In October, two delightful trips were made to the Scottish Highlands and English Lakes. A Sunday was spent near Balmoral, where the family attended service at Crathie, in the church in which the Queen worships when at the Highlands. They were seated in the gallery directly opposite the royal party, which consisted of the Queen and Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, Princess Alice with her betrothed Prince Louis of Hesse, the Duke of Argyle, and a number of distinguished men. Dr. Stuart of St. Andrew’s Church, Edinburgh, preached. Just as the service began, he found to his dismay that he had left his manuscript at his lodgings, and was obliged to preach a discourse which he had recently given to his own people, and which was fresh in his mind. It was a very earnest sermon on “Prepare to meet thy God,” and so impressed the mind of Prince Albert that he asked the preacher to lend him the manuscript, that he might read it over. This was but a short time before the Prince’s death. A few weeks later, Mr. Carter saw him lay the foundation of a new post office in Edinburgh in a severe storm, in which he caught the cold that led to his death.
About this time occurred the Trent affair, which at one time seriously threatened a war between England and America. Some of Mr. Carter’s Scotch friends were a good deal shocked to hear him declare that, dear as was the land of his birth, the land of his adoption claimed his allegiance, and in case of war he must immediately return to America. He tried in every way to study the things that make for peace, to pour oil on the troubled waters. At several public meetings he pleaded with the Christian people to use their influence to preserve the peace between Christian nations.
