“Lost, from thy care to know thy master free
  Can we thy self-devotion e’er forget? 
’Twas kindred feeling in a less degree
  To that which thrilled the soul of Lafayette. 
  He freely braved our storms, our dangers met,
Nor left the ship till we had ’scaped the sea. 
  Thine was a spark of noble feeling bright
Caught from the fire that warms thy master’s heart. 
His was of Heaven’s kindling, and no small part
  Of that pure fire is His.  We hail the light
Where’er it shines, in heaven, in man, in brute;
We hail that sacred light howe’er minute,
  Whether its glimmering in thy bosom rest
  Or blaze full orb’d within thy master’s breast.”

This was sent to General Lafayette on the 4th of July, 1825, accompanied by the following note:—­

“In asking your acceptance of the enclosed poetic trifle, I have not the vanity to suppose it can contribute much to your gratification; but if it shall be considered as an endeavor to show to you some slight return of gratitude for the kind sympathy you evinced towards me at a time of deep affliction, I shall have attained my aim.  Gladly would I offer to you any service, but, while a whole nation stands waiting to answer the expression of your smallest wish, my individual desire to serve you can only be considered as contending for a portion of that high honor which all feel in serving you.”

Concealing from the world his great sorrow, and bravely striving always to maintain a cheerful countenance, Morse threw himself with energy into his work in New York, endeavoring to keep every minute occupied.

He seems to have had his little daughter with him for a while, for in a letter of March 12, 1825, occurs this sentence:  “Little Susan has had the toothache once or twice, and I have promised her a doll if she would have it out to-day—­I am this moment stopped by her coming in and showing me the tooth out, so I shall give her the doll.”

But he soon found that it would be impossible for him to do justice to his work and at same time fulfil his duties as a parent, and for many years afterwards his motherless children found homes with different relatives, but the expense of their keep and education was always borne by their father.

On the 1st of May, 1825, he moved into new quarters, having rented an entire house at No. 20 Canal Street for the sum of four hundred dollars a year, and he says, “My new establishment will be very commodious for my professional studies, and I do not think its being so far ‘up town’ will, on the whole, be any disadvantage to me.”

“May 26, 1825.  I have at length become comfortably settled and begin to feel at home in my new establishment.  All things at present go smoothly.  Brother Charles Walker and Mr. Agate join with me in breakfast and tea, and we find it best for convenience, economy, and time to dine from home,—­it saves the perplexity of providing marketing and the care of stores, and, besides, we think it will be more economical and the walk will be beneficial.”  While success in his profession seemed now assured, and while orders poured in so fast that he gladly assisted some of his less fortunate brother artists by referring his would-be patrons to them, he also took a deep interest in the general artistic movement of the time.