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352 Samuel F.B. Morse, the Painter

And again in a letter of May 3, 1815, he says:

"I do not speak of portrait-painters; had I no higher thoughts than being a first-rate portrait-painter, I would have chosen a far different profession.

"My ambition is to be among those who shall revive the glories of the fifteenth century; to rival the genius of a Raphael, a Michael Angelo, or a Titian. My ambition is to be enlisted in the constellation of genius which is now rising in this country. I wish to shine, not by a light borrowed from them, but to strive to shine the brightest."

Unfortunately, there was no demand in the United States of that time for great pictures such as the enthusiastic young painter felt himself capable of creating.

He returned home in the fall of 1815 hoping to stay but a year, to earn enough in that time to enable him to return to Europe and continue his studies; but even the painter of portraits was poorly paid in those days, and he did not return until fourteen years later.

How modestly remunerated were the immortalizers of the worthies of that period may be gathered from the following lines in a letter to his parents, written from Concord, N. H., on August 16, 1916:

"I am still here, and am passing my time very agreeably. I have painted five portraits at fifteen dollars each, and have two more engaged and many more talked of. I think I shall get along well. I believe I could make an independent fortune in a few years if I devoted myself exclusively to portraits, so great is the desire for good portraits in the different country towns."

He painted the good people of New Hampshire on this trip, not only in Concord, but in Walpole, Hanover, Windsor, and Portsmouth, and many of these portraits must still be in the possession of the descendants of the originals. In 1818, after his marriage to Miss Walker, of Concord, N. H., he went to Charleston, S. C., at the urgent request of his kinsman, Dr. Finely, and, while there, he painted many of the prominent people of the day.

[[portrait]]
President Monroe.
From a painting by Samuel F.B. Morse, in the City Hall, Charleston, S.C.

[[images of a medal, front and back]]
The Adelphi gold medal, presented to Samuel F. B. Morse in 1813 for the best original cast of a single figure.
Presented to the School of the Fine Arts, Yale.

Samuel F. B. Morse, the Painter 353

The Common Council of Charleston commissioned him to paint the portrait of James Monroe, the President, and this commission be executed in the course of the following year. Referring to it in a letter to his wife he says:
"I began on Monday to paint the President, and have almost completed the head. I am thus far pleased with it, but I find it very perplexing, for he cannot sit more than ten or twenty minutes at a time, so that the moment I feel engaged, he is called away again. I set my palette to-day at ten o'clock and waited until four o'clock this afternoon before he came in. He then sat ten minutes and we were called to dinner. Is not this trying to one's patience?
"My room is at his house, next to his cabinet room, for his convenience. When he has a moment's leisure he comes in to sit to me. He is very agreeable and affable, as are also his family. I drank tea with