visit when Morse, in an address to the Prince at the University of
the City of New York, referred to the kindness shown him in London by the
Earl of Lincoln, who was now the Duke of Newcastle and was in the suite
of the Prince. Morse had hoped that he might have the privilege of
entertaining H.R.H. at his country place on the Hudson, but the Duke of
Newcastle, in a letter of October 8, 1860, regrets that this cannot be
managed:--

I assure you I have not forgotten the circumstances which gave me the
pleasure of your acquaintance in 1839, and I am very desirous of seeing
you again during my short visit to this continent. I fear however that a
visit by the Prince of Wales to your home, however I might wish it, is
quite impracticable, although on our journey up the Hudson we shall pass
so near you. Every hour of our time is fully engaged.

Is there any chance of seeing you in New York, or, if not, is there any
better hope in Boston? If you should be in either during our stay, I hope
you will be kind enough to call upon me. Pray let me have a line on
Thursday at New York. I have lately been much interested in some
electro-telegraphic inventions of yours which are new to me.

I am
Yours very truly,
NEWCASTLE.

Referring to another function in honor of the Prince, Morse says, in a
letter to Mr. Kendall: "I did not see you after the so-styled Ball in New
York, which was not a _ball_ but a _levee_ and a great jam. I hope you
and yours suffered no inconvenience from it."

The war clouds in his beloved country were now lowering most ominously,
and, true to his convictions, he exclaims in a letter to a friend of
January 12, 1861:--

"Our politicians are playing with edged tools. It is easy to raise a
storm by those who cannot control it. If I trusted at all in them I
should despair of the country, but an Almighty arm makes the wrath of man
to praise him, and he will restrain the rest. There is something so
unnatural and abhorrent in this outcry of _arms_ in one great family that
I cannot believe it will come to a decision by the sword. Such counsels
of force are in the court of passion, not of reason. Imagine such a
conflict, imagine a victory, no matter by which side. Can the victors
rejoice in the blood of brethren shed in a family brawl? Whose heart will
thrill with pride at such success? No, no. I should as soon think of
rejoicing that one of my sons had killed the other in a brawl.

"But I have not time to add. I ho