the documentary evidence, which I am confident will prove that he never
claimed more than was his right. For many years after his invention was a
proved success, almost to the day of his death, he was compelled to fight
for his rights; but he was a good fighter, a skilled controversialist,
and he has won out in the end.

He was born and brought up in a deeply religious atmosphere, in a faith
which seems to us of the present day as narrow; but, as will appear from
his correspondence, he was perfectly sincere in his beliefs, and
unfalteringly held himself to be an instrument divinely appointed to
bestow a great blessing upon humanity.

It seems not to be generally known that he was an artist of great
ability, that for more than half his life he devoted himself to painting,
and that he is ranked with the best of our earlier painters.

In my selection of letters to be published I have tried to place much
emphasis on this phase of his career, a most interesting one. I have
found so many letters, diaries, and sketch-books of those earlier years,
never before published, that seemed to me of great human interest, that I
have ventured to let a large number of these documents chronicle the
history of Morse the artist.

Many of the letters here published have already appeared in Mr. S.
Irenaeus Prime's biography of Morse, but others are now printed for the
first time, and I have omitted many which Mr. Prime included. I must
acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. Prime for the possibility of filling
in certain gaps in the correspondence; and for much interesting material
not now otherwise obtainable.