nation," and honorary degrees were conferred on him by various
institutions both at home and abroad. Of these the one that, perhaps,
pleased him the most was the degree of LL.D. bestowed by his _alma
mater_, Yale. He alludes to it with pride in many of his letters to his
brother Sidney, and once playfully suggests that it must mean "Lightning
Line Doctor."

One of the first letters which he received on his return to America was
from Cambridge Livingston, dated December 20, 1845, and reads as
follows:--

"The Trustees of the New York and Boston Magnetic Telegraph Association
are getting up a certificate of stock, and are desirous of making it neat
and appropriate. It has seemed to me very desirable that one of its
decorations should be your coat of arms, and if you will do me the favor
to transmit a copy, or a wax impression of the same, I shall be much
obliged."

To this Morse replied:--

"I send you a sketch of the Morse coat of arms, according to your
request, to do as you please with it. I am no advocate of heraldic
devices, but the _motto_ in this case sanctions it with me. I wish to
live and die in its spirit:--

"'_Deo non armis fido._'"

I have said that many on whom Morse relied proved faithless, and, while I
do not intend to go into the details of all these troubles, it is only
right that, in the interest of historical truth, some mention should be