MEMOIR.

The memory of the late Mr. Whitney is so fondly cherishes by his fellow citizens, out of respect to his distinguished talents, his private virtues, and his public spirit, and his name holds so honorable a place among the benefactors of our country, that the wish has often been intimated to us of seeing a more extended biography of him, than has hitherto been given to the public.

We now enter with pleasure upon such a task; and to enable us to do the better justice to the subject, we have been favored with access to his extensive correspondence, and to all his other writings, and have conferred freely with various persons, 'who were long and intimately acquainted with him.

ELI WHITNEY was born at Westborough, Worcester County, Massachusetts, December 8, 1765. His parents belonged to the middle class in society, who, by the labors of husbandry, managed, by uniform industry and strict frugality, to provide well for a rising family. From the same class have arisen most of those who, in New England, have attained to high eminence and usefulness ; nor is any other situation in society so favorable to the early formation of those habits of economy, both of time and money, which, when carried forward into the study of the scholar, or the field of active enterprise, afford the surest pledge of success.

The paternal ancestors of Mr. Whitney emigrated from England among the early settlers of Massachusetts, and their descendants were among the most respectable farmers of Worcester County. His maternal ancestors, of the name of FAY, were also English emigrants, and ranked among the substantial yeomanry of Massachusetts. A family tradition respecting the occasion of their coming to this country, may serve to illustrate the history of the times. The story is, that, about two hundred years ago, the father of the family, who resided in England, a man of large property and great respectability, called together his five sons and addressed them thus : " America is to be a great country ; I am too old to emigrate to it myself; but if any one of you will go, I will give him a double share of my property."

The youngest son instantly declared his willingness to go, and his brothers gave their consent. He soon set off for the New World, and landed at Boston, in the neighborhood of which place he purchased a large tract of land, where he enjoyed the satisfaction of receiving two visits from his venerable father. His son, John Fay, from whom the subject of this memoir is immediately descended, removed from Boston to Westborough, where he became the proprietor of a large tract of land, since known by the name of the Fay-Farm.

From Mrs. B., the sister of Mr. Whitney, we have derived some particulars respecting his childhood and youth, and we shall present the anecdotes to our readers in the artless style in which they are related by our correspondent, believing that they would be more acceptable in this simple dress, than if, according to the modest suggestion of the writer, they should be invested with a more labored diction. The following incident, though trivial in itself, will serve to show at how early a period certain qualities of strong feeling, tempered by prudence, for which Mr. Whitney afterwards became distinguished, began to display themselves. When he was six or seven years old, he had overheard the kitchen-maid, in a fit of passion, calling his mother, who was in a delicate state of health, hard names, at which he expressed great displeasure to his sister. " She thought (said he) that I was not big enough to know any thing; but I can tell her, I am too big to hear her talk so about by mother. I think she ought to have a flogging, and if I knew how to bring it about, she should have one." His sister advised him to tell their father. " No, (he replied,) that will not do; it will hurt his feelings and mother's too: and besides, it is likely the girl will say she never said so, and that would make a quarrel. It is best to say nothing about it"

Indications of his mechanical genius were likewise developed at a very early age. Of his early passion for such employments, his sister gives the following account. " Our father had a workshop, and sometimes made wheels, of different kinds, and chairs. He had a variety of tools, and a lathe for turning chair-posts. This gave my brother an opportunity of learning the use of tools when very young. He lost no time; but as soon as he could handle tools he was always making something in the shop, and seemed not to like working on the farm. On a time, after the death of our mother, when our father had been absent from home two or three days, on his return, he inquired of the housekeeper, what the boys had been doing ? She told him what B. and J. had been about. But what has Eli been doing? Said he. She replied, he has been making a fiddle. ' Ah! (Added he despondingly,) I fear Eli will have to take his portion in fiddles.' He was at this time about twelve years old. His sister adds, that this fiddle was finished throughout, like a common violin, and made tolerably good music.

It was examined by many persons, and all pronounced it to be a remarkable piece of work for such a boy to perform. From this- time he was employed to repair violins, and had many nice jobs, which were always executed to the entire satisfaction, and often to the astonishment, of his customers. His father's watch being the greatest piece of mechanism that had yet presented itself to his observation, he was extremely desirous of examining its interior construction, but was not permitted to do so. One Sunday 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 afterwards."

Whitney lost his mother at an early age, and when he was thirteen years old, his father married a second time. His stepmother, among her articles of furniture, had a handsome set of table knives, she valued very highly, which our young mechanic observing, said to her, ' I could make as good ones, if I had tools, and I could make the necessary tools, if I had a few common tools to make them with.' His step-mother thought he was deriding her, and was much displeased ; but it so happened not long afterwards, that one of the knives got broken, and he made one exactly like it in every respect, except the stamp on the blade. This he would likewise have executed, had not the tools required been too expensive for his slender resources.

When Whitney was fifteen or sixteen years of age, he suggested to his father an enterprise, which was an earnest of the similar undertakings in which he engaged on a far greater scale in later life. This being the time of the Revolutionary war, nails were in great demand, and bore a high price. At that period, nails were made chiefly by hand, with little aid from machinery. Young Whitney proposed to his father to procure him a few tools, and to permit him to set up the manufacture. His father consented, and he went steadily to work, and suffered nothing to divert him from his task, until his day's work was completed. By extraordinary diligence, he gained time to make tools for his own use, and to put in knife blades, and to perform many other curious little jobs, which exceeded the skill of the country artisans.

At this laborious occupation, the enterprising boy wrought alone, with great success, and with much profit to his father, for two winters, pursuing the ordinary labors of the farm during the summers. At this time he devised a plan for enlarging his business and increasing his profits. He whispered his scheme to his sister, with strong injunctions of secrecy: and requesting leave of his father to go to a neighboring town, without specifying his object, he set out on horseback in quest of a fellow laborer. Not finding one so easily as he had anticipated, he proceeded from town to town, with a perseverance which was always a strong trait of his character, until at the distance of forty miles from home, he found such a workman as he desired. He also made his journey subservient to his improvement in mechanical skill, for he called at every workshop on his way, and gleaned all the information he could respecting the mechanic arts.

At the close of the war, the business of making nails was no longer profitable; but a fashion prevailing among the ladies of fastening on their bonnets with long pins, he contrived to make those with such skill and dexterity, that he nearly monopolized the business, although he devoted to it only such seasons of leisure as he could redeem from the occupations of the farm, to which he now principally betook himself. He added to this article, the manufacture of walking canes, which he made with peculiar neatness.

In respect to his proficiency in learning, while young, we are informed that he early manifested a fondness for figures, and an uncommon aptitude for arithmetical calculations, though in the other rudiments of education, he was not particularly distinguished. Yet, at the age of fourteen, he had acquired so much general information, as to be regarded, on this account, as well as on account of his mechanical skill, a very remarkable boy.

From the age of nineteen, young Whitney conceived the idea of obtaining a liberal education ; but being warmly opposed by his step-mother, he was unable to procure the decided consent of his father, until he had reached the age of twenty three years. But, partly by the avails of his manual labor, and partly by teaching a village school, he had been so far able to surmount the obstacles thrown in his way, that he had prepared himself for the Freshman class in Yale College, which he entered in May, 1789. An intelligent friend and neighbor of the family helped to dissuade his father from sending him to college, observing, that " it was a pity such a fine mechanical genius as his should be wasted;" but he was unable to comprehend how a liberal education, by enlarging his intellectual powers and expanding his genius, would 50 much exalt those powers and perfect that genius, as to place their possessor among the Arkwrights of the age, while without such means of cultivation, he might have been only an ingenious millwright or blacksmith. While a schoolmaster, the mechanic would often usurp the place of the teacher; and the mind, too aspiring for such a sphere, was wandering off in pursuit of perpetual motion.

While at home in the month of July, 1788, making arrangements to go to New Haven, for the purpose of entering college, he was seized with a violent fever attended by a severe cough, which threatened to terminate his life. At length the disease centered in one of his limbs. A painful swelling, extending to the bone, ensued, which was finally relieved by surgical operation. After his recovery, he went to Durham, in Connecticut, and finished his preparation for college, under the care of that eminent scholar, Rev. Dr. Goodrich. As we are soon to accompany Mr. Whit-ney beyond the sphere of his domestic relations, we may mention here, that he finished his collegiate education with little expense to his father. His last college bills were indeed paid by him, but the money was considered as' a loan, and for it the son gave his note, which he afterwards duly canceled. Aiter the decease of his father, he took an active part in the settlement of the estate, but generously relinquished all his patrimony for the benefit of the other members of the family. We have already mentioned that Mr. Whitney entered Yale College at the mature age of twenty three years.

He had enjoyed but little intercourse with men of learning, and the state of elementary education, in the part of the country where he passed his minority, was unfavorable to his acquiring a knowledge of polite literature; and while a member of college, he seems to have devoted more attention to the mathematics, and especially to mechanics, theoretical as well as practical, than to the ancient classics. Among his files are found most or all of the compositions and disputations which he wrote during this period, commencing with 1789. The compositions are frequently characterized by great vividness of imagination, and the disputations by sound and correct reasoning. At this time of life, indeed, Mr. Whitney exhibited an imagination somewhat poetical; his prose compositions had something of this vein, and he occasionally wrote verses. The written disputations found among his papers, are more than twenty in number. Some of them were read before the President, (the late Dr. Stiles,) and others were exhibited in the literary society to which he belonged. Their titles indicate the topics that were agitated by the students of that day.

The subjects discussed were oftener political than literary. The writers partook largely of the enthusiasm which pervaded all ranks of our countrymen. They exulted in their release from a foreign yoke, and boasted of the victory they had achieved over British arms. They eitolled the matchless wisdom of the new government, and contrasted its free spirit with the tyranny of most of the governments of the old world, and its youthful vigor with those mouldering fabrics. With a spirit somewhat prophetical, they anticipated the decline and overthrow of all arbitrary governments, and the substitution in their place, of a purely representative system, like our own, and thus maintained, (what is now even more probable than it was then,) that this government was set up to be a model to all the nations of the earth.

The propensity of Mr. Whitney to mechanical inventions and occupations, was frequently apparent during his residence at college. On a particular occasion, one of the tutors happening to mention some interesting philosophical experiment, regretted that he could not exhibit it to his pupils, because the apparatus was out of order, and must be sent abroad to be repaired. Mr. Whitney proposed to undertake this task, and performed it greatly to the satisfaction of the Faculty of the college.

A carpenter being at work upon one of- the buildings of the gentleman with whom Mr. Whitney boarded, the latter begged permission to use his tools during the intervals of study; but the mechanic being a man of careful habits, was unwilling to trust them with a student, and it was only after the gentleman of the house had become responsible for all damages, that he would grant the permission. But Mr. Whitney had no sooner commenced his operations, than the carpenter was surprised at his dexterity, and exclaimed, " there was one good mechanic spoiled when you went to college."
Soon after Mr. Whitney took his degree, in the autumn of 1792, he entered into an engagement with a Mr. B., of Georgia, to reside in his family as a private teacher.

On his way thither, he was so fortunate as to have the company of Mrs. Greene, the widow of General Greene, who, with her family, was returning to Savannah, after spending the summer at the north. At that time it was deemed unsafe to travel through our country without having had the small-pox, and accordingly Mr. W. prepared himself for the excursion, by procuring inoculation while in New York. As soon as he was sufficiently recovered, the party set sail for Savannah. As his health was not fully re-established, Mrs. Greene kindly invited him to go with the family to her residence at Mulberry Grove, near Savannah, and remain until he was recruited. The invitation was accepted ; but lest he should not yet have lost all power of communicating that dreadful disease, Mrs. Greene had white flags (the meaning of which was well understood) hoisted at the landing, and at all the avenues leading to the house. As a requital for her hospitality, her guest procured the virus and inoculated all the servants of the household, more than fifty in number, and carried them safely through the disorder.

Mr. Whitney had scarcely set his foot in Georgia, before he was met by a disappointment which was an earnest of that long series of adverse events which, with scarcely an exception, attended all his future negotiations in the same State.* On his arrival, he was informed that Mr. B. had employed another teacher, leaving Whitney entirely without resources or friends, except those whom he had made in the family of Gen. Greene. In these benevolent people, however, his case excited much interest, and Mrs. Greene kindly said to him, my young friend, you propose studying the law; make my house your home, your room your castle, and there pursue what studies you please. He accordingly commenced the study of law under that hospitable roof.

Mrs. Greene was engaged in a piece of embroidery in which * In a letter to his friend, Josiah Stebbina, Esq., (the late Judge Stebbins of Maine,) dated Geo., April 11, 1793, Mr. Whitney says, " Fortune has stood with her back towards me ever since I have been here."-It does not appear that so far as related to Georgia, he ever found her position reversed.


She employed a peculiar kind of frame called a tambour. She complained that it was badly constructed, and that it tore the delicate threads of her work. Mr. Whitney, eager for an opportunity to oblige his hostess, set himself at work and speedily produced a tambour frame made on a plan entirely new, which he presented to her. Mrs. Greene and her family were greatly delighted with it, and thought it a wonderful proof of ingenuity.*
Not long afterwards, a large party of gentlemen came from Augusta and the Upper country, to visit the family of Gen. Greene, consisting principally of officers who had served under the General in the Revolutionary army.

Among the number were Major Bremen, Major Forsyth, and Major Pendleton. They fell into conversation upon the state of agriculture among them, and expressed great regret that there was no means of cleaning the green seed cotton, or separating it from its seed, since all the lands which were unsuitable for the cultivation of rice, would yield large crops of cotton. But until ingenuity could devise some machine which would greatly facilitate the process of cleaning, it was in vain to think of raising cotton for market.

Separating one pound of the clean staple from the seed was a day's work for a woman; but the time usually devoted to picking cotton was the evening, after the labor of the field was over. Then the slaves, men, women and children, were collected in circles with one whose duty it was to rouse the dozing and quicken the indolent. While the company were engaged in this conversation, " gentlemen (said Mrs. Greene,) apply to my young friend, Mr. Whitney- he can make any thing." Upon which she conducted them into a neighboring room, and showed them her tambour frame, and a number of toys which Mr. W. had made, or repaired for the children. She then introduced the gentlemen to Whitney himself, extolling his genius and commending him to their· Several years afterwards, his partner, Mr. Miller, writes to Mr. Whitney, " I presume your skill in mechanics is likely to give you employment enough with the ladies; for your name is often coupled with work-frames, needles, &c. &c.; so that I apprehend you will ultimately bo compelled, to become ignorant and unskilful in thebo things, iti your uwn defence." notice and friendship.

He modestly disclaimed all pretensions to mechanical genius ; and when they named their object, he replied that he had never seen either cotton or cotton seed in his life. Mrs. G. said to one of the gentlemen, " I have accomplished my aim. Mr. Whitney is a very deserving young man, and to bring him into notice was my object. The interest which our friends now feel for him, will, I hope, lead to his getting some employment to enable him to prosecute the study of the law."

But a new turn that no one of the company dreamed of, had been given to Mr. Whitney's views. It being out of season for cotton in the seed, he went to Savannah and searched among the warehouses and boats, until he found a small parcel of it. This he carried home, and communicated his intentions to Mr. Miller, who warmly encouraged him, and assigned him a room in the basement of the house, where he set himself at work with such rude materials and instruments as a Georgia plantation afforded. With these resources, however, he made tools better suited to his purpose, and drew his own wire, (of which the teeth of the earliest gins were made,) an article which was not at that time to be found in the market of Savannah. Mrs. Greene and Mr. Miller were the only persons ever admitted to his workshop, and the only persons who knew in what way he was employing himself.

The many hours he spent in his mysterious pursuits, afforded matter of great curiosity and often of raillery to the younger members of the family. Near the close of the winter, the machine was so nearly completed as to leave no doubt of its success.

Mrs. Greene was eager to communicate to her numerous friends the knowledge of this important invention, peculiarly important at that time, because then the market was glutted with all those articles which were suited to the climate and soil of Georgia, and nothing could be found to give occupation to the negroes, and support to the white inhabitants. This opened suddenly to the planters boundless resources of wealth, and rendered the occupations of the slaves less unhealthy and laborious than they had been before.

Mrs. Greene, therefore, invited to her house gentlemen from different parts of the State, and on the first day after they had assembled, she conducted them to a temporary building, which had been erected for the machine, and they saw with astonishment and delight, that more cotton could be separated from the seed in one day, by the labor of a single hand, than could be done in the usual manner in the space of many months.

Mr. Whitney might now have indulged in bright reveries of fortune and of fame; but we shall have various opportunities of seeing, that he tempered his inventive genius with an unusual share of the calm, considerate qualities of the financier.

Although urged by his friends to secure a patent, and devote himself to the manufacture and introduction of his machines, he coolly replied, that on account of the great expense and trouble which always attend the introduction of a new invention, and the difficulty of enforcing a law in favor of patentees, in opposition to the individual interests of so large a number of persons as would be concerned in the culture of this article, it was with great reluctance that he should consent to relinquish the hopes of a lucrative profession, for which he had been destined, with an expectation of indemnity either from the justice or the gratitude of his countrymen, even should the invention answer the most sanguine anticipations of his friends.

The individual who contributed most to incite him to persevere in the undertaking, was Phineas Miller, Esq. Mr. Miller was a native of Connecticut, and a graduate of Yale College. Like Mr. Whitney, soon after he had completed his education at college, he came to Georgia as a private teacher, in the family of Gen. Greene, and after the decease of the General, he became the husband of Mrs. Greene. He had qualified himself for the profession of law, and was a gentleman of cultivated mind and superior talents ; but he was of an ardent temperament, and therefore well fitted to enter with zeal into the views which the genius of his friend had laid open to him. He had also considerable funds at command, and proposed to Mr. Whitney to become his joint adventurer, and to be at the whole expense of maturing the invention until it should be patented.

If the machine should succeed in its intended operation, the parties agreed, under legal formalities, " 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 May 27, 1793, and immediately afterwards they commenced business, under the firm of Miller $ Whitney.

An invention so important to the agricultural interest, (and, as has proved, to every department of human industry,) could not long remain a secret. The knowledge of it soon spread through the State, and so great was the excitement on the subject, that multitudes of persons came from all quarters of the State to see the machine ; but it was not deemed safe to gratify their curiosity until the patent-right had been secured. But so determined were some of the populace to possess this treasure, that neither law nor justice could restrain them-they broke open the building by night and carried off the machine. In this way the public became possessed of the invention; and before Mr. Whitney could complete his model and secure his patent, a number of machines were in successful operation, constructed with some slight deviation from the original, with the hope of evading the penalty for violating the patent-right.

As soon as the copartnership of Miller & Whitney was formed, Mr. Whitney repaired to Connecticut, where, as far as possible, he was to perfect the machine, obtain a patent, and manufacture and ship for Georgia such a number of machines as would supply the demand.

Within three days after the conclusion of the copartnership, Mr. Whitney havirig set out for the north, Mr. Miller commenced his long correspondence relative to the Cotton Gin.* The first letter announces that encroachments upon their rights had already commenced. " It will be necessary (says Mr. Miller) to have a considerable number of gins made, to be in readiness to send out as soon as the patent is obtained, in order to satisfy the absolute demand, and make people's heads easy on the subject; for I am informed of two other claimants for the honor of the invention of cotton gins, in addition to those we knew before."

On the 20th of June, 1793, Mr. Whitney presented his petition for a patent to Mr. Jefferson, then Secretary of State ; but the prevalence of the yellow fever in Philadelphia, (which was then the seat of government,) prevented his concluding the business relative to the patent, until several months afterwards. To prevent being anticipated, he took however the precaution to make oath to the invention before the Notary Public of the city of New Haven, which he did on the 28th of October, of the same year.

Mr. Jefferson, who had much curiosity in regard to mechanical inventions, took a peculiar interest in this machine, and addressed to the inventor an obliging letter, desiring farther particulars respecting it, and expressing a wish to procure one for his own use. Mr. Whitney accordingly sketched the history of the invention, and of the construction and performances of the machine. " It is about a year (says he) since* I first turned my attention to constructing this machine, at which time I was in the State of Georgia. Within about ten days after my first conception of the plan, I made a small, though imperfect model. Experiments with this encouraged me to make one on a larger scale; but the extreme difficulty of procuring workmen and proper materials in Georgia, prevented my completing the larger one until some time in April last.

This, though much larger than my first attempt, is not above one third as large as the machines may be made with convenience. The cylinder is only two feet two inches in length, and six inches diameter. It is turned by hand, and requires the strength of one man to keep it in constant motion. It is the stated task of one negro to clean fifty weight, (I mean fifty pounds after it is separated from the seed,) of the green seed cotton per day."-In the same letter Mr. J efferson assured Mr. Whitney, that a patent would be granted as soon as the model was lodged in the Patent Office. In mentioning the favorable notice of Mr. Jefferson to his friend Stebbins, he adds, with characteristic moderation, I hope, by perseverance, I shall make something of it yet.

"This letter is dated Nov. 24,1793.

This name was not applied by the inventor, but became such by popular use.

At the close of this year, (1793,) Mr. Whitney was to return to Georgia with his cotton gins, and Mr. Miller had made arrangements for commencing business immediately after his arrival. The plan was to erect machines in every part of the cotton district, and engross the entire business themselves. This was evidently an unfortunate scheme. It rendered the business very extensive and complicated, and as it did not at once supply the demands of the cotton growers, it multiplied the inducements to make the machines in violation of the patent. Had the proprietors confined their views to the manufacture of the machines, and to the sale of patent rights, it is. probable they would have avoided some of the difficulties with which they afterwards had to contend.

The prospect of making suddenly an immense fortune by the business of ginning, where every third pound of cotton (worth at that time from twenty five to thirty three cents) was their own, presented great and peculiar attractions. Mr. Whitney's return to Georgia was delayed until the following April. The importunity of Mr. Miller's letters, written during the preceding period, urging him to come on, evinces how eager the Georgia planters were to enter the new field of enterprise, which the genius of Whitney had laid open to them. Nor did they, at first, in general, contemplate availing themselves of the invention unlawfully. But the minds of the more honorable class of planters were afterwards deluded by various artifices, set on foot by designing men, with the view of robbing Mr. Whitney of his just right. To these we shall advert more particularly hereafter.

One of the greatest difficulties experienced by men of enterprise, at the period under review, was the extreme scarcity of money. In order to carry on the manufacture of cotton gins, and to make advances in the purchase of cotton, and establishments for ginning, to an extent in any degree proportioned to their wishes, Miller & Whitney required a much greater capital than they could command; and the sanguine temperament of Mr. Miller was constantly prompting him to advance in hazards, much farther than the more cautious spirit of Mr. Whitney would follow.

But even the latter found it necessary sometimes to borrow money at an enormous interest. The first loan (for two thousand dollars) was made on terms which were deemed at that time peculiarly favorable; yet the company were to pay five per cent, premium in addition to the lawful interest.

This was in 1794. In consequence of the numerous speculations in new lands into which so many of our countrymen were deluded, and the want of confidence created by the very application for a loan, the pressure for money was continually increasing. In 1796, Mr. Whitney applied to a friend in Boston to raise money for him on a loan, and received the following reply: " I applied to one of those vultures called brokers, who are preying on the purse-strings of the industrious, and was informed that he can procure the sum you wish at a premium of twenty per cent, on the following conditions, viz: You must make over and deposit with him public securities, such as funded stock, bank stock, or any kind of State notes, or Connecticut reservation land certificates, sufficient, at the going prices, fully to secure the debt and premium." In a more embarrassed state of Mr. Miller's private affairs, several years afterwards, he paid the enormous interest of five, six, and even seven per cent, per month.

We have said that the loan contracted by Mr. Whitney, in 1794, at a premium of five per cent, in addition to the lawful interest, was regarded as peculiarly favorable ; this is evident from the fact that, during the same year, Mr. Miller urges him to contract a new loan, if possible, for three thousand dollars, at twelve or fourteen per cent, provided it could be extended over a year.

In July, 1794, Mr. Whitney was confined by a severe illness, from which he recovered slowly; but his business received a still farther interruption from a very fatal sickness, (the scarlet fever,) which prevailed in New Haven during this year, and which attacked a number of his workmen.

Under all these discouragements, Mr. Miller was constantly writing the most urgent letters from Georgia, to press forward the manufacture of machines. " Do not let a deficiency of money, do not let any thing (says Mr. Miller) hinder the speedy construction of the gins. The people of the country are almost running mad for them, and much can be said to justify their importunity. When the present crop is harvested, there will be a real property of at least fifty thousand, yes, of a hundred thousand dollars, lying useless, unless we can enable the holders to bring it to market. Pray remember that we must have from fifty to one hundred gins between this and another fall,* if there are any workmen in New England, or in the Middle States, to make them. In two years we will begin to take long steps up hill, in the business of patent ginning, fortune favoring."

The general resort of the planters to the cultivation of cotton, and its consequent production in vast quantities, the value of which depended entirely upon the chance of getting it cleaned by the gin, created great uneasiness, which first displayed itself in this pressure upon Miller & Whitney, and afterwards afforded great encouragement to the marauders upon the patent-right, who were now becoming numerous and audacious.
The roller gin was at first the most formidable competitor with Whitney's Machine. It extricated the seeds by means of rollers, crushing them between revolving cylinders, instead of disengaging them by means of teeth. The fragments of seeds which remained in the cotton, rendered its execution much inferior in this respect to Whitney's gin, and it was also much slower in its operation. Great efforts were made, however, to create an impression in favor of its superiority in other respects, to which we shall advert by and by.

But a still more formidable rival appeared early in the year 1795, under the name of the Saw Gin. It was Whitney's gin, except that the teeth were cut in circular rims of iron, instead of being made of wires, as was the case in the earlier forms of the patent gin. The idea of such teeth had early occurred to Mr. Whitney, as he afterwards established by legal proof. But they would have been of no use except in connection with the other parts of his machine ; and, therefore, this was a palpable attempt to evade the patent-right, and it was principally in reference to this, that the lawsuits were afterwards held.
* This letter is dated Uut. M, 1714.

In March, 1795, in the midst of these perplexities and discouragements, Mr. Whitney went to New York, on business, and was detained there three weeks, by an attack of fever and ague, the seeds of which had been sown the previous season in Georgia. As soon as he was able to leave the house, he embarked on board a packet for New Haven. On his arrival at this place, he was suffering under one of those chills which precede the fever. As was usual, on the arrival of the packet, people came on board to welcome their friends, and to exchange salutations, when Mr. Whitney was informed that on the preceding day his shop, with all his machines and papers, had been consumed by fire ! Thus, suddenly, was he reduced to absolute bankruptcy, having debts to the amount of four thousand dollars, without any means of making payment. Mr. Whitney, however, had not a spirit to despond under difficulties and disappointments, but was aroused by them to still more vigorous efforts.

Mr. Miller, also, on hearing of this catastrophe, manifested a kindred spirit. The letters written by Mr. Whitney on the occasion, we have not been able to obtain ; but the reply of Mr. Miller indicates what were the feelings of both parties. It may be of service to enterprising young men, who meet with misfortunes, to read an extract or two.

" I think with you, (says Mr. M.,) that we ought to meet such events with equanimity. We have been pursuing a valuable object by honorable means ; and I trust that all our measures have been such as reason and virtue must justify. It has pleased Providence to postpone {he attainment of this object. In the midst of the reflections which your story has suggested, and with feelings keenly awake to the heavy, the extensive injury we have sustained, I feel a secret joy and satisfaction, that you possess a mind in this respect similar to my own- that you are not disheartened-that you do not relinquish the pursuit-and that you will persevere, and endeavor at all events to attain the main object.

This is exactly consonant to my own determinations. I will devote all my time, all my thoughts, all my exertions, and all the money I can earn or borrow, to encompass and complete the business we have undertaken ; and if fortune should, by any future disaster, deny us. the boon we ask, we will at least deserve it. It shall never be said that we have lost an object which a little perseverance could have attained.

I think, indeed, it will be very extraordinary, if two young men, in the prime of life, with some share of ingenuity, with a little knowledge of the world, a great deal of industry, and a considerable command of property, should not be able to sustain such a stroke of misfortune as this, heavy as it is."

After this disaster the company began to feel much straightened for want of funds. Mr. Miller expresses a confidence that they should be able to raise money in some way or other, though he knows not how. He recommends to Mr. Whitney to proceed forthwith to erect a new shop, and to recommence his business; and requests him to tell the people of New Haven, who might be disposed to render them any service, that they required nothing but a little time to get their machinery in motion, before they could make payment, and that the loan of money at twelve per cent, per annum would be as great a favor as they could ask. But, he adds, " in doing this, use great care to avoid giving an idea that we are in a desperate situation, to induce us to borrow money.

To people who are deficient in understanding, this precaution will be extremely necessary; men of sense can easily distinguish between the prospect of large gains and the approaches to bankruptcy. Such is the disposition of man, (he observes on another occasion,) that whiie we keep afloat, there will not be wanting those who will appear willing to assist us; but let us once be given over, and they will immediately desert us."
While struggling with these multiplied misfortunes, intelligence was received from England, which threatened to give a final blow to all their hopes.

It was, that the English manufacturers condemned the cotton cleaned by their machineSj on the ground that the staple was greatly injured. On the receipt of this intelligence, Mr. Miller writes as follows: " This stroke of misfortune is much heavier than that of the fire, unless the impression is immediately removed.

For, with that which now governs the public mind on this subject, our patent would be worth extremely little. Every one is afraid of the cotton. Not a purchaser in Savannah will pay full price for it. Even the merchants with whom I have made a contract for purchasing, begin to part with their money reluctantly. The trespassers on our right only laugh at our suits, and several of the most active men are now putting up the roller gins ; and, what is to the last degree vexing, many prefer their cotton to ours."

At this time, (1796,) Miller & Whitney had thirty gins, at eight different places in the State of Georgia, some of which were carried by horses or oxen, and some by water. A number of these were standing still for want of the means of supplying them. The company had also invested about $10,000 in real estate, which was suited only to the purposes of ginning cotton. All things now conspired to threaten them with deep insolvency. Under date of April 27th, Mr. Miller writes thus: " A few moments only are allowed me to tell you, that the industry of our opponents is daily increasing, and that prejudices appear to be rapidly extending themselves in London against our cotton. Hasten to London, if you return immediately-our fortune, our fate depends on it. The process of patent ginning is now quite at a stand. I hear nothing of it, except the condolence of a few real friends, who express their regret that so promising an invention has entirely failed."

Through nearly the whole of the year 1796, Mr. Whitney was on the eve of departing for England, whither he was go ing with the view of learning the certainty of the prejudices, which were so currently reported to be entertained by the English manufacturers against the cotton cleaned by the patent gin, and the fame of which was so industriously circulated throughout the southern papers; and should he find these prejudices to exist, firmly believing, as the event has shown, that they were utterly unfounded, he hoped to be able to remove them by challenging the most rigorous trials. He had several times fixed on the day of his departure, and on one occasion had actually engaged his passage and taken leave of some of his friends. But he was in each case thwarted by an unexpected disappointment in regard to the funds necessary to defray the expenses of the journey.

Mr. Whitney had counted on obtaining one thousand dollars for this purpose, through the aid of Mr, John C. Nightingale, who, having married a daughter of Mrs. Miller, had become interested in their concerns. Mr. Nightingale had inherited a considerable fortune, but had become greatly embarrassed by speculations in the Yazoo lands. He had, however, some credit left, while neither Miller nor Whitney, nor both together, had credit enough to borrow a thousand dollars.

The plan was, therefore, for Nightingale to borrow the money and lend it to them ; and Miller urges this, even at the fate of thirty per cent, per annum. After various ineffectual trials, Nightingale abandoned all hope of affording the promised succor, and thus Whitney was compelled to forego the great advantages he confidently anticipated from the voyage to England.

We regret that we have not been able to obtain the letters written at this period by Mr. Whitney to his partner, but the nature of their contents will be easily gathered from those of Mr. Miller.

In March, 1797, Mr. Miller says, "Unless Nightingale should have the power to assist you with some supplies, which your letter furnishes little ground to hope, I foresee that our money engagements cannot be complied with ; and we can only regret as a misfortune what we cannot remedy. In the event of this failure, I can only take to myself the one half of the blame which may attach itself to our misplaced confidence in the public opinion. I confess myself to have been entirely deceived in supposing that an egregious error, and a general deception with regard to the quality of our cotton, could not long continue to influence the whole of the manufacturing, the mercantile, and the planting interests, against us. But the reverse of this fact, allowing the staple of our cotton to be uninjured, has to our sorrow proved true, and I have long apprehended that our ruin would be the inevitable consequence.

" I am now devoting my time and attention to prepare, in the best manner in my power, the suits which are to be tried in April; and am determined that all the dark clouds of adversity, which at present overshadow our affairs, shall not abate my ardor in laboring to burst through them, in order to reach the dawn of prosperity, that has so long been withheld from our view."

Notwithstanding the disastrous condition of the affairs of Miller & Whitney, Mr. Nightingale, who was of an adventurous spirit, having partially extricated himself from his own embarrassments, was ready to purchase a part of their concern, and offered upon certain conditions to advance five thousand dollars to the company.

We have before us a letter written by Mr. Whitney, dated Oct. 7th, 1797, from which it will be seen what was the state of his affairs and of his feelings at this period. " The extreme embarrassments (says he) 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.

I am now quite far enough advanced in life to think seriously of marrying. I have ever looked forward with pleasure to an alliance with an amiable and virtuous companion, as a source from whence I have expected one day to derive the greatest happiness. But the accomplishment of my tour to Europe, and the acquisition of something which I can call my own, appears to be absolutely necessary, before it will be admissable for me even to think of family engagements. Probably a year and a half, at least, will be required to perform that tour, after it is entered upon. 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."

These observations are made with reference to a proposition which he had brought forward, to be allowed to retain a certain portion of the proceeds of the receipts from Mr. Nightingale as his private property; or, at least, to be permitted to adopt such arrangements as would secure it to him after a limited period. But the involved state of the company concerns was such that Mr. Miller would not consent to such an arrangement, nor does it appear to have ever been made. However, brighter prospects seemed now to be opening upon them, from the more favorable reports that were made respecting the quality of their cotton. Respectable manufacturers, both at home and abroad, gave favorable certificates, and retailing merchants sought for the cotton cleaned by Whitney's gin, because it was greatly preferred by their customers to any other in the market. This favorable turn in public opinion, would have restored prosperity to the company, had not the encroachments on the patent-right become so extensive as almost to annihilate its value.

The issue of the first trial they were able to obtain, is announced in the following letter from Mr. Miller, dated May 11, 1797.

" The event of the first patent suit, after all our exertions made in such a variety of ways, has gone against us. The preposterous custom of trying civil causes of this intricacy and magnitude, by a common jury, together with the imperfection of the patent law, frustrated all our views, and disappointed expectations, which had become very sanguine. The tide of popular opinion was running in our favor, the Judge was well disposed towards us, and many decided friends were with us, who adhered firmly to our cause and interests. The Judge gave a charge to the jury pointedly in our favor ; after which the defendant himself told an acquaintance of his, that he would give two thousand dollars to be free from the verdict ; and yet the jury gave it against us after a consultation of about an hour. And having made the verdict genera], no appeal would lie.

" On Monday morning, when the verdict was rendered, we applied for a new trial; but the Judge refused it to us on the ground that the jury might have made up their opinion on the defect of the law, which makes an aggression consist of making, devising, and using, or selling: whereas we could only charge the defendant with using.

" Thus after four years of assiduous labor, fatigue and difficulty, are we again set afloat by a new and most unexpected obstacle. Our hopes of success are now removed to a period still more distant than before, while our expenses are realized beyond all controversy."

Great efforts were made to obtain a trial in a second suit, at the session of the court in Savannah, in May, 1798. A great number of witnesses were collected from various parts of the country, to the distance of a hundred miles from Savannah, when, behold, no Judge appeared, and of course no court was held. In consequence of the failure of the first suit, and so great a procrastination of the second, the encroachments on the patent-right had been prodigiously multiplied, so as almost entirely to destroy the business of the patentees.

In April, 1799, Mr. Miller writes as follows. " The prospect of making any thing by ginning in this State, is at an end. Surreptitious gins are erected in every part of the country; and the jurymen at Augusta have come to an understanding among themselves, that they will never give a verdict in our favor, let the merits of the case be as they may."

The company would now have gladly relinquished the plan of working their own machines, and confined their operations to the sale of patent-rights ; but few would buy a patent-right which they could use with impunity without purchasing, and those few, hardly in a single instance, paid cash, but gave their notes, which they afterwards to a great extent avoided paying, either by obtaining a verdict from the juries declaring them void, or by contriving to postpone the collection until they were barred by the statute of limitations, a period of only four years. When thus barred, the agent of Miller & Whitney, who was dispatched on a collecting tour through the State of Georgia, informed them, that such obstacles were thrown in his way from one or the other of the foregoing causes, he was unable to collect money enough from all these claims to bear his expenses, but was compelled to draw for nearly the whole amount of these upon his employers.

The agent here referred to was Russel Goodrich, Esq., who had engaged in the service of Miller & Whitney, as early as the year 1798. He was educated at Yale College, in the same class with Mr. Miller, and was for many years an able and zealous agent in the affairs, first of the company, and after the decease of Mr. Miller, of Mr. Whitney.
Tn a letter addressed to Mr. Whitney, dated Georgia, September 3d, 1801, Mr. Goodrich writes thus : "I have spent a part of this summer in South Carolina, upon the business of Miller & Whitney.

Many of the planters of that region expressed an opinion, that if an application were made to their legislature by the citizens to purchase the right of the patentees for that State, there was no doubt that it would be done to the satisfaction of all parties. Accordingly, they had petitions circulated among the people, which appeared to be generally approved of, and were very generally signed."

Mr. Goodrich further urges the importance of Mr. Whitney's coming on to South Carolina, to attend at the approaching session of the legislature, in order to make the proposed contract.

Accordingly, Mr. Whitney repaired to Columbia, taking the city of Washington in his way, where he was furnished with very obliging letters from President Jefferson and Mr. Madison, then Secretary of State, testimonials which no doubt were of great service to him in his subsequent negotiations. Soon after the opening of the session of the legislature, in the month of Dec., 1801, the business was regularly brought before the legislature, and a joint committee of both Houses appointed to treat with the patentees. To this committee Messrs. Miller & Whitney submitted the following proposals:-
" Ts the Joint Committee of both Homes of the Legislature of South Carolina. "GENTLEMEN, "The subscribers, in estimating the value of their property in the Patent Machine for cleaning cotton, commonly called the Saw Gin, are influenced by the following considerations, viz :

"That no right of property is so well founded in nature, as that of one's own invention; that their fellow citizens by their representatives in the national Government, from considerations both of policy and justice, have declared that individuals who will use their exertions to acquire this species of property, shall enjoy an exclusive right in the same for fourteen years ; that influenced by, and relying on, these declarations of their country, they have spent a number of years, and exhausted their funds, in inventing and bringing into use, their Saw Gin ; that notwithstanding the innumerable misrepresentations and prejudices which have gone forth respecting this concern, they have firm reliance on the laws of their country, and feel a conscious rectitude in the justice of their cause.

"When we look around and see many of our fellow citizens, who are engaged in pursuits exclusively for their own benefit, guarded and protected in those pursuits by the laws of their country, we cannot believe that those who have contributed, in any degree, to benefit their fellow citizens and the public, will be deprived of the same protection, and abandoned to poverty.

"We will not go into any detailed calculations as to the value of this invention, but only observe, that the citizens of South Carolina have gained, and will gain, many millions of dollars by the use of this machine, which they never could have acquired without it. Being under embarrassments in consequence of debts incurred in prosecuting this undertaking, and desirous of obtaining some compensation for our labors, we will not measure our demand by the value of the property, but are willing to dispose of it to the State of South Carolina for a sum far below its real value ; and therefore we submit to the committee the following PROPOSALS :

"The subscribers will relinquish and transfer to the legislature of South Carolina so much of their patent-right of the machine for separating cotton from its seeds, commonly called the Saw Gin, as appertains to said State, for the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, the one half of the said sum to be paid on the transfer of said right, the other by installments, as shall be hereafter agreed upon. MILLER & WHITNEY."

After some discussion, it was agreed by the legislature to offer to the patentees the sum of fifty thousand dollars. We subjoin a letter, addressed at this time by Mr. Whitney to his friend Stebbins, both as a statement of the particulars relating to the contract, and as evincive of the feelings of the writer:

" CoLtmiiiA, South Carolina, Dec. 20, 1801. " Dear Stebbins, "I have been at this place a little more than two weeks, attending the legislature. They closed their session at ten o'clock last evening. A few hours previous to their adjournment, they voted to purchase, for the State of South Carolina, my patent-right to the machine for cleaning cotton, at fifty thousand dollars, of which sum, twenty thousand is to be paid in hand, and the remainder in three annual payments of ten thousand dollars each.

"This is selling the right at a great sacrifice. If a regular course of law had been pursued, from two to three hundred thousand dollars would undoubtedly bave been recovered. The use of the machine here is amazingly extensive, and the value of it beyond all calculation. It may, without exaggeration, be said to have raised the value of seven eights of all the three Southern States from fifty to one hundred per cent. We get but a song for it in comparison with the worth of the thing; but it is securing something. It will enable Miller & Whitney to pay all their debts, and divide something between them. It establishes a precedent which will be valuable as it respects our collections in other States, and I think there is now a fair prospect that I shall in the event realize property enough to render me comfortable, and in some measure independent.

" Though my stay here has been short, I have become acquainted with a considerable part of the members of the legislature, and of the most distinguished characters in the State. My old classmate, H. D. W., is one of the Senate. He ranks amonp the first of his age in point of talents and respectability. He has shown me much polite attention, as have also many others of the citizens.

Truly your friend,
J. Stebbins, Esq. Eu WHITNEY."

In December, 1802, Mr. Whitney negotiated a sale of his patent-right with the State of North Carolina. The legislature laid a tax of two shillings and -sixpence upon every saw* employed in ginning cotton, to be continued for five years, which sum was to be collected by the sheriffs in the same manner as the public taxes ; and after deducting the expenses of collection, the avails were faithfully paid over to the patentee. At that time the culture of cotton had made comparatively little progress in the State of North Carolina; but, in proportion to the amount of interest concerned, this compensation was regarded by Mr. Whitney as more liberal than that received from any other source.

While these encouraging prospects were rising in North Carolina, Mr. Goodrich, the agent of the company, was entering into a similar negotiation with the State of Tennessee. The importance of the machine began to be universally acknowledged in that State, and various public meetings of the citizens were held, in which were adopted resolutions strongly in favor of a public contract with Miller &; Whitney.f Accordingly, the legislature of Tennessee, at their session in 1803, passed an act laying a tax of thirty seven cents and a half per annum on every saw, for the period of four years.

But while" a fairer day seemed dawning upon the company in this quarter, an unexpected and threatening cloud was rising in another. It was during Mr. Whitney's -negotiation with the legislature of North Carolina, that he received intelligence that the legislature of South Carolina had annulled the contract made with Miller & Whitney the preceding year, had suspended payment of the balance (thirty thousand dollars) due them, and instituted a suit for the recovery of what had already been paid to them.

The ostensible causes of this extraordinary measure adopted by the legislature of South Carolina, were a distrust of the validity of the patent-right, and failure on the part of the patentees to perform certain conditions agreed on in the contract.
* Some of the gins bad forty saws. Of one of these meetings, General Jackson, late President of the United States, was chairman.

Great exertions had constantly been made in Georgia to impress the public with the notion, that Mr. Whitney was not the original inventor of the cotton gin, somebody in Switzerland having conceived the idea of it before him, and, especially, that he was not entitled to the credit of the invention in its improved form, in which saws were used instead of wire teeth, inasmuch as this particular form of the machine was introduced by one Hodgin Holmes. It was on these grounds that the Governor of Georgia, in his message to the legislature of that State in 1803, urged the inexpediency of granting any thing to Miller & Whitney. We have before us a copy of the report of the committee appointed on that part of the Governor's message, and since it will serve to show both the grounds and the character of the opposition, we will subjoin a few extracts from it.*

" The Committee to whom was referred, &c. Report:- " That they have carefully attended to that part of the communication which relates to the Cotton Gin, and cordially agree with the Governor in his observations, that monopolies are at all times odious, particularly in free governments, and that some remedy ought to be applied to the wound which the cotton gin monopoly has given, and will otherwise continue to give, to the culture and cleaning of that precious and increasing staple.

They have examined the Rev. James Hutchin-son, who declares that Edward Lyon, at least twelve months before Miller & Whitney's machine was brought into view, had in possession a saw or cotton gin, in miniature, of the same construction; and it further appears to them, from the information of Doctor Cortes Pedro Dampiere, an old and respectable citizen of Columbia County, that a machine of a construction similar to that of Miller & Whitney, was used in Switzerland, at least forty years ago, for the purpose of picking rags to make lint and paper.

"That, however, as Congress has the constitutional power
*In adverting to these transactions of former times, it is no part of our purpose to revive unpleasant recollections, or to throw discredit on the history of the very respectable States above named; but without the recital of these facts, the life of Whitney could not have been written. to establish patents of the nature of Miller & Whitney's, the committee, uniting with the Governor in opinion that no legislative power but Congress can interfere, and also convinced that in the passage of the law Congress could have had no idea of laying the two Southern States, and in all probability North Carolina and Tennessee, under contribution to two individuals, (the article at the passing of the first act not being thought of, as about to become the principal staple of export from those States,) do recommend the following resolutions :

" Resolved, That the Senators and Representatives of this State in Congress be, and they hereby are, instructed to use their utmost endeavors to obtain a modification of the act, entitled an act to extend the privilege of obtaining Patents for useful discoveries and inventions, to certain persons therein mentioned, and to enlarge and define the penalties for violating the rights of patentees, so as to prevent the operation of it, to the injury of that most valuable staple cotton, and the cramping of genius in improvements, in Miller & Whitney's patent Gin, as well as to limit the price of obtaining a right of using it, the price at present being unbounded, and the planter and poor artificer altogether at the mercy of the patentees, who may raise the price to any sum they please.

" And in case the said Senators and Representatives of this State shall find such modification impracticable, that they do then use their best endeavors to induce Congress, from the example of other nations, to make compensation to Miller & Whitney for their discovery, take up the patent-right, and release the Southern States from so burthensome a grievance.

" Resolved, That his Excellency the Governor be requested to transmit copies of the foregoing report and resolutions to the Executives of the States of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee, to be laid before their respective legislatures, with a request of cooperation, through their Senators and Representatives in Congress."

Popular feeling, stimulated by the most sordid motives, was now awakened throughout all the cotton-growing States. Tennessee followed the example of South Carolina, in suspending the payment of the tax laid upon cotton gins, and a similar attempt was made at a subsequent session of the legislature of North Carolina ; but it wholly failed, and the report of a committee, offering a resolution that " the contract ought to be fulfilled with punctuality and good faith," was adopted by both branches of the legislature.

There were also high-minded men in South Carolina, who were indignant at the dishonorable measures adopted by their legislature of 1803, and their sentiments had impressed the community so favorably with regard to Mr. Whitney, that at the session of 1804, the legislature not only rescinded what the previous legislature had done, but signified their respect for Mr. Whitney, by marked commendations.

Nor ought it to be forgotten, that there were in Georgia too those who viewed with scorn and indignation the base attempts of men, led by unprincipled demagogues, to defraud Mr. Whitney. The Augusta Herald of January 10, 1805, mentions the transactions in South Carolina in the following manner:

" Our readers will no doubt recollect that the legislature of South Carolina, a year or two past, purchased of Messrs. Miller & Whitney the patent-right of using the Saw Gin in that State, for the sum of fifty thousand dollars. In this contract, Mr. Whitney was obligated, within a stipulated time, to furnish the State with two models of the Saw Gin, of the best size and make, according to his opinion, for separating cotton from its seed. From some unexpected circumstances the models were not furnished in due time ; and some gross misrepresentations having been made to a subsequent legislature of that State, and considerable improper exertion having been made to persuade them that Mr. Whituey was not the original inventor of the Saw Gin, they rather precipitately passed an act for a resolution, suspending the execution of their contract, and directing a suit to be brought against Messrs. Miller & Whitney for the recovery of twenty thousand dollars, which, as part of the contract, had been paid them. At the last session of the legislature, Mr. Whitney was enabled not only to furnish satisfactory evidence of his being the original inventor of the gin, but to explain away all former misrepresentations, and to show that the very patent of the person who had attempted to wrest from him his right, had been repealed in a court of justice.

Two models of a gin were also furnished by Mr. Whitney, executed, we are told, in a most superior and masterly manner, and far surpassing in excellence any machinery of the kind ever before seen-they were of metal, and so nicely and substantially made, that it was hardly possible for them to get out of order ; and they worked with such ease, that when the hopper of a forty Saw Gin was filled with cotton, the labor of turning it was not greater than that of turning a common grindstone. The models were highly approved, and the legislature did not hesitate to do justice to the ingenious inventor, according to their original agreement; and we are pleased to see that they disclaimed the monstrous doctrine of a legislature's having authority to rescind a solemn contract made with an individual, and of their being justified in refusing to do right, because they have the power to do wrong.

" Our sister State of South Carolina has usually been very far from discovering any disposition to do injustice to individuals, and their proceedings against Mr. Whitney were predicated upon imposition practised on them, and their recent eon-duct evidences that they were satisfied thereof.

" The following is the report of the committee:- " The joint Committee of both branches of the legislature, to whom was referred the memorial of Eli Whitney, Report,

" That on the most mature deliberation, they are of opinion that Miller & Whitney, from whom the State of South Carolina purchased the patent-right for using the Saw Gin within this State, have used due and proper diligence to refund the money and notes received by them from divers citizens; and as from several unforeseen occurrences the said Miller & Whitney have heretofore been prevented from refunding the same, they therefore recommend that the money and notes aforesaid be deposited with the Comptroller General, to be paid over, on demand, to the several persons from whom the same have been received, upon their delivering up the licenses for which the said notes of hand were given, and said moneys paid to the Comptroller General, and that he be directed to hold the said licenses subject to the order of said Whitney.

"That the excellent and highly improved models now offered by the said Whitney, be received in full satisfaction of the stipulations of the contract between the State and Miller & Whitney, relative to the same ; and that the suit commenced by the State against said Miller & Whitney, be discontinued.

"The joint committee taking every circumstance alledged in the memorial into their serious consideration, further recommend, that (as the good faith of this State is pledged for the payment of the purchase of the said patent-right) the contract be now fulfilled, as in their opinion it ought to be, according to the most strict justice and equity.

"And although from the documents exhibited by said Whitney to the committee, they are of opinion that the said Whitney is the true, original inventor of the Saw Gin, yet in order to guard the citizens from any injury hereafter, the committee recommend, that before the remaining balance is paid, the said Whitney be required to give bond and security to the Comptroller General, to indemnify each and every citizen of South Carolina against the legal claims of all persons whatsoever, other than the said Miller & Whitney, to any patent or exclusive right to the invention or improvement of the machine for separating cotton from its seeds,commonly called the Saw Gin, in the form and upon the principles which it is now and has heretofore been used in this State.

"The preceding report was adopted by both branches of the legislature."
When Mr. Whitney first heard of the transactions of the South Carolina legislature annulling their contract, he was at Raleigh, where he had just concluded his negotiation with the legislature of North Carolina. In a letter written to Mr. Miller at this time he remarks: " I am, for my own part, more vexed than alarmed by their extraordinary proceedings. I think it behooves us to be very cautious and circumspect in our measures and even in our remarks with regard to it. Be cautious what you say or publish till we meet our enemies in a court of justice, when, if they have any sensibility left, we will make them very much ashamed of their childish conduct."

But that Mr. Whitney felt very keenly in regard to the severities afterwards practised towards him, is evident from the tenor of the remonstrance which he presented to the legislature. " The subscriber (says he) respectfully solicits permission to represent to the legislature of South Carolina, that he conceives himself to have been treated with unreasonable severity in the measures recently taken against him by and under their immediate direction. He holds that, to be seized and dragged to prison without being allowed to be heard in answer to the charge alledged against him, and indeed without the exhibition of any specific charge, is a direct violation of the common right of every citizen of a free government; that the power, in this case, is all on one side; that whatever may be the issue of the process now instituted against him, he must, in any case, be subjected to great expense and extreme hardships; and that he considers the tribunal before which he is holden to appear, to be wholly incompetent to decide, definitely, existing disputes between the State and Miller & Whitney.

"The subscriber avers that he has manifested no other than a disposition to fulfill all the stipulations entered into with the State of South Carolina, with punctuality and good faith; and he begs leave to observe farther, that to have industriously, laboriously, and exclusively devoted many years of the prime of his life to the invention and the improvement of a machine, from which the citizens of South Carolina have already realized immense profits,-which is worth to them millions, and from which their posterity, to the latest generations, must continue to derive the most important benefits, and in return to be treated as a felon, a swindler, and a villain, has stung him to the very soul. And when he considers that this cruel persecution is inflicted by the very persons who are enjoying these great benefits, and expressly for the purpose of preventing his ever deriving the least advantage from his own labors, the acuteness of his feelings is altogether inexpressible."

At this time a new and unexpected responsibility devolved on Mr. Whitney, in consequence of the death of his partner, Mr. Miller, who died on the 7th of December, 1803. Mr. Miller had, in the early stages of the enterprise, indulged very high hopes of a sudden fortune; but perpetual disappointments appear to have attended him throughout the remainder of his life.

The history of them, as detailed in his voluminous correspondence, which is now before us, affords an instructive exemplification of the anxiety, toil, and uncertainty, that frequently accompany too eager a pursuit of wealth, and the pain and disappointment that follow in the train of expectations too highly elated. If Mr. Miller anticipated a great bargain from an approaching auction of cotton, some sly adventurer was sure to step in before him, and bid it out of his hands. If he looked to his extensive rice crops, cultivated on the estate of General Greene, as the means of raising money to extricate himself from the numerous embarrassments into which he had fallen, a severe drought came on and shriveled the crop, or floods of rain suddenly destroyed it.

The markets unexpectedly changed at the very moment of selling, and always to his disadvantage. Heavy rains likewise destroyed the cotton crops on which he had counted for thousands; and more than all, wicked and dishonest men contrived to cheat him of his just rights ; and thus his airy hopes were often frustrated, until at length the speculations in Yazoo lands beguiled him into inextricable difficulties, and in the midst of all, and on the dawn of a brighter day, death stepped in and dissolved the pageant that had so long been dancing before his eyes.

Mr. Whitney was now left alone, to contend singly against those difficulties which had for a series of years almost broken down the spirits of both the partners. The light, moreover, which seemed to be rising upon them, from the favorable occurrences of the preceding year, proved but the twilight of prosperity, and a darker night seemed about to supervene.

But the favorable issue of the affairs of Mr. Whitney in South Carolina, during the subsequent year, and the generous receipts that he obtained from the avails of his contracts with North Carolina, relieved him from the embarrassments under which he had so long groaned, and made him in some degre" independent. Still, no small portion of the funds thus collected in North and South Carolina, was expended in carrying on the fruitless, endless lawsuits in Georgia.

In the United States Court, held in Georgia, in December, 1807, Mr. Whitney obtained a most important decision, in a suit brought against a trespasser of the name of Fort. It was on this trial that Judge Johnson gave his celebrated decision. It was in the following words :
" Whitney, survivor of "| Miller ^Whitney, IIn equity.
Arthur Fort. }
" The complainants, in this case, are proprietors of the machine called the saw gin. The use of which is to detach the short staple cotton from its seed.
" The defendant, in violation of their patent-right, has constructed, and continues to use this machine ; and the object of this suit is to obtain a perpetual injunction to prevent a continuance of this infraction of complainant's right.
" Defendant admits most of the facts in the bill set forth, but contends that the complainants are not entitled to the benefits of the act of Congress on this subject, because-

1st. The invention is not original.
2d. Is not useful.
3d. That the machine which he uses is materially different from their invention, in the application of an improvement, the invention of another person.

" The court will proceed to make a few remarks upon the several points, as they have been presented to their view: whether the defendant was now at liberty to set up this defence, whilst the patent-right of complainants remains unre-pealed, has not been made a question, and they will therefore not consider it.

" To support the originality of the invention, the complainants have produced a variety of depositions of witnesses, examined under commission, whose examination expressly proves the origin, progress, and completion of the machine by Whitney, one of the co-partners. Persons who were made privy to his first discovery, testify to the several experiments which he made in their presence, before he ventured to expose his invention to the scrutiny of the public eye.

But it is not necessary to resort to such testimony to maintain this point-The jealousy of the artist to maintain that reputation which his ingenuity has justly acquired, has urged him to unnecessary pains on this subject. There are circumstances in the knowledge of all mankind, which prove the originality of this invention more satisfactorily to the mind, than the direct testimony of a host of witnesses. The cotton plant furnished clothing to mankind before the age of Herodotus.

The green seed is a species much more productive than the black, and by nature adapted to a much greater variety of climate. But by reason of the strong adherence of the fibre to the seed, without the aid of some more powerful machine for separating it, than any formerly known among us, the cultivation of it would never have been made an object. The machine of which Mr. Whitney claims the invention, so facilitates the preparation of this species for use, that the cultivation of it has suddenly become an object of infinitely greater national importance than that of the other species ever can be.

Is it then to be imagined that if this machine had been before discovered, the use of it would ever have been lost, or could have been confined to any tract or country left unexplored by commercial enterprise 1 But it is unnecessary to remark further upon this subject. A number of years have elapsed since Mr. Whitney took out his patent, and no one has produced or pretended to prove the existence of a machine of similar construction or use.

" 2d. With regard to the utility of this discovery, the Court would deem it a waste of time to dwell long upon this topic. Is there a man who hears us, who has not experienced its utility ? The whole interior of the Southern States was languishing, and its inhabitants emigrating for want of some object to engage their attention and employ their industry, when the invention of this machine at once opened views to them, which set the whole country in active motion.

From childhood to age it has presented to us a lucrative employment. Individuals who were depressed with poverty and sunk in idleness, have suddenly risen to wealth and respectability. Our debts have been paid off. Our capitals have increased, and our lands trebled themselves in value. We cannot express the weight of the obligation which the country owes to this invention. The extent of it cannot now be seen. Some faint presentiment may be formed from the reflection that cotton is rapidly supplanting wool, flax, silk, and even furs in manufactures, and may one day profitably supply the use of specie in our East India trade. Our sister States, also, participate in the benefits of this invention; for, besides affording the raw material for their manufacturers, the bulkiness and quantity of the article afford a valuable employment for their shipping.

"3d. The third and last ground taken by defendant, appears to be that on which he mostly relies. In the specification, the teeth made use of are of strong wire inserted into the cylinder. A Mr. Holmes has cut teeth in plates of iron, and passed them over the cylinder. This is certainly a meritorious improvement in the mechanical process of constructing this machine. But at last, what does it amount to, except a more convenient mode of making the same thing?

Every characteristic of Mr. Whitney's machine is preserved. The cylinder, the iron tooth, the rotary motion of the tooth, the breast work and brush, and all the merit that this discovery can assume, is that of a more expeditious mode of attaching the tooth to the cylinder. After being attached, in operation and effect they are entirely the same. Mr. Whitney may not be at liberty to use Mr. Holmes' iron plate, but certainly Mr. Holmes' improvement does not destroy Mr. Whitney's patent-right. Let the decree for a perpetual injunction be entered."

This favorable decision, however, did not put a final stop to aggression. At the next session of the United States Court, two other actions were brought, and verdicts for damages gained of two thousand dollars in one case, and one thousand five hundred dollars in the other. The history of these suits, as reported for one of the journals of the day, appears to us to be a document worth preserving, on account of the light it throws on the subject of patent-rights in general, as well as in relation to the subject before us.

LAW CASE.-At a Circuit Court of the United States, for the district of Georgia, lately holden in this city, [Savannah,] was tried the case of Eli Whitney vs. Isaiah Carter, for infringing a right vested by patent, " for a new and useful improvement in the mode of ginning cotton." The plaintiff supported his declaration by proving the patent, model, and specification, and proving the use of the machine in question by the defendant. He also introduced the testimony of several witnesses residing in New Haven, to prove the origin and progress of his invention.

The defendant rested his defence on two grounds-First: That the machine was not originally invented by Whitney.- Second: That the specification does not contain the whole truth, relative to the discovery.