betide him in Europe, he was assured of a competence at home.

His brother Sidney, with his family, had preceded him to Europe, and
writing to Vail from London on September 1, Morse says:--

"I have just taken lodgings with my brother and his family preparatory to
looking about for a week, when I shall continue my journey to Stockholm
and St. Petersburg, by the way of Hamburg, direct from London.

"On my way from Liverpool I saw at Rugby the telegraph wires of
Wheatstone, which extend, I understood, as far as Northampton. I went
into the office as the train stopped a moment, and had a glimpse of the
instrument as we have seen it in the 'Illustrated Times.' The place was
the ticket-office and the man very uncommunicative, but he told me it was
not in operation and that they did not use it much. This is easily
accounted for from the fact that the two termini are inconsiderable
places, and Wheatstone's system clumsy and complicated. The advantage of
recording is incalculable, and in this I have the undisputed superiority.
As soon as I can visit the telegraph-office here I will give you the
result of my observation. I shall probably do nothing until my return
from the north."

Nothing definite was accomplished during his short stay in London, and on
the 17th of September he left for the Continent with Mr. Henry Ellsworth
and his wife. Mr. Ellsworth, the son of his old friend, had been
appointed attaché to the American Legation at Stockholm. Morse's letters
to his daughter give a detailed account of his journey, but I shall give
only a few extracts from them:--

"_Hamburg, September 27, 1845._ Everything being ready on the morning of