vated the faculties which the Almighty intrusted to his keeping, he would have lived in the imperishable literature of his country as well as in its political history. It is difficult to account for this early indolence, except on one theory. He was a man of wonderful organization, mental and physical. Nature had made him robust, active, and eager for the enjoyments of life. He was strong in body as in mind. It was in accordance with nature's plan, therefore, that the physical luxuriance of the man should unfold itself before the mental. Had he been weak or sickly, the case would have been different. The story of his early life affords no example worthy of imitation, but it shows at least that an observant mind is never actually idle. The happy faculty he possessed of seizing on the things of the moment, and bending them to his purpose as illustrations, was doubtless the result of quiet observation, pursued amid the excitement of the chase or the still expectation of the angle. A man who spends his life in books rarely possesses this talent. However this may be, there is no doubt that, so long as America shall have a history, the name of Patrick Henry will be inscribed on its tablets as the greatest natural orator of a century.

ELI WHITNEY.

In a gay little frame house of Westborough, Worcester County, Massachusetts, Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton-gin, was born on the 8th of December, 1765. His father was a respectable farmer. At a very early age Eli gave indications of unusual mechanical and constructive genius, and was able to handle the tools in the farm workshop with dexterity. When he was twelve years of age he distinguished himself by making a violin, which, it is said, produced good music, and was, of course, the wonder of the neighborhood. It obtained so wide a fame that he was afterward employed to repair violins, and had many nice jobs, which were always executed to the entire satisfaction of his customers. Whitney, like most ingenious boys, was fascinated by the perfect finish and admirable adaptability of the various parts of a watch. His fingers itched to take it to pieces and learn the secret of its usefulness; but his father, to whom it belonged, had very different wishes on the subject, and was apt to reward curiosity with punishment. For a long time Eli's inquisitive mind had to postpone its yearnings, but at length an opportunity presented itself. "One morning, observing that his father was going to meeting, and would leave at home the wonderful little machine, he immediately feigned illness as an apology for not going to church. As soon as the family were out of sight, he flew to the room where the watch hung, and, taking it down, he was so delighted with its motions that he took it all in pieces before he thought of the consequences of his rash deed; for his father was a stern parent, and punishment would have been the reward of his idle curiosity had the mischief been detected. He, however, put the work all so neatly together, that his father never discovered his audacity until he himself told him, many years afterward." Similar instances of ingenuity were of constant occurrence, and gave abundant indications of the natural bent of his mind.

When Whitney was fifteen or sixteen years of age, he determined to turn his tool-handiness to some account. He asked permission of his father to set up as a maker of nails, for which there

was a great demand. His father consented, procured him a few simple tools, and left him to pursue his labors as best he could. For two winters he labored diligently at this arduous trade. His industry was unflagging. Nothing was permitted to interfere with the day's labor, and, when that was completed, he amused himself with making tools for his own use, and in doing little fancy jobs for the neighbors. In the summer months he did ordinary field-work on his father's farm. When the nail business began to fail, he directed his attention to the making of long pins for the fastening of ladies' bonnets, and also to the manufacture of walking-canes. Both these curious articles were turned out with such peculiar neatness that he had a complete command of the market.

Whitney's industry was from the first directed to the attainment of one coveted object. It was his ambition to win for himself a superior education, and to enjoy the advantages of a collegiate course of study. In 1789 he had so far made himself the master of circumstances as to be able to enter the freshman class at Yale College; three years later he had obtained his first degree, and immediately afterward he went into the world as a private teacher. In the family of General Greene, of Mulberry Grove, near Savannah, he was received with great kindness and consideration, and while in the enjoyment of their hospitality commenced the study of the law. Mrs. Greene, like most fashionable ladies of the time, amused her leisure with the elegant pastime of tambour-work. One day she complained that the frame or tambour was clumsily constructed, and tore the delicate threads of her work. Whitney's inventive faculties and his gallantry were immediately excited. In a few days he produced a new frame, on a totally different plan. It was found to work admirably, and Mrs. Greene never forgot the ingenuity of her young friend. Not long after, a conversation sprang up between some guests of the house on the usual topic of Southern talk, the cotton crop. A good many regrets were expressed that there was no way of cleaning the seed from the green seed-cotton, which prevented much profitable cultivation of the plant on lands unsuitable for rice. According to the then existing system, only one pound of the clean staple could be separated from the seed in a day. Mrs. Greene suggested that the subject should be proposed to Whitney, on the score that he could make any thing, and took an early opportunity to intro

duce the parties. At this time Whitney had never seen cottonseed in his life, but, without a moment's delay, he turned his thoughts to the accomplishment of the object proposed. In Savannah he found it impossible to procure tools, and was under the necessity of making them for himself, and even then had to draw his own wire. In the effort to which he now devoted himself, he was warmly encouraged by an old college friend, Mr. Miller, and by Mrs. Greene. The gentleman possessed capital, and was so well satisfied with Whitney's plans, that he proposed to become a joint adventurer with him, and to bear the whole expense of maturing the invention until it should be patented. If the machine should succeed in its intended operations, the parties agreed "that the profits and advantages arising therefrom, as well as all privileges and emoluments to be derived from patenting, making, vending, and working the same, should be mutually and equally shared between them." This instrument bears date the 27th of May, 1793. Immediately afterward the firm of Miller and Whitney commenced operations.

The advantages which were to be derived by the cotton planters from Whitney's machine were too important to allow of its being constructed without exciting curiosity. The excitement became so intense that multitudes arrived from all quarters of the state to inspect the machine. Seeing how admirably it was calculated to assist them, their cupidity was excited, and some unprincipled wretches broke into the building and carried off the yet incomplete model. In order to prevent the recurrence of such a disgraceful act, Whitney repaired to Connecticut, where he knew he would be unmolested; but his idea had been already appropriated by the greedy ruffians who had broken into his house. Within three days of his departure, Mr. Miller wrote to him to say that there were two other claimants to the honor of the invention; and almost immediately afterward a new cotton-gin made its appearance, constructed in every important respect precisely like Whitney's. It was evident that his troubles were about to commence, and that, like all original inventors, he would have to be content with the empty honors of his genius. The demand for the machines, however, when he had commenced their manufacture, far exceeded Whitney's ability to make them. He was cramped for want of money. Thus the pirates had every inducement to bring in their spurious copies. The planter who had not

a machine, felt it necessary to procure one, either from Whitney or some other source, simply as a measure of protection against his more fortunate neighbor. In March, 1795, in addition to these troubles, Whitney's manufactory in Connecticut, with all his stock of machines, his papers, and his implements and tools, was destroyed by fire. Such an untimely calamity reduced the concern to a state of bankruptcy. As though this were not enough to appease the cruel fates, intelligence was received from England condemning the cotton cleaned by machines, on the ground that the staple was greatly injured. There is no doubt that this decision was provoked in consequence of the imperfect operations of the rival machines. Indeed, many respectable factors made a special reservation in favor of Whitney's, but it was of little avail against the torrent of spurious ones which now deluged the South. "The extreme embarrassments," wrote Whitney at this time, "which have been for a long time accumulating upon me, are now become so great that it will be impossible for me to struggle against them many days longer. It has required my utmost exertions to exist, without making the least progress in our business. I have labored hard against the strong current of disappointment which has been threatening to carry us down the cataract, but I have labored with a shattered oar, and struggled in vain, unless some speedy relief is obtained. * * * * Life is but short at best, and six or seven years out of the midst of it is, to him who makes it, an immense sacrifice. My most unremitted attention has been devoted to our business. I have sacrificed to it other objects, from which, before this time, I might certainly have gained twenty or thirty thousand dollars. My whole prospects have been embarked in it, with the expectation that I should, before this time, have realized something from it."

Whitney's success now depended not only on the introduction of his own machines, but the extinction of all others, for the latter not only interfered with the sale of his own, but, what was of far greater importance, brought the machine-prepared staple into discredit with the English manufacturers. It was determined, therefore, to prosecute the violators of the patent rights. The first trial came off on the 11th of May, 1797. The tide of popular opinion appeared to be running in Miller & Whitney's favor; the judge was well-disposed toward them, and charged the jury pointedly in their favor. The jury retired to consider their verdict. In