H. GREENOUGH.

These extracts are from different letters, but they show, I think, the charming character of the man and reflect his admiration for Morse.  From the letters of James Fenimore Cooper, written while they were both in Europe, I select the two following as characteristic: 

July 31, 1832.

My dear Morse,—­Here we are at Spa—­the famous hard-drinking, dissipated, gambling, intriguing Spa—­where so much folly has been committed, so many fortunes squandered, and so many women ruined!  How are the mighty fallen!  We have just returned from a ramble in the environs, among deserted reception-houses and along silent roads.  The country is not unlike Ballston, though less wooded, more cultivated, and perhaps a little more varied....  I have had a great compliment paid me, Master Samuel, and, as it is nearly the only compliment I have received in travelling over Europe, I am the more proud of it.  Here are the facts.

You must know there is a great painter in Brussels of the name of Verboeckhoven (which, translated into the vernacular, means a bull and a book baked in an oven!), who is another Paul Potter.  He outdoes all other men in drawing cattle, etc., with a suitable landscape.  In his way he is truly admirable.  Well, sir, this artist did me the favor to call at Brussels with the request that I would let him sketch my face.  He came after the horses were ordered, and, knowing the difficulty of the task, I thanked him, but was compelled to refuse.  On our arrival at Liege we were told that a messenger from the Governor had been to enquire for us, and I began to bethink me of my sins.  There was no great cause for fear, however, for it proved that Mr. Bull-and-book-baked had placed himself in the diligence, come down to Liege (sixty-three miles), and got the Governor to give him notice, by means of my passport, when we came.  Of course I sat.

I cannot say the likeness is good, but it has a vastly life-like look and is like all the other pictures you have seen of my chameleon face.  Let that be as it will, the compliment is none the less, and, provided the artist does not mean to serve me up as a specimen of American wild beasts, I shall thank him for it.  To be followed twelve posts by a first-rate artist, who is in favor with the King, is so unusual that I was curious to know how far our minds were in unison, and so I probed him a little.  I found him well skilled in his art, of course, but ignorant on most subjects.  As respects our general views of men and things there was scarcely a point in common, for he has few salient qualities, though he is liberal; but his gusto for natural subjects is strong, and his favorite among all my books is “The Prairie,” which, you know, is filled with wild beasts.  Here the secret was out.  That picture of animal nature had so caught his fancy that he followed me sixty miles to paint a sketch.

While this letter of Cooper’s was written in lighter vein, the following extracts from one written on August 19 show another side of his character:—­