N
AMERICA, by James D. Reid] This was a lesson in thoroughness of work and
attention to detail which was not lost on the student. The picture was
exhibited at the Royal Academy, in Somerset House, during the summer
of 1813, and West declared that if Morse were to live to his own age he
would never make a better composition. The remark is equivocal, but
was doubtless intended as a compliment to the precocity of the young
painter.

In order to be correct in the anatomy he had first modelled the figure
of his Hercules in clay, and this cast, by the advice of West, was
entered in competition for a prize in sculpture given by the Society
of Arts. It proved successful, and on May 13 the sculptor was presented
with the prize and a gold medal by the Duke of Norfolk before a
distinguished gathering in the Adelphi.

Flushed with his triumph, Morse determined to compete for the prize of
fifty guineas and a gold medal offered by the Royal Academy for the best
historical painting, and took for his subject, 'The Judgment of Jupiter
in the case of Apollo, Marpessa, and Idas.' The work was finished to the
satisfaction of West, but the painter was summoned home. He was still,
in part at least, depending on his father, and had been abroad a year
longer than the three at first intended. During this time he had been
obliged to pinch himself in a thousand ways in order to eke out his
modest allowance. 'My drink is water, porter being too expensive,' he
wrote to his parents. 'I have had no new clothes for nearly a year. My
best are threadbare, and my shoes are out at the toes. My stockings all
want to see my mother, and my hat is hoary with age.'

Mr. West recommended him to stay, since the rules of the competition
required the winner to receive the prize in person. But after trying
in vain to get this regulation waived, he left for America with his
picture, having, a few days prior to his departure, dined with Mr.
Wilberforce as the guns of Hyde Park were signalling the victory of
Waterloo.

Arriving in Boston on October 18, he lost no time in renting a studio.
His fame had preceded him, and he became the lion of society. His
'Judgment of Jupiter' was exhibited in the town, and people flocked to
see it. But no one offered to buy it. If the line of high art he had
chosen had not supported him in England, it was tantamount to starvation
in the rawer atmosphere of America. Even in Boston, mellowed though it
was by culture, the classical w