CHARACTERS. 



397 



the Hollanders ; some of them are 

 broad caricatures, which cannot 

 but excite a smile. They are found 

 in his port folio, and though in 

 general they are but sketches, 

 they show that they are from the 

 hand of a master, guided by wit 

 and genius. 



Throughout the whole course 

 of his experiments, no opposition 

 or contradiction, no failure or dis- 

 appointment, irritated, discourag- 

 ed, or discomposed him. When 

 his machines were broken or dis- 

 ordered, he, with tlie utmost calm- 

 ness and composure, pointed out 

 their defects or the causes of his 

 disappointment. If an experiment 

 failed, though it had cost him 

 great pains and labour in the pre- 

 paration ; and although the failure 

 was frequently, and obviously, 

 owing to the awkwardness or un- 

 skilfulness of those who assisted 



. him, his temper could not be dis- 

 turbed ; he would not hear the 

 scoffs of some of the numerous 

 bystanders, which were frequently 

 expressed in \^ hispers intended to 

 reach his ear. Not a fretful or 

 angry word ever escaped him, and 

 after a disappointment he recom- 

 menced his preparations with the 

 same ardour, and with the same 

 calmness, with which he at first 

 began. Even when his physical 

 strength must have been exhausted 

 by his corporeal exertions, and 

 the excessive fatigue he would 

 sometimes undergo through a sul- 

 try day, his spirits were never for 



* a moment depressed. On these 

 occasions he showed himself as 

 much a moral as a mechanic;il 

 philosoj)her. 



We have all witnessed with 

 what zeal Mr. Fulton bestowed 



his time, his talents, and his purse, 

 for the promotion of the useful 

 and the tii.e aits. One of the last 

 acts of his life manifested tiiis dis- 

 position. By his will, which was 

 made but a few days before his 

 death, he devised that, in certain 

 events, his pictmes, and one half 

 of his property not otherwise dis- 

 posed of, should go to an academy 

 of fine arts, when such an academy 

 should be established, at the jilace 

 which may be the seat of the na- 

 tional goveinment. 



Mr. Fulton was about six feet 

 high. His person was slender, but 

 well proportioned, and well form- 

 ed. — Nature had made him a gen- 

 tleman, and bestowed upon liim 

 ease and graf efulness. He had too 

 nmch good sense for the least af- 

 fectation ; and a modest confidence 

 in his own worth and talents, gave 

 him an unembarrassed deportment 

 in all companies. — His features 

 were strong, and of a manly 

 beauty : he had large dark eyes, 

 and a projecting brow, expressive 

 of intelligence and thought: his 

 temper was mild^ and liis dispo- 

 sition lively : he was fond of so- 

 ciety, which he always enlivened 

 by cheerful, cordial manners, and 

 instructed or pleased by his sensi- 

 ble conveisation : — He exprej-sed 

 himself with energy, fluency, and 

 correctness, and as he owed more 

 to his own experience and reflec- 

 tions, than to books, his senti- 

 ments were often inteiesting from 

 their originality. 



In all his domestic and social 

 relations he was zealous, kind, 

 generous, liberal, and aifectionate. 

 He knew of no use for money but 

 as it was subservient to charity, 

 hospitality, and the sciences. But 



what 



