SAMUEL FINLEY BEEESE MORSE. 207 



working on eight or nine different pieces at present, 

 and seems to be more enthusiastic than he ever 

 was before. . . . No man, perhaps, ever passed 

 through so much abuse, and I am confident no one 

 ever bore up against its insolence with more noble- 

 ness of spirit. With a steady perseverance in the 

 pursuit of the sublirnest profession, he has travelled 

 on, heedless of his enemies, till he is sure of im- 

 mortality. 



" Excuse my fervor in the praise of this extraor- 

 dinary man. ... I think there can be no stronger 

 proof that human nature is the same always, 

 than that men of genius in all ages have been 

 compelled to undergo the same disappointments, 

 and to pass through the same storms of calumny 

 and abuse, doomed in their lifetime to endure 

 the ridicule or neglect of the world, and to wait 

 for justice till they were dead." 



How well, unknowingly, Morse foretold his own 

 career ; disappointments, abuse, ridicule ! 



Stimulated by the industry and renown of West, 

 he worked at his drawing from half-past seven in 

 the forenoon until five in the afternoon, and then 

 again in the evening. He learned what all per- 

 sons learn, sooner or later, that there is no easy 

 road to fame. 



West encouraged the young artist, and this 

 added fuel to the flame of ambition. Desiring ad- 

 mission to the Royal Academy, he spent two weeks 

 in making a drawing from a small cast of the 

 Farnese Hercules. Showing it to Mr. West for 



