. 
No. 210.] 
MARCH 1, 1811. 
MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
[2 of Vor. 31. 
es! (one. as thofe who write are ambitious of making Converts, and of giving their Opinions a Maximum of 
Influence and Celebrity, the moft extenfively circulated Mifcellany wili repay with the greatest Effeck the 
Kuriofity of thofe who read either for Amufement or Infiru tion.——JOHNSON, 
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
Zo the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
: SIR, 
. A&-FTER repeated essays by various 
ingenious men in different parts 
vof Europe within thirty years, to navigate 
‘boats or vessels by the power of steam- 
engines, all of which had failed to that 
egree which left little hope that the ob- 
ject would be attained; Mr. Robert 
Fulton, a native of Philadelphia, and 
well known in France and England, has 
been the fortunate philosopher who has 
established steam-boats with complete 
ysuccess in-his native country. His. first 
boat, 150 feet in length, 18 feet wide, 
-was built in 1807 on the Hudson river, 
to carry passengers between the cities 
_ of New York and Albany, a distance of 
.160 miles ; which boat, to. the astonish- 
Ment of the inhabitants of those cities, 
performed the voyage in SO hours. A few 
voyages, aud the certainty of her arrival 
at given places within a given time, soon 
established public confidence in this new 
‘mode of conveyance, and drew the pas- 
sengers from the stages and common 
-sloops into the steam-boat, which prov- 
ing lucrative to Mr. Fulton, he, in 1809, 
started a second and improved boat, 
called the Car of Neptune. 
I made a voyage on my way from 
Canada to New York in this vessel, 
- which is fitted up in a style, and con- 
ducted with. a degree of order, that 
surpasses. any mode of travelling yet in- 
vented: however violent the wind, there 
is no rolling or tossing, no cause of sick- 
ness from the agitation of waves; the car 
moves on majestically, ever on an even 
keel. 
She was then on her seventy-third 
trip for the season, and she was expected 
to make eighty trips before the ice-closed 
the river. In which case, this vessel 
will have run 12,800 miles in one year 
by. the power of steam ; or the two boats 
equal 25,600 miles. <A boat of this kind 
» has been established on lake Champlain; 
* one is contemplated from Montreal to 
® Quebec; a line, consisting of two boats, 
ds in full operation from New York to 
Monturx Mae, No, 210, 
Philadelphia; and they are now forming 
.a line from Philadelphia to Baltimore : 
when completed, a traveller may go from 
Baltimore to Mentreal, near eight hun-~ 
dred. miles, in steam-boats, with only 
about onehundred and fifty miles of land- 
carriage. : 
Companies are forming I learn to 
build. boats on the Mississippi and 
Ohio rivers, for the transport of passen- 
-gers and merchandize frony New Orleans 
to Pittsburgh, a distance of two thou- 
sand miles: thus one fortunate invention 
gives a facility of transport and inter- 
course to animmense district of country, 
‘Opens new resources to industry, and 
gives real strength to a nation. The 
advantages of these boats, in an agri. 
cultural ‘and commerciai point of view, 
-are incalculable; and, in case of war, 
their magnitude and certainty are of 
great importance for transporting troops 
‘without fatigue. No country is better 
-watered than the United States, nor is 
‘there any country that we know of so 
favourable to the extensive practice of 
this invention. As a work of art, youre 
scientific readers: will take pleasure in 
the success of Mr. Fulton’s steam-boats: 
as 4 nation, we may fairly calculate that 
every improvement which promotes 
American industry, and multiplies their 
means of exchanging the products of 
their soil for our manufactures, is a real 
benefit to us, This gentleman has there- 
fore, perhaps, done more for us than 
many of our countrymen who have added _ 
millions to our national debt, «and for 
this. species of talent have their monu- 
ments erected in marble. If useful 
talénts were honoured, like those de- 
voted to destructive pursuits, genius 
would seek for honour in the useful 
arts: but an Arkwright, a Boulton, 
or a Watt, whose genius have added 
millions annually to the nation’s wealth, 
will not for ages have the honours of a 
Pitt, who added millions annually to our 
taxes, 2nd forced France to become an 
armed nation, whose strength seems to 
crush the world. I have on this sub- 
lime 
