the earth, and the Rev. President Day pronounced over his grave the following eulogy. "How frequent and how striking are the monitions to us, that this world is not the place of our rest! "It is not often the case, that a man has laid his plans for the business and the enjoyment of life, with a deeper sagacity, than the friend whose remains we have now committed to the dust. He had received, as the gift of heaven, a mind of a superior order. Early habits of thinking gave to it a character of independence and originality. He was accustomed to form his decisions, not after the model of common opinion, but by his own nicely balanced judgment. His mind was enriched with the treasures which are furnished by a liberal education. He had a rare fertility of invention in the arts; an exactness of execution almost unequalled. By a single exercise of his powers, he changed the state of cultivation, and multiplied the wealth, of a large portion of our country. He set an example of system and precision in mechanical operations, which others had not even thought of attempting. "The higher qualities of his mind, instead of unfitting him for ordinary duties, were finely tempered with taste and judgment in the business of life. His manners were formed by an extensive intercourse with the best society. He had an energy of character which carried him through difficulties too formidable for ordinary minds. "With these advantages, he entered on the career of life. His efforts were crowned with success. An ample competency was the reward of his industry and skill. He had gained the respect of all classes of the community. His opinions were regarded with peculiar deference, by the man of science, as well as the practical artist. His large and liberal views, his knowledge of the world, the wide range of his observations, his public spirit, and his acts of beneficence, had given him a commanding influence in society. The gentleness and refinement of his manners, and the delicacy of his feelings in the social and domestic relations, had endeared him to a numerous circle of relatives and friends. "And what were his reflections in review of the whole, in con nection with the distressing scenes of the last period of life? All is as the flower of the grass: the wind passeth over it, and it is gone.' All on earth is transient; all in eternity is substantial and enduring. His language was, 'I am a sinner. But God is mer. ciful. The only ground of acceptance before him, is through the great Mediator.' From this mercy, through this Mediator, is derived our solace under this heavy bereavement. On this, rest the hopes of the mourners, that they shall meet the deccased with joy. at the resurrection of the just." The following account is given of Mr. Whitney's character,— A character not often met with in the common walks of life. His ma.iners were conciliatory, and his whole appearance such as to inspire universal respect. Among his particular friends, no man was more esteemed. Some of the earliest of his intimate as. sociates were also among the latest. With one or two of the bosom friends of his youth, he kept up a correspondence by letter for thirty years, with marks of continually increasing regard. His sense of honor was high, and his feelings of resentment and indig. nation occasionally strong. He could, however, be cool when his opponents were heated; and, though sometimes surprised by passion, yet the unparalleled trials of patience which he had sustained did not render him petulant, nor did his strong sense of the injuries he had suffered in relation to the cotton gin, impair the natural serenity of his temper. But the most remarkable trait in the character of Mr. Whitney aside from his inventive powers, was his perseverance; and this is the more remarkable because it is so com. mon to find men of great powers of mechanical invention deficient in this quality. This it was which led him through scenes of trial and almost unparalleled misfortune, with that calm, yet determined spirit which he so clearly manifested, and which finally led him to a period of prosperity from which he was snatched only by the hand of death. In person Mr. Whitney was considerably above the ordinary size, of a dignified carriage, and of an open, manly, and agreeable countenance. Indeed, he seems to have won the respect of all with whom he conversed, and to have made himself friends wherever he went, by his modest, unassuming, yet agreeable manners, and by his superior skill and ingenuity. In presenting to the public the foregoing sketch of the life of this extraordinary man, the aim has been to render the narrative useful to the enterprising mechanic and the man of business, to whom Whitney may be confidently proposed as a model. To such, it is believed, the details given respecting his various strug gles and embarrassments, may afford a useful lesson, a fresh incentive to perseverance, and stronger impressions of the value of a character improved by intellectual cultivation, and adorned with all the moral virtues. Fabrics of cotton are now so familiar to us, and so universally diffused, that we are apt to look upon them rather as original gifts of nature than as recent products of human ingenuity. The fol lowing statements however will show how exceedingly limited the cotton trade was previous to the invention of the cotton gin. Ir 1784, an American vessel arrived at Liverpool, having on board for part of her cargo, eight bags of cotton, which were seized by the officers of the customhouse, under the conviction that they could not be the growth of America. The following fact ascertained from old newspapers shows the limited extent of the cotton trade for the two subsequent years, viz: that the whole amount arrived at Liverpool from America was short of 120 bags. Now this article is equal in general to some millions more than one half the whole value of our exports. The annual average growth is about one million of bales, amounting to several hundred millions of pounds, of which about one fifth is used in our own manufac tories. We present, in conclusion, the following remarks of a distinguished scholar, upon this great man, occasioned by a visit to the cemetery of New Haven, which sufficiently show in what estimation he is held by those capable of appreciating his merits. After alluding to the monument of Gen. Humphreys, who introduced the firm wooled sheep into the United States, the stranger remarks: "But Whitney's monument perpetuates the name of a still greater public benefactor. His simple name would have been epitaph enough, with the addition perhaps of the inventor of the cotton gin.' How few of the inscriptions in Westminster Abbey could be compared with that! Who is there that, like him, has given his country a machine—the product of his own skill-which has furnished a large part of its population, from childhood to age with a lucrative employment; by which their debts have been paid off; their capitals increased; their lands trebled in value ?** If may be said indeed that this belongs to the physical and material nature of man, and ought not to be compared with what has been done by the intellectual benefactors of mankind; the Miltons, the Shakspeares, and the Newtons But is it quite certain that any thing short of the highest intellectual vigor-the brightest geniusis sufficient to invent one of these extraordinary machines? Place a common mind before an oration of Cicero and a steam engine, and it will despair of rivalling the latter as much as the former; and we can by no means be persuaded, that the peculiar aptitude for combining and applying the simple powers of mechanics, so as to produce these marvellous operations, does not imply a vivacity of the imagination, not inferior to that of the poet and the orator." And in concluding he asks,-" Has not he who has trebled the value of land, created capital, rescued the population from the necessity of emigrating, and covered a waste with plenty-hrs not he done The words of Mr. Justice Johnson of South Carolina, in the opinion in th case of Whitney versus Carter a service to the country of the highest moral and intellectual character? Prosperity is the parent of civilization, and all its refinements; and every family of prosperous citizens added to the community, is an addition of so many thinking, inventing, moral, and immortal natures." His tomb is after the model of that of Scipio at Rome. It is simple and beautiful, and promises to endure for years. It bears the following inscription. ELI WHITNEY, The inventor of the Cotton Gin. Of useful science and arts, the efficient patron and improver. While private affection weeps at his tomb, his country honors his memory. DAVID BUSHNELL, THE ORIGINATOR OF SUBMARINE WARFARE. Early attempts at submarine navigation.-Drebell's boat.-The invention of an Englishman, for entering sunken ships.-Worcester.-Birth of Bushnell.Early Character.-Receives a collegiate education.-Account of his first experiments.-Description of his submarine boat, and magazine.-Endeavors to blow up the British ship of war Eagle in the harbor of New York.-Blows up the tender of his Majesty's ship Cerberus, off New London.-Contrives a new expedient to destroy the British shipping in the Delaware.-"Battle_of_the Kegs."-Dejected at the issue of his experiments, leaves for France.-Returns and settles in Georgia.-His Death. SINCE the invention of the diving bell in the sixteenth century, we have accounts of several projects for submarine navigation, among which the following are most prominent. "A scheme is said to have been tried in the reign of James the First, by Cornelius Drebell, a famous English projector, who, we are told by Mr. Boyle, made a submarine vessel which would carry twelve rowers, besides the passengers; and that he also discovered a liquid which had the singular property of restoring the air when it became impure by breathing. This last circumstance, with the number of persons enclosed in the machine and the imperfect state of mechanics at the period alluded to, renders the whole story extremely improbable, though it shows clearly that the idea had been entertained and perhaps some attempt made. Another contrivance is mentioned by Mr. Martin, in his Philosophia Britannica, as the invention of an Englishman, consisting of strong thick leather, which contained half a hogshead of air, so prepared that none could escape, and constructed in such a manner that it exactly fitted the arms and legs, and had a glass placed in the fore part of it. When he put on this apparatus he could not only walk on the ground at the bottom of the sea, but also enter the cabin of a sunken ship and convey goods out of it at pleasure. The inventor is said to have carried on his business for more than forty years, and to have grown rich by it." It is evident from the perusal of the following pages, that the plans of Bushnell were almost entirely original; and he appears to |
