Another great reason why I think there will be peace is the absolute fear which they express of us.  They fear the increase of our navy; they fear the increase of the army; they fear for Canada, and they are in dread of the further disgrace of their national character.  Mr. Monroe’s plan for raising 100,000 men went like a shock through the country.  They saw the United States assume an attitude which they did not expect, and the same men who cried for “war, war,” “thrash the Americans,” now cry most lustily for peace.

The union of the parties also has convinced them that we are determined to resist their most arrogant pretensions.

Love to all, brothers, Miss Russell, etc.  Yours very affectionately, SAML.  F. B. MORSE.

He ends the letter thus abruptly, probably realizing that he was beginning to tread on forbidden ground, but being unable to resist the temptation.

While from this letter and others we can form a just estimate of the character and temperament of the man, it is also well to learn the opinion of his contemporaries; I shall, therefore, quote from a letter to the elder Morse of the Dr. Romeyn, whom the son was so anxious to have his father see, also from a letter of Mr. Van Schaick to Dr. Romeyn.

The former was written in New York, on December 27, 1814.

“The enclosed letter of my friend Mr. Van Schaick will give you the information concerning your son which you desire.  He has been intimately acquainted with your son for a considerable time.  You may rely on his account, as he is not only a gentleman of unquestionable integrity, but also a professor of the Lord Christ.  What I saw and heard of your son pleased me, and I cannot but hope he will repay all your anxieties and realize your reasonable expectations by his conduct and the standing which he must and will acquire in society by that conduct.”

Mr. Van Schaick’s letter was written also in New York, on December 14, 1814:—­

“To those passages of Dr. Morse’s letter respecting his son, to which you have directed my attention, I hasten to reply without any form, because it will gratify me to relieve the anxiety of the parents of my friend.  His religious and moral character is unexceptionally good.  He feels strongly for his country and expresses those feelings among his American friends with great sensibility.  I do not know that he ever indulges in any observations in the company of Englishmen which are calculated to injure his standing among them.  But, my dear sir, you fully know that an American cannot escape the sting of illiberal and false charges against his country and even its moral character, unless he almost entirely withholds himself from society.  It cannot be expected that any human being should be so unfeeling as to suffer indignity in total silence.