Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1886-08-27

llOl lAlllllAN'A lllill w i'aNNlis hiif sAiNNiiA
ly 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 his
favorite pursuit depends. When after
the failure of one of his elaborate pro-
jects, he resolved to establish himself
in New York he was grieved TO find
that many petty discntions kept the
artists from each other. He made it
his business to heal these wounds and
reconcile the animOsitcs that thus
started the progress of their common
object. He sought ont and won the
confidence of lis isolated brothers, and
one evening he 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 CharlestOWn, where
many of the members were amateurs;
and on the occasion referred to covered
his table with prints. and scattered in
vited guests, around the department. \
very pleasant evening was the result, a
mutual understanding was established
and weekly meetings unanimously
agreed upon. This suspicious gather
ing was the germ of the National
Academy of design, of which Morse
was the first president, and before
which he delivered the first course of
lectures on the fine arts ever given in
this country.
In 1929 Mr.. Morse went abroad for
the purpose of completing his art
studies. He remained in Europe for
more than three years. residing in the
principal cities of the Continent. Dur
ing his absence he was elected "ProfeS-
sor of the Literature of the Fine Arts"
in the University of the city of New
York. He set out on his return home
to accept this professorship in the
autumn of 1882. sailing from llarye on
DOalu lhc pdckcl-Sllp SuIlH.
As has been stated, he had manifest
ed a decided fondnesS for chemistry
and natural philosophy while at Yale
College, where he was pupil of Prof.
SillimM i'm the former science. and of
Prof. Day in the latter, and after his
departure from college he had devoted
all his leisure time to these studies.
So great was his fondness for them that
some of his friends declared that he
ought TO give up art and devote himself
to science. In lS26-27 he had delivered
at the Athcuaeum i'm New York. the
course of art lectures to which reference
has been made. and on alternate nights
of the same season. Prof. J. Freeman
Dana had lectured upon electro-magne-
tism. illustrating his remarks with the
first electromagnetic ton Surgeons
principle ever seen in this Country.
Morse and DANA. had been intimate
friends. and had often held conyersa-
tons upon the subject of magnetism.
and the magnet referred to had at length
been given to the former 10y Prof. Tor
rey. 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 lS32, he was one of the
best Informed men upon the subject to
found in the country.
Among his fcllow-passcngcrS were a
number of persons of intelligence and.
cultivation, one of whom had but re-
Gently witnessed in Paris some highly
interesting experiments with the cleo
tro-magnct, the object of which was to
show how readily the electric spark
could be obtained from the magnet. and
the rapidity with which il could be
To most Of the passen-
gers this relation was deeply interest
ing, but To all save one it was merely
the recital of curious experiment. |
This one exception was Mr.. Morse. To /
him the development of this newly dis |
covered property of electricity was more
than interesting. 1t 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 il was
his duty to employ it. He
thought long and earnestly upon the
subject which the words of his fellow
passengers had SO freshly called up,
pacing the deck under the silent stars.
and rocked in his wakeful berth 10y 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
vast to furnish the means of rapid com
between distant points. of
which thp world WAS SO much i'm need.