had been more than ten years in public life and he felt the necessity of giving his attention to his private affairs, which had suffered in his absence. He accordingly settled in Concord, the capital of his native state, and resumed his practice at the bar, with a firm resolution to be withdrawn for the future from public life. He rose to high distinction as an advocate, being considered one of the ablest lawyers in New Hampshire. He firmly adhered to his resolution of accepting no political office; he declined to be a candidate for governor of the state, or United States senator, and he also refused the offices of attorney-general and secretary of war, which were tendered him by President Polk. On the breaking out of the Mexican war, however, General Pierce, deeming that his services were required in the cause of his country, enrolled himself as a private soldier in the New England regiment, but President Polk sent him a colonel's commission, and subequently raised him to the rank of brigadier-general in March, 1847. His command consisted of 2,500 men, with whom he landed at Vera Cruz, June 28, 1847. He distinguished himself in most of the battles which were fought between Vera Cruz and the city of Mexico, and made himself highly popular with the men under his command. On the restoration of peace between the two countries, he resigned his commission, and returned home, where he met with a brilliant reception from his fellow-*citizens. He was elected president of the United States in 1852.
SAMUEL FINLEY BREESE MORSE.
Samuel Finley Breese Morse, an American artist, better known,
perhaps, as the inventor of the electric telegraph, is the eldest son of the
Rev. Jedediah Morse, the first American geographer, and was born in
Charlestown, Massachusetts, April 27, 1791. He was educated at Yale
College, where he graduated in 1810. He had from a very early age
determined to be a painter; and his father finding his passion for art incorrigible,
consented to indulge him in his wishes; and he accordingly
sailed for England, under the charge of Mr. Allston, and arrived in London,
in August, 1811. Here he formed an intimacy with C. R. Leslie,
and the first portraits of either of these artists painted in London were
likenesses of each other. Mr. Morse made rapid progress in his profession.
In 1813, he exhibited at the Royal Academy his picture of "The Dying
Hercules," of colossal size, which received high praise from the connoisseurs,
and the plaster model which he made of the same subject, to assist
him in his picture, received the prize in sculpture, the same year. Encouraged
by this success, the artist determined to contend for the premium
in historical composition offered by the academy the following year. The
picture, the subject of which was, "The Judgment of Jupiter, in the case
of Apollo, Marpessa, and Idas," was completed in time, but Mr. Morse
was obliged to leave England before the premiums were to be adjudged,
and was consequently excluded from the privilege of competing for the
prize. Mr. West afterward assured him that he would undoubtedly have
won it. On his return to America, he settled in Boston, but he met with
so little encouragement, that he removed to New Hampshire, where he
found employment in painting portraits at $15 per head. He was induced
by his friends to remove to Charleston, South Carolina, and there his art
proved more profitable. About 1822, he took up his residence in New
