HISTORY OF THE COTTON GIN. 305 



instrument of tins copartnership is dated May 27, 1793. But 

 the invention could not be kept a secret till it should be pro- 

 tected by a patent. Great numbers of persons flocked from 

 all parts of the State to see the new invention ; and when it 

 was not deemed prudent to allow access to the machine, the 

 building was broken open by night and the new cotton-gin 

 was carried off, so that before the model could be finished, 

 and the letters patent could be secured, the invention was 

 put in operation and several machines were constructed. 



The petition for a patent was presented to Mr. Jefferson, 

 the Secretary of State, June 20, It93. Mr. Jefferson at once 

 took a strong interest in the invention and its originator, and 

 assured Mr. Whitney, that his request should be granted as 

 soon as the model should be lodged at the patent office. In 

 consequence of unavoidable delays, however, the patent was 

 not secured in form till several months afterwards. 



It would seem, that with the protection and power of a pat- 

 ent, for a machine so certain to be used and to increase the 

 demand for itself by creating a new staple of the country, the 

 road to affluence would be short and easy. But events issued 

 far otherwise. Obstacles the most trying and depressing at 

 onco arose, and with them the persevering spirit of Whitney 

 was summoned to contend during the entire period of fourteen 

 years allowed him, by the patent law. The history of this 

 period is a history of vexation, disappointment, and of 

 wrong not indeed of wrong on the part of those who occa- 

 sioned it ; that was in all or in most cases, deliberate and 

 known, but which to him who suffered it, brought all the pain- 

 ful consequences of such wrong. 



We cannot go into a detailed history of the obstacles against 

 which he was called to struggle. A few of the facts only can 

 be given, and these only in a summary way. A prominent 

 cause of these may be found in the plan adopted by the part- 



