made the target for all manner of abuse, accused of misappropriating the
ideas of others, of lying, deceit, and treachery, and of unbounded
conceit and vaingloriousness. But a careful study of his notes and
correspondence, and the testimony of others, proves him to have been a
pure-hearted Christian gentleman, earnestly desirous of giving to every
one his just due, but jealous of his own good name and fame, and fighting
valiantly, when needs must be, to maintain his rights; guilty sometimes
of mistakes and errors of judgment; occasionally quick-tempered and testy
under the stress of discouragement and the pressure of poverty, but frank
to acknowledge his error and to make amends when convinced of his fault;
and the calm verdict of posterity has awarded him the crown of greatness.

Morse was now forty-one years old; he had spent three delightful years in
France and Italy; had matured his art by the intelligent study of the
best of the old masters; had made new friends and cemented more strongly
the ties that bound him to old ones; and he was returning to his dearly
loved native land and to his family with high hopes of gaining for
himself and his three motherless children at least a competence, and of
continuing his efforts in behalf of the fine arts.

From Mr. Cooper's and Mr. Habersham's reminiscences we must conclude
that, in the background of his mind, there existed a plan, unformed as
yet, for utilizing electricity to convey intelligence. He was familiar
with much that had been discovered with regard to that mysterious force,
through his studies under Professors Day and Silliman at Yale, and
through the lectures and conversation of Professors Dana and Renwick in
New York, so that the charge which was brought against him that he knew
absolutely nothing of the subject, can be dismissed as simply proving the
ignorance of his critics.