I wrote:
Morphy had grown up with the attitude
(common in his day) that disapproved
of earning money by such things as
playing chess. Morphy had a history
of avoiding the appearance of earning
money in this way, arranging to give
away the money that he won ...


John Townsend wrote:

Did Morphy grow up with the attitude,
or did he acquire it?

I have wondered whether this aversion
to chess in a professional capacity
could have originated from Staunton.
Staunton spent time talking to Morphy
in 1858 - I think he entertained Morphy
at his home in Streatham - and I can
imagine Staunton projecting himself as a
gentleman scholar and disapproving of
the amount of time Morphy seemed to
find for chess, to the detriment of
any more serious pursuits such as
Staunton was engaged in. (Staunton,
of course, was "poacher turned
gamekeeper"!)

_
Morphy's feelings about money seem to
have originated before 1858. There is
a well-known story of Morphy giving
money that he won from Stanley to
Stanley's wife in 1857.

On the other hand, Morphy had reportedly
already read Staunton's 1851 tournament
book that declared:

"... if we regard [chess] as an
idle or a gambling pursuit, we
degrade it. Chess never was, and
while society exists, never can
be a profession."

On the other hand, there are reports
from a number of sources that Morphy's
family was opposed to using chess to
earn money.


John Townsend wrote:

I suppose Louis Blair is probably
right that Morphy's attitude was one
which he had grown up with. All the
same, it seems at least possible that
Staunton reinforced it for him.

_
Similar thoughts have occurred to me
as well.