He pursued the
subject with great devotion during the remainder of the voyage, and
after arrival in New York began the construction of the necessary
apparatus to accomplish his purpose.
Morse was by profession a portrait painter of more than ordinary merit,
and was obliged to continue his artistic labors for a livelihood. He was
a graduate of Yale College, where his attention had first been attracted
to electrical experiments. He was thus, in a measure, prepared for
carrying forward the important work he had undertaken, and pursued his
labors with great assiduity. Devoting every spare moment to the pursuit
of his object, which was attained but slowly by reason of his lack of
mechanical skill and ingenuity, not until 1837 had he so far succeeded
in his efforts as to be prepared to make application for letters-patent
to enable him to secure and protect his rights of invention in the
electromagnetic telegraph.
In explanation of the slow progress of his experimental work, Professor
Morse, in writing to a friend, said: "Up to the autumn of 1837 my
telegraphic apparatus existed in so rude a form that I felt reluctance
to have it seen.
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