SAMUEL FINLEY BREESE MORSE. 209 



that it will convince you that I shall make a 

 painter. . . . Mr. West also was extremely de- 

 lighted with it. He said it was not merely an 

 academical figure, but displayed thought. He 

 could not have paid me a higher compliment. . . . 

 My passion for my art is so firmly rooted that I 

 am confident no human power could destroy it. 

 The more I study, the greater I think is its claim 

 to the appellation of divine, and I never shall be 

 able sufficiently to show my gratitude to my parents 

 for enabling me to pursue that profession without 

 which I am sure I should be miserable. And if it 

 is my destiny to become GREAT, and worthy of a 

 biographical memoir, my biographer will never be 

 able to charge upon my parents that bigoted attach- 

 ment to any individual profession, the exercise of 

 which spirit by parents toward their children has 

 been the ruin of some of the greatest geniuses." 



The model of the " Dying Hercules " was sent 

 to the Society of Arts at the Adelphi, and Morse 

 received the gold medal given for the best work in 

 painting, sculpture, and architecture. 



Morse had taken letters of introduction to 

 several prominent persons, like Wilberforce and 

 Zachary Macaulay, the father of the historian, but 

 he was too busy to use them. He gives another 

 reason also poverty. He says, " With regard 

 to my expenses, I got through the first year with 

 two hundred pounds, and hope the same sum will 

 carry me through the second. If you knew the 

 manner in which we live, you would wonder how 



