hest for himself. Monopoly in this country, by any men, or set of men, subject to our laws, is unattainable, either by legislation or combination. It is, or ought to be, excluded from all the calculations of a sober and practical business mind. There was, there

fore, nothing in their preoccupation of the cotton business that gave them an advantage over other domestic manufacturers, except their skill and capital. Of these advantages legislation could or would not deprive them; and with them on their side, they could extend their investments as fast, certainly with as much profit, as those who were without, or with capital only. In petitions and other means adopted by the manufacturing districts of our country, to obtain this protection, Mr. Slater was ever a prominent and efficient person.

Such are the outlines of the business life of a man, whose skill and knowledge of detail was unrivalled, in a business which, up to the time of his appearance, was unknown in this country,—whose commercial views were of the most liberal and enlightened character, whose energy, perseverance, and untiring diligence, aided in his early efforts by the money and countenance of those who justly appreciated his merits, and confidently anticipated his eminence, have triumphed over obstacles which would have discouraged others; have given a new direction to the industry of his adopted country, and opened a new and boundless field to its enterprise. It has rarely fallen to the lot of any single individual to be made an instrument, under Providence, of so much and such widely diffused benefit to his fellow men, as this man has conferred upon them, without any pretension to high-wrought philanthropy in the ordinary, unostentatious pursuit of that profession to which he had been educated.

Yet, unpretending as he was, and noiseless in that sublimated charity which is now so fashionable and predominant, his sympathy for the distressed, and his kindness and good-will for all, were ever warm, active, practical sentiments; based upon steadfast principles, and aiming at the greatest attainable measure of good. In the relief of immediate and pressing want, he was prompt and liberal; in the measures which he adopted for its prevention in future, he evinced paternal feeling and judicious forecast. Employment and liberal pay to the able bodied promoted regularity and cheerfulness in the house, and drove the wolf from its door. "Direct charity," he has been heard to say, "places its recipient under a sense of obligation which trenches upon that independent spirit that all should maintain. It breaks his pride, and he soon learns to beg and eat the bread of idleness without a blush. But employ and pay him, and he receives and enjoys with an honest pride, that

which he knows he has earned, and could have received for the same amount of labor from any other employer." It would be well for all communities if such views on the subject of pauperism, were generally adopted and carried into practice.

It is hardly necessary to state of one who has done so much business, and with so great success, that his business habits and morals were of the highest character. The punctual performance of every engagement, in its true spirit and meaning, was, with him, a point of honor, from which no consideration of temporary or prospective advantage would induce him to depart, from which no sacrifice of money or feeling was sufficient to deter him. There was a method and arrangement in his transactions, by which every thing was duly and at the proper time attended to. Nothing was hurried from its proper place, nothing postponed beyond its proper time. It was thus that transactions, the most varied, intricate, and extensive, deeply affecting the interests of three adjoining states, and extending their influence to thousands of individuals, proceeded from their first inception to their final consummation, with an order, a regularity and certainty, truly admirable and instructive. The master's mind was equally present and apparent in every thing, from the imposing mass of the total to the most minute particular of its component parts.

Mr. Slater's private and domestic character was without a blemish. He was twice married, and had four children, all sons, by his first wife, and at his death left a pious and amiable widow, formerly Mrs. Parkinson, of Philadelphia, with an ample dowry, to receive from his family that protection and affection which her motherly attention to them has so well deserved. He was a sincere and practical Christian, and died, April 21st, 1835, in the cheering hopes and consolations which Christianity alone imparts.

We conclude this memoir with the following tribute to his memory, which is in substance the remarks of Mr. Tristam Burgess, in his address before the Rhode Island Agricultural Society :-"Forty years ago there was not a spindle wrought by water on this side the Atlantic. Since then, how immense the capital by which spinning and weaving machinery are moved! How many, how great, how various, the improvements! The farmers of Flanders erected a statue in honor of him who introduced into their country the culture of the potato. What shall the people of New England do for him who first brought us the knowledge of manufacturing cloth, by machinery moved by water? In England, he would in life be ornamented with a peerage, in death, lamented by a monument in Westminster Abbey. The name of Slater will be remem. bered as one of our greatest public benefactors. Let not the rich

in his adopted country, envy the products of his labor-his extensive opulence-his fair and elevated character. Let the poor rise up and call him blessed; for he has introduced a species of industry into our country, which furnishes them with labor, food, clothing, and habitation."

ELI WHITNEY,

THE INVENTOR OF THE COTTON GIN.

Birth.-Anecdotes of his youth.-Manufactures nails. Teaches school.--By his own exertions prepares for college.-Anecdotes of his college life.-Graduates. -Goes to Georgia as a teacher.-Disappointment.-Becomes an inmate in the family of Gen. Greene.-Ingenuity.-Low state of the cotton culture.-An in troduction.-Old method of separating the cotton from the seed.-Invents the cotton gin.-Forms a co-partnership with Mr. Phineas Miller to manufacture gins.-Note, Description.-The first machine stolen.-Commencement of encroachments.-Disastrous fire.-A trial.-Its unfortunate issue.-Gloomy prospects. South Carolina purchases the patent right for that state.-Enters into a similar engagement with North Carolina and Tennessee.-South Carolina and Tennessee annul their contracts:-Increasing encroachments.-South Carolina Legislature, of 1804, rescind the act of annulment.-Death of Mr. Miller. Celebrated decision of Judge Johnson.-Lawsuits.-Commences manufacturing arms for government.-Difficulties to be surmounted.-Description of the system.-Rejection of the memorial to congress for a renewal of the patent right on the cotton gin.-Marriage.-Death.-A comparison.-Character.

To the efforts of Whitney, our country is indebted for the value of her great staple. While the invention of the cotton gin has been the chief source of the prosperity of the southern planter, the northern manufacturer comes in for a large share of the benefit derived from the most important offspring of American ingenuity.

Eli Whitney was born in Westborough, Worcester county, Massachusetts, December 8th, 1765. His parents belonged to that respectable class in society, who, by the labors of husbandry, manage, by uniform industry, to provide well for a rising family,a class from whom have arisen most of those who, in New England, have attained to high eminence and usefulness.

The following incident, though trivial in itself, will serve to show at how early a period certain qualities, of strong feeling tempered by that discretion 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

* Condensed from the able memoir by Professor Olmsted, published in the twenty-first volume of Silliman's Journal.

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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 my 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, its likely the girl will say she never said so, and that would make a quarrel. It is best to say nothing about it."

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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. 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 had 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 tolerable 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 ing, 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 to 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."

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