Sully," in 1832, he was one of the best informed men upon the subject to be found in any country.

Among his fellow-pa.s.sengers were a number of persons of intelligence and cultivation, one of whom had but recently witnessed in Paris some highly interesting experiments with the electro-magnet, the object of which was to prove how readily the electric spark could be obtained from the magnet, and the rapidity with which it could be disseminated. To most of the pa.s.sengers this relation was deeply interesting, but to all save one it was merely the recital of a curious experiment. That one exception was Mr. Morse. To him the development of this newly-discovered property of electricity was more than interesting. It showed him his true mission in life, the way to his true destiny. Art was not his proper field now, for however great his abilities as an artist, he was possessed of genius of a higher, more useful type, and it was henceforth his duty to employ it. He thought long and earnestly upon the subject which the words of his fellow-pa.s.senger had so freshly called up, pacing the deck under the silent stars, and rocked in his wakeful berth by the ocean whose terrors his genius was to tame, and whose vast depths his great invention was to set at naught. He had long been convinced that electricity was to furnish the means of rapid communication between distant points, of which the world was so much in need; and the experiments which his new acquaintance had witnessed in Paris removed from his mind the last doubt of the feasibility of the scheme. Being of an eminently practical character, he at once set to work to discover how this could be done, and succeeded so well that before the "Sully" reached New York he had conceived "not merely the idea of an electric telegraph, but of an electro-magnetic and chemical recording telegraph, substantially and essentially as it now exists," and had invented an alphabet of signs, the same in all important respects as that now in use. "The testimony to the paternity of the idea in Morse's mind, and to his acts and drawings on board the s.h.i.+p, is ample. His own testimony is corroborated by all the pa.s.sengers (with a single exception), who testified with him before the courts, and was considered conclusive by the judges; and the date of 1832 is therefore fixed by this evidence as the date of Morse's conception, and realization also--so far as the drawings could embody the conception--of the telegraph system which now bears his name."

But though invented in 1832, it was not until 1835 (during which time he was engaged in the discharge of the duties of his professors.h.i.+p in the University of the City of New York) that he was enabled to complete his first recording instrument. This was but a poor, rude instrument, at the best, and was very far from being equal to his perfected invention. It embodied his idea, however, and was a good basis for subsequent improvements. By its aid he was able to send signals from a given point to the end of a wire half a mile in length, but as yet there was no means of receiving them back again from the other extremity. He continued to experiment on his invention, and made several improvements in it. It was plain from the first that he needed a duplicate of his instrument at the other end of his wire, but he was unable for a long time to have one made. At length he acquired the necessary funds, and in July, 1837, had a duplicate instrument constructed, and thus perfected his plan. His telegraph now worked to his entire satisfaction, and he could easily send his signals to the remote end of his line and receive replies in return, and answer signals sent from that terminus.

Having brought it to a successful completion, he exhibited it to large audiences at the University of New York, in September, 1837. In October, 1837, Professor Morse filed a caveat to secure his invention, but his patent was not obtained until 1840.

He now entered upon that period of the inventor's life which has proved so disastrous to many, and so wearying and disheartening to all--the effort to bring his invention into general use. It was commonly believed that, although the invention was successful when used for such short distances as had been tried in the City of New York, it would fail when tested by longer lines. Morse was confident, however, that this was not the case, and in December, 1837, he went to Was.h.i.+ngton to solicit from the Government an appropriation for the construction of an experimental line from Was.h.i.+ngton City to Baltimore--a distance of forty miles. This line he declared would thoroughly test the practicability and utility of the telegraph. His pet.i.tion was laid before Congress, and a committee appointed to consider it. He stated his plan to this body, and proved its practicability by actual experiments with his instruments.

Considerable interest in the subject was thus aroused in Congress and throughout the country, but he derived no benefit from it. If men spoke of his telegraph, it was only to ridicule it, or to express their doubts of its success. This was especially the case in Congress, and it was very uncertain whether that body would sustain the report from the committee in favor of the invention. The session wore away in this manner, and at length ended without any action being taken in the matter.

Having failed to secure the a.s.sistance of Congress, Professor Morse went to Europe in the spring of 1838, for the purpose of enlisting the aid of the governments there in bringing his invention into use. He was unsuccessful. In England a patent was refused him, and in France he merely obtained a worthless _brevet d'invention._ He tried several other countries, but was equally unsuccessful in all, and he returned home almost disheartened, but not entirely cast down. For four years he had to struggle hard for a living. He was very poor, and, as one of his friends has since declared, had literally "to coin his mind for bread."

His st.u.r.dy independence of character would not allow him to accept a.s.sistance from any one, although there were friends ready and even anxious to help him in his troubles. Alone and manfully he fought his way through these dark days, still hopeful of success for his invention, and patiently seeking to improve it wherever opportunity presented itself. At length, in 1840, he received his long-delayed patent from the General Government, and, encouraged by this, determined to make another effort to bring his telegraph into use.

He was not able to do so until the session of Congress of 1842-43, when he presented a second pet.i.tion to that body, asking its aid in the construction of an experimental line between Baltimore and Was.h.i.+ngton.

He had to encounter a great degree of skepticism and ridicule, with many other obstacles, not the least of which was the difficulty of meeting the expense of remaining in Was.h.i.+ngton and urging his invention upon the Government. Still he persevered, although it seemed to be hoping against hope, as the session drew near its close, and his scanty stock of money grew daily smaller. On the evening of the 3d of March, 1843, he returned from the Capitol to his lodgings utterly disheartened. It was the last night of the session, and nothing had been done in the matter of his pet.i.tion. He sat up late into the night arranging his affairs so as to take his departure for home on the following day. It was useless to remain in Was.h.i.+ngton any longer. Congress would adjourn the next day, and his last hope of success had been shattered.

On the morning of the 4th of March he came down to the breakfast-table gloomy and despondent. Taking up the morning journal, he ran over it listlessly. Suddenly his eye rested upon a paragraph which caused him to spring to his feet in complete amazement. It was an announcement that, at the very last hour of the session of the previous night, a bill had been pa.s.sed by Congress appropriating the sum of thirty thousand dollars for the purpose of enabling Professor Morse to construct an experimental line of telegraph between Baltimore and Was.h.i.+ngton. He could scarcely believe it real, and, as soon as possible, hastened to the Capitol to seek authentic information. The statement was confirmed by the proper authorities, and Morse's dearest wish was realized. The hour of his triumph was at hand, and his long and patient waiting was rewarded at last.

Work on the telegraph line was immediately begun, and carried on actively. At first, an insulated wire was buried under ground in a lead pipe, but this failing to give satisfaction, the wire was elevated upon poles. On the 27th of May, 1844, the line was completed, and the first trial of it made in the presence of the Government officials and many other distinguished men. Professor Morse was confident of success; but this occasion was a period of the most intense anxiety to him, for he knew that his entire future was staked upon the result of this hour.

Among the company present to witness the trial was the Secretary of the Treasury, John C. Spencer. Although very much interested in the undertaking, he was entirely ignorant of the principles involved in it, and, therefore, very apprehensive of its failure. It was upon this occasion that he asked one of Professor Morse's a.s.sistants how large a bundle could be sent over the wires, and if the United States mail could not be sent in the same way.

When all was in readiness, Professor Morse seated himself at the instrument, and sent his first message to Baltimore. An answer was promptly returned, and messages were sent and replies received with a rapidity and accuracy which placed the triumph of the invention beyond the possibility of doubt. Congratulations were showered upon the inventor, who received them as calmly as he had previously borne the scoffs of many of these same men. Yet his heart throbbed all the while with a brilliant triumph. Fame and fortune both rose proudly before him.

He had won a great victory, and conferred a lasting benefit upon his race.

The success of the experimental line brought Professor Morse numerous offers for the use of his invention. Telegraph companies were organized all over the country, and the stock issued by them was taken up as fast as offered. At the present day, not only the United States, but the whole world, is covered with telegraph lines. In July, 1862, just eighteen years after the completion of Morse's experimental line, it was estimated that the lines then in operation throughout the world amounted to an aggregate length of 150,000 miles. The Morse system is adopted on the princ.i.p.al lines of the United States, on all the lines of the Eastern continent, and exclusively on all the continental lines of Europe, "from the extreme Russian north to the Italian and Spanish south, eastward through the Turkish empire, south into Egypt and northern Africa, and through India, Australia, and parts of China."

The rapid growth of the telegraph interest of the United States placed Professor Morse in the possession of a large fortune, which was greatly increased by the adoption of his invention in Europe. The countries which had refused him patents at first now did honor to his genius. Nor was he the only gainer by this. In France, especially, the benefits of his invention were great. The old system of semaph.o.r.e telegraphs had been an annual expense to the government of that country of 1,100,000 francs, but Morse's telegraph yielded to the French Government, in the first three years after its introduction, a total revenue of 6,000,000 francs.

Fortune was not Morse's only reward. Honors were showered upon him from all parts of the world. In 1848, his _alma mater_, Yale College, conferred on him the complimentary degree of LL.D., and since then he has been made a member of nearly all the American scientific and art academies. From European Governments and scientific and art a.s.sociations he has received more honors than have ever fallen to the share of any other American. In 1848, he received from the Sultan of Turkey the decoration of the _Nishaun Iftiohar_ in diamonds, and subsequently gold medals of scientific merit were awarded him by the King of Prussia, the King of Wurtemburg, and the Emperor of Austria. The gift of the King of Prussia was set in a ma.s.sive gold snuff-box. In 1856, the Emperor Napoleon III gave him the Cross of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor; in 1857, he received from the King of Denmark the Cross of Knight of the Danebrog; and in 1858, the Queen of Spain sent him the Cross of Knight Commander of the order of Isabella the Catholic. In 1859, a convention of the representatives of the various European powers met in Paris, at the instance of the Emperor Napoleon III, for the purpose of determining upon the best means of giving Professor Morse a collective testimonial. France, Russia, Sweden, Belgium, Holland, Austria, Sardinia, Tuscany, Turkey, and the Holy See were represented, and their deliberations resulted in the presentation to Professor Morse, in the name of their united governments, of the sum of 400,000 francs, as an honorary and personal reward for his labors. In 1856, the telegraph companies of Great Britain gave him a banquet in London, at which Mr.

William Fothergill Corke, himself the distinguished inventor of a system of telegraphy, presided.

Professor Morse is also the inventor of submarine telegraphy. In 1842, he laid the first submarine telegraph line ever put down, across the harbor of New York, and for this achievement received the gold medal of the American Inst.i.tute. On the 10th of August, 1843, he addressed a communication to the Secretary of the Treasury, in which he avowed his belief that a telegraphic cable could and would be laid across the Atlantic ocean, for the purpose of connecting Europe and America. His words upon this occasion clearly prove that the idea of the Atlantic telegraph originated with him. They were as follows: "The practical inference from this law is, that a telegraphic communication on the electro-magnetic plan may with certainty be established across the Atlantic ocean. Startling as this may now seem, I am confident the time will come when this project will be realized."

In February, 1854, Mr. Cyrus W. Field, of New York, ignorant of Professor Morse's views upon this subject, wrote to him to ask if he considered the working of a cable across the Atlantic practicable. The Professor at once sought an interview with Mr. Field, and a.s.sured him of his entire confidence in the undertaking. He entered heartily into Mr.

Field's scheme, and rendered great aid in the n.o.ble enterprise which has been described elsewhere in these pages. He was present at each attempt to lay the cable, and partic.i.p.ated in the final triumph by which his prediction, made twenty-three years previous, was verified.

Professor Morse is now in his eightieth year. He resides during the winter in the city of New York, and pa.s.ses his summers at his beautiful country seat near Poughkeepsie, on the Hudson. He bears his great honors with the same modesty which marked his early struggles, and is the center of a host of friends whom he has attached to himself by the tenderest ties. "Courage and patience have been his watchwords, and although the snows of time have bleached his hair, the same intelligence and enterprising spirit, the same urbane disposition that endeared him to the friends of his youth, still cause all who know him to rejoice in the honorable independence which his great invention has secured to his age."

IV.

PUBLISHERS.

CHAPTER XXI.

JAMES HARPER.

Some years ago a gentleman having business with the great house of Harper & Brothers asked one of the employes of that establishment, "Which one is Harper, and which are the brothers?" He was answered, "Either one is Harper, and all the rest are the brothers." This reply fully sets forth the difficulty which must be experienced by any one attempting to write the story of the life of either member of this house. In such an undertaking it is very difficult to select "Harper,"

and impossible to pa.s.s by the "Brothers." The interests of each were so thoroughly in harmony with those of all the others, and there was such perfect unanimity of sentiment existing between them with regard to their private as well as their public affairs, that it is hardly possible to separate them. Since, however, it is not consistent with the design of this work to relate the history of the "house," it is the purpose of the writer to select the eldest of the brothers as the representative of the group, and to offer him to the reader as a type of the American publisher.

The grandfather of JAMES HARPER came to this country from England about the year 1740, and was one of the first of the American Methodists. His son Joseph was born in 1766. He married Elizabeth Kollyer, and settled at Newtown, on Long Island, as a farmer. It was here that James, their eldest child, was born, on the 13th of April, 1795. He grew up with a vigorous const.i.tution, and the pure influences of his home, together with the sound religious training which he received from his parents, laid the foundation of those simple and steady habits for which he was noted through life. In the winter he attended the district school, and in the summer he worked on his father's farm. Thus his life pa.s.sed away quietly and healthfully until he had completed his fifteenth year.

It now became necessary for him to make some choice of a profession in life, and when the matter was presented to him he promptly decided to become a printer. His father cheerfully seconded his wishes, and he was accordingly apprenticed to a printer in New York. On the morning of his departure from home, when the family a.s.sembled for "prayers," his mother, who was a woman of superior character, took the father's place and led the wors.h.i.+p. With trembling tones she commended her boy to the love and protection of the Saviour, and when the moment of leave-taking came she sent him forth into the world with the tender warning never to forget his home or his religious duties, or "that he had good blood in him."

The change from his happy home to the place of "devil" in the printing office was one which tried the lad's fort.i.tude to the utmost. His position was but little better than that of a menial, and not only was all the drudgery and disagreeable work put upon him, but he was made the sport of the workmen, some of whom used him even roughly. He bore it all good-naturedly, however, devoting himself to his trade with the determination to master it.

The printing office in which he was employed was located near Franklin Square, then occupied by the best people of the city. Often, as young Harper pa.s.sed across the square to and from his work, his rough "country clothes" drew upon him the ridicule of the children of these "goodly citizens." They teazed and insulted him, and sometimes carried their cruelty to the extremity of offering him bodily violence. He bore it patiently for a time, but at length determined to put a stop to it. He was physically the superior of any of his tormentors, and had put up with their conduct merely from his sincere desire to avoid a "street fight." In accordance with his new resolution, however, when one of them approached him one day and asked for his card, he set down a bucket which he was carrying, and, seizing the fellow, kicked him across the square, saying to him: "That's my card, take good care of it. When I am out of my time, and set up for myself, and you need employment, as you will, come to me, bring the card, and I will give you work." "Forty-one years after," says the writer upon whose authority this incident is related, "when Mr. Harper's establishment was known throughout all the land, after he had borne the highest munic.i.p.al honors of the city, and had become one of our wealthiest men, the person who had received the card came to Mr. James Harper's establishment and asked employment, claiming it on the ground that he had kept the card given him forty-one years before."

In a little while James was joined by his brother John, who was apprenticed to another printer in the city, and the two lads spent with each other much of their leisure time. Both worked hard. James soon became noted as the best pressman in the city, his great personal strength enabling him to work the old-fas.h.i.+oned hand-press with ease. It is said that if he disliked a fellow pressman and wished to be rid of him, he merely put forth his immense strength and outworked him. The man being unable to keep up with him, was obliged to retire.

"The habits of his rural home followed him to the city. In an age when every body drank ardent spirits freely, he was strictly temperate, and the cold water disciple justified his faith by his works. With the cheerful constancy of the fathers of his church he quietly resisted the temptations of the city. He opened a prayer-meeting in the house of an old colored woman in Ann Street, and joined the John Street Methodist Church. Meanwhile, to their simple and thrifty method of life, James and his brother added work out of hours, so that when their apprentices.h.i.+p was ended they had a little money saved."

James' excellent habits and great skill as a workman had given entire satisfaction to his master during the whole period of his apprentices.h.i.+p, and he informed the young man at the expiration of his indentures that he was willing to employ him again at fair wages. The young workman surprised him by telling him that he intended to set up for himself, and that all he wanted from him now was a certificate that he was fit to be trusted with a book. This was given, and James and his brother John took their little capital, which was increased by a loan of a few hundred dollars from their father, and renting a small room in Dover Street, set up an office on their own account, and began business under the firm name of J. & J. Harper. Their capital was small--less than the annual wages of some of their workmen to-day--but they were sustained by industry, determination, and high moral principle. When they began business, it was with a tacit agreement that each would endeavor to deserve the confidence of the other, and of their fellow-men. There was to be no evasion of principle, no sharp practice, in their house. They were resolved to make money, but to make it honestly. They would engage in no transaction which should cause a doubt of their integrity in the breast of the good mother who had sent them forth with her blessing.

More than fifty years have pa.s.sed away since then, and the Harpers have prospered steadily, and so greatly, too, that for many years their house has stood at the head of the publis.h.i.+ng interest of America. Their career is an instructive one, giving an emphatic denial to the a.s.sertion we hear so often repeated, that an "over-honest" man can not make money in New York. Shut your ears to the calumny, young man, just staring out in life. "Honesty _is_ the best policy;" and it is only by scrupulous honesty that enduring success can be obtained. Trickery and sharp practice may earn wealth rapidly, but depend upon it they have their reward; for it is a curious fact in the history of man that wealth acquired by knavery rarely stays with its possessors for more than a generation, if so long.

In starting out, the young Harpers printed books to order, attempting nothing at their own risk. They did a part of the composition and press-work with their own hands, and were, perhaps, the hardest workers in their establishment. Their first job was two thousand copies of Seneca's Morals, and was intrusted to them by Evert Duyckinck, a famous publisher of that day. The books were delivered in August, 1817, and gave entire satisfaction.

Immediately after this, they undertook to stereotype an edition of the "Book of Common Prayer" for the Protestant Episcopal Church of New York, supposing that they would be able to make a fair profit at the rate at which they had agreed to do the work. It was their original intention to do the composition themselves, and have the stereotyping done at one of the large establishments of the city; but upon a closer investigation they found that this would cost them more than they had agreed to do the work for. In this dilemma, they resolved to learn the art of stereotyping themselves, and perform that portion of their contract on their own premises. It was a tedious undertaking; but they went through with it determinedly, and at the proper time delivered the books to the officials of the Episcopal Church. Their profit was not very large, but they had become stereotypers as well as printers, and had added a valuable department to their business. Further than this, their Prayer Book was p.r.o.nounced the best piece of stereotyping that had ever been seen in the city, and won the young men congratulations on all sides.

They next undertook twenty-five hundred copies of Mair's "Introduction to Latin," which they delivered in December, 1817.

In April, 1818, they put forth their first venture on their own account.

This consisted of five hundred copies of Locke's "Essay upon the Human Understanding." These were readily disposed of, and their success encouraged them to further efforts. They proceeded very cautiously, and it was for a long time their custom, when contemplating the publication of a book, and especially in the case of a reprint, to send to the leading booksellers in the large cities of the Union, and ascertain how many copies each one would take. Thus they pushed their way forward, seizing upon every favorable opportunity for the publication of original and foreign works. They rarely made an unsuccessful venture, and as each worked hard, and had constantly in view, above all other subjects, the success of the house, they gradually extended their business until they secured the foremost place among the publishers of the United States.

Beginning with works of a dry, philosophic nature, the Harpers have extended their operations into every department of literature. Their catalogue of publications, issued in 1869, lies on the writer's table.

It is a duodecimo volume of two hundred and ninety-six closely-printed pages, and embraces a list of several thousand volumes. In this list are histories, biographies, travels, adventures, novels, poems, educational works, works on science, art, philosophy, metaphysics--in short, books on every topic familiar to man. In the department of fiction, the success of this house has been remarkable. They have published between four and five hundred novels, in cloth and paper bindings, and the demand for their early publications of this kind is still sufficiently active to compel them to keep a stock always on hand. When they began to issue their Library of Select Novels, they did so with a distinct purpose in view. Novel-reading has always been a pa.s.sion with Americans, but at the period referred to the best novels were published at such high prices that but few could afford to buy them. The ma.s.ses were compelled to put up with the cheap, flashy stories which were so well known some years ago as "yellow covers." This style of fiction, now confined to the lowest cla.s.s of readers, at that time found its way into almost every house, and the popular taste was at a very low ebb. The Harpers felt sure that by issuing the best, and only the best, English novels at a low price, they would not only meet a real want on the part of the public, but in great measure supersede the "yellow covers," with all their pernicious influences. The sequel proved the correctness of these views, and resulted in large profits to them.