beneficent Providence, for immediately after his marriage he was assailed by all sorts of worldly troubles. People, when they found that steam navigation was no longer the idle vision of a dreamer, but a substantial fact, began to overlook the claims of the man who introduced it. They fulminated against the monopoly enjoyed by Fulton; grumbled at the accommodations afforded by his boats; complained that the fares were exorbitant; and, finally, maintained that Fulton was not entitled to exclusive privileges, because he was not the inventor of the system. The latter was, of course, jealous of his rights, and endeavored to protect them to the best of his ability. He came in contact with the State of New Jersey, the government of which had granted exclusive privileges to Fitch. The ferry communication was stopped, and more unpopularity was heaped upon our hero. In these days monopolies are looked on with proper distrust, and perhaps the people were not altogether wrong even then for complaining that the public interests were mortgaged to private individuals. But it must be remembered that the patent laws were in a very imperfect state, and that the only chance an inventor had of remunerating himself was by securing extensive state monopolies. No doubt there was a great deal to be said on both sides. If Fitch's invention had been less known, Fulton would perhaps have received more sympathy. But the long and valuable labors of that ingenious man undoubtedly gave him a claim on the public regard, and people thought that if any one was entitled to a monopoly, it was he, and not Fulton. The state settled the difficulty some time afterward by declaring the monopoly unconstitutional.

Fulton's partner endeavored to get a revision or reversal of the Jersey law, and when the day came on for trying the matter (January, 1815), the subject of this memoir appeared as a witness. The weather was severe, and the Hudson became unnavigable for steam-boats. Anxious to return to his family, Fulton exposed himself to the bitter blasts in a row-boat, which conveyed him to New York. Immediately on his return he was seized with a violent fit of illness. From this he partly recovered, but again committed an act of indiscretion by exposing himself at the Brooklyn Navy-yard. A relapse was the consequence. He became gradually worse, and his shattered system held out no hopes of recovery. His death shortly followed, on the 24th of February,

This calamity occasioned a sudden revulsion of public feeling. All petty oppositions and jealousies were forgotten, and the highest to the lowest in the land alike vied in paying tribute to the memory of a man who had at least shed lustre on the country of his birth.

Fulton was rather above the middle height; intelligent in countenance and conversation; attached to the home circle, in which he was pre-eminently fitted to shine; familiar with all the topics of the day; well bred and easy in his intercourse with friends, and polite, affable, and kindly to all. He never entirely abandoned the fine arts. Only a short time before his death he executed oil paintings of his family, and was pleased with the dexterity he still preserved. In closing this memoir, we can not do better than quote the just and dispassionate remarks of Dr. Renwick: "If we consider Fulton as an inventor, it may be difficult to say in what exact particular his merits consist. As the blow of the mallet, by which the mighty mass of a ship of the line is caused to start upon its ways, in the act of launching, is undistinguishable among the numerous strokes by which that mass is gradually raised, so the minute particulars in which his labors differ from former abortive attempts may almost escape research; but if we contemplate him in the light of a civil engineer, confidently building a finished and solid structure upon the incomplete foundation left by others, we must rank him among the first of his age, and place him, in the extent of his usefulness to mankind, as second to Watt alone."

SIR WILLIAM JONES.

THIS extraordinary linguist and Oriental scholar was born in London in the year 1746. When only three years of age he had the misfortune to lose his father, a distinguished mathematician and scholar, and was left entirely to the guidance of a fond mother. Being a woman of strong mind, she determined that her son should have a good education, and devoted all her time, energies, and means to the accomplishment of this object. The boy early displayed an acuteness uncommon in one of his age; and to his questionings the mother invariably replied, Read, and you will know. To this admonition the great scholar admitted that he was mainly indebted for his subsequent attainments. When only seven years of age young William was placed at the celebrated school at Harrow, being accompanied there by his mother, who took a small place in the village in order that she might minister to his wants, and direct his mind as far as lay in her power. Under the routine of the school his precocity disappeared, and for two years he was more remarkable for diligence than quickness. In his ninth year he met with an accident by which his thigh bone was broken.

He was unable to attend school for a year, but his mother availed herself of the opportunity to initiate him into the glorious field of English literature, and he became acquainted with some of the best poets. On returning to school he was put into the same class which he had left, but found, to his dismay, that he was far behind his old classmates. What contributed to his pain, even more than this knowledge, was the fact that even the master mistook his necessary retrogression for dullness or laziness, and threatened to punish him, the ferrule being considered an excellent stimulant to mental activity in those days. The threat had no effect on poor young Jones; but his pride was touched, and he made up his mind that he would overtake his classmates. By hard study, he accomplished his purpose and took his place at the head of the class, gained the prize offered in every department, and carried his proficiency much beyond what was required of boys in his form. In his twelfth year he entered the upper school, and soon after astonished teacher, scholars, and every body else by a remarkable display of memory. Theatrical representations took place among the scholars, and on one occasion it was determined to give Shakspeare's "Tempest." Unfortunately, there was not a copy to be had. To supply the deficiency, young Jones wrote it out from memory with sufficient correctness to enable the boys to act it with pleasure to themselves. About the same time he began the study of Greek, and prosecuted his Latin with more zeal than ever. He conquered many of the difficulties of Latin prosody before his teachers and schoolmates were aware that he had thought of the subject, and so with many other subjects. During the vacation he found time to perfect himself in French, and to study Italian and arithmetic. He also learned something of Arabic, and enough of Hebrew to enable him to read some of the Psalms in the original. He was now in his thirteenth year, and his inclination to study at this period was so earnest that it was thought proper to check it, lest it might injure his health. His attendance at school was therefore interdicted, and for a time he was prohibited all kind of study.

At the age of seventeen it was decided that he should go to one of the Universities, and in the spring of 1764 he was entered for University College, Oxford. It is characteristic of his elevated temperament that he was disappointed with the course of instruction provided here. He was astonished to find that he

could not receive the assistance he anticipated, and that the professors and tutors were not prepared for giant strides. He conceived very bitter sentiments against the establishment, unmindful apparently of the fact that it was intended for the average capacities of students, and not for the unusual ones of young men like Jones. In later days he modified the hasty impression of his youth. A testimony to his scholarship was soon given by his being elected one of the four scholars on the foundation of Sir Simon Bennett. His love for Oriental literature began to manifest itself, and he commenced studying Arabic from a native of Aleppo whom he discovered in the streets of London and transported to Oxford. From this individual he obtained a fluent knowledge of the vulgar Arabic. He then studied Persian. Nor did he, in the mean time, neglect his old friends, the Greeks and Latins. The Greek poets and historians, and especially the writings of Plato, he carefully perused. With the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, he had become so familiar that he could read their best authors with ease. While following these multitudinous studies, he did not neglect the requirements of the body. He knew that a healthy mind could only be secured by a healthy body, and never neglected to take a systematic course of exercise in connection with his studies. In this way he was able to preserve a high tone of health, and, "with the fortune of a peasant, to give himself the education of a prince." Without these precautions it would have been impossible for a feeble constitution to resist the intense labor and application imposed on it.

In the summer of 1766 he was unexpectedly elected to a fellowship at Oxford. The appointment was very acceptable in many ways. In the first place, it was a recognition of his attainments, and, in the second, it furnished him with an income, with which he might, if he felt so disposed, pursue his studies to any extent he pleased, and remain within the classic precincts of the University city. He had felt the want of money so much previous to this event, that in the preceding year he had accepted an invitation to become the private tutor of Lord Althorpe (afterward Earl Spencer). In the family of this nobleman he passed some years, and appears to have been treated with kindness and consideration. In 1767 he accompanied his lordship on a tour of the Continent, and availed himself of the opportunity of learning German. On his return he devoted himself largely to the