Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/468

428 nine the chairman announced that the telegraphic instrument before him, the original register em- ployed in actual service, was connected with all the' wires of the United States, and that the touch of the finger on the key would soon vibrate throughout the continent. The following message -was then sent : " Greeting and thanks to the tele- graph fraternity throughout the land. Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will to men." At the last click of the instrument, Morse struck the sounder with his own name, amid the most extravagant applause. When the excitement had subsided, the chairman said : " Thus the father 'Of the telegraph bids farewell to his children." The last public service that he performed was the unveiling of the statue of Benjamin Franklin in Printing house square, on 17 Jan., 1872, in the presence of a vast number of citizens. He had cheerfully acceded to the request that he would perform this act, remarking that it would be his last. It was eminently appropriate that he should do this, for, as was said : "The one conducted the lightning safely from the sky ; the other conducts it beneath the ocean, from continent to continent. The one tamed the lightning, the other makes it minister to human wants and human progress." Shortly after his return to his home he was seized with neuralgia in his head, and after a few months of suffering he died. Memorial sessions of con- gress and of various state legislatures were held in his honor. " In person," says his biographer, " Prof. Morse was tall, slender, graceful, and attrac- tive. Six feet in stature, he stood erect and fii"m even in his old age. His blue eyes were expressive of genius and affection. His nature was a rare combination of solid intellect and delicate sensi- bility. Thoughtful, sober, and quiet, he readily entered into the enjoyments of domestic and social life, indulging in sallies of humor, and readily appreciating and enjoying the wit of others. Dig- nified in his intercourse with men, courteous and affable with the gentler sex, he was a good hus- band, a judicious father, a generous and faithful friend." He was a ready writer, and, in addition to several controversial pamphlets concerning the telegraph, he published poems and articles in the " North American Review." He edited the " Re- ' mains of Lucretia Maria Davidson " (New York, 1829), to which he added a personal memoir, and ^Iso published " Foi'eign Conspiracy against the Liberties of the United States " (1835) ; " Immi- nent Dangers to the Free Institutions of the United States through Foreign Immigration, and the Present State of the Naturalization Laws, by .an American," originally contributed to the "Jour- nal of Commerce" in 1835, and published anony- mously in 1854; "Confessions of a French Catho- lic Priest, to which are added Warnings to the People of the United States, by the same Author " .(edited and published with an introduction, 1837) ; and " Our Liberties defended, the Question dis- cussed. Is the Protestant or Papal System most Favorable to Civil and Religious Liberty ? " (1841). See " Life of Samuel F. B. Morse," by Sam- uel IreuiBus Prime (New York, 1875). — Another son of Jedidiah, Sidney Edwards, journalist, b. in Charlestown, Mass., *7 Feb., 1794: d. in New York city, 24 Dec, 1871, was graduated at Yale in 1811, and studied theology at Andover seminary, .and law at the Litchfield, Conn., school. Mean- while he became a contributor to the " Columbian Centinel " of Boston, writing a series of articles that illustrated the danger to the American Union from an undue multiplication of new states in the south, and showing that it would give to a sec- tional minority the control of the government. These led to his being invited by Jeremiah Evarts and others to found a weekly religious newspaper, to which he gave the name " Boston Recorder." He continued as sole editor and proprietor of this journal for more than a year, and in this time raised its circulation until it was exceeded by that of only two Boston papers. Mr. Morse was then associated with his elder brother in patenting the flexible piston pump and extending its sale. In 1823 he came to New York, and with his brother, Richard C. Morse, founded the " New York Ob- server," now the oldest weekly in New York city, and the oldest religious newspaper in the state. He continued as senior editor and proprietor until 1858, when he retired to private life. Mr. Morse in 1839 was associated with Henry A. Munson in thedevelopmentof cerography, a method of printing maps in color on the common printing-press. He used this process to illustrate the geographical text-books that he published, and in early life he assisted his father in the pi'eparation of works of that character. The last years of his life were devoted to experimenting with an invention for the rapid exploration of the depths of the sea. This instrument, called a bathyometer, was ex- hibited at the World's fair in Paris in 1869, and during 1870 in New York city. His publications include '• A New System of Modern Geography " (Boston, 1823). of which more than half a million copies were sold ; " Premium Questions on Slave- ry " (New York, 1860) ; " North American Atlas " ; and •' Cerographic Maps, comprising the Whole Field of Ancient and Modern, including Sacred, Geography, Chronology, and History." — Another son, Richard Gary, journalist, b. in Charlestown, Mass., IS June, 1795 ; d. in Kissingen, Bavaria, 23 Sept., 1868, was graduated at Yale in 1812, and spent the year following as amanuensis to Presi- dent Timothy Dwight, with whose family he re- sided. He then entered Andover theological serainarj% and after his graduation in 1817 was licensed to preach in the same year. During the winter of 18I7-'18 he acted as supply to the Presby- terian church on John's island. S. C, and on his return to New Haven he assisted his father in the preparation of his geographical works. In 1823, with his brother. Sidney E. Morse, he established the " New York Observer," of which he continued associate editor and part proprietor until his death, contributing largely to its columns, especially French and German translations. In 1858 he re- tired from active life, and in 1863 removed to New Haven, where he spent his last years.

MORSE, John Torrey, author, b. in Boston, Mass., 9 Jan., 1840. He was graduated at Har- vard in 1860, and has served his university as lec- turer on history in 1876-'9, and as overseer since 1876. Mr. Morse was a member of the Massachu- setts legislature during one term, and is a member of the State historical society. For two years he was co-editor with Henry Cabot Lodge (g. v.) of the " International Review," and in addition to sun- dry articles in the reviews he has published " Trea- tise on the Law relating to Banks and Banking " (Boston, 1870); "Law of Arbitration and Award" (1872); "Famous Trials" (1874); and "Life of Alexander Hamilton" (2 vols., 1876). More re- cently he has edited the series of lives of American statesmen, to which he has contributed the vol- umes " John Quincy Adams " (1883) ; " Thomas Jefferson" (1883); and "John Adams" (1884).

'''MORTEMART. Tioturnien Henry Elzear de Rochechouart'''. Viscount de (mor-tay-marr), French naval officer, b. in Paris in 1757; d. in