by blood or marriage were around him. To a man of
Morse's affectionate nature and loyalty to family this was a source of
peculiar joy, and those Parisian days were some of the happiest of his
life. The rest of the autumn and early winter were spent in sight-seeing
and in settling his children in their various studies.

The brilliance of the court of Napoleon III just before the _debacle_ of
1870 is a matter of history, and it reached its high-water mark during
the Exposition year of 1867, when emperors, kings, and princes journeyed
to Paris to do homage to the man of the hour. Court balls, receptions,
gala performances at opera and theatre, and military reviews followed
each other in bewildering but well-ordered confusion, and Morse, as a man
of worldwide celebrity, took part in all of them. He and his wife and his
young daughter, a girl of sixteen, were presented at court, and were
feted everywhere. In a letter to his mother-in-law he gives a description
of his court costume on the occasion of his first presentation, when he
was accompanied only by his brother-in-law, Mr. Goodrich:--

"We received our cards inviting us to the soiree and to pass the evening
with their majesties on the 16th of January (Wednesday evening). '_En
uniforme_' was stamped upon the card, so we had to procure court dresses.
Mr. Goodrich, as is the custom in most cases, hired his; I had a full
suit made for me. A _chapeau bras_, with gold lace loop, a blue coat,
with standing collar, single breasted, richly embroidered with gold lace,
the American eagle button, white silk lining, vest light cashmere with
gilt buttons, pantaloons with a broad stripe of gold lace on the outside
seams, a small sword, and patent-leather shoes or boots completed the
dress of ordinary mortals like Brother Goodrich, but for _extra_ordinary
mortals, like my humble republican self, I was bedizened with all my
orders, seven decorations, covering my left breast. If thus accoutred I
should be seen on Broadway, I should undoubtedly have a numerous escort
of a character not the most agreeable, but, as it was, I found myself in
very good and numerous company, none of whom could consistently laugh at
his neighbors."

After describing the ceremony of presentation he continues:--

"Occasionally both the emperor and empress said a few words to particular
individuals. When my name was mentioned the emperor said to me, 'Your
name, sir, is well known here,' for which I thanked him;