A Mr. Fry of Philadelphia had also made an offer, and, referring to this, he wrote to Smith from New York, on July 17: "A letter from Mr. Fry, of Philadelphia, in answer to the proposals which you sent, I have just received. I wish much to see you, as I cannot move in this matter until I know your views. I am here for about a fortnight and wish some arrangements made by which our business can be transacted without the necessity of so much waiting and so much writing."
All these negotiations seem to have come to nothing, and I have only mentioned them as showing Morse's willingness to part with his interest for much less than he knew it was worth, in order that he might not prove an obstacle in the expansion of the system by being too mercenary, and so that he might obtain some measure of freedom from care.
Mr. F.O.J. Smith, while still proving himself a thorn in the flesh to
Morse in many ways, had compiled a Telegraph Dictionary which he called:
"The Secret Corresponding Vocabulary, adapted for Use to Morse's
Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, and also in conducting Written Correspondence
transmitted by the Mails, or otherwise." The dedication reads as follows:
To Professor Samuel F.B. Morse, Inventor of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph
Sir,—The homage of the world during the last half-century has been, and will ever continue to be, accorded to the name and genius of the illustrious American philosopher, Benjamin Franklin, for having first taught mankind that the wild and terrific ways and forces of the electric fluid, as it flies and flashes through the rent atmosphere, or descends to the surface of the earth, are guided by positive and fixed laws, as much as the movements of more sluggish matter in the physical creation, and that its terrible death-strokes may be rendered harmless by proper scientific precautions.
To another name of another generation, yet of the same proud national nativity, the glory has been reserved of having first taught mankind to reach even beyond the results of Franklin, and to subdue in a modified state, into the familiar and practical uses of a household servant who runs at his master's bidding, this same once frightful and tremendous element. Indeed the great work of science which Franklin commenced for the protection of man, you have most triumphantly subdued to his convenience. And it needs not the gift of prophecy to foresee, nor the spirit of personal flattery to declare, that the names of Franklin and Morse are destined to glide down the declivity of time together, the equals in the renown of inventive achievements, until the hand of History shall become palsied, and whatever pertains to humanity shall be lost in the general dissolution of matter.
Of one thus rich in the present applause of his countrymen, and in the prospect of their future gratitude, it affords the author of the following compilation, which is designed to contribute in a degree to the practical usefulness of your invention, a high gratification to speak in the presence of an enlightened public feeling.
That you may live to witness the full consummation of the vast revolution in the social and business relations of your countrymen, which your genius has proved to be feasible, under the liberal encouragement of our national councils, and that you may, with this great gratification, also realize from it the substantial reward, which inventive merit too seldom acquires, in the shape of pecuniary independence, is the sincere wish of
Your most respectful and obedient servant
The Author.
This florid and fulsome eulogy was written by that singular being who could thus flatter, and almost apotheosize, the inventor in public, while in secret he was doing everything to thwart him, and who never, as long as he lived, ceased to antagonize him, and later accused him of having claimed the credit of an invention all the essentials of which were invented by others. No wonder that Morse was embarrassed and at a loss how to reply to the letter of Smith's enclosing this eulogy and, at the same time, bringing up one of the subjects in dispute:—