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ROBERT FULTON. 



Some thirty years since a young American was occupied in the con- 

 struction of a few models of machinery, by which he might bend to 

 the use of navigation an agent familiar to all, but which had only been 

 pressed into the service of mechanics a short time before by the genius 

 of Watt. Receiving no countenance in this country, he visited France, 

 and at a diplomatic dinner given at Paris, by Chancellor Livingston, to 

 a company of Plenipotentiaries, Statesmen and Literati, Fulton wearied 

 the patience of the guests by endeavoring to show them that he could, 

 if he had the means construct a boat that could stem the waves of the 

 Hudson by the force of steam with the velocity of four miles an hour ! 

 But his plans were regarded as idle and visionary, and repulsed he turned 

 liis face to his native country ; — and it is interesting to listen to his nar- 

 ration, recounting the opposition he received from his own countrymen, 

 the little disposition they evinced to give his project any countenance. 

 Says he, " my friends were civil, but shy ; they listened with patience 

 to my explanations, but with a settled cast of incredulity on their coun- 

 tenances — 1 felt the full force of the language of the poet : 



" Truth would you teach, to save a sinking land. 

 All shun, none aid you, and few understand." 



As I had occasion to pass daily to and fro from the building while 

 my boat was in progress, I have often listened, unknown, near the idle 

 group of strangers, gathering in little circles, and heard various inquiries 

 as to the object of this new vehicle. The language was uniformly that 

 of scorn, sneer, or ridicule. The loud laugh often rose at my expense, 

 the dry jest, the wise calculation of losses and expenditures, the dull and 

 useless repetition of the ' Fulton folly.'' Never did a single encourag- 

 ing remark, a bright hope, or a warm wish cross my path. The day 

 arrived when my boat was finished, and the experiment was made. To 

 me it was a most trying and interesting occasion. I wanted some friends 

 to go on board to witness the first successful trip. Many of them did 

 me the favor to attend as a matter of personal respect; but it was mani- 

 fest that they did it with reluctance, fearing to be partners of my morti- 

 fication, and not of my triumph. I was well aware, tliat, in my case, 

 there were many reasons to doubt of my own success. The machine- 

 ry was new and ill-made, and many parts were constructed by mechan- 

 ics unacquainted with such work, and unexpected difficulties might 

 reasonably be presumed to present themselves from other causes. The 

 moment arrived in which tlie word was to be given for the vessel to 

 move. My friends were in groups on the deck. There was anxiety 



