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amateur artist he painted many well-known pic- tures of animals. He was also a skilled taxider- mist, and prepared several fine collections of birds, regarding the natural history of which his knowl- edge was extensive and accurate.

MORSE, Isaac Edwards, lawyer, b. in Attakapas. La., 22 May, 1809 : d. in New Orleans, La., 11 Feb., 1866. He was educated at military academies in Vermont and Middletown. Conn., was graduated at Harvard in 1829. and studied law in New Orleans and in Paris. France. After being admitted to the bar. he began the practice of his profession in New Iberia, whence he was sent to the state senate. He was elected as a Democrat to congress, served, with re-elections, from 2 Dec, 1844, till 3 March, 1851. and then became attorney-general of Louisiana. In 1856 he was sent as U. S. minister to Colombia to demand indemnity for the death of American citizens that had been mur- dered while they were crossing the isthmus of Panama. Subsequently he followed the fortunes of his state in her secession from the Union.

MORSE, Jedidiah, clergyman, b. in Woodstock, Conn., 23 Aug., 1761 ; d. in New Haven, Conn., 9 June, 1826. He was graduated at Yale in 1783, and in September of that year established a school for young ladies in New Haven, mean- while pursuing theo- logical studies under Dr. Jonathan Ed- wards and Dr. Samuel Watts. In the sum- mer of 1785 he was li- censed to preach, but continued to occupy himself with teach- ing. He became a tu- tor at Yale in June, 1786, but, resigning this office, was or- dained on 9 Nov., 1786, and settled in Medway, Ga., where

he remained until

August of the following year. He spent the winter of 1787-'8 in New Haven in geographical work, preaching on Sun- days to vacant parishes in the vicinity. In May, 1787, he was invited to preach at Charlestown, Mass., where he was installed on 30 April, 1789. This pastorate he held until 1820, when he removed to New Haven, and there spent the remainder of his life. He took great interest in the subject of civilizing and Christianizing Indians, and in 1820 he was appointed by the secretary of war to visit and observe various tribes on the border, in order to ascertain their actual condition, and to devise the most suitable means for their improvement. This work occupied his attention during two win- ters, and the results of his investigations were em- bodied in a '• Report to the Secretary of War on Indian Affairs'" (New Haven, 1822). In 1795 he received the degree of D. D. from the University of Edinburgh, and he was an active member of the Massachusetts historical society and of various literary and scientific bodies. Throughout his life he was much occupied with religious contro- versy, and in upholding the faith of the New Eng- land church against the assaults of Unitarianism. Ultimately his persevering opposition to the so- called liberal views of religion brought on him a persecution that affected deeply his naturally deli- cate health. He was very active in 1804 in the movement that resulted in enlarging the Massa- chusetts general assembly of Congregational min- isters, and in 1805 unsuccessfully opposed, as a member of the board of overseers, the election of Henry Ware to the Hoi lis professorship of divinity in Harvard. Dr. Morse did much toward securing the foundation of Andover theological seminary, especially by his successful efforts in preventing the establishment of a rival institution in Newburg, which had been projected by the Hopkinsians. He participated in the organization of the Park street church in Boston in 1808, when all the Congre- gational churches of that city, except the Old South church, had abandoned the orthodox faith. In 1805 he established the " Panopolist " for the purpose of illustrating and defending the commonly received orthodoxy of New England, and continued its sole editor for five years. This journal still exists as "The Missionary Herald." Dr. Morse published twenty-five sermons and addresses on special occasions : also " A Compendious His- tory of New England," with Rev. Elijah Harris (Charlestown, 1804) : and " Annals of the American Revolution " (Hartford, 1824). He early showed considerable interest in the study of geography, and adapted from some of the larger English works a text-book that was so frequently copied by his pupils that he published it as " Geography Made Easy" (New Haven, 1784), and it was the first work of that character published in the United States. Subsequently he issued " Ameri- can Geography " (Elizabethitown, 1789) : " The American Gazetteer" (London, 1789); and "Ele- ments of Geography " (1797). These books had an extensive circulation, and gained for him the title of " Father of American Geography." — His son, Samuel Finley Breese, founder of the American system of electro-magnetic telegraph, b. in Charlestown, Mass., 27 April, 1791 ; d. in New York city, 2 April, 1872. was graduated at Yale in 1810, and in that institution received his first in- struction in electricity from Prof. Jeremiah Day, also attending the elder Silliman's lectures on chemistry and'galvanism. In 1809 he wrote : " Mr. Day's lectures are very interesting ; they are upon electricity ; he has given us some very fine experi- ments, tlie whole class, taking hold of hands, form the circuit of communication, and we all received the shock apparently at the same moment. I never took an electric shock before ; it felt as if some person had struck me a slight blow across the arms." His college career was perhaps more strongly marked by his fondness for art than for science, and he employed his leisure time in painting. He wrote to his parents during the senior year:

• ' My price is five dollars for a miniature on ivory,

and I have engaged three or four at that price. My price for profiles is one dollar, and everybody is willing to engage me at that price." When he was released from his college duties, he had no profes- sion in view, but to be a painter was his ambition, and so he began art studies under Washington Allston, and in 1811 accompanied him to Lon- don, where soon afterward he was admitted to the Royal academy. He remained in London for four years, meeting many celebrities and form- ing an intimate friendship with Charles R. Leslie, who became his room-mate. Under the tuition of Allston and Benjamin West he made rapid prog- ress in his art. and in 1813 exhibited a colossal " Dying Hercules " in the Royal academy, which was classed by critics as among the first twelve paintings there. The plaster model that he made to assist him in his picture gained the gold medal of the Adelphi society of arts. This was given when Great Britain and the United States were at