as all right and, if
it should be made public, it would be considered so. I replied, 'Oh! yes;
Mr. Smith says it is all perfectly fair' (for I had the utmost confidence
in his fair dealing and uprightness). But your remark led me to think of
the matter, and I determined at once that, since there was a doubt, I
would not touch it for myself, but credit it to the Government, and I
accordingly credited it as so much saved to the Government from the
contract.

And now, will you believe it! the man who would have persuaded me that
all was right in that matter, turns upon me and accuses me to the
Secretary as dealing in bad faith to the Government, citing this very
transaction in proof. But, providentially, my friend Ellsworth, and also
a clerk in the Treasury Department, are witnesses that that sum was
credited to the Government before any difficulties arose on the part of
Smith.

But I leave this unpleasant matter. The enterprise yet looks lowering,
but I know who can bring light out of darkness, and in Him I trust as a
sure refuge till these calamities be overpast.... Oh! how these troubles
drive all thought of children and brothers and all relatives out of my
mind except in the wakeful hours of the night, and then I think of you
all with sadness, that I cannot add to your enjoyment but only to your
anxiety. ... Love to all. Specially remember me in your prayers that I
may have wisdom from above to act wisely and justly and calmly in this
sore trial.

While thus some of those on whom he had relied failed him at a critical
moment, new helpers were at hand to assist him in carrying on the work.
On December 27, he writes to the Secretary of the Treasury: "I have the
honor to report that I have dismissed Professor James C. Fisher, one of
my assistants, whose salary was $1500 per annum.... My present labors
require the services of an efficient mechanical assistant whom I believe
I have found in Mr. Ezra Cornell, and whom I present for the approval of
the Honorable Secretary, with a compensation at the rate of, $1000 per
annum from December 27, 1843."

Cornell proved himself, indeed, an efficient assistant, and much of the
success of the enterprise, from that time forward, was due to his energy,
quick-wittedness, and faithfulness.

Mr. Prime, in his biography of Morse, thus describes a dramatic episode
of those trying days:--

"When the pipe had been laid as far as the Relay House, Professor Morse
came to Mr. Cornell and