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348 Samuel F. B. Morse, the Painter

ure this year. It will be delivered to me in public on the 13th of May or June, I don't know which, but I shall give you a particular account of the whole process as soon as I have received it."

"June 13, 1813.
"I send by this opportunity (Mr. Elisha Goddard) the little cast of the 'Hercules' which obtained the prize this year at the Adelphi, and also the gold medal which was the premium presented to me, before a large assembly of the nobility and gentry of the country, by the Duke of Norfolk, who also paid me a handsome compliment at the same time. 

"There were present Lord Percy, the Margravine of Anspach, the Turkish, Sardinian, and Russian ambassadors, who were pointed out to me, and many noble-men whom I do not now recollect. 

"My large picture also has not only been received at the Royal Academy, but has one of the finest places in the rooms. It has been spoken of in the papers, and they not only praise me but place my picture among the most attractive in the exhibition. This I know will give you pleasure."

From another source we learn that the critic of the [[Italicized]] British Press [[end italicized]] of May 4, 1813, placed "The Dying Hercules" among the best nine paintings in this exhibition of nearly a thousand paintings, among which were the works of Turner, Northcote, Lawrence, Wilkie, and other famous men of that period.

The critic of the [[italicized]] London Globe [[end italicized]] of May 14, 1813, had this to say of this exhibition: "Of the academicians two or three have distinguished themselves in a pre-eminent degree; besides, few have added much to their fame, perhaps they have hardly sustained it. But the great feature in this exhibition is that it presents several works of very high merit by artists with whose performances, and even with whose names, we are hitherto unacquainted. At the head of this class are Messrs. Monroe and Morse. The prize of history may be contended for by Mr. Northcote and Mr. Stothard. We should award it to the former. After these gentlemen, Messrs Hilton, Turner, Lane, Monroe, and Morse follow in the same class."

This same critic places the "Dying Hercules" among the first twelve of the "pre-eminent works of this exhibition."

Several casts of the statuette were made, and one of them was, curiously enough, discovered by Morse many years later in the basement of the Capitol of the United States. This copy he gave to a friend, Rev. E. G. Smith, who wrote to him in 1860 for particulars concerning it. To this Morse replied:
"You ask if the cast of the 'Hercules' is the original cast or a copy. A mould was made from the original clay model from which were cast some five or six. I brought the mould with me from England, but, through ignorance of its character, a man in cleaning house supposed the parts to be broken plaster, and threw them into the street during my absence at the South, so that the original mould is destroyed.

"A copy, or rather one of the casts from the original mould, was in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, but was destroyed in the fire which consumed the Academy building.

"A mutilated fragment of another is, or was, in the National Academy collection in New York. Yours is the only perfect (as far as it is perfect) cast I know, the others having passed out of my knowledge.

"A fresh mould was made from the cast in Philadelphia many years ago by some moulders there, from which some casts (how many I do not know) were made and sold by them as [[italicized]] antique! [[end italicized]] So old Paff, an eccentric picture dealer, of olden time, once told me. 

"But you want to know something of its early history. This I give you in brief: 
"In the year 1812 I had so far advanced in my studies as to attempt a large picture of a single figure. The subject I chose was 'The Death of Hercules.' My friend and master at that time was Washington Allston, who was then painting his picture of the 'Dead Man Restored to Life by Touching the Bones of Elisha.' He had modelled in clay the head of the 'dead man' for the purpose of aiding him in the painting, explaining to me that this was often the practice of the most celebrated old masters. From this example I determined to model the figure of the 'Hercules' to aid me in my painting of the 'Dying Hercules.' 

"It was my first attempt at modelling, and, as the model, so far as it was to be of use in my picture, required only correctness and finish in one view of it, to wit, the view