[2][3] He graduated from Harvard College in 1860 after three years of study and read law in the office of John Lowell.

Morse began his career writing several legal treatises on banking, arbitration, and award, considered authoritative in their day,[3] and contributing to periodicals.

[2] From 1879 to 1881, Morse was a co-editor of the International Review with future United States Senator Henry Cabot Lodge.

[2][3] Morse was later the editor of the American Statesmen Series[2] to which Lodge contributed biographies of Hamilton, Daniel Webster, and George Washington.

After a heavy police presence at his Needham estate and federal and state investigation, the incident subsided.