Paul Morphy: The Pride and Sorrow of Chess

by David Lawson

  It is to be hoped that Congress will prescribe some Special dues on the trade for the support of the Consular Offices and that they will take into consideration that such employments in foreign countrys must create an expense to the holder to maintain the dignity of the post especially in Spain.

  I am informed that by the late navigation act made the last Session that Consuls are allowed to own Vessels under American Colours: I will be much obliged to you for this Act and any other that may be proper to have lodged in my Office, and also that you may number such letters as you may find needful to write to it—to communicate thereto hereafter.

  In the communications which you are pleased to direct shall be given by my office to your department every six months, which is also to comprehend the cargoes outward and inward—do you mean Sir, the quality of the goods only, or is it the contents—If it is to be the latter, I beg leave to offer, that it would be better for the Masters of Vessels to sign a report of these homeward cargoes before me to present to the custom house, for I cannot see what use it will be to furnish such intelligence at so late a period as six months.

  I have the honor to be with great truth and regard:

  Sir

  Your Most Obedient

  Humble Servant

  Michael Morphy

  Thomas Jefferson, Esq., etc.

  2.

  Michael Morphy’s Letter to Thomas Jefferson of July 30, 1793

  Malaga the 30th July 1793

  Sir,

  I had the honor of addressing you the 30th June by the American Schooner Fredericksburg packet, Anderson bound to Philadelphia—having now to confirm what I then mentioned about the interruption continued to be given by Algereen States to the American trading Vessels in the Mediterranean especially to the Eastward of this Port, and more so since the Spaniards gave up the Port and fortress of Oran on the Coast of Mascara to the Moors, the situation thereof and proximity to this Continent has encouraged a number of small privateers to be fitted out there which are become very destructive to all powers with whom they are at war, and particularly to our American Colours as none will venture to pass Malaga from the fear that threatens the Subjects of becoming Slaves, and on this account we are deprived of conveying our products to parts aloft where they are most wanted and thereby deprived of the great benefits which otherwise would fall to our lot—the Schooner Madison, James Parrock from Philadelphia with flower and tobacco for Marseilles, and the Brigantine Fox, Robert Miller from New York with wheat for Barcelona have been obliged to stop and sell their cargoes at Malaga. I beg leave Sir, to report that there is no remedy to this evil but the sending of a naval force from America to repel the force of these barbarians and to protect its trade while measures are not arranged for our having a free navigation in this part of the World, and I have reason to think that such a resolution on the part of the States would contribute in great measure to settle this point.

  I have also to lay before you, that great abuses are committing by the American and British seamen aboard by changing their allegiance as it suits their fancy or interest when brought before the Consuls of said powers or in the presence of the Magistrates of the Countries they are in to settle their disputes. I have a very recent proof of it of the crew of the Ship Neptune of Boston in this port, the greater part whereof having quarreled with the Captain Edward Preble they called themselves British Subjects although well known to be Americans for the sake of leaving the ship to go on board an English Man of War that lay here[,] however I found meant to keep them quiet—to prevent similar cases in future happening and the consequences attending such disputes, I beg Sir, you will use such measures as may be necessary for our Ships to have their men enrolled in a separate Document before they clear out on a foreign voyage which every man should sign and declare his Vassalage of the Country he belongs to by which means our American subjects may be prevented from giving a deal of trouble to the Masters of Vessels and distressing them in foreign ports where they often cannot replace them with other Mariners. . . .

  I have the honor to be with great truth and regards

  Sir

  Your Most Obedient

  Humble Servant

  Michael Morphy

  Thomas Jefferson, Esq., etc.

  3.

  DON DIEGO MORPHY

  Last Will and Testament—August 27, 1813

  In the City of New Orleans, on the 27th day of August of the year 1813, and 36 of the Independence of the United States of America, before me Pedro Pece-schaux, Notary Public of the State of Louisiana, and of the undersigned, Don Diego Morphy, Consul for the Catholic Majesty, says: that finding himself sick in bed but in the perfect exercise of his mental faculties, fearing death, natural to all creatures, and its time also uncertain, and foreseeing his, he wants to make his testament and order his last will, for which reason he dictates literally as follows:

  In the first place I declare my name and surname to be Don Diego Morphy, a native of the city of Malaga, legitimate child of Don Miguel Morphy and Doña Maria Porro: the first of them being now dead.

  Item: I declare to be a catholic, apostolic, roman Christian, and as such I commend my soul to God, praying that it may find rest with the selected ones; I bequeath my body to the earth from which it was formed, to be placed whenever I should die, where by testamentary executors may decide, as I leave to their discretion my funeral and burial.

  Item: I order that three masses for the dead be said in praying for the rest of my soul.

  Item: I declare to have been married in first nuptials to Doña Maria Creagh, from which marriage I have three children, named: Don Diego, 23 years of age; Doña Elena Diego, 17 years; and Doña Matilde Morphy, 18 years of age.

  Item: I declare to have been married in second nuptials to Doña Luisa Peire, from which marriage I have 5 children, named: Don Alonzo, 15 years of age; Don Tomas Augusto [Ernest], 6 years; Doña Ana Esmeralda, 3 years; Doña Magdalena Antonietta, 15 months; and one girl of two months who has not yet been named, because she has not yet been baptized [Emma, who married D. O’Hinks, collector of the Port of New Orleans]; and all of them I declare to be my legitimate children and of my above mentioned wife.

  Item: I appoint and name for guardian of my minor children my above mentioned wife; and for curator ad litem Don Pablo Francisco Gallion Preval; relieving them from giving security.

  Item: I appoint and name as my testamentary executors and trustees the above mentioned Don Pablo Francisco Gallion Preval and Doña Luisa Peire, my wife, to whom I confer and grant all power as may be required in law to the end that after my death and without any intervention of any court and obligation to give security, they proceed to administer my properties, making an inventory and valuation of them, appointing appraisers, forming the account of the testamentary executors and that of division of properties, and finally, doing all that may be necessary for the liquidation and winding up of my estate, till presenting the whole to the proper court for its approbation; for all which I extend the one year of testamentary execution to the time that they may need; as this is my express and last will.

  Item: I order that my mentioned testamentary executors proceed to make separately and in the presence of a Notary Public the Inventory of the papers and other documents belonging to the Spanish Government, which are put aside in a desk, and that having done so, they remit them to the Spanish Minister. I omit all recommendation on the exactitude of this inventory, as I have full confidence in their sufficiency.

  Item: I appoint and name as my sole and universal heirs my above mentioned 8 children: Don Diego, Doña Elena, Doña Matilde, Don Alonso, Don Tomas Augusto, Doña Ana Esmeralda Ciriaca, Doña Magdalena Antonieta Morphy, and the girl that is not yet baptized; so that after my death, they may have and inherit my properties in equal shares to use them as their own, with God’s blessing and mine also, and that is my will.

  Finally, I repeal and annul any other testaments, codicils, powers or testamentary dispositions that I may have made previously, ve
rbally or in writing, as I invalidate them, granting in their stead in the most legal form, this expression of my last will.

  I the Notary having read this writing to the testator, in high and intelligible voice in the presence of documentary witnesses, he states that he affirms and ratifies its contents, as it is well and faithfully written in the same words in which he dictated it; and signed it with the three witnesses, who are Don Joseph Rufinaco, Don Pedro Collet and Don Juan Longrre, present neighbors.

  (Taken from The Good Companion, vol. 8, p. 179-182).

  4.

  The “M.A.” Letter

  in Bell’s Life in London—October 17, 1858

  Trinity College, Cambridge, Oct. 9, 1858

  Mr. Editor: If you enter any chess circle just now, the questions sure to be asked are, How about the Staunton and Morphy match? Will it come off? Suspect Staunton wants to shirk it? Now to these questions it is not always easy to give an answer, and yet they ought to be answered, so as to allow of no possible misconstruction amongst either friends or foes. There is one insinuation which may be very briefly disposed of, namely, that Mr. Staunton wishes to avoid playing. Every one who knows him is perfectly aware that he is only too ready to play at all times, and that at every disadvantage, rather than incur even the faintest suspicion of showing the white feather.

  For the benefit of those who have not the pleasure of knowing him, or whose memories are not over tenacious, I may cite as an example that in 1844, after vanquishing St. Amant, upon a hint in the French papers that his opponent had expressed a wish to have his revenge, Mr. Staunton at once started for Paris once more, and challenged him to the field; that from 1840 to 1848 Mr. Staunton played with every antagonist, foreign and English, that could be brought against him; and at the Chess Congress, in 1851, he rose superior to all personal considerations, and did not shrink from risking his hardly-earned reputation, when the state of his health was such that he felt he could not do himself justice; and all this solely that the tournament might not want the éclat which his presence could confer upon it. But, sir, I would submit that this is not simply a question between Mr. Staunton and Mr. Morphy. We are all interested in it. Mr. Staunton is the representative of English chess, and must not be allowed to risk the national honor in an unequal contest, to gratify either the promptings of his own chivalrous disposition or the vanity of an antagonist. “Oh! then you admit that Morphy is the better player?” No such thing. The question is, not as to which is the better player, but whether, if they meet now, they can do so on equal terms.

  Now, I call it an unequal contest when one player, in tiptop practice, with nothing to distract his attention, engages another who is quite out of play, and whose mind is harassed by the unceasing pressure of other and more important avocations. This is precisely Mr. Staunton’s case. He is engaged, in addition to his customary occupations, upon a literary work of great responsibility and magnitude, which leaves him scarcely a moment for any other pursuit; certainly not for chess practice. Indeed, were it merely a question of time it would be almost impossible for Mr. Staunton to play a match at the present moment; but this is a matter of small importance compared with the mental strain which accompanies such incessant labor. There is nothing which requires more concentration of thought than chess. One moment of relaxed attention, and the fruits of the most profound combination are scattered to the winds. Real chess between two great players is no mere recreation, but a severe study, and should never be attempted when there is anything else to claim the least share of that attention which alone can insure [ sic] success. If Mr. Staunton can steal a few months from business, and devote himself wholly to chess, by all means let him do so, and then meet Mr. Morphy when and where he pleases, and I for one should have no fear for the result. If he cannot do this, I trust he will have moral courage to say “No.” If not, his friends should say it for him. He is at least “Pawn and two” below his force of ten years back; and I repeat that he owes it to the English chess world, whose representative he is, not to meet Mr. Morphy at such odds, when he has every thing to lose and nothing to gain. In the present instance, moreover, he is under not the slightest obligation to play, as Mr. Morphy gave him no intimation that he was coming over at this particular time, and I believe Mr. Staunton was not aware of his intention of so doing till he was actually en route; and it is certainly rather a heavy price to pay for the position which Mr. Staunton justly occupies if he is to be held bound to enter the lists with every young adventurer who has nothing else to do; and who happens to envy him the laurels so fairly won in many hundreds of encounters with nearly all the greatest players of the day. The result of any match which he might now play with Mr. Morphy would prove literally nothing as to their relative chess powers, and I am very unwilling to believe that the American would at all value a victory snatched under such circumstances.

  Yours obediently, M.A.

  P.S. Since writing the above my attention has been drawn to a letter in Bell’s Life addressed to Mr. Staunton by Mr. Morphy, in which the latter tries to assume the character of a much-injured and ill-used man. Now, how stands the case. From the time when he made his sudden appearance here to the present moment Mr. Morphy has been fully aware that the delay in the proposed contest did not depend upon Mr. Staunton, who, so far as he is personally concerned, was, and is, prepared to play; though it does not speak for that man’s sense of honor who would ever think of forcing on a contest when the inequality is so immense as it is between Mr. Morphy’s position and that of Mr. Staunton—the one with literally nothing to do but to go where he lists to play chess, the other with scarcely time for sleep and meals, with his brain in a constant whirl with the strain upon it; the one in the very zenith of his skill, after ten years of incessant practice, the other utterly out of practice for that very period.

  Now, let any one read the reply of Mr. Staunton to the preposterous proposal on the part of Mr. Morphy’s friends, that he (Mr. Staunton) should go over to New Orleans, and then say whether Mr. Morphy, after publicly announcing in the American papers his inability, from family engagements, to visit England before 1859, and then choosing to come over without a moment’s warning, has anybody but himself to blame if he finds there is considerable difficulty in inducing a man with family cares, and immersed in professional engagements, to sacrifice all for the sake of engaging, upon the most unfair and unequal terms, in a match at chess? If Mr. Morphy does not see the force of what I have advanced, perhaps the following analogous case may bring conviction home to him.

  Let us suppose some ten or fifteen years have elapsed, and that Mr. Morphy, no longer a chess knight-errant, eager to do battle against all comers, has settled down into a steady-going professional man, (the bar, I believe, is his destination,) and with bewildered brain is endeavoring to unravel the intricacies of some half-dozen lawsuits put into his hands by clients, each of whom, in virtue of his fee, is profoundly impressed with the belief that Mr. Morphy belongs, body and soul, to him. Presently comes a rap at the door, and in walks a young man, fresh from school or college, and at once proceeds to explain the object of his visit, with:—“Mr. Morphy, I come to challenge you to a match at chess. I am aware that you are quite out of practice, while I am in full swing. I freely admit that you may have forgotten more than I am ever likely to know; that you have not a moment you can call your own, whilst I have just now nothing in the world to occupy my attention but chess. N’importe. Every dog has his day. I expect you to play me at all costs. My seconds will wait upon you at once; and if you decline I shall placard you a craven through the length and breadth of the Union.”

  How would Mr. Morphy reply to such a challenge? Very much, I suspect, as Mr. Staunton now replies to his:—“I have no apprehension of your skill; I am quite willing to meet you when I can, but I must choose my own time. I cannot put aside my professional engagements, to say nothing of the loss of emolument entailed by such a course, and risk my reputation as a chess-player at a moment’s notice, just to gratify your ambiti
on.” In giving such an answer Mr. Morphy would do perfectly right, and this is precisely the answer which Mr. Staunton now gives to him. And why Mr. Morphy should feel himself aggrieved I cannot possibly imagine. There is one other point which I think deserves mention, namely that four years ago, on the occasion of his being challenged in a similar manner, Mr. Staunton put forth a final proposal to play any player in the world, and to pay his expenses for coming to England. This defi remained open for six months, and he announced that if not taken up in that time he should hold himself exonerated in refusing any future challenges. I now leave the question in the hands of the public, who will, I doubt not, arrive at a correct appreciation of its merits.

  M.A.

  5.

  The “Fair Play” Letter—October 17, 1858

  To the Editor of Bell’s Life:

  Mr. Editor,—It is a pity chess-players will not “wash their dirty linen at home.” Among a few frivolous noodles to whom chess forms the staple of life, Mr. Morphy’s jeremiads may assume an air of importance, but to sensible men they sound ineffably absurd, while to those who take the trouble of looking a little below the surface they appear something worse. For what are the plain facts of the case? Mr. Morphy started for England, not to play a match with Mr. Staunton, for he was told that that gentleman was too deeply immersed in business to undertake one, but to take part in a general tourney to be held in Birmingham. Upon arriving here he duly inscribed his name on the list of combatants, and paid his entrance fee.