ing the complaint. A similar instance occurred soon after, and Cobbett saw the necessity of attending to himself. He repaired to his farm near Farnham, and in a few weeks appeared to be on the high road to health; but he calculated too much on his own strength, and was imprudent enough to take tea in the open air. A violent relapse was the consequence, and he lingered for a week, during which he recovered so far as to talk pleasantly and jovially of his various occupations. On the day previous to his death he could not rest in the house, but insisted on being carried round the farm. It was the last strong impulse of his hardy nature. About four o'clock on the following morning (18th of June, 1835), William Cobbett expired, aged seventy-four years. "On the 27th of June the funeral took place from Normandy farm. The The procession was attended by Mr. Fielden, M. P., Mr. O'Connell, and several other members of Parliament. By the time it had reached Farnham, it was swelled by thousands of laborers in their smock frocks and straw hats, who followed the procession to the churchyard, where the mortal remains of England's greatest self-taught prose writer were deposited beside those of his humble ancestors."

The best of Mr. Cobbett's works have been largely reprinted in the United States, and it is almost unnecessary to speak of their excellence. He was a most voluminous writer, and the strongest partisan politician that ever lived. Pervading all his productions is a delightful aroma of country life, intensified by scraps of personal adventure, related in a vein so genial, forcible, and truthful, that it is doubtful if any thing superior can be found in English literature. Cobbett was an author by instinct. He knew little of what is called art, and even scorned that little; but no one can read his best productions without feeling that the essence of art, truthfulness, is there. As a reformer, he was, perhaps, the most influential man that ever lived, although the inconsistencies into which he frequently threw himself detracted from his power, and induced even his friends to doubt every thing except his integrity.

"On the subject of the intellectual character of this remarkable man," says a writer in the English Cyclopædia, "there is already a more general agreement of opinion than might have been expected, considering the vehement partisanship of the greater portion of what he has written. His mind was one of extraordinary native vigor, but, apparently, not well fitted by original endowment, any more thaǹ by acquirement, for speculations of the

highest kind. Cobbett's power lay in wielding more effectively, perhaps, than they were ever wielded before, those weapons of controversy which tell upon what, in the literal acceptation of the words, may be called the common sense of mankind; that is, those feelings and capacities which nearly all men possess, in contradistinction to those of a more refined and exquisite character, which belong to a comparatively small number. To these higher feelings and powers he has nothing to say; they, and all things that they delight in, are uniformly treated by him with a scorn, real or affected, more frank and reckless, certainly, in its expression than they have met with from any other great writer. He cares for nothing but what is cared for by the multitude, and by the multitude, too, only of his own day, and, it may be even said, of his own country. Shakspeare, the British Museum, antiquity, posterity, America, France, Germany, are, one and all, either wholly indifferent to him, or the objects of his bitter contempt. But in his proper line he is matchless. When he has a subject that suits him, he handles it, not so much with the artificial skill of an accomplished writer, as with the perfect and inimitable natural art with which a dog picks a bone. There are many things that other men can do which he can not attempt; but this he can do, as none but himself can or ever could do it."

-AMOS WHITTEMORE.

AMOS WHITTEMORE, the inventor of the card machine, was born at Cambridge, Massachusetts, April 19th, 1759. His father was a small farmer, whose means were limited, but whose industry enabled him to rear a large family in a creditable manner, and give to his children the rudiments of an English education.

Of the early life of Amos we know but little, and for that little are indebted to Mr. Howe. He was engaged in the usual avocations of the farm, rendering what small assistance lay in his power to his father. At an early age he manifested a considerable aptitude for mechanical pursuits, and a talent for science. These tastes induced him to select the business of a gunsmith as the one which he could follow with most pleasure to himself. During his apprenticeship he applied himself diligently to his new trade, and

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made many ingenious inventions and useful implements for perfecting his work. Long before the term of his apprenticeship had. expired he was an excellent workman; so good, indeed, that his master declared he was unable to give him any farther instruction, and advised him to commence business for himself.

For several years subsequent to this period he pursued a variety of occupations with more or less success, and finally became interested with his brother and five others in the manufacture of cotton and wool cards. The firm was called Giles, Richards & Co., and supplied nearly all the cards then used in the country. Amos's knowledge of mechanics and his extreme ingenuity pointed him out as a fitting superintendent of the machine department.

Up to this time the manufacture of cotton and wool cards was conducted almost entirely by hand, and was necessarily imperfect and expensive. Whittemore immediately perceived that here was a field for the exercise of his inventive faculties. The immense value of a machine so constructed as to be able, by its own independent action, to hold the sheet of leather, pierce the holes, draw the wire from the reel, and shape and stick it in its proper place, was apparent to every one. From his brother he received every kind of encouragement, and at once proceeded to experiments, in the pursuit of which he was so indefatigable that his health was seriously impaired. He slept on wool cards, dreamed of wool cards, lived and breathed in wool cards. Such application could not be without result. After some failures, which only served to stimulate his invention, he produced a machine which was able to draw the wire from the reel, cut and shape it, pierce the holes in the leather, and even place the staples firmly in the sheet; but it was necessary to bend the wire after it was placed; without this, all was in vain. The difficulty was one which baffled him in every direction. He tried to surmount it in a thousand ways, but it seemed useless, and he abandoned himself to despair. The machine he had created lay before him like a beautiful corpse, perfect in every respect, but lacking the breath of life. He was plunged into the greatest despondency and gloom, and night or day could find but little rest for his troubled mind. Exhausted by this state of nervous excitement, he sunk into a slumber one evening. A strange vision visited him. He awoke with a perfect scheme for the accomplishment of his object. It had come to him in a dream, but it was reality in the morning, and before

breakfast he was able to announce to his brother and friends the completion of his machine. Whittemore dwelt with much satisfaction on this dream in after years.

The machine, when completed, was a masterpiece of beautiful mechanism. In 1797, a patent right was granted to the inventor and his associates for the term of fourteen years. To procure the same protection in England, Whittemore sailed for that country in the spring of 1799, and returned the following year without having obtained any satisfaction. Numerous offers were made to Whittemore either to purchase the right or a share in the profits of the invention, but for some cause Whittemore did not come to terms. The consequence was that he derived no benefit from that country.

On his return, Whittemore and his brother entered into a copartnership with a man of capital, and commenced the manufacture of the improved machinery in a limited way. Before this firm had got properly into operation, the patent right was nearly expired. Considerable apprehension was felt; but Whittemore visited Washington with a full-sized machine as a model, and so charmed the members with its perfection, that by a unanimous vote the patent was extended for a further term of fourteen years. Immediately after this, efforts were made to establish a company with a sufficient capital to carry on the manufacture with energy. In 1812 an act was obtained incorporating the "New York Manufacturing Company." The capital was $800,000, of which nearly a half was to be employed in the manufacture of cotton and wool cards, and building the necessary machinery and factories. One of the first acts of the company was to purchase the patent right and entire stock and machinery of Whittemore for the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The time was favorable to the operations of the company. A war raged between England and America; commerce was entirely interrupted, and the necessity of supplying ourselves with what was needed caused manufactories of cotton and woolen stuffs especially to spring up as if by magic. There was such a demand for hand-cards that the company was soon busily and profitably employed.

Exactly the reverse of this was the case when, in 1815, peace was proclaimed. An enormous influx of foreign goods glutted the market, and threw the native manufacturer entirely out of the field. The raw material was again in demand, and scarcely