Dismiss it, then, from your mind, and determine to paint all the better for it.

God bless you.
Your affectionate friend WASHINGTON ALLSTON.
The following sentences from a letter written on March 14, 1837, by Thomas Cole, one of the most celebrated of the early American painters, will show in what estimation Morse was held by his brother artists:-- "I have learned with mortification and disappointment that your name was not among the _chosen_, and I have feared that you would carry into effect your resolution of abandoning the art and resigning the presidency of our Academy.

I sincerely hope you will have reason to cast aside that resolution.

To you our Academy owes its existence and present prosperity, and if, in after times, it should become a great institution, your name will always be coupled with its greatness.

But, if you leave us, I very much fear that the fabric will crumble to pieces.