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The mother-spirit of the
modern world is the printing press. Without it the civilisation kindled in
Italy from the old Greek and Hebrew fires would have gone out or sunk to the
thinnest flame, like the hundred civilisations that before had come and
gone, if the Germans, ever thoughtful and intent to save, had not made for
it a lamp that cannot break and cannot be lost—the lamp of printing. This
spirit had offspring, two children, one rough, boisterous, strong, and
terrible as the winter winds, and men called the young giant Steam; the
other, fine, subtle, delicate as the light of heaven, and its name is
Electricity. But these great spirits needed education. Masters must teach
them to obey the will and wish of man. Such a master was James Watt. He took
in hand the young giant of steam, he waited and he watched by it, he guided
and he trained it, until, from a rough and dangerous barbarian, he made it
the wondrous and harmonious worker that it is. Would it not be strange if
one born in the same town as Watt, about the same time, had brought out of
electricity its fine qualities that enable it to abolish distance ? This is
what actually was done by a fellow-townsman and contemporary of James Watt.
To drop all metaphor, in this case so entising, Charles Morison, a native of
Greenock, did, in the middle of last century, discover the principle of the
electric telegraph, and did construct an instrument by which messages were
conveyed from place to place.
Were not the evidence, as we shall show, too plain to be mistaken, I should
much incline to doubt it. Whenever anybody discovers anything, half a dozen
envious spirits are ready to flood every newspaper with columns of
controversial matter to the effect that he did not discover it but stole it.
If you found out a way to make gold from brass, or statesmen from
demagogues, you would be told that it was all set down in papers that your
grandfather most unlawfully took it from some one else’s grandfather, and
that you had no more right to he called a discoverer than you had to be
called Emperor of China. That is human nature. But here the facts are
simple, clear, and past dispute. Years before the discovery is claimed for
any other man, Charles Morison knew that subtle process by which thought
flashes round the earth almost with thought’s own swiftness.
In the early part of last century electricity was a toy, a pet of the study.
Men no more dreamed of what it could do than they might dream that a pink
morsel of baby-humanity would grow into a Napolean and cover Europe with
graves. In 1736, James Watt came into the world that he was to turn upside
down. It is probable that Charles Morison was born not far from the same
time. Think of it. Greenock was then a cleanly, sleepy, little place. Even
Glasgow was hardly bigger than a market town of to-day. Into the Greenock
streets came the hardy Highlanders to traffic, and—it must be confessed—to
spoil the Saxon as completely as they could. Prince Charlie had not yet made
his desperate struggle for his father’s throne. Here in this quiet place,
with its steady-going, decent people, more intent upon some venture to the
Indies than upon all the politics that agitated far-off London, were born,
and grew, and had their training in the world’s work, two youths, each of
whom had in his mind ideas the full extent and vast influence of which they
themselves could as little dream as the Virgin-mother with the Holy Infant
in her womb could foresee Christian Europe. Did they ever meet ? Perhaps
they went to school together, perhaps heard the same long sermon in the
Parish Church, perhaps bright eyes long gone out, sweet lips long since
ashes, gleamed and smiled with simple coquetry on both. Perhaps—but we must
stop. The speculation is too romantic, too fascinating. They must have met,
probably they have spoken. Whether they interchanged ideas is profitless to
discuss. A great mind self-centred, selfabsorbed, is not so apt to detect
greatness in others as the hero-worshipping public would love to think. In
1753 Charles Morison was living in Renfrew, and had already found out his
great world-changing fact. The Scots Magazine of that year contained the
following letter, the extreme interest of which warrants us in publishing it
without abbreviation :—
AN EXPEDITIOUS METHOD OF CONVEYING INTELLIGENCE BY MEANS OF ELECTRICITY.
Renfrew, Feb. 1, 1753.
To the author of the Scots Magazine—
Sir,—It is well known to all who are conversant with electrical experiments,
that the electric power may be propagated along a small wire, from one place
to another, without being sensibly abated by the length of its progress. Let
then a set of wires, equal in number to the letters of the alphabet, be
extended horizontally between two given places parallel to one another, and
each of them about an inch distant from that next to it. At every twenty
yards end, let them be fixed in glass, or jeweller’s cement, to some firm
body, both to prevent them from touching the earth or any other
non-electric, and from breaking by their own gravity. Let the electric gun
barrel be placed at right angles with the extremities of the wires, and
about an inch below them. Also let the wires be fixed on a solid piece of
glass, at six inches from the end; and let that part of them which reaches
from the glass to the machine, have sufficient spring and stiffness to
recover its situation after having been brought in contact with the barrel.
Close by the supporting glass, let a ball be suspended from every wire; and
about a sixth or an eighth of an inch below the balls place the letters of
the alphabet, marked on bits of paper, or any other substance that may be
light enough to rise to the electrified ball; and at the same time let it be
so contrived, that each of them may reassume its proper place when dropt.
All things constructed as above, and the minute previously fixed, I begin
the conversation with my distant friend in this manner. Having set the
electrical machine a-going as in ordinary experiments, suppose I am to
pronounce the word Sir; with a piece of glass or any other electric per se,
I strike the wire S, so as to bring it in contact with the barrel, then i,
then r, all in the same way; and my correspondent, almost in the same
instant, observes these several characters rise in order to the electrified
balls at his end of the wires. Thus I spell away as long as I think fit; and
my correspondent, for the sake of memory, writes the characters as they
rise, and may join and read them afterwards as often as he inclines. Upon a
signal given, or from choice, I stop the machine; and taking up the pen in
my turn, I write down whatever my friend at the other end strikes out.
If anybody should think this way tiresome, let him, instead of the balls,
suspend a range of bells from the roof, equal in number to the letters of
the alphabet; gradually decreasing in size from the bell A to Z: and from
the horizontal wires, let there be another set reaching to the several
bells; one, t'izt., from the horizontal wire B to the bell B, &c. Then let
him who begins the discourse bring the wires in contact with the barrel, as
before; and the electrical spark, breathing on bells of different size, will
inform his correspondent by the sound what wires have been touched. And
thus, by some practice, they may come to understand the language of the
chimes in whole words, without being put to the trouble of noting down every
letter.
The same thing may be otherwise effected. Let the balls be suspended over
the characters as before, but instead of bringing the ends of the horizontal
wires in contact with the barrel, let a second set reach from the
electrified cake, so as to be in contact with the horizontal ones; and let
it be so contrived at the same time, that any of them may be removed from
its corresponding horizontal by the slightest touch, and may bring itself
again into contact when left at liberty. This may be done by the help of a
small spring and slider, or twenty other methods, which the least ingenuity
will discover. In this way, the characters will always adhere to the balls,
excepting when any one of the secondaries is removed from contact with its
horizontal; and then the letter at the other end of the horizontal will
immediately drop from its ball. But I mention this only by way of variety.
Some may perhaps think that although the electric fire has not been observed
to diminish sensibly in its progress through any length of wire that has
been tried hitherto ; yet as that has never exceeded some thirty or forty
yards, it may be reasonably supposed, that in a greater length it would be
remarkably diminished and probably would be entirely drained off in a few
miles by the surrounding air. To prevent the objection, and save longer
argument, lay over the wires from one end to the other with a thin coat of
jeweller’s cement. This may be done for a trifle of additional expense ; and
as it is an electric per se, will effectually secure any part of the fire
from mixing with the atmosphere.—I am, &c., C. M.
Is it not wonderful ? Here is the electric telegraph. In 1753 this Greenock
man, Charles Morison, had, and used that which, even in 1886, we regard as a
marvel surpassing all other marvels. We have developed and improved it, but
we have done no more. The same principle is still applied in the same way.
Unfortunately this man, Charles Morison, does not seem to have had that
intense power which generally accompanies invention, the power of impressing
ideas upon other people. That he could lucidly and completely write down his
thoughts, appears by his letter, which is remarkably clear and even elegant
in expression.
But having1 written this letter, having sown, as it were, his idea in the
Scots Magazine, he left the matter to time, chance, and his ideas surpassing
worth. No Boulton was at hand to take it up and to translate it even then
into a world-encircling net-work of nerve-like wires. Twenty-one years later
Lesage, in Geneva, by means of twenty four wires, conveyed messages from
place to place, and then Europe became too much engrossed in revolution for
such a useful invention to reach early maturity.
In 1859 Sir David Brewster disinterred this long forgotten letter from the
Scots Magazine, and republished it in the North British Review. In his
remarks upon the letter he says—“ Here we have an electric telegraph upwards
of a hundred years old, which at the present day would convey intelligence
expeditiously, and we are constrained to admit that C. M. was the inventor
of the electric telegraph .... Everything done since is only improvement.”
But who was C. M. ? From modesty or other reasons Charles Morison had only
signed his initials. Sir David Brewster was in the dark. At last light came
in letters now fully given to the world for the first time. These letters,
after the death of Sir David, were found among his correspondence by C.
Brewster Macpherson, Esq. of Belleville House, Kingussie, and by him
generously presented to the Watt Library, Greenock. Here they are, and very
interesting is the story they tell:—
Port-Glasgow, 31st October, 1859.
Sir,—Having the other evening been reading a portion of the North British
Review, vol. 22, p. 545, regarding the invention of the Electric Telegraph,
and having by mere chance come upon the passage which says, “ It was
reserved for a Scotchman, a gentleman residing in Renfrew, to suggest the
idea of transmitting messages by Electricity along wires passing from one
place to another. The remarkable proposal was published in the Scots
Magazine for February, 1753, in an article bearing the initials ‘C. M.,’ the
only name which we shall ever probably obtain for the first inventor of the
Electric Telegraph ”—a friend of mine at present living with me here, on
being shewn the passage, and thinking for a minute, told me he could solve
the mystery regarding the gentleman in question, with the view of sending
the same to you, presuming that you were the writer of the article referred
to, or connected with the publishing of the North British Review, He stated
that in a letter which his great grandfather had written to Margaret
Wingate, Craigengilte, near Denny, in the year 1752, which letter he
recollects having seen, and which he believes is still in preservation, his
great grandfather describes having seen a gentleman in Renfrew, of the name
of Charles Morrison, who was a native of Greenock, and was a bred surgeon,
but it is a question whether he ever practised his profession, as it was
known he was sometime connected with the tobacco trade in Glasgow. It is
presumed he had not continued very long at the business of dealing in
tobacco, but had made the study of finding out this noble science his daily
theme. The people of that age were so superstitious that they believed Mr.
Morrison was crazy, and that the Devil was acting in concert with him, and
my friend’s grandfather and grandmother also thought so, and all who heard
or saw him transmitting intelligence along wires by invisible means, were
actually persuaded that the man was assisted by some supernatural being.
From what my friend can remember of hearing, it is thought that Mr. Morrison
had to leave Renfrew, in consequence of the superstitious notions of the
age. Mr. Morrison did leave Renfrew, whether from this cause or not he
cannot affirm, and went to Virginia, U.S., where he afterwards died.
My friend remembers perfectly well when a boy of his grandfather coming to
his father’s house, and telling all sorts of stories about the gentleman in
Renfrew, who could transmit messages along wires, and what the general
opinion was regarding him. The subject being new and interesting, caused him
to listen to it with greater attention, and this is the reason he says why
he recollects so well about Mr. M. at the present day.
Perhaps I am only troubling you with this long epistle for no use, as you
may ere now have obtained from some one else a better history of Mr. M.’s
pedigree.
My friend advised me to send the above information as an article for
publication in the newspapers, but I thought it would be better to send the
same first to you, and probably you might inform me if you had not already
been favoured with the intelligence, and advise whether you would wish to
publish the same yourself.
If you desire any further particulars regarding Mr. Morrison, I shall be
happy to be at your service, and endeavour to obtain anything you may
suggest.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient faithful humble Servant,
R. H. LOUDAN, At Alex. Lade, Esqr.’s.
Answd. Nov. 2, 1855,. (Jotting by Sir David Brewster.)
Wrote again, Jan. 2, i860. (Jotting by Sir David Brewster.)
Port-Glasgow, 4th January, i860. Sir D. Brewster, St. Andrews.
Sir,—I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 2nd instant, and,
in answer, beg to state that my friend, Mr. Foreman, has been endeavouring
to get the letter written by his grandfather, but as yet he has not been
successful. It appears the above letter, among others, are in the custody of
an aunt, who lives in a small village in Perthshire. He wrote about the
middle of November last to make a search for the letter, and to send it, or
a copy thereof, but she wrote back saying she had not been able to find it.
Mr. Foreman then stated that he would, perhaps, go and pay her a visit about
the New Year, when he would make a search himself, but circumstances having
prevented him from going, nothing farther has been done. He has again
written today to his aunt to renew her search, as it is possible she, being
an old woman, might not know it, although she laid her hands on it. For
these reasons I have delayed writing you in answer to yours of the 2nd
November. So soon as a reply comes, I shall again write you, either with the
letter or the statement you refer to. I would like very much the letter
could be got, as it would at once settle a matter of great importance to
Scotland.
I am,
Yours respectfully,
R. H. LOUDAN.
Port-Glasgow, 30th January, i860.
Sir David Brewster, St. Andrews.
Sir,—In reference to my letter of the 4th instant, I now beg to send you
annexed a statement by my friend, Mr. Foreman, regarding Mr. Charles
Morrison. So far as he recollects he can vouch for the truth of what is
therein contained. I am sorry he has not been able to get either of the
letters therein referred to. His aunt being a very old and frail person, and
not considering the importance of the letters, I suppose cannot be fashed to
make a search for them. Mr. F. has written her twice, and the only answer he
has got was that she has not been very well, and if he wanted the letters in
question, he should come himself and look for them. He says that she looks
upon all the old papers and books as great relics, and would not part or
lend any of them to any one upon any account whatever.
My friend has not the means, I know, else I believe he would go himself, as
he appears very anxious that the matter could be solved. He says that he
hopes we wont be beat, as he intends ere long of going himself, and making a
search if the annexed does not suffice. Trusting that the annexed
particulars may answer the object you have in view in the meantime,
I am, Sir,
Yours respectfully,
R. H. LOUDAN.
In answer to your enquiries respecting Charles Morrison, I now beg to inform
you that I recollect of having seen a letter about 30 years ago addressed by
my great grandfather, Mr. Foreman, farmer, Blackdhu, near Stirling, in
Perthshire, to Miss Margate Wingate, residing at Craigengelt, near Denny (to
whom he was subsequently married), and which I now fully believe was dated
in 1750 (instead of 1752, as I lately stated to you), referring to a
gentleman in Renfrew who transmitted messages along wires short distances by
means of electricity. His letter gave the gentleman’s name as Charles
Morrison, and described him as being a very bashful and eccentric
individual, a native of Greenock, and bred a surgeon. I also recollect of
having seen and read a letter in the handwriting of this same Charles
Morrison (it being signed by him), addressed to Mr. Foreman, dated 25th
September, 1752, giving a detail of his experiments in sending messages
along wires by means of electricity, and stating that he had sent a
description of the same to Sir Hans Sloan in London, by whom he was
encouraged to perfect his experiments, and that he intended giving him a
more detailed account in the following year, 1753, when he hoped also to be
able to publish a minute narration thereof in the Scots Magazine. His letter
also stated Sir Hans Sloan at that time was an aged man, and very frail, and
that it would probably be about the month of May, 1753, before he could
comply with the requirements of Sir Hans; but Mr. Morrison appears to have
been able to comply sooner than he expected, as the letter is dated February
in the Scots Magazine. It also stated that as he was likely to be ridiculed
by many of his own acquaintances, and as it was a thing the great world
cared little about, he would only publish his initials. What causes me to
recollect the date 25th September, of the above letter at this day is, that
I was born on that day and month.
The letters above referred to I believe are still in preservation, and if I
had an opportunity I would go myself and make a search for them. They are in
the possession of an aunt of mine who resides near Stirling. If they have
been destroyed it must have been within the last few years, as I know she
had them lying in a garret among a great number of other old papers and
books.
I forgot to say that there are descendants of Margt. Wingate
above referred to, of that name, who are shawl manufacturers in Glasgow, and
I have no doubt if they were communicated with they might in some way or
other verify the truth of the above statements. D. W. FORMAN.
And this is all we know of the great man who first found out the great idea
of electric thought-communication. He was “very bashful and eccentric,”
crazy, devil-aided, a surgeon who never practiced surgery. We can well
believe the last. Who would trust the cure of his body to a man who
professed to be able to do such dreadful things ? He was either a rank
impostor, or imagination shuddered to think what. One may readily imagine
the trembling mother drawing her brood around her and looking upon the
unhappy person with wrath and suspicion, who ventured to suggest that the
demon-doctor should be sent for to look at her poor sick baby. Was it not a
condition of the fiend that once a year a child should be offered at the
devil’s sacrament ? Poor “bashful and eccentric” Morison. Readers smile
sadly to think of him with his idea, shyly shuffling along, while the parish
minister perchance stopped him to give him solemn warning; while the wise,
common-sense spirits, too well taught to believe either in the old or the
new, tittered as he passed, and made jests which, witty or no, received
tremendous applause. The poet of the place made verses about him, no doubt,
and when the minister preached about the Witch of Endor every eye in the
church was turned upon him. At last, tired of it all, he went away ; he
emigrated to the United States. Search is being made in Virginia to see if
he has left any traces there. We doubt if the searchers will succeed. A man
of his nature, if he makes an effort and fails, rarely tries again. Probably
his invention made his life in Scotland so intolerable to him that he would
ever afterwards seek to bury himself and it from human investigation.
Scotland, in 1753, to a “very bashful and eccentric” man, with a great idea,
must have seemed a very considerable distance from heaven. At any rate, that
is all we know about him. These few stray lights fall upon what was
certainly a great and strange, and was probably a lonely and lovely nature.
We would fain know more. Scotsmen throughout the world must look with
reverence upon this brother Scot, whose name should be placed high on the
long roll of their illustrious dead. It may be that written or oral
tradition of him lingers hidden, dusty, and dim in manuscript or memory. If
such there be, and these lines meet the eye of anyone in whose mind is the
slightest hint of these hid treasures, we earnestly entreat him to search
diligently until he find them, and to communicate with Allan Park Paton,
Esq., the learned and well-known librarian of the Greenock Library. This
gentleman—the editor of that Hamnet Shakespeare, so much regarded by actors
and students, and so well appreciated by the general public—has set himself
with characteristic zeal to rescue Morison’s name from the waters of
oblivion that seem well nigh to have overcome it; for, in the above article
of Sir David Brewster, and a passing allusion of Mr. Tyndal, is summed up
all the honour that has been paid to his memory. In a glass frame, hung upon
the walls of the noble Greenock Library, Mr. Paton has, very lately, placed
all that has been written about this great unknown. Surely the people of
Greenock will come to his help. What a noble boast it would be of any town
to be able to take strangers and to point out to them two great monuments,
placed side by side, saying, “ By the thoughts of these two men has the
whole modern world been more changed than in all the ten thousand years of
old history. These two sons of Greenock, born on this shore, bred beside
these hills, nurtured in our schools, mastered the two giant powers of steam
and electricity, and tamed them to obey man more perfectly than ever
plantation slave obeyed his master.” Greenock people should insist that
henceforth their town be known as the birthplace of James Watt and Charles
Morison.
Greenock.
W. J. DOUGLAS.
Source: The Celtic Magazine
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