I have found so many letters, diaries, and sketch-books of those earlier years, never before published, that seemed to me of great human interest, that I have ventured to let a large number of these documents chronicle the history of Morse the artist.
Many of the letters here published have already appeared in Mr.S.
Irenaeus Prime's biography of Morse, but others are now printed for the first time, and I have omitted many which Mr.Prime included.

I must acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr.Prime for the possibility of filling in certain gaps in the correspondence; and for much interesting material not now otherwise obtainable.
Before the telegraph had demonstrated its practical utility, its inventor was subjected to ridicule most galling to a sensitive nature, and after it was a proved success he was vilified by the enemies he was obliged to make on account of his own probity, and by the unscrupulous men who tried to rob him of the fruits of his genius; but in this he was only paying the penalty of greatness, and, as the perspective of time enables us to render a more impartial verdict, his character will be found to emerge triumphant.
His versatility and abounding vitality were astounding.

He would have been an eminent man in his day had he never invented the telegraph; but it is of absorbing interest, in following his career, to note how he was forced to give up one ambition after another, to suffer blow after blow which would have overwhelmed a man of less indomitable perseverance, until all his great energies were impelled into the one channel which ultimately led to undying fame.
In every great achievement in the history of progress one man must stand preeminent, one name must symbolize to future generations the thing accomplished, whether it be the founding of an empire, the discovery of a new world, or the invention of a new and useful art; and this one man must be so endowed by nature as to be capable of carrying to a successful issue the great enterprise, be it what it may.

He must, in short, be a man of destiny.

That he should call to his assistance other men, that he should legitimately make use of the labors of others, in no wise detracts from his claims to greatness.