HISTORY OF THE COTTON GIX. 315 



fcrred upon his race. Tt was ccrtninly true in the case of 

 Whitney, that his personal influence, and the weight of his 

 example, were thus felt in his life-time, and have not ceased 

 since his death. It is owing to his influence, and that of Hill- 

 house, men of singular kindred spirits, in respect to the de- 

 votion of energy and genius to the general improvement of 

 the otitward interests of man, that the City of Elms is so at- 

 tractive to the eye of the stranger, in the outward indications 

 of neatness and taste, which pertain to elevate every dwelling, 

 and are seen along every street, and that these external ap- 

 pearances are found, on a close observation, to be so sure an 

 index of the intelligent industry, and the frugal thrift of the 

 citizens. 



But the great gift of Whitney to his country and his race, 

 was the gift of the cotton gin ; and it is for this that he will 

 deserve to be cherished longest in their honorable remem- 

 brance, and in their grateful homage. We have seen that 

 there was something singularly interesting in the manner and 

 circumstances of the invention. By far the greater number 

 of inventions, come of accidental suggestion, or are completed 

 by gradual improvements, or result from the application of 

 machinery already in being to a new purpose ; but in the case 

 of this of Whitney's, there was the contemplation of a great 

 desideratum, proposed as the worthy subject for a trained and 

 powerful genius ; then there was the cheerful devotion of the 

 mind to meet this want, and then the speedy, the easy, and 

 the successful triumph. 



But the value of the gift deserves bur consideration. We 

 have spoken of it as a gift of Whitney to his country and to 

 his race. What then did Whitney give to his country ? 



He gave to his country, directly, all the increased value 

 which the public lands of the cotton-growing States have re- 

 ceived by the invention. So soon as this invention was made 



