he whispered
command, and continued to voice his grave and wise thoughts on
Reconstruction.

Below was that vast sea of upturned faces--every eye fixed on the face
of the much loved President. At the window, his face radiant with
patriotic joy stood Abraham Lincoln--that heroic figure, reading the
speech which was to be his last word to the people.

Beside him, creeping back and forth on his hands and knees after the
fluttering pages, and sometimes lifting an eager face to his father,
was Tad, the boy of the White House, and there let us leave him, close
beside that father to whom he was both comfort and joy, through dark
years of storm and stress. Let us leave Abraham Lincoln, and Tad, his
cherished son, together there in the sight of the people to whom they
were so dear, before the black curtain of sorrow falls over them, that
Tad's merry face may linger in our memory untouched by the sorrow of a
nation's tragedy.

S. F. B. MORSE:

A Great American who Invented the Telegraph

On the ocean, homeward bound from Havre to New York, in the first week
of October, 1832, was sailing the packet-ship _Sully_, with a long
list of passengers, among them Samuel Finley Breese Morse, a man so
important in the history of America, both as an artist and an inventor,
that it is fitting to look backward and see what influences went into
the making of such a man.

On the twenty-seventh of April, 1791, the baby with the big name was
born in a comfortable home in Charlestown, Mass. His father was the
Reverend Jedediah Morse who was not only popular with his congregation
but was the personal friend of General Washington and other great men
of his time. His mother was the daughter of a Judge, and her
grandfather had been president of Princeton college, so the baby who
was born on that April day had a rich inheritance of good blood and
love of education.

He was christened with the names of his father, grandfather and
great-grandfather, but the name was too long for daily use, so he was
called "Finley" at home, and in college was given the name of
"Geography" Morse.

His birth must have interested a large number of friends, for many
letters of congratulation were sent to the proud parents and to others
who knew them well. Dr. Belknap of Boston wrote to a friend in New
York:

"Congratulate the Monmouth Judge (Mr. Breese) on the birth of a
grandson. Next Sunday he is to be loaded with names, not quite as
many as