“Mr. Smith” was very clever and was not put off by any such argument. He saw clearly that whether England needed the device or not, they must have control of the man who possessed the secret. He evidently felt sure of Fulton’s sentiments because he told him quite frankly that they wished him “out of France and in England.” On the financial side, Fulton appears to have had a proper estimate of himself and the value of his devices. The sum of £10,000 as a retainer would be no mean figure today, but owing to the difference in purchasing power it was comparatively a vastly greater figure in 1803. This retainer was in addition to his main fee or price for selling the explanation of his devices which he put at £100,000. The “Descriptions” read that he said “require” that sum. He first wrote “demand,” which word he erased, but not sufficiently to obliterate it, and then wrote “require.” The rating of the value of his devices as being equivalent to a ship-of-the-line, or battle ship as a capital ship is now called, is certainly ingenious and not unreasonable. If his devices had any value at all they would increase the effective power of the fleet by much more than the addition of one first-class vessel. But Fulton was dealing with men far abler than he in fixing values and making contracts. The negotiations were not broken off by abruptly refusing to pay the sums asked. That would have been a blunder that one selected for such a delicate mission would not be guilty of committing. The British representative apparently did not even suggest that the retainer was exorbitant, but only that it was “contrary to established rules” to pay in advance. Then, before giving an obligation to pay a sum commensurate with the value of the devices, the reasonable and unanswerable preliminary condition of an experimental demonstration was made a prerequisite.