I will not enlarge.  I am congratulated by all in having made an excellent purchase, and I find a most delightful neighborhood.  Within a few miles around, approached by excellent roads, are Mr. Lenox, General Talmadge, Philip Van Rensselaer, etc., on one side; on the other, Harry Livingston, Mrs. Smith Thomson (Judge Thomson’s widow, and sister to the first Mrs. Arthur Breese), Mr. Crosby, Mr. Boorman, etc., etc.  The new railroad will run at the foot of the grounds (probably) on the river, and bring New York within two hours of us.  There is every faculty for residence—­good markets, churches, schools.  Take it all in all I think it just the place for us all.  If you should fancy a spot on it for building, I can accommodate you, and Richard wants twenty acres reserved for him.  Singularly enough this was the very spot where Uncle Arthur found his wife.  The old trees are pointed out where he and she used to ramble during their courtship.

On September 12, after again expatiating on the beauties and advantages of his home, he adds:  “I have some clouds and mutterings of thunder on the horizon (the necessary attendants, I suppose, of a lightning project) which I trust will give no more of storm than will suffice, under Him who directs the elements, to clear the air and make a serener and calmer sunset.”

On October 12, he announces the name which he has given to his country place, and a singular coincidence:—­

“Locust Grove. You see by the date where I am.  Locust Grove, it seems, was the original name given to this place by Judge Livingston, and, without knowing this fact, I had given the same name to it, so that there is a natural appropriateness in the designation of my home.  The wind is howling mournfully this evening, a second edition, I fear, of the late destructive equinoctial, but, dreary as it is out-of-doors, I have comfortable quarters within.”

In the world of affairs the wind was howling, too, and the storm was gathering which culminated in the series of lawsuits brought by Morse and his associates against the infringers on his patents.  The letters to his brother are full of the details of these piratical attacks, but throughout all the turmoil he maintained his poise and his faith in the triumph of justice and truth.  In the letter just quoted from he says:  “These matters do not annoy me as formerly.  I have seen so many dark storms which threatened, and particularly in relation to the Telegraph, and I have seen them so often hushed at the ‘Peace, be still’ of our covenant God, that now the fears and anxieties on any fresh gathering soon subside into perfect calm.”