gin over the roller-contrivance is manifest. The cotton is put into a long and narrow hopper, one side of which is formed by a grating of strong parallel wires, one-eighth of an inch apart. Close to the hopper is a roller set with circular saws, an inch and a half apart. These, as they revolve, pass within the grating of the hopper to a certain depth, and seize by their teeth on the locks of cotton, dragging them through the wires, which are not wide enough apart to allow the seeds to pass also. The cotton is afterwards swept from the saws by a revolving cylindrical brush. Thus the separation is effected in a cheap, easy, and rapid manner. At first, Whitney used bent wires or teeth, like those of the common card, but much larger and stronger, and these were placed in rows on a revolving cylinder. The cotton was separated from this cylinder by a frame of parallel wires; as the cylinder revolved, the teeth extending through the wireframe caught the cotton and drew it through the grating, but the seeds being too large to pass between the wires, were of course separated from the fiber. These teeth, however, being found too weak to pull the cotton from the seed without becoming bent or broken, Whitney substituted a circular saw in their place. The teeth of the saw being large, and shaped like the beak of a bird, had more strength and were equally effective. So serious an objection as that brought by the British manufacturers, namely, that the operation of this machine injured the quality of the cotton, was a most disheartening one to Mr. Whitney and his partner, Mr. Miller, for, on its truth or falsity, their fortune and fate depended. For a time, the process of patent ginning was quite at a stand; and, indeed, little was heard of it by the originators, except the condolence of a few real friends, who expressed their regret that so promising an invention had entirely failed. Of the inventor's state of mind, as well as the condition of his purse, at this time, some idea may be formed from a letter written by Whitney, in the autumn of 1797, in which he Elthatway without making the least progress in our business. I have labored hard against the strong current of disappointment, which has been threatening to carry us down the cataract; but I have labored with a shattered oar, and struggled in vain, unless some speedy relief is obtained. Life is but short, at best, and six or seven years out of the midst of it is, to him who makes it, an immense sacrifice. My most unremitted attention has been directed to our business. I have sacrificed to it other objects, from which, before this time, I might certainly have gained twenty or thirty thousand dollars. My whole prospects have been embarked in it, with the expectation that I should, before this time, have realized something from it.' Against all opposition, the machine finally became appreciated according to its merits, and, though the country was flooded with imitations, against the manufacturers of which, it seemed almost impossible to obtain any redress or protection in the courts of law, a large demand set in, and Whitney's golden visions appeared likely to be realized. At the suggestion made to them by some of their business friends, Miller and Whitney were induced, in view of the public benefit that would accrue to the cotton-growing states, by the general and inexpensive introduction of the saw-gin, to offer the exclusive disposal of the machine in South Carolina to the legislature of that state, which offer was finally accepted; the sum paid to the inventors, for this privilege, being fifty thousand dollars. Though this sum was only one-half of that which had originally been fixed upon by the patentees, it seems to have given quite a zest to Mr. Whitney's feelings and anticipations, for he wrote in relation to the new arrangement: 'The use of the machine here (in South Carolina) is amazingly extensive, and the value of it beyond all calculation. It may, without exaggeration, be said to have raised the value of seven-eighths of all the three southern states from fifty to one hundred per cent. We get but a song for it in comparison with the worth of the thing; but it is securing something. It will enable Miller and Whitney to pay all their debts, and divide something between them. It establishes a precedent that will be valuable as respects our collections in other states, and I think there is now a fair prospect that I shall in the event realize property enough to render me comfortable, and, in some measure, independent.' It was not, however, without much trouble and litigation, that Whitney realized the fulfillment of this contract. But the expense involved in numerous suits at law against the encroachers upon his patent, was more than the profits yielded by the sales, and these struggles and expenditures, and constantly-recurring discouragements, sent Mr. Miller to a premature grave, at the close of 1803. In the year 1812, Mr. Whitney applied to congress for a renewal of his patent, in the hope of still receiving some substantial benefit from his invention. But the southern delegation generally-though with some honorable exceptions—were opposed to it; which was of course the more unexpected, as well as wounding, in view of the immense advantage of the machine to to that part of the United States. In regard to this last-mentioned point, no testimony could be more weighty or emphatic in the affirmative than that by Judge Johnson, an eminent South Carolinian, and, at the time of speaking, a judge of the United States supreme court:-'The whole interior of the southern states (these are the words of Judge Johnson, as judicially uttered) was languishing, and its inhabitants emigrating for want of some object to engage their attention, and employ their industry, when the invention of this machine at once opened views to them which set the whole country in active motion. From childhood to age, it has presented to us a lucrative employment. Individuals who were depressed with poverty, and sunk in idleness, have suddenly risen to wealth and respectability. Our debts have been paid off. Our capitals have increased, and our lands trebled themselves in value. We cannot express the weight of the obligation which the country owes to this invention. The extent of it cannot now be seen. Some faint presentiment may be formed from the reflection that cotton is rapidly supplanting wool, flax, silk, and even furs, in manufactures, and may one day profitably supply the use of specie in our East India trade. Our sister states also participate in the benefits of this invention; for, beside affording the raw material for their manufacturers, the bulkiness and quantity of the article afford a valuable employment for their shipping.' Such was the testimony borne by the highest possible authority, in regard to the wonderful value and effect of this invention. And yet, though full a dozen years had elapsed since Whitney had staked his all upon the machine, and was even now pleading for redress against the piracies committed upon his rights and property, he was actually a poor man, struggling against remorseless fate. Mr. Whitney, in a letter almost pathetic in its rehearsal of his wrongs, addressed to Robert Fulton, the inventor of the first successful steamboat, remarks, that 'the difficulties with which he had to contend originated, principally, in the want of a disposition in mankind to do justice. The invention was new and distinct from every other; it stood alone. It was not interwoven with anything before known; and it can seldom happen that an invention is so strongly marked, and can be so clearly and specifically identified; and I have always believed that I should have had no difficulty in causing my rights to be respected, if it had been less valuable, and been used only by a small portion of the community. But the use of this machine being immensely profitable to almost every planter in the cotton districts, all were interested in trespassing upon the patent right, and each kept the other in countenance. Demagogues made themselves popular by misrepresentation and unfounded clamors, both against the right, and the law made for its protection. Hence there arose associations and combinations to oppose both. At one time, few men in Georgia dared to come into court and testify to the most simple facts within their knowledge, relative to the use of the machine. In one instance, I had great | difficulty in proving that the machine had been used in Georgia, although, at the same moment, there were three separate sets of this machinery in motion within fifty yards of the building in which the court sat, and all so near that the rattling of the wheels was distinctly heard on the steps of the court-house.' Surely, few men of genius have rendered so great benefits to their country, by means of an invention, who have been so heartlessly treated and so poorly remunerated. Despairing of ever realizing an adequate return, therefore, for his cotton-gin, Whitney applied his inventive skill to the improved manufacture of firearms, in which he was very successful, and, having obtained valuable contracts from the government for his improved muskets, he ultimately acquired a fortune,-a strange but most deserved sequel to his hitherto checkered career. The progress and value of the cotton production in the United States, under the impetus given to it by Whitney's invention, may be characterized as simply prodigious; and, in the mind of the philosophic statesman and student, the story of the cotton-gin will forever weave itself, most intimately and wonderfully, with those great themes and events which make up the nation's history. XII. THE FAMOUS WHISKEY INSURRECTION IN PENNSYL VANIA.-1794. Violent Resistance to the United States Excise Laws.-Monster Meetings and Inflammatory Appeals -Officials and Loyal Citizens Whipped, Branded, Tarred, and Feathered.-Intense Excitement in all the States.-Washington Declares that the Union is in Peril and Heads an Army to Meet the Crisis. -Precipitate Flight of the Armed Rebels.-Congressional Tax on Spirits.-Cry of "Tyranny!" from Distillers.-Western Pennsylvania in a Blaze.-Extent of her Whiskey Interests.-Ambitious Politicians at Work.-A Revolt Incited by Them.-Bradford the Chief Desperado.-Reign of Terror Inaugurated.-Tax-Collectors Roughly Handled.-The Incendiary's Torch.-"Tom the Tinker's" Ruffianism.-Fury of the Factionists-Firm Courage of Loyal Men.-Perplexity of the United States Government.-Presidential Proclamation.-Law and Order to be Maintained.-Troops Summoned into Service.-Prompt and Patriotic Response.-The Olive Branch vs. the Sword.-Bradford Scorns Conciliation.-Washington's Mind Made Up.-Prevents the Effusion of Blood. "Here's to your fery goot health, And tamn ta whusky duty!"-SONG OF THE TIMES. HE year 1794 is distinguished in American history by a remarkable revolt among a portion of the inhabitants of Pennsylvania, and which is known as the Whiskey Insurrection. In 1791, congress had enacted laws laying excise duties upon spirits distilled within the United States. This tax excited great and general opposition, but nowhere else was such violence exhibited in resisting the execution of the law, as in the western counties of Pennsylvania, where the crops of grain were so over-abundant, that, in the absence of an adequate market for its sale, an immense quantity of the cereal was distilled into whiskey,-the far-famed "Monongahela," so called from the name of the principal river of the region where the manufacture was carried on. It was insisted upon, by these people, that an article produced so exclusively, by an isolated community, as their sole and necessary dependence, ought not to be taxed for the support of the federal government; and this opinion they adhered to as the following pages will be found to show-with a tenacity worthy of a better cause, notwithstanding the day of temperance societies had not then dawned. CAUSES OF THE WHISKEY INSURRECTION IN PENN. Public meetings were held in all the chief towns, at which the action of congress was loudly denounced as oppression to be battled against to the very last extremity; declaring, too, that any person who had accepted or might accept an office under government, in order to carry the law into effect, should be regarded as an enemy of his country, to be treated with contempt and total non-intercourse, official and personal. The federal government was scoffed at, its coercive authority disavowed; thus, with the motto, "Liberty and No Excise!" the ball pearance. of rebellion rolled on. |