“I have talked with Aunt Bartlett about getting you a bonnet.  She says that it is no time to get a fashionable winter bonnet in Boston now, and that it would be much better if you could get it in New York, as the Bostonians get their fashions from New York and, of course, much later than we should in New Haven.  She thinks that white is better than blue, etc., etc., etc., which she can explain to you much better than I can.  She is willing, however, to get you any you wish if you still request it.  She thinks, if you cannot wait for the new fashion, that your black bonnet put into proper shape with black plumes would be as tasty and fashionable as any you could procure.  I think so, too.  You had better write Aunt particularly about it.”

While Morse had conscientiously tried to put the best of himself into the painting of portraits, and had succeeded better than he himself knew, he still longed for wider fields, and in November, 1821, he went to Washington, D.C., to begin a work which he for some time had had in contemplation, and which he now felt justified in undertaking.  This was to be a large painting of the House of Representatives with many portraits of the members.  The idea was well received at Washington and he obtained the use of one of the rooms at the Capitol for a studio, making it easy for the members to sit for him.  It could not have been all plain sailing, however, for his wife says to him in a letter of December 28, 1821:  “Knowing that perseverance is a trait in your character, we do not any of us feel surprised to hear you have overcome so many obstacles.  You have undertaken a great work....  Every one thinks it must be a very popular subject and that you will make a splendid picture of it.”

Writing to his wife he says:—­

“I am up at daylight, have my breakfast and prayers over and commence the labors of the day long before the workmen are called to work on the Capitol by the bell.  This I continue unremittingly till one o’clock, when I dine in about fifteen minutes and then pursue my labors until tea, which scarcely interrupts me, as I often have my cup of tea in one hand and my pencil in the other.  Between ten and eleven o’clock I retire to rest.  This has been my course every day (Sundays, of course, excepted) since I have been here, making about fourteen hours’ study out of the twenty-four.

“This you will say is too hard, and that I shall injure my health.  I can say that I never enjoyed better health, and my body, by the simple fare I live on, is disciplined to this course.  As it will not be necessary to continue long so assiduously I shall not fail to pursue it till the work is done.

“I receive every possible facility from all about the Capitol.  The doorkeeper, a venerable man, has offered to light the great chandelier expressly for me to take my sketches in the evening for two hours together, for I shall have it a candlelight effect, when the room, already very splendid, will appear ten times more so.”