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[Illustration: Samuel F.B. Morse]
1914
"It is the hour of fate,
And those who follow me reach every state
Mortals desire, and conquer every foe
Save death. But they who doubt or hesitate—
Condemned to failure, penury and woe—
Seek me in vain and uselessly implore.
I hear them not, and I return no more."
Ingalls, Opportunity.
Arthur Christopher Benson, in the introduction to his studies inbiography entitled "The Leaves of the Tree," says:—
"But when it comes to dealing with men who have played upon the whole anoble part in life, whose vision has been clear and whose heart has beenwide, who have not merely followed their own personal ambitions, but havereally desired to leave the world better and happier than they foundit,—in such cases, indiscriminate praise is not only foolish anduntruthful, it is positively harmful and noxious. What one desires to seein the lives of others is some sort of transformation, some evidence ofpatient struggling with faults, some hint of failings triumphed over,some gain of generosity and endurance and courage. To slur over thefaults and failings of the great is not only inartistic: it is alsofaint-hearted and unjust. It alienates sympathy. It substitutes unrealadoration for wholesome admiration; it afflicts the reader, conscious offrailty and struggle, with a sense of hopeless despair in the presence ofanything so supremely high-minded and flawless."
The judgment of a son may, perhaps, be biased in favor of a belovedfather; he may unconsciously "slur over the faults and failings," and layemphasis only on the virtues. In selecting and putting together theletters, diaries, etc., of my father, Samuel F.B. Morse, I have tried toavoid that fault; my desire has been to present a true portrait of theman, with both lights and shadows duly emphasized; but I can say withperfect truth that I have found but little to deplore. He was human, hehad his faults, and he made mistakes. While honestly differing from himon certain questions, I am yet convinced th