that might be put together within a compass suited for a boat. Mr. Livingston had written to his friends in this country, and through their interference, an act was passed by the legislature of the state of New York, on the 5th of April, 1803, by which the rights and exclusive privileges of navigating all the waters of that state, by vessels propelied by fire or steam, granted to Mr. Livingston by the act of 1798, which we have before mentioned, were extended to Mr. Livingston and Mr. Fulton, for the term of twenty years from the date of the new act. By this law, the time of producing proof of the practicability of propelling by steam a boat of twenty tons capacity, at the rate of four miles an hour, with and against the ordinary current of the Hudson, was extended two years, and by a subsequent law, the time was enlarged to 1807. Very soon after Mr. Fulton's arrival in New York, he commenced building his first American boat. While she was constructing, he found that her expenses would greatly exceed his calculations. He endeavored to lessen the pressure on his own finances, by offer. ing one third of the right, for a proportionate contribution to the expense. It was generally known that he made this offer, but no one was then willing to afford this aid to his enterprise, although so many, since its success, have been eagerly grasping at its profits. In the spring of 1807, Fulton's first American boat was launched from the ship-yard of Charles Brown, on the East river. The engine from England was put on board of her, and in August she was completed, and was moved by her machinery from her birthplace to the Jersey shore. Mr. Livingston and Mr. Fulton had invited many of their friends to witness the first trial, among whom were those learned men, Dr. Mitchill and Dr. M‘Neven, to whom we are indebted for some account of what passed on this occasion. Nothing could exceed the surprise and admiration of all who witnessed the experiment. The minds of the most incredulous were changed in a few minutes. Before the boat had made the progress of a quarter of a mile, the greatest unbeliever must have been converted. The man who, while he looked on the expensive machine, thanked his stars that he had more wisdom than to waste his money on such idle schemes, changed the expression of his features as the boat moved from the wharf and gained her speed, and his complacent expression gradually stiffened into one of wonder. The jeers of the ignorant, who had neither sense nor feeling enough to suppress their contemptuous ridicule and rude jokes, were silenced for a moment by a vulgar astonishment, which depriv ed them of the power of utterance, till the triumph of genius extorted from the incredulous multitude which crowded the shores, shouts and acclamations of congratulation and applause. The boat had not been long under way, when Fulton ordered her engine to be stopped. Though her performance so far exceed. ed the expectations of every other person, and no one but himself thought she could be improved, he immediately perceived that there was an error in the construction of her water-wheels. He had their diameters lessened, so that the buckets took less hold of the water, and when they were again put in motion, it was manifest that the alteration had increased the speed of the boat. It may well be said, that the man of genius and knowledge has a sense beyond those which are common to others, or that he sees with different eyes. How many would have gazed on these ill-propor tioned wheels, without perceiving that they were imperfect! This boat, which was called the Clermont, soon after made a trip to Albany. Mr. Fulton gives the following account of this voyage in a letter to his friend, Mr. Barlow. "My steamboat voyage to Albany and back, has turned out rather more favorable than I had calculated. The distance from New York to Albany is one hundred and fifty miles; I ran it up in thirty-two hours, and down in thirty. I had a light breeze against me the whole way, both going and coming, and the voyage has been performed wholly by the power of the steam engine. I overtook many sloops and schooners beating to windward, and parted with them as if they had been at anchor. The power of propelling boats by steam is now fully proved. The morning I left New York, there were not perhaps thirty persons in the city, who believed that the boat would ever move one mile an hour, or be of the least utility; and while we were putting off from the wharf, which was crowded with spectators, I heard a number of sarcastic remarks. This is the way in which ignorant men compliment what they call philosophers and projectors. Having employed much time, money, and zeal, in accomplishing this work, it gives me, as it will you, great pleasure to see it fully answer my expectations. It will give a cheap and quick conveyance to the merchandise on the Mississippi, Missouri, and other great rivers, which are now laying open their treasures to the enterprise of our countrymen; and although the prospect of personal emolument has been some inducement to me, yet I feel infinitely more pleasure in reflecting on the immense advantage that my country will derive from the invention," &c. Soon after this successful voyage; the Hudson boat was advertised and established as a regular passage-boat between New York and Albany. She, however, in the course of the season, met with several accidents, from the hostility of those engaged in the ordi. nary navigation of the river, and from defects in her machinery, the greatest of which was, having her water-wheel shafts of cast iron, which was insufficient to sustain the great power applied to them. The wheels also were hung without any support for the outward end of the shaft, which is now supplied by what are called the wheel-guards. At the session of 1808, a law was passed to prolong the time of the exclusive right to thirty years; it also declared combinations to destroy the boat, or wilful attempts to injure her, public offences, punishable by fine and imprisonment. Notwithstanding her misfortunes, the boat continued to run as a packet, always loaded with passengers, for the remainder of the summer. In the course of the ensuing winter she was enlarged, and in the spring of 1808, she again commenced running as a packet-boat, and continued it through the season. Several other boats were soon built for the Hudson river, and also for steamboat companies formed in different parts of the United States. On the 11th of February, 1809, Mr. Fulton took out a patent for his inventions in navigation by steam, and on the 9th of February, 1811, he obtained a second patent for some improvements in his boats and machinery. It having been found that the laws, granting to Livingston and Fulton exclusive privileges, were insufficient to secure their enjoy. ment, the legislature of New York, in 1811, passed a supplementary act, giving certain summary remedies against those who should contravene the protecting laws. The act, however, excepts two boats which were then navigating the Hudson, and one which ran on Lake Champlain in opposition to Livingston and Fulton: without these exceptions, the law, as to these boats, would have been ex post facto. In respect to these, therefore, the parties were left to the same remedies as before passing the last act. The opposi tion boats on the Hudson, were at first to have been propelled by a pendulum, which some thought would give a greater power than steam; but on launching their vessel, they found the machinery was not so easily moved as when she was on the stocks. Having found by experiment that a pendulum would not supply the place of steam, and knowing no other way of applying steam than that they saw practised in the Fulton boats, they adopted all their ma chinery, with some small alterations, with no other view than to give a pretence for claiming to be the inventors of improvements on steamboats. Messrs. Livingston and Fulton attempted to vindicate their rights, and to stop these boats, by an application to the Circuit Court of the United States for an injunction; but the judge decided that he |