source of income by my profession; that the state of the University is such that I shall probably leave, and shall have to move into new quarters; that my family is dispersed, requiring my care and anxieties under every disadvantage; that my engagements were such with Russia that every moment of my time was necessary to complete my arrangements to fulfill the contract in season; and, instead of finding my associates ready to sustain me with counsel and means, I find them all dispersed, leaving me without either the opportunity to consult or a cent of means, and consequently bringing everything in relation to the Telegraph to a dead stand.

“In the midst of this I am called on by the state of public opinion to defend myself against the outrageous attempt of Dr. Jackson to pirate from me my invention.  The words would be harsh that are properly applicable to this man’s conduct....

“You see, therefore, in what a condition I found myself when I returned.  I was delayed several days beyond the computed time of my arrival by the long passage of the steamer.  Instead of finding any funds by a vote of Congress, or by a company, and my associates ready to back me, I find not a cent for the purpose, and my associates scattered to the four winds.

“You can easily conceive that I gave up all as it regarded Russia, and considered the whole enterprise as seriously injured if not completely destroyed.  In this state of things I was hourly dreading to hear from the Russian Minister, and devising how I should save myself and the enterprise without implicating my associates in a charge of neglect; and as it has most fortunately happened for us all, the 10th of May has passed without the receipt of the promised advices, and I took advantage of this, and by the Liverpool steamer of the 18th wrote to the Baron Meyendorff, and to M. Amyot, that it was impossible to fulfill the engagement this season, since I had not received the promised advices in time to prepare.”

This was, of course, before he had heard of the Czar’s refusal to sign the contract, and he goes on to make plans for carrying out the Russian enterprise the next year, and concludes by saying:—­

“Do think of this matter and see if means cannot be raised to keep ahead with the American Telegraph.  I sometimes am astonished when I reflect how I have been able to take the stand with my Telegraph in competition with my European rivals, backed as they are with the purses of the kings and wealthy of their countries, while our own Government leaves me to fight their battles for the honor of this invention fettered hand and foot.  Thanks will be due to you, not to them, if I am able to maintain the ground occupied by the American Telegraph.”

Shortly after his return from abroad, on April 24, Morse wrote the following letter to Professor Henry at Princeton:—­

My Dear Sir,—­On my return a few days since from Europe, I found directed to me, through your politeness, a copy of your valuable “Contributions,” for which I beg you to accept my warmest thanks.  The various cares consequent upon so long an absence from home, and which have demanded my more immediate attention, have prevented me from more than a cursory perusal of its interesting contents, yet I perceive many things of great interest to me in my telegraphic enterprise.