he saw still unimpaired the traditional
goblet which Uhland's ballad had vainly attempted to shatter. At Morton,
near Carlisle, while staying with a friend he received a public address,
to which he thus replied, in one of the few speeches of his life:--

"MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN,--Being more accustomed to speak with the
pen than with the tongue, it is somewhat difficult for me to find
appropriate words now to thank you for the honor you have done me, and
the very kind expressions you have used. Coming here as a stranger, this
welcome makes me feel that I am not a stranger; for how can a man be a
stranger in a country where he finds all doors and all hearts open to
him? Besides, I myself am a Cumberland man,--I was born in the County of
Cumberland, in the State of Maine, three thousand miles from here,--and
you all know that the familiar name of a town or country has a homelike
sound to our ears.... You can think then how very grateful it is to
me--how very pleasant--to find my name has a place in your memories and
your affections. For this kindness I most heartily thank you, and I
reciprocate all the good wishes which you have expressed for perpetual
peace and amity between our two nations."{86}

He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws at Cambridge, and the
scene was thus described by a London reporter:--

"Amid a score or so of Heads of Houses and other Academic dignitaries
conspicuous by their scarlet robes, the one on whom all eyes were turned
was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The face was one which would have caught
the spectator's glance, even if not called to it by the cheers which
greeted his appearance in the red robes of an LL. D. Long, white, silken
hair and a beard of patriarchal whiteness enclosed a fresh-colored
countenance, with fine-cut features and deep-sunken eyes, overshadowed
by massive eyebrows. In a few well-rounded Latin sentences, Mr. Clark,
the Public Orator, recited the claims of the distinguished visitor to
the privilege of an honorary degree. The names of Hiawatha and
Evangeline sounded strangely amid the sonorous periods."{87}

Another journalist wrote that the orator "drew a picture of the function
of poetry to solace the ills of life and draw men from its low cares _ad
excelsiora_. This point was caught at once by the undergraduates and
drew forth hearty cheering. The degree was then conferred."{88}

Arriving in London he received a deluge of cards and invitations;
visited