e as to be capable of carrying to a successful
issue the great enterprise, be it what it may. He must, in short, be a
man of destiny. That he should call to his assistance other men, that he
should legitimately make use of the labors of others, in no wise detracts
from his claims to greatness. It is futile to say that without this one
or that one the enterprise would have been a failure; that without his
officers and his men the general could not have waged a successful
campaign. We must, in every great accomplishment which has influenced the
history of the world, search out the master mind to whom, under Heaven,
the epoch-making result is due, and him must we crown with the laurel
wreath.

Of nothing is this more true than of invention, for I venture to assert
that no great invention has ever sprung Minerva-like from the brain of
one man. It has been the culmination of the discoveries, the researches,
yes, and the failures, of others, until the time was ripe and the
destined man appeared. While due credit and all honor must be given to
the other laborers in the field, the niche in the temple of fame must be
reserved for the one man whose genius has combined all the known elements
and added the connecting link to produce the great result.

As an invention the telegraph was truly epoch-making. It came at a time
when steam navigation on land and water was yet in its infancy, and it is
idle to speculate on the slow progress which this would have made had it
not been for the assistance of the electric spark.

The science of electricity itself was but an academic curiosity, and it
was not until the telegraph had demonstrated that this mysterious force
could be harnessed to the use of man, that other men of genius arose to
extend its usefulness in other directions; and this, in turn, stimulated
invention in many other fields, and the end is not yet.

It has been necessary, in selecting letters, to omit many fully as
interesting as those which have been included; barely to touch on
subjects of research, or of political and religious discussion, which are
worthy of being pursued further, and to omit some subjects entirely. Very
probably another more experienced hand would have made a better
selection, but my aim has been to give, through characteristic letters
and contemporary opinions, an accurate portrait of the man, and a
succinct history of his life and labors. If I have succeeded in throwing
a new light on some points w