Into this serene home atmosphere came young Finley Morse, the eldest of eleven children, only three of whom survived their infancy.  The other two were Sidney Edwards and Richard Carey, both eminent men in their day.

Dr. Belknap, of Boston, in a letter to a friend in New York says:—­

“Congratulate the Monmouth Judge [Mr. Breese] on the birth of a grandson....  As to the child, I saw him asleep, so can say nothing of his eye or his genius peeing through it.  He may have the sagacity of a Jewish rabbi, or the profundity of a Calvin, or the sublimity of a Homer for aught I know.  But time will show forth all things.”

This sounds almost prophetic in the light of future days.

[Illustration:  House in which Morse was born, in Charlestown, mass.]

The following letter from the Reverend Mr. Wells is quaint and characteristic of the times:—­

My dear little boy,—­As a small testimony of my respect and obligation to your excellent Parents and of my love to you, I send you with this six (6) English Guineas.  They are pretty playthings enough, and in the Country I came from many people are fond of them.  Your Papa will let you look at them and shew them to Edward, and then he will take care of them, and, by the time you grow up to be a Man, they will under Papa’s wise management increase to double their present number.  With wishing you may never be in want of such playthings and yet never too fond of them, I remain your affectionate friend,

Wm. Wells. 
Medford, July 2, 1793.

Young Morse was sent away early to boarding-school, as was the custom at that time.  He was taken by his father to Phillips Academy at Andover, and I believe he ran away once, being overcome by homesickness before he made up his mind to remain and study hard.

The following letter is the first one written by him of which I have any knowledge:—­

Andover, 2d August, 1799.

Dear papa,—­I hope you are well I will thank you if you will Send me up Some quils Give my love to mama and Nancy and my little brothers pleas to kis them for me and send me up Some very good paper to write to you

I have as many blackberries as I want I go and pick them myself.

Samuel Finley Breese Morse
your son
1799.

This from his father is characteristic of many written to him and to his brothers while they were at school and college:—­

Charlestown, February 21, 1801.

My dear son,—­You do not write me as often as you ought.  In your next you must assign some reason for this neglect.  Possibly I have not received all your letters.  Nothing will improve you so much in epistolary writing as practice.  Take great pains with your letters.  Avoid vulgar phrases.  Study to have your ideas pertinent and correct and clothe them in an easy and grammatical dress.  Pay attention to your spelling, pointing, the use of capitals, and to your handwriting.  After a little practice these things will become natural and you will thus acquire a habit of writing correctly and well.