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

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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 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.

Not long after, a person of the name of Roseberry underwent the humiliating punishment of tarring and feathering, with some attendant aggravations, for having in conversation hazarded the very natural and just, but unpalatable remark, that the inhabitants of a county could not reasonably expect protection from a government whose laws they so strenuously opposed. So great, too, was the audacity of the perpetrators of these outrages, that an armed banditti of them ventured to seize and carry off two persons who were witnesses against the rioters in the case of Wilson, in order to prevent their giving testimony in a court then sitting, or about to sit.

On the part of the executive, such open defiance of the laws, and of the authority of the government, was believed to imperiously require that the strength and efficiency of those laws should be tried, by the governing power. Accordingly, Washington issued his proclamation, emphatically condemning the lawless acts and proceedings, warning all to return at once to their allegiance, and assuring them that the laws should be executed at any hazard. Against the leaders in some of the outrages which had been committed, bills of indictment were found in a court of the United States, upon which process was directed to issue, and, at the same time, process was also issued against a great number of non-complying distillers.

This proclamation not producing the desired effect, President Washington next endeavored to prevent the necessity of having recourse to active military measures, by making it the interest of the distillers to pay the duty. To this end, in addition to the prosecutions instituted against delinquents, the spirits distilled in the counties opposing the law were ordered to be seized on their way to market, by the officers of the revenue, and the contractors for the army were directed to purchase only the spirits on which the duties had been paid. But, whatever were the inclinations of the distillers-or some of them, the fear of an infuriated populace prevented a compliance with these

orders; and the factionists continued to take encouragement from the lenity of the executive, in the expectation of ultimate success. By violent threats they still kept the marshal from serving his precepts, committed numerous outrages upon the friends of government, and perfected their organization into military bands, to resist any force that might be sent to subject them to the laws. They styled their acts, "mending the still."

It is not to be doubted that this inflamed state of the public mind was greatly aggravated by the ambitious designs and intemperate speeches of a few leading men. Conspicuous among the friends of the malcontents were Bradford, Marshall, Smilie, Brackenridge, Husbands, Findley, and Gallatin. The first-named, David Bradford, was the chief agitator, and led in person the desperate bands, in their career of violence. He was an old settler in Washington county, had accumulated a large fortune, and, being bold and unscrupulous in his politics, wielded a powerful influence over a certain class. Those associated with him were men of decided ability, being of Scotch or Irish birth, and possessing their dominant characteristics of nationality.

In the early part of 1794, the hostility of the law-breakers seemed to become more implacable and demonstrative. William Richmond, who had given information against some of the rioters, in the affair of Wilson, had his barn burnt, with all its valuable contents; and the same thing happened to Robert Shawan, a distiller, who had been among the first to comply with the law, and who had always spoken favorably of it. These instances were multiplied. The law-abiding inhabitants were dogged and pursued by disorderly persons, their houses and distilleries broken into, property destroyed, conflagrations kindled, machinery disabled, life threatened.

June being the month for receiving annual entries for stills, endeavors were used to open offices in Westmoreland and Washington, where it had hitherto been