My means were very limited, so limited as to preclude
the possibility of constructing an apparatus of such mechanical finish
as to warrant my success in venturing upon its public exhibition. I had
no wish to expose to ridicule the representative of so many hours of
laborious thought. Prior to the summer of 1837 I depended upon my pencil
for subsistence. Indeed, so straitened were my circumstances that in
order to save time to carry out my invention and to economize my scanty
means I had for months lodged and eaten in my studio, procuring food in
small quantities from some grocery, and preparing it myself. To conceal
from my friends the stinted manner in which I lived, I was in the habit
of bringing food to my room in the evenings; and this was my mode of
life for many years."
After the continuance of this heroic struggle for more than five years,
Morse found himself compelled to seek the aid of more accomplished
mechanical skill than he possessed, to perfect his apparatus, and was
obliged to surrender a quarter interest in his invention in order to
obtain pecuniary aid for this purpose.
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