Publication Information

George P Marsh Esqr

Page 1

My Dear Friend

Your letter has duly come and I am greatly obliged to you for it, but was somewhat disappointed at your saying so little about yourself --

Another time, I hope you will tell me something of your --what you are doing or hope to do; but of course I shall expect no secrets. -- It is most gratifying to know, that Mrs Marsh is improving in health ----

We have remembered you as requested to the Brownings, who are still here after having spent the winter in Rome -- They return to Mrs Marsh and yourself their best regards --

For some time, I had to lay aside all proceedings with the file machine, for which I have as yet no patent, but now, patents for the file itself, are being taken out in England and France, the first steps are already taken. It will be time enough for the machine when it is done and proved. Alterations may be necessary, but I do not think they will--for every thing is so simple, and clear to my mind, that I cannot see what more could be done -- It is of course somewhat complicated; a thing not to be avoided, in a machine so comprehensive in its requirements -- You will perceive this, when I state, that it will receive a plate of steel--Iron or other metal from 6. inches to 20 feet long and of any breadth short of 6. inches--and file it with holes and teeth without handling at all. It will receive it plain--and deliver it finished--and , from the size of a cambric needle to ¼ inch hole -- A band from steam or any other power will move it, but the

hand has force enough where other power is wanting. It will cut as fast as you could count, but smaller machines than the model now in hand would perforate much faster ----

From this you will perceive that in a there should be many of these machines -- One man could attend to two or three --

I cannot tell yet, what the machines would cost, but suppose that they might be made for about $200. each ---- The one I am now having made will cost I suppose about $500--but that is no criterion, a manufactory with all appliances would produce them at a cheap rate -- I have spent the late winter evenings upon the present models, and I am having the machine done by an experienced English mechanic at the English Rail Road station, where there is a regular shop for all kinds of such work -- It is being made in beautiful style, and the maker seems delighted with the model -- At first he though me--, and seemed to doubt the practicability of the thing but when he saw the model and understood it, there was a great change in his manner, and he is now working apparently with delight--and seems ambitious indeed to show what he can do upon "the new file making machine" When done, the machine will present a very pretty outline--for I have had grace as well as utility in view -- It is compact and strong and so condensed as to occupy a [ . . . ] of only 2 feet deep by 1 foot broad --

There have been many difficulties to overcome--which would require many letters to explain--all of which have yielded one by one to patient consideration--but I have lost very little time by them in my studio. I have often got out of bed in the night to write down a new thought or plan--for further

reflection, and not unfrequently my mind has been wearied out by the continual pressure upon it -- It seems now, hard[l]y possible that things so simple, should have cost me so much thinking--but this is the case with almost all new inventions -- The difficulty is not so much how to do a thing as to do it by the simplest means, and the man who can remove any thing from a machine without reducing its utility--always does the best service --

I have been stimulated to all this exertion by a growing sense of the importance of the file invention--for hardly a week passes without presenting some new use to which it might be applied -- Within a day or two, I have got an example of this. My pen knife was out of the way--and I wanted to scratch out a misspelled word A little file was in sight and I used that when to my surprize, it took out the word as smoothly--as if done with a plane, and except from the thinness of the paper no one would have thought that its surface had been reduced at all -- Here then is a demand for --as extensive as the demand for desks -- My shoemaker borrowed one, to try upon leather, and reported, that the old shoemakers rasp would soon disappear when his craft could get the new one -- It cuts leather like a knife and never chokes--as does the other -- What a market this would be! -- And for graters--you should see it upon--nutmegs--cheese--horse radish amp;c. -- There will soon be no more graters in use -- My agents in London Messrs Nourse & co (recommended to me by Mr George Peabody) say, that practical men there--assure them of the high value of the invention, and they think that a royalty of a half farthing upon all that will be sold would prove a handsome fortune -- I now see--or think that I see the hand of Providence in the direction of my early life -- Alone, and unaided, I had to accept whatever chance of subsistence that presented, and I went through a variety

of changes, and occupations -- There was hardly any ordinary pursuit, at the time, that I did not, directly or indirectly have something to do with. Digging potatoes--reading room--store clerk--tax collector--organ builder--clock maker--wax worker and head D----l of "The Infernal Regions" Finally a sculptor. And as one thing generally involves another, so this last art involves (with me at least) all that I ever learned--leaving out the potato digging My knowledge of mechanics--led me to certain improvements in sculpture manipulation--some of which are confined to sculpture alone, but the file for working plaster--my first and only thought, turns out, a flock of birds killed with but one stone -- I have two other inventions for future exploiting -- We shall see what they will prove. Some of them promises success, if I shall ever have the time to perfect it. The other is of less importance.

I shall not forget your kind offer to assist me in the introduction of the file at home, and in due time shall consult you about it.

My friend Saml Yorke AtLee who did so much in procuring the order from Congress, has been turned out of his office in Washington, but he does not know for what, his discharge was given without the least warning -- He called on the President immediately--who received him stiffly and would make no explanation -- After this AtLee sent a card to the Union which refused to publish it--. This is freedom of the press with a vengeance! -------- AtLee hears that he is charged with , but says he does not belong to the Party and has had nothing to do with it -- A short time before this occurred, he called on the President in relation to my order, and had a talk with him -- The latter was very civil and agreed with AtLee, that I ought to come home, on a visit and be in Washington during a part of the next

session -- They think it would not be best to close the arrangement for my "America" at once, for that would put an end to the commission--but by keeping it open additional work may be given in a new appropriation--mean while, I could do with the America as I pleased exhibit it or sell it --

I could not go home before next winter--for I must first finish the Webster Statue, and even then, I should dislike to leave my family, but there will be time to think of these matters before then -- AtLee seems to think, that his difference with the President may affect me, but is not certain that it will. The President knows how friendly we are, and with small minds hatred has no limits -- But there is one consideration it is the and not Mr Pearce who must contract with me for some work--the latter cannot withhold the commission -- I was in hopes that the "America" would be ordered on a large scale, and at once--and as for more work for the Government, I do not want much. The present order if all arranged would give me with what I have already about $50,000 and if I had another like it I should be satisfied--for I do not like to be bound--as to the character of my subjects -- Ideal subjects suit me best, and it is likely, that the Government would require portraits, for I do not see what other ideal works there are to be done for the Capitol

Statues of Franklin--Jefferson--Fulton and perhaps some others might be proposed--but none of these offer opportunities for high distinction in art, for but little can be done even with an Apollo in coat and breeches --

Do not understand me to say, that ideal subjects for our Capitol

the question is, are there any more that the Government would accept ----

Genl Cass opposed the Amendment giving me the present order--on the ground--as he said, that he did not like allegorical works--and he wished to have the selection of the artist left to the President. I suppose he had some other sculptor in his mind--perhaps some one at Rome whom his son (Minister there) wished to favor--or it may be that he wished to give it to Mr Clark Mills --

I have been projecting for you since receiving your kind letter, and will venture to give you the result of my cogitations--do not accuse me of presumption--for it is offered in the humblest manner --

There is a paper in London--called the Times--and it has more power than any other Journal in the world. It is also the most profitable -- How is it that this paper has always held so high a position and with such vast influence--for no Administration can ever stand up long against the power of the Times -- It is now at war with the British Government and you will see it victorious -- The reasons strike me as these -- The first is--ability, without which no journal can succeed, and the next is -- The Editor of the Times--has always been suspected but never revealed -- The Proprietors only are really known -- Another reason is -- The Times--belongs to no party--nor has it ever been found in company with other newspapers It always stands aloof, and in the Editorials you will rarely see the name of an English paper mentioned It uses the term--"Contemporary Journal"

and it never goes back to correct its blunders or errors --

In this way The Times has always been a prophet in its own Country. The Proprietors know, that a blow from an unseen hand cannot be returned and that it always falls with double weight -- We often lose respect for what is said--the moment we know who has said it, and if it were known that a decayed clergyman (as is suspected) is the author of the most powerful editorials of the Times, their influence would be greatly lessened. He would be attacked personally, and all his failings would appear--in short he would no longer be a prophet --

Could not you get up an association for such a paper (but more honest I should hope) in America? We have now nothing of the kind--and I d[are] say that the Capital could easily [be] raised -- Two or three able men to conduct it might find the means by applying to some of our honest capitalists who want to see the truth told to our people, independent of party considerations -- Such a paper supported by powerful writers and , would soon have an immense circulation, which would last as long as it kept out of controversy and maintained its dignity -- The good it would do can hardly be estimated --

Pray write to me as often as you conveniently can and believe that we all of us feel much interest in your welfare. We are all in good health and all unite in most affectionate regards --

Sincerely yours

P.S. What has become of George? we hear nothing from him of late --

June 1 1855

References in this letter:

The English poets Robert Browning (1821-1889) and Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) spent most of their married life in Italy. Powers had introduced them to the Marshes when they visited him in Florence in 1853.

The American financier and philanthropist, George Peabody (1795-1869) moved to England in 1837 where he specialized in foreign exchange and American securities.

The Know-Nothing movement was the creation of Protestant nativist societies opposed to Roman Catholic immigration. Its gained strength in the 1850s, supported by the newly formed Republican Party, but its members were split over the question of slavery and it fell apart before the war.

Commissioned by a group of Bostonians, Powers executed a standing figure of Daniel Webster in contemporary dress (1853-1855).

Franklin Pierce (1804-69), the 14th President of the United States, held the office from 1853 to 1857. His cabinet was an attempt to smooth over splits within the Democratic Party and included William L. Marcy, Stephen A. Douglas, and James Buchanan as well as Jefferson Davis and Caleb Cushing, a northerner sympathetic to slave holders. He failed to win renomination and was succeeded by Buchanan.

James Alfred Pearce (1805-1862) Professor of law and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland, was appointed Smithsonian Regent in1847 and served through the 1861 term.

Powers' heroic statue of a partially-clothed female figure representing the United States was modeled in plaster between August 1848 and September 1849. The marble replica made from it, completed in 1855, never found a buyer and was destroyed in a warehouse fire in Brooklyn, New York, in 1865.

Powers sculpted a portrait bust of Benjamin Franklin between 1848-1849.

Powers' over-life-size statue of Thomas Jefferson holding the Declaration of Independence was commissioned by the U.S. government in 1858 (along with one of Benjamin Franklin) for the Capitol in Washington, the price being $10,000 for each statue. The marble version of the plaster original was shipped in 1863 and installed in the House wing of the Capitol.

Lewis Cass (1782-1866), Brigadier General in the U.S. army and for eighteen years (1813-1831) governor of the Michigan Territory, was a U.S. Senator (1845-1857), Democratic candidate for president in 1848 (losing to Whig Zachary Taylor), and Secretary of State under James Buchanan (1857-1860).