[Iiiiiii; 
 
 m 
 
 I 
 
 11 
 
 ■i 
 
 lIlMil|l||l 
 
 iliitiimiiiimiiflif!!! 
 
 '([puinifMifff'j- 1 1 
 

 VM 
 
 
 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE 
 
 SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 HENRY W. SAGE 
 
 1691 
 
 PGINEERING UBMRY 
 SiK% Dome 
 
Date Due 
 
 PV ^91956 
 
 -^f^ 
 
 MAY 
 
 •> {A '^-'h 
 
 Z : o i^iv O i^ 
 
 21960 
 
 
 MR-? 
 
 ^49ef 
 
 a e *!^' 1991; 
 
 IT 
 
 ** W'fJffiS 
 
 VM 140.F97D55"'"'"''">"-*rary 
 
w3 
 
 Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924005003466 
 
ROBERT FULTON 
 

 ^^^a?n^^(A&- 
 
 e-?2^ <_ ■^T!,^Kej^^->-w'cn'~^ . iKL-'. 
 
ROBERT FULTON 
 
 ENGINEER AND ARTIST 
 HIS LIFE AND WORKS 
 
 BY 
 
 H. W. DICKINSON, A.M.I.Mech.E. 
 
 ASSISTANT KEEPER, THE SCIENCE MUSEUM, SOUTH KENSINGTON 
 
 WITH NUMEROUS PLATES AND SEVERAL 
 ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT 
 
 LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD 
 NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY 
 TORONTO: BELL & COCKBURN. MCMXIII 
 
 M.'fVl UM'l'Y 
 
^( 
 
 
 <b>> 
 
 5 ^<? 
 
 q^obz-so 
 
 Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson &■ Co. 
 At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh 
 
TO 
 
 MY FATHER AND MOTHER 
 
PREFACE 
 
 SOME excuse ought perhaps to be offered for adding 
 to the number of the biographies of Robert Fulton ; 
 I can only plead that, so far as I have observed, 
 not one of them is altogether fair and impartial. Fulton's 
 American biographers have credited him with greater 
 achievements than the facts warrant, while English writers 
 too often have dismissed him contemptuously as a char- 
 latan, a filcher of other men's brains, or even as a traitor. 
 
 In order to judge between these conflicting views, I 
 have endeavoured by research and by the collation of 
 recently published materials, to get at the really important 
 facts about Fulton and his inventions — facts which the 
 lapse of time has helped to bring into their true perspective 
 — and present them with sympathy, but without bias and 
 without petty national feeling. Indeed the latter should 
 never have existed, for Fulton was, if anything, cosmo- 
 politan; born a British subject in a British colony, the 
 seed-time of his life was spent in England, the fruition 
 took place in France, and the harvest was reaped in his 
 native America. That harvest was the introduction of 
 navigation by steam on a commercial basis in the Western 
 hemisphere. In the present year, when we are celebrating 
 the centenary of its introduction into Europe, it may not 
 be unprofitable to trace the steps which led to these far- 
 reaching results. 
 
viii ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Much of the material that has been made use of 
 has been gleaned at first hand, and has not before seen 
 the light. I am indebted to the Right Hon. the Earl 
 Stanhope for copies of letters which passed between the 
 3rd Earl and Fulton ; these letters are preserved among 
 family documents at Chevening, Kent. George Tangye, 
 Esq., of Birmingham, has given me every facility for 
 copying the Fulton correspondence and drawings pre- 
 served among the Boulton & Watt MSS. in his possession.^ 
 Search at the Public Record Office has disclosed not a few 
 interesting facts, Mr. Lane himself has drawn my atten- 
 tion to many sources of information. 
 
 Inquiries were prosecuted in France, and access to the 
 original documents in the National Archives in Paris was 
 obtained, with valuable results. 
 
 As might have been expected, Fulton's native country 
 has afforded a wealth of information and original matter. 
 Mrs. Alice Crary Sutclifife, a great-granddaughter of the 
 inventor, has placed me under a great debt of obligation 
 by giving me permission to make extended use of her 
 recent work, Robert Fulton and the Clermont, which, being 
 based on family documents, is of the utmost value. Mr. 
 Charles Henry Hart of Philadelphia has been good enough, 
 inter alia, to help me in presenting adequately the artistic 
 side of Fulton's career. Mrs. Frank Semple of Sewickley, 
 Pa., by furnishing copies of early letters in her possession, has 
 enabled light to be thrown on an obscure period of Fulton's 
 life. I am indebted to Mr. John Henry Livingston of 
 Clermont, to Mr. Edward B. Livingston, to Dr. Gilbert L. 
 Parker of Philadelphia, and to Mr. Charles B. Todd for 
 assistance. The U.S.A. Navy Department, the New York 
 
 ' Presented by him to the city of Birmingham and shortly to be handed over 
 into its keeping. 
 
PREFACE ix 
 
 Historical Society, the New York Public Free Library, 
 the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Smithsonian 
 Institution, and the Jersey City Free Library have freely 
 given me copies of documentary matter in their possession. 
 I acknowledge with thanks the courtesies extended to me 
 by the editors of the Journal of American History, the 
 Scientific American, and Gassier' s Magazine. 
 
 To the many friends, too numerous to be mentioned 
 individually, who have given me help and advice, I offer 
 grateful thanks. 
 
 Finally, I feel that Mr. Lane has done this work, whose 
 shortcomings I am well aware are many, more than justice 
 by presenting it to the public in such an attractive guise. 
 
 The Science Museum, 
 Dec. 1912. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Ancestry, birth, and boyhood of Robert Fulton . . . . i 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Entry into the world — Paints miniatures — Leaves for England — 
 
 Exhibits at the Royal Academy — Gives up painting . . 8 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Projects for marine propulsion — Studies the English canal system — 
 Digging machine — Patent for inclined plane — Writes on canal 
 navigation 22 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Correspondence with Lord Stanhope — Bude Canal — Leaves for 
 
 France 40 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 Arrival in Paris — Canal patent — Submarine projects ... 64 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Second attempt to introduce the submarine — Report of a Com- 
 mission thereon — Paints panoramas for a living^Constructs 
 and operates the submarine 79 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 Turns his attention to steam navigation — Sketch of the work 
 of previous experimenters — Steamboat on the Seine — British 
 negotiations to withdraw Fulton from France . . . . ia6 
 
xii ROBERT FULTON 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Returns to England— Orders a steamboat engine— Experiments 
 with the torpedo against the Boulogne flotilla— Leaves for 
 the United States 167 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Arrival in America— Torpedo experiments— Launch and trial trip 
 
 of the steamboat — Steam ferry-boats 206 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 United States patents — Steamboat monopoly and litigation to which 
 
 it gave rise — Steamboat enterprise in Europe and Asia . . 240 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 Construction of first steam man-of-war — Illness and death — 
 
 Character — Hudson-Fulton Celebration 260 
 
 Appendix A. Portraits of Robert Fulton 277 
 
 Appendix B. List of Paintings by Robert Fulton. . . . 280 
 
 Appendix C. List of Writings by Robert Fulton .... 282 
 
 Appendix D. Sir Edward Owen's description of Fulton's Torpedo 284 
 
 Appendix E. Fulton's United States Patent Specification of 
 
 1809 289 
 
 Appendix F. Fulton's United States Patent Specification of 
 
 1810 • • 313 
 
 Appendix G. Table of Dimensions of Steamboats designed or 
 
 built by Robert Fulton 326 
 
 INDEX 329 
 
LIST OF PLATES 
 
 Portrait of Robert Fulton by Peale 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 4 
 
 Livingston by 
 
 Birthplace of Robert Fulton 
 "Mary Queen of Scotts" by Fulton 
 "Lady Jane Grey" by Fulton 
 Fulton's First Steamboat Sketch, 1793 
 Fulton's Canal Inclined Plane, 1794 
 Fulton's Digging Machine, 1796 
 Fulton's Submarine "Nautilus," 1798 
 Portrait of Chancellor Robert R. 
 
 Stuart 
 
 Bust of Robert Fulton by Houdon 
 Fulton's Drawings for his First Steamboat, 1803 15 
 Fulton's Sketch for the Steamboat Engine, 1804 
 Working Drawings of the Engine for the P.S 
 
 "Clermont," 1804 174, 175 
 
 Holograph Letter of Fulton about the Engine, 1804 176 
 Portrait of Robert Fulton by Himself . . . 200 
 Portrait of Joel Barlow by Fulton . . . .211 
 The "Steamboat" as she appeared in 1807 . . . 216 
 Engraving of the P.S. " Chancellor Livingston,'' 1816 237 
 Fulton's Steam War Ship "Demologos," 1813 . . 261 
 The P.S. " Clermont " as reproduced for the Hudson- 
 Fulton Celebration in 1909 272 
 
 18 
 20 
 24 
 29 
 
 36 
 
 82 
 
 134 
 141 
 
 152 
 171 
 
xiv ROBERT FULTON 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 Commodore Owen's Sketches of Fulton's Torpedo, 1.807 285 
 Drawings attached to Fulton's Patent Specification, 
 
 1809 294, 296, 303, 308, 309, 310 
 
 Drawings attached to Fulton's Patent Specification, 
 
 1810 317. 319- 320. 322 
 
ROBERT FULTON 
 
ROBERT FULTON 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 ANCESTRY, BIRTH, AND BOYHOOD OF ROBERT 
 FULTON 
 
 IT is always interesting to try and trace the influence that 
 heredity has upon the development of the personality of 
 an individual, and in Robert Fulton's case this inquiry 
 is singularly suggestive. 
 
 To judge by the internal evidence afforded by the word 
 itself, Fulton is a place-name of Anglo-Saxon origin. To 
 understand the use of place-names as surnames, it should 
 be remembered that when in the thirteenth century, owing 
 to the spread of population, it became necessary to distin- 
 guish between persons of the same baptismal name, quite 
 the commonest way was to add with a prefix the name of 
 the place where that person owned or held land. As time 
 went on the prefix was generally dropped. That the sur- 
 name Fulton is of such local origin is almost a certainty. 
 The earliest instance recorded is in 1272, when a certain 
 Robert Fulton was charged with the duty of holding an 
 assize, and probably the Robert de Fultone, Co. Cambs., 
 who is mentioned in the Hundred Rolls 1273, was one and 
 the same man. We are inclined to look upon this county 
 as the place of origin of the surname, although the spot 
 cannot now be identified, in spite of the contrary opinion 
 of a well-known authority ^ who derives the Fulton family 
 from some now vanished Scottish border village. Very 
 
 • M. A. Lower, Patronymica BHiannica, i860. 
 
 A 
 
2 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 possibly he was led to this conclusion by the existence of a 
 ruined peel or stronghold situated in the parish of Bedrule 
 in Roxburghshire and known as Fulton Tower. "Vet this 
 building is not considered to date back farther than the 
 fourteenth century. 
 
 Again we find a family of the name of Fulton holding 
 lands at Muirkirk in the parish of Beith, Co. Ayrshire, in 
 the thirteenth century. " Aleyn fitz Thomas de Fultone," 
 "Nicol de Fultone," and "Henry de Foultone" "del 
 counte de Lanark," ^ which then embraced Ayrshire and 
 Renfrewshire, are among the large number of vassals whose 
 names appear on the Ragman Roll as having, at a Parlia- 
 ment held at Berwick-on-Tweed, on August 28, 1296, 
 done homage to Edward I. when he invaded Scotland to 
 substantiate his claim to the overlordship thereof. Here 
 again the township or estate of Fulton, if it existed, cannot 
 now be traced, so that it is an open question whether or not 
 these Fultons were any relations of the Cambridgeshire 
 family. 
 
 The surname has survived, and is fairly common at the 
 present day, especially in Ayrshire, but not to the same 
 extent as it is in Philadelphia and New York. 
 
 At the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seven- 
 teenth centuries, the English Government inaugurated 
 a new policy in dealing with subjugated territories in 
 Ireland and that was to displace the native population by 
 the introduction of English and Scots settlers, who were 
 induced to immigrate by grants of lands. Among these 
 settlers we find several of the name of Fulton, who 
 joined in the plantation of Ulster. One family who 
 trace their descent from the Ayrshire Fultons settled be- 
 tween 161 1 and 1614 at Lisburn, Co. Down. Their issue 
 are distinguishable there in the latter half of the seven- 
 teenth century as landowners, Royalists, and Episcopalians. 
 One member of the family, William Fulton, migrated to 
 
 ^ Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, i. 545, ii. 208-212. 
 ' Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland, gth ed. 1904. 
 
ANCESTRY 3 
 
 Kilkenny, and died in 1638, leaving issue apparently, as 
 other Fultons are subsequently recorded there. The main 
 stem of the family settled at Braidujle, near Lisburn, which 
 has continued to the present day to be the family seat of 
 the Irish Fultons. To some incident in the career of one 
 Richard Fulton of Braidujle, captain of one of the com- 
 panies of horse raised in support of William of Orange 
 when, in 1688, he was called to the throne of Great Britain, 
 is ascribed the family crest of a cubit arm grasping a 
 broken javelin and the motto: "Vi et Virtute." It may 
 be interesting to note that the ancient armorial achieve- 
 ment of the Fultons was : or, a lion rampant az., which 
 appeared later with a bend gobony ar. and gu. sometimes 
 erm. and gu.^ 
 
 After a few generations Ulster, where the greatest 
 number of these settlers were to be found, became, owing 
 to the industry of its people, the most prosperous province 
 of Ireland ; while relying, of course, on agriculture, they 
 had gradually built up flourishing industries in flax and 
 wool. In 1699, however, the English Parliament, appre- 
 hensive lest Ireland should take away the trade of England 
 in these and other commodities, placed heavy duties on 
 imports from Ireland with the result that her industries 
 were nearly all ruined. Great distress prevailed, and 
 numbers of the people emigrated to the New England 
 colonies to found new homes. Among these emigrants 
 was the ancestor of the subject of this biographical sketch. 
 The family tradition is that it was from County Kilkenny 
 that he came, but unfortunately there is no evidence to 
 establish his relationship either with the William Fulton 
 of the city of Kilkenny, already mentioned, or in any 
 other way with the Lisburn family, and through them with 
 the Ayrshire Fultons, All that can be said is that it is 
 a reasonable assumption. 
 
 Robert Fulton, senior, is first heard of in 1735 in the 
 town of Lancaster, Pennsylvania ; thenceforward records 
 
 '■ Burke, /oc. eit. 
 
BIRTH 5 
 
 facts that a Robert Fulton was certainly born there on 
 April 17, 1764 ; that he emigrated to America ; and further, 
 that he died in Antigua in the West Indies on November 
 19, 1819 ; it was admitted finally, however, that he was 
 not the Robert Fulton whose life-story we are examin- 
 ing. There was also a Rev. Robert Fulton of the 
 Braidujle branch of the family, a navy chaplain, who 
 became vicar of St. John's and a landowner in Jamaica 
 some time in the eighteenth century. These coincidences 
 of name and date are sufficiently remarkable. 
 
 Robert Fulton came upon the world's stage at a time 
 when new ideas in the political world were beginning to 
 emerge, and when in the world of industry quite a number 
 of capital inventions were being perfected ; e.g. in 1765, 
 the very year of Fulton's birth, James Watt took out his 
 patent for the separate condenser which at one bound 
 quadrupled the efficiency of the steam-engine. The people 
 of our North American colonies did not, however, share 
 in these advances ; the manufactures which were struggling 
 into being there were harassed by legal enactments im- 
 posed by the home Government, whose aim seems to have 
 been to confine the colonists to agriculture and to the 
 production of such raw materials as would serve the needs 
 of manufacturers in England. Nor were these the only 
 drawbacks, for the colonies were the outposts of civilisa- 
 tion ; farther west was Kentucky, then the hunting ground 
 of the red man, who was often roused by petty acts 
 of oppression on the part of the white people to make 
 terrible retribution. 
 
 Robert Fulton, senior, was not successful in farming, 
 and on November 29, 1766, the year following his going 
 to Little Britain, he and his wife mortgaged ^ the farm to 
 Joseph Swift and two others, arranging for the repayments 
 to be spread over five years. He took his family back to 
 the town of Lancaster, where his second son, Abraham 
 
 ' The mortgage is still in existence, and is in the possession of Mr. Joseph 
 Swift, the present representative of the &mily. 
 
6 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Smith, was born, and where the boys passed their early 
 years. The father was not long spared to direct the 
 education of his sons, for he died in 1768, when the elder 
 was only three years old, leaving his widow and five children 
 scantily provided for, with the result that she was unable 
 to keep up the repayments. The mortgages were fore- 
 closed, and after one unsuccessful attempt on Feb. 5, 1772, 
 the High Sheriff of Lancaster sold the Fulton plantation to 
 William West and Joseph Swift for the sum of ;£'8o5.^ 
 This depreciation in value, together with the arrears of 
 interest, must have fallen very heavily on Mary Fulton, so 
 that it is not difficult to imagine the straitened circum- 
 stances of the family at this period. 
 
 Joseph Swift subsequently acquired William West's 
 share in the property, and it is an interesting fact that the 
 house and the greater part of the estate have remained in 
 possession of five generations of owners of the same name 
 in unbroken succession till the present day. 
 
 Mary Fulton appears to have been a woman of superior 
 attainments, and she taught the boy till he had attained his 
 eighth year, when he went to the school of one Caleb 
 Johnson, a Quaker and a Tory, who had the somewhat 
 narrow-minded scholastic ideas and methods of those 
 days. Fulton did not distinguish himself at school — he 
 was a boy of an original turn of mind, and such a one 
 rarely fits in with a recognised curriculum. He displayed 
 a taste for painting, however, but its practice was not 
 deemed by the severe code of that period a serious occupa- 
 tion ; indeed, the very materials for carrying on the art 
 were difficult to obtain, and Fulton was indebted to a 
 schoolfellow for the first which came into his possession. 
 Possibly the example of Benjamin West, who was born in 
 the adjacent Chester county twenty-seven years before 
 Fulton, had actually lived in Lancaster for some time, and 
 had even now carved out a career for himself in England, 
 was not without influence. 
 
 ' The deed is still preserved in the Court House of Lancaster. 
 
BOYHOOD 7 
 
 Many are the stories, mostly improbable and therefore 
 not reproduced here, of Fulton's experiments and attain- 
 ments in various branches of mechanics during his boy- 
 hood — so greatly does subsequent success cast a glamour 
 over early recollections of schoolfellows and others who 
 thus shine, as it were, with a reflected glory. 
 
 Fulton's boyhood coincided with stirring times in the 
 world at large, and particularly so in New England, where 
 the colonists, whose discontent had been fomented by the 
 treatment meted out to them by a short-sighted Govern- 
 ment at home, at last broke out in 1775 into open re- 
 bellion, resulting finally in the loss to Great Britain of 
 these colonies, Lancaster was geographically in the theatre 
 of war, and was a place of manufacture and depot for rifles, 
 blankets, and clothing for the colonist troops. As many 
 as ^000 British prisoners were under guard there at one 
 time, among the officers being the unfortunate Major John 
 Andr6. In 1777 Congress held session in the Court House 
 at Lancaster. Can it be wondered at that the boys of the 
 neighbourhood followed these events with the keenest 
 interest ? At this period were sown in Fulton's mind the 
 seeds of that strong leaning towards the republican and 
 dislike of the monarchical form of government which 
 distinguished him in after years. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 ENTRY INTO THE WORLD — PAINTS MINIATURES- 
 LEAVES FOR ENGLAND— EXHIBITS AT THE ROYAL 
 ACADEMY— GIVES UP PAINTING 
 
 IN 1782, when seventeen years of age, Fulton left his 
 native town for Philadelphia, there to seek his fortune. 
 That city was the capital of the State of Pennsylvania, 
 which, under the mild and beneficent rule of members of 
 the Society of Friends, enjoyed the distinction of being 
 the pioneer in the arts of peace among the States of the 
 Union. Hither came men of science and scholarship, 
 finding the atmosphere congenial to work and study. In 
 Philadelphia were founded the first American Philosophical 
 Society, the first public library in America, the first 
 medical and law schools ; the first printing press in 
 the middle colonies was set up there, and prior to the 
 Revolution more books were published in Pennsylvania 
 than in all the other colonies combined. It is not sur- 
 prising that Fulton should develop quickly in the new 
 field of thought and activity which opened before him. 
 
 Not much is known of his doings during the first three 
 years of his stay in the Quaker City. It is said that he was 
 apprenticed to a silversmith, but he would be too old for 
 that ; another statement which is much more probable is 
 that he was glad to turn his hand to almost any kind of 
 work in drawing plans, designing buildings, and painting 
 portraits. Already in 1785, by his application and industry, 
 he had established himself as a miniature painter,^ and 
 during the next two years he met with a considerable 
 
 1 '^\i\'it\ Directory of the City of Philadelphia : " Fulton, Robert : miniature 
 painter, Corner of 2nd and Walnut Streets." 
 
MINIATURE PAINTING 9 
 
 measure of success. Several miniatures and one or two 
 portraits of some merit remain to this day to prove his 
 proficiency. Charles Willson Peale was then the principal 
 painter in the city, and Fulton may have had lessons from 
 him. 
 
 Fulton was a personable youth of agreeable manners, 
 and appears to have embraced the opportunities for social 
 intercourse that the city of Philadelphia afforded. Among 
 the number of those whose acquaintance he made was 
 Benjamin Franklin, who not only allowed him to paint his 
 (Franklin's) portrait but also gave him introductions to 
 people of consequence from whom he received commis- 
 sions. 
 
 Franklin himself as a young man had gone to England 
 to improve himself in his trade of printer, and, having 
 greatly benefited from his stay there, was ready to en- 
 courage others to go and do likewise. Besides his 
 example, there was that of Benjamin West, who had now 
 attained to an eminent position among English painters. 
 Small wonder then that Fulton should be fired by a similar 
 ambition, and cherish the thought of visiting the Old 
 World. 
 
 Having this object in view he had an incentive to save 
 something from his earnings ; but, like a dutiful son, as a 
 first charge on his savings he made provision for his 
 mother by buying a farm for her in the township of Hope- 
 well, Washington County, Pa., for the sum of £80. The 
 choice of locality seems to have been determined by the 
 fact that his maternal uncle, the Rev. Joseph Smith, had 
 acquired land and was in charge of the Presbyterian 
 congregation there. The deed,'^ dated the 6th day of May 
 1786, is too long to reproduce in full, but the more inter- 
 esting points in it can be briefly summarised. 
 
 The parties to the deed are "Thomas Pollock and 
 Margaret his wife " of the one part and " Robert Fulton, 
 
 1 County of Washington Record Book, C, vol. i. p. $6, quoted at length 
 in Reigart's Life of Fulton, p. 41. 
 
lo ROBERT FULTON 
 
 miniature painter, of the city of Philadelphia and State 
 aforesaid, Yeoman," of the other part. The estate— the 
 area of which is given as 84! acres — is described as "a 
 certain parcel of land on the waters of Cross Creek, it 
 being part of a tract of land granted by the Common- 
 wealth of Pennsylvania the 12th day of December A.D. 
 1785 to the Reverend Joseph Smith his heirs and assigns 
 called Wiliome." It would therefore seem as if the 
 reverend gentleman had sold part of his original grant 
 to the Pollocks. Fulton's purchase brought it back, as 
 it were, into the family. 
 
 At Hopewell Fulton's mother spent her declining years 
 till her death in 1799, watched over by her widowed 
 daughter Elizabeth. The latter continued to reside there 
 with her children, and was eventually confirmed in the 
 ownership of the estate by her brother's will.^ 
 
 Fulton also, on September 18, 1786, bought from John, 
 Elizabeth, and William Hoge,^ four building lots in the 
 neighbouring town of Washington, Pa., just then being 
 laid out ; he made the purchase, doubtless, with the idea 
 of giving one lot to each of his sisters and one to his 
 brother. 
 
 About the time of the purchase mentioned above, 
 Fulton had a serious attack of inflammation of the lungs, 
 accompanied by spitting of blood, which must have warned 
 him that he was not robust physically. He went to the 
 warm springs of Virginia to recuperate, and incidentally 
 made new acquaintances. It appears that it was during 
 his stay there that his decision to make the journey to 
 Europe was finally arrived at. 
 
 At length his preparations were made, and Fulton, 
 shortly after he had attained to man's estate, sailed for 
 England, buoyant and hopeful. It must have been at the 
 end of the year 1786 or the beginning of 1787 that he arrived 
 
 ' See p. 271. 
 
 ' The Indenture is still in existence, and is in the possession of Mrs. Frank 
 Semple. 
 
ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND ii 
 
 in the mother country. He had but forty guineas in his 
 pocket — not a large sum truly to start life with, but lack of 
 money has never been an obstacle to a young man with 
 energy and enthusiasm. He was not friendless exactly, for 
 he had brought with him a letter of introduction from 
 Franklin to West. When he arrived in London and pre- 
 sented this letter, he met, as might have been expected, 
 with a warm welcome; the Wests were noted for their 
 hospitality to their fellow-countrymen, and in this case 
 there was between them the additional bond of relation- 
 ship. We can hardly doubt that they invited Fulton to 
 stay with them till he found lodgings. West recom- 
 mended him to rooms at Mr. Robert Davy's, 84 Charlotte 
 Street, Rathbone Place, just vacated by William Dunlap. 
 Probably Fulton went there, but he could not have 
 afforded to stay long, as the terms were a guinea a 
 week.^ He did not, as has been often stated, reside with 
 the Wests during his art student days. This is proved 
 incidentally in a letter to his mother quoted below, 
 wherein he says of West and himself, "we live near 
 each other." 
 
 It is almost certain that Fulton, like Gilbert Stuart 
 before him, was working under West's direct supervision. 
 Merely to have been allowed to frequent his studio must 
 have been an inspiration for any young man, apart from 
 his art studies, for West was already very high in his pro- 
 fession and was visited by the most famous people of 
 the day. What Fulton's impression on his entry into this 
 new world must have been may be imagined from the 
 description given by one* who had preceded him by a few 
 years : 
 
 "The impression made upon an American youth of 
 eighteen by the long gallery leading from the dwelling- 
 house to the lofty suite of painting rooms — a gallery filled 
 
 ^ William Danlap, History of the Arts of Design in the United States, 1834, 
 p. 256. 
 
 ^^I.e. William Dunlap, loc. cit. p. 67. 
 
12 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 with sketches and designs for large paintings — the spacious 
 room through which I passed to the more retired attelier 
 — the works of his pencil surrounding me on every side — 
 his own figure seated at his esel, and the beautiful com- 
 position at which he was employed, as if in sport, not 
 labour ; — all are recalled to my mind's eye at this distance 
 of half a century, with a vividness which doubtless pro- 
 ceeds in part from the repeated visits to, and examination 
 of, many of the same objects during a residence of more 
 than three years in London." 
 
 A period of close attention to art now ensued — so close 
 that it is uneventful. The only serious problem that 
 Fulton had to face during this time was how to secure the 
 wherewithal to pursue his studies. Many an anxious hour 
 did he spend pondering over ways and means ; how he 
 did manage to support himself we can only guess, but 
 although often on the brink of want he never actually 
 lacked a meal. This Bohemian life, although not al- 
 together to his liking, broadened his sympathies and in- 
 creased his knowledge of the world. No doubt poverty 
 also inculcated self-restraint, but it should be put down 
 principally to his early training and moral character that, 
 placed at a critical age amid the temptations of the metro- 
 polis, he did not yield to the attractions of profligacy 
 and vice. 
 
 It must have been a great comfort to Mrs. Fulton to 
 have received such a reassuring letter as the one that has 
 been preserved, dated July 25, 1788, from a friend named 
 George Sanderson, who had just returned to America. 
 He commends Fulton's progress "in the liberal Art of 
 Painting" and also mentions the influential friends that 
 " his personal accomplishments and prudent behaviour " 
 had won for him. 
 
 Those were the days when letters were few and far 
 between, on account of the prohibitive cost of postage 
 and the lack of postal facilities, so that people used to 
 take advantage of the occasions when friends or acquaint- 
 
LETTERS HOME 13 
 
 ances were travelling in order to get their correspondence 
 forwarded. Some of the affectionate and dutiful letters 
 that reached Mrs. Fulton by such roundabout channels 
 have been preserved and make continual references to the 
 difficulties in the way of letter-writing. In one letter,* 
 dated July 31, 1789, Fulton asks his mother "to write 
 small and close that you may say a great deal in small 
 cumpas for the ships often put the letters ashore at the 
 first port they make. They then come post to London 
 And I have often paid half a guinea for a small package 
 of letters — the better to accomplish this you better buy 
 letter paper as it is thin for we pay according to the 
 weight and not the size so if you can send me a pound of 
 news upon an ounce of paper I shall save almost a guinea 
 by it." 
 
 Fulton also remarks, "I am frequently Changing my 
 Lodgings to suit my Convenience " : indicative no doubt 
 of his Bohemian existence during his stay in London. 
 The Royal Academy records show that he lodged at 
 67 Margaret Street, Cavendish Square, in 1791, and at 
 18 Newman Street in 1793. 
 
 Another letter ^ of earlier date tells of his prospects, and 
 makes mention of the way he intends sending corre- 
 spondence. It is as follows : 
 
 London, April i^tk, 1789. 
 
 Dear Mother, — It being so short a time since I wrote 
 my last letter to you — this will consist of very little more 
 than an account of my very perfect state of health And 
 good prospect of succeeding in my profession. My 
 pictures have been admitted this year into the Royal 
 Academy And I hope in time to be a proficient in the Art. 
 Painting Requires more studdy than I at first imagened in 
 Consequence of which I shall be obliged to Stay here some 
 
 1 Reproduced by permission of Mrs. Frank Semple from the MS. in her 
 possession. 
 8 /did. 
 
14 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 time longer than I Expected — But all things work together 
 for good in the end and I am Convinced my exertions 
 will have a good tendency. In your next letter please to 
 give me a very particular account of everything you know 
 particularly how you like the little farm if you have a good 
 garden And what kind of Neighbours you have got. And 
 in fact I should like to know every thing that will give you 
 pleasure or promote the happiness of the family — There is 
 nothing Interupts my happiness here but the desire of 
 seeing my Relations but time will bring us together. And 
 I hope at my return to see you all happy as the day is 
 long. I hope Mr. Smith is well — Please to present him 
 my kind Love— AUso to Polly, Abraham, Bell, Cook and 
 Children — The gentleman who carries this letter and 
 many others of mine to Baltimore — is not a very parti- 
 cular friend therefore I cannot trouble to take a large 
 Package — in this case Polly, Abraham and Bell must 
 excuse my not writing to them by this opportunity — What 
 letters I do send will be delivered to George Sanderson 
 Baltimore — he sends them to Turbitt and so on to you — 
 Please to give my Compliments to Mr. and Mrs. Hog? 
 and friends in general! and believe me to be with the 
 most Sincere regard for my Relations a loving Brother 
 and Affectionate Son, 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 
 We are unable to reconcile Fulton's statement that 
 pictures of his were admitted into the Exhibition of the 
 Royal Academy of 1789, with the fact that he does not 
 appear as an exhibitor there till 1791 ; possibly up till then 
 his paintings had been rejected. The pictures that he 
 exhibited in the latter year were two " portraits of young 
 gentlemen " : lest it might be thought that he owed the 
 distinction not to his own merits but to his having a friend 
 at court in the person of Benjamin West, who was a Royal 
 Academician, we hasten to add that Fulton also had four 
 other pictures in the Exhibition of the Royal Society of 
 
IN DEVONSHIRE 15 
 
 British Artists in the same year. Although Fulton jln a 
 subsequent letter says that "these exertions are all for 
 honour," it is difficult to believe that the portraits, at least, 
 were not commissions for which he received payment. 
 
 At any rate, the fact that he had been " hung," or, more 
 likely perhaps, the recommendation of West, induced 
 Viscount Courtenay* to commission a portrait of himself 
 from Fulton, and for this purpose the latter left London 
 in June for Powderham Castle, Lord Courtenay's seat near 
 Exeter, where he was for the time being the guest of the 
 steward of the estate. 
 
 His stay in London had been broken only by a three 
 months' visit to France in 1790, of which we have no 
 details, so that this trip to Devonshire must have been very 
 welcome, especially as the part of the county that he was 
 visiting was noted even then for its salubrity. 
 
 Lord Courtenay was so pleased with his portrait that 
 he introduced Fulton to all his friends, who gave him 
 commissions which enabled him to pay off some debts he 
 had contracted and lay by a little money for the future. 
 
 The details of Fulton's life during this period are 
 gleaned largely from a letter which he wrote to his mother 
 from Devonshire on January 20, 1792. As it is so im- 
 portant, we give it in full : * 
 
 My dear Mother, — This Morning I Reed a package 
 of letters from Philadelphia among which were one from 
 you one from Abraham and two from Mr, Morris one of 
 which was for Mr. West. In Consequence of my leaving 
 London on June last for to do some business for Lord 
 Courtney In Devonshire which is about 200 Miles from 
 London The letters by some accident have not reached 
 me till now. As you rely on it I should have answered 
 
 * William Courtenay, b. 1768. Succeeded his fether, 1788, as 2nd Viscount 
 Courtenay and de Jure 9th Earl of Devon. Was successful in establishing his 
 right to the dormant earldom 183 1. Died unmarried in 1835. 
 
 " By kind permission of Mrs. Frank Semple, who possesses the original MS. 
 
1 6 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 them by the first Conveyance— But I Reed them with In- 
 finite Pleasure as they come from you and Informed me of 
 your good health. And now I will attend to the particulars 
 As I am well convinced every Incidant Relative to my life 
 will Communicate pleasure to you. You express much 
 desire to know how my pictures were Reed at the Royal 
 Academy — this I believe I answered before but posibly the 
 letter has miscarryed you will be pleased to hear that I 
 sent eight pictures which Reed every posable mark of 
 Approbation that the Society could give but these exertions 
 are all for honor — there is no prophet arising from it. It 
 only tends to Create a name that may hereafter produce 
 business — My little tour through France proved very 
 agreeable and was of some service to me as a painter in 
 as much as I saw the works of some of the most able 
 masters in the art — which much improved my eye and 
 taste. 
 
 Mr. West and me are on a very familiar footing and 
 when he is in town pays me much attention which is 
 extremely agreeable as we live near each other. This 
 evening I forwarded Mr. Morris's letter to him which I 
 have no doubt he will be very happy to receive And I shall 
 call on him immediately on my going to London which I 
 Suppose will be in about six months. When I wrote you 
 last I beged you would Settel everything to You(r) mind 
 relative to the Lotts and after Regulating everything with 
 Mr. Hoge and putting me on the way how to act I would 
 transfer my Right in the manner you Can best Settel 
 among yourselves — tho I could wish one of them were 
 sold to pay pollock — For I Realy feel my honor Concerned 
 in keeping the poor man so long out of his money nor had 
 I the least idea of its remaining so long unpaid or I should 
 have endeavored by some means to have it done — but I 
 hope when I hear from you next in Answer to these letters 
 you will have everything so Situated so as I may transfer 
 them to your wish And if no other method can be found 
 one lott ought to be sold to pay pol'k— It gives me much 
 
LETTER HOME 17 
 
 Pleasure to hear of Abrahams attention to you tho I am 
 sorry he has run away with the Idea of my Getting Rich 
 — I only wish it was true — but I Cannot Concieve from 
 whence the Report arose — And I must now Give Some 
 little history of my life since I Came to London. I Brought 
 not more than 40 Guineas to England and was set down 
 in a strange Country without a friend and only one letter 
 of Introduction to Mr. West — here I had an art to learn 
 by which I was to earn my bread but little to support 
 whilst I was doing it And numbers of Eminant Men of the 
 same profession which I must Excell before I Could hope 
 to live — Many Many a Silant solitary hour have I spent 
 in the most unnerved Studdy Anxiously pondering how to 
 make funds to support me till the fruits of my labours 
 should sifficant to repay them. Thus I went on for near 
 four years — happily beloved by all who knew me or I had 
 long ear now been Crushed by Poverties Cold wind — and 
 Freezing Rain — till last Summer I was Invited by Lord 
 Courtney down to his Country seat to paint a picture of 
 him which gave his Lordship so much pleasure that he 
 has introduced me to all his Friends — And it is but just 
 now that I am beginning to get a little money and pay 
 some debtt which I was obliged to Contract so I hope in 
 about 6 months to be clear with the world or in other 
 words out of debt and then start fair to Make all I Can. 
 You see dear mother this is very different from being 
 Rich (?) not that I can say I ever was in absolute want 
 heaven has been kind to me and I am thankfuU — hoping 
 now to go on Smooth and happy as the absance from my 
 friends will admit of. My Poor Sister bell I hope she 
 and her little family will be happy I hope she will not 
 think I forgot her because I dont write her She may 
 believe me she Occupies much of my thoughts And I wish 
 much to know why Poyton left the situation of the saw 
 mill but none of you have informed me. I am happy to 
 hear that all relations are well I shall write to them sep- 
 rately. I enjoy excelant health which I hope will Continue 
 
 B 
 
GIVES UP PAINTING 19 
 
 " Your Uncle West is now at the head of his proffession 
 and Presides at the Royal Academy over all the Painters in 
 England — But he is a Great Genius and merits all the 
 honour he has obtained — he has stedily persued his 
 Course and Step by Step at length Reached the Summit 
 where he now looks Round on the Beauties of his 
 Industry — an Ornament to Society and Stimulis to young 
 Men." 
 
 It is obvious that Fulton was now fairly launched on 
 an artistic career. At a time when wealth had increased, 
 but no more rapid means of portraiture than the artist's 
 personal touch was known, there was plenty of scope 
 in this branch of art, at least, and miniature painting then 
 reached its highest development. Fulton seems to have 
 done a fair share of portrait painting, but no miniatures of 
 this period, if any were painted by him as would seem 
 likely, are known to exist. 
 
 As Fulton now threw up his artistic career suddenly, it 
 may not be out of place to say a few words as to his 
 technique and attainments as an artist. On these points 
 we cannot do better than quote the opinion of an eminent 
 art critic,^ based on what little material is available at 
 the present day. Speaking of Fulton's miniatures,* he 
 says : 
 
 "Apart from a curious flatness that he gave his minia- 
 tures, which can be recognised even in the reproductions, 
 they are good, yes, remarkably good, for so young a man 
 with so little instruction. They are well drawn, good in 
 design, delicately coloured, as miniatures should be, and 
 well executed technically. From some of the qualities that 
 they possess, I should not be surprised if he had had some 
 instruction or help from Charles Willson Peale, who, at 
 Fulton's time, was at the top of the profession here." 
 
 This is quite probable, as they were well acquainted 
 
 ' Mr. Charles Henry Hart, of Philadelphia, in a letter to the author. 
 ' A list of Fulton's paintings, as far as they are known, is given in 
 Appendix B, p. 280. 
 
20 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 with one another. As regards his larger paintings, judging 
 by the few authoritative pictures remaining, the same critic 
 says: "Fulton's work showed strong characterisation and 
 breadth, a firm brush and good colour sense. He had 
 not yet developed a style of his own, and while he gave 
 some promise, it is doubtful whether he would ever have 
 equalled Benjamin West : decidedly he would not have 
 attained to the stature of John Singleton Copley, Gilbert 
 Stuart, and John Trumbull, to mention only those who 
 were his contemporaries and compatriots." 
 
 It is not easy to give a plausible explanation of why 
 Fulton gave up his career as an artist. He may have 
 admitted to himself reluctantly that he did not possess 
 talent of that high order which was necessary then, as now, 
 to bring a man into the front rank" of artists; it is more 
 probable that he was dissatisfied with the pecuniary results 
 so far achieved, which, for a man who had turned thirty, 
 were somewhat meagre. To leave at that age the profession 
 of art to begin that of engineering, then only in its infancy, 
 although such a change was not so difficult then as it would 
 be now, must have appeared to his friends to be the height 
 of rashness. 
 
 It is unnecessary to enlarge upon the close association 
 that exists between these two professions when we reflect 
 that each involves both the imaginative and constructive 
 faculties. In rare cases these faculties have been united in 
 one person — Leonardo da Vinci is perhaps the best known 
 instance. In modern times, specialisation has rendered 
 such a union impossible, but many engineers have had 
 the artistic feeling highly developed ; we may instance 
 the cases of Fulton's own countryman Samuel F. B. Morse, 
 the electrician, and in this country of James Nasmyth, the 
 inventor of the steam hammer, himself the son and brother 
 of eminent artists. 
 
 Fulton's was a like case ; in him the artist and the 
 engineer struggled for expression, but the latter was un- 
 doubtedly the stronger. His early training was by no 
 
LADY JANE GREY THE NIGHT BEFORE HER EXECUTION ' 
 Engi-a-ued by Ward after Fulton, iyg3 
 
DRAUGHTSMANSHIP 21 
 
 means wasted, however, for his skill and rapidity in 
 putting ideas on paper were of the utmost value to him. 
 
 When, in subsequent years, Fulton had occasion to turn 
 his attention to painting, whether for profit or recreation, 
 he found to his delight that his hand had not lost its 
 cunning — indeed he was wont to say that his technique 
 was superior to what it had been in his younger days. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 PROJECTS FOR MARINE PROPULSION— STUDIES THE 
 ENGLISH CANAL SYSTEM — DIGGING MACHINE- 
 PATENT FOR INCLINED PLANE— WRITES ON CANAL 
 NAVIGATION 
 
 WHATEVER Fulton's reason was for giving up the 
 profession of art, he seems to have come to the 
 decision quickly, and that too while he was in 
 Devonshire. Apparently one of the first things that he put 
 his hand to was a design for a " mill for sawing marble or 
 other stone," which was set to work near Torbay, Devon. In 
 1794, when he was back in London again, he sent a model 
 of this mill to the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, 
 Commerce, and Manufactures, who awarded him their 
 silver medal for his ingenuity. The model was in exist- 
 ence in the Society's Repository as late as 1813, but it has 
 since been lost sight of so that we are unable to say in 
 what the improvement consisted. 
 
 We turn now to Fulton's connection with systems 
 of canal construction and with the problem of moving 
 vessels by means of steam-power — both of them destined 
 to have far-reaching influence on his own career, and 
 one of them on the course of the world's history. 
 
 Fulton's thoughts were drawn to the first of these 
 questions by "perusing a paper descriptive of a canal 
 projected by the Earl of Stanhope in 1793." ^ 
 
 This canal was one intended to join the Bristol and 
 the English Channels, passing from Bude Haven through 
 the hilly district about Hatherleigh and touching Hols- 
 worthy, the lord of the manor of which was Lord Stan- 
 hope himself. The difference of levels was upwards of 
 500 feet, and water was scarce. 
 
 ' Introduction to his Treatise on Canal Navigation, xiii. 
 
LORD STANHOPE 23 
 
 While staying at Torquay, Fulton wrote to his Lord- 
 ship a letter, dated September 30, 1793, enclosing a sketch 
 of a scheme for doing away with the necessity for locks and 
 minimising the loss of water ; it was to consist of a prepon- 
 derating cistern of water to draw the canal boat up an in- 
 clined plane from one level to another. He also informed his 
 Lordship that he had a project for moving ships by steam. 
 
 We need not necessarily suppose that Fulton had 
 already made the acquaintance of Lord Stanhope, although 
 it is quite likely that they had met in West's studio. In 
 any case it could hardly be considered presumption on 
 Fulton's part, because the great interest that the Earl 
 took in all that related to mechanical and physical science 
 was well known ; in fact, he was an inventor of a high 
 order himself : the Stanhope levers in printing presses 
 and the Stanhope lens in optics may be quoted as 
 examples of his genius. Just at the moment he was 
 interesting himself in navigation by steam. 
 
 He replied to Fulton's communication in a courteous 
 letter, dated Holsworthy, October 7, 1793, informing him 
 that his idea of the inclined plane was the same as de- 
 scribed by Mr. Edmund Leech about sixteen years earlier. 
 Then, for the fiii-st time, Fulton " discovered that the idea 
 of a preponderating body of water was by no means new." 
 His Lordship, however, expressed a wish to receive the 
 ideas on steam-boats, saying : " it is a subject on which I 
 have made important discoveries." 
 
 The " discoveries " referred to were really a revival of 
 a proposal that had been made by Genevois of Berne in 
 17S9, and are embodied in two patents (Nos. 1732 and 1771) 
 taken out by Lord Stanhope in 1790 for a double-ended 
 vessel which was to be driven by a propeller operating like 
 the foot of an aquatic bird ; this was to work through a 
 trunk in line with the keel and be operated by a steam- 
 engine. Experiments with models had proved successful, 
 and Lord Stanhope had succeeded in 1792 in obtaining 
 the assistance of the Navy Board to further his schemes. 
 
24 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 A vessel of 200 tons burden was under construction in 
 Deptford Dockyard {Gent. Mag., 1792, i. 956), the cost of 
 which was to be reimbursed by Lord Stanhope should it 
 prove unsuccessful. 
 
 Fulton's reply ^ was as follows : 
 
 My Lord, — I extremely regret not having received your 
 Lordship's letter in time to have the pleasure of an interview 
 at Exeter as a Mechanical conversation with your Lordship 
 would have been infinately interesting to a young man. 
 To atone for such loss and conform with your Lordship's 
 wish I have made some slight drawings descriptive of my 
 Ideas on the Subject of the steamship which I submit 
 with diffidence to your Lordship. In June '93 I began the 
 experiments on the steamship ; my first design was to 
 imitate the spring in the tail of a Salmon : for this purpose 
 I supposed a large bow to be wound up by the steam- 
 engine and the collected force attached to the end of a 
 paddle as in No i to be let off which would urge the vessel 
 forward. This model I have had made of which No. i is 
 the exact representation and I found it to spring forward 
 in proportion to the strength of the bow, about 20 yards, 
 but by the return of the paddle the continuity of the 
 motion would be stoped. I then endeavoured to give it 
 a circular motion which I effected by applying two paddles 
 on an axis, then the boat moved by jerks. There was too 
 great a space between the strokes ; I then applied three 
 paddles forming an equilateral triangle to which I gave a 
 circular motion by winding up the bow. I then found it 
 to move in a gradual and even motion 100 yards with the 
 same bow which before drove it but 20 yards. 
 
 No. 2 is the figure of my present model in which there 
 are two equilateral triangles, one on each side of the boat 
 acting on the same shaft which, crosses the Boat or Ship 
 and turns with the triangles ; this, my Lord, is the line of 
 experiment which led me to the triangular paddles which 
 
 1 Stanhope MSS. 
 
fui.ton's first sketch for a steamboat, 1793 
 
 From the duplicate in the possession of the Earl Stanhope 
 
SHIP PROPULSION 25 
 
 at first sight will convey the Idea of a wheel of perpen- 
 dicular oars which are no longer in the water than they 
 are doing execution. I have found by repeated experi- 
 ment that three or six answer better than any other 
 number as they do not counteract each other. By being 
 hung a little above the water it allows a short space from 
 the delivery of one to the entrance of the other ; it like- 
 wise enters the water more on a perpendicular as the 
 doted lines will shew its situation when it enters and when 
 it is covered the circular dots exhibit its passage through 
 the water. Your Lordship will please to observe in the 
 small wheel with a number of paddles A. B. C and D. 
 strike almost flat in the water and rise in the same situation 
 whilst E. is the only one that pulls, the others act against 
 it which renders the purchase fruitless ; while E. is urging 
 the Ship forwards B. A. is pressing her into the water, and 
 C. D. is pulling her out : but remove all the paddles 
 except E. and she moves on in a direct line. The perpen- 
 dicular triangular Paddles are supposed to be placed in a 
 cast Iron wheel which should over hang above the water — 
 it will answer as a fly and brace to the perpendicular oars. 
 This Boat I have repeatedly let go and ever found her to 
 move in a steady direction in proportion to the original 
 purchase. With regard to the formation of ships moved 
 by steam I have been of opinion that they should be long, 
 narrow and flat at bottom, with a broad keel, as a flat 
 Vessel will not occupy so much space in the water; it 
 consequently has not so much resistance. A letter con- 
 taining your Lordship's opinion of this mode of gaining 
 a purchase on the water and directed for me at the post 
 office, Exeter, will much oblige your Lordship's most 
 
 obedient and 
 
 Very humble servant, 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 
 Torquay, November /^h, 
 »793- 
 The Right Honorable 
 The Earl of Stanhope. 
 
26 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 This letter is interesting not only as showing the date — 
 June 1793 — at which Fulton began his consideration of 
 the problem of moving vessels by mechanical means, but 
 also because of the insight it gives into the careful and 
 methodical methods of experimenting which were char- 
 acteristic of him. From their elementary character, it 
 seems obvious that Fulton did not know anything about 
 the work on this subject that had been done previously. 
 To us at the present day this is an advantage, for it affords 
 an interesting and unique insight into the progress of an 
 invention from its birth in the brain of the inventor right 
 up to the time of its maturity. We can easily imagine 
 that Lord Stanhope was disappointed, if indeed he had 
 expected any assistance — no wonder that he still adhered 
 to his duck-foot propeller ! The experiments with his 
 vessel, which he named the " Ambi-Navigator Kent," fitted 
 with an engine of 12 H.P. supplied by Messrs. Boulton & 
 Watt of Birmingham, were prosecuted in Greenland Dock, 
 Rotherhithe, in 1795, but no greater speed than three miles 
 per hour was attained. 
 
 We can conjecture that Lord Stanhope told Fulton that 
 the problem of moving vessels mechanically had got far 
 beyond the stage shown by the latter's sketches. At any 
 rate Fulton dropped the subject for the time being to 
 devote himself to the study of canal engineering. 
 
 The most likely reason why he decided to do so was 
 because canal construction in England was then in its 
 heyday. The opposition and distrust that were en- 
 countered when Brindley was constructing the Duke of 
 Bridgewater's Canal in 1767, the Grand Trunk Canal in 
 1772, and other later canals, had given place, owing to the 
 financial results achieved, to the wildest speculation. The 
 premium on shares in existing canals was as much as 
 1000 per cent., and, in consequence, numberless worthless 
 schemes were launched upon a gullible public. " In the 
 course of the four years ending in 1794, not fewer than 
 eighty-one Canal and Navigation Acts were obtained ; of 
 
POLITICAL VIEWS - 27 
 
 these, forty-five were passed in the two latter years, 
 authorising the expenditure of not less than ;^5,30o,ooo." ^ 
 
 In passing, it is interesting to note how closely 
 history repeated itself half a century later in the case 
 of railways. 
 
 It is somewhat strange that, in his letters home, Fulton 
 did not mention a word about his canal projects. One 
 letter written just at this time* to his brother-in-law shows 
 Fulton rather in the light of a keen student of foreign 
 affairs and a strong friend of republican institutions. This 
 portion of the letter is as follows : 
 
 "Since I Last beared from you I have been much 
 troubled by the Repeated Accounts in the London papers 
 of the Inroads of the Indians on the Frontiers. I Sincerely 
 hope this has not Been in your Nighbourhood So as to 
 Interrupt the Progress of improvement in the Rising town 
 of Washington. As to Europe it is all in alarm, the 
 united efforts of England, Prusia, Spain, Holland, 
 Germany, Rushia and all the Allied Powers have not been 
 Able as Yet to Mount Another King on the Back of the 
 French Nation. It is almost incredebl with what Vigor 
 the French meet their enemies while Live the Republic is 
 the Constant Song; and Liberty or death their Motto. Thus 
 determined to Establish Republickism they have at this 
 moment five hundred thousand Men under Arms Ready 
 for the ensuing Campaign. 
 
 " The Allies Seeing so much unshaken firmness Ready 
 to meet them begin to dispair of King making. And 
 think it time to Look to their own Safety, As the discon- 
 tended enumrate fast in all the Belligerent States, the 
 People Contemplate the Nature of a Republic, And the 
 more they think the more they admire it. When a Revolu- 
 tion once takes place in the mind it will Soon make its 
 
 ' Smiles, Lives of the Engineers, i. 297. 
 
 ' I.e. April I, 1794. Original in possession of the Chicago Historical Society, 
 and reproduced by their permission. 
 
28 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 appearence externely, And I Can assure you there Are 
 numbers who do not hesitate to Say that Monarchial 
 Governments are going out of Fashion. Things being 
 thus situated it is the Report of the day that the King of 
 Prussia, has withdrawn from the alHance. The Empres 
 of Rushia, has Certainly found work at home with the 
 turks — And thus the french Are eased of two powerful 
 adversaries — how things will terminate god only knows, 
 But as far as Man Can penetrate into events it is believe(d) 
 the French will prove Sucesful and establish a Republic 
 the Natural Consequence will be Republicks throughout 
 Europe, In time, It has Been much Agited here Whether 
 the Americans would join the French — But I Believe 
 every Cool friend to America Could wish them to Remain 
 nuter. The americens have not troubelsome neighbours 
 they are without foriegn Possessions, and do not want 
 the alliance of any Nation for this Reason they have 
 nothing to do with foriegn Politics, And the Art of Peace 
 Should be the Study of every young american — which I 
 most sincerely hope they will mantain." 
 
 Fulton advocated canals of small size partly because 
 of cheapness in construction, but also to facilitate speed 
 of transport with light loads. To overcome differences of 
 levels, especially where water was scarce, he proposed 
 to do away with locks and substitute either inclined planes 
 along which the boats might be drawn on rails or else 
 vertical lifts or hoists. The inclined plane was not new ; 
 indeed it is supposed to have been in use for canals in 
 China a thousand years ago ; in its simplest form it is 
 to be seen at many of the locks on the upper Thames. 
 Nor was the idea new to England, for William Reynolds, 
 of Ketley Ironworks, had in 1792 constructed several 
 incHned planes on the Shropshire Canal. 
 
 For his improvements Fulton took out his one and 
 only English patent (No. 1988); it is dated May 8, 1794, 
 and was sealed on the 3rd of June following. In it he 
 
FULTON S CAXAl. INCLINED TLANE, 1 7C4 
 From the original draxvhigs attached to his patent xfieci/icat-oii at the Record Offict 
 
CANAL INCLINED PLANE 29 
 
 describes himself as " late of the City of Exeter, but now 
 of the City of London, Gentleman." The title of the 
 invention is " A machine or Engine for conveying Boats 
 and Vessels and their Cargoes to and from the different 
 levels in and upon Canals, without the Assistance of Locks 
 or the other Means now known and used for that pur- 
 pose." The Specification runs to six printed pages, and is 
 accompanied by a coloured drawing (reproduced herewith). 
 An inclined plane of any angle between 20° and 90° was 
 to be used ; it was to have rails on which were to run 
 " cisterns " each capable of carrying one wheeled boat, 
 which was to be drawn on to it by inclines as seen in 
 Figs. 4 and 5, 12 and 13. One cistern was to balance 
 the other (see Figs, i and 2) the direction of motion to 
 be determined by letting water by suitable means, if 
 necessary, into the topmost cistern. If the lift were per- 
 pendicular a tunnel or level with a vertical shaft would 
 be necessary as in Fig. 3. The plan of this is shown in 
 Fig. 6 and of the cisterns in Fig. 10. For checking the 
 speed of descent of the cistern, a friction brake (see Fig. 
 11) was to be used. It is difficult even for a trained mind 
 to see in this specification anything more than a crude 
 idea, ill digested ; better methods, worked out in a more 
 practical manner, were already in use. 
 
 The preparation of the specification and drawing must 
 have occupied him some considerable time. The ex- 
 penses of obtaining a patent in those days amounted to 
 ;^ioo or more, and, as we shall see subsequently, Fulton 
 disposed of a sixteenth share, probably to assist in meet- 
 ing this outlay. 
 
 For the next five or six years, problems of canal con- 
 struction occupied Fulton's attention almost exclusively. 
 He himself says : * " I passed three years at various canals 
 in England, to obtain practical knowledge on the manner 
 of constructing them, and to make myself familiar with 
 
 ' Report of the Board of Commissioners of the Western Canal, dated 
 Feb. 22, 1 8 14. 
 
30 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 their advantages, and was well acquainted with some of 
 the best engineers." 
 
 It was natural that, in prosecuting these inquiries, 
 Fulton should direct his steps to the scene of Brindley's 
 first triumphs ; accordingly it is not surprising to find 
 him shortly after in Manchester, whence he wrote the 
 following letter ^ to Messrs. Boulton and Watt : 
 
 Manchester, November ^th, 1794. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I shall esteem it a favour to be informed 
 of the Expences of a Steam Engine with a Rotative move- 
 ment of the purchase of 3 or 4 horses which is designed 
 to be placed in a Boat. You will will [sic] be so good 
 as to mention what sized boat it would occupy, as I wish 
 to have it in as Httle Space as Possible and what you 
 concive will be the Expence when finished compleat in 
 the Boat. Whether you have one ready of the dimen- 
 tions specified or how soon one might be finished. With 
 the Weight of Coals which it will Consume in 12 hours — 
 and what Quantity of purchase you allow to Each horse 
 as I am anxious to apply some Engines of the above 
 dimentions as soon as Possible. Your Emediate Answer 
 will much oblige Your 
 most obedient and very humble Servant, ROBT. FuLTON. 
 
 BRmGEWATER ARMS 
 
 Manchester 
 
 There is an amount of unconscious assurance about 
 this letter that is refreshing. The writer wants a business 
 firm to quote for an engine of special design to fit a boat 
 which he also wants designed for him ; he wants to know 
 also what to expect from the engine when he has got 
 it, and what it would cost to instal and operate it ! This 
 was too large an order, and the firm did not send any 
 reply — at least there is no record of one. They were 
 
 • Boulton and Watt MSS. 
 
ROBERT OWEN 31 
 
 too busy with the remunerative work of stationary engine 
 building under their patent monopoly to trouble with 
 speculative business. 
 
 It is interesting to note, however, that this letter gives 
 the first indication that Fulton had realised the import- 
 ance of keeping down the space and displacement needed 
 by a steam engine when used in a boat for propulsion. 
 What the occasion of writing was we do not know, but 
 experiments had been made about this time by a certain 
 John Smith with a paddle-wheel boat worked by an at- 
 mospheric beam engine on the Bridgewater Canal between 
 Runcorn and Manchester.* A speed of two miles per hour 
 only was attained. A man like Fulton, with a grasp of 
 general principles, would easily see the defects of such 
 an engine for the purpose, and the idea of employing 
 Watt's patent engine might easily occur to him. 
 
 Although the letter is dated from an inn, Fulton was at 
 the time living in a boarding-house at 8 Brazennose Street, 
 Manchester. One of his fellow-boarders there was Robert 
 Owen,* just then managing some cotton mills in Manchester, 
 but afterwards owner of the cotton mills at New Lanark, 
 Scotland, where he carried out among his workpeople his 
 celebrated schemes of social reform. The young men 
 were nearly of the same age, and not dissimilar in tastes ; 
 no wonder, then, that they should be mutually attracted. 
 Just as on previous occasions in Philadelphia and London, 
 Fulton's personal gifts had stood him in good stead, so 
 now, in the same way, he made the acquaintance of many 
 cultured people; "while . . . forming one of a circle of 
 inquiring friends who very frequently met, he was con- 
 sidered a valuable addition. The late Dr. John Dalton was 
 one of this circle, and Coleridge came occasionally from 
 his college during vacations to join us."* 
 
 Dalton was just about Fulton's own age, and was then 
 
 ' Mechanics^ Magazine, xvii. 261. 
 
 ^ Life of Robert Owen, written by himself, 1857, P- 64i ^ •?«?• 
 
 ' Ibid., p. 72. 
 
32 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 carrying out the chemical experiments which led to his 
 enunciation of the Atomic Theory. Samuel Taylor Cole- 
 ridge was seven years Fulton's junior. 
 
 Fulton had now almost exhausted his resources. In 
 his extremity he confided to Owen/ " that, in prosecuting 
 an invention which had occurred to him, for more ex- 
 peditiously and cheaply digging or raising earth in forming 
 canals ... he had expended all his funds, and he knew 
 not, except by disposing of part of the interest in his 
 patent, how to obtain more, for all his means and credit 
 were exhausted. He said there was a canal to be con- 
 structed near Gloucester, and if I [t.e. Robert Owen] could 
 supply him with funds to go there and see the Com- 
 missioners appointed to carry it into execution, he might 
 perhaps succeed in obtaining a contract for digging a 
 portion of it, and might then bring his new patent into 
 notice and profitable action, and he would give me half of 
 the interest in the invention." Although Owen considered 
 the success of this venture to be "very problematical," he 
 eventually supplied Fulton with funds with which to go to 
 Gloucester. 
 
 The canal was the Gloucester and Berkeley Ship Canal, 
 i6J miles long, the Act for which was obtained in 1793 ; 
 work was commenced in 1794, but, owing to long delays 
 due to insufficient capital, the canal was not opened for 
 traffic till 1827. 
 
 Owen gives no details of the digging machine ; indeed it 
 would appear that it had only just taken shape in the 
 fertile brain of Fulton himself. However, as he communi- 
 cated particulars of it, together with a sketch,^ to Lord 
 Stanhope about a year later, when his plan was more 
 mature, we are not in doubt as to his ideas. 
 
 Owen's first written communication from Fulton, dated 
 November 20, 1794, was " filled with curious calculations 
 respecting his new digging machine." Owen, either con- 
 
 ' Life of Robert Owen, written by himself, 1857, p. 64. 
 " See p. 36. 
 
DIGGING MACHINE 33 
 
 vinced of success or his fears of failure overcome, now 
 agreed to finance Fulton and entered into articles of agree- 
 ment of partnership with him. Owen recites this agreement 
 in full ; but, as it occupies 2 J octavo pages, we will spare 
 our readers by giving only the salient facts. It opens 
 thus : 
 
 " Minutes of agreement made this seventeenth day of 
 December 1794, between Robert Fulton of the City of 
 London, Engineer of the one part and Robert Owen of 
 Manchester in the county of Lancaster, cotton manufacturer 
 of the other part. 
 
 " Whereas the said Robert Fulton hath lately invented 
 and obtained His Majesty's Royal Letters Patent for the 
 exclusive exercise for a term of fourteen years of a certain 
 machine for transferring boats and their cargoes to and 
 from higher levels and lower levels in and upon canal 
 navigations, independent of locks, of which machine thirty 
 parts or shares (the whole into thirty-two parts being 
 divided) are now vested in the said Robert Fulton. And 
 also hath invented and shortly intends to make application 
 for letters patent for a certain other machine for removing 
 earth out of canals to the banks thereof, in cases of deep 
 digging, without the use of wheelbarrows, the sole and 
 whole property of which is now vested in the said Robert 
 Fulton. And whereas the said Robert Fulton and Robert 
 Owen have agreed to become co-partners in the said 
 machines and in the exercise thereof at the time and upon 
 the terms hereinafter mentioned. ..." 
 
 The terms, succinctly stated, were, that Owen was to 
 advance immediately £60 towards the digging machine to 
 get it into operation. When either the inclined plane or 
 the digging machine business reached a certain specified 
 success the two were to become copartners equally in- 
 terested in both inventions. Owen was to advance ;^400 
 to the said copartnership to be repaid out of the first 
 profits. Fulton agreed "from the date hereof and after 
 the commencement of the said co-partnership to the end 
 
 c 
 
34 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 of the same to apply his whole time and exertions in the 
 said business." 
 
 Fulton now appears to have left Manchester— a sociable 
 person such as he would never lack an invitation for the 
 Christmas season— for we find that the first letter Owen 
 received from him was dated December 26, 1794. In it 
 he intimated his intention of going to Gloucester about 
 the first of January 1795, gave additional calculations, 
 suggested new improvements in his digging machine, and 
 ended by saying, " I will send you a sketch and description 
 after digesting the subject," and "Please to write to me 
 immediately and let me know how the improvement in 
 the model succeeds." 
 
 The next paper among Owen's MSS. was an account of 
 a debt owing to a Mr. Thomas Lenning by Fulton, which 
 he requested Owen to pay for him. Then followed a long 
 letter from Fulton "with new calculations and diagrams 
 of more improvements on his former invention," and con- 
 cluding "When the rhino is gone, I will write to you." 
 The last touch is delightful, and no one can fail to ap- 
 preciate it. This letter was succeeded by seven more in 
 rapid succession, dated from Gloucester, from the 14th 
 January to the 26th of February 1795, "with new calcula- 
 tions, various sketches of new machines and improvements, 
 and asking for more money." The latter, we may be sure, 
 was needed. 
 
 The next incident in the intercourse between these two 
 men is perhaps best given in Owen's own words : 
 
 " He had had a previous unsettled contract with a Mr. 
 McNiven, a canal contractor, to whom he had requested me 
 to send a letter from him to Mr. McNiven, with proposals 
 for a settlement, but Mr. McNiven would not agree to the 
 conditions Mr. Fulton had proposed. I had therefore to 
 write to Mr. Fulton to advise him to come from Gloucester, 
 whence his letters were dated, to Manchester to settle this 
 business, as Mr. McNiven had threatened to adopt strong 
 measures to enforce a settlement. It seems that he then 
 
BORROWS FROM OWEN 35 
 
 came to Manchester and made new proposals to me, to 
 continue the partnership, or to make my advances to 
 him a debt, which he would repay me with five per cent, 
 interest, and it appears that I preferred and accepted the 
 latter condition. The following is the Memorandum of 
 proposals made by Mr. Fulton, dated 17th March 1795 " : 
 
 Manchester, i-jth March, 1795. 
 
 Memorandum — Mr. Robert Owen having advanced the 
 sum of ;£93, 8s. in part towards promoting the two pro- 
 jects of running boats independent of locks and re- 
 moving earth out of canals — it is hereby agreed that the 
 said Robert Owen shall advance to the said Robert Fulton 
 a further sum not exceeding ;^8o, to enable him the said 
 Robert Fulton, to make a fair experiment on the earth 
 removing apparatus ; that on finishing such machines, 
 should the said Robert Owen think proper to proceed in 
 the partnership as per contract, he shall be at full liberty 
 so to do. But should a partnership be presented to the 
 said Robert Fulton previous to finishing the said machine, 
 he shall be at liberty to accept of the same on the pro- 
 posal of the said Robert Owen. And in such case, the 
 said Robert Fulton to pay to the said Robert Owen five 
 per cent per annum, for the monies advanced until the said 
 Robert Fulton shall be enabled to refund the principal. 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 
 Fulton's next letter to Owen is dated November 2, 
 1795, and in it he regrets his inability to pay any part of 
 the debt. He does not mention the digging machine, 
 but it is reasonable to assume that he had expended the 
 further sum advanced by Owen in bringing it to as great 
 perfection as the apparatus admitted of. We hear no 
 more about it till early in the following year, when, in 
 a letter ^ to Earl Stanhope, he describes it fully and illus- 
 trates it by a sketch {see next page). 
 
 * Stanhope MSS. 
 
DIGGING MACHINE 37 
 
 This is not one Penny per Cube Yard, Which in all 
 Cases that I know would be 3d. 
 
 But if Such a machine or Any other Can be made to 
 Answer, it will Give further advantages by expedition and 
 Set one independent in a great measure of Canal diggers. 
 But in America where Manual Labour is of So much 
 Importance Something to Assist In Cutting would be a 
 most material improvement. Therefore as I am anxious 
 for some such Machine your Lordship will oblige me by 
 an opinion on these thoughts. And as I am convinced 
 a Machine may be mad6 which may be Very usefull, your 
 Lordship be so good as to throw some hints Into the 
 Scale, and you will oblige Your Lordship's most sincere 
 
 RoBT. Fulton 
 
 P.S. In America many of our Lines will be through 
 forests, and full of huge Stumps, hence the following will 
 be a Capital mode of Drawing them out of the ground, 
 and out of the way : 
 
 A small Capstain built on a sledge which a horse may 
 draw any place on a pair of 6 or 8 Round blocks. Being 
 fixed to two stumps and the horse Set in motion the 
 weakest stump must give Way — And if the Machine is 
 fixed to a tree on or near the Canal bank the stump may 
 be Drawn out of the Line of Canal. 
 
 Thus every little helps. Please to direct to No. 3 
 Frith Street, Soho. 
 
 A brief consideration of the sketch and the calcula- 
 tions will show that the digging machine was a crude and 
 impracticable apparatus. The power for cutting the earth 
 was to be obtained through the axle of the machine from 
 the four horses employed in dragging it. The number of 
 cuts works out on Fulton's figures (assuming that a cubic 
 yard weighs i ton) at 28 per lineal yard traversed. At 
 this rate the velocity of the flies would be so great that 
 
38 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 they would deal a shattering blow instead of the slow 
 motion necessary with a shovel. Nevertheless this is the 
 first attempt we have met with to solve the problem of 
 mechanical excavation, the solution of which in our own 
 time has made practicable such an engineering feat as the 
 construction of the Panama Canal. 
 
 Fulton must have realised that his machine was a 
 failure, because he neither proceeded to a patent (that 
 might have been, of course, from lack of funds), nor does 
 he mention the machine in the book he was now occu- 
 pied in writing — ^his Treatise on the Improvement of Canal 
 Navigation. This was Fulton's first appearance as an 
 author. In order to " boom " his book, as we should now 
 term it, Fulton wrote a signed article on " Small Canals," 
 which was published in the Star newspaper July 30, 
 1795, in which he announced the forthcoming publication. 
 His idea was, of course, to bring his system of Small 
 Canals, wheeled boats, and inclined planes before the 
 public ; but the book was not confined to this alone, as it 
 includes designs for aqueducts and bridges, engraved on 
 copper from drawings made with his own hand. None of 
 these designs are from actual practice, as has been asserted 
 and as might be inferred from his styling himself on the 
 title page " Civil Engineer." Although the title was at that 
 time assumed rather loosely — civil engineering not being a 
 definite profession — yet Fulton had no right to use it, for 
 he had not been in practice, nor had he assisted in carry- 
 ing out any engineering works. 
 
 The dedication of the book is dated March i, 1796 ; it 
 was published by I. & J, Taylor, from whom it is not un- 
 reasonable to suppose that Fulton received enough to put 
 him in funds again for the time being. 
 
 The work was replied to by William Chapman ^ in the 
 
 1 William Chapman (b. 1749, d. 1832), civil engineer (associated with 
 Rennie as engineer to the L/Ondon Docks and in sole charge for construction 
 of docks, canals, and harbours), patented among other things the chain-driven 
 locomotive, A.D. 1812. 
 
CANAL NAVIGATION 39 
 
 following year in his Observations on the Various Systems oj 
 Canal Navigation, 1797, 4to, wherein he pointed out how 
 old a device the inclined plane was, and also how unsuit- 
 able the small canal was to a country like England, where 
 population was so dense. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE WITH LORD STANHOPE— BUDE 
 CANAL— LEAVES FOR FRANCE 
 
 SHORTLY after getting ready for the press his Treatise 
 on Canal Navigation, Fulton left for the North. Why 
 he returned is not stated. It could hardly have been 
 to see Robert Owen, or the latter would have mentioned it. 
 It is most likely that it was to show his fellow-country- 
 man, Joshua Gilpin,^ the canals in the neighbourhood. 
 Another suggestion is that Fulton had some hope of obtain- 
 ing employment there. Some colour is lent to this sug- 
 gestion by the statement,* founded only on hearsay however, 
 that " the Duke of Bridgewater employed Fulton to con- 
 struct an inclined plane for the underground canal at 
 Walkden, near Manchester, which enabled boats full of coal 
 to descend to a lower level canal by means of windlass and 
 ropes : their weight caused the empty return boats to be 
 drawn up to the canal on a higher level." 
 
 The statement is not inconsistent with other facts, 
 although confirmation from the papers of the Bridgewater 
 Trustees is not forthcoming. The work is stated to have 
 been done in 1794, but could not have been till 1796 — only 
 a slight discrepancy, however. 
 
 Fulton kept up his correspondence with Lord Stanhope, 
 and, though the whole of it has not been preserved, enough 
 remains to show that the latter was taking a very keen 
 interest in the Bude Canal, both in the route to be followed 
 and in the method to be adopted in working it. 
 
 As already explained, the country to be traversed was 
 
 ^ See p. 61. 
 
 ' Sir W. H. Bailey, Notes on Canal Boat Propulsion, Fourth International 
 Congress on Inland Navigation, 1890, p. 3. 
 
 40 
 
LORD STANHOPE'S PENDANTER 41 
 
 hilly, but water was scarce. Since the bulk of the trade 
 expected — sand, manure, and coal — ^would be an ascending 
 one, it was evident that enough water was not to be found 
 for ordinary locks. Early in 1796 Lord Stanhope had 
 schemed a method of getting over this difficulty by an 
 invention which he called the " pendanter." Briefly, this 
 consisted of two caissons or boat-carriers worked up and 
 down vertically ; they were to be about 50 feet apart, and 
 be connected so as to counterbalance by a set of chains 
 passing over pulleys. To allow for the weight of the 
 chain, which would disturb the equilibrium except when 
 the pendanters were in the mean position, other chains were 
 to be hung from the under-sides of the pendanters, to be 
 picked up from the ground, just as in the Koepe system 
 now so commonly adopted when winding from deep 
 mines. In the extreme position, one caisson was to be 
 level with the lower reach of the canal, and the other 
 caisson was to be at the higher level, where it was to make 
 a junction with the upper reach. 
 
 Obviously, unless a perpendicular cliff were available 
 to which to bring the two reaches of the canal, two 
 pendanter pits or shafts would have to be sunk, and the 
 lower reach of the canal brought to the bottom of the pit 
 by a level or tunnel. 
 
 Lord Stanhope, with his usual broad-mindedness, 
 hastened to make known his ideas to all those who had 
 become interested in the Bude Canal, among whom were 
 John Rennie, the celebrated civil engineer, and Fulton. 
 The latter replied in the following letter,^ which is re- 
 produced in its entirety in order that the reader may get 
 an idea of the voluminous nature of his communications : 
 
 At Mr. Washington's 
 Stockport, 
 
 April 24M, '96. 
 
 My Lord, — Being in an obscure part of the Country 
 for a few days, I did not Receive your three letters till 
 
 ^ Stanhope MSS. 
 
42 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Last evening, Or they should each have been emediately 
 Answered. I have now perused them three times, And I 
 believe become sensable of the Various designs, Which 
 gives me great pleasure to find your Lordship's mind so 
 Intent on Improving navigation by Canals. And as I 
 know it of Infinite Importance that the system should be 
 improved By Constructing a Canal which may Act as 
 Model to Convey Conviction, and Remove the Ignorance 
 of the present practice, I shall feel particularly happy in 
 the assistance of your Lordship's experience, in order to 
 Minutely Investigate any Ideas which may arise In me. 
 And on the other hand, I will Remark on your plans 
 According to the best of my Judgement, hoping by this 
 means a System of real benefit may be produced. In this 
 I Conceive Canals should be Considered generally not 
 Locally. I will therefore View the plans as to General 
 use. And afterwards Consider the application to the 
 particular trade of the Bude Canal. 
 
 First the pendanter Balanced by Weights, 
 This idea is new to me. As to the mode of Working 
 — But in the Course of my experiments I once made use of 
 a similar Carriage or Boat Carrier, with two Gates In the 
 Carriage and one in upper and lower pond of Canal which 
 I Relinquished for the following Reasons : 
 
 I St. That all water leaking from the upper Canal Gate 
 would descend the pit, keep it continually disagreeably 
 Wet and Injure the goods in the Boats. 2d. It would be 
 Impossible to keep the gates of the pendanter from leaking 
 particularly after some wear. 3d. The dispatch was not 
 sufficient And the expense much greater, then the Inclined 
 plane. The size of the pit, which to admit a Carrier that 
 would Receive 12 Boats, must be 60 feet long of an oval 
 shape that the sides might stand. And a tunnel of sufficient 
 width for two Boats to pass with the expence of the 
 materials to support heavy Weights Will be very Costly, 
 And Attended with much difficulty In working. Tunnels 
 and deep pits are usually wet added to which the leakage 
 
PENDANTER 
 
 43 
 
 of the gates or even the dripings from the Bottom of the 
 Pendanter would be an awkward Circumstance, And to 
 Avoid this I adopted a Cage to Receive the Boat as in my 
 loth and nth Plates with a Carriage to pass under the 
 Cage in order to transfer the Boat into the upper Canal ; 
 thus I had but one gate In the whole Apparatus — placed 
 in the upper Level And even that was extremely trouble- 
 some. The Pendanter must also have Balance Chains 
 
 m 
 
 thus to preserve the Equal poize in passing through the 
 space. 
 
 2d. The double pendanter as per your last, Is an im- 
 provement on the single as one is a Balance to the other. 
 But here are double the gates, double the leakage, nearly 
 double the expense. Though double the quantity of trade 
 may be performed yet the above difficulties appear to me 
 to operate Against a general trade and I Believe a much 
 better Will be devised by your Lordship. This last 
 machine if I Recollect Right is similar to one for which 
 Dr. Anderson has a patent as explained in the Repertory 
 of Arts?- 
 
 ' Vol.ii. pp. 21-35, giving a review of "General View of the Agriculture and 
 Rural Economy of the County of Aberdeen." Board of Agriculture, 1794, 4to, 
 by Dr. James Anderson, LL.D., of Edinburgh. The author merely suggests 
 the application of two counterbalanced caissons to pass canal boats from one 
 level of a canal to another. It was only an idea, however, and never got to 
 the patent stage. 
 
44 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 4th, The Cassoon. As your Lordship seems to have 
 abandoned it for the Pendanter I will not say much on its 
 formation. It has all the objections as to leakage, tunnel, 
 and pit. And is much more expensive In Consequence of 
 the great depth of Pit And framing which must be in 
 hight equal to the Ascent, nor do I see how the poize is 
 preserved in passing, particularly In descending as the 
 more wood Immersed the greater pressure it will Require 
 to make the Boat descend to the Lower dry locks. This 
 Apparatus I believe is the subject of a patent to Messrs. 
 Rowland and Pickering explained in the Repertory of 
 Arts> 
 
 Having stated my objection to these three engenious 
 thoughts as to expence, time, and the very disagreeable 
 circumstances of Continual Wet, Each of Which I hope 
 your Lordship will be so good As to deliberately Con- 
 sider — 
 
 I now come to your Inclined plane With Rollers And 
 this mode I Consider as Infinately the Best. As far as my 
 experiments have extended or what I have seen of others 
 I prefer the Inclined plane to perpendicular Ascents — the 
 plane fits every kind of ground And at much less expence 
 than driving tunnels ; The Boats will ascend the plane In 
 near a[s] little time as they Could enter the tunnel, They 
 are free from all wet or damp, there is no leakage, and 
 it is pleasant to work above ground. 
 
 It therefore appears to me that the object is to Render 
 the operation of the plane Perfect, and that mode which 
 on Weighing the Various Circumstances will do the most 
 work with the greatest safety for the Least Money will be 
 the Best, 
 
 We Agre perfectly as to the size of the Boats, the 
 Business is to mount the Various Levels. And Mr. Leech's 
 
 1 Vol. i. p. 81. E. Rowland and E. Pickering took out Patent No. 1981 
 (1794). Tliere is no drawing attached, but it is stated in the specification 
 that the necessary well was to be equal in depth to the height of the lift but 
 that pulleys might be used. This therefore was an anticipation of Lord 
 Stanhope's pendanter. 
 
INCLINED PLANE 45 
 
 Idea of taking water into the descending Boat I Conceve 
 very Imperfect. 
 
 First, Because the Boat would not contain Water 
 sufficient to weigh up the Loaded Boat, the force of the 
 descending Body is diminished In proportion as the Angle 
 is small, for Instance on a Plane of 25 degrees it would 
 Require 4 tons of Water at least to Raise 2 of Cargo, for 
 which the Capacity of the Boat is not sufficient. 
 
 Second, the Boat on entering the Lower Canal would 
 be full of Water, In discharging of Which there would be 
 much time lost. But, as a power must be obtained to 
 Raise the Loaded Boat I do not as yet see any mode so 
 good as the tub passing through the pit, Because by this 
 means there is a Certain Power, And you will find In my 
 estimates that this method is not expensive, yet the Opera- 
 tion is easy. 
 
 In this, perhaps, I am like a fond father who is pleased 
 with the genious of his friend's Children, yet his affections 
 adhear to his own — But I will endeavour to be open to 
 Conviction should a better mode of obtaining Power 
 Appear. 
 
 However, At present this appears to me to be the Best, 
 And the only Question on which I hesitate is Whether 
 Rollers to the Plane or Wheels to the Boats are preferable. 
 On this there has been a Civil War in my Ideas ever since 
 I had the pleasure of seeing your Lordship. At length 
 Rollers have gained some part of the teretory, and I think 
 may be Applied to great Advantage on the Bude Canal, 
 where your Boats are only 12 feet long. Nothing I think, 
 Can surpass Rollers for Boats of that length as to Simplicity, 
 Cheapness, and dispatch, And for your land trade where 
 the Boats may have divisions to give them strength, thus 
 
 nnnn 
 
 Because in Passing the Bridge such Boat will not be 
 Injured when at one point It must rest on one Roller. 
 
46 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to see your Lorship dis- 
 posed to give up tiie use of horses And give In to 
 my original Ideas, which I think I explained In some 
 of my first Letters from devon, of gaining the Power 
 by Reservoirs And Windmills. On the Application of 
 Windmills I have made some drawings Within this 
 few days. Supposing the Mill on an eminence at some 
 distance from the pumps, showing how to extend the 
 Power And Render the Mill perpetual without Attend- 
 ance. This in Canal works Is indeed extremely Simple 
 And in such works Wind mills Appear particularly 
 Applicable for as on high levels Water is scarce, 
 Wind is powerful and much more Constant; the Canal 
 being the Reservoir to run the water from the Pumps 
 or Buckets, Equal motion is not Required. A Hurrican 
 Could do no harm and the least Breeze would be of 
 service. 
 
 Thus Night or Day Without Attendance the mill per- 
 forms, while the Wind Blows and Deposits a power to be 
 used at pleasure. Hence my Ideas of the Bude Canal At 
 present stand thus : 
 
 12 feet Boats 2 tons, Inclined planes and Rollers Tub pit ana 
 Bough, Reservoir and Windmills where necessary. 
 
 These Juditiously aranged I Conceve will produce a 
 model Canal which will Carry Conviction and exhibit the 
 Superiority of the small scale. 
 
 With Regard to fording the Canal Perhaps there 
 may be some difficulty. As it Cannot be less than two 
 feet deep In many Instances, People will not like to 
 wade through to fetch their Sheep, Cows, produce, etc., 
 particularly in Winter or in Case of Ice. To Avoid 
 this Inconvenience I have Constructed a Weigh Bridge 
 which on those narrow Canals may be made for 
 about i4;£'. And the paving would probably Cost half 
 that Sum. 
 
BASCULE BRIDGE 47 
 
 The Bridge thus : The handels A and B being Weighted 
 have a tendency to keep it open, But may be so balanced 
 
 as to open and shut with facility and from either Side by a 
 Small Cord or String. 
 
 But these are parts for after Consideration. 
 
 Yet previous to your trip to Devon I Conceive it ad- 
 visable to have the plan which you mean to Adopt well 
 digested, As the Survey should be made Accordingly. To 
 Return to the Inclined plane — I see nothing in Mr. Rennie's 
 objection to the Length of Chain, and even if Chain is 
 objectionable Rope may be used. On the Shropshire 
 Inclined plane, they work a rope 600 yds long with the 
 greatest ease and this is a Case in point. On the small 
 Canal principle I think the greatest possible Rise should 
 be obtained at one time In order that there may be but few 
 operations ; the expence is also less. 
 
 I therefore hope the mode will be fully Investigated 
 And that your Lordship will Weigh deliberately the 
 Cassoons and Inclined plane on all points In which you 
 will honour me by further Observations. 
 
 If Mr. Rennie is to be of your Party In September, your 
 Lordship will see the necessity of his being at home in the 
 apparatus for transfer or he or any other man except as a 
 Surveyor Can be of no use As the Line must In A great 
 measure bend to the apparatus, and Incline plane or Small 
 Canals by System is as Novel to the Lock engineer as 
 Machine Spinning was new and Wonderful to the old 
 Women In Sir Richard Arckright's Day. 
 
48 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 I hope ere this Your Lordship's Eyes are perfectly well. 
 And Return my thanks for the high opinion you are 
 pleased to entertain of my Conduct and exertions. When 
 time will per[mit] your Lordship to Read my Letter to 
 Genl. Mifflin you will much oblige me by your opinion 
 of my plans for facilitating Conveyances In America by 
 Canals, Also your thoughts on the General System As to 
 Crossing Rivers without aqueducts, etc., etc. 
 With all possible Respect, 
 I Remain 
 
 Your Lordship's most obedient 
 RoBT Fulton, 
 
 P.S. As I shall Remain In this Country about 3 Weeks 
 any further Communication within that time please to 
 direct to Mr. Washington, Stockport, Cheshire. 
 
 The Right Honbl. Earl Stanhope. 
 
 We think that it will easily be gathered from this letter 
 that Fulton was in hopes that through Lord Stanhope 
 he would have the long- wished for opportunity of putting 
 into practice his ideas on canal construction, and obtain 
 salaried employment in so doing. Unfortunately for 
 Fulton, Lord Stanhope's "pendanter" was designed to 
 overcome exactly the difficulty that the inclined plane had 
 been schemed for. Fulton, therefore, set out to show, 
 conclusively too, how much better the inclined plane is 
 than the pendanter. An interesting suggestion is that of 
 incorporating bulkheads in the boat structure to resist 
 " hogging " stresses ; another is that of a bascule bridge 
 for crossing from one side of a canal to the other. The 
 reference to the inclined planes on the Shropshire Canal 
 goes to show that he had been there. 
 
 Lord Stanhope replied to this on April 27, 1796, in a 
 long letter, in which he shows that while Fulton's plan 
 only saves one half of the water used in locking, his plan 
 
WINDMILL 49 
 
 of the pendanter will save it all, on the assumption that 
 the ascending trade in both cases is equal to the descending. 
 Lord Stanhope asks him to furnish an Estimate of the 
 cost of inclined planes to raise a given freight 400 feet high, 
 while he (Lord Stanhope) will get out another estimate to 
 do the same work on the pendanter plan. Further, he 
 suggests a method to catch the inevitable leakage of 
 water. 
 
 Fulton replied on May 4th, in a letter longer even than 
 the last, and full of sketches, but not sufliiciently interesting 
 to be inserted in full here. He is brimming over with 
 enthusiasm for canals, particularly for his own country, 
 and he discusses the pros and cons of the pendanter and 
 inclined plane in great detail. Perhaps the most interest- 
 ing thing in the letter is a sketch and description of an 
 arrangement for regulating automatically the area of the 
 sails of a windmill to suit the force of the wind by means 
 of the wind itself. This is the first record, as far as we are 
 aware, of this plan, now well known in connection with 
 pumping windmills. This sketch shows also a tail for 
 moving the sails into the wind ; this, although in use at 
 that time, was far from common. 
 
 Lord Stanhope replied to this on May 8, 1796, by a 
 letter, in which he announces that he has altered his plan 
 so as to require a sluice-gate on one end of each pendanter 
 only, and also says that he has schemed a method for 
 adjusting the pendanter at its juncture with the canal to 
 within one-hundredth of an inch. 
 
 To this Fulton replied in a characteristic letter, again 
 from Stockport, dated May 12th, pointing out the difficulty 
 which would be sure to occur, with seasonal differences, in 
 the level of the upper or of the lower reach of a canal. 
 The most interesting part of the letter is the postscipt, 
 which runs : 
 
 P.S, — Has your Lordship heard of a Gent™ at Mr. 
 Roundtree's factory, Blackfryar's Road, who has con- 
 
 D 
 
50 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 structed an engine acting by the expansion of air, or 
 Inflamible air Created by Spirits of tar. The Ambi- 
 Navigator has just put me in mind of it. 
 
 As I leave this on Monday next, Any Communication 
 with which I may be honoured will find me at H. Clarke's 
 Esqr Askham, near York. 
 
 The reference in the postscript to " an engine acting by 
 . . . Inflamible air Created by Spirits of Tar," is most 
 probably to the alcohol engine, patented in the following 
 year, of Dr. Edmund Cartwright, D.D., the inventor of 
 the powerloom and an indefatigable experimenter, whose 
 acquaintance Fulton made about this date, possibly in 
 consequence of having gone to look at the engine. 
 
 Lord Stanhope, in his reply, dated from Chevening, 
 May 17, 1796, explains how he proposes to allow for 
 possible variations in the canal levels and at the same time 
 how he would guard against possible danger from the 
 acceleration of the moving pendanter. This was to attach 
 to the under-side of each pendanter by a chain, a weight 
 considerably in excess of the difference in weight between 
 two pendanters which would be necessary to enable them 
 to be set in motion. This weight comes to rest on an iron 
 stop a short time before the level is reached at which it is 
 desired to stop the whole system. The pendanter, although 
 still descending, is now lighter than the counterbalancing 
 pendanter, and therefore comes to rest, then slowly rises 
 again until equilibrium is estabhshed. The length of the 
 chain and consequently the level at which the system stops 
 are to be regulated by a screw. Lord Stanhope instances 
 an experiment he had made at Chevening House to prove 
 the truth of this scheme. 
 
 He followed up this letter quickly by another, dated 
 May 24, 1796, "On board the Ambi-Navigator Ship." ^ 
 
 In this he informs Fulton of a method he has just 
 schemed for anti-friction rollers for inclined planes. On 
 
 ' i.e. the " Kent,'' see p. 26. 
 
BUDE CANAL 51 
 
 the ascending plane the carriage supporting the boat is 
 to be on rollers which roll upwards with the boat and then 
 roll back by gravity to a fixed stop. On the descending 
 plane each roller is attached by a cord over a pulley to 
 a weight moving vertically. After being rolled down by 
 the passage of the boat, the weight causes it to roll up 
 again. 
 
 He also discusses the application of these to the Bude 
 Canal, and at the end he says, "Your Book abt Canals 
 has set me you see on fire ; particularly the Part about 
 America and your note about the enormous expence of 
 Horses. So I hope that at last I shall burn to some 
 purpose ; provided you keep on blowing the fire, as you 
 have done." If Fulton replied to this, the letter has not 
 been preserved ; but it was fairly obvious that he could 
 expect little from the Bude Canal, for Lord Stanhope 
 would naturally endeavour to have one or more of his 
 own inventions tried to the exclusion of others. As we 
 hear no more of the Bude Canal in connection with 
 Fulton, it may be interesting to note that the canal was 
 actually constructed, but not till after Fulton's death — 
 i.e. between the years 1819 and 1826. It is still in exist- 
 ence, but is now partly disused. The canal commences 
 by a tidal dock or basin at Bude Haven, and passes by 
 Marhamchurch to Red Post Inn, where it divides — one 
 branch going to within \\ miles of Holsworthy, with a 
 " feeder " from Virworthy reservoir, and the other branch 
 going to within a mile of Launceston, following very 
 closely the course of the river Tamar, a total length, in- 
 cluding branches, of 34 miles. From Launceston the 
 river is navigable to the Hamoaze and Plymouth Sound, 
 thus giving a route from the Bristol to the English 
 Channel. 
 
 The chief point of interest in the canal, from our point 
 of view, is that differences of level are surmounted by 
 inclined planes to the number of seven, and also that a 
 modification of Fulton's endless chain of buckets, described 
 
 u 
 
52 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 in his letter of May 4th, is made use of. The inclined 
 planes are usually worked by water-wheels, but that at 
 Habbacott Down, 2| miles from Bude, is unique. This 
 plane is 900 feet in length, with two lines of rails dipping 
 into the canal at each end. The barges are provided with 
 small wheels, and are drawn up or lowered down the plane 
 by an endless chain, to which they can be hooked. At the 
 top of the incline this chain winds and unwinds on a 
 drum which is set in motion by the weight of one of two 
 buckets, 8 feet diameter full of water, descending alternately 
 in wells 225 feet deep. As soon as the full bucket reaches 
 the bottom of the well, it strikes a stop which raises a plug 
 in the bottom and allows the water to run out, an opera- 
 tion taking one minute only. The waste water is delivered 
 by an adit level to the canal below. In case of accident, 
 the plug can be actuated by a chain which winds and 
 unwinds on the same barrel as the buckets so as to be 
 always of the proper length. A steam-engine is also held 
 in reserve in case of emergency. The principal traffic on 
 the canal is in the sand from the haven, which, as also at 
 Padstow, is peculiarly rich in carbonate of lime, and is 
 used as manure on the fields. The amount taken up is 
 50 to 200 tons a day. 
 
 For the next few months practically nothing is known 
 of Fulton's movements, but it is almost certain that he was 
 trying to arouse interest in his " system of creative canals " 
 by means of his book. He sent copies to prominent men, 
 among them being General John F. Mifflin, Governor of 
 Pennsylvania, the letter to whom is printed in the book. 
 On September 12, 1796, Fulton presented a copy "to 
 His Excellency George Washington, President of the 
 United States." In the covering letter^ he enumerates 
 the advantages of canals, and hopes "that your Excel- 
 lencie's Sanction will awaken Public Attention to the 
 Subject." 
 
 This elicited an acknowledgment on the 14th December 
 
 ' In possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 
 
IN DIRE STRAITS 53 
 
 1 796 ^ from George Washington, in which he says : " As 
 the Book came to me in the midst of busy preparatory 
 scenes for Congress, I have not had liesure yet to give it 
 the perusal which the importance such a work would 
 merit." 
 
 Nothing, however, was done officially; the State of 
 Pennsylvania continued to adhere to its plan of turnpike 
 roads, probably more generally useful than, although as 
 costly, as small canals would have been. 
 
 To come back now to England, we find Fulton writing 
 to Owen on September 19, 1796, regretting his inability 
 to pay any part of the debt he owed, but informing Owen 
 that "his new speculations were beginning to be successful 
 in some tanning improvements, in addition to his canal 
 contracts, which continued to give him prospect of ultimate 
 success." What this improvement in tanning was we 
 have been unable to discover.; but the optimistic tone 
 was hardly borne out by actual facts, for a letter addressed 
 to Lord Stanhope a few months later reveals the fact that 
 at this period Fulton was in dire straits — without doubt 
 he was at the very lowest ebb of his fortunes. The letter 
 is a human document of pathetic interest, and reading 
 between the lines we can only gather that Fulton had 
 spent anything but a merry Christmas — in fact, that he was 
 in actual want. 
 
 London, December 2%th, '96 
 
 My Lord, — Your Lordship's Goodwill towards men, 
 and your Public Spirit I See extend itself even to "America, 
 for your Lordship appears to have taken in the Idea, that 
 I am about to Sacrifice Public Good to private Gain ; And 
 In doing this that I am deviating from my first principles 
 of small and Creative Canals. But as I should be ex- 
 tremely sorry that your Lordship should Receive such 
 an Impression, I must beg Leave to Explain And to Assure 
 your Lordship that I do not deviate from the Creative 
 
 ' Washington papers — Library of Congress. 
 
54 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Canals. — On the Contrary It Shall be one of my Principle 
 exertions to get it Introduced and I hope I shall Live Long 
 enough to Set them In Motion ; they will then move on- 
 ward, Stretch Into distant Regions, And Bending their 
 Branches Round Each hill, MilHons of Intelectual Beings 
 Will Glide on their Smooth Surface and Draw Comfort 
 from the System — When Fulton shall be Long, Long Lost 
 to the memory of man. — No, my Lord, that System is 
 sacred, By me it shall not be Violated, nor will I tamely 
 stand by and see it mutilated or frittered away by others. 
 Yet others may Improve it, hence how Applicable your 
 Lordship's Inclined Plane — and of how much Importance 
 in facilitating the Plan. Relative to which plane I hope 
 I shall be Able to make some Contract with your Lordship. 
 Now, My Lord, having I hope Assured you of my Care 
 Over the Creative System — Still there Are some few Situa- 
 tions which I formerly Aluded to Which do not Come 
 within the Creative System ; Because there is not Room 
 for Extension, the short Cut for Instance from New 
 York to Phila<i and again from Phila^ to Baltimore 
 — the one About 30 the other 5 miles which will 
 prevent about 500 miles of a coasting voyage : As to 
 the Size of those Canals, that would depend upon cir- 
 cumstances but from what I Recollect of the Country, I 
 think it is flat, with few difficulties. Land is Cheap, Water 
 plenty And Cutting would be the principle Expence ; hence 
 those things would be Compared with the Transfer of 
 Cargo. Now my Lord I plainly See that these and a few 
 other Similar points will never be Brought Into the Crea- 
 tive System. I also see that those points will ear long be 
 Laid hold of by some of our enterprizing Americans Who 
 Perhaps would not give the public such good terms As 
 I propose, for In my Calculations I have Charged only 
 one penny halfpenny per ton per Mile — yet I Can make 
 it appear that the Projectors would Receive 4,000 per 
 Annum for the expenditure of 1,000 £ which is 400 per 
 cent ; yet the Subscribers would receive 20 per cent : 
 
IN DIRE STRAITS 55 
 
 Now my Lord Am I not Right to endeavour to obtain these 
 advantages which would othe^^vise fall Into the hands of 
 other Individuals — And on these Just and Lucrative points, 
 And In Contemplating your Lordship's great talents for 
 such Works I Wished a union with your Lordship. My 
 personal emolument is Also a Weighty Consideration ; for 
 unless I can acquire a Comfortable Mentainance and am 
 Rather Independent, It will be almost Impossible for me 
 to devote sufficient time to Combatt prejudices And intro- 
 duce the Creative System. Works of this kind Require 
 much time. Patience and application. And till they are 
 Brought About, Penury frequently Presses hard on the 
 Projector ; And this My Lord is so much my Case at this 
 Moment, That I am now Sitting Reduced to half a Crown, 
 Without knowing Where to obtain a shilling for some 
 months. This my Lord is an awkward sensation to a 
 feeling Mind, which would devote every minuet to In- 
 crease the Comforts of Mankind, And Who on Looking 
 Round Sees thousands nursed in the Lap of fortune, grown 
 to maturity, And now Spending their time In the endless 
 Maze of Idle dissipation. Thus Circumstanced My Lord, 
 would it be an Intrusion on your goodness and Philan- 
 throphy to Request the Loan of 20 guineas Which I will 
 Return as Soon as possible, And the favour shall ever 
 be greetfully Acknowledged By your lordship's 
 
 Most obliged 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 
 F.S. — On Reading over this Letter I See that much may 
 be gained by obtaining the Situations Aluded to; your 
 Lordship will therefore be so good as to Reconsider the 
 plan. 
 
 I have also pondered much on the Liberty of Request- 
 ing a favour of your Lordship Which Realy gives me 
 pain but my Lord Men of fortune Can have no Idea of 
 the Cries of necessity— And I must Rely on your Lord- 
 ship's Goodness. 
 
56 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 The age in which this letter was written must be taken 
 into account, and the earlier portion, which we might now 
 term bombastic, was then in the most approved style. 
 Lord Stanhope's usual practice was to make his inventions 
 public property, but Fulton makes it clear that he could 
 not afford to be so generous, but must "acquire a com- 
 fortable mentainance" out of any work he undertook. 
 The request for the loan of money is so delicately made 
 that we need not doubt that it was successful. There 
 seems to be some suggestion that he was trying to float a 
 company to undertake operations in the United States. 
 His calculations are quite as optimistic as those of the 
 company promoter of to-day. 
 
 This idea of forming incorporated bodies to carry out 
 canal navigations in the several American States seems 
 to have been revolving in Fulton's mind during the next 
 few months, for the scheme is elaborated with further 
 calculations in a letter^ which he addressed to President 
 Washington, in reply to the latter's acknowledgment of the 
 receipt of his Treatise on Canal Navigation. We give it in 
 full: 
 
 London, February ffh, 1797. 
 
 Sir, — Last evening Mr. King presented me with your 
 Letter acquainting me of the Receipt of my publication on 
 Small Canals, which I hope you will soon have time to 
 Peruse in a tranquil retirement from the Buisy operations 
 of a Public Life. Therefore looking forward to that period 
 when the whole force of your Mind will Act upon the 
 Internal improvement of our Country, by Promoting Agri- 
 culture and Manufactures : I have little doubt but easy 
 Conveyance, the Great agent to other improvements will 
 have its due weight And meet your patronage. 
 
 For the mode of giving easy Communication to every 
 part of the American States, I beg leave to draw your 
 Particular attention to the Last Chapter on Creative Canals ; 
 and the expanded mind will trace down the time when 
 
 ' Washington papers — Library of Congress. 
 
LETTER TO WASHINGTON 57 
 
 they will penetrate into every district Carrying with them 
 the means of facilitating Manual Labour and rendering it 
 productive. But how to Raise a Sum in the different 
 States has been my greatest difficulty. I first Considered 
 them as National Works. But perhaps an Incorporated 
 Company of Subscribers, who should be bound to apply 
 half or a part of their profits to extension would be the 
 best mode. As it would then be their interest to Promote 
 the work : And guard their emoluments. 
 
 That such a Work would answer to Subscribers appears 
 from such Informations as I have Collected, Reletive to the 
 Carriage from the neighbourhood of Lancaster, to Phila- 
 delphia. To me it appears that a Canal on the Small Scale 
 might have been made to Lancaster for 120 thousand £ and 
 that the carriage at 20 shillings per ton would pay 14 thou- 
 sand per annum of which 7000 to Subscribers and 7000 to 
 extension. By this means in about 10 years they would 
 touch the Susquehanna, and the trad would then so much 
 increase as to produce 30,000 per annum, of which 15,000 to 
 Subscribers, the Remainder to extension ; Continuing this 
 till in about 20 years the Canal would run into Lake Erie, 
 Yielding a produce of 100,000 per annum or 50 thousand £ 
 to Subscribers which is 40 per cent. ; hence the Inducement 
 to subscribe to such undertakings. 
 
 Proceeding in this manner I find that In about 60 
 or 70 years Pensilvania would have 9360 miles of Canal 
 equal to Bringing Water Carriage within the easy Reach 
 of every house, nor would any house be more than 10 or 
 14 miles from a Canal. By this time the whole Carriage 
 of the country would Come on Water even to Passengers 
 — and following the present Rate of Carriage on the 
 Lancaster Road, it appears that the tolls would amount 
 to 4,000,000 per year. Yet no one would pay more than 
 21 shillings and 8d per ton whatever might be the distance 
 Conveyed ; the whole would also be Pond Canal on which 
 there is an equal facility of conveyance each way. Having 
 made this Calculation to Show that the Creative System, 
 
58 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 would be productive of Great emolument, to Subscribers, 
 it is only further to be observed that if each State was 
 to Commence a Creative System It would fill the whole 
 Country, and in Less than a Century bring Water Carriage 
 within the easy Cartage of every Acre of the American 
 States, — conveying the Surplus Labours of one hundred 
 Millions of Men. 
 
 Hence Seeing that by System this must be the Result, 
 I feel anxious that the Public mind may be awakened 
 to their true Interest: And Instead of directing Turnpike 
 Roads towards the Interior Country or expending Large 
 Sums in River Navigations — Which must ever be pre- 
 carious and lead [no where] I could wish to See the 
 Labour, and funds applied to Such a System As would 
 penetrate the Interior Country And bind the Whole In the 
 bonds of Social Intercourse. 
 
 The Importance of this Subject I hope will plead my 
 excuse for troubeling you with So long a Letter, And 
 in expectation of being Favoured with your thoughts on 
 the System and mode of Carrying it into effect, I remain 
 with the utmost 
 
 Esteem and Sincere Respect, 
 Your most obedient Servant 
 
 RoBT. Fulton. 
 
 His Excellency George Washington. 
 
 The idea here thrown out by Fulton of applying 
 profits, in excess of a certain percentage, from a work of 
 public utility, to extending its operations — what we may 
 designate 5 per cent, philanthropy — is decidedly in ad- 
 vance of his time, and is only feebly exemplified so far in 
 municipal undertakings. 
 
 The most interesting suggestion contained in the letter 
 is that of constructing a canal between Philadelphia and 
 Lake Erie, and is the first record that we have of such 
 a project. The canal was actually carried out, with some 
 
CHANGE IN FORTUNES 59 
 
 assistance from Fulton himself,^ and is the well-known 
 Erie Canal. Fulton shows clearly that he realises that 
 improved means of transit are the key to progress and 
 the greatest leveller of international dissensions. 
 
 On the day of his first writing to George Washington, 
 he wrote ^ also to his brother-in-law, David Morris, ex- 
 plaining that he had given up painting some time ago on 
 account of his new pursuits: "Seeing the necessity of 
 an Easy Communication with the Marts of trade I have 
 devoted much time in order to Contrive a means of effect- 
 ing it ; which I believe I have Accomplished and having 
 Published a Book on the Subject, I have sent you one 
 by Dr. Edwards. On this publication I will not Remark 
 but hope it will give you some pleasure to peruse it. 
 Also Some Satisfaction to my mother to see that I have 
 made an exertion to Serve my Country by the [book]. In 
 Consequence of this new pursuit in the Canal enterprise, 
 I have laid aside my panels, and have not painted a picture 
 for more than two years — As I have little doubt but Canals 
 will answer my purpose much better and of which you 
 will Judge." 
 
 How Fulton managed to exist during the next few 
 months we do not know. Fortunately the negotiations 
 hinted at in his letters to Lord Stanhope and George 
 Washington appear to have borne fruit, for in the April 
 following he wrote the following enthusiastic letter* to 
 Owen, announcing a great change in his fortunes : 
 
 London, April 2ith, 1797. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Yesterday Mr. Atheson presented me with 
 your kind letter, and I beg you together with all my old 
 companions, to accept my most sincere thanks for all the 
 
 1 Gallatin, A., Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, 1808, on Com- 
 munications. 
 
 ' The letter is in the possession of Mrs. Frank Semple, by whose permission 
 it is made use of. 
 
 ' Life of Robert Owen, written by himself, 1857, p. 70. 
 
6o ROBERT FULTON 
 
 friendly sentiments and good wishes they entertain in my 
 favour. 
 
 It was my intention to write to you about the i8th of 
 next month, at which time I shall have a bill due and I 
 hope to be in possession of cash. 
 
 The agreement I have now made, I hope will crown 
 my wishes ; having sold one fourth of my canal prospects 
 for £1,500 to a gentleman of large fortune, who is going to 
 reside at New York. Of this ;£'i,5oo, I shall receive ;^5oo 
 on the 17th of next month, ;^5oo in six months and ;^5oo on 
 my arrival in America which I hope will be about June '98. 
 
 Now my friend, this being the state of my money pros- 
 pects, it becomes necessary that I should deal equal with 
 all my creditors whose patience in waiting the result of 
 my enterprise I shall long remember with the most heart- 
 felt satisfaction in which Thank Heaven (some men would 
 sz.y please the pigs) I have succeeded. 
 
 In the appropriation of the first £,S°^ i* is stipulated 
 between my partner and me, that I should go to Paris and 
 obtain patents for the small canal system — this I calculate 
 will cost me about ;^2oo. Of the remaining ;^300, I will 
 send ^60 as your portion and pay you the remainder in six 
 months which I hope will answer your purpose. I shall also 
 be happy to pay any loss you may sustain by paying interest. 
 
 In about 3 weeks I mean to set out for Paris, and hope 
 to return in time to be with you at Christmas ; and about 
 this time next year I expect to sail for America, where I 
 have the most flattering field of invention before me, 
 having already converted the first characters in that 
 country to my small system of canals. My sensations in 
 the business are consequently pleasing — and I hope it will 
 please all my friends ; to whom remember me kindly. To 
 the Mr. and Mrs. Marsland, Moulston, Clarke, Jolly, and 
 the whole assembly of Worthies remember me good Owen. 
 Adieu my friend for this time, 
 
 believe me, sincerely yours, 
 
 I?OBERT Fulton. 
 
JOSHUA GILPIN 6 1 
 
 The only "canal prospects" that he could possibly 
 have to sell, one would suppose, were shares in his patent 
 for his inclined plane. How anyone " going to reside at 
 New York" could consider that one fourth in this was 
 worth £1,500 passes comprehension. We can only make 
 the suggestion that Fulton had persuaded his client that 
 his invention was one that would be found indispensable 
 everywhere. Now in France, following on the Revolution, 
 the constitution of 15 Jan. 1790, among other things swept 
 away the old division of the country into provinces and 
 brought into the public domain all waterways previously 
 belonging to them ; this was followed in 1791 by the con- 
 fiscation of nearly all the canals in private hands. A 
 period of progress in public works ensued, and as a patent 
 law had been brought into operation in 1791, Fulton may 
 have thought it advisable to reap whatever benefits France 
 might afford before going to the United States, where 
 there were several canal projects afoot and where also a 
 Federal patent law was in operation. 
 
 It would be interesting to know who "the gentleman 
 of large fortune" was. If we may hazard a guess, we 
 should say it was Joshua Gilpin ^ of Philadelphia. His 
 father's great scheme was to cut a canal between Chesa- 
 peake Bay and Delaware Bay, but he did not live to see 
 its inception. His son took up the scheme with enthusiasm, 
 and in fact devoted his life to its furtherance. As a neces- 
 sary preliminary, he came to England in 1795 to study the 
 canal system, remaining till 1801. Fulton and he were within 
 a few days of the same age. They were engaged on the 
 same business, and Gilpin's evidence, given in his Memoir,^ 
 
 1 Joshua Gilpin, b. in Philadelphia 8th Nov. 1765; d. there 1840; son 
 of Thomas Gilpin (b. 1728 d. 1778), member of the Society of Friends. While 
 in England he married an English lady. 
 
 2 Gilpin, Metnoir on the Rise and Progress of the Chesapeake and Delaware 
 Canal, 1821, p. 49. Acts for the construction of the Chesapeake and Delaware 
 Canal were passed between 1799 and 1801, but it was not till 1803 that 
 sufficient funds were subscribed to make a start ; work was suspended in 1805, 
 but the canal was finally completed in 1820. 
 
62 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 is conclusive on this point : "... having imbibed an 
 interest in this work from the labours of my father, and a 
 local knowledge of the country almost from my infancy 
 I availed myself of seven years' residence in Europe, to 
 obtain correct practical information of works of this kind, 
 by visiting most of the existing canals, and collecting such 
 a mass of documents as is not often done, even by pro- 
 fessional men, A large part of my investigations were 
 pursued in concert with the late Col. Tatham and Mr. 
 Fulton, particularly with the last, both in England and 
 on the Continent." 
 
 This, however, is only circumstantial evidence. The 
 fact that locks, and not inclined planes, were adopted on 
 the canal in question, might be considered presumptive 
 evidence that Fulton's statement that he had "converted 
 the first characters in that country " to his " small system 
 of canals " could not have referred to Gilpin. We have, 
 however, the decision that the Directors of the canal 
 arrived at quoted in the Memoir} and it is to the effect 
 that : " to have adopted plans, however ingenious, were 
 untried, and might have failed in execution, was to subject 
 this great work to a hazard that would have been an un- 
 pardonable dereliction of their duty." This surely refers 
 to Fulton's schemes. 
 
 Robert Owen had one more letter from Fulton, dated 
 London, May 6th, wherein he enclosed the £(^0 which he 
 had promised, and said also that he would send the re- 
 mainder in five months. This, however, he did not do, 
 nor did he even send the money when leaving England for 
 the last time, when he could well have afforded to have 
 done so. Owen, however, took the will for the deed, for 
 he says : " I consider the little aid and assistance which I 
 gave to enable him to bestow so great advantage on his 
 country and the world as money most fortunately ex- 
 pended." A broad-minded and charitable view ! ! 
 
 Towards the latter part of Fulton's stay in London he 
 
 • Loc. cit, p. 32. 
 
EDMUND CARTWRIGHT 63 
 
 made the acquaintance^ of the celebrated Dr. Edmund 
 Cartwright, M.A., D.D., F.R.S., whom we have already 
 mentioned. He had invented a power loom and the first 
 wool-combing machine. Just at this present moment he 
 was engaged in perfecting a closed cycle alcohol engine. 
 These two men, although in such different walks of life, 
 were kindred spirits in all that related to mechanical 
 invention. 
 
 Dr. Cartwright's daughter says : * 
 
 "Amongst other ingenious characters who frequented 
 Mr. Cartwright's house may be noticed one who was then 
 deeply engaged in pursuits similar to his own, but whose 
 claims to originality of invention have not been very 
 willingly admitted on this side of the Atlantic. This person 
 was Robert Fulton. . . . The coincidence of their re- 
 spective views produced, instead of rivalship, intimacy and 
 friendship between the two projectors, and Mr. Fulton's 
 vivacity and original way of thinking rendered him a 
 welcome guest at Mr. Cartwright's house. . . . The practi- 
 cability of steam navigation, with the most feasible mode of 
 effecting it became a frequent subject of discourse." 
 
 * Cartwright's son, Edmund, subsequently stated (see Gent. Mag. 1832, 
 i. 108), that the date was 1799, but this is obviously incorrect. 
 
 2 A Memoir of Edmund Cartwright, by M(ary) S(trickland), 1843, p. 132. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 ARRIVAL IN PARIS— CANAL PATENT— SUBMARINE 
 PROJECTS 
 
 FULTON did not get away quite so early, nor perhaps 
 quite so easily as he had anticipated. France, at this 
 moment, having outlived the horrors of the Reign of 
 Terror, was now ruled by the Directory, the most noted 
 members of which were Carnot and Barras. Napoleon 
 Bonaparte had been at the head of the army since 1795, 
 and was just at this time in the midst of his brilliant 
 Italian campaign. France had been at war with England 
 since 1793, and was now facing a coalition of Russia and 
 Austria. In 1797, however, there was a short armistice 
 with England, which afforded the necessary opportunity 
 to cross the Channel. 
 
 That Fulton's journey through France was not quite 
 an easy matter may be inferred from a letter which he 
 wrote to Dr. Cartwright, in which he details his experiences 
 en route. Writing from Paris in July 1797, he says : ^ — 
 
 " After being detained at Calais three weeks, waiting for 
 a passport, I made a circuit of about three hundred miles, 
 and on arriving at Paris, I found the Directory had given 
 a special order for my passport, which was sent to Calais 
 after my departure ; thus there is every symptom of my 
 remaining here in peace, although the Americans are by 
 no means well received or suffered to rest in quiet. 
 
 " The country through which I travelled is like a con- 
 tinued field, in excellent cultivation, and all the districts of 
 France are said to be in an equally good state ; thus plenty 
 
 1 A Memoir of Edmund Cartwright, p. 138. 
 64 
 
JOEL BARLOW 65 
 
 will relieve the burthens of war. But what do I say of 
 war? In Paris one would suppose they had never heard 
 of it for all is gay and joyous. As to business I cannot yet 
 say much ; but I have reason to believe there will be good 
 encouragement to men of genius, and improvement will 
 be rapid on the termination of the war. Please to let me 
 know the state of your ideas relative to the steamboat . . . ." 
 We conclude from this that Fulton landed on French 
 soil at the latter end of June or the beginning of July 
 1797. As usual, he is optimistic as to his prospects. 
 
 He was fortunate in securing lodgings in the same 
 hotel at which were staying his fellow countryman, Joel 
 Barlow, statesman, philosopher, and poet, and his wife 
 Ruth Baldwin. Probably Fulton bore letters of introduc- 
 tion to the Barlows, or he may have met them in London, 
 where they had resided from 1790 to 1792. However that 
 may be, it was a most happy circumstance for Fulton, and 
 gave rise to a lifelong friendship. Perhaps the intimacy 
 would be more correctly likened to that of father and 
 son, although Barlow was only eleven and his wife nine 
 years older than Fulton, but the fact that they were 
 childless may explain the way in which they treated him. 
 They even had a nickname — Toot — for him, the origin 
 of which, like that of most nicknames, is obscure. Con- 
 cerning this period, we cannot do better than quote this 
 eulogy : " Here commenced that strong affection, that 
 devoted attachment, that real friendship, which subsisted 
 in a most extraordinary degree between Mr. Barlow and 
 Mr. Fulton during their lives. Soon after Mr. Fulton's 
 arrival in Paris, Mr, Barlow removed to his own hotel 
 and invited Mr. Fulton to reside with him. Mr. Fulton 
 lived seven years in Mr. Barlow's family, during which 
 he learnt the French and something of the Italian and 
 German languages. He also studied the high mathe- 
 matics, physics, chemistry and perspective and acquired 
 that science which, when united with his uncommon 
 natural genius, gave him so great a superiority over many 
 
 E 
 
66 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 of those who with some talents but without any sort of 
 science have pretended to be his rivals." ^ 
 
 Or, as another writer,^ with less accuracy but more vivid- 
 ness, says: "During the seven years that Fulton re- 
 mained in Paris, a room in the poet's house, and a seat 
 at his fireside were always reserved for him." This house 
 was in the rue de Vaugirard, No. 50. 
 
 Fulton at once settled down to the work of getting out 
 his specification and preparing his drawings for the 
 French patent for the canal inclined plane. This appears 
 to have occupied him during the winter which was spent 
 in Paris. We have glimpses of him in his correspondence 
 with Dr. Cartwright by letter,^ of which we give only the 
 more important parts. Writing on Sept. 20th, 1797, he 
 says : 
 
 " I have not had an oppoiiunity of answering your letter 
 of the 20th August until now. I am much pleased with 
 your mode of making houses fireproof [i.e. English Patent 
 No. 2194, Oct. nth, 1797] and should be happy to see it 
 extended to America. . . . On these points that I have 
 mentioned to you, that providing me with descriptions and 
 powers, I shall be happy to do my best for you in America ; 
 but if you could sell the invention for a reasonable sum, I 
 should think it advisable. My idea of many of those things 
 which may be considered as only the overflowings of your 
 mind is to convert them into cash, and adhere firmly, even 
 without partners, to some of your more important objects, 
 such as the steam engine, boat moving by steam, or cor- 
 delier. I have a great objection to partners. I never 
 would have but one if I could help it, and that should be 
 a wife." 
 
 Fulton, judging by this and subsequent letters, is still 
 
 ' This is quoted by C. D. Colden in his Life of Fulton, p. 26, as " the 
 warm language of one who participated in the sentiments expressed." This 
 can be none other than Mrs. Barlow herself, who was still alive and residing 
 within a short distance of Colden when his book was written 
 
 ' Todd, C. B., Life and Letters of Joel Barlow y 1886 p. 177. 
 
 ' Memoir of Cartwright, p. 140. 
 
SCREW PROPELLER 67 
 
 apparently on the eve of proceeding to America. His 
 advice about converting unimportant patents into cash is 
 shrewd enough, and is exactly what every one would like to 
 follow. His determination not to go into partnership was 
 to be broken through on more than one occasion. 
 The next letter is from Paris, on Nov. 28th : 
 " I have received yours of the 12th instant and am 
 happy to hear of the success of your steam engine, and 
 other improvements, for the extension of which I will 
 endeavour to make an arrangement when I have the 
 pleasure of seeing you. In this country there are but 
 few engines and the principal are at the collieries near 
 Valenciennes. . ." 
 
 On Feb. i6th, 1798, Fulton wrote a long letter^ from 
 Paris, in which, after mentioning the unlikelihood of his 
 return to England, the pleasure he had had in the society 
 of Cartwright's family, and the circumstance of his being 
 "like a wanderer in life," he says: "It would give me much 
 pleasure to make the produce of your mind productive to 
 you. You will therefore consider what part of your 
 inventions I may be intrusted with. The steam engine, 
 I hope, may be useful in cutting canals and moving boats, 
 so that it will be directly in my line of business. By the 
 by, I have just proved an experiment on moving boats 
 with a fly of four parts similar to that of a smoke jack, 
 thus : 
 
 I find this apply the power to great advantage and it 
 is extremely simple. . . . My small canals are making 
 many friends ; which business I shall leave under the 
 guidance of a company." 
 
 In this letter Fulton mentions also Montgolfier and his 
 hydraulic ram, then just invented. 
 
 1 Loc. cit. p. 142. 
 
68 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 It is interesting to note that his mind was still casting 
 a thought or two to marine propulsion. The sketch shows 
 that his experiment was exactly that which he had made 
 in 1793, except that he had substituted a screw for the 
 paddle, an alteration that did not advance the solution 
 of the problem in any way. 
 
 Eventually, on 14th February 1798, a patent (No 289) 
 for fifteen years was granted to " Sieur Fulton," for " Des 
 nouveaux moyens de construire des canaux navigables." ^ 
 In the printed copy there are sixteen pages of descriptive 
 matter, including numerous tables of expenses showing 
 some considerable knowledge of local possibilities. This 
 matter is elucidated by four engraved plates containing 
 no less than fifty-six figures ; on these plates his name 
 appears in full. 
 
 In pursuance of his previous practice, Fulton en- 
 deavoured to interest persons in high places in his 
 schemes by means of letters. One of such letters^ is 
 addressed to the great Napoleon himself, just then start- 
 ing on his expedition to the East, which ended in the 
 occupation of Egypt. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 To General Bonaparte. 
 
 Citizen General, — Citizen Pdrier having informed me 
 that you would like to make acquaintance with my work 
 on the System of Small Canals, I take the liberty of 
 presenting you with a copy, and shall be happy if you find 
 therein some means of improving the industries of the 
 French Republic. 
 
 To this copy I have added two memoirs which I pro- 
 pose to submit to the Directory. One relates to the 
 absolutely new system of Small Canals, which, if it be 
 adopted, will produce the most considerable part of the 
 
 ' Descriptions des machines, I' S^rie, vol. iv. p. 207. 
 ' Preserved in Lenox Library, N.Y 
 
LETTER TO BONAPARTE 69 
 
 public revenue. In the other I try to show the favourable 
 results of this system, and at the same time the necessity 
 of an entire liberty of Commerce. 
 
 These plans of improvement and my reflections upon 
 Commerce, are elaborations of the following ideas, which 
 I regard as the basis of political welfare, and which seem 
 to me worthy of the consideration of all republicans, and 
 of all friends of humanity. Labour is the source of 
 wealth of all kinds ; it follows that the more numerous the 
 industrious and useful class, the more a country should 
 gain in riches and comfort. It is therefore to the interest 
 of each nation to draw from its natural advantages every 
 feature possible. To that end Governments must apply 
 themselves above all to internal improvements and seek 
 continually to increase the number of useful individuals ; 
 only by eliminating as far as possible the causes of war 
 will men be enabled to devote themselves to industrious 
 works and reduce mendicancy. 
 
 Among all the causes of wars, it is true each day 
 sees disappear that which relates to Kings, Priests, and 
 the things which accompany them. But nevertheless, 
 Republics themselves will not be exempt from melancholy 
 quarrels, inasmuch as they do not separate themselves 
 from the erroneous system of exclusive commerce and 
 distant possessions. Therefore all who love their fellow- 
 men should try and seek to destroy these errors. Ambi- 
 tion itself should not ask for glory further than to show 
 to men the way of truth and to set aside the obstacles 
 which hinder nations from arriving at a lasting peace — for 
 what glory can survive that does not receive the sanction 
 of Philosophy. 
 
 To liberate the nations, Citizen General, you have 
 embarked on great enterprises, and the glory you have 
 achieved should be as durable as time. Who then could 
 render a more efficacious approval of the projects which 
 can contribute to the general welfare ? It is with this 
 idea that I submit my work to you, hoping that if you find 
 
70 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 there some useful truths you will grant the support of your 
 powerful influence, and in fact favour projects, the execu- 
 tion of which would render happy millions of men. Could 
 virtuous genius find a more delightful satisfaction ! It 
 is from this point of view that internal improvement and 
 freedom of trade become of the highest importance. 
 
 If success crowns the efforts of France against England, 
 it will only remain for her to terminate this long war 
 gloriously by granting freedom to trade and by compelling 
 other powers to adopt this system. Political liberty would 
 thus acquire that degree of perfection and of scope of 
 which it is susceptible and Philosophy would see with joy 
 the Olive Branch of Eternal Peace sheltering Science 
 and Industry. 
 
 With salutation and respect, 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 
 Paris, 12 Flordal, an VI (i May 1798). 
 
 Apart from the rhetorical flourishes which, while 
 sincere enough on Fulton's part, were only the stock 
 modes of expressions of the period, this is quite a remark- 
 able letter. The recognition of the essential or root fact 
 that labour is the ultimate source of all wealth, and that 
 therefore it should be encouraged by unrestricted trade 
 intercourse, stands out in marked contrast to the narrow 
 ideas of the mercantile system of that day. The advice 
 to Governments to turn their attention to "internal im- 
 provements " rather than to " distant possessions," is one 
 that might be Hstened to at the present day, not from any 
 conviction of its truth perhaps, but because nearly all the 
 area available has been seized already and the policy of 
 "opening up new markets" has been found to be but 
 barren. 
 
 Fulton, like so many others at this time, looked upon 
 Napoleon as the strong man intent only on his country's 
 welfare. Actually his letter was a waste of paper and 
 
SUBMARINE MINES 71 
 
 ink, for Napoleon had just tasted the intoxication of success 
 in war, and may even then have been meditating the 
 ambitious idea of establishing himself in supreme power. 
 The establishment of a canal system did not go far in the 
 direction of furthering that idea ! 
 
 But we proceed too fast, for the period had already 
 arrived when Fulton had turned his attention to the subject 
 of exploding gunpowder under water and to the design 
 of a submarine jboat to carry these mines to their destina- 
 tion unobserved. Why Fulton left the canal question is not 
 known. Perhaps the arrangement, whereby he was to 
 receive from his partner in November 1797 the second 
 instalment of £soo, had fallen through ; we can surmise 
 also that he found it, if anything, more difficult to realise 
 his plans in France than he had done in England. Sur- 
 rounded as he was by wars and rumours of wars, he may 
 have thought that he would be most profitably employed 
 if he turned his attention to engines of war. 
 
 It may not be out of place to give a brief summary of 
 what had been done in the direction of submarine war- 
 fare prior to Fulton's taking up the subject. 
 
 Of course the idea of destroying a vessel by attack 
 below the water line, i.e. by ramming, is old and was 
 practised in classical times, while the use of combustible 
 matter or missiles under , water is hinted at. The most 
 noteworthy development of the last method took place 
 when Antwerp was besieged in 1584 by the Spanish. 
 Giambelli, an Italian, who had vainly submitted his 
 schemes to Philip II of Spain and in disgust had entered 
 the service of the Dutch, blew up by means of bomb ships 
 with clockwork detonators the bridge that the Duke of 
 Parma had built to close the entrance to the City from 
 the seaward. Had it not been for cowardice of the Dutch 
 admiral the siege would have been raised. After the fall 
 of Antwerp, Giambelli went to England — the parallel with 
 Fulton's career, as will appear later, is curious — and was 
 engaged in fortifying the Thames. When in 1588, the 
 
72 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 English fireships came among the Spanish fleet in Calais 
 roads, the fear that they were Giambelli's infernal 
 machines caused such a panic that the fleet stood out 
 to sea; this incident was undoubtedly a factor in the 
 defeat of the Spanish Armada. 
 
 Navigation under water is quite a different and much 
 more serious problem. We find the first intelligible de- 
 scription of a submarine boat in William Bourne's In- 
 uentions or Deuices : Very necessary for all Generalles and 
 Captaines, or Leaders of Men, as wel by Sea as by Land," 
 published in 1578, The alteration in displacement of 
 the boat to cause it to sink or rise was to be effected 
 by admitting water into, or forcing it out of, side com- 
 partments, is by means of screws working a form of bellows 
 — a method hardly practicable. 
 
 It would weary the reader to refer to all subsequent 
 schemes for submarine navigation, but we may mention 
 one that seems to have been put to a practical test. It 
 was that of Cornelius van Drebbel, an ingenious Dutch- 
 man, who is credited with having in 1624 " built a ship 
 which one could row and navigate under water from 
 Westminster to Greenwich . . . ; even five or six miles 
 or as far as one pleased." ^ Unfortunately only the vaguest 
 descriptions and no plans of this vessel have been pre- 
 served. 
 
 We now come to the work of a man who achieved 
 the first real practical results. This was David Bushnell 
 (b. 1742, d. 1824) of Saybrook, Conn., who as early as 
 1 77 1 conceived the idea of a submarine boat which should 
 carry with it the explosive compound or magazine in- 
 tended for the destruction of an enemy's vessel. No 
 doubt he was led to think about warlike engines owing 
 to the War of Independence, which was being waged 
 at that time. He submitted his invention to the Governor 
 and Council of the state of Maine, who in 1776 advanced 
 ;£6o to help him to further his enterprise. He built a 
 
 ' Boyle, New Experiments Physico-Mechanical, i66o, p. 578. 
 
DAVID BUSHNELL 73 
 
 boat of wood shaped like a turtle, which " was provided 
 with an oar placed near the top of the vessel and formed 
 like a screw," It was steered by a rudder, behind which 
 was a magazine to contain a powder case. There was a 
 hatch on the top and just sufficient room for a man to 
 stand upright. The vessel, owing to its shape, had practi- 
 cally no manoeuvring power, and was really intended to 
 drift just awash with the tide to the enemy's ship, and 
 there the occupant was to attach the explosive. An un- 
 successful attack was made on H.M.S. Eagle, 64 guns, 
 when lying at anchor in the river Hudson at New York. 
 In 1777, an attack on H.M.S. Cerberus, at anchor at 
 New London in the Connecticut River resulted in the 
 blowing up of a schooner astern of her with the loss 
 of several men. Bushnell subsequently went to France 
 and carried on experiments there, but with little more 
 success. 
 
 Fulton's scheme, as will be seen shortly, somewhat 
 resembled Bushnell's. This resemblance would be ex- 
 plained if the former had been acquainted with what the 
 latter had done, which is probable because a description 
 of the invention had been published in 1795. 
 
 Fulton's work in France on the submarine and torpedo 
 boat has only recently been disentangled from his sub- 
 sequent experiments in steam navigation, and exhibited in 
 their true light through the researches of French investi- 
 gators in the National Archives at Paris. The documents 
 concerning Fulton were brought to light in 1896 by the 
 exertions of Lieut. Emile Duboc. Since then they have 
 been studied closely by others.^ 
 
 It is now found that Fulton had already in 1797 con- 
 ceived the idea of a submarine boat, and had so far 
 matured his plans that he was able to submit definite 
 
 ' We acknowledge our indebtedness to the valuable treatise by G. L. Pesce, 
 La Navigation Sous Marine, 1906, p. 165 et seq. (2nd edition, 1912), and the 
 almost equally valuable work by the late Lieut. Delpeuch, Les Sous-Marines 
 a trailers Us siicles, 1908, p. 74 et seq. 
 
74 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 propositions to the French Directory on 22 Frimaire an 
 VI (13 Dec. 1797). 
 
 These propositions he sent to one of the Directors, 
 La R6veill^re L6peaux, with a covering letter dated 2 days 
 later, in which he says he is willing to explain his engine 
 to a technical man such as General Bonaparte, whom he 
 has been told is "a good engineer." As these proposi- 
 tions formed the basis of all the subsequent negotiations 
 with the Directory, and the Government which succeeded 
 it, we give them in full : 
 
 To THE Executive Directory. 
 
 Paris, Z2d Frimeire, dth Year 
 of the Republic. 
 
 Citizen Directors, 
 
 Considering the great importance of deminishing 
 the Power of the British Fleets, I have Contemplated the 
 Construction of a Mechanical Nautulus. A Machine which 
 flatters me with much hope of being Able to Annihilate 
 their Navy ; hence feeling confident that practice will Bring 
 the apperatus to perfection ; The Magnitude of the object 
 has excited in me an Ardent desire to Prove the expire- 
 ment ; For this Purpose, and Avoid troubeling you with 
 the Investigation of a new Project, or the expence of Carry- 
 ing it into effect ; I have Arranged a Company who are 
 willing to bear the Expence, and undertake the Expedition 
 on the following Conditions 
 
 Firsi 
 That the Government of France Coniract to pay the 
 Nautulus Company 400 Livers per Gun for each British 
 Ships over 40 Guns which they may destroy ; and 2000 
 Livers per Gun for All vessels of war under 40 tons which 
 they destroy, that the sum be paid in Specie within six 
 months after the distruction of Each Vessel. 
 
 Archives Nationales, Dossier Marine D' 21, fol. 07. 
 
PROPOSALS TO DIRECTORY 75 
 
 Second 
 That all prizes of British Vessels and Cargoes taken by 
 the Nautulus Company ; shall be the Property of the 
 Company ; nor meet with any Interruption from the Agents 
 of Government further than to Ascertain that they are 
 British Property — 
 
 Third 
 
 That the Government Give to the Nautulus Company 
 the exclusive Right to Use this Invention from all the Ports 
 of France : Except when it is the desire of Government to 
 Construct Such Vessels to Act against the Enemies of the 
 Republic. In Such Case the Government, to be at Liberty 
 to Build and Multiply the Mechanical Nautulus, on paying 
 to the Company One hundred thousand Livers for Each 
 Nautulus which they may Construct Or use in the Service 
 
 of the Republic. 
 
 Fourth 
 
 As a Citizen of the American States ; I hope it may be 
 Stipulated that this Invention, or Any Similar Invention, 
 shall not be used by the Government of France Against the 
 American States, Unless the Government of America First 
 apply the Invention Against France. 
 
 Fifth 
 That if Peace is Concluded with England within three 
 Months from the date hereof Government will pay to the 
 Nautulus Company the Amount of the expences which 
 they may have Incured In the experiments, Such payment 
 to be made within three Months after the declaration of 
 
 Peace. 
 
 Sixth 
 
 And whereas fire Ships or other unusual means of 
 destroying Navies are Considered Contrary to the Laws 
 of war. And persons taken in Such enterprise are Liable 
 to Suffer death, it will be an object of Safety if the Directory 
 give the Nautulus Company Commissions Specifying that 
 all persons taken in the Nautulus or Submarine expedition 
 
76 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Shall be treated as Prisiners of War, And in Case of 
 Violence being offered ; the Government, will Retaliate 
 on the British Prisiners in a four fold degree. 
 
 Citizens hoping that this engine will tend to Give Liberty 
 to the seas ; it is of Importance that the experiment Should 
 be proved as soon as Possible in order that if Successful 
 the terror of it may spread before the descent on England, 
 and that it may be brought Into use to facilitate that 
 descent. 
 
 Submitting these proposals to Your deliberations and 
 waiting your Command, I remain with all possible Respect 
 your most Obedient 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 No. 556 Rue du Bacq. 
 
 It will be noticed that no hint is given in the letter as 
 to the construction of the Nautilus, and as the scheme 
 must have appeared to men of that time quite visionary, 
 the fact that the communication was considered at all, 
 leads to the supposition that some influence had been 
 brought to bear upon the Directory possibly by members 
 of the " Company " which Fulton had formed. 
 
 The propositions were transmitted on the nth Nivose 
 (31 Dec. 1797) to the Minister of Marine^ who appears to 
 have entertained them favourably, for on the i8th Nivose he 
 handed his report to the Directory and on the 24th gave 
 his reply to Fulton himself. This was to the effect that 
 the inventor's propositions were accepted in general, with 
 the following amendments to the clauses enumerated ; — 
 
 (i) The sums proposed as prize money for the destruc- 
 tion of the enemy's ships, being too great, were to be halved. 
 
 1 The Minister at this moment, Georges Ren^ Pl^ville-Ie-Pelley, was quite 
 one of the old school — He was born at Granville 26th June 1 726, commenced 
 his career in the merchant marine, where he saw much service and in 1 744 had 
 a leg shot away. This did not prevent his entering the naval service. In 1788 
 he was with d'Estaing in the North American campaign and was made captain. 
 Rear- Admiral in 1797, he was envoy plenipotentiary to the congress of Lille. 
 In the following year he was Minister of Marine, then Vice-Admiral, Senator, 
 and grand officer of the Legion of Honour. Died 1 805 . 
 
PREJUDICE TO SUBMARINE 77 
 
 (3) The construction of as large a number of Nautili 
 as deemed necessary was authorised, the place of con- 
 struction, however, to be far removed from all the war 
 ports. 
 
 (5) The reimbursement of the expenses of the Company 
 that was asked for in case of conclusion of peace was 
 refused unless due to fear inspired by the construction of 
 the Nautilus. 
 
 (6) Finally, the Minister absolutely refused Fulton's re- 
 quest for commissions in the French Navy, because he 
 did not think that it was " possible to grant commissions 
 to men who made use of such means to destroy the 
 enemy's forces and, even so, that such commissions could 
 be any guarantee to them. For the reprisals with which 
 the French Government could threaten the English Cabinet 
 would be useless, since there existed in England three 
 times more French prisoners than English prisoners in 
 France." 
 
 It would have been surprising had an old salt like 
 P16ville-le-Pelley shown anything but the repugnance which 
 existed universally at that time, to the employment of what 
 were considered such unfair methods of warfare. His 
 dictum was that the agents must be considered outside the 
 pale of civilisation and as no better than pirates. History 
 has often repeated itself, and just such prejudice met the 
 introduction of the crossbow and again of the harquebus. 
 Nowadays it is different : the dirigible balloon and the 
 aeroplane had been modified to act as destructive engines 
 of war before an opportunity had arisen where they could 
 be so employed in actual warfare. 
 
 Fulton's reply ^ to the communication of the Minister 
 was an acceptance of the amendments made by the 
 Directory with the exception of that to clause 5, which he 
 stipulated should read that the total sum to be reimbursed 
 to the Company on the conclusion of peace should be a 
 sura not exceeding 25,000 francs, the reason given being 
 
 ' Archives Nationales, Dossier Marine D' 21, fol. 23. 
 
78 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 that the construction and trial of the Nautilus would 
 take three months. Fulton also held to his original 
 demand for commissions for the crew. He proposed to 
 construct his submarine at Paris and test it at Havre. 
 
 These revised conditions, with minor additions as to 
 terms of payment, he embodied in his "Third proposals 
 relative to the mechanical Nautulus," which he forwarded 
 to the Minister on the ist Pluvi6se an VI (20 Jan. 1798). 
 
 A draft decree was drawn up and submitted by the 
 Minister to the Directory ; but it was never issued, for, 
 on the 27th Pluvidse (5 Feb.) Fulton received from the 
 Minister a letter ^ telling him that all his proposals were 
 rejected. 
 
 Judging from a marginal note by the Minister on the 
 report, there is no doubt that it was the question of their 
 recognition as belligerents that proved the stumbling 
 block. 
 
 Fulton, however, was not to be discouraged by this 
 check, but took advantage of a change of ministers a few 
 months later to urge once more his invention upon the 
 Directory, this time with rather more success. 
 
 ' Delpeuch, loc. cit. p. 78. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 SECOND ATTEMPT TO INTRODUCE THE SUBMARINE- 
 REPORT OF A COMMISSION THEREON —PAINTS 
 PANORAMAS FOR A LIVING — CONSTRUCTS AND 
 OPERATES THE SUBMARINE 
 
 "V"TTTE must now follow rapidly the vicissitudes of 
 \ \ / Fulton's second attempt to influence the French 
 
 VV Government to adopt his proposals for making 
 a submarine boat. A new Minister of Marine and of the 
 Colonies had been appointed on April 28, 1798, in the 
 person of Eustace Bruix,^ a man then only in his fortieth 
 year, and therefore not so hide-bound as his predecessor by 
 traditions of the service. 
 
 On the 5th Thermidor, an VI (July 23, 1798), Fulton 
 renewed the encounter by submitting to Bruix his proposi- 
 tions.* In the covering letter, he states that the project 
 has been examined and approved by citizens Monge, 
 Dufalga, Montgolfier, P^rrier, and other distinguished 
 savants, and, after offering once more to make the experi- 
 ments at his own expense, he ends by saying : 
 
 " The destruction of the English Navy will ensure the 
 independence of the seas and France, the Nation which 
 
 ' Eustace, Comte de Bruix (b. 1759, d. 1805), entered the French Navy 
 in 1778 as a volunteer and took part in several battles in the American War. 
 Under the Revolution he took part in the engagement of 13 Prairial, as 
 chief of the staff of the fleet. He was appointed Minister of Marine, April 28, 
 1798, and Vice- Admiral the following year, when he performed a series of 
 voyages in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, although pursued by several English 
 squadrons. In 1801 Napoleon appointed him Admiral ; then in 1803 gave him 
 the command of the Boulogne flotilla. Unfortunately the activity he displayed 
 in organising this enterprise and his excesses hastened his death. 
 
 ' Archives Nationales, Dossier Marine D^ 21, fol. 44. This is the first 
 letter written in French from Fulton to the Government ; only the signature 
 and date are in his own writing, however. 
 
 79 
 
8o ROBERT FULTON 
 
 has most natural resources and population, will alone and 
 without a rival hold the balance of power in Europe." 
 
 Bruix, " relying on the opinion of enlightened citizens," 
 i.e. those cited above, transmits these propositions once 
 more to the Directory. Apparently the result was favour- 
 able, for, a week later, the minister appointed a commission 
 of experts to examine Fulton's project, and at the same 
 time he convened a meeting of them to take place on the 
 15th Thermidor (August 2), at Fulton's residence. One 
 of these letters of appointment has been preserved ; ^ it 
 bears a curious device symbolising the liberty of the seas, 
 with the words " Liberty," " Equality," on either side 
 of it. 
 
 ( Translation?) 
 
 Paris, 13M Tkermidor, Year VI. of the Republic 
 One and Indivisible. 
 Eustace Bruix, 
 
 Vice-Admiral to Citizen Adet, 
 810 Rue du Regard, Paris. 
 
 Citizen, — Citizen Robert Fulton having invented a 
 machine for the destruction of the enemy's marine forces, 
 you are informed that I have appointed you one of the 
 Commissioners for examining the same. I invite you in 
 consequence to the residence of Citizen Fulton, No. 515 
 Rue du Bacq, on the 15th of this month at 11 a.m. 
 
 The other Commissioners will also attend, and you 
 will come to an agreement with them as to the report which 
 yot> will make to me relative to Citizen Fulton's machine. 
 
 (Signed) E. Bruix, 
 
 Minister of Marine and of 
 the Colonies. 
 To Citizen Adet, 
 
 810 Rue du Regard, 
 Paris. 
 
 * In the MS. collection of Mr. A. M. Broadley, to whom I am indebted for 
 permission to use it. See F. B. Wheeler and A. M. Broadley, Napoleon and the 
 Invasion of England: The Story of the Great Terror, i. 302. 
 
COMMISSION ON SUBMARINE 8i 
 
 The experts were Rosily,* president of the Commission, 
 for navigation and seaworthiness ; Adet ^ for the chemical 
 questions involved ; P6rier ^ for practical mechanics ; 
 Prony * for hydrostatics ; and Forfait ^ for naval architecture. 
 The names of citizens Gautier,* Cachin," and Burgues- 
 
 ' Comte de Rosily-Mesros (b. about 1750, d. 1833) entered the Navy in 
 1771, made a voyage round the world with Kerguelen, was abandoned on the 
 island named after that Admiral and nearly perished. He took part in the 
 famous encounter between the frigates Arethusa and La Belle Pottle. He was 
 promoted Rear-Admiral in 1793, and Vice-Admiral in 1796. In 1805 he was 
 sent by Napoleon to relieve Villeneuve of his command of the Mediterranean 
 fleet, the news of which precipitated the latter to his destruction at Trafalgar. 
 After three years' blockade in Cadiz Roads, the remains of the fleet fell into the 
 hands of the Spaniards, and Rosily returned to Paris, where he founded the 
 corps of hydrographical engineers. Grand Cross of Legion of Honour, member 
 of the Academy of Sciences, of the Bureau of Longitude and of other societies. 
 
 * Adet (b. 1763, d. about 1822), distinguished chemist, author of Traiti 
 de lefons iUmentaires sur la chemie, but all his life an ardent politician. 
 
 ' There were two brothers — A. C. Perier and J. C. P^rier — both celebrated 
 mechanicians ; probably the elder of the two (b. 1742, d. 1 8 18) is meant. They 
 launched a company in 1778 for supplying Paris with water by means of Watt's 
 pumping engine. During the Revolution, they were nearly ruined with making 
 warlike material for which they did not get payment. They confined themselves 
 subsequently to supplying machinery for works and manufactories. 
 
 * C. C. F. M. R., baron de Prony (b. 1755, d. 1839), engineer and mathe- 
 matician. He entered the Corps des Fonts et Chauss^es and had charge of the 
 construction of the Pont de la Concorde, which was finished in 1 790. For this 
 he was promoted to the rank of engineer-in-chief. He was then set to revise 
 the trigonometrical tables, to adapt them to the new decimal notation. In 1798 
 he was appointed director of the Ecole des Fonts et Chauss&s. Napoleon, who 
 had a very high opinion of Prony, sent him several times on missions into Italy. 
 Under the Restoration he accomplished the embankment of the Rh6ne, labours 
 which brought him the title of baron. 
 
 ^ P. A. L. Forfait (b. 1752, d. 1807), naval architect, educated under 
 d'Estaing. He designed a type of transatlantic pacquet remarkable for its speed 
 and the burden which nevertheless it could carry. By his advice Antwerp was 
 made into a maritime port. By going from Havre to Paris in sixteen days in a 
 lighter furnished with dipping masts,he proved the possibility of ascending the Seine. 
 He was Minister of Marine from 24th Nov. 1799 to 1st Oct. 1801. He was then 
 appointed Councillor of State, Inspector-General of the flotilla of Boulogne, Com- 
 mander of the Legion of Honour, Maritime Prefect of Havre, and then of Genoa. 
 Died embittered by the degradation which he considered he had undergone. 
 
 ' G. M. B. Gautier du Var (b. 1769, d. 1824), deputy of department of 
 Var at the council of 600 in 1798. Political writer. 
 
 ' Cachin (b. 1757, d. 1825), civil engineer. He specialised in canal and 
 harbour engineering. To him is due the harbour of Cherbourg, the inner 
 portion of which was inaugurated in 1803. 
 
 F 
 
82 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Missiessy i appear also at the foot of the report ; they must 
 have been appointed subsequently. It would have been 
 difficult to have nominated] men better qualified in their 
 respective spheres to undertake such a task. 
 
 The report 2 of the Commission, which is dated 19 
 Fructidor (5 Sept. 1798), exhibits in consequence, as might be 
 expected, remarkable thoroughness and is instructive even 
 at the present day, because it illustrates so well the growth 
 of an invention ; space, however, precludes us from giving 
 it in full.' The first part of the report is occupied with a 
 description of Fulton's plans for the construction of his 
 Nautilus, which, it will be seen, was of the type which takes 
 in water ballast until the weight of the volume of water 
 displaced equals that of the boat — a type which is most 
 difficult to keep in adjustment and which can give only 
 an erratic depth line. With the report there is a drawing 
 which is here reproduced as a help to the reader. 
 
 The Hull was to be of the shape of an imperfect ellip- 
 soid 6.48 m. (21.25 ^t.) long and 1.94 m. (6.43 ft.) diameter. 
 Below this hull there was to be another hull of metal 
 0.52 m. (1.7 ft.) deep, terminating i m. (3.28 ft.) from the 
 bow with the curve of which it was to " fair." The sides 
 of this hull were to be similarly " faired " to the sides of the 
 ellipsoid while the after end, fashioned like the stern of 
 an ordinary vessel, was to terminate 0.75 m. (2.46 ft.) from 
 the end of the ellipsoid. The middle of the hull was to 
 
 ^ Eduard, Comte de Burgues-Missiessy or Missiessy- Quies (b. 1756, 
 d. 1837). Entered the Navy at the age of ten. Later he distinguished himself 
 during the American War. He developed a code of signals, and also did work 
 on the stowage of ships, afterwards published. In 1805, with a squadron of 
 five ships, he did great dams^e to English commerce in the Atlantic. In 1802 
 he was appointed to command the fleet of the Scheldt, and was made Vice- 
 Admiral. He was commander-in-chief of the port of Antwerp, and repulsed 
 the attack of the Walcheren expedition in 1808. Maritime Prefect of Toulon 
 in 1 81 5. Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour and of the Order of 
 Saint Louis. 
 
 ^ Archives Nationales, Dossier Marine D^ 21, fol. 48-58. 
 
 ' It is to be found in full in Pesce, p. 124. 
 
NAUTILUS 83 
 
 have a flat floor. The object of this hull, which was also 
 to serve as a keel, was to accommodate such a quantity of 
 water ballast as would make the difference between the 
 weight of the whole submarine boat and the weight of the 
 water displaced by it not more than 4 to 5 kilos., so that 
 the introduction of this small quantity of water would be 
 all that was necessary to make the submarine sink or rise 
 to the surface. This was to be accomplished by a suction 
 and force pump worked by lever, pinion, and racks, very 
 much like the air pumps of the period. In the words of 
 the report : 
 
 "Citizen Fulton, who had in view particularly the 
 object of imitating the mechanism by which fish make 
 their movements in the water, has, by means of the pump 
 just referred to, taken the place of the swim bladder which 
 by its spontaneous dilations and contractions increases or 
 diminishes the volume of the fish and makes it approach 
 the surface or sink to the bottom of the water, at will." 
 
 At the bow of the ellipsoid, on the upper surface, there 
 was to be a metallic dome or conning tower pierced with 
 sidelights of thick glass and furnished with a manhole 
 serving as an ingress for the crew and stores. 
 
 At about I m. (3.28 ft.) from the bow of the ellipsoid, 
 a water-tight bulkhead cut off a compartment which 
 enclosed the anchor gear and a small winch the use of 
 which will be explained later. Both were worked by 
 shafts passing through stuffing boxes in the bulkhead. 
 The anchor was of the stockless type, the shank being 
 drawn up the hawse-hole leaving the flukes resting against 
 the hull. 
 
 Propulsion — which, after all, was the most important 
 point — was to be effected by means of a screw, called by 
 Fulton a fly, actuated by cranks and gearing. The dia- 
 meter was to be 1.34 m. (4.4 ft), and there were to be four 
 wings about f m. (2.2 ft.) wide. He hoped to obtain when 
 at full speed 240 revolutions, and at ordinary times 120 
 revolutions, of the screw. 
 
84 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 The rudder was to be of the usual unbalanced type 
 projecting i m, (3.28 ft.) from the stern and 0.50 m. 
 (1.64 ft.) deep. It was to be worked by a sprocket chain 
 from a crank in the centre of the boat, where the com- 
 mander of the vessel stood. A second horizontal rudder, 
 intended to maintain the vessel at a predetermined immer- 
 sion, was hinged on a pin on the vertical rudder and at 
 right angles to it so that it could turn through an angle of 
 30 deg. half above and half below the horizontal line. It 
 was to be actuated by a pinion working a sleeve on the 
 vertical rudder spindle on which was a collar. The latter 
 came against a hook or stop on the extremity of the hori- 
 zontal rudder. 
 
 For propulsion when at the surface, and instead of using 
 the screw, a hinged mast was to be arranged at a point 
 about one-third of the vessel's length from the bow. To 
 this mast was to be bent a sail like a fan, furled by sheets 
 on the ribs. After furling the sail, the mast was to be 
 lowered against the hull and two envelopes shaped like 
 the sheath wings of a fly were to close over it. Three men 
 were to suffice for working the Nautilus, and with a lighted 
 lamp were expected to be able to stay for three hours under 
 water. 
 
 The attacking apparatus of the Nautilus was to consist 
 of a submarine mine or torpedo,^ which was merely a 
 copper barrel intended to hold a quintal (100 lbs.) of gun- 
 powder and furnished in front with a gun-lock the trigger 
 of which was to be pulled off by a lanyard. To get this 
 into position and fire it the following apparatus was 
 schemed. Through the conning tower of the Nautilus, by 
 means of a stuffing box, passed a shaft. The outer end of 
 this terminated in a screw eye, called by Fulton " the horn 
 
 ' Fulton himself adopted this word for his apparatus, although it was not 
 a torpedo in the modern sense of the word. The analogy of course was 
 with the torpaedo or cramp fish, whose peculiar mode of attack was known 
 at an early period ; cf. Sir Thomas Herbert's Travels (ed. 1638), p. 349, where 
 he describes it as "evaporating a cold breath to stupefie such as either touch or 
 hold a thing that touches it." 
 
NAUTILUS 85 
 
 of the Nautilus." Through the eye passed the tow rope 
 attached to the torpedo from a small winch inside. The 
 Nautilus was to be navigated till under the keel of the ship 
 which it was intended to blow up and the horn was to be 
 embedded in the planking by a few blows on the end of 
 the shaft so that it could then be screwed firmly into the 
 wood. The Nautilus was then to set off, leaving the horn 
 behind, till the tow rope brought the torpedo into contact 
 with the ship's bottom. In the words of the report "la 
 poudre fait une explosion terrible qui, ne pouvant agir 
 sur I'eau a cause de son incompressibilit6 exerce tout son 
 effet contre les flancs du vaisseau et le brise." It must be 
 remembered that it was not generally known at this time and 
 indeed till many years later that an explosive would act under 
 water in this way. The Commission did not consider that 
 this apparatus would act satisfactorily, and were of opinion 
 that experiments were necessary to determine the point. 
 
 The cubic content of the boat was calculated at 10.37 
 cub. m. (366 cub. ft.). Allowing one-third of this space for 
 the accommodation of men and stores, the remaining 6.92 
 cub. m. would suffice, according to Lavoisier's experiments 
 that a man consumes af cub. m. of air per hour, for 3 
 men for 12J hours. But to allow for the necessary lamp- 
 light and the fact that the carbon dioxide from combustion 
 and the men's lungs would render the air irrespirable long 
 before this point had been reached — the Commission put 
 it down at 6 hours. It will be seen later that Fulton and 
 his assistants only remained 3 hours under water. 
 
 With regard to the equilibrium of the boat, the Com- 
 mission remarked that it would not do that the conning 
 tower should come flush with the water merely, in order 
 to renew the air by opening the side lights ; but that it 
 would be necessary for the conning tower to emerge 3 or 
 4 decimetres. It would then be necessary to deal with 
 500 kilos of water instead of the 4 or 5 spoken of by the 
 inventor. Fulton proposed a pipe to the other extremity 
 of the hull in order to establish a current of air. 
 
86 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Fulton showed to the Commissioners in action, a 
 model of the boat in which the screw was worked by a 
 spring, but they were of opinion that there was no com- 
 parison between it and an actual boat, because the spring 
 was in proportion at least three times the strength of three 
 men working cranks. We shall see later that the Com- 
 missioners were right. In his means of propulsion Fulton 
 was following Bushnell, who had employed a single threaded 
 screw of one complete turn. Fulton's propeller, however, 
 was a short portion only of a quadruple threaded screw. 
 It is worthy of remark that when, half a century later, the 
 screw was applied to steam navigation, exactly the same 
 evolution was gone through. Had Fulton's work been 
 made known, a considerable amount of experimenting 
 might have been dispensed with. 
 
 After approving of the ordinary rudder, they were of 
 opinion that the horizontal one for controlling the rise 
 and descent of the Nautilus would not be effectual. 
 Fulton at once proposed a second screw ^ under the keel. 
 This was approved, as it was considered that it would 
 give a means of more effectually controlling the vertical 
 speed. 
 
 The Commission approved the anchor gear, but criticised 
 the sail arrangement on the ground that the largest surface 
 was at the upper part, and would therefore diminish the 
 boat's stability. 
 
 They remarked that the force with which a floating body 
 tends to resist inclination is proportional to the cube of 
 the ordinates of the plane of flotation. Here the plane 
 of rotation is zero, because the difference between the 
 weight of the entire system and that of the volume of water 
 which it would displace is only 4 to 5 kilos. Therefore, 
 theoretically, the breath of a child would suffice to capsize 
 the boat. Either the sails must be omitted or the Nautilus 
 
 1 The idea was borrowed from Bushnell, and we find it cropping up again 
 regularly in more recent times, e^. in the boats of Tuck, 1884, of Kordenfelt, 
 1885, of Baker, 1892, of Holland, 1892, and of PuUico, 1896. 
 
REPORT OF COMMISSION 87 
 
 must have greater emersion, which means dealing with 
 a larger quantity of water. 
 
 Further difi&culties were suggested, e.g. the enemy might 
 furnish their vessels with nets 1 wherewith to fish for the 
 torpedoes. The Nautilus might be surprised, and it would 
 take the crew some time to furl the sail and plunge. There 
 would be a difficulty in knowing the distance run under 
 water and the depth below the surface. For the latter 
 contingency, Fulton proposed a barometer, but the Com- 
 missioners show that it was not practicable, 
 The report terminates thus : 
 
 ( Translation}) 
 
 "The arm conceived by citizen Fulton is a terrible 
 means of destruction, because it acts in silence and in a 
 manner almost inevitable. It is particularly suitable to 
 the French, because, having a weaker navy (we should 
 say necessarily) than their adversary, the entire destruction 
 of both navies is of advantage to them. 
 
 " This arm is without doubt imperfect ; it is the first 
 conception of a man of genius. It would be very im- 
 prudent to risk coming out of the workshop and crossing 
 the high seas to attack the English ships in their harbours. 
 The inventor, who undertakes to command the boat him- 
 self and find the necessary crew, should practise with them, 
 so that he may acquire confidence by experience, perfect 
 his steering, and make experiments to find out the best 
 means of piercing or blowing up sides of vessels ; this is 
 certainly not the affair of a day. A convenient spot where 
 there is at least a depth of water of 5 metres is necessary, 
 since the machine is 3 metres deep. There should be still 
 water and also currents, so as to learn to make headway 
 against them and to calculate the leeway. Workshops 
 suitable for the preparation of the necessary apparatus 
 secretly are wanted. . . . 
 
 ' This is not quite the same idea as modern torpedo netting, which is 
 protective merely, but the germ of that invention is here. 
 
88 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 "The Commission invites the Minister of Marine and of 
 the Colonies to authorise citizen Fulton to make the 
 machine, the model of which he has produced, and grant 
 him the necessary means. It cannot be doubted that, 
 with the same brains that have been put into its concep- 
 tion, the elegance and solidity of the different mechanisms 
 comprised in it, he who has executed the model would 
 be able to construct the full-sized machine in a manner 
 equally ingenious." 
 
 Now at last, one would have thought that Fulton's end 
 was gained ; but the difficulties in his path were far from 
 being removed. On the 27 Vend^miaire, an VII (18th 
 October 1798) he sent the Minister, on behalf of the 
 Company, an amended scheme which, however, differed 
 only from the first proposal in two of the articles. Article 
 2 was amended to read : 
 
 " Since the taking or destruction of the first English 
 war vessel will justify the experiments and will prove the 
 importance of the invention, I stipulate that, as soon as the 
 government shall have received certain intelligence of the 
 taking or destruction of the first English war vessel by 
 means of the Nautulus, immediately there shall be paid to 
 me or my order five hundred thousand francs in French 
 money, with which sum I engage to build a fleet of 
 Nautuli in order to put into execution my plan against 
 the English fleet." 
 
 Article 4 read : 
 
 " That the government engage to pay to me, my heirs and 
 assigns the sum of a hundred francs in cash for each pound 
 of calibre of the guns of the English vessels destroyed during 
 the war by the Nautulus or put out of commission. That 
 is to say, for a gun of 5 lb, weight of shot there shall be 
 delivered to me five hundred francs ; for a gun of 10 lb. 
 weight of shot a thousand francs, and so on. The cash 
 shall be paid to me immediately on the receipt of certain 
 intelligence." 
 
 The business, however, hung fire, and, as a last resource, 
 
LETTER TO BARRAS 89 
 
 Fulton appealed to one of the Directors, the notorious 
 P. J. N. F. Barras, in the following letter,^ dated 27th 
 October 1798 : 
 
 Robert Fulton au Citoyen Directeur Barras. 
 
 CiTOYEN Directeur, — D'apres le repport des com- 
 missaires nommes par le ministre de la marine il parait que 
 la Machine et les moyens que j'ai proposes pour d^truire 
 la flotte Angloise sont prononc6s praticables, permettez- 
 moi done de rappeller a votre consideration les conse- 
 quences [qui] doivent rdsulter du succes de cette entreprise. 
 Le commerce 6norme de I'Angleterre, ainsi que son 
 Gouvernement monstreux, depend de sa marine militaire. 
 Quelques vaisseaux de guerre d^truits par des moyens si 
 nouveaux, si caches et si incalculables, la confiance des 
 matelots est an^antie et la flotte rendue nulle de I'^poque 
 de la premiere frayeur. Dans cet 6tat des choses les 
 rdpublicains en Angleterre se leveront, pour faciliter la 
 descente des fran^ais, ou pour changer eux-m^mes leur 
 governement, sans verser beaucoup de sang, et sans 
 aucunes depenses pour la France. L'Angleterre r6pub- 
 licanis^e les mers seront libres ; la liberty des meres de- 
 vendra le garant d'une paix perpetuelle a toutes les nations 
 maritimes ; d'une telle paix la France gagnera plus que 
 toute autre nation a cause de sa grande population et de 
 I'immensite de ses ressources. Ce ne sera qu'alors que le 
 g6nie humain sentira g6neralement le prix des principes 
 pour lesquels les frangais se sont montr^s si prodigues de 
 leur sang dans tous leurs miracles de bravoure. 
 
 Si, au premier coup d'oeuil, les moyens que je propose 
 paraissent revoltons, ce n'est que parce qu'ils sont extra- 
 ordinaires, ils ne sont riens moins qu'inhumains, certaine- 
 ment c'est la maniere la plus douce et le moins sanguinaire 
 que le philosophe puisse imaginer pour renverser ce 
 
 1 British Museum, Add. MSS. ,36747. It is the only Fulton document 
 preserved there, and we have thought, therefore, that it was worth while to 
 give the original text. 
 
92 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Fulton refers to it again in a letter ^ written to Mr 
 Gilpin from Paris, November 20, 1798 — evidently a reply 
 to friendly criticism : 
 
 " I thank you for. . . Mr, Chapman's observations on 
 my system of small canals^ which observations will tend 
 to bring the subject to discussion and Render its import- 
 ance understood. . . But for the pleasure of Seeing my 
 Canal system stand in its true Light I look to America, 
 and to America I look for the perfecting of all my plans. 
 
 The plan of my Nautilus you say is not liked, this 
 must be because its consequences are not understood. 
 The Idea is yet an Infant, but I think I see in it all the 
 nerve and muscle of an Infant hercules which at one 
 grasp will Strangle the Serpents which poison and Con- 
 vulse the American Constitution. 
 
 Every man who has the least pretension to expanded 
 Reflection and a Knowledge of the interest of nations 
 must admit that a perfect free trade is of the utmost 
 importance, but a free trade or in other words a free 
 Ocean is particularly Important to America. I would ask 
 anyone if all the American difficulties during this war is 
 not owing to the Naval systems of Europe and a Licenced 
 Robbery on the ocean ? How then is America to prevent 
 this ? Certainly not by attempting to build a fleet to cope 
 with the fleets of Europe but if possible by rendering the 
 European fleets useless. A letter has not Room for much 
 on this head, my Reasons on the Subject shall make their 
 appearance in time, and I hope in manner which will carry 
 Conviction. From what I have heard, some of my friends 
 fear that I may become an instrument in the hands of party 
 — but of this I believe there is not the least danger. . . . 
 I cannot unite with any party or polity, nor will I aid 
 them unless I Clearly see that an obstacle between Society 
 
 ' Sutcliffe, Robert Fulton and the Clermont, p. 316. 
 « See p. 38. 
 
GIVES UP CANAL SCHEMES 93 
 
 and a Lasting Peace or improvement Can be Removed. 
 • . . I am happy Ralph has gone to America where I hope 
 to return early in the Spring. 
 
 " Remember me also to Mr. Cartwright's family ; with 
 Regard to his engines I will write him." 
 
 This letter shows that Fulton had already relinquished 
 the active pursuit in France of his canal projects. His 
 treatise on canal navigation was however translated by 
 M. de R^cicourt and was pubhshed in Paris the following 
 year. It is interesting to note that it was also translated 
 into Portuguese and published in Lisbon in 1800. It is 
 probably on the strength of this book that Fulton is 
 referred to in contemporary French technical literature as 
 an authority on canals. 
 
 Fulton is very explicit also in this letter as to the 
 course he intended to pursue with regard to the sub- 
 marine, and his subsequent conduct was in accordance 
 with it. Clearly, he shared the view which has been held 
 by many other enthusiasts in like case, that ultimately 
 his inventions would do away with warfare altogether by 
 rendering it impossible. 
 
 It was all very well, however, to write letters in lofty 
 strains, but he had no assured income, and by this time 
 his funds were once more at a low ebb : he was obliged, 
 therefore, to look round for some means of livelihood. 
 It was only natural that his thoughts should turn to his 
 late profession of art, so that we find a few portraits, such 
 as the one of his friend Barlow, dating from this period. 
 Barlow seems to have been a good friend to him financi- 
 ally, and probably gave him this commission as a delicate 
 way of putting him in funds once more. But Fulton's 
 execution was excelled by that of many other artists 
 in Paris, and there was but small demand just then for 
 the art of portraiture. Small wonder that the field of 
 mechanical invention should occur to his mind as a 
 suitable one to delve in ; in fact, he became a prolific 
 
94 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 patentee. He had already turned his attention to the 
 problem of making rope by machinery, instead of by hand 
 as then almost exclusively practised, as is shown by the 
 following letter > to Cartwright : 
 
 PARIS,y««« 20ti, 1798. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Still I continue in France and thus take 
 the opportunity of writing to you by ray friend, Mr. Gilpin, 
 who will convey to America anything you have to com- 
 municate to me on mechanical subjects. In a long letter 
 I wrote to you on mechanics on March 5th, I mentioned 
 some ideas of a machine for making ropes, the model of 
 which is now finished, capable of making a rope one inch 
 diameter. By Mr. G. I send you a piece of rope fabricated 
 on the engine by which you may judge of its state of 
 perfection. But still I conceive you have superior ideas 
 on the movement of such an engine, particularly the means 
 of giving equal tension to the strands. 
 
 It was for this machine that Fulton, in conjunction with 
 Nat. Cutting, a compatriot, obtained on i8th May 1799, a 
 patent for fifteen years for " Machines a f abriquer toutes 
 esp^ces de cordes, cables et cordages en g6n6ral." ^ 
 
 The machine that Cartwright had invented — his " cor- 
 delier " — which is referred to by Fulton in this letter, was 
 patented by the former in England in 1792 (No. 1876). 
 Fulton's machine was no improvement upon his, but it 
 was much superior to the hand methods then in use in 
 France, and therefore had considerable vogue. It must 
 have brought in some addition to his means, especially if 
 it is true, as has been stated, that his machines were intro- 
 duced into the French Government Dockyards. 
 
 The success of Fulton's rope-making machine, however, 
 was quite insignificant when compared with that of another 
 of his ventures in which his artistic training stood him in 
 good stead. This was when he hit upon the happy idea of 
 
 ^ Memoir of Cartwright, p. 146. 
 
 • Description des machines, vol. v. p. 62, 
 
THE PANORAMA 95 
 
 painting a panorama, then quite a novelty, and therefore 
 just the thing to attract the attention of the versatile 
 Parisians and to bring him prominently before the public. 
 So true it is that any way of amusing, or again of feeding, 
 one's fellowman is appreciated whereas any proposal for 
 improving his condition, the advantage of which requires 
 a little thought to grasp, is generally rejected. 
 
 The Panorama was, however, not original with Fulton, 
 for it was introduced by Robert Barker, a portrait painter 
 of Edinburgh, who patented the invention in Great Britain 
 in 1787 (No. 1612). No doubt the idea of panoramic re- 
 presentation was older still, but Barker was the first to 
 bring it before the public on a large scale. His Panorama 
 of Edinburgh was exhibited in the Haymarket in 1789 ; 
 this, however, was only a small affair, 25 feet diameter. 
 He then painted a view of London which was shown in 
 1792. Finally, in 1793, he took a lease of ground in 
 Leicester Square and erected three panoramas, the largest 
 being 90 feet diameter. This was opened early in 1794 
 and was succeeded during subsequent years by others — in 
 fact it proved a very remunerative enterprise. 
 
 Such an exhibition, touching so closely on his then 
 intended profession of art, besides being so close to where 
 he was residing at the time and being a fashionable resort 
 of the town, could not have been unknown to Fulton. It 
 is just possible that he had come to some arrangement 
 with the inventor, just as he had proposed to Dr. Cart- 
 wright in regard to one of the latter's inventions,^ but if so 
 we have no record of it. 
 
 However that may be, a French patent ^ was taken out 
 on April 26, 1799 for the term of ten years by "Robert 
 Fulton of the United States." On 17 Frimaire an VIII 
 (Dec. 8th, 1799) he disposed of^ his patent rights "par acte 
 notaire " to James W. Thayer, a compatriot, and his wife 
 Henriette, nde Bee. 
 
 1 See p. 66. 
 
 ' Description des Brevets, i' Sit\e, vol. iii. p. 44. 
 
96 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 A plot of land situated in a central position in Paris, 
 on the south side of the Boulevard Montmartre, was secured, 
 and upon it was erected a large building 14 m. (46 feet) 
 diameter, to contain the Panorama. The site is now 
 indicated by the " Passage. (?.«. an arcade, with shops) des 
 Panoramas," — with the exception of the "rue Fulton"^ 
 near the Jardin des Plantes — the only vestiges in the city 
 to remind those who know the facts, of Fulton's long stay 
 there. The subject of the Panorama that he painted and 
 completed early in 1800, was the " Burning of Moscow," 
 not, of course, the fire which signalised Napoleon's invasion 
 of Russia, for that did not take place fill 181 2, but an 
 earlier one, of which so many are recorded in the history 
 of Moscow in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 
 Doubtless Fulton chose his subject for this very reason, 
 because he would be on very safe ground, and also because 
 it offered an opportunity for a very lurid production. 
 This was succeeded by another on the same site. 
 
 As indicating how popular * the Panorama was, outlast- 
 ing even the Republic itself, it is interesting to note that the 
 concessionaires on March 9, 1809, obtained a prolongation 
 of their patent for five years, just when it was about to 
 expire, so that it remained in force till April 27, 1814. It 
 
 ' There is a " rue Fulton " in Havre also, close to the Eassin de I'Eure. 
 ' The Panorama was even the theme of a Parisian street ballad or music- 
 hall song. One verse goes 
 
 Paris pas plus grand que cela 
 Jouit de succes legitime 
 Un savant vous le montrera 
 Pour un franc cinquante centimes 
 Et tout le monde donne ou donnera 
 Dans le pano, pano, panorama. 
 
 (Paris more than any place 
 Rejoices in a legitimate success. 
 A clever man will show it you 
 For one franc fifty centimes. 
 And everybody goes or is going 
 To the pano, pano, panorama.) 
 
APPEALS TO DIRECTORY 97 
 
 is interesting also, to find that Fulton, on 26th April 1801, 
 obtained a second patent for fifteen years, for improvements 
 in panoramas. 
 
 Notwithstanding these pre-occupations Fulton con- 
 tinued in an insistent way to importune the Directory to 
 listen to his proposals on submarine navigation. One of 
 these appeals is as follows : ^ 
 
 To the Citizens composing the military Committee 
 of the executive Directory of the French Republic. 
 
 Paris, 29 Messidor, an vii. {t.^ July 1799). 
 
 Citizen Fulton, American, presented to the Directory 
 18 months ago, the model of an engine intended to de- 
 stroy, in the open sea and even in their ports, English 
 vessels and, in consequence, to wipe out their military 
 marine. 
 
 This project was sent to the Minister of Marine, who 
 nominated to examine it, a commission composed of 
 citizens Borda, Perrier, Adet, Prony, Forfait, Rosily, and 
 Barthdlemi : the report of the commission was as favour- 
 able as the author could desire : the principles of this 
 engine were found to be simple and in accordance with 
 those of mechanics and augured the happiest success if 
 carried out. 
 
 Citizen Fulton offered to the Directory to execute the 
 first engine ; he did not even ask government for an ad- 
 vance for any expenses if they did not think fit to make 
 them ; he only asked for permission to construct this 
 engine at Paris and to make trial of it against some English 
 fleet blockading our ports. 
 
 Citizen Fulton has never been able to obtain that per- 
 mission, but he has not ceased to beg for it with all the 
 zeal of a disinterested patriot, who asks neither for place 
 nor money. 
 
 • Archives Nationales, A. F. III. 1520, quoted in Desbriire, vol. ii. p. 256. 
 
 G 
 
98 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 He proceeds to deduce the conclusion that the motives 
 for refusal were humanitarian and then goes on : 
 
 Citizen Fulton asks the executive Directory to authorise 
 him to construct at Paris the engine of which he is the 
 inventor and to make trial of it against the enemy. He 
 undertakes to make the trial himself and begs no other 
 compensation after more than i8 months of work, ex- 
 pense, and entreaty than the happiness of having con- 
 tributed to the re-establishment of peace, the freedom of 
 the seas and of commerce, and to the consolidation of 
 the Republic, 
 
 Health and respect, 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 
 This letter was duly considered by the Committee and 
 their report thereon contains this significant remark : 
 
 "The inventor is no charlatan — he proposes to cap- 
 tain his engine himself and thus gives his head as a 
 hostage for his success." 
 
 They go on to comment on the delicate mechanism 
 of the engine and the need for actual trial against the 
 enemy before any conclusion can be arrived at. They 
 conclude with the pious opinion that " philosophy would 
 not reprove a means of destroying the destroyers of the 
 liberty of the seas." 
 
 Fulton's request was simple and demanded a like 
 answer, instead of which nothing was done. Such treat- 
 ment reminds one of the policy of " masterly inactivity " 
 depicted in Dickens's "Circumlocution Office" rather than 
 that of a young Republican government armed with " new 
 brooms," so quickly does bureaucracy creep in with 
 its red tape. 
 
 There is now a gap in Fulton's life of some months, 
 during which we have no documentary evidence as to his 
 movements. It is asserted, however, by his biographers 
 with every appearance of the truth, that, disgusted with 
 
DIRECTORY OVERTHROWN 99 
 
 his treatment by the Directory, he approached the execu- 
 tive of the Batavian Republic through the intermediary 
 of their Ambassador in Paris — M. Schimmelpennick, with 
 the offer of his submarine Nautilus. This led Fulton to 
 visit Holland, where a commission reported on his plans 
 with such lukewarmness that nothing was done. One 
 gentleman alone — a M. Vanstaphast — was on his side and 
 offered to back him up with capital. 
 
 Fulton was not away from Paris very long, because on 
 13 Vend6miaire an VIII (5 Oct. 1799) he wrote to the 
 Minister of Marine a letter ^ in English, enclosing a very 
 long statement, in French, of "observations upon the 
 moral effects of the Nautilus in case it should be employed 
 with success," and "Reflections upon the general effects 
 which the success of the Nautilus would produce for the 
 extension of the principles of Liberty and the establish- 
 ment of a lasting peace among the nations." He does 
 this because he considers that it is necessary to refute 
 certain objections that he imagines must be held in high 
 quarters. 
 
 Five days after its receipt a report is called for and 
 the same day Fulton submits amended conditions, among 
 which he reiterates once more his request for a commission. 
 
 But a change had come over affairs in France by the 
 Revolution of 18 and 19 Brumaire (Nov. 9 and 10, 1799), 
 which resulted in the overthrow of the Directory. In its 
 place Napoleon constituted the Consulate, with himself as 
 First Consul ; practically he was in supreme power, be- 
 causfe the Second and Third Consuls were merely figure- 
 heads. 
 
 Fulton, who, as we have already seen, had always had 
 the greatest confidence in Napoleon, lost no time, we may 
 be sure, in calling upon the new Minister of Marine : this 
 was none other than Forfait, who had been a member of 
 the first Commission that had reported so favourably on 
 Fulton's plans. 
 
 ^ Archives Nationales, Dossier Marine D^ 21, fol, 61. 
 
lOO ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Forfait's observations on Fulton's request for a com- 
 mission dated 25 Germinal an VIII (15 April 1800), are as 
 follows : 
 
 " It cannot be disguised that the Nautilus is a machine 
 not yet in use and that it infringes in several points the 
 laws of war. It would be dangerous, especially at this 
 moment when so great a number of Frenchmen are in the 
 power of the English, to express any kind of menace in 
 the Commission. In granting it pure and simple, that is 
 to say, in acknowledging as combatants the men serving 
 on the Nautilus and the Nautilus vessel itself, I think that 
 that ought not to create more fear than the menace of 
 reprisals can give security for." 
 
 Whether Fulton obtained permission to build a sub- 
 marine or only had a tacit understanding with Forfait we 
 do not know ; but Fulton's next letter,^ dated 20 Germinal 
 (10 April), announces that the Nautilus which he is having 
 made in the workshop of C. Perrier is on the point of 
 being finished. He requests the minister to place before 
 Napoleon his conditions, and begs for a --prompt and 
 favourable decision. Then follow his 3 conditions which 
 are of similar tenor to those which he had before sub- 
 mitted. He concludes : " I have every reason to hope 
 from Bonaparte the welcome, the encouragement that 
 have so long been refused by Directors and Ministers " — 
 thus showing how hope had sprung up again within him 
 at the advent of Napoleon to power. 
 
 On the authority of an eye witness " the trial trip of the 
 Nautilus is stated to have taken place on the Seine in front 
 of H6tel des Invalides, but it is possible that his memory 
 was at fault, and that he was confusing these trials with 
 those of the steamboat of 1803, because the official docu- 
 ments suggest that the submarine was built at Rouen — a 
 much more suitable place. Even if the boat was con- 
 
 ' Archives Nationales, Dossier Marine Di 6i, fol. 77. 
 
 ^ Guyton de Morveau, Bull. d( la Soc. d^ Encouragement, 1 809, vol. viii. 
 p. 197. 
 
BUILDS THE SUBMARINE xoi 
 
 structed at Paris, it was certainly taken to Rouen for com- 
 pletion, because correspondence took place between the 
 Minister and both Fulton and the Commissary of Rouen. 
 
 By the month of July the Nautilus was nearly finished, 
 when a modification presented itself to Fulton and was at 
 once added. This is described by Quesnel, Commissaire 
 de la Marine at Rouen, in a letter ^ to the Minister, dated 
 29 Messidor, an VUI (17 July 1800) as "a kind of boat 
 which forms a platform of 6 feet wide by 20 feet long, such 
 that when the Nautilus is on the surface it will have the 
 appearance of an ordinary boat." This would in no way 
 hinder plunging, but would give the crew room to stand 
 outside when the Nautilus was at the surface. Quesnel 
 continues to report progress to the Minister, and from his 
 letters we condense the account which follows. 
 
 The Nautilus was launched on the 5 Thermidor (24th 
 July) and five days later commenced her trial trips. These 
 took place " in 25 feet of water in the middle of the Seine 
 between Bapeaume and the shipyard of the late citizen 
 Thibault." Fulton took two people down with him (letter 
 of 5 Therm.) and made two plunges, the first of which 
 lasted 8 minutes and the second 17 minutes. 
 
 The trials lasted for three hours, during which the boat 
 changed her position frequently. The current, however, 
 caused Fulton considerable difficulty, and he resolved to 
 proceed to Havre, where he wished to make trials in the 
 open sea. The following evening he wrote to Forfait : ^ 
 
 Rouen, the 11 Thermidor, An %th. 
 
 Citizen Minister, 
 
 Yesterday I tryed my experiments with the Nautilus 
 in water 25 feet deep and have succeded to Render the 
 sinking and Rising easy and famelior, the Current which 
 was at least one League per hour togather with the want of 
 suflecient experience, prevented me making the movements 
 
 1 Archives Nationales, loc. cit. fol. 83. 
 = Loc. cit. foi; 88. 
 
I02 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 under water which I desired, however time will perfect 
 that part of the operation, having succeded to sail like a 
 common boat and plunge under water when I think proper 
 to avoid an enimy — it may be sufficient at present to render 
 an operation against the enimy successful, this day I pro- 
 pose to set off for havre and hope to arrive there on the 
 fourth, be so good as to send me An order for the powder 
 I may want which will be from 8 to lo Quintals. 
 
 I have not yet beared any thing of the letter of pro- 
 tection from the Primier Consul be so good as to spech 
 to him on that subject and let me know his determination. 
 
 Adue, patience and perseverance are the friends of 
 Science. Count on my Zeal — to Render the Nautilus 
 useful. 
 
 RoBT Fulton. 
 
 The tone of this letter is very confident ; but, consider- 
 ing the circumstances, it was justified. The latter part of 
 the letter refers to a passport, or rather a commission, 
 which was to be issued to Fulton. 
 
 He lost no time, after coming to the decision, in carry- 
 ing it out, for on July 31st, at 6 A.M., he set out for Havre, 
 towing the Nautilus behind two barges (letter of 12 
 Thermidor) arriving there four days later. 
 
 On the 17th Thermidor, an VIII (5th August 1800) ^ 
 Fulton wrote to Forfait from Havre : 
 
 "You will learn with great pleasure that all my ex- 
 periments on submarine navigation have fully succeeded." 
 
 He then gives details of three experiments that he has 
 tried : — 
 
 1. Using wings like the sails of a windmill for pro- 
 pulsion (i.e. the screw propeller). 
 
 2. Plunging by means of lateral wings and retaining 
 the boat at a desired level. 
 
 3. Increasing the displacement by means of a weighted 
 anchor so as to make the Nautilus sink. 
 
 ' Archives Nationales, A. F. IV. 1049, quoted in Desbriere, vol. iii. p. 307. 
 
SUBMARINE EXPERIMENTS 103 
 
 On the 26 Thermidor (14 August 1800) Fulton again 
 addressed the Minister,^ giving the result of three more 
 experiments : 
 
 4. Moving the boat in a straight line without oars. 
 
 5. Plunging and remaining down i hr. 2 m. 
 
 6. Finding that the compass acts in the same way 
 below water as on the surface. 
 
 It is unnecessary to go into all the details with which 
 Fulton favoured the minister, since he embodied them 
 in a report that he made after he had arrived again in 
 Paris. 
 
 Before, however, we go into that report we shall digress 
 slightly in order to show whence came the " sinews of war " 
 that enabled Fulton to prosecute his experiments. For 
 this information and for other scraps of human interest 
 about Fulton's doings we are indebted to the correspon- 
 dence that passed between Barlow and his wife, who had 
 been ordered by her physician to spend the summer months 
 at Havre for the sake of the sea-bathing, her husband 
 meanwhile staying behind in Paris. 
 
 Writing on the 29 Thermidor, an 8 (17 Aug. i8oo), 
 Barlow says :^ "Tell Toot he shall have the [$]iooo in a 
 day or two, but Thayer has not paid according to his 
 promise. The pictures go not well — 50 or 60 livres a day 
 for both, — and at this season ! But the excessive heat 
 prevents everybody from stirring out, especially on the 
 Boulevards, and in the daytime." 
 
 The "pictures" were of course the panoramas, and the 
 money was Fulton's share of profits from the conces- 
 sionaires. 
 
 Fulton was now eager to try his boat on the high seas, 
 and proposed to set out for Cherbourg, whose huge natural 
 harbour would afford ideal facilities for experiment. It 
 was a bold, almost rash undertaking, and so Barlow 
 evidently thought, although he tried to hide from his wife 
 
 * Dossier D^ zi, fol. 92. 
 
 ' C. B. Todd, Life o^" Barlow, p. 177. 
 
I04 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 his worst fears in a reassuring letter^ to her on the 17 
 Fructidor (4th Sept.) : 
 
 " And poor Toot, I suppose, is now gone. I have not 
 believed of late there was much danger in the expedition, 
 especially if they don't go over to the enemy's coast. . . . 
 He is master of all his movements, and it appears to me 
 one of the safest of all hostile enterprises," 
 
 As a matter of fact, Fulton had not started, for the 
 simple reason that he had no commission or passport. He 
 wrote to Barlow asking him to use his influence with 
 Forfait to get this. 
 
 Barlow replied on the ig Fruct. (6th Sept.) : ^ 
 
 " Dear Fulton, — Your letter of the i6th came yester- 
 day about 4 o'clock, too late to see the Minister, and this 
 morning he seems to have got up wrong end foremost. 
 I went to his porter's lodge at 9 o'clock and sent up a letter 
 concise and clear, explaining the affair and telling him I 
 should wait there for an answer, or for leave to speak to 
 him. ... I always doubted whether this Government 
 would suffer your expedition to go into effect. It is 
 possible they have reserved to themselves this method to 
 prevent it, always in hopes before that your preparatory 
 experiments would fail, or that your funds and patience 
 would be exhausted." 
 
 Barlow's pertinacity was rewarded, however, and he 
 succeeded at length in obtaining a promise of the desired 
 commission for Fulton. His letter of the 20 Fruct. (7th 
 Sept.) runs as follows : 
 
 " Toot : I went to the Marine again yesterday at 3 
 o'clock and sent up a written request for an answer to my 
 letter of the morning. The minister referred me to 
 Forestier who, he said, had orders to attend to this affair. 
 I went to Forestier's bureau : * his adjoint * told me that 
 
 ' Loc. cit. p. 181. 2 Loc. cit. p. 182. 
 
 ' Office. * Assistant. 
 
MONGE AND LAPLACE 105 
 
 the business was done ; that the orders were sent that day 
 by post to the pr^fet of the marine at Havre to deliver you 
 the commission and dispense with the caution. Thus if 
 you can rely on a class of men on whom I have learned 
 long ago not to rely at all, the business is done. . . . But 
 if there is any more difficulty, which is altogether probable, 
 explain it to me, and I will go to Forfait with pleasure 
 to get it removed. . . . Your old idea that these fellows are 
 to be considered parts of the machine, and that you must 
 have as much patience with them as with a piece of wood 
 or brass, is an excellent maxim. It bears up my courage 
 wonderfully every time I think of it, and makes me a 
 better part to the machine than I should otherwise be. 
 
 I have told it to several persons, who say it is a maxim 
 to be quoted as the mark of a great mind. I will take 
 care that it shall not be forgotten by the writer of your 
 life, who, I hope, is not born yet." 
 
 Barlow's letters now cease, but it appears that his fears 
 for once were ill-founded, and that Forfait's passport did 
 actually arrive, thus enabling Fulton to carry out the 
 plan he had so long looked forward to. 
 
 The full account of this expedition and the report of 
 his other experiments is dated 16 Brumaire (Nov. 7), and 
 is addressed to his friends Monge ^ and Laplace,* who, 
 
 * Gaspard Monge, Comte de P^luze (b. 1746, d. i8i8), mathematician. 
 Early showed mathematical talent, and unfolded a new branch of his subject 
 — that of descriptive geometry. Appointed in 1768 to the Chair of Mathe- 
 matics at Mezieres and in 1780 at the Louvre. Embraced the revolutionary 
 cause ardently, was appointed Minister of Marine in 1792, but retired in the 
 following year. Appointed Principal of the Ecole Polytechnique in 1793. 
 Employed in diplomatic missions in Italy and accompanied Bonaparte to 
 Egypt. After the restoration of the Bourbons he was ignominiously expelled 
 from the Institute. 
 
 ' Pierre Simon, Marquis de Laplace (b. 1749, d. 1827), mathematician and 
 astronomer. His life work was the study of the theory of probabilities and of 
 the mutual attraction of the heavenly bodies. Author of Micanique Cileste, 
 Minister of the Interior after the Revolution of the iS Brumaire, but held 
 office for six months only — member of the French Academy, and of nearly 
 every learned Society in Europe. Made a Count and a peer of France by 
 Louis XVIII. 
 
io6 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 together with Volney/ were subsequently appointed by 
 Napoleon commissioners to report on the invention. 
 
 The report reads almost like a romance, so great were 
 the strides that Fulton had made in these few short months 
 in developing and perfecting submarine navigation — strides 
 greater, it can confidently be said, than any that had been 
 made in the same time either before or since. For this 
 reason we are tempted to give the report in full : ^ 
 
 Robert Fulton to Citizens Monge & Laplace, members 
 of the National Institute. 
 
 Citizens, — Not having had the time to busy myself with 
 the drawings and description of the latest changes that I 
 have thought fit to make in my Nautilus, I take the liberty 
 to recommend the model of it to your examination as the 
 best means of enabling you to judge of its form and 
 combinations. 
 
 Although having exact details of experiments, I shall 
 limit myself to rendering here a succinct account of the 
 most important of them. 
 
 First experiment. — The Nautilus is 20 feet long and 5 in 
 diameter and according to the calculations of C^^ Guyton 
 it will contain a quantity of air sufficient for 3 men and 
 a candle for three hours. 
 
 Second experiment. — On the 6 Fructidor (24 Aug. 1800) I 
 plunged in the basin at Havre to the depth of 15 feet 
 having with me two people and a lighted candle ; we 
 remained below the surface for the space of one hour 
 without experiencing the slightest inconvenience. 
 
 Third experiment. — On the 7th (25 Aug.) I tried to 
 
 ' Constantine Francis de Chasseboeuf, Comte de Volney (b. 1757, d. 1820), 
 traveller and linguist. Travelled in the East 1783-5. He was on the side 
 of the Revolution but deprecated its excesses. Member of National Assembly. 
 Travelled in America and published an account of the climate and soil of the 
 United States. Sided with Bonaparte in the coup cCitat of the 18 Brumaire. 
 He became senator and count under the empire. 
 
 ' Archives Nationales, Dossier Marine D^ 21, fol. 98. 
 
REPORT ON SUBMARINE 107 
 
 manoeuvre the Nautilus by means of wings 4 feet diameter 
 like the sails of a windmill ; to this end at first I placed on 
 the bridge two men with oars ; they took 7 minutes to row 
 about 90 toises (192 yards), the length of the basin ; then 
 I ordered the same 2 men to set the sails and in 4 
 minutes the Nautilus covered the 90 toises to the starting 
 place ; — I proved by this that the speed of sails to that of 
 oars is about 2 to i and that these sails are very suitable to 
 manoeuvre a boat under water. The success of this ex- 
 periment has given me several new ideas which I hope 
 will facilitate much the use of carcasses of powder or 
 torpedoes. 
 
 Fourth experiment. — On the 8th (26 Aug.) I tried balanc- 
 ing the Nautilus under water in such a way as to prevent 
 it rising towards the surface or descending to the bottom, 
 meanwhile advancing. This is executed by means of a 
 pair of wings placed horizontally on the front of the 
 Nautilus and which communicate with the interior. By 
 turning these wings from left to right the Nautilus is made 
 to descend below the water, in turning them from right to 
 left, it is raised to the surface. My first trial was unfortu- 
 nate, in not having placed the boat in the necessary trim 
 in order that the wings could act. The next day I had a 
 decided success and I kept my Nautilus below water at a 
 depth of about 5 feet whilst it covered a distance of 90 
 toises, about from one end of the basin to the other. This 
 day I made several movements under water and I observed 
 that the Compass acts as well under water as at the surface. 
 The three people who have been my companions during 
 these experiments are so familiarized with the Nautilus 
 and have so much confidence at present in the movements 
 of this machine that they undertake without the least 
 concern these aquatic excursions. 
 
 Having thus assured myself of the ease of emersion and 
 of submersion of the Nautilus and all its movements as 
 well as the effect on the compass, on the 9th (27 Aug.) I 
 half filled an ordinary barrel and placed it at anchor in 
 
io8 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 the harbour at about 200 toises (426 yards) from the jetty ; 
 — I seated myself then in an ordinary boat at the distance 
 of about 80 toises and placed in the sea a torpedo contain- 
 ing about 3olb. of powder ; the torpedo was attached to a 
 small rope of 100 toises ; the current going under the 
 barrel, the torpedo passed without touching it ; but turn- 
 ing the helm of the boat in which I sat, I made it go 
 obliquely till I saw the torpedo exactly under the barrel ; 
 I then drew back the cable till at last the torpedo touched 
 the barrel ; at that instant the battery went off, the powder 
 exploded and the barrel was reduced to fragments being 
 lost in a column of water 10 feet in diameter that the ex- 
 plosion threw into the air to the height of 60 or 80 feet. 
 
 On the 25 of the same month (12 Sept.) I left Havre 
 for La Hogue and in this little voyage, my Nautilus 
 sometimes did a league and a half (4I miles) per hour, 
 and I had the pleasure of seeing it ride the waves like an 
 ordinary boat. 
 
 On the 28th (15 Sept.) I put into a little harbour called 
 Growan near Isigny at 3 leagues from the islands of 
 Marcou. On the 29th the equinoctial gales commenced and 
 lasted 25 days. During the time I tried twice to approach 
 two English brigs which were anchored near one of the 
 islands, but both times, whether by accident or design, 
 they set sail and were quickly at a distance. During one of 
 these trials I remained during the whole of one tide of 6 
 hours absolutely under water, having for the purpose of 
 taking air only a little tube which could not be perceived 
 at a distance of 200 toises. 
 
 The weather being bad, I remained 35 days at Growan 
 and seeing that no English vessel returned, and that winter 
 approached, besides my Nautilus not being constructed 
 to resist bad weather, I resolved to return to Paris and 
 place under the eyes of Government the result of my 
 experiments. 
 
 In the course of these experiments there has come 
 to me a crowd of ideas infinitely more simple than the 
 
VOYAGE OF SUBMARINE 109 
 
 means that I have employed hitherto and in an enterprise 
 so new and without precedent one ought to expect that 
 new ideas should present themselves, tending to simplify 
 the execution of the great object in view. 
 
 As to myself I look upon the most difficult part of the 
 work as done. Navigation under water is an operation 
 whose possibility is proved, and it can be said that a new 
 series of ideas have just been born as to the means for 
 preventing naval wars or rather of hindering them in 
 the future ; it is a germ which only demands for its 
 development the encouragement and support of all friends 
 of science, of justice and of society. 
 
 Health and respect. 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 
 Paris, the 16 Brumaire an 9. 
 
 The hardihood of Fulton in going in this cockle-shell 
 a voyage of about 70 miles upon what was really a warlike 
 expedition upon the high seas seems almost incredible. 
 His attempt to blow up the English brigs that were 
 cruising along the coast was frustrated not by accident 
 but by design because Fulton's movements generally were 
 known to the British Admiralty. Captain S. H. Linzie, 
 H.M.S. " L'Oiseau," off Havre, writing on Sept. 21, 1800, 
 thanks the Secretary to the Admiralty for his letter * of the 
 14th " giving an account of Mr. Fulton's Plan respecting 
 the possibility of destroying the ships on this station," 
 and says: "I shall be very much on my guard." So that 
 it is explained why the brigs so quickly slipped from their 
 anchorages. 
 
 Fulton followed up his letter to Monge and Laplace ^ by 
 giving on the 27 Brumaire (18 November) answers to their 
 questions and an estimate of what would be the minimum 
 cost of placing the submarine on a war footing. The 
 
 ' Admiralty Sec. In Letters i, 2067, letter 224. 
 ^ Archives Nationales, loc. cit. fol. 1 00. 
 
no ROBERT FULTON 
 
 latter, he thinks, would be a quarter of a million francs, the 
 fifth of the cost of a man-of-war. He says : 
 
 "Far from being discouraged, I have undertaken the 
 experiments at my own expense. I have succeeded to 
 such an extent as to leave no reasonable doubt as to the 
 success of the whole design. But I have expended as 
 much as my circumstances will permit and more than 
 one individual should do for an object of general interest." 
 
 He offers to give up the command of the Nautilus and 
 to instruct French citizens in the use of it and to super- 
 vise only the construction of submarines. He regards as 
 absolutely necessary prompt advances for the following : 
 
 For the construction of a 
 
 Nautilus of 30 feet long and 6 feet 
 
 
 diameter 
 
 . 
 
 
 50,000 
 
 livres 
 
 
 
 
 2 small boats . 
 
 . 
 
 
 2,000 
 
 )i 
 
 
 
 To 
 
 20 torpedoes . 
 
 i descend the 
 
 to Havre and 
 
 river from 
 to test the 
 
 Paris 
 me- 
 
 2,000 
 
 ») 
 
 
 
 
 chanical arrangements . 
 
 Total . 
 
 
 3,000 
 
 jj 
 
 £^: 
 
 
 
 S7,ooo 
 
 „ {i.e. 
 
 ,280) 
 
 He also asks that the three persons already instructed 
 by him in the work of the Nautilus should be retained in 
 Government pay at the rates : 
 
 Captain Sergent .... 600 livres per month 
 Lieut. Fleuret .... 400 ,, ,, 
 Citizen Guillaume . . . 180 „ ,, 
 
 If there should be need of two additional men, they 
 would require 180 livres per month each. As for himself 
 he would accept whatever the Government chose to give 
 him. 
 
 Laplace and Monge lost no time in submitting a report ^ 
 
 ' Loc. cit. fol. 104. 
 
OPINION ON SUBMARINE in 
 
 to the First Consul, for it is dated the next day, 28 Brumaire, 
 an 9 (19 November 1800). It runs : 
 
 [Translation^ 
 
 Citizen First Consul, — You have charged us to ex- 
 amine the Nautilus of Cit. Fulton, and to give you our 
 opinion on the probability of its success. 
 
 Instead of giving a description of this machine of 
 which you know the object perfectly well, we beg you to 
 indicate the time when we can see you ; Cit. Fulton will 
 bring the model of his Nautilus and at one glance you 
 will know its form, the movements of which it is sus- 
 ceptible, and the nature of the operations which it can 
 execute. 
 
 We have looked into the projects of Cit. Fulton, his 
 means of execution, and the experiments that he has 
 made already. We do not doubt his success especially if 
 the operation is conducted by the inventor himself who 
 combines with great erudition in the mechanic arts an 
 excellent courage and other moral qualities necessary for 
 such an enterprise. 
 
 They then go on to suggest that further experiments 
 on the under water effects of powder in blowing up an 
 actual vessel are needed. 'When these are proved, experi- 
 ments can be undertaken against the enemy. For this 
 purpose they recommend a grant of 60,000 livres. 
 
 Apparently this letter was submitted to the First Consul 
 at the same time as was Fulton's of the 18th Nov. On 
 the 5 Frimaire the latter document was minuted in the 
 margin and signed by Napoleon : " Je prie Mtre. de la 
 Marine de me faire connaitre ce qu'il salt sur les projets 
 du Cn. Fuhon." 
 
 A few days later Monge and Laplace presented the 
 inventor to the First Consul, warmly recommending him 
 and advising the allowance of the sum he asked for. 
 
112 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Apparently this was the one and only time the two notable 
 men met. 
 
 Nothing coming of this interview, however, Fulton 
 called on Forfait on the ii Frimaire (2 Dec), and the next 
 day wrote ^ from rue Vaugirard, 50, expressing surprise 
 that nothing had been done and saying : 
 
 "You have said a good deal about economy and the 
 lack of positive evidence, — there will be little merit in the 
 Government in adopting this project if it demands that 
 an individual, at his own expense, without protection and 
 without any other encouragement than that it accords 
 to ordinary sailors, should succeed in destroying an 
 English vessel." 
 
 Fulton encloses — this is the fifth time of his doing 
 so — his terms which were substantially those which have 
 already been quoted. 
 
 Evidently Fulton's interview and letter roused Forfait, 
 and the latter on the following day, 1 3 Frimaire (4 Dec. '00) 
 wrote a report to Napoleon. He acknowledges that La- 
 place and Monge commend Fulton's views, but considers 
 that their request for an old hulk wherewith to carry out 
 further experiments is out of the question, not only on 
 account of the initial cost, but also because if they succeed 
 a wreck will be formed which it will be expensive to 
 raise. He proposes that Fulton should destroy an enemy's 
 vessel, and then states that Fulton refuses this because 
 it would be necessary to wait till spring. Apparently the 
 minister's idea was that the submarine function of the boat 
 should be abandoned, and that it should be used merely 
 to convey torpedoes to the vessels. He remarks, hypo- 
 critically : 
 
 " I have always been the most ardent defender of the 
 plunging boat, and it is with pain that I see it abandoned ; 
 for it is abandoned in the new system since it plays only 
 a secondary part." 
 
 The vacillation exhibited in this report is only equalled 
 
 ' Ijic. cit. fol. 95. The letter is in French. 
 
GRANT FROM NAPOLEON 113 
 
 by the myopic refusal to try an experiment on a vessel 
 because the resulting wreck might be difficult to raise ! 
 No wonder Napoleon caused such an unsatisfactory 
 minister to be removed from office a few months later. 
 
 Laplace and Monge must now have redoubled their 
 efforts at this set-back, and evidently they succeeded, for 
 on the 8 Ventose, an IX (27th Feb. 1801), Fulton re- 
 ceived a letter from the Minister of Marine formally stat- 
 ing that his propositions had been accepted, and that 
 10,000 francs had been placed to his credit. On the 12 
 Ventose Fulton accepted the terms which were recapitu- 
 lated in the Minister's letter of th^ 7 Germinal (28 
 March), which is so explicit that we give it in full : ^ 
 
 (Translation^ 
 
 1st Division, 
 Office of the Port, 
 
 Paris, yth Germinal, 
 The Ojth Year of the One and Indivisible 
 Republic. 
 
 The Minister of Marine and of the Colonies. 
 
 To Monsieur Robert Fulton, 
 
 Rue de Vaugirard, No. 50, Paris. 
 
 I announced to you, Sir, on the 8th Vent6se that the First 
 Consul had authorised me to accept your proposition rela- 
 tive to the Nautilus. You will have seen by that letter that 
 you will in consequence be credited with the sum of 1 0,000 
 francs to repair this machine, construct the auxiliaries, and 
 to convey at your own expense, the Nautilus to Brest. 
 
 It has been decreed that you will be allowed for the 
 destruction of the Enemy's ' vessels, according to their 
 armament, as follows : 
 
 400,000 francs for those of more than 30 guns. 
 200,000 „ „ „ „ 20 „ up to 30 guns. 
 
 150,000 ,, ,, „ from 12 to 20 guns. 
 
 60,000 ,, „ ,, 10 guns. 
 
 •- Century Magazine, vol. Ixxvi. p. 938, by permission of Mrs. Sutcliffe. 
 
 H 
 
114 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 This power is the minimum below which you will 
 have no power to return claim. 
 
 By your letter of the 12th Vent6se you declare your 
 acceptance of these conditions and I give the order to 
 put to your account the sum of 10,000 francs by means 
 of which you must put in order the armament, the equip- 
 ment and the dispatch of the Nautilus. 
 
 There exist several means of determining in an authen- 
 tic manner the destruction of the enemy's vessels. The 
 attestations, the declarations and the interrogations put 
 in legal form by competent authorities will serve you as 
 title to claim the payment of the sums which may ulti- 
 mately be due to you. 
 
 Since the navigation which you are about to under- 
 take is absolutely different from others, and also the 
 form of warfare which the Nautilus is intended to 
 make upon the enemy, it is not possible to indicate in 
 advance a fixed method of affirming the truth of the 
 facts. 
 
 But it will be supplied by the information of the Com- 
 missary of the English Government, and by the Maritime 
 Prefects every time it becomes necessary. 
 
 (Signed) Forfait. 
 
 Although Fulton had accepted these conditions it must 
 be confessed that they did not err on the side of liberality. 
 Fulton was, as we have seen, much more than 10,000 francs 
 out of pocket with what he had already done. It is clear, 
 however, that Napoleon intended a further grant in aid to 
 cover the cost of the trials ; the prize money in prospect 
 may also have been sufficiently tempting to one of such a 
 sanguine and ardent temperament as Fulton to act as an 
 inducement. 
 
 To equip Fulton completely for his journey only a 
 passport was now necessary. On the 14th Germinal, an IX 
 (4th April 1801), Forfait forwards to the Minister of the 
 
SUBMARINE AT BREST 115 
 
 Interior for signature two passports, one of which was for 
 Fulton, with these remarks : 1 
 
 "Their duration ought to be for 8 months, and they give 
 to their bearers permission to go at will into the different 
 ports of the Channel or of the Ocean by land or by sea." 
 
 It is not difficult to realise what a busy and anxious 
 time it must have been for Fulton during the next few 
 months — what bid fair to be a turning-point in his career. 
 The Nautilus had to be taken from Isigny to Brest. How 
 he got it there, whether overland or round by sea we do 
 not know, but we can be almost certain it was the former, 
 for it had been exposed all the winter and was not in a 
 seaworthy condition. What an unwonted sight the un- 
 wieldy object 21 feet long and 6 feet diameter must have 
 been for the villages through which the cart passed ! ! 
 
 Sometime in May, however, Fulton arrived at Brest, 
 and at the dockyard there commenced a refit, which 
 occupied him for two months. 
 
 Nor was this all, for Fulton was also busy on a plan 
 for carrying his torpedoes not by a submarine but by a 
 pinnace propelled by a screw. It would appear from the 
 records that have been preserved, that the idea was, of the 
 two, the one most favoured officially. Caffarelli, maritime 
 prefect of Brest, who had had instructions to furnish 
 Fulton with everything he wished for from the Arsenal, 
 gave orders for the construction of a pinnace in which was 
 fitted a screw driven by manual power. Although supplied 
 with selected men from the battleship Oc^an, Fulton, instead 
 of his expected 12 knots, only attained 4 when he went 
 out into the harbour. 
 
 This and other experiments are described in a letter* 
 from Caffarelli to the Minister, dated 14 Messidor, an IX 
 (3 July i8oi) : 
 
 " I have to render an account to you of the trial by 
 Mr. Fulton. 
 
 * Archives Nationales, Dossier Marine BB', 22. ^ Loc. cit., fol. 106. 
 
ii6 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 "When he came here he asked that a pinnace larger 
 than that which he had and of which the sailing was 
 superior should be constructed. Acting on your authority 
 I have had it constructed under his direction. It is 36 feet 
 long and is perfectly made. With a crew of 24 men 
 applied to 4 cranks and placed on both sides, it has a 
 speed of about 4 knots, sails very well, but manoeuvres 
 slowly, which is attributed to its length and to the small 
 size of the rudder which is not as long as the stern post. 
 The movement of the wheels can be heard at about 
 200 toises (426 yards) distance. Mr. Fulton proposes to 
 remedy this and to increase the speed. I think this im- 
 provement will be difficult to obtain. I say further that 
 the pinnace is only an accessory in the projects of Mr. 
 Fulton which can be served in many ways as far as I 
 can see. 
 
 "There has been no question of a Plunging boat. 
 I believe that it can be dispensed with as well as the 
 pinnace." 
 
 He then details the blowing up of an old sloop by a 
 torpedo ; but as this is described by Fulton himself, 
 infra, we need only note Caffarelli's opinion about the 
 torpedo : 
 
 "A mechanically moved pinnace is not necessary for 
 that : one or two light boats like canoes will fulfil the 
 purpose better, because they require less crew and the 
 paddles do not make so much noise as the wheels. 
 
 " A plunging boat is not necessary for the operation ; 
 for one can be sure always of destroying a vessel with a 
 long enough line by taking a position according to the 
 sea and the wind. . . . 
 
 " I think that Mr. Fulton had at one and the same time 
 three ingenious ideas : that of a boat sailing without oars 
 or sails ; that of a plunging boat which directs itself and 
 works at will, and that of the Petard ; he has wanted to 
 
EXPERIMENTS AT BREST 117 
 
 bring them all together as if one alone could not occupy 
 attention enough. The third by itself . . . will suffice for 
 the success of his projects. It is necessary to exercise with 
 the Petard and hook on from a distance under different 
 directions. 
 
 "... An account is being taken of his expenses. . . they 
 are not of great amount. I have promised to instruct him 
 as to the circumstances of the English cruisers, of their 
 anchorages near the coast, and in a word to give him all 
 the facilities which he can desire." 
 
 It was now decided that Fulton should attempt to 
 destroy some of the British ships cruising at the entrance 
 to the harbour.^ 
 
 After an interval devoted to experiments with the sub- 
 marine (detailed below), on August 8th Fulton went to 
 Conquet to lay in wait, and on the loth to Berthaume, but 
 all to no purpose. The English had been warned of the 
 designs upon them, and not only had lookouts at the mast- 
 head scanning the seas with their glasses, but also boats 
 were kept rowing round their vessels when anywhere near 
 the entrance.* 
 
 All along, Fulton had been of opinion that the sub- 
 marine was better than the pinnace ; but, unfortunately, 
 the former was not, so he considered, in a really seaworthy 
 condition. In a letter^ to the First Consul on the 19th 
 Fruct. (6th September), wherein he describes at great length 
 his clockwork torpedoes and the means to be employed 
 for blockading English ports and so obtaining command 
 of the sea, he complains that " for lack of a good plunging 
 boat I have been unable to do anything this summer against 
 the enemy." 
 
 Caffarelli in the letter of 22 Therm, says : " Mr. Fulton, 
 not making use of the plunging boat, which by its invisi- 
 
 ^ I^etter to the Minister from Admiral Villaret de Joyeuse, commanding the 
 squadron at Brest, 15 Messidor, an IX (4 July 1801). 
 
 ' Fulton to Villaret and Caffarelli, 21 Therm. (9th August), and latter to 
 Minister, 22nd Therm. (loth August), foLili-i2, 
 
 ' Loc. cit., fol. 1 14-S. 
 
ii8 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 bility would assure the success of the operation, does not 
 respond to the expectations of the Government." 
 
 But he is not quite consistent, for he says later : 
 "This manner of making war on an enemy carries with 
 it such reprobation, that the persons who undertook it 
 and failed would be lost. Certainly it is not a gallant 
 death." 
 
 That there were cross purposes at work here seems 
 obvious. 
 
 We must now notice briefly the experiments with the 
 Nautilus upon which Fulton, on his return to Paris, wrote 
 a long report,^ dated 9th September 1801 ; as it is so lucid, 
 we quote it at considerable length : 
 
 Paris the Zid fructidore An 9. 
 
 Robert fulton to the Citizens Monge, La Place and Volney, 
 members of the National Institute, and Commissioners 
 appointed by the first Consul to promote the invention 
 of Submarine Navigation. 
 
 Citizens, yesterday on my return from brest I received 
 your note and will with pleasure communicate to you the 
 result of my experiments, during the summer, also the mode 
 which I conceive the most effectual for using my invention 
 against the enemy. Before I left Paris I informed you that 
 my plunging boat had many imperfections, natural to the 
 first machine of so difficult a combination : added to this 
 I found She had been much Injured by the rust during 
 the Winter in consequence of having in many places 
 used Iron bolts and arbours instead of copper or brass. 
 The reparation of these defects and the difficulty of find- 
 ing workmen consumed near two months, and although 
 the machine remained still extremely imperfect, yet She 
 has answered to prove every necessary experiment in the 
 most satisfactory manner. 
 
 ' Sutcliffe, Robert Fulton and the " Clermont" pp. 89, 320. 
 
REPORT ON EXPERIMENTS 119 
 
 On the 3rd of thermidor (22nd July 1801) I commenced 
 my experiments by plunging to the depth of 5, then 10, 
 then 15, and so on, to 25 feet, but not to a greater depth 
 than 25 feet as I did not conceive the machine sufficiently 
 strong to bear the pressure {i.e. io'8 lb. per sq. in.) of a 
 greater column of water. At this depth I remained one 
 hour with my three companions and two candles burning 
 without experiencing the least inconvenience. 
 
 Previous to my leaving Paris I gave to the Cn. {i.e. 
 Citizen) Guyton, member of the Institute, a calculation of 
 the number of cube feet in my boat which is about 212. 
 In such a volume of air he calculated there would be 
 sufficient oxygen to nourish 4 men and 2 small candles 
 3 hours. Seeing that it would be of great improvement 
 to dispense with the candles, I constructed a small 
 window in the upper part of the boat near the bow, 
 which window is only one inch and a half diameter, and 
 of glass nine lines {i.e. f in.) thick. With this prepared, I 
 descended on the 5th Thermidor (24th July) to the depth 
 of between 24 and 25 feet, at which depth I had sufficient 
 light to count the minutes on the watch. Hence I con- 
 clude that 3 or 4 such windows arranged in different parts 
 of the boat, would give sufficient light for any operations 
 during the day. Each window may be guarded by a valve 
 in such a manner that should the glass break, the valve 
 would immediately shut and stop out the water. Finding 
 that I had air and light sufficient, and that I could plunge 
 and Rise perpendicular with facility, on the 7th Therm. 
 (26th July) I commenced the experiments on her move- 
 ments. At ten in the morning I raised her anchor and 
 hoisted her sails, which are a mainsail and Gib ; the 
 breeze being light I could not at the utmost make more 
 than about two-thirds of a league per hour. I tacked and 
 re-tacked, tryed her before and by the wind, and in all 
 these operations found her to Answer the helm and act 
 like a common hull sailing boat. After exercising thus 
 about an hour, I lowered the mast and sails and com- 
 
I20 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 menced the operation of Plunging. This required about 
 two minutes. I then placed two men at the engine which 
 gives the Rectilinear motion, and one at the helm, while I 
 governed the machine which keeps her balanced two ways. 
 With the bathometer before me and with one hand I found 
 I could keep her at any depth I thought proper. The men 
 then commenced their movement and continued about 7 
 minutes when mounting to the surface I found we had 
 gained 400 metres (1,300 feet). I again plunged, turned 
 her round under water and returned to near the same 
 place. I again plunged and tried her movements to the 
 right and left, in all of which the helm answered and the 
 compass acted the same as if on the surface of the water. 
 Having continued these experiments the 8, 9, 10, and 12th 
 (27th, 28th, 29th, and 31st July) until I became familiar 
 with the movements and confident in their operation, I 
 turned my thoughts to increasing or preserving the air. 
 For this purpose the Cn. Guyton advised me to precipitate 
 the carbonic acid with lime or to take with me bottles of 
 Oxygen which might be uncorked as need required ; but 
 as any considerable quantity of bottles would take up too 
 much room, and as Oxygen could not be created at sea 
 without a chemical operation which would be very in- 
 convenient, I adopted a mode which occurred to me 18 
 months ago, which is a simple globe or bomb of copper 
 capable of containing one cube foot to [join to] a pneu- 
 matic pump by means of which pump 200 atmospheres or 
 200 cube feet of common air may be forced into the Bomb, 
 consequently the Bomb or reservoir will contain as much 
 oxygen or vital air as 200 cube feet of common respirable 
 Air. Hence if according to the Cn. Guyton's calculation 
 212 feet which is the volume of the boat, will nourish 4 
 men and 2 small candles 3 hours, this additional reservoir 
 will give sufficient for 6 hours. This reservoir is con- 
 structed with a measure and two cocks So as to let 
 measures of air into the boat as need may require. 
 Previous to my leaving Paris I gave orders for this machine 
 
REPORT ON EXPERIMENTS 121 
 
 but it did not arrive till the i8th Thermidor (6th Aug.). 
 On the 19th I ordered two men to fill it, which was an 
 operation of about one hour. I then put it into the boat 
 and with my three companions, but without candles, 
 plunged to the depth of about five feet. At the expiration 
 of one hour and 40 minutes I began to let off measures of 
 air from the reservoir and so on from time to time for 4 
 hours 20 minutes without experiencing any inconvenience. 
 Having thus succeeded : 
 
 To sail like a common boat, 
 To obtain air and light. 
 To plunge and Rise perpendicular. 
 To turn to the right and left at pleasure. 
 To steer by the compass under water, 
 To renew the Common Volume of air with facility, 
 And to augment the respirable air, by a reservoir 
 which may be obtained at all times, 
 I conceived every experiment of importance to be 
 proved in the most satisfactory manner. Hence I quit the 
 experiments on the Boat to try those of the Bomb Sub- 
 marine. It is this bomb which is the Engine of destruc- 
 tion, the plunging boat is only for the purpose of conveying 
 the Bomb to where it may be used to advantage. They 
 are constructed of copper and of different sizes to contain 
 from 10 to 200 pounds of powder. Each bomb is arranged 
 with a Gunlock in such a manner that if it strikes a vessel 
 or the Vessel runs against it, the explosion will take place 
 and the bottom of the vessel be blown in or so shattered 
 as to ensure her destruction. To prove this experiment, 
 the Prefect Maritime and Admiral Villaret ordered a small 
 sloop of about 40 feet long to be anchored in the Road on 
 the 23rd of Thermidor (nth Aug.) with a bomb containing 
 about 20 pounds of powder I advanced to within about 
 200 metres (628 feet) ; then taking my direction so as to 
 pass near the Sloop, I struck her with the bomb in my 
 passage. The explosion took place and the sloop was 
 torn into atoms, in fact, nothing was left but the buye 
 
122 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 (i.e. buoy) and cable; and the concussion was so great 
 that a column of water, Smoke, and fibres of the Sloop 
 were cast from 80 to 100 feet in Air. This simple ex- 
 periment at once proved the effect of the Bomb Submarine 
 to the satisfaction of all the Spectators. Of this Experi- 
 ment you will see Admiral Villaret's description in a letter 
 to the Minister of Marine. 
 
 Fulton then goes on to outline what appeared to him 
 to be the best methods of using the plunging boat and 
 the submarine bomb, without, however, committing him- 
 self too precisely, because experience always suggests im- 
 provements. This, however, is only an epitome of what 
 has already been rehearsed and it is therefore unnecessary 
 to give it in full. He concludes : 
 
 Thus Citizens, I have presented you with a short 
 account of my experiments and Plan for using this inven- 
 tion against the Enemy hoping that under your protection 
 it will be carried to perfection and practised to promote 
 the Liberty of the Seas. 
 
 Health and sincere respect, 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 
 To every impartial mind this plain statement of facts 
 and deductions therefrom at once lucid and logical should 
 have appealed very strongly. Little more than a year 
 had elapsed since the problem of submarine navigation, 
 till then regarded as a chimera, had been tackled on a 
 practical scale, and now it had been solved in all its main 
 essentials. All the principles which govern the construc- 
 tion and operation of submarines had been experimentally 
 demonstrated, and with the only known motor, i.e. mus- 
 cular power, then available, no better results could have 
 been expected. 
 
 The Commissioners made a few inquiries on certain 
 
SUBMARINE BROKEN UP 123 
 
 points which Fulton answered in the following letter,^ 
 dated the 20th Sept. 1801 : 
 
 Paris, tht 3rd Complet?ientary Day, an 9 
 
 Robert Fulton to the Citizens Monge, La Place, and 
 Volney, members of the National Institute and Com- 
 missionaries appointed by the First Consul to promote 
 the Invention of Submarine Navigation. 
 
 Citizens : This morning, I received yours of the 2nd 
 Compl. As to the expense of a plunging boat, I believe 
 when constructed in the best manner with every improve- 
 ment which experience has pointed out. She cannot cost 
 more than 80,000 Livers {i.e. ^3200), The Bombs Sub- 
 marine may be estimated at 80 Livers {i.e. £2, 4s.) each, on 
 an average, independent of the powder. 
 
 I am sorry that I had not earlier information of the 
 Counsul's {t.e. Napoleon's) desire to see the Plunging 
 Boat. When I finished my experiments. She leaked very 
 much, and being but an imperfect engine, I did not think 
 her further useful, — hence I took her to pieces, Sold her 
 Ironwork, lead and cylinders, and was necessitated to break 
 the greater part of her movements in taking them to 
 pieces. So that nothing now remains which can give an 
 Idea of her combination ; but even had she been complete 
 I do not think she could have been brought round to 
 Paris. You will be so good as to excuse me to the 
 Premier Consul when I refuse to exhibit my drawings to 
 a Committee of Engineers. For this I have two reasons : 
 the first is not to put it in the power of any one to explain 
 the principles or movements lest they should pass from 
 one to another till the enemy obtained information : the 
 Second is that I consider this Invention as my private 
 property, the perfectionment of which will give to France 
 incalculable advantage over her most powerful and active 
 enemy, and which invention, I conceive, ought to secure 
 to me an ample Independance. That consequently the 
 
 ' Sutcliffe, Xoieri Fulton and the " Clermont ^ p. 84. 
 
124 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Government should stipulate certain terms with me Before 
 I proceed to further explanation. The first Consul is too 
 just, and you know me too well, to construe this into an 
 avaricious disposition in me. I have now laboured 3 years 
 and at considerable expense to prove my experiments. 
 And I find that a man who wishes to cultivate the Useful 
 Arts cannot make rapid Progress without sufficient funds 
 to put his succession of Ideas to immediate proof ; and 
 which sufficiency I conceive this invention should secure 
 to me. You have intimated that the movements and 
 combination of so interesting an engine should be con- 
 fided to trusty persons lest any accident should happen to 
 me. This precaution I took previous to my departure 
 from Paris for my last experiments, by placing correct 
 Drawings of the Machine and every movement with their 
 descriptions in the hands of a friend ; so that any engineer 
 capable of constructing a Steam engine, could make the 
 plunging boat and Carcasses or Bombs. 
 
 You will therefore be so good as to beg of the First 
 Consul to permit you to treat with me on the business. 
 And on this point I hope there will not be much difficulty. 
 
 Health and sincere respect, 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 
 This letter disposes very completely of the statement 
 that Fulton built two submarines, one at Havre and the 
 other at Brest — a very natural supposition on the evidence 
 previously available. It also satisfies us as to the ultimate 
 fate of the boat. 
 
 Unfortunately for Fulton a change now came over the 
 scene. On Oct. ist, Forfait, who had at any rate not been 
 ill-disposed to him, handed in his resignation as Minister 
 of Marine after two years of office. 
 
 The First Consul appointed to succeed him Admiral 
 De Cres,^ who like P16ville-le-Pelley was quite one of the 
 
 ' De Cres, le due Denis (b. 1761, d. 1820), entered the Navy at the age 
 of seventeen and saw service in all parts of the world, showing conspicuous 
 bravery. He became lieutenant in 1785, captain in 1793, and vice-admiral in 
 
NAPOLEON'S DECISION 125 
 
 old school, and consequently bitterly opposed to the new 
 method of warfare ; in this he only voiced the prejudices 
 of his time. 
 
 Probably it was this change of ministers which put an 
 end to the matter finally, for the Archives of the Marine 
 make no further mention of Fulton or of his project, and 
 all that is to be found is an account of the expenses which 
 had been incurred on his behalf at the arsenal at Brest, 
 amounting to the sum of 6,820 fr. 43.^ 
 
 Thus apparently did Fulton receive his dismissal — with 
 what bitterness of soul we can imagine — cherishing never- 
 theless the hope that he would yet have opportunities of 
 perfecting submarine navigation. 
 
 By many writers, especially in France, Napoleon has 
 been blamed for not adopting the submarine, the assump- 
 tion being that the destinies of nations would have been 
 changed thereby. There is also an underlying assumption 
 that other nations could not have adopted the new means 
 of warfare almost as quickly as France could have done. 
 
 Now Napoleon was above everything a man of affairs — 
 he was ready and anxious to employ any means known 
 to science to further his ends, but it was no part of his 
 policy to take up anything that had not been put into 
 practice successfully. He allowed Fulton to work out 
 his invention just to that point where he could judge 
 whether or not it would be of use to him, and having 
 convinced himself that it could not, dropped the matter 
 without hesitation. And he was right ; Fulton's series 
 of experiments, brilliant though they were, only showed 
 that until a motor could be developed capable of working 
 under the restrictions imposed, further progress was 
 impracticable. For this development the world had to 
 wait many years longer. 
 
 1798. In October 1801, he received the portfolio of Minister of Marine, and 
 being subservient to Napoleon in all ways, retained office till the latter's down- 
 fall — i.e. for thirteen years. He was murdered by his valet. 
 
 ' Letter of Caffarelli to the Minister, 26 fruct. an IX (13 Sept. 1801). 
 Archives NationaUs, Dossier Marine D' 21, fol. 119- 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 TURNS HIS ATTENTION TO STEAM NAVIGATION- 
 SKETCH OF THE WORK OF PREVIOUS EXPERI- 
 MENTERS—STEAMBOAT ON THE SEINE— BRITISH 
 NEGOTIATIONS TO WITHDRAW FULTON FROM 
 FRANCE 
 
 WE have now reached the period when Fulton 
 turned his attention in earnest to what was to be 
 his hfe's work — the solution of the problem of 
 navigation by steam on a commercial scale. 
 
 In order to get a clear idea of what this problem was, 
 it must be remembered that overseas commerce had greatly 
 increased, and with it the burden of the ships employed, 
 so that the difficulty of warping or rowing them out of 
 harbour through calms or against the tide had also in- 
 creased. It was not an uncommon thing to see hundreds 
 of sail weatherbound in harbour for weeks at a stretch 
 waiting for the wind to change. Merely as showing what 
 a long-standing problem it was, we may mention the alleged 
 attempts to propel boats by steam of Blasco de Garay in 
 1543 and Denis Papin in 1707. These could safely be 
 dismissed on a priori grounds, even if research had not 
 shown that these experimenters employed muscular power 
 only, when we reflect that Newcomen did not introduce 
 his atmospheric engine — the first practical and satis- 
 factory apparatus for employing the power of steam — till 
 about 1710. 
 
 Yet Newcomen's engine was far from being suited to 
 marine propulsion, for its weight for a given power was 
 enormous ; in fact it would hardly be too much to say that 
 
 had any such engine been designed capable of developing 
 
 126 
 
EARLY STEAM NAVIGATION 127 
 
 power enough to propel a boat of a given size, the engine 
 would have sunk the boat by its own weight. 
 
 We are not, therefore, in much doubt as to the success 
 of the scheme of Jonathan Hulls, who took out a patent 
 (No. 556) in 1736 for a stern wheel tug-boat actuated by 
 an atmospheric engine. The title of his pamphlet^ de- 
 scriptive of his invention published in 1737 shows clearly 
 the widest extent to which it was expected to apply the 
 steam engine at this time ; as a general substitute for 
 sails and oars, it was hardly dreamt of. 
 
 It was not until the simple pumping engine of New- 
 comen had been developed between 1775 and 1782 by 
 the celebrated James Watt into the Cornish pumping 
 engine, and lastly into the double-acting rotative engine 
 suitable for all kinds of power purposes, that for the first 
 time the horse-power obtainable from an engine and its 
 boiler, per pound weight and per cubic feet occupied, was 
 reduced within the limits of displacement of a boat that 
 the engine could propel at a reasonable speed. 
 
 For the first really important steps to realise practically 
 this new possibility, we must turn our attention to the 
 New World, where the extensive waterways but lack of 
 highways early suggested that transport by water was 
 easier than by land, if it could be made as certain. The 
 impetus may have been due to the removal of trade re- 
 strictions by the War of Independence, 1775-1783 ; what 
 the nature of these restrictions had been is shown by the 
 fact that the art of constructing steam engines was totally 
 unknown in America at that time. 
 
 We ought perhaps to refer in the first place to the ex- 
 periments of James Rumsey of Virginia, in hydraulic jet 
 propulsion, a method which he was the first to bring to a 
 practical issue although it had been proposed in 1730 by 
 John Allen, M.D.,^ and even earlier by others. All that 
 
 * "A Description and Draught of a new invented machine for carrying 
 vessels or ships out of or into any Harbour, Port or River, against Wind or Tide 
 or in a Calm." 
 
 ' Spedmina Ichonographica, p. i6. 
 
128 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 was required was a steam pump to draw in the water at 
 the bow and force it out at the stern, so that the mechani- 
 cal arrangements were simple and well understood. In 
 1785 and again in 1787 and 1788 Rumsey exhibited his boat 
 publicly on the Potomac, and succeeded in propelling her 
 against the current at the rate of four miles per hour. In 
 the latter year he proceeded to England, where he hoped 
 to prosecute his invention. In this he succeeded, for, 
 having induced a wealthy American merchant resident 
 in London to finance him, he took out patents in 1788 
 (No. 1673) and again in 1790 (No. 1738). In February 
 1793 their vessel was tried on the Thames, attaining a speed 
 of four knots. Unfortunately Rumsey died suddenly in 
 the midst of his experiments. Fulton, who was in London 
 at the time although it is improbable that he was present, 
 knew about these trials, because in one of his note-books ^ 
 there is an entry entitled " Messrs. Parker and Rumsies 
 experiment for moving boats." Fulton's opinion after 
 consideration of the pros and cons is : 
 
 " It therefore appears that the Engine was not loaded 
 to its full power, that the water was lifted four times too 
 high, and that the tube by which the water escaped was 
 more than five times too small." 
 
 This shows that Fulton did not realise where the cause 
 of Rumsey's failure lay. If water, contained in the boat 
 itself, is forced out through an orifice at the stern at twice 
 the speed at which the boat moves, the efficiency may 
 be as much as 75 per cent.; that is, looked at in another 
 way, the efficiency would be greater than that of any other 
 form of propulsion. The water has, however, to be taken 
 in at the bow and come to rest relative to the boat ; this 
 means a loss of energy which greatly reduces efficiency, 
 and this was Rumsey's case. 
 
 Even when the water enters the boat and is not 
 brought to rest relative to it, but is accelerated by a centri- 
 fugal pump as in Ruthven's system, a jet is less economical 
 
 ^ Sutcliffe, Robert Fulton and the " Clermont," p. 330. 
 
JOHN FITCH 129 
 
 than other means of propulsion, as was proved in 1868 
 in the Admiralty experiments on H.M.S. Waterwitch. 
 
 A third system remains to be tried, whereby the velo- 
 city of the incoming water is converted by a Venturi tube 
 into pressure before it enters the pump, and is finally dis- 
 charged through a converging nozzle, again acquiring 
 velocity. 
 
 Jet propulsion has received a limited application in 
 exceptional circumstances, e.g. in steam life-boats and 
 floating fire stations. 
 
 Almost if not quite as early in the field as Rumsey was 
 John Fitch of Connecticut, who on September 27, 1785, 
 laid before the American Philosophical Society at Phila- 
 delphia a description, drawing, and model of a machine for 
 working a boat against the stream by means of an endless 
 chain of float boards. Although his petitions to the Legis- 
 latures of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey for 
 financial aid to enable him to make experiments were 
 unsuccessful, yet the last-named State granted him, on 
 March 8, 1786, an exclusive privilege for fourteen years 
 for making and using all such boats within the waters of 
 that State. 
 
 In 1786, on the strength of this privilege, Fitch formed 
 a stock company known as " The Steamboat Company." 
 He engaged a mechanic named Henry Voight, and together 
 they constructed a model boat, but it was too small to 
 prove anything. In a larger model, Fitch adapted the 
 idea, borrowed no doubt from the action of Indians in a 
 canoe, of a set of paddles on each side to be moved by 
 cranks. A boat 34 feet long, 8 feet beam, and 3 feet 
 6 inches in depth was built at Philadelphia and equipped 
 with a steam engine, which by sprocket gearing actuated 
 six oars placed vertically in a frame on each side of the 
 boat. This was tried successfully on the river Delaware 
 on July 27 in that year. 
 
 By this time funds were exhausted, and it was not till 
 1787 that the State of Delaware granted Fitch a some- 
 
 I 
 
I30 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 what similar privilege to that of their neighbours, on the 
 strength of which a new agreement was drawn up and 
 fresh capital was raised. A boat 45 feet long by 12 feet 
 beam was built and fitted with horizontal double-acting 
 condensing engine "similar to the late improved steam 
 engines in Europe," 12 inch diam. by 3 feet stroke, which 
 moved by cranks six paddles on each side. On the 22nd 
 August 1787 — twenty years almost to a day before Fulton's 
 final success — this vessel was publicly tried on the river 
 Delaware at Philadelphia before members of the Conven- 
 tion met there to frame the Federal Constitution. The 
 speed attained was, however, too slow to satisfy the 
 projectors. 
 
 The following year saw them with another boat 60 feet 
 long by 8 feet beam, in which the reciprocating oars were 
 placed at the stern. In July she made a trip from Phila- 
 delphia to Burlington, a distance of about twenty miles, 
 the longest trip ever made by steam up to that time ; later 
 a speed of over six miles per hour was recorded. Even this 
 was not considered satisfactory, and Fitch continued ex- 
 perimenting with different condensers, boilers, and cylin- 
 ders during 1789 and the spring of 1790. The be^m type 
 of engine, with a cylinder 18 inches diam. driving paddle 
 boards at the stern, was finally decided on. 
 
 At last, in the words of Fitch's autobiographical MS. : ^ 
 "On the i6th April {i.e. 1790) got our work compleated, 
 and tried our Boat again and although the wind blew very 
 fresh at the north east we reigned Lord High Admiral 
 of the Delaware and no boat in the River could hold its 
 way with us, but all fell astern, although several sail boats 
 which were very light, and heavy sails that brought their 
 gunwales well down to the water came out to try us." 
 
 The United States Gazette, May 15, 1790, contains the 
 following notice : " Burlington, May 11, 1790. The friends 
 of science and the liberal arts will be gratified on hearing 
 that we were favoured, on Sunday last, with a visit from 
 
 * Preserved in the Philadelphia Library. 
 
JOHN FITCH 131 
 
 the ingenious Mr. Fitch accompanied by several gentlemen 
 of taste and knowledge in mechanics in a steamboat con- 
 structed on an improved plan. From these gentlemen we 
 learn that they came from Philadelphia in 3 hours and 
 a quarter, with a head wind with the tide in their favour. 
 On their retufn by accurate observation, they proceeded 
 down the river at the rate of upwards of seven miles an 
 hour." 
 
 The boat was now considered quite successful, and 
 on June i6th, she was tested in front of Water Street, 
 Philadelphia, in presence of the Governor and Council 
 of Pennsylvania and a crowd of spectators. A speed of 
 eight miles per hour was attested to. This vessel was the 
 first steamboat employed commercially, for during the 
 summer she ran, as advertisements in the newspapers ^ of 
 the time testify, a passenger and freight service on the 
 Delaware between Philadelphia and Bordentown. 
 
 In this service the boat must have run between two 
 and three thousand miles, but apparently the Company 
 were losing money all the time, since after the vessel was 
 laid up in the autumn she was not again used. It is not 
 unreasonable to surmise that the weight of the propelling 
 machinery left too little displacement for freight and 
 passengers to enable her to pay expenses. 
 
 The subsequent history of John Fitch is very sad. 
 He was sent over to France by his friends in 1791, and 
 on November 29 of that year obtained a patent for fifteen 
 years for * " Mecanisme propre k faire mouvoir des bateaux 
 par le moyen d'une machine a feu." 
 
 ' Twenty-three of these notices have been found, of which the following 
 from the Pennsylvania Packet of Philadelphia, June 14, 1790, is the earliest, 
 and may be considered typical of the rest : 
 
 The Steam-Boat 
 Is now ready to take Passengers, and is intended to set off from Arch street 
 Ferry in Philadelphia every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for Burlington, 
 Bristol, Bordentown and Trenton, to return on Tuesdays, Thursdays and 
 Saturdays — Price for Passengers 2/6 to Burlington and Bristol, 3/9 to Borden- 
 town, S/ to Trenton. June 14. 
 
 ^ Brevets (^invention, vol. ii. p. 105. 
 
132 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 The disturbed state of the country consequent on the 
 Revolution prevented Fitch from doing anything. He 
 returned to the United States, and after a few more attempts 
 to further the introduction of steam navigation, he died 
 in 1798, at Bardstown, Kentucky, a disappointed and 
 broken man. 
 
 The large amount of space which we have devoted 
 to Fitch is only in proportion to the regard in which he 
 ought to be held, and to the bearing which his work had 
 on Fulton's subsequent monopoly. The advances he 
 made were very great, but he was unable to build a boat 
 large enough or an engine quite light enough for the work, 
 nor was transportation so important a question then as it 
 quickly became. Fitch realised exactly what was the crux 
 of the problem, as is shown by the following statement and 
 extract from a letter of his : " If he could bring his steam 
 engine to work in a boat he would be under no difficulty 
 in applying its force." " It may also be boldly asserted 
 that it would be much easier to carry a first-rate man 
 of war by steam at an equal rate than a small boat ; for 
 in such a case we should not be so cramped for room, 
 nor should we so sensibly feel a few pounds weight of 
 machinery." 
 
 We do not intend to enlarge upon the experiments of 
 William Henry, Nathan Read, Samuel Morey, Nicholas J. 
 Roosevelt, and other New England inventors, because their 
 efforts did not advance the problem beyond the stage 
 reached by Fitch. 
 
 It must not be supposed that during this time nothing 
 was being done in the mother country. On the contrary 
 matters were in an advanced stage : we refer to the well- 
 known experiments of Patrick Miller, the Edinburgh 
 banker, who for some years had been experimenting with 
 double-hulled boats propelled by paddle wheels turned 
 by muscular power. It was suggested to him in 1788 
 by his son's tutor that he should apply a steam engine 
 instead of men. He promptly commissioned one from 
 
MILLER AND SYMINGTON 133 
 
 William Symington, who had patented an engine, really 
 an infringement of Watt's, the previous year. The trial, 
 which took place on Dalswinton Loch on Miller's estate 
 in Dumfriesshire, was quite successful, the speed attained 
 being five miles per hour. The machinery, relying as it 
 did on ratchets for obtaining rotary motion, was not much 
 in advance of HuUs's, and was unsuitable for everyday 
 work even in smooth water. The engine has been pre- 
 served, and may be seen in the Science Museum, South 
 Kensington. Miller at once decided on a trial on a larger 
 scale ; accordingly one of his double boats was brought 
 from Leith to Grangemouth, taken along the Forth and 
 Clyde Canal, and supplied with an engine of similar design 
 to the last, built at Carron Ironworks. The trial, which 
 took place on the Canal, was even more successful than 
 the previous one, for a speed of seven miles per hour was 
 reached. Miller perhaps did not realise that his results 
 could be applied outside the somewhat narrow limits 
 of inland navigation ; but, even so, surprise has often 
 been expressed that he did not prosecute his experiments 
 further ; there is, however, some evidence to show that 
 he tried, unsuccessfully, to induce the British Admiralty 
 to take up the subject ; and when it is reflected that on his 
 public spirited efforts to make improvements in agricul- 
 ture and other arts he had expended a very large sum — 
 stated by his family to have been ^^30,000 — without pecuni- 
 ary return, his inaction, far from being surprising, is only 
 natural. 
 
 Glancing back upon this long series of partial successes 
 and disappointments, it is not to be wondered at that, in 
 Fulton's own words : ^ 
 
 " The repeated failure {i.e. to move boats or vessels to ad- 
 vantage by the power of steam engines) of men of science, 
 among whom were the ingenious Earl of Stanhope, gave 
 an impression to the pubHc mind both in Europe and 
 America, that it was impracticable to make a useful steam- 
 
 ' SutclifFe, Robert Fulton and the " Clermont," p. 1 16. 
 
134 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 boat, and under this belief those who attempted it were 
 considered as visionaries or madmen." 
 
 Still it is not difficult to imagine that it was the force 
 of circumstances which drove Fulton to think upon the 
 problem, because during the summer he had spent at 
 Brest he must have realised that something a great deal 
 superior to muscular power was required to propel his 
 bomb-carrying boats ere they could be a success. 
 
 Besides, there would be much talk about Napoleon's 
 projected descent upon England, and the assemblage for 
 that purpose of troops and transports at Boulogne. But, 
 while the English fleet swept the Channel and blockaded 
 the French ports, there was little chance for such an 
 expedition to slip across, even if the French had got what 
 Napoleon said was all they needed, " Let us be masters of 
 the Channel for six hours and we are masters of the 
 world." "^ Rather may it have occurred to Fulton that 
 a dead calm was the desideratum were only the steamboat 
 in existence. The menace of invasion was removed for the 
 time being by the negotiations which led to the Treaty of 
 Amiens in March 1802. 
 
 It is doubtful whether Fulton would have done any- 
 thing in steam navigation, however, had it not been for the 
 arrival in France of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, 
 Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to France. 
 The first thing he heard on his arrival in Paris in November 
 1801 was the news of the cession of Louisiana and the 
 Floridas by Spain to France. Their new neighbour was 
 viewed with great alarm by the States, and it is a matter of 
 history that they succeeded in coming to terms on April 30, 
 1803, by the payment of eighty million francs, Napoleon 
 thus astutely putting Louisiana in the hands of a power 
 unfriendly to England and at the same time supplying 
 
 ^ Thiers, Hist, of Consulate and Empire, vol. v. p. 103. This letter it is 
 true, was written on a. subsequent occasion (i.e. to Admiral Latouche-Treville 
 July 2, 1804), but the circumstances were the same, and the sentiment one 
 that was held in France quite generally. 
 
CHANCELLOR ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON 
 
 From the original by Stuart, lygs 
 
 In the possessio7i of John Henry Livingston o/ Clermont 
 
CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON 135 
 
 himself with the funds he needed so badly for carrying on 
 his schemes of conquest. 
 
 Now, Livingston was deeply interested in the subject 
 of steamboats ; indeed, he had an idea or two of his own, 
 and, as a result of his experiments, had gone so far as to 
 procure an Act to be passed in March 1798 vesting in 
 himself the " exclusive right and privilege of navigating all 
 kinds of boats which might be propelled by the force of 
 steam or fire on all the waters within the territory or juris- 
 diction of the State of New York for the term of twenty 
 years from the passing of the Act ; upon condition that he 
 should within a twelvemonth build such a boat, the mean 
 of whose progress should not be less than four miles per 
 hour." 
 
 He mentioned what he was doing in a letter to 
 James Watt,^ dated November 4, 1798, in which he says : 
 " Having lately turned my attention to the application of 
 this power {i.e. the steam engine] to the propelling of 
 boats which I have reason to think (from some experi- 
 ments I have made with a small 12-inch cylinder making 
 three feet strokes in a boat of 36 Tuns) I have effected on 
 principles that [are] entirely new ... I propose to carry 
 the business of propelling boats upon our extensive rivers 
 by means of steam to a considerable length — Tho' steam 
 engines are perfectly made here, yet the small number of 
 workmen that understand the business renders it a slow 
 and expensive operation. I beg to know, Sir, upon what 
 terms an engine 24 Inches cylinder making four feet 
 strokes — The furnace only for a wooden boiler (as the 
 boiler can be made here) can be delivered here on 12 
 months credit with 5 pr. Ct. interest from the time it is 
 delivered. You will oblige me by an early answer to this 
 part of my letter as I am now about to proceed in making 
 them here if they cannot be furnifehed cheaper by you — I 
 need not observe that for the purpose I want it, the work- 
 manship must be as light and compact as possible." 
 
 1 Boulton & Watt MSS. 
 
138 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 importance to have a light and compact engine, than to 
 have too much regard to the economy of fuel, unless the 
 additional weight of the fuel to go twenty miles would be 
 more than the additional weight of the engine to economize 
 the heat. To gain power in a small space, how would it 
 answer to make the boiler sufficiently strong to heat the 
 steam to two atmospheres or 30 pounds to the square inch ? 
 then a cylinder of 6 inches would give a purchase of 
 300 lbs ; that is 900 pounds' constant purchase which is 
 about the sum of my demand — as for example three pounds 
 will draw a piece of timber 20 feet long which presents 
 a butt end of one foot square, at the speed of 
 
 I mile per hour 
 
 12 pounds 2 „ „ 
 
 48 „ . . . . . 4 „ „ 
 
 96 „ 6 „ „ 
 
 120 „ 7 i> » 
 
 Now supposing my boat to be 40 feet long and five feet 
 wide — boat, passengers, and engines weighing 6 tons — it 
 will present a front of about 6 feet resistance or 720 pounds 
 purchase to run such a boat seven miles per hour. 
 
 Suppose the boat to weigh . ... 2 tons 
 30 Passengers with their baggage . . ■ 3 » 
 
 5 tons 
 
 One ton is left for the engine and machinery. From this 
 calculation you will be able to judge what can be done 
 by your invention ; and if by your means I can perfect 
 my plan I have got a good opportunity of rendering your 
 engine productive to you, and it will give me pleasure to 
 do so. You will be so good as [to] write to me as soon 
 as possible, answering in a particular manner the questions 
 stated with any observations you think proper and will 
 be so good as to make on my proposed attempt. 
 
 RoBT. Fulton. 
 
CARTWRIGHT'S ENGINE 139 
 
 This letter is interesting if only as showing the data 
 possessed by Fulton, derived from Beaufoy's experiments 
 on floating solids of uniform section, upon which he based 
 his calculations of the power necessary to drive a boat. 
 Of course this meant that the boat was treated as if it 
 were a parallelopiped of uniform section and not ship- 
 shape. More noteworthy still is that Fulton, although he 
 did not understand the principle of the alcohol engine, 
 yet suggests the use of steam of much higher pressure than 
 was then usual. 
 
 Cartwright, although he had really done nothing to 
 reduce his ideas to practice, replied with a glowing account 
 of his engine. Evidently Fulton saw through this, for his 
 reply was as follows : 
 
 Paris, 28M March 1802. 
 
 My dear Sir, — It is with great pleasure I have received 
 your flattering account of your steam engine ; and although 
 attachment to you makes me believe everything you say, 
 yet such belief is merely a work of faith, for I cannot see 
 the reason why you have 13^ pounds purchase to the 
 square inch. Is this in consequence of the friction taken 
 off by your circles \i.e. the metallic packing, Patent 
 No. 2202 (1797), of which Cartwright was the original 
 inventor]. How have you found that mode to answer ? 
 Is it that by your mode of condensing the water becomes 
 deprived of its air and that the steam may be heated four, 
 five or more pounds per inch above the atmosphere ? If 
 the engine can be made so light as you mention, and give 
 only ten pounds to the square inch, it will answer my 
 purpose ; but it must be a double engine, making thirty 
 double strokes, or sixty single strokes per minute of three 
 feet each ; that is to say three feet per second. As I can 
 afford to give five feet by six for the engine, it will not 
 be necessary to place the cylinder in the boiler. If it 
 stands outside of the boiler, repairs can be made with 
 more ease ; but when we have decided on the engine, I 
 will give a sketch of the mode in which I propose it should 
 
I40 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 stand, to give movement to the machinery which is to 
 drive the boat. If for my case, you propose to condense 
 without injection, the condensing vessel may be a long 
 cylinder or tube, with another tube through its centre, 
 through which a current of water will pass with a velocity 
 equal to the speed of the boat and thus carry off the 
 caloric very quick. I do not see how the engine, water in 
 the boiler and fly included can weigh so little as a ton 
 and say a half. What will be the weight and diameter 
 of the fly ? Another important consideration — is it per- 
 mitted to send such engines out of the country ? the 
 design is to America. The smoke jack flyers will not 
 answer for a quick movement. Reduced to 2 arms thus, 
 
 it answers admirably for my plunging boat, where the 
 velocity is not more than two miles per hour between two 
 waters, and where oars cannot be used. I was so pleased 
 with it in that experiment, that I last summer built a pinish 
 {i.e. pinnace) thirty six feet long and five feet wide extremely 
 light and of the best workmanship. I placed in her 
 quadruple cranks, from bow to stern thus. 
 
 to each of which were six men, total twenty-four of the 
 best seamen of the fleet. The multiplication from the 
 crank to the flyers was at first fourteen to one ; the flyers, 
 four feet diameter, angle, thirty degrees. We could not 
 make more than four miles per hour. I reduced the 
 multiplication to seven to one. We went about four miles 
 but with less fatigue to the men. I changed the diameter 
 of the flyers from four down to two feet and the angle 
 from forty down gradually five degrees at a time to fifteen 
 degrees. Still our speed was never more than about four 
 
ROBERT FULTON 
 
 ^TATIS SVM 39 
 
 From the original by Hottdon in the Musce dc Mariiu-, Paris 
 
SCREW PROPELLER 141 
 
 miles per hour. When the boat gains a certain velocity, 
 the water running quick past the flyers they lose their 
 purchase ; and multiplying them to a velocity so as to 
 overtake the boat, or strike the water sufficiently quick, 
 causes a friction which consumes much of the power. 
 However, I have found an excellent mode of taking my 
 purchase on the water in all possible velocities, and where 
 the whole power will be applied to advantage. The 
 question now is only to find the best steam engine to put 
 it in movement ; and I sincerely hope it will be yours. 
 For political reasons, I have never yet confided to but one 
 person the combination of my plunging boat and committed 
 the whole to drawing and explanation, in case of any 
 accident happening to me ; however it will be satisfactory 
 to you to know that the experiments have been very 
 successful. I was very fortunate in surmounting some 
 great difficulties ; and navigating under water is now easy 
 to be performed and without risk. 
 
 The incredulity evinced by Fulton in this letter may 
 well be pardoned, and Cartwright, having before him an 
 inquiry for an engine of definite horse-power which was 
 not to occupy more than a certain space, must have been 
 driven to confess that he was unable to supply what was 
 wanted, and Fulton was therefore thrown once more on 
 his own resources. 
 
 Just about this time Mrs. Barlow was ordered to the 
 famous medicinal springs of Plombi^res for the benefit of 
 her health. Fulton was her escort. They left Paris on 
 April 26, 1802, and remained at the spa the whole of the 
 summer. From the letters which passed between Barlow 
 and his wife we are able to glean interesting glimpses of 
 Fulton's doings there. On the 15th Flor^al (May 5th) 
 he says : * 
 
 "Toot : the little rascal Cala^ has not yet sent off the 
 
 ' C. B. Todd, Life of Barlow, p. 184. 
 
 '^ Etienne Calla (b. 1760, d. 1835), pupil of Vaucanson, was the most 
 celebrated mechanician of his day and an inventor of some merit. 
 
142 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 boat ; he says he has had to get made a barrelier, and to 
 get the boat painted several times." 
 
 Again on the 17th Flor^al (May 7) he writes : 
 " Toot : I believe little Cala has sent the model but am 
 not sure. I have run and scolded and arranged with the 
 diligence and given him the address, and he has promised 
 time after time ; but he is a shuffler." 
 
 With this model, which was 3 feet long by 8 inch beam 
 provided with "strong clock springs," Fulton made a 
 series of experiments ; these are fully detailed in a note 
 book which has been preserved,^ entitled on the first 
 page: 
 
 " Experiments and Calculations 
 
 on propeling boats with steam 
 
 Engines. 
 
 PLOMBIERS the 5TH OF JUNE l802. 
 
 ROBT. Fulton." 
 
 Below this is a sketch of a steamboat with endless chain 
 of float boards running over two wheels and entitled : 
 
 "The Steam boat from New York to Albany 
 IN 12 Hours." 
 
 The way in which the tests were carried out is also 
 given : 
 
 "The model being arranged, a small rivulet was 
 stopped so as to form a stagnant pond 66 feet long, 9 
 or ID feet wide and from 3 to 2 feet deep at the upper 
 end ; thus prepared and with a good watch which beat 
 the seconds, the experiments commenced." They were 
 directed to finding whether "paddles, skulls, endless 
 chains, or water wheels " were the best " mode of taking 
 the purchase " on the water. 
 
 It will at once strike the naval architect when reading 
 of the above-mentioned experiments that we have here the 
 
 ^ Sutcliffe, Robert Fult v. and the " Clermont" p. 141. 
 
PROFITS ON PANORAMA 143 
 
 first crude idea of the model tanks now so extensively used 
 at Haslar, Dumbarton, and elsewhere for predicting, from 
 the behaviour of scale models under varying conditions, 
 the performances of the actual vessels to be constructed 
 from them. 
 
 From the experiments and the sketch already men- 
 tioned it is quite clear that Fulton at this moment was in 
 favour of the endless chain of float boards for propulsion. 
 The calculations that follow all relate definitely to a steam- 
 boat service between New York and Albany. Fulton ex- 
 pected to be able to realise a speed of 16 miles per hour, 
 but he also saw clearly that it could not be done unless he 
 had sufficient displacement. 
 
 To return now to the correspondence ; on the 30 
 Flor^al (May 20) Barlow wrote ^ to his wife : 
 
 "Toot is calling for funds. Besides the [$]3,ooo which 
 I must pay for him to-morrow and [$]3,ooo more at the end 
 of the month, he wants [$]3,ooo more still to build another 
 new boat at Brest. I see no end to it ; he is plunging 
 deeper all the time, and if he don't succeed I don't know 
 what will become of him. I will do all I can for him, but 
 the best way I can serve him is to keep a sheet anchor for 
 him at home that he might be sure to ride out a gale there 
 if he can't keep the sea nor get into port. St. Aubin says 
 it's a grand damage that he is not here now ; Roderer is so 
 enthusiased with his small canals that he would certainly 
 be employed to make one. French froth ! ! " 
 
 The new submarine was never built, although it has 
 been asserted repeatedly that it was. 
 
 On the ist Prairial (May 21) Barlow mentions having 
 seen in the Morning Chronicle a report of the speech made 
 in the House of Lords by the Earl Stanhope relative to 
 submarine navigation, in the course of which he stated that 
 it had been brought to such perfection by a person in France 
 as to render the destruction of ships absolutely sure. 
 
 This statement created considerable stir, and a certain 
 
 ' C. B. Todd, Life of Barlow, p. l86. 
 
144 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 amount of uneasiness that led British Ministers eventually 
 to enter into negotiations with the object of withdrawing 
 Fulton from France, the result of which will be seen later. 
 
 Fulton was also devoting some time to artistic pursuits, 
 for in a succeeding letter there is a mention of his paint- 
 ing the portrait of Charlotte Villette ; later Barlow ex- 
 presses pleasure that he is getting on so well with the 
 drawings for the Columbiad. This was an epic poem based 
 upon and amplified from an earlier work of his — the 
 Vision of Columbus — that Barlow had written describing 
 the rise and progress of the United States. We shall hear 
 more of this, for it was not published till 1807. 
 
 On the 25th Prairial (June 14) Barlow wrote to Fulton : 
 
 " Dear Toot — To-day I went to the National Depot of 
 Machines with Parker to show it him and there I met 
 Montgolfier and there I saw a strange thing ; it was no 
 less than your very steamboat in all its parts and principles 
 in a very elegant model. It contains your wheel-oars 
 precisely as you have placed them, except that it has four 
 wheels on each side to guide round the endless chain 
 instead of two. 
 
 "The two upper wheels seem to be only to support the 
 chain ; perhaps it is an improvement." 
 
 Barlow proceeds to give details of the company who were 
 going to exploit the invention on the river Rhone. He 
 says further that Montgolfier disbelieves in the whole thing, 
 and adds : " I shall say nothing to Livingston about the 
 model." 
 
 This steamboat was patented April 7, 1802, by Des- 
 blanc et Cie. of Tr6voux.^ 
 
 There cannot be much doubt that this news upset 
 Fulton somewhat, but not for long, as his active mind soon 
 reverted to his earlier idea of paddle wheels. On his 
 
 ' Descriftion des machines, vol. xxii. p. 329. 
 
DESBLANC'S STEAM TUG 145 
 
 return to Paris in October he inspected the model and 
 effectually disposed of Desblanc, in some notes which 
 have been preserved, because the latter gives neither the 
 proportions of the boat nor the size of the engines to 
 obtain any given speed, and therefore " cannot be said to 
 have made any clear and distinct discovery or useful 
 invention." As a matter of fact Desblanc never did 
 achieve any success. • 
 
 The reader v?ill be interested to learn that the model is 
 still in existence, and is preserved in the Conservatoire 
 National des Arts et M6tiers, the Institution which Barlow 
 calls the " National Depdt of Machines." 
 
 Barlow now seems to have paid a flying visit to England 
 — the countries were still at peace — and incidentally he 
 called upon William Chapman ^ to inquire about engines. 
 The interview is referred to on 12 Messidor (July 1st) in a 
 letter from Dover as follows : 
 
 " He says that a 26-inch cylinder in what he calls a 
 double engine gives the force of 50 horses ; he says to 
 move a boat of 6 feet wide, one foot deep in water and 80 
 feet long 8 miles an hour, will not require a cylinder more 
 than 14 inches." 
 
 On the 14th Messidor (July 3) Barlow dined with Living- 
 ston and says : 
 
 "Toot . . . There I met Count Rumford and he and I 
 were friends in a moment. He told me a great many things 
 new and good, and all the particulars about the Royal 
 Institution. I complimented him liberally and handsomely. 
 He talked a great deal about the plunging boat of Fulton's. 
 He and Sir Charles [t'.e. Blagden, Secretary of the Royal 
 Society of London] agreed that its effects could not be 
 doubted but that it would never be brought into use, 
 because no civilized nation would consent to use it : that 
 men, governments and nations would fight and that it 
 was better for morals and general happiness of all people 
 that the fighting should be done on land. Here Livingston 
 
 1 See p. 38. 
 
 K 
 
146 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 interposed with dignity and energy, and observed that the 
 greater part of modern wars were commercial wars, and 
 that these were occasioned by navies, and that the system 
 ought to be overturned ; that as to the humanity of the 
 use of the plunging boat, he was so convinced of it that he 
 had written to the American Government recommending 
 those experiments to be made which should prove its 
 efficacy, and then to adopt it as a general mode of defence 
 for our harbours and coasts. Volney joined in enforcing 
 with his usual strength of expression these ideas. Schim- 
 melpennick sat by and said not a word." 
 
 On the 2ist Messidor (July 10) Barlow mentions having 
 studied Fulton's " memoir of experiments and calculations 
 pretty well." 
 
 Barlow's next reference to the steamboat is under date 
 29th Messidor (July 18). 
 
 "Toot, I had a great talk with Livingston. He says 
 he is perfectly satisfied with your experiments and calcula- 
 tions, but is always suspicious that the engine beating 
 up and down will break the boat to pieces. He seems to 
 be for trying the horizontal cylinder or for returning to his 
 mercurial engine. I see his mind is not settled, and he 
 promises now to write you. ... He thinks the scale you 
 talk of going on is much too large, and especially that part 
 which respects the money. You converted him as to the 
 preference of the wheels above all other modes, but he says 
 they cannot be patented in America because a man (I 
 forget his name)i has proposed the same thing there. 
 . . . Parker is highly gratified with your experiments ; he 
 wishes, however, something further to remove his doubts — 
 about keeping the proportions and as to the loss of power 
 in different velocities. He wishes to have another 
 barrelier made four times as strong as this or thereabouts 
 to see whether the proportional velocity would be the 
 same when moving by the paddles as when moving by 
 the fixture on shore. . . ." 
 
 ^ It was Capt. Samuel Morey in 1 794. 
 
LIVINGSTON HESITATES 147 
 
 The last reference by Barlow is on the 7th Thermidor 
 (July 26). 
 
 "My project would be that you should pass directly 
 over to England, silent and steady, make Chapman con- 
 struct an engine of 12 inches while you are building a 
 boat of a proportionate size. Make the experiments on 
 that scale all quiet and quick. If it answers, put the 
 machinery on board a vessel and go directly to New 
 York (ordering another engine as large as you please to 
 follow you) then secure your patent and begin your opera- 
 tion first small and then large. I think I will find you the 
 funds without any noise for the first operation in England, 
 and if it promises well you may get as many funds and 
 friends in America as you want." 
 
 It is fairly clear from these last two letters that there 
 was considerable hesitation on the part of all except Barlow 
 as to whether to back up Fulton with sufficient capital to 
 make the necessary experiments on the large scale. Living- 
 ston was alarmed by the boldness of Fulton's proposals, 
 and doubted the necessity for so large a size of boat a:s 
 he suggested, whereas displacement had been the very 
 thing lacking in nearly all previous experiments. 
 
 The letters to Plombi^res ceased on 27th Fructidor 
 (September 14th), immediately after which Mrs. Barlow 
 and her escort returned to Paris. The circle at 50 rue de 
 Vaugirard was once more complete, and remained unbroken 
 for the next twelve months with the exception of a short 
 absence of Barlow in England, when he was instrumental 
 in mediating between Benjamin West and Fulton ; the 
 former had been much offended by some proposition made 
 by the latter, the nature of which has not transpired. 
 
 Considerable light is thrown on the conclusions to which 
 Fulton had arrived as to the proper form of propeller for 
 marine propulsion at this time by the following letter * 
 addressed to the American Consul-General at Paris in 
 
 1 Reproduced by permission of Mr. C. H. Hart, of Philadelphia, who 
 possesses the original. 
 
148 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 reply to an inquiry for information and advice about 
 a proposal of a client : 
 
 Paris, the zotA September 1802. 
 To Mr. Fulner Skipwith. 
 
 Sir, — The expense of a patent in France is 300 livres 
 (i.e. £x2) for three years, 800 ditto for ten years, and 1500 
 ditto for fifteen years ; there can be no difficulty in obtaining 
 a patent for the mode of propelling a boat which you have 
 shown me ; but if the author of the model wishes to be 
 assured of the merits of his invention before he goes to the 
 expense of a patent, I advise him to make a model of a 
 boat, in which he can place a clock spring which will give 
 about eight revolutions ; he can then combine the move- 
 ments so as to try oars, paddles, and the leaves which he 
 proposes ; if he finds that the leaves drive the boat a 
 greater distance in the same time than cither oars or 
 paddles they consequently are a better application of 
 power. About eight years ago the Earl of Stanhope tried 
 an experiment on similar leaves in Greenland Dock, London, 
 but without success. I have also tried experiments on 
 similar leaves, wheel-oars, paddles, and flyers similar to 
 those of a smoke jack, and found oars to be the best. The 
 velocity with which a boat moves is in proportion as the 
 sum of the surfaces of the oars, paddles, leaves or other 
 machine is to the bow of the boat presented to the water, 
 and in proportion to the power with which such machinery 
 is put in motion ; hence if the sum of the surfaces of the 
 oars is equal to the sum of the surfaces of the leaves, and 
 they pass through similar curves in the same time, the 
 effect must be the same ; but oars have their advantage, they 
 return through air to make a second stroke, and hence 
 create very little resistance ; whereas the leaves return 
 through water and add considerably to the resistance, 
 which resistance is increased as the velocity of the boat 
 is augmented ; no kind of machinery can create power ; 
 all that can be done is to apply the manual or other 
 power to the best advantage. If the author of the 
 
STEAMBOAT AGREEMENT 149 
 
 model is fond of mechanics he will be much amused, and 
 not lose his time, by trying the experiments in the manner 
 I propose, and this perhaps is the most prudent measure, 
 before a patent is taken. 
 
 I am, Sir, with much respect. Yours, 
 
 ROBT Fulton. 
 
 We might remark that the " leaves " referred to are 
 expanding and contracting surfaces like the foot of an 
 aquatic bird ; " wheel-oars " mean paddle wheels as we 
 know them ; " paddles " mean a chain of float boards pass- 
 ing over two wheels, or the paddles used by Fitch ; 
 "flyers" mean screw propellers. In this letter Fulton is 
 very generously giving away a good deal of the informa- 
 tion gained by his experiments. 
 
 Fulton's presence in Paris and his own confidence 
 seems to have quickly reassured his friends and critics, 
 for we find him almost immediately thereafter entering 
 into partnership with Livingston. The deed of partner- 
 ship that was executed by them has been preserved,^ and 
 opens thus : 
 
 " Memorandum of an Agreement entered into this tenth 
 day of October in the Year One Thousand Eight hundred 
 and two between Robert R. Livingston, Esq. of the State 
 of New York and Robert Fulton of the State of Pennsyl- 
 vania. 
 
 "Whereas the said Livingston and Fulton have for several 
 years past separately tried various mechanical Combinations 
 for the purpose of propelling boats and vessels by the 
 power of Steam Engines, and conceiving that their ex- 
 periments have demonstrated the possibility of success, 
 they hereby agree to make an attempt to carry their in- 
 vention into useful operation, and for that purpose enter 
 into partnership on the following conditions." 
 
 '^ In the possession of Mr. J. H. Livingston, of Clermont, who kindly fUmished 
 the author with a copy. 
 
I50 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 These conditions are too long to be given in extenso, 
 but the following is a brief summary : 
 
 First. A boat 120 feet long, 8 feet wide and 15 inches 
 draught is to be constructed to carry sixty passengers, and 
 to run between New York and Albany at the rate of eight 
 miles per hour in still water. 
 
 Second. A United States patent is to be taken out by 
 Fulton, and the property in it is to be divided into 100 
 shares, fifty of which are to be held by each. All the 
 profits are to be shared equally. 
 
 Third. Fulton is to go to England to construct an 
 experimental boat, the estimated cost of which, j^soo, is 
 to be advanced by Livingston. If unsuccessful, Fulton 
 agrees to repay half that sum within two years. If successful, 
 Fulton is to take out the U.S. patent and superintend the 
 work of establishing the steamboat. 
 
 Fourth. When the work is complete, either party may 
 dispose of any number, not exceeding forty, of their shares, 
 but these shareholders are to have no voice in the man- 
 agement. All extensions are to be made out of revenue, 
 and the surplus profits are to be divided twice a year. 
 
 Fifth. The duration of the partnership is to be co- 
 terminous with the duration of the patent — fourteen years — 
 or whatever extension may be granted, after which each 
 share to have a voice in the disposal of the property. 
 
 Sixth. In the case of the death of either partner within 
 the period of partnership his heir or heirs holding twenty 
 shares are jointly to have an equal voice with the primi- 
 tive partner. 
 
 Seventh. Livingston may withdraw at any time after 
 the ;^5oo has been expended on the first experiment, on 
 giving notice in writing to Fulton. 
 
 The document is signed by Livingston and Fulton, 
 and witnessed by Robert L. Livingston. 
 
 The winter appears to have been spent in further ex- 
 
DESIGN FOR STEAMBOAT 151 
 
 periments, for a MS. is still preserved dated "Paris the 
 19 Nevose Anno 11, January the 9th 1803," entitled "Ex- 
 periments on the model of a boat to be moved by a steam 
 engine," in which six experiments are carefully detailed. 
 
 On January 24th Fulton forwarded a plan that he had 
 prepared with the following description to the Demonstra- 
 tors of the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, where the 
 document is still preserved, 
 
 {Translation.) 
 
 Paris, 4 Pluviose, An XI. 
 
 Robert Fulton to the Citizens Molar/ Bardell, and Mont- 
 golfier,* Friends of the Arts. 
 
 I send you herewith sketch designs of a machine that 
 I am about to construct with which I propose soon to 
 make experiments on the towing of boats upon rivers 
 by the help of fire engines. My first aim in busying 
 myself with this was to put it in practice upon the long 
 rivers of America where there are no roads suitable for 
 haulage or they are scarcely practicable, and where in 
 consequence the expense of navigation by the aid of 
 steam will be put in comparison with the labour of men 
 and not with that of horses as in France. 
 
 You will easily see that such a discovery, if it succeeds, 
 would be of infinitely greater importance to America than 
 to France where there exist everywhere roads suitable 
 for haulage and companies who concern themselves with 
 
 ^ p. C. Molard (b. 1758, d. 1827) was appointed in 1794 member of a 
 Commission of Arts charged with the preservation of the objects of art and 
 science existing in the country. On the 1 0th October, when the Conservatoire 
 des Arts et Metiers was definitely established, Molard was appointed one of 
 three Demonstrators. In 1801, the sole administration was confided to him, 
 and this post he retained till his retirement in i8l6. He was a prolific inventor, 
 and was a member of the Academie des Sciences. 
 
 2 J. M. de Montgolfier (b. 1740, d. 1810) is best known for his inventions, 
 in conjunction with his brother Jacques Etienne (b. 1745, d. 1799) of the 
 hydraulic ram and of the fire balloon. He was appointed Demonstrator of the 
 Conservatoire in 1800, and he held the post till his death. 
 
DESIGN FOR STEAMBOAT 153 
 
 it one league per hour in still water. If the boats B. and 
 C. have similar faces to A. each will require a like power 
 of 420 pounds that is to say 1260 pounds for the three, 
 whilst if they are tied together in the way that I have 
 indicated the force of 420 will suffice for all. This great 
 economy in power is too important to be neglected in such 
 an enterprise. 
 Citizens : 
 
 When my experiments are ready, I shall have the 
 pleasure of inviting you to see them and if they succeed 
 I reserve to myself the right of making a present of my 
 labours to the Republic or to reap from them the advantage 
 which the law allows. Actually, I place these notes in 
 your hands in order that if a similar project comes before 
 you before my experiments are finished it may not have 
 the preference over mine. 
 
 Health and Respect, 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 No. 50 Rue Vaugirard. 
 
 We must conclude from this letter that Fulton had 
 decided that he might as well reap what benefit, if any, 
 there was to be had in France, as the result of his experi- 
 ments, and also that he would build the trial boat there. 
 He had been forestalled once by Desblanc, and he did 
 not want the same thing to happen again, and therefore 
 thought it best to secure himself from further anticipa- 
 tion. He freely admits that there is nothing new in his 
 plans — everything depends on the proper proportions of 
 the hull combined with well-known mechanisms. His 
 attitude throughout is totally different from that which he 
 displayed with respect to his submarine. 
 
 Fulton with Livingston's financial aid^ now set to 
 work in earnest to construct the steamboat. Apparently 
 
 1 A receipt signed by him 17 Ventose an 11 (8th March 1803) shows that he 
 had by then received the sum agreed upon, i.e. 1 1 ,000 francs in nine instalments. 
 The Livingstons of Callendar, vol. v. p. 594, 
 
154 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 the design submitted to the Conservatoire was only ad- 
 hered to in its general arrangement ; anything in fact that 
 came to hand was used. The engine is stated by Fulton 
 to have been borrowed from M. Perrier and to have been 
 of about eight horse-power. The boiler and the other 
 parts of the machinery seem to have been constructed 
 by M. Etienne Calla, rue du Faubourg St, Denis No. 9. 
 The paddle wheels were 12 feet diameter. 
 
 The boiler originally designed by Fulton was remark- 
 able ; in fact it was of the " flash " type, in which water is 
 injected into a red-hot chamber in just sufficient quantities 
 to make the steam as required — a system that in these days 
 has been made a success by the labours of M. Serpollet. 
 Fulton's boiler is thus described by a French engineer 1 
 who had a copy of the original drawing, scale i : 3, from 
 Calla : 
 
 {Translation.) 
 
 The steam chamber placed in the middle of the fire-box 
 (foyer) is a copper cylinder 4 inches diameter by the same 
 in height. The piston cylinder is in brass 2 inches diameter 
 by about 24 inches long and is screwed into the steam 
 chamber. A little above this junction it is crossed by two 
 inclined tubes whose internal diameter is about \ inch. 
 Water from the reservoir falls through one of these tubes 
 into the steam chamber which communicates with the air 
 by the other tube. This double communication being 
 controlled by cocks which the piston rod of the motive 
 cylinder opens and shuts at the proper intervals, steam is 
 formed in the red-hot chamber and exerts its pressure on 
 the underside of the piston. When at the top of its stroke 
 it opens the cocks to the steam chamber and atmosphere 
 while the piston descends under the action of a counter- 
 weight. 
 
 Fulton intended to employ steam at 32 atmospheres ! but 
 
 ' Hachette, Traiti da Machines, 1828. 
 
STEAMBOAT SUNK 155 
 
 after some experiments with M. Calla the steam chambers 
 so deteriorated under the action of the fuel that the ap- 
 paratus was abandoned ; and no wonder, for the idea was 
 far in advance of the constructive resources of the time. 
 Apparently a simple externally-fired boiler was eventually 
 used. 
 
 It would appear that the boat was ready early in the 
 spring, and that Livingston already anticipated its success, 
 for he wrote to his friends in the States, and by their 
 interest an Act was passed on April 5, 1803, by which the 
 rights and privileges of the lapsed Act of 1798 were ex- 
 tended to himself and Fulton jointly for twenty years from 
 the date of the new Act on condition of proof being pro- 
 duced within two years ; this time of proof was extended 
 by a subsequent Act till April 1807. 
 
 One night when the boat was lying moored in the Seine 
 ready for her trial trip an untoward accident happened. 
 A violent storm arose, with the consequence that the boat, 
 never intended to resist the weight of heavy machinery in 
 such circumstances, proved unequal to the strain ; the 
 engine went through the bottom and the whole sank in 
 the bed of the river. This misfortune was announced to 
 Fulton while still in bed ; he rushed at once to the spot, 
 and laboured all day in the river without rest or food, 
 getting up the machinery. Never at any time strong in 
 the lungs, this imprudence left behind it a weakness which 
 he felt to the end of his life. 
 
 Nothing daunted by the mishap, he set to work to build 
 a boat of somewhat larger size and heavier proportions. 
 His own statement is that it was 70 French feet long, 8 
 French feet wide, 3 French feet deep {i.e. 74.6 feet by 8.2 
 feet by 3.2 feet). The engine was uninjured and was again 
 used, and the boat was ready towards the end of July, as is 
 shown by a playful letter of invitation,^ dated July 24, 1803, 
 which he sent to his friend Skipwith. To understand it, 
 
 ' Reproduced by permission of Mr. C. H. Hart, of Philadelphia, who 
 possesses the original. 
 
156 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 it should be premised that the latter's first child had not 
 long been born. 
 
 Paris, the itk Thermidor Anno 11. 
 
 My dear Friend, — You have experienced all the anxiety 
 of a fond father on a child's coming into the world. So 
 have I. The little cherub, now plump as a partridge, ad- 
 vances to the perfection of her nature and each day 
 presents some new charm. I wish mine may do the same. 
 Some weeks hence, when you will be sitting in one corner 
 of the room and Mrs. Skipwith in the other, learning the 
 little creature to walk, the first unsteady step will scarcely 
 balance the tottering frame ; but you will have the pleasing 
 perspective of seeing it grow to a steady walk and then 
 to dancing. I wish mine may do the same. My boy, who 
 is all bones and corners just like his daddy, and whose 
 birth has given me much uneasiness, or rather anxiety, — 
 is just learning to walk and I hope in time he will be an 
 active runner. I therefore have the honour to invite you 
 and the ladies to see his first movements on Monday next 
 from 6 till 9 in the evening between the Barriere des Bons 
 Hommes and the steam engine. May our children, my 
 friend, be an honour to their country and a comfort to the 
 grey hairs of their doting parents. Yours, 
 
 R. Fulton. 
 
 As the 24th was a Sunday, this private trial must have 
 been on July 25th or August ist — probably the former, 
 because Fulton's doings appear to have been reported before 
 that date to Napoleon, who learnt everything that was 
 going on among the intellectuals of Paris. On July 21st he 
 wrote to M. Champagny, Councillor of State in the depart- 
 ment of Marine, a letter showing keen insight into the real 
 meaning of the invention. 
 
 ( Translation^ 
 
 I have just read the project of Citizen Fulton which 
 you have sent to me much too late in that it may change the 
 
TRIAL OF STEAMBOAT 157 
 
 face of the world. However that may be, I desire you 
 immediately to confide its examination to a commission 
 of members chosen by you from among the different 
 classes of the Institute. It is there that learned Europe 
 would seek for judges to solve the question under con- 
 sideration. As soon as the report is made it will be sent 
 to you and you will forward it to me. Try and let the 
 whole matter be determined within a week as I am 
 impatient.^ 
 
 Whether in consequence of this or not, the project 
 was certainly referred to the Institut National des Sciences 
 et des Arts, for in their order book is an entry dated 20 
 Thermidor (8th Aug.) of an invitation from Robert Fulton 
 " to see the experiment of a boat ascending the stream by 
 means of a steam engine" to which he adds reflections 
 relative to the project. Citizens Bossut, Bougainville, 
 and Carnot are ordered to be present and make a report. 
 Strangely enough, beyond the entry there is no trace 
 either of the letter of invitation, of the memoir, or of the 
 report. Equally curious to relate, search among the 
 National Archives reveals no trace of the report either. 
 It has been suggested that as the Minister of the Interior 
 was absent from 21st June to 8th August the matter may 
 have been dealt with outside the office, but the more 
 reasonable explanation is that Fulton left Paris very soon 
 after, and that the matter was dropped for that reason. 
 
 We are therefore forced to rely, for an account of this 
 public trial, upon one of the newspapers of the day.^ It 
 runs as follows : 
 
 (Translation^ 
 
 On the 2ist Thermidor (9th Aug. 1803) a trial was made 
 of a new invention, of which the complete and brilliant 
 success should have important consequences for the 
 commerce and internal navigation of France. During 
 
 • Desbriire, vol. iii. p. 331. 
 
 • Journal des Debats, 23 Thermidor. 
 
158 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 the past two or three months there has been seen at the 
 end of the quay Chaillot a boat of curious appearance, 
 equipped with two large wheels mounted on an axle like 
 a cart, while behind these wheels was a kind of large stove 
 with a pipe, as if there was some kind of a small fire engine 
 intended to operate the wheels of the boat. Several weeks 
 ago some evil-minded persons threw the structure down. 
 The builder, having repaired the damage, received the day 
 before yesterday a most flattering reward for his labours 
 and talent. 
 
 At six o'clock in the evening, assisted by three persons 
 only, he put his boat in motion with two other boats in 
 tow behind it, and for an hour and a half he afforded the 
 curious spectacle of a boat moved by wheels like a cart, 
 these wheels being provided with paddles or flat plates 
 and being moved by a fire engine. 
 
 In following it along the quay the speed against 
 the current of the Seine appeared to us about that of a 
 rapid pedestrian, that is about 2400 toises (i.e. 2.9 miles) 
 per hour ; while in going down stream it was more 
 rapid : it ascended and descended four times from Les 
 Bons-Hommes as far as the engine of Chaillot ; it was 
 manoeuvred with facility, turned to the right and left, came 
 to anchor, started again, and passed by the swimming 
 school. 
 
 One of the boats took to the quay a number of savants 
 and representatives of the Institute, among whom were 
 Citizens Bossut, Carnot, Prony, Perrier, Volney, &c. 
 Doubtless they will make a report which will give to 
 this discovery all the ^dat which it deserves j for this 
 mechanism applied to our rivers, the Seine, the Loire, 
 and the Rh6ne, would be fraught with the most advantage- 
 ous consequences to our internal navigation. The tows 
 of barges which now require four months to come from 
 Nantes to Paris would arrive promptly in from 10 to 15 
 days. The author of this brilliant invention is M. Fulton, 
 an American and a celebrated mechanician. 
 
TRIAL OF STEAMBOAT 159 
 
 The Pompe de Chaillot — the steam pumping plant 
 that had suppHed Paris with water since about 1780 — stood 
 close to what is now the Pont de I'Alma. How few of 
 the thousands who to-day travel, whether for business 
 or for pleasure, by the comfortable steamers that ply on 
 the Seine ever know or think of the little steamboat that 
 preceded them more than a century ago. 
 
 It was not, however, with any view of submitting his 
 work for approval to the National Institute or to the 
 French Government that Fulton had taken up this steam- 
 boat project. He was too disgusted with the way in 
 which he had been treated already officially, nor did he 
 want to encounter possible opposition from Desblanc. 
 He and Livingston, although destined to be drawn aside 
 from it for awhile, had in view a definite scheme, and that 
 was simply to apply the knowledge thus acquired in a 
 place where they were certain of reaping a substantial 
 reward. All along Fulton had never claimed any inven- 
 tion in the constituent parts of the steamboat, and he 
 probably realised that a patent merely for arrangement 
 and proportion of parts would be of little value, whereas 
 a monopoly by legislative act was quite different. This 
 latter was what awaited him in America on the Hudson 
 River. 
 
 Before the public trial had taken place he wrote, 
 enclosing a sketch of his requirements, to Boulton, Watt 
 and Co., the most famous firm of engine builders in the 
 world at that time, in the following terras : 
 
 Paris, the dth August 1803. 
 Messrs. Bolton and Watt, Birmingham.* 
 
 Gentlemen, — If there is not a law which prohibits 
 the exportation of Steam engines to the United States of 
 America or if you can get a permit to export parts of an 
 engine, will you be so good as to make me a Cylinder of 
 
 1 Boulton & Watt MSS. 
 
i6o ROBERT FULTON 
 
 a 24 horse-power double effect, the piston making a 4 foot 
 stroke ; 
 
 Also the piston and piston rod. 
 
 The Valves and movements for opening and shutting 
 them. 
 
 The air pump, piston and rod. 
 
 The condenser with its communication to the cylinder 
 and air pump. 
 
 The bottom of the cylinder cast in form as on the 
 drawing and the disposition of the parts as near as possible 
 as they stand in the drawing. The other parts can be made 
 at New York, and as it will save the expense of transport 
 and they require a particular arrangement which must be 
 done while I am present, I prefer having them done there. 
 Therefore if it is permitted to export the above parts, you 
 will confer on me a great obligation by favouring me with 
 them and placing me the next on your list. When finished 
 please to pack them in such a manner as not to receive 
 injury, and send them to the nearest port, which, I sup- 
 pose, is Liverpool, to be shiped to New York to the 
 address of Brockhurst Livingston Esqre. the Amount of 
 the expenses will be placed to your order in the hands of 
 George Wm. Erving,^ American Consul, Nicholas Lane, 
 Lombard Street, No. 10, London. 
 
 The situation for which the engine is designed and the 
 Machinery which is to be combined with it will not admit 
 of placing the Condensor under the cylinder as usual, but I 
 hope the communicating tube to the condensor will not 
 render the condensation less perfect or Injure the working 
 of the engine. 
 
 Should you find a difficulty in getting a permit to 
 export the parts above mentioned, I hope to be able to 
 obtain it through our Minister, Mr. Monroe. And as there 
 
 '■ George W. Erving (b. 1771, d. 1850), diplomatist — educated at Oxford 
 Made Consul in London by President Jefferson. From there in 1804 he went 
 as Secretary of Legation to Spain and remained there till 1810 ; in the following 
 year he was special Minister to Denmark, and from 1814 to 1819 he was U.S. 
 Minister to Spain. 
 
ORDERS ENGINE i6i 
 
 is some difficulty in passing letters to and from Paris and 
 Birmingham, which may loose much time You will be so 
 good as to furnish me the above parts as soon as possible 
 without waiting to hear further from me. 
 
 Please to write as soon as possible under cover to 
 Mr. Erving as before mentioned. In which I beg you to 
 Answer the following questions : 
 
 What must be the size of the boiler for such an engine, 
 how much space for the water and how much for the 
 steam ? What is the most improved method of making 
 the Boiler, and economic mode of setting it ? How 
 many pounds of coal will such an engine require per hour, 
 and what is the expence at Birmingham ? 
 
 Can you inform me what is the difference in heating 
 with coals or wood, as in most cases wood must be used 
 in America, and must not the furnace be made different 
 when wood is to be used ? 
 
 What will be the consequence of condencing with 
 water a little salt As in the place where the engine is to 
 work the water is brackish ? What will be the Interior 
 and exterior diameter of the cylinder and its length and 
 what will be the Velocity of the piston per second ? This 
 information will enable me to combine the other parts 
 of the machinery. 
 
 When can the engine be finished and how much will 
 
 be the expence ? Your favouring me with the execution 
 
 of this order, and answering the above questions will very 
 
 much oblige 
 
 Your most obedient, 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 Rue Vaugirard, No. 50 k Paris. 
 
 Can the position of this Cylinder Condensor and air 
 pump be adhered to as in the drawing without Injuring 
 the working of the engine ? 
 
 The drawing referred to is executed on a sheet of 
 
 L 
 
1 62 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 writing paper and served as the enclosure of the above 
 letter. The MS. notes upon it are as follows : 
 
 It is desired to have a cylinder of a 24 horse power 
 with a Stroke of four feet as the particular use for which 
 the engine is intended will not admit of the condenser 
 standing under the cylinder. I hope there is no objection 
 to placing it and the air pump as in this Sketch. The 
 Square which is formed on the bottom of the cylinder, 
 and which is to be its support to be preserved as near the 
 dimentions he(re) delineated as possible. The distance 
 from the Centre of the cylinder to the centre of the con- 
 denser 30 Inches and the distance from the centre of the 
 condenser to the centre of the air pump 37 Inches also the 
 46 Inches from the bottom of the cylinder to the bottom 
 of the condenser to be observed and not if not attended 
 with any inconvenience or detriment to the working of 
 the engine ; this drawing is made by the scale of one inch 
 to a feet. The air pump has a stroke of 2 feet; this 
 quantity of movement and these proportions are fitted to 
 the composition of the other parts of the machinery. 
 
 I submit them to your better judgement : begging 
 only that they may be preserved as near as possible with- 
 out diminishing the power of the machine. 
 
 August the 6tk, 1803. 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 
 The firm's London agent replied to this en August 
 22nd by a letter which has not been preserved, but its 
 nature may be inferred from Fulton's next letter, which 
 was written in triplicate en the ist, 8th, and nth, in case 
 of any miscarriage — a very frequent occurrence in those 
 days. It runs as follows : 
 
 Paris, the 1st September 1803. 
 Messrs. Bolton and Watt. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I have received your letter of the 22 of 
 August by Mr. Barlow. I had previously calculated that 
 
ENGINE BUSINESS 163 
 
 some additional time and expence would be necessary 
 to make models for disposing of the condenser and Air 
 pump as in my drawing ; however, if you have models 
 for an engine of a 24 horse power with a 4 foot stroke, 
 I presume very little alteration will be necessary, the air 
 pump will be as usual ; and the condensor with its com- 
 munication to Ihe steam box will be the only variation ; 
 but what I am most anxious to know is whether there is 
 any objection to the manner in which I have disposed 
 of the condensor, if not that you will be so good as to 
 execute my order as soon as possible, and forward it to 
 New York as before desired without hearing further from 
 me. This I mention as the communication between this 
 country and England is daily growing more difficult and 
 not to lose time on that account. 
 
 At the same time I beg of you an answer to the ques- 
 tions in my former letter which you will much oblige 
 me by sending as soon as possible by the circuitous but 
 certain route which the post office in London has adopted 
 for passing letters on to the continent. 
 
 My address 
 
 Rue Vaugirard, No. 50 
 
 FB St Germains 
 
 k Paris. 
 
 Mr. Barlow refered you to Mr. Thomas Willson 
 Bucklersbury, London for the amount of the charges. 
 I am with much respect your most obedient 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 
 May I beg the favour of your sending a duplicate 
 of your answer by a second post fearing the first may 
 not arrive ? 
 
 The letter is addressed to Boulton, Watt & Co., 
 London Street, London. It came via Hamburg to the 
 Foreign Office, which is evidently the " circuitous route " 
 
1 64 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 referred to. All three letters came safely to hand, but 
 immediately on receipt of the first the firm replied as 
 follows : 
 
 SOHO, /^th October 1 803. 
 
 Robert Fulton, Esq. Paris. 
 
 Your favour of the ist Ulfo. is just come to hand from 
 which we notice the receipt of our Agent's letter to Mr. 
 Barlow of 22 August. 
 
 We have since that time made application to the 
 proper ofificer of Government for permission to export 
 the Articles ordered in your former favour, but as no 
 answer has been returned, we should be compromising 
 ourselves by proceeding farther without authority. We 
 must beg leave therefore to decline the order and shall 
 deliver your drawing to any person you may please to 
 appoint to receive it.^ 
 
 We remain, Sir, 
 
 Your obt. Servts, 
 
 BouLTON, Watt & Co. 
 
 P.S. — We are not aware of any detrimental consequences 
 that will accrue to the operation of the Engine, from the 
 condenser being placed in the position you have drawn it. 
 
 Fulton did not, however, take this refusal quietly, for on 
 November 3rd he wrote from Amsterdam tb his Excellency 
 James Monroe, American Minister at the Court of St. James, 
 asking him to use his influence to get the permit. 
 
 One extract reads : * 
 
 " It will be well to ask the permission for yourself with- 
 out mentioning my name as I have reason to believe 
 
 1 The drawing was never claimed, however, and is still preserved in the 
 Boulton and Watt MSS. These and succeeding letters from Boulton, 
 Watt & Co. are taken from the firm's press copy letter books, the invention of 
 the great James Watt himself, and at that time still an innovation in business 
 circles. 
 
 * Sutcliffe, Robert Fulton and the '^Clermont," p. 155. 
 
INDUCED TO QUIT FRANCE 165 
 
 Government will not be much disposed to favour any wish 
 of mine." 
 
 Mr. Monroe did not reply, so that Fulton wrote again 1 
 on November 17, from Paris, strongly urging him to take 
 action, but again without effect. 
 
 Thus were Fulton's hopes, for the time being, dashed 
 to the ground, and he was therefore probably more open 
 to the negotiations which had led to his presence in 
 Amsterdam. He had been there to meet an agent of the 
 British Government sent at the instigation of Earl Stanhope 
 by Lord Sidmouth, who was trying to withdraw Fulton 
 from France and from any scheme inimical to Britain's 
 naval supremacy. 
 
 Fulton writes of this incident in his notebook : ^ 
 
 " I agreed on certain conditions and Mr. Smith set off 
 for London to give in my terms. I then met him in 
 Amsterdam in December with the reply, which, not being 
 satisfactory, he returned to London with other proposals 
 and I went on to Paris." 
 
 A portfolio of sketches of the Dutch people and their 
 surroundings, executed in the happiest vein, remain to 
 testify of his employment during this time.* 
 
 In March " Mr. Smith" arrived in Paris with a letter from 
 Lord Hawkesbury, which was more satisfactory, and this 
 induced Fulton to proceed to London and transfer his 
 services to the British Government. 
 
 It is this conduct which merits, in the opinion of many 
 persons, the accusation of treachery. Had the countries 
 been at war there might be something in the charge, but 
 they were still at peace, nor did the rupture occur till May 
 12, 1804, when the British Ambassador, Lord Whitworth, 
 demanded his passports. The fact of the matter is that, as 
 the citizen of a friendly state, Fulton had offered warlike 
 inventions to the French Government. More than a year 
 
 • Loc. cit., p. 158. 
 
 " Century Magazine, vol. Ixxvi. p. 945, by permission of Mrs. Sutcliffe. 
 
 * Colden's Life, p. 51. 
 
1 66 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 had elapsed since those proposals had finally been declined, 
 and although he had been reimbursed part of the expense 
 that he had incurred in his experiments, he had never been 
 in the pay of, nor was he under the slightest obligation to, 
 the French Government. He was therefore at liberty to 
 transfer his services whithersoever he pleased. In any case 
 he would have had to have crossed over to England in 
 order to get the engine he wanted, for in no other way did 
 that seem feasible. 
 
 It might be remarked, in passing, that, to a republican 
 like Fulton, the form that the government in France was 
 now assuming under Napoleon, who declared himself 
 Emperor on May i8 following, was utterly repugnant to, 
 and a sad falling away from the ideals that had inspired 
 the leaders of the French Revolution. That this was 
 Fulton's opinion is conclusively shown in several of his 
 letters. 
 
 Before leaving France he despatched his MSS. to the 
 United States. The vessel was wrecked, and when the 
 case containing them was recovered the contents were 
 found to be much injured. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 RETURNS TO ENGLAND — ORDERS A STEAMBOAT 
 ENGINE — EXPERIMENTS WITH THE TORPEDO 
 AGAINST THE BOULOGNE FLOTILLA— LEAVES FOR 
 THE UNITED STATES 
 
 FULTON at length left Paris on April 29, and set 
 foot once more on English soil, reaching London 
 on May 19, 1804. For diplomatic reasons, he 
 passed under the assumed name of Francis — a somewhat 
 thin disguise, but one that was sufi&cient, in one instance 
 as we shall see later, to hide his true identity. 
 
 It would naturalljr be imagined that he would at once 
 report himself at the Foreign Office, or to the Prime 
 Minister. Probably he did so, only we have no record of 
 the fact. At any rate we do know that he plunged at once 
 into the engine business, for we find him writing on May 
 30 from " Story Gate Coffee House," asking Mr. Hammond 
 for a passport for Mr. and Mrs. Barlow to proceed through 
 London to the United States. He also says : 
 
 " I also beg permission to ship one of Mr. Watt's Steam 
 Engines to New York for the purpose of carrying into effect 
 an experiment in which I have fortunately succeeded — that 
 of navigating boats against currents of not more than four 
 miles an hour, hence calculated for most of our rivers." ^ 
 
 He concludes his letter with remarks as to the prospec- 
 tive advantages to England. 
 
 The first request at any rate was granted, for Barlow 
 passed through London and sailed from Falmouth about 
 August, while Fulton went off to Birmingham to pay 
 a visit to the Soho Works for the purpose of ordering 
 
 ^ Sutcliffe, Robert Fulton and the "Clermont," p. 163. 
 167 
 
1 68 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 his engine. In his notebook under date July 5, 1804, 
 there is the entry : " Travelling from London to Birming- 
 ham and back again to order the Steam engine £8, os. od." 
 
 With his usual ease of manner, he seems to have made 
 himself at home with the members of the firm, including 
 Matthew Boulton, but apparently he did not meet the 
 celebrated James Watt, for the latter had retired from the 
 business in 1800, and was now living at Heathfield Hall 
 some distance away. 
 
 The correspondence that ensued ^ is almost self-ex- 
 planatory, and is so interesting that we give it in full. 
 
 SOHO, i,thjuly 1804. 
 
 RoBT. Fulton. 
 
 Sir, — In compliance with your request we have pre- 
 pared an Estimate of the Materials undermentioned, which 
 fitted up in our usual manner, will amount to Three 
 Hundred and Eighty Pounds delivered here, and payable 
 by our Draft upon a banker or merchant in London upon 
 such delivery. 
 
 We remain, Sir, Your obt. Servts. 
 
 Boulton, Watt & Co. 
 
 Schedule of material above referred to 
 
 1. A Steam Cylinder 24 Inches Diameter, 4 feet stroke, 
 
 with its top and plate to bottom, gland and brasses 
 compleat. 
 
 2. Piston, its Cover, Bottom Plate and spanners. 
 
 3. Piston rod, its cap and cutters. 
 
 4. Nozzles compleat with Valves and Levers. 
 
 5. Working Gear compleat with Brackets. 
 
 6. Perpendicular Steam Pipe & Eduction Pipe. 
 
 7. Condenser Vessel with Blow pipe & Blowing 
 
 Valve. 
 
 8. Injection Cock, Rod, Handle and Index. 
 
 * Boulton & Watt MSS. in the possession of Mr. George Tangye, and now 
 published for the first time with his permission. 
 
ORDERS STEAMBOAT ENGINE 169 
 
 9. Air pump its bucket and top and bottom valves 
 cotnpleat. 
 
 10. Air pump bucket rod with cap and bracket. 
 
 11. Eduction Pipe to Condenser. 
 
 12. Two boxes of Cement. 
 
 BouLTON, Watt & Co. 
 SonOt^thJufy 1804. 
 
 London, /a/y the 13M, 1804. 
 Messrs. Boulton Watt & Co. 
 
 Gentlemen, — Inclosed I Send you a guarantee for the 
 38o-£, but as it is possible altering models or making same 
 to fit the engine to my particular case, may raise your 
 demand to a greater amount any further Sum shall 
 be paid. 
 
 On writing to Mr. Hammond it may be that you do 
 not receive an Answer for some time. Ministers are now 
 so occupied with their own aflairs, the[y] often forget or 
 neglect what they consider trifles, however I hope that 
 will not stop the work, the permit given to me, will I 
 hope quiet you, particularly as the engine is to be delivered 
 to my order at Soho and I take the shiping myself for 
 which I must have another permit when the Vessel is 
 named. 
 
 Since having the pleasure of seeing you and your 
 Works, I have disposed the condenser horizontal as In the 
 inclosed drawing, if there is no objection to this it will 
 make the work more compact and well Suited to the boat, 
 it also avoids the risque of water rising into the cylinder 
 as in the first drawing. The Air pump I have made to 
 descend between the floor timbers so as to be lower than 
 the condenser with a view to keep it always clear of water 
 and have as much space within as possible. 
 
 If you approve of this mode of composing, the bottom 
 of the Cylinder must be square so as to rest on the con- 
 densing Vat. As I never can have more than one boiler 
 I have sketched a design for the steam to enter the centre 
 of the upper nozel, and the condensation to pass from 
 
lyo ROBERT FULTON 
 
 the bottom of the lower one, this arrangement will keep 
 everything trim in the middle line of the boat, and not 
 interrupt the other movements. If you will have the 
 goodness to indulge me in those alterations you will oblige 
 me, provided, however, they do not injure the working of 
 the engine. 
 
 I forgot to ask you if there are instances of Engines 
 working with Salt water, and what is the effect on the 
 boiler, condensation and working of the engine. 
 
 Have the goodness to write me and when time will 
 permit please to give me your thoughts on my boiler, 
 excuse the trouble I give you. I hope at some future day 
 to acquire sufficient merit to be admitted among the 
 [circle] of your friends when solicitations to promote useful 
 improvements will give more pleasure than pain. 
 
 Yours with sincere respect 
 
 RoBT. Fulton. 
 
 Please to direct for R. Francis Storeys gate Coffeehouse^ 
 George Street Westminster. 
 
 The enclosed Brochure is for Mr. Boulton Senior please 
 to present it him with my thanks for his civilities. 
 
 The guarantees were in the following terms : 
 
 Messrs Boulton & Watt, 
 Birmingham. 
 
 London, lo July 1804. 
 
 Gentn., — Mr. Robert Fulton having informed me that 
 you have agreed to make a Steam Engine for him, the 
 cost of which will be about ;^38o sterling, & having de- 
 sired me to guarantee the payment of this Sum to you : 
 
 I do hereby accordingly promise to pay you whatever 
 sum shall be agreed upon between you and Mr. Fulton on 
 the account aforementioned, on your complying with the 
 
 '^ This coBFeehouse was much resorted to by members of Parliament. It 
 existed as Storey's Gate Tavern till 1912, when it was absorbed by extensions of 
 the building! of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. 
 
BELL-CRANK ENGINE 171 
 
 terms settled, or to be settled between you and that 
 Gentleman. I am, Gen". Your very ob'. Ser«, 
 
 George W. Erving. 
 
 Our friend George Wm. Erving Esq'^. having informed 
 us that you require a farther security than his for the 
 payment of the above £$^0, we hereby guarantee to give 
 the due payment of the sum on the terms above stated and 
 remain, Gent". Your most hble. Servts, 
 
 Lees, Satterthwaite & Brassey. 
 
 Messrs. Bolton & Watt. 
 
 The drawing which was enclosed with the letter is dated 
 " July 8th, 1804," and has been preserved ; it is to a " Scale 
 one line to an inch," and is coloured. Besides the con- 
 denser in the horizontal position, the centre lines of the 
 proposed connections, by means of a bell-crank lever, 
 between the cylinder and the paddle wheels are also shown. 
 This therefore is the origin of the bell-crank engine. 
 
 It is obvious from this and subsequent letters that Fulton 
 made no secret of the purpose for which he wanted the 
 engine, notwithstanding statements to the contrary. In- 
 deed why should he have done so ? It was not the first 
 engine that the firm had made for a boat, as witness the 
 one^ for Lord Stanhope. 
 
 The firm's reply of July 18 has not been preserved, but 
 Fulton's next letter is : 
 
 LoNDON.ya/jc tit 20//i, 1804. 
 
 Messrs. Boulton Watt and Co. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I this morning received yours. You will 
 be so good as to place the steam pipe on the side of the 
 Nozle as usual. And as I wish to guard against all events 
 — least I should have to act in salt water, you will be 
 so good as to make the air pump of Brass. As to the 
 Condenser I presume it must be a considerable time cor- 
 
 ' See p. 26. 
 
172 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 roding so as to be useless. In this work I do not take 
 expence into consideration honour me with your confi- 
 dence your demand whatever it may be shall be as honor- 
 ably paid. 
 
 Does not salt rapidly form in the boiler when salt 
 water is used ? 
 
 I lament the state of Mr, Gregory Watt's health, and 
 am flattered by his remembrance of me ; his Virtues will 
 render his memory dear to his friends. 
 
 Yours with much respect, 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 
 Gregory Watt, who is here referred to, was the talented 
 and promising son of James Watt by his second wife. 
 He died of consumption at the early age of twenty-four in 
 October of this same year, to the intense grief of his father 
 and mother. 
 
 The firm in their reply to Fulton's instructions and 
 queries asked for further sanction for the condenser. 
 
 SOHO, 2$tk July 1804. 
 Robert Fulton, Esq. London. 
 
 Sir, — We have your favour of the 20th and shall accord- 
 ingly make the Air pump its bucket and clack of brass 
 and its rod of Copper. The condenser will do very well 
 of Iron and we should propose to execute it in the manner 
 represented in the annexed sketch which is sent for your 
 approbation previous to our commencing the execution. 
 The Air pump you will see is placed in the Condenser, 
 which is a construction we have sometimes practised ; the 
 mouth through which the water and air are discharged, 
 is drawn towards one side but it may be placed in any 
 direction you wish it to have. We recommend that the 
 Cylinder should be placed on a solid block of stone or 
 wood rather than on the edge of this Casting which may 
 be of less dimensions than you had sketched. 
 
ALTERATIONS TO ENGINE 173 
 
 The Boiler should be about 16 feet long to supply 
 the Engine with steam at 20 strokes Per minute full load ; 
 and in proportion for a less supply, if you should wish 
 to make it capable of working the Engine at a slower 
 rate. It is supposed to have no flues at the sides or ends. 
 The Chimney flue should have an Area of 400 or 500 
 inches. 
 
 We have not had the opportunity of making any direct 
 observations upon the rapidity with which salt would 
 be formed in the Boiler from Sea Water, but we conceive 
 you will have no difficulty in carrying with you a sufficient 
 quantity of fresh water for its supply ; if not the evil 
 must be guarded against by frequent emptying and clean- 
 ing. We shall be glad to have your sentiments when you 
 have given the sketch the necessary consideration and 
 remain, 
 
 Sir, Your obt. Servts, 
 
 BouLTON, Watt & Co. 
 
 This sketch referred to has been preserved also ; it 
 shows the air pump and condenser vertical and the cylinder 
 on a block of stone 16 in. thick. There is also a sketch 
 of a wagon boiler. 
 
 To this Fulton replied as follows : 
 
 Messrs. Boulton, Watt & Co. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I like your mode of placing the air 
 pump in the condensor but as my measurements confine 
 me to 3 feet in width the condensing vat ought not to 
 exceed that width. Could not the condensor be made 
 like a box about 4 feet long 20 inches wide and two feet 
 deep as in this sketch ? If so I shall be completely ac- 
 commodated ; if not you must use your particular composi- 
 tion of the parts. I must beg of you however to fit me in 
 this respect if possible. Perhaps a hole at A may be con- 
 
174 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 venient for a man to pass his arm and draw away Chips 
 which might get into the [space] under the valve of the 
 air pump the hole to be covered with a plate. In a former 
 letter I mentioned that the air pump will have a stroke of 
 two feet. I see by your drawing you have it i6 inched 
 diameter in the Interior, I presume this width is calculated 
 accordingly. 
 
 On tuesday I go out of town for 6 weeks or two months 
 I shall not trouble you further about the construction. 
 You will have the goodness to proceed immediately to 
 the construction in the manner you deem best suited to 
 my purpose. I am with much respect, Yours, 
 
 R. Fulton. 
 
 London the i%thjuly 1804. 
 
 As we shall see shortly, Fulton had just come to terms 
 with the Admiralty as to the use of his torpedo ; the 
 business that called him out of town was to superintend 
 the work of making these torpedoes at Portsmouth Dock- 
 yard and the use of them against the French fleet. But 
 before giving a relation of these doings it will be as well 
 to finish the account of the engine business. Boulton, 
 Watt & Co. now seem to have put the engine in hand. 
 Two drawings of it as actually made have been preserved. 
 The drawing of the cylinder, &c. (see illustration) is marked 
 " R. Fulton, Esq. Inch to the foot Sept. 13, 1804." The 
 instructions on the drawing show that the patterns were 
 taken as far as could be done from the firm's " 20 H(orse) 
 engine." The other drawing (see illustration) shows the 
 " Working and Injection Gears, Inch to the foot, R. 
 Fulton, Esqre. 6 Nov. 1804." Murdock's socket valves 
 are shown. 
 
 These drawings, representing as they do the engine 
 that inaugurated steam navigation on a commercial 
 scale, are invaluable documents of the highest possible 
 interest. 
 
 Instead of two months, nearly four elapsed before 
 
JJX .fi^:.^ 
 
 " ' V ■ l'«a 
 
 CYLINDER AND CONDENSER OF THE P:NGINE FOR THE "CLERMONT, It 
 From the original in the Boulton and Watt MSS. 
 
ENGINE FINISHED 175 
 
 Fulton was back in town, when he wrote to inquire about 
 the engine as follows : 
 
 London, Dkcembrb the 19th, 1804. 
 Bedford Street, Bedford Square, No, 9. 
 
 Messrs. Boulton Watt and Co. 
 
 Gentlemen, — Have the goodness to let me know the 
 state of my engine ; when finished and put together I shall 
 be tempted to go and see it. 
 
 Some time ago I Saw an engine working at Portsmouth 
 with an Iron boiler and Salt water a Boiler is good for 
 about 2 years it requires cleening once in 15 or 20 days — 
 which fortunately is much less than I apprehended. 
 
 Can you undertake to make a copper boiler for me or 
 do you advise my getting it made here ? With much 
 respect your most 
 
 obedient Robt. Fulton, 
 
 Please to direct as formerly 
 R. Francis. 
 
 To this the firm at once replied : 
 
 SoHO, Dec. 2.2nd, 1804. 
 R. Fulton, Esq. 
 
 Sir, — In reply to your favour of the 19th inst. we have 
 the pleasure to inform you that the materials of your 
 Engine are compleated. All the different parts have been 
 tried together and we were preparing to pack them up 
 when we received your letter. 
 
 It will be attended with some little trouble and delay 
 to put the whole together again, but if you are desirous 
 of seeing it in that state we should make a point of com- 
 plying with your wish and put them together for your 
 inspection at the commencement of the week after the 
 Christmas holidays, say on the 30th inst. We shall send 
 through the hands of our house in town a detailed drawing 
 of the nozzles working etc. which you may probably find 
 sufficiently explicit to supersede seeing the parts put 
 
176 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 together. Upon this point we shall await your further 
 instructions. You will oblige us also by saying to what 
 part you wish the articles to be forwarded and the address 
 of the house to whom they are to be consigned. We 
 presume of course it is your intention to have them 
 forwarded by Canal. 
 
 You will get the copper boiler made in London full 
 as well as elsewhere, and we can recommend Wm. Shears, 
 Coppersmith, Fleet Market, as a good workman in that 
 line. 
 
 We are very respectfully. 
 
 Sir, Your Obed'. Servts., 
 
 BouLTON, Watt & Co. 
 
 Fulton's reply was as follows : 
 
 London, December the 26th, 1804. 
 
 Messrs. Boulton, Watt & Co. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I thank you for the dispatch in executing 
 my engine, had it not been packed up curiosity would have 
 urged me to visit you, but being ready for transport I 
 hope it will not be disturbed till it arrives in New 
 York. 
 
 If there is water carriage to London I wish it to be 
 forwarded to my Address as soon as the canals are open. 
 In such case I can forward it in the same Vessel with the 
 Boiler which I propose to get made here. 
 
 Have the goodness to send me an elevation and ground 
 plan as it stood when put together drawn by an exact 
 scale of one inch to a foot. Also a schedule of the parts 
 that I may know if all arrives safe in America. 
 
 You will please to forward me your account 
 
 and believe me, Your much obliged 
 
 ROBT. Fulton. 
 
 Bedford Street, Bedford 
 Square, No. 9. 
 
^^^^^^^^^^' _*^V'-' !■ '■ ■- 
 
 t^ 
 
 ■T 
 
 ;^ / 
 
 - ' 
 
 ' ' / 
 
 
 
 ^.^^^i,,i. 
 
 
 ^ ..v..-.:. ,- 
 
 
 J-L ., <. 
 
 .s ~ 
 
 ., 
 
 
 t> 
 
 
 / 
 
 / 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■7/ 
 
 ...^ ..,.;( 
 
 ~ 
 
 
 
 
 t 
 
 / 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .y V ,-,- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ''t.'i t<.Z M^C ,- L. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 / '^ ' 
 
 I. £-C 
 
 ^^,"7i ;'•■■■.' -'■■' ■' 
 
 
 .5 .i 
 
 'C ...c . 
 
 < ■ 
 
 
 
 -*- i 
 
 yZ-ALdt^ { • 
 
 ^ , . i^^C 
 
 ^ / : ^c 
 
 ■> ■■ - 
 
 i' ■ , 
 
 . ' ^ '■ 
 
 
 / 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ ,..^cC-/^ ,;,..,,, 
 
 '- „- ', 
 
 ^ .v-^.... 
 
 A'^ 
 
 ..i. 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 / . 
 
 , , 
 
 _ 
 
 
 
 
 y 
 
 ■0 
 
 ^^y-^,- t^j(.,-,L.<_ c~-(-^- «- 
 
 ^ .r- 
 
 ' t. .'1 / L ^i ^ ^. / ., 
 
 k_. , ■.- 
 
 --^ /--■£ ' 
 
 -/ ''- "^ 
 
 
 
 f ^ ^ 
 
 / L- Xrx^il^ ^ 
 
 -1 [ c 
 
 ^ . 
 
 "^r-,. 
 
 7-.. t C i. 
 
 tr^ 
 
 ^-^ Pii^r^'Ci-i^ c^f K-t-'^-£.C, 
 
 ~:r-i- 
 
 .'-/;,.,..'■■ 4: 
 
 ' ■ i.,J. 
 
 I T 
 
 ^C it 
 
 r . c^ i. 
 
 t-^ 
 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 Ji, .'ei.. 
 
 - i. - ' 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ ..r^-^ 4^ . 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 <.^< 
 
 v_ — 
 
 
 
 /■ - . 
 
 ,- 
 
 , 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 ■' 
 
 i^^t^ty /7>-2T^ Jt.-3-t~^iJ Z 
 
 ^<i 
 
 ^<^ ^ ^.- -^ 
 
 ■ -^ <- 
 
 ''- ^ 
 
 -r"; --!»-. 
 
 ■■ '^''"'- 
 
 t--i- i_ 
 
 
 
 ^^.^^z..jZ 
 
 4.C - 
 
 v; L-.'^^ 
 
 „. ^ < ^ 
 
 ,..-.^C^ 
 
 ^-■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ./ v7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■'^'-'^-^' , .-,/,_, 
 
 ^■L. 
 
 /,:i,^c- w'V-L-Ll-^ 
 
 '.A*- 
 
 <. e 
 
 .- / t L 
 
 . I.- A 
 
 
 ^/-. 
 
 -^^/c- 
 
 ^._y j1'.' 
 
 '-- 
 
 
 .^■fc. 
 
 ^ ) 
 
 K 
 
 
 
 
 ■■™ 
 
 '-'"-■T — ^' 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 - 
 
 1— -' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .-' ■ -- ---' 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 HOM"K;vAPIi LETTER OF FUI.TOX AKOfT THE ENGINE, 18C4 
 From the original in the Boiiiioii and IFatt J/SS. 
 
INVOICE FOR ENGINE 177 
 
 The account was as under : 
 
 Robert Fulton Esq^. D^. 
 
 To BouLTON Watt & Co. 
 1805 
 1 7th Jan^. To sundry materials of an Engine with ;£ s. d. 
 a 24 Inch CyK 4 feet Stroke as per 
 agreement in their letters of 4th 
 June & 1 8th July 1804, delivered at 
 Soho ...... 400 o o 
 
 „ For difference of cost between an Iron 
 
 & Brass air pump ordered per Mr. 
 F's letter of 20 July . . . 148 o o 
 
 ;^548 o o 
 
 Soho, iTth January lio^. 
 RoBT. Fulton, Esqr. London. 
 
 Sir, — We forwarded on the 24 1111°. a drawing of the 
 working Gear of your Engine, through the medium of our 
 house in London St., which we hope has been received 
 and fully understood. 
 
 We now inclose a list of the Materials, which are 
 compleatly ready and packed up, but cannot be sent 
 off by water until the , canals are thawed. We shall 
 thank you to say to what address we are to send them 
 in London. 
 
 Above you have a statement of our Account the amount 
 of which you will please to settle with our Agent Mr. 
 Woodward. 
 
 We have paid very particular attention to the fitting of 
 every part so that you may have as little trouble as possible 
 in putting them together. The Brass Air pump has come 
 very high owing to the advanced price of copper, but 
 we hope this will be compensated for by its superior 
 durability. 
 
 M 
 
1 78 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 If you should wish for any farther explanation or in- 
 structions, they will be furnished with much pleasure by 
 
 Sir, Your obt. Serv's, 
 
 BouLTON, Watt & Co. 
 
 P.S. — If more convenient to you, we shall draw upon 
 any house you may appoint. 
 
 In this account the extra ;^20 in the first item must be 
 for the cost of altering patterns — fully explained no doubt 
 in the letter of July i8, which has not been preserved. The 
 date " 4th June " must be a clerical error for 4th July. The 
 item ;£i48 for a brass air pump instead of an iron one is 
 enormous, and shows the profits that were to be made 
 at that time by engineering firms. " The advanced price 
 of copper" is a happy phrase which has served its turn 
 many times since. Fulton paid the account, as an entry 
 in his notebook shows, on January 21, 1805. 
 
 On the 17th of the month following " R. Francis " wrote 
 to Mr. Woodward, the firm's London agent, to inquire 
 whether the engine was on the way, and if so when he 
 expected its arrival. This note was forwarded to Soho, 
 inquiry was made of the carriers there, and the following 
 reply sent : 
 
 Soho, 2isi Feby 1805. 
 R. Fulton, Esq' London. 
 
 Sir, — In reply to your enquiry to Mr. Woodward we have 
 the pleasure to inform you that the Goods for your Engine 
 were forwarded on the 6th Inst*, by Skey & Bird's boats 
 with orders to deliver them to you (same address as this 
 letter) and you will of course be apprized by them as soon 
 as they reach London. 
 
 The carriers inform us in answer to a message to them 
 this morning that they expect they will reach town in 8 or 
 10 days. We are respectfully. 
 
 Sir, Your ob'. Serves. 
 
 BouLTON, Watt & Co. 
 
 P.5.— On the other sides you have the weights of the 
 sundry packages, &c. 
 
VISITS SYMINGTON 179 
 
 On the 23rd February 1805, Fulton wrote to the firm 
 asking for the return of Mr. Erving's guarantee : on the 
 26th this was done, and with that letter the transaction 
 was completed. It only remains to add that according to 
 an entry in his notebook^ in March Fulton paid £2. 14s. 6d. 
 as " Fee at the Treasury on receiving permission to ship 
 the Engine for America." A further entry on March 18 
 is " To Messrs. Cave & Son, for Copper boiler weighing 
 4,399 lbs. at 2/2 the lb. . . . £^^6. iis. 2d.," showing that 
 the boiler also was made in England as he had intended. 
 
 It will be proper at this juncture, while we are still on 
 the subject of the steam engine, to refer to a visit which 
 Fulton admittedly paid to William Symington to see the 
 steam tug Charlotte Dundas, which had been engined by 
 him and tried on the Forth and Clyde Canal between 1802 
 and 1804. As we have already seen,* Symington was no 
 novice in such matters, for he had engaged in successful 
 trials with pleasure steamboats as far back as 1788-9, and 
 now with funds supplied by Thomas, Lord Dundas of 
 Kerse, was experimenting with a steam engine for canal 
 haulage on a plan patented by him in 1801 [No. 2544]. 
 
 These experiments were carried out to the complete 
 satisfaction of his Lordship and other gentlemen, but the 
 majority of their co-proprietors in the canal declined to 
 sanction the use of the tug on the ground that the wash of 
 the paddles would be destructive to the canal banks. 
 
 No documentary evidence of the date when Fulton 
 went to inspect this most interesting steamboat appears 
 to have been preserved. Symington in a statement 
 drawn up in 1829 and attested to by a number of affidavits 
 says : ^ 
 
 " In July 1801 ... a stranger came to the banks of 
 the canal and requested to see me. He very politely 
 
 » Sutcliffe, Robert Fulton and the " Clermont," p. 1S5. 
 ' See p. 133. 
 
 ' Symington, A Brief History of Steam Navigation, 1829 (reprinted 1863), 
 p. 9. 
 
i8o ROBERT FULTON 
 
 announced himself as Mr. Fulton, a native of North 
 America, and told me that he intended to return to his 
 native country in a few months, but having heard of the 
 steamboat experiment he could not think of leaving the 
 country without waiting upon me in the hope of seeing 
 the boat and machinery and procuring some information 
 as to the principles upon which it was moved. He re- 
 marked that, however beneficial such an invention might 
 be to Great Britain, it would certainly be of much more 
 importance to North America." ^ 
 
 Symington very generously gave him all the informa- 
 tion he wanted, caused the boiler fire to be lit, and the 
 engine to be set in motion, and along with others carried 
 Fulton from Lock No. i8, a distance of four miles to the 
 westward and back, in i hour 20 minutes, "to the great 
 astonishment of Mr. Fulton and the other gentlemen 
 present." 
 
 A scrutiny of the dates of Fulton's movements from 
 1801 till his arrival in England, taken in conjunction with 
 the general nature of his occupations, will show the im- 
 possibility of his having taken a journey as far as Scotland 
 before 1804. The simplest explanation is that Symington's 
 statement, not having been drawn up till more than a 
 quarter of a century after the event, is slightly inaccurate 
 in point of date. 
 
 There have not been lacking detractors who have 
 declared that Fulton borrowed from Symington all his 
 ideas, even down to the stroke and diameter of his cylinder ; 
 but the difference between the plans of the two engineers 
 was fundamental, and connotes an independent origin 
 such as we have endeavoured to establish. Symington 
 had a horizontal engine, with a cylinder 22 in. diam. by 
 4 ft. stroke, acting directly on a paddle wheel in a recess 
 in the stern, while Fulton had a vertical beam engine 24 in. 
 
 * Bowie, A Brief Narrative Proving . . . Symington to 6e ... an Inventor 
 of . . . Steam Navigation, 1833, gives an account of this incident in almost 
 the same words, but gives the date as 1802. 
 
BOULOGNE FLOTILLA i8i 
 
 diam. by 4 ft. stroke connected by gearing through a fly 
 wheel to drive side paddle wheels. Any impartial person, 
 even if not an engineer, must see that there was no plagiar- 
 ism here. It is an occasion for surprise rather that Fulton 
 did not take some hints from Symington. We can only 
 suppose that Fulton was already too deeply committed to, 
 or enamoured of, his own plan, to change it, although 
 without doubt Symington's was the better arrangement, 
 yet strangely enough it was about half a century later 
 before marine engineers, after trying almost every con- 
 ceivable arrangement, came back to Symington's simple 
 direct-acting plan. Fulton's engine was of the bell-crank 
 type,^ which has often been thought to have originated with 
 William Murdock of the Soho Foundry, Birmingham, but 
 the credit, such as it is, must now be assigned to Fulton. 
 
 It is somewhat humbling to our insular pride to have 
 to acknowledge that Symington's experiments had no 
 permanent abiding result, else should we have been the 
 first in this as in so many other technical developments. 
 The Charlotte Dundas was eventually laid up at Bainsford 
 near Carron Ironworks, where she lay till 1861, when she 
 was broken up. 
 
 We must now return to the negotiations which were 
 going on between Fulton and the British Cabinet. It must 
 be remembered that one of the great objects at this 
 moment in the minds of Ministers was to repel Napoleon's 
 threatened invasion of our shores. A flotilla was in 
 Boulogne Harbour, and only waited for an opportunity, 
 by eluding the vigilance of the British ships, to descend 
 upon the South Coast. What a reality this scare was, 
 how the country responded to the call of duty, and what 
 were the schemes of defence proposed and adopted, are 
 very fully detailed in a recent work ^ of great value. 
 
 1 A bell-crank engine was in use in the machine shop at the Soho Works 
 till 1896; many others were made. 
 
 ^ Wheeler and Broadley, Napoleon and the Invasion of England — The Story 
 of a Great Terror, 1908. 
 
1 82 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Among the proposals for counteracting the invasion was 
 that of Fulton, and the two reasons that seemed to have 
 influenced Pitt to employ him were the stir made in the 
 House of Lords by his relative, Lord Stanhope, and the 
 desire to have Fulton, if really dangerous, on the side of 
 rather than opposed to Great Britain. By July prelimin- 
 aries had been settled, and the following agreement ^ had 
 been entered into : 
 
 Articles of Agreement between the Right Honourable 
 William Pitt, first Lord Commissioner of his Majesty's 
 treasury and Chancelor of the Exchequer, and the Right 
 Honourable Lord Viscount Melville, first Lord of the 
 Admiralty, in behalf of his Majesty's government on the 
 one part, and Robert Fulton, citizen of the United States 
 of America and inventor of a plan of attacking fleets by 
 submarine Bombs, on the other part. 
 
 The said Robert Fulton agrees to disclose the principles 
 of his scheme to Sir Home Popham and to superintend the 
 execution of it on the following conditions : 
 
 First. — To be paid Two hundred pounds a month while 
 he is employed on this Service for his personal trouble 
 and Expences. 
 
 Second. — To have a credit lodged from time to time for 
 the payment of his Mechanical preparation, not to exceed 
 Seven thousand pounds. 
 
 Third. — That in his Majesty's dockyards and Arsenals 
 shall be made or furnished all such articles as may be 
 required which are applicable to this purpose. 
 
 Fourth. — If any circumstance should arise to prevent 
 government carrying this plan into execution then the 
 parties are each to name two commissioners for the 
 purpose of examining the principles; and trying such 
 experiments as they may think proper, and if it should 
 appear to the Majority of the members that the plan is 
 practicable and offers a more effectual mode of destroying 
 
 ' Public Record Office, Admiralty Secretary, in-Ietters 5121. 
 
AGREEMENT WITH PITT 183 
 
 the enemies fleet at Boulogne, Brest, or elsewhere, than 
 any now in practise and with less risk, then government is 
 to pay the said Robert Fulton the sum of Forty Thousand 
 Pounds as a compensation for demonstrating the principles, 
 and making over the entire possession of his submarine 
 mode of attack. 
 
 Fifth. — When the said Robert Fulton has destroyed by 
 his submarine carcasses or Bombs one of the enemies 
 decked Vessels, then Government is to pay him the sum of 
 Forty Thousand pounds, provided Commissioners ap- 
 pointed As in the previous article shall be of opinion that 
 the same Scheme can be practically applied to the de- 
 struction of the enemies fleets. 
 
 Sixth. — If the Arbitrators differ in opinion then they 
 are to draw lots for the choice of an Umpire and the 
 majority of the Voices to decide all points of reference 
 within the construction of this agreement and that de- 
 cision to be final. 
 
 Seventh. — One half the supposed value of all vessels 
 destroyed by Mr. Fulton's Submarine mode of attack to 
 be paid him by government as long as he superintends the 
 execution of his plan ; but when government has no 
 further occasion for his services ; or that he wishes to 
 retire then he is only to be paid one quarter of the 
 supposed value of such vessels as may be destroyed by his 
 scheme, and this remuneration to continue for the space 
 of fourteen years from the date hereof. 
 
 Eighth. — In case the Vessels destroyed by this scheme 
 should exceed in amount Forty thousand pounds, then the 
 Forty Thousand pounds first stipulated to be paid, shall be 
 considered as part payment of the whole sum which may 
 become due to the said Robert Fulton. 
 
 Ninth. — If in the course of practice any improvements 
 Should be Suggested that can only be esteemed as a 
 collateral Aid to the general principles of Mr. Fulton's 
 mode of attack, then such improvements are not to 
 demenesh or set aside his claims on government. 
 
1 84 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Tenth. — All monies which may become due to Mr. 
 Fulton to be paid within six months from the time when 
 they shall be so adjudged according to the tenor of this 
 agreement. 
 
 Eleventh. — This agreement to be considered by both 
 parties as a liberal covenant with a View to protect the 
 Rights of the individual, and to prevent any unproper 
 advantage being taken of his Majesty's Government. 
 
 Mr. Fulton having deposited the drawings and plans of 
 his submarine scheme of attack ; in the hands of a con- 
 fidential friend with a view to their being delivered to the 
 American government in case of his death, does hereby 
 bind himself to withdraw all such plans and drawings and 
 not divulge them or any part of his principles to any 
 person whatever for the space of fourteen years ; which 
 is the term during which he is to derive all the advantages 
 of their operation from the British Government. 
 
 The benefit of the foregoing agreement shall be extended 
 to the heir and executors of the said Robert Fulton. 
 
 Signed this Twentieth day of July One thousand eight 
 hundred and four. 
 
 Robert Fulton, 
 Witness, Home Popham, 
 
 There is a note by Sir Home Popham in the margin : 
 "Exchanged with a counterpart signed by the Right 
 
 Honble. William Pitt and the Right Honble. Lord 
 
 Melville. 
 
 H. P." 
 
 The whole is in Fulton's handwriting; the attesting 
 clause is in different ink to the rest and the writing is 
 hurried. The seal is missing and it is interesting as show- 
 ing the secrecy observed that this document was retained 
 by Viscount Castlereagh among his private papers till 
 his death in 1819. 
 
 It must be confessed that Fulton's terms were some- 
 
COMMISSION ON TORPEDO 185 
 
 what grasping. He had never been able to extract any- 
 thing from the French, but then their finances were at a 
 low ebb ; now that he had to deal with a wealthy country 
 he seems to have determined to make as much as possible 
 out of his opportunity. It may not be inappropriate to 
 remark that there have been similar cases in more recent 
 times. 
 
 No time was lost it seems in appointing the commis- 
 sioners, who were : Sir Joseph Banks, K.C.B., President 
 of the Royal Society ; the Hon. H. Cavendish, the cele- 
 brated chemist ; Major William Congreve, himself an 
 inventor of military projectiles ; John Rennie, the civil 
 engineer ; and Captain Sir Home Popham.^ 
 
 Possibly the first two were nominated by Fulton and 
 the second two by the Admiralty, whilst Captain Popham 
 was there to act as intermediary and umpire. 
 
 " A packet of sealed papers and drawings were sent 
 to them as coming from a person of the name of Francis, 
 and on these documents alone they delivered as they 
 were desired to do ... a sound and honest opinion." ^ 
 
 Evidently the balance of opinion was on the whole 
 unfavourable to the submarine for we hear no more about 
 it. The torpedo, however, was not altogether condemned 
 and steps were taken to give Fulton an opportunity of 
 showing what he could do. Immediately he set to work 
 to prepare his engines for an attack on the Boulogne 
 flotilla, an attack known at the time as the "Catamaran 
 expedition." The submarine "carcasses," "bombs," or 
 " coffers " employed by Fulton were similar to those 
 experimented with by him in France. An officer who 
 took part in the operations describes them as being made 
 square in section with wedge-shaped ends " of thick plank 
 lined with lead. A plank is left out for filling it. When 
 
 ' According to his daughter's statement, the Rev. Edmund Cartwright, D.D., 
 was on the Commission, but this must be -a. mistake as his friendship with 
 Fulton would have been a sufficient bar. 
 
 ^ Quarterly Review, vol. xix. p. 3 5 1 , in a review of Colden's Life of Fulton 
 written, as internal evidence shows, by John Rennie himself. 
 
1 86 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 filled the plank is put in, nailed and caulked, paid all 
 over with tar, covered with canvas, and paid with hot 
 pitch." 1 
 
 Clockwork, set to run a certain time before releasing 
 a hammer, was affixed to the carcass. The clockwork was 
 set going by the removal of a pin, and a reward depended 
 upon bringing this away. The coffers, some of which 
 were i8 feet long and weighed 2 tons, were weighted 
 with shot so as to float just awash and so escape observa- 
 tion. To each coffer were attached two lines, floated with 
 pieces of cork, one a tow line and the other a grapnel. 
 The latter was intended to be hooked on the cable by 
 which a ship was riding at anchor, when the coffer would 
 swing round by the tide and lay alongside. The coffer 
 was taken in tow by a " catamaran " consisting of " two 
 pieces of timber about 9 feet long and 9 inches square 
 placed parallel to one another at such a distance as to 
 receive a man to sit between them on a bar which admitted 
 of his sinking nearly flush with the water and occasionally 
 immersing himself so as to prevent his being seen in the 
 dark or by moonlight." This seaman was clad in black 
 guernsey, waistcoat, and trousers, with a black cap which 
 covered his face ; he had a paddle, and the idea was that 
 he should drop down with the tide towards the enemy's 
 vessel, attach the coffer to the cable and then paddle back 
 to safety. 
 
 At last all was ready and on October 2, 1804, at 
 9.15 P.M. — Lord Keith, Admiral of the Blue, in command 
 on board his flagship, H.M.S. Monarch — the catamarans 
 with coffers in.tow, accompanied by five explosion vessels, 
 were despatched into Boulogne Harbour. The attempt 
 was, however, almost a complete failure : only one torpedo 
 took effect, destroying a pinnace and her crew of twenty-one 
 men. The French avoided the explosion vessels, which went 
 ashore and there blew up without doing any serious 
 damage. The attack ceased at 4.15 a.m. without any 
 
 1 Naval Chronicle, vol. xii. p. 313. 
 
CATAMARAN EXPEDITION 187 
 
 casualties on the British side. The destruction of the 
 pinnace was not noticed by the English officers, but is 
 reported in the French account of the affair. 
 
 It is a significant fact that Admiral Keith's despatches 
 giving an account of the occurrences ^ make no mention 
 whatever of Fulton's share in the transaction, although we 
 know from his own book that he was present with the 
 blockading fleet on this as well as on a subsequent occasion 
 in 1805. Captain Sir Home Popham, however, who had 
 charge of all the necessary preparations up to the eve of 
 the attack, is highly commended. A fact that shows that 
 the occasion was deemed to be one of some little impor- 
 tance is the presence on board the flagship of Viscount 
 Melville himself. 
 
 The news of the attack was received in England with 
 indignation, not so much on account of its failure, but 
 rather because it was considered to be an unfair method of 
 fighting and against the laws of war. 
 
 The event was lampooned very cleverly in the press * 
 in "The Catamarans, an excellent new ballad," in which 
 the Right Hon. William Dundas, Secretary for War, is 
 supposed to be speaking : 
 
 " See here my casks and coffers 
 With triggers pulled by clocks ! 
 But to the Frenchmen's rigging 
 Who first will lash these blocks ? 
 
 Catamarans are ready 
 
 (^Jack turns his quid and grins) 
 Where snugly you may paddle 
 
 In water to your chins. 
 
 Then who my blocks will fasten, 
 
 My casks and coffers lay ? 
 My pendulums set ticking 
 
 And bring the pins away ? 
 
 ' Admiralty Secretary, in letters. 544. 
 
 ' Cobbett's Weekly Political Register, Oct. 27, 1804, p. 640. 
 
1 88 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Your project new ? Jack mutters 
 Avast ! 'tis very stale : 
 
 'Tis catching birds, land-lubbers ! 
 By salt upon the tail." 
 
 Considering the secrecy that appears to have been 
 observed, it is remarkable that such knowledge of details 
 as is shown in these lines should have leaked out to the 
 general public. 
 
 Another expedition was made on the night of Decem- 
 ber 8, when Captain Sir Home Popham sent in an ex- 
 plosion vessel and two carcasses against Fort Rouge 
 in Calais Harbour. The explosion vessel was moored 
 against the piles and exploded. One carcass did not 
 explode for some reason and the other had to be brought 
 back.^ 
 
 There is no doubt whatever that naval officers were 
 averse to the mode of attack : Lord Keith in a despatch 
 during August, when the expedition was in contemplation, 
 said that he considered the method costly and likely to 
 meet with little success. 
 
 Apparently no further attempts were made to carry out 
 Fulton's plans till, wearied by the delay, he wrote to the 
 Right Hon. William Pitt the following letter : ^ 
 
 August 9, 1805. 
 
 Sir, — As the circumstances which led to my engage- 
 ments with this Government, and my particular situation, 
 may not be known to Lord Barham, the heads of them 
 may aid in his decision with you on my business. 
 
 • Naval Chronicle, vol. xii. p. 488. 
 
 * Correspondence . . . of Viscount Castlereagh . . . edited by his brother, 
 vol. v., 1851, p. 86, dealing with various operations undertaken by the British 
 against the Boulogne flotilla. 
 
 The author conjectures that Mr. Francis was an American, but quite fails 
 to pierce through his somewhat thin disguise ! ! 
 
LETTER TO PITT 189 
 
 First. — My experiments on submarine navigation in 
 France having excited some curiosity in this country, 
 Ministers thought it prudent to know the real merits of 
 the invention, and sent an agent to me in Paris, inviting 
 me to this country ; which agent made three voyages with 
 various proposals, the purport of which on my part were 
 that, on my arrival here, I would exhibit the principles of 
 my engines to Government, and should they conceive the 
 introduction of them into practice in France, America, or 
 elsewhere, to be injurious to the interests of Great Britain, 
 I proposed to take the value of one ship of the line of 
 ;^ioo,ooo to let the discovery lie dormant. Letters to this 
 effect are in possession of Mr. Addington, or Lord Hawkes- 
 bury. 
 
 Second. — Being a neutral, and having flattering prospects 
 at home, it was not my intention to take part in European 
 wars ; and when I agreed to act against the French fleets, 
 I hoped my system would be so well understood and 
 established by this time, that I might return to America 
 this autumn. But unforeseen events having occupied 
 Ministers for the last four months, prevented giving 
 effect to my mode of attack, yet I hope there will now 
 be time for the following considerations ; 
 
 If I am to act, it is necessary means should be adopted 
 which shall give every possible effect to my system, with 
 the least loss of time and risk of persons. For this pur- 
 pose a small squadron of three frigates, and one or two 
 cutters to carry boats, catamarans, carcasses, and imple- 
 ments, should be put under the command of an active, 
 enterprising officer, who should have an independent 
 cruising commission to run along the whole line of the 
 enemy's coast, and attack any vessel or vessels of the 
 enemy, wherever he found it practicable with his means. 
 As such might be calculated an experimental cruise, I con- 
 ceive the inventor of a new mode of warfare ought to be 
 considered the best judge of the mode of using his own 
 engines to advantage ; and I ought not to have more 
 
I90 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 than one commander to consult, who should be a man of 
 resource of mind and some enthusiasm. If this measure 
 is not adopted, and men exercised to the engines, I despair 
 of doing any good for Government or honour to myself. 
 Hence if Ministers cannot adopt this plan the next con- 
 sideration is : 
 
 Is this invention, if carried to its full extent and gener- 
 ally known, a thing which may tend to reduce the British 
 power by sea, or give strength to minor powers ? And 
 is it the best policy of the British Government to make 
 it my interest to let it rest in its present state ? 
 
 If the invention is insignificant, I do not expect any- 
 thing for it. If it is an invention which is capable of 
 working a total revolution in marine war and which I 
 believe, I of course must have a high idea of its value to 
 myself and country. But of this his Majesty's Ministers 
 will judge. 
 
 These considerations lead to the following conclu- 
 sions : Will Ministers form it into a system, as before 
 mentioned, so as to give it full effect? If not will they 
 agree with me to let it lie dormant ? If not, I am willing 
 to retire. I have so equally balanced each of those cases 
 in my own mind that either of them will be equally agree- 
 able to me. 
 
 I beg you, sir, to believe that in thus expressing my 
 sentiments I am nowise displeased with the treatment 
 I have received ; on the contrary, I am fully satisfied with 
 your open and liberal mode of acting ; but to prevent 
 fruitless negotiations and loss of time, and clearly exhibit 
 my turn of mind on this subject, also to reduce the points 
 for consideration to as few as possible, I have thought 
 this short explanation necessary. 
 
 I have the honour, etc., 
 
 R. Francis. 
 
 Whether in consequence of this appeal or not, greater 
 activity now seems to have been displayed. Lord Castle- 
 
SECRET SERVICE IMPREST 191 
 
 reagh, writing to Lord Barham, First Lord of the Ad- 
 miralty, on loth September 1805, says :^ 
 
 "The Ordnance Stores connected with Mr. Francis's 
 mode of warfare were some time since landed from the 
 Sceptre and Diadem armed defence ships, and placed 
 for safety in ordnance stores at Portsmouth." He asks 
 for these stores to be put on board some vessels and sent 
 round to Dover. 
 
 Again writing to Sir Sidney Smith on the 19th Sep- 
 tember he mentions having seen Mr. Francis and encloses 
 a memorandum of the latter which suggests the provision 
 of 9 row galleys with 12 men to each including i officer = 
 108 men and 10 catamarans with 2 men to each = 20 men. 
 It also suggests a scale of rewards for the vessels to be 
 captured. 
 
 Mr. Cooke, Lord Castlereagh's private secretary, writ- 
 ing to Mr. Robert Francis on September 25, 1805, 
 says : ^ 
 
 " I am directed by Lord Castlereagh to acknowledge 
 your letter of the 23rd instant, stating that you have made 
 a contract with Messrs. Caverton for one hundred carcasses 
 of copper at ^s. 6d. per pound, equal to £^$0 sterling. 
 Also that you had received an estimate for making one 
 hundred clockwork locks at £t/i^ each, amounting to ;£i4oo 
 sterling, and I am commanded by his Lordship to express 
 his approbation of the contract you have entered into for 
 the carcasses, and to desire that you will lose no time in 
 contracting for the clockwork locks above mentioned." 
 
 On September 27th Lord Castlereagh signifies to Lord 
 Barham the King's command to execute a secret service 
 of importance with Captain Sir Sidney Smith, to whom 
 the Controller of the Navy is directed to imprest ^30,000. 
 Later we learn that of this sum about ;^30oo had already 
 
 ' Zaic. cit. p. 90. * Loc. cit. p. 98. 
 
192 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 been advanced to Mr. Francis, not inclusive of the ;^i400 
 for the locks. 
 
 At length all was ready for another attack on the 
 Boulogne flotilla. Captain E. W. C. R. Owen, an intelligent 
 and enterprising officer under the command of Lord Keith, 
 was chosen to superintend the operations. The wind, 
 weather and tide favouring, an attack was made with two 
 carcasses on the night of September 30, lasting till 2 A.M., 
 the next morning under the charge of Captain Seccombe 
 and Lieut. Payne. The carcasses blew up without doing 
 any damage : no casualties, except one wounded, were 
 sustained. 
 
 In the French account of the affair,'^ given with great 
 detail, it is mentioned that the next morning there was 
 found on the shore " a lock like that of the fire machines 
 which the English used last year with so much ridicule 
 and with so little success." 
 
 It was probably the ill-success of this expedition that 
 made Fulton realise that something must be done to. 
 restore confidence and show that it was the plan of the 
 attack and not the torpedo that was at fault. 
 
 A Norwegian or Danish brig, the Dorothea, 100 tons, 
 which had been captured on the 19th April previous by 
 H.M.S. Furious, happened to be laid up in Deal Harbour 
 almost under the windows of Walmer Castle, Pitt's official 
 residence. On October 15 Fulton placed a torpedo across 
 the bows of the brig, and, after a predetermined inter- 
 val, she was blown in two, completely destroyed and 
 sunk* in the presence of a distinguished company of 
 naval and military officers and a large concourse of 
 spectators. As showing how little belief there was in 
 Fulton's torpedoes, it may be mentioned that one of the 
 naval officers, only ten minutes before the explosion, said 
 that he would be quite unconcerned if sitting at dinner 
 at that moment in the cabin of the Dorothea. 
 
 ' Translated in Cobbett's Annual Political Register, 1805, p. 557. 
 ^ Fulton, Torpedo War and Submarine Explosions, 1810. 
 
BLOWS UP A BRIG 193 
 
 A contemporary account ^ is as follows : 
 
 Deal, October 16. — " On Monday morning {i.e. the 14th 
 October) Mr. Francis, who last year contrived the Expedition 
 and constructed the machines which Sir Home Popham 
 ran among the Enemy's Flotilla at Boulogne arrived here 
 from Dover ; and a rumour was soon spread that he was 
 going to make an experiment to blow up a brig of 300 tons 
 with one of his new invented Catamarans. Curiosity was 
 soon alive, and about 4 p.m. great crowds of People 
 assembled on the Beach, from Deal to Walmer Castle, 
 opposite which the brig lay." 
 
 We continue the account in Fulton's own words : ^ 
 "Two boats, each with eight men, commanded by 
 lieutenant Robinson, were put under my direction. I 
 prepared two empty Torpedoes in such a manner, that 
 each was only from two to three pounds specifically 
 heavier than salt water ; and I so suspended them, that 
 they hung fifteen feet under water. They were then tied 
 one to each end of a small rope eighty feet long ; thus 
 arranged, and the brig drawing twelve feet of water, the 
 14th day of October was spent in practice. Each boat 
 having a Torpedo in the stern, they started from the 
 shore about a mile above the brig, and rowed down 
 towards her ; the uniting line of the Torpedoes being 
 stretched to its full extent, the two boats were distant 
 from each other seventy feet ; thus they approached in 
 such a manner, that one boat kept the larboard, the other 
 the starboard side of the brig in view. So soon as the 
 connecting line of the Torpedoes passed the buoy of the 
 brig, they were thrown into the water and carried on by 
 the tide, until the connecting line touched the brig's cable ; 
 the tide then drove them under her bottom. The experi- 
 ment being repeated several times taught the men how 
 to act, and proved to my satisfaction that, when properly 
 
 ^ Naval Chronicle, vol. xiv. p. 341. 
 
 ^ Torpedo War and Submarine Explosions, 1810, p. 5. 
 
 N 
 
194 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 placed on the tide, the Torpedoes would invariably go 
 under the bottom of the vessel. I then filled one of the 
 Torpedoes with one hundred and eighty pounds of powder 
 and set its clockwork to eighteen minutes. Everything 
 being ready, the experiment was announced for the next 
 day, the isth, at five o'clock in the afternoon. Urgent 
 business had called Mr. Pitt and Lord Melville to London. 
 Admiral Holloway, Sir Sidney Smith, Captain Owen, 
 Captain Kingston, Colonel Congreve, and the major part 
 of the officers of the fleet under the command of Lord 
 Keith were present ; at forty minutes past four the boats 
 rowed towards the brig, and the Torpedoes were thrown 
 into the water ; the tide carried them, as before described, 
 under the bottom of the brig, where, at the expiration of 
 eighteen minutes, the explosion seemed to raise her bodily 
 about six feet ; she separated in the middle, and the two 
 ends went down ; in twenty seconds nothing was to be 
 seen of her except floating fragments ; the pumps and 
 foremast were blown out of her ; the fore-topsail-yard was 
 thrown up to the crosstrees ; the fore chain plates, with 
 their bolts, were torn from her sides ; the mizen-chain- 
 plates and shrouds being stronger than those of the fore- 
 mast, or the shock being more forward than aft, the 
 mizenmast was broke off in two places ; these discoveries 
 were made by means of the pieces which were found 
 afloat." 
 
 Subsequent to this Fulton had an interview with 
 Earl St. Vincent, to whom he explained the torpedo and 
 the experiment with it in blowing up the Dorothea; the 
 Earl said : 
 
 " Pitt was the greatest fool that ever existed, to en- 
 courage a mode of war which they who commanded the 
 seas did not want, and which if successful would deprive 
 them of it." 
 
 On the other hand, as showing how different were the 
 views held by Ministers, Lord Castlereagh, on October 21, 
 
ATTACK ON BOULOGNE 195 
 
 commenting on Sir Sidney Smith's report upon the blow- 
 ing up of the brig, says ^ that " the success of Mr. Francis's 
 experiment gives me great confidence in our means of 
 annoying the enemy in their own ports with little com- 
 parative risk to ourselves." 
 
 On October 27, influenced probably by this success, 
 another attempt was made upon the flotilla in Boulogne 
 Harbour. Lieutenant Charles F. Payne, on board H.M.S. 
 Bloodhound, with boats reached the centre of the enemy's 
 line, rowed in at 9.30 p.m. and placed a carcass across the 
 second vessel's cable. They were discovered and fired upon, 
 so withdrew for a short time. When the firing had abated 
 they rowed in to see the effect: The torpedo "exploded 
 and made a similar crash as the Brig lately blown up in the 
 Downes," without, however, the same destructive effect. 
 
 Shortly after this the news of Nelson's great victory off 
 Trafalgar on October 21, 1805, completely annihilating the 
 naval power of France and Spain, reached England, and, 
 as Napoleon was faced by the coalition of Russia and 
 Austria, he was compelled to withdraw the troops from 
 the camp at Boulogne to take part in the campaigns of 
 Ulm and Austerlitz. The danger of invasion was at an 
 end, the tension was relieved, and the necessity for any 
 further torpedo attempts was obviated. 
 
 Fulton, however, did not abandon his project, for it 
 was not confined to a single form of attack, such as that 
 on the Boulogne flotilla, but was generally applicable at 
 any harbour where the enemy's vessels could be found at 
 anchor. Nevertheless the fact remained that the imme- 
 diate purpose for which Fulton's services had been secured 
 had been gained and there was but little need to continue 
 the engagement. With his usual pertinacity he kept on 
 importuning Ministers. On November 25, 1805, Mr. 
 Francis wrote from Dover to Lord Castlereagh enclosing 
 a copy of a long letter to Sir Sidney Smith : 
 
 " From the day I found Mr. Pitt determined to practice 
 
 ^ Castlereagh, p. 12 1, 
 
196 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 my invention on the French fleets, I urged that it might be 
 arranged into a system by itself. After thirteen months' 
 essay and argument I have still to plead that it may be 
 systematized, and I do believing it the best interest of 
 Government ; for as to myself, having shown how to con- 
 struct the carcasses and apply them with simplicity and 
 certainty, little more can be required of me ; it must be 
 for regular bred seamen to use them and seek oppor- 
 tunities to destroy the enemy." 
 
 On November 26 Mr. Francis sent to Lord Castlereagh 
 a long letter suggesting an attack on the fleet in the inner 
 Roads of Brest. On the 28th Francis sent a memorandum 
 to Sir Sidney Smith suggesting the abandonment for the 
 present of the large wooden coffers and using small copper 
 carcasses instead. 
 
 On December 13, 1805, from Ibbotson's Hotel, Vere 
 Street, Oxford Road, Francis sent proposals for a final 
 settlement with Government. On January 6, 1806, from 
 the same address he wrote to the Right Hon. WiUiam 
 Pitt enclosing a copy of his proposal to Lord Castle- 
 reagh : ^ 
 
 " Now, in this business, I will not disguise that I have 
 full confidence in the power which I possess, which is no 
 less than to be the means, should I think proper, of giving 
 to the world a system which must of necessity sweep all 
 military marines from the ocean, by giving to the weaker 
 maritime powers advantages over the stronger, which the 
 stronger cannot prevent. . . . 
 
 " In the following proposal I have not raised the sum first 
 mentioned to Lord Hawkesbury ; and it must be observed, 
 I did not come here so much with a view to do you any 
 material good as to show that I have the power, and might 
 in the exercise of my plan to acquire fortune, do you an 
 infinite injury, which Ministers, if they think proper, may 
 prevent by an arrangement with me." 
 
 ' Correspondence of Lord Castlereagh, vol. v. p. 149. 
 
TORPEDOES ABANDONED 197 
 
 It can hardly be denied that, considering Fulton's 
 ill-success with his carcasses against the enemy, this letter 
 was a piece of bluff. 
 
 All along it would appear that it was the Cabinet who 
 had supported Fulton's schemes and, as William Pitt died 
 in January 1806 and Lord Melville was impeached for his 
 irregular conduct in not keeping his private accounts 
 separate from his public ones, these schemes naturally fell 
 to the ground with the advent of Lords Grenville and 
 Howick, their successors, who were opposed to such 
 methods of warfare. 
 
 The closing scenes of Fulton's connection with the 
 British Government are outlined in the correspondence ^ 
 relative to the final disposition of the carcasses. 
 
 Lieutenant William Robinson of the Marine Artillery, 
 who, it will be recalled, was in charge of the boats when the 
 Dorothea was blown up at Deal, writes to Robert Francis 
 on May 2, 1806, from Dover : 
 
 " I am very sorry that Government have not yet disided 
 on useing the carcasses, for they are now so well arranged 
 that I think them sure of success— I have got them all on 
 b<i the Atalanta Cutter — with everything necessary to 
 compleat them at a moment's notice." 
 
 This letter Fulton encloses to the Secretary of the 
 Admiralty with the following observations : 
 
 My Lords, — I beg leave to Submit to your Lordship's 
 consideration a letter from Lieutenant Robinson. You 
 will have the goodness to decide on the manner the 
 Atalanta and carcasses are to be disposed of, the removal 
 of such engines from ship to ship and store to store is the 
 cause of much injury to the clockwork in consequence of 
 their falling into the hands of curious and inexperienced 
 persons. My Lords If it be thought proper to take every 
 
 • Admiralty Secretary, In-letters, 4578. 
 
198 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 advantage of the Enemy which the carcasses can give, 
 a systematic plan must be pursued ; if it be thought im- 
 proper or impolitic to use them, at present it will be well 
 to collect everything belonging to them in one warehouse, 
 where they can be under the care of one person. 
 
 I took the liberty to write to your Lordships on the 
 28th April relative to my account. I beg to be honoured 
 with an answer. — I am, My Lords, 
 your Lordships' most 
 
 obedient and very humble servant, 
 
 RoBT Fulton. 
 
 May the ird, 1806. 
 
 Ibbotson's Hotel, Vbre Street. 
 
 This letter is docketed " 6 May. Directions for putting 
 them into Store at Deal. Commodore Owen to be ac- 
 quainted." 
 
 On May i8 Lieutenant Robinson writes, evidently with 
 a tinge of regret, to say that he has handed over all his 
 stores marked, numbered, and lettered, and that he has 
 explained everything as to the method of using the car- 
 casses. He finishes by asking to be allowed to draw upon 
 Fulton for the balance of his account. Fulton encloses this 
 letter to the Secretary, merely suggesting that the financial 
 part should be arranged with Lieutenant Robinson direct. 
 
 The Cabinet, however, dealt very fairly with Fulton, 
 for although he did not get the original sum that he had 
 demanded, yet considering the ill-success that had at- 
 tended all the expeditions made with his warlike engines, 
 one fourth of that sum, which he did actually receive, must 
 be said to have been very liberal indeed, especially con- 
 sidering that he was released from the term of his con- 
 tract as to time and secrecy. This sum did not include 
 the cost of the experiments ; that had been defrayed out 
 of the secret service imprest placed in the hands of Sir 
 Sidney Smith. 
 
 A letter, written to Barlow from London, in September 
 
ARBITRATION 199 
 
 1806, i.e. when Fulton was on the eve of his final depar- 
 ture from England, explains the whole situation : ^ 
 
 " My arbitration is finished and I have been allowed 
 the ^10,000 which I had received with 5,000^ salary 
 total ^15,000, though £;i(iOo which I have received on 
 settling account will just square all old debts and expenses 
 in London, and leave me about ;£'2oo. My situation now 
 is, my hands are free to burn, sink, and destroy whom I 
 please, and I shall now seriously set about giving liberty 
 to the seas by publishing my system of attack. I have 
 or will have when Mr. Parker sends my two thousand 
 pounds 500 sterling a year with a steam engine and pic- 
 tures worth two thousand pounds. Therefore I am not 
 in a state to be pitied. I am now busy winding up every- 
 thing and will leave London about the 23rd inst. for Fal- 
 mouth from whence I shall sail in the packet the first 
 week in October and be with you, I hope, in November, 
 perhaps about the 14th, my birthday, so you must have 
 a roast goose ready. Do not write me again after re- 
 ceiving this. The packet, being well manned and pro- 
 vided will be more commodious and safe for an autumn 
 passage, and I think their will be little or no risk ; at 
 least I prefer taking all the risk there is to idling here a 
 winter. But although there is not much risk, yet acci- 
 dents may happen, and that the produce of my studies 
 and experience may not be lost to my country, I have 
 made out a complete set of drawings and descriptions 
 of my whole system of submarine attack, and another 
 set of drawings with description af the steamboat. These 
 with my will, I shall put in a tin cylinder, sealed and leave 
 them in the care of General Lyman,* not to be opened 
 unless I am lost. Should such an event happen, I have 
 
 ' C. B. Todd, Barlow's Life and Letters, p. 209. 
 
 ^ General William Lyman (b. 1753, d. 1811), graduate of Yale, member of 
 Massachusetts Senate, member of Congress 1793-97, was appointed in 1805 
 to succeed Mr. Erving as Consul-General, an office which he retained till his 
 death. 
 
200 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 left you the means to publish these works, with engravings, 
 in a handsome manner, and to which you will add your 
 own ideas — showing how the liberty of the seas may 
 be gained by such means ; and with such liberty, the 
 immense advantages to America and civilization : you will 
 also show the necessity of perfecting and establishing the 
 steamboat and canals on the inclined plane principle. I 
 have sent you three hundred complete sets of prints from 
 the Columbiad by the Orb, directed to Mr. Tolman, New 
 York, value ;^3o. As the transport by land to Philadel- 
 phia will not be much, I have sent them by this oppor- 
 tunity, that they may arrive before the law for prohibiting 
 such things is in force, and that the shipment and risk 
 may not approach too near to winter. All my pictures, 
 prints, and other things, I mean to leave here, to be 
 shipped in spring vessels about April next, when the 
 risk will be inconsiderable. How shall we manage this 
 winter, as you must be in Philadelphia for the printing 
 and I want to be at New York to build my boat? I 
 am in excellent health — never better and in good spirits. 
 You know I cannot exist without a project or projects 
 and I have two or three of the first order of sublimity. . . . 
 Mr. West has been retouching my pictures ; they are 
 charming." 
 
 The balance of the sum received by Fulton from the 
 British Government "in satisfaction of all claims" was 
 ^1653, 18s. 8d. Apparently after deducting his living and 
 travelling expenses, the cost of the engine and the pictures, 
 the remainder of the ^^15,000 had been invested in order 
 to be bringing in the income stated. 
 
 The pictures referred to were Benjamin West's 
 " Ophelia " and " King Lear," that Fulton had bought for 
 125 and 205 guineas respectively on May 19 and 20, 1805, 
 at the sale of the contents of Boydell's ^ Shakespeare 
 
 ' John Boydell {i. 1719, J. 1804), Lord Mayor of London, celebrated 
 engraver and print publisher, in his latter days owing to Continental wars found 
 his business much curtailed and eventually he got into financial difficulties. 
 One of the energies of his life had been the formation of a Gallery to contain 
 
ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Frn/t/ the original at trlbuied to himself 
 
 in the ffossession of Dr. Gilbert L. Parker, Philadelphia 
 
SHAKESPEARE GALLERY 201 
 
 Gallery. This purchase created some little excitement, 
 as it was an open secret that the pictures were intended 
 to form the nucleus of a Gallery of Fine Arts to be 
 established in Philadelphia.^ This was probably the first 
 instance on record of the practice, since so common, 
 of the purchase of original works of art for America. This 
 sale is referred to in the following letter ^ addressed to 
 Richard Phillips, the proprietor of the Monthly Magazine. 
 The "observations" were not, however, published, although 
 a letter by him on another topic appeared at a later date. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I gave Mr. Stephens some observations 
 on Mr. Jefferson's speech to present to you and if no 
 objections arose, to be printed in your magazine, this I 
 still wish to have done also the inclosed paper on the Sale 
 of the Shakspeare Gallery, and prospect of encouragement 
 for fine arts in America, please to let me know by a note 
 if they can both appear in the magazine for July. Your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 ROBT. Fulton. 
 
 June 4, 1804. 
 
 No. 13 Sackville Street, 
 
 PICCADILLY. 
 
 West's " King Lear " is now in the possession of the 
 Athenaeum, Boston, Massachusetts, but the whereabouts 
 of the other picture is not known. 
 
 Another interesting sidelight upon Fulton's less im- 
 portant preoccupations during this period is afforded by 
 
 pictures to illustrate scenes in Shakespeare's plays, and to this end he had 
 commissioned most of the eminent artists of the day. He was now obliged to 
 realise this property and applied to Parliament to do so by lottery, as the fashion 
 then was, but died before the application was granted. The drawing of the 
 lottery took place on January 28, 1805, when the Gallery and its contents were 
 won by William Tassie. The pictures were disposed of by auction at Christie's 
 on May 18, 19, and 20, realising j£'6i8l, \%s. 6a'. 
 
 * The Gallery was established eventually in 1807 under the title Pennsyl- 
 vania Academy of Fine Arts, and thither Fulton sent these and other pictures. 
 Retried some years later to induce the citizens to purchase a collection of West's 
 pictures for ;^ 15,000. 
 
 " By kind permission of Mr. A. M. Broadley, from his MS. collection. 
 
202 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 the following letter to Lord Stanhope on the subject of 
 stereotype printing ; it may perhaps explain the allusion 
 to " projects " in Fulton's letter to Barlow previously 
 quoted. No doubt he was brought into contact with the 
 printing fraternity by the printing of the plates that 
 Smirke had engraved for the Columbiad. 
 
 Bridge Street, 
 Oct. 4, 1806. 
 
 My Lord, — I wright to beg pardon for not calling in 
 Stratford Place in my way from Hampstead to Bridge St. 
 I have been anxious to do so, but various circumstances 
 have conspired to prevent me. I should be happy to 
 have an opportunity of conversing with your Lordship 
 on the subject of Stereotype Printing and of explaining 
 the motives which influenced the Booksellers in their 
 rejection of the Project submitted to them by Mr. Wilson, 
 
 In the first Place it would have been impracticable 
 to raise within a year the sum of 14,000;^ which we were 
 called upon to pay for Buildings, past expences, loss of 
 time, &c., &c. A few, among whom I was one, would 
 have advanced 500;^ apiece^ but the major part of the 12 
 or 20 persons concerned in Literary Property have little 
 to spare and they would not be unanimous in their opinion 
 of this or any new invention. 
 
 Secondly : As the Booksellers are of opinion that 
 Stereotype Printing could only be advantageously applied 
 to about 30 or 40 works, that sum of 14,000^ added to 
 the expences of Stereotyping those works would not be 
 inferior to the expence of setting up and keeping the 
 whole standing in Movable Types while at the same 
 time those Types would always be worth half their cost 
 in the event of the works being broken up or rendered 
 obsolete. 
 
 To account for the indisposition of the Booksellers 
 generally, I shall observe that it has always been stipu- 
 lated in every proposal of Mr. Wilson that the plates should 
 
STEREOTYPY 203 
 
 be worked at his office only, that he should acquire an 
 Interest in the work stereotyped, and should have it in 
 his power to take a set of plates for America, [They demur 
 to] all of these points which seriously infringe on hterary 
 Property, militate with the independence of the possessors 
 of such property, and are most especially alien to those 
 feelings of which an Englishman is most proud, and 
 which he ought, my Lord, to cherish above all petty 
 calculations of profit and loss in matters of business. 
 
 If Stereotype Printing can ever succeed in this country, 
 it must be placed on the liberal footing of all other 
 manufactures. If thrown open on a broad basis to all 
 who choose to employ it, free from restrictions, and the 
 spirit of monopoly, it will succeed, and those who have 
 embarked their property in it will reimburse themselves 
 with profit. Any other system, a spirit of opposition to 
 the trade, and an invasion of the property of the Book- 
 sellers, will end in the discomfiture and ruin of the parties 
 even though they were worth a miUion. Honesty and 
 Liberality are ever the best Policy. In this business, my 
 Lord, an attempt is making to rob the Booksellers of their 
 established copy rights because they will not submit to 
 illiberal restrictions. 
 
 You are, my Lord, the last man in the world who can 
 lend your countenance to so foolish a course. No body 
 of men ever suffered themselves to be dictated to and the 
 Booksellers would indeed be deserving of contempt if 
 under such circumstances they did not stand aloof and 
 permit the present attempt at Stereotype Printing to sink 
 under its own weight. I have nothing to object to Mr. 
 Wilson but to his wrong estimate of human Nature. He 
 possesses the intelligence, the integrity and the spirit 
 of enterprize adequate to the undertaking which your 
 Lordship has sanctioned with your patronage, but he has 
 taken too high ground and has raised the Jealousies 
 instead of cultivating the confidence and the co-operation 
 of the Booksellers. At present I foresee nothing but 
 
204 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 mischief in a business from which only benefits ought to 
 have resulted. 
 
 I write this letter confidentially to your Lordship, and 
 am, my Lord, 
 
 your obdt. and obliged servt., 
 
 Rt. Fulton. 
 
 It may be remarked that stereotypy, although invented 
 as early as 1725 by William Ged of Edinburgh, and re- 
 introduced in 1784 by Alexander Tilloch, who brought it 
 to considerable perfection, had by the end of the eighteenth 
 century practically been abandoned for reasons that are 
 not far to seek. The hand-press, which was then in use, 
 was quite unequal to printing, nor was there a sufficient 
 public to warrant, the large editions which alone could 
 make stereotypy more economical than printing direct 
 from movable types. But Earl Stanhope, having in 1798 
 considerably improved the hand-press by the introduction 
 of the Stanhope levers and by making the whole in iron, 
 had turned his attention to stereotypy. "After many 
 expensive and tedious experiments Lord Stanhope, aided 
 by Mr. Walker, an ingenious mechanist, succeeded in this 
 important invention to the full extent of his highest 
 expectations." ^ Lord Stanhope had the advantage of 
 the instruction of Tilloch, who had removed to London, 
 and of Andrew Wilson, a practical printer. 
 
 In 1804 the invention was with his Lordship's approba- 
 tion offered to the University of Cambridge, but the 
 negotiations fell through. In the letter before us we 
 have evidence of another attempt by Wilson to get the 
 London booksellers to take up the subject, but under very 
 onerous conditions. Wilson's attempt also fell through 
 and stereotyping died out for more than twenty years. The 
 letter we have quoted is an important contribution to the 
 history of the subject. 
 
 We might mention that before bidding final adieu to 
 
 ^ Hansard, Typographia, p. 638. 
 
CONTEMPLATES MARRIAGE 205 
 
 England Fulton had contemplated union in marriage 
 with an English widow of considerable fortune. The only 
 mention of it is in a very fatherly letter from Barlow, 
 dated 3rd March 1806, wherein he tries all he knows to 
 dissuade Fulton from his purpose, apparently with success, 
 for he returned to the United States unmarried. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 ARRIVAL IN AMERICA — TORPEDO EXPERIMENTS — 
 LAUNCH AND TRIAL TRIP OF THE STEAMBOAT- 
 STEAM FERRY BOATS 
 
 FULTON left Falmouth at the end of October and 
 arrived in New York by way of Halifax, N.S., on 
 December 13, 1806, after an absence of nineteen 
 years from his native country. He found himself eagerly 
 awaited by his friends, prominent among whom were 
 Barlow, who had settled down in a house which he had 
 built for himself at Kalorama on the outskirts of Washing- 
 ton, and Chancellor Livingston, whose country-seat was 
 at Clermont, near Albany, on the shores of the Hudson. 
 
 Fulton was acclaimed by his countrymen as a promi- 
 nent citizen, and what honours a republic can bestow were 
 showered upon him. He was elected a Director of the 
 American Academy of Fine Arts, a Fellow of the American 
 Philosophical Society and of the New York Historical 
 Society, and assisted in the foundation of the Literary and 
 Philosophical Society of New York. 
 
 The period that now ensued was one of greater activity 
 than any that he had previously known. As he was engaged 
 concurrently on several different enterprises it may be as 
 well to depart from strict chronological order and treat 
 each one consecutively, leaving the greatest, i.e. the steam- 
 boat enterprise, till the last. 
 
 Fulton had hardly been in the States a month before 
 he had proposed to the executive government a series of 
 experiments with torpedoes, undeterred by the fact that 
 two foreign powers had already rejected them. A de- 
 monstration was held in January at Kalorama, at which 
 
 206 
 
BLOWS UP ANOTHER BRIG 207 
 
 James Madison, Secretary of State, and Robert Smith, 
 Secretary to the Navy, were present. Both were favour- 
 ably impressed and permission to make the experiments 
 was readily granted. Although already fully engaged 
 with the preparation of plans for the machinery and with 
 the superintendence of the building of his steamboat, he 
 found time to arrange for a demonstration of blowing up 
 a vessel by his torpedo in New York Harbour. This took 
 place on July 20, 1807, but established nothing new, being 
 merely a repetition, except that it was less successful, of that 
 in Walmer Roads. 
 
 Fulton thus describes the experiment : 
 
 "The brig was anchored, the Torpedoes prepared 
 and put into the water . . . ; the tide then drove 
 them under the brig near her keel, but in consequence of 
 the locks turning downwards the powder fell out of the 
 pans and they both missed fire. This discovery of an 
 error in the manner of fixing the locks to a Torpedo has 
 been corrected. On the second attempt the Torpedo 
 missed the brig ; the explosion took place about one 
 hundred yards from her and threw up a column of water 
 10 feet diameter, sixty or seventy feet high. On the third 
 attempt she was blown up."^ 
 
 On the day following this experiment Fulton addressed 
 a letter to the Governor and Magistrates of the city of New 
 York, of which the following is an extract : 
 
 " Having now clearly demonstrated the great effect of 
 explosion under water, it is very easy to conceive that by 
 organization and practice the application of the torpedoes 
 will, like every other art, progress in perfection. Little 
 difficulties and errors will occur in the commencement, as 
 has been the case in all new inventions : but where there 
 is little expense, so little risk, and so much to be gained, 
 it is worthy of consideration whether this system should 
 not have a fair trial. Gunpowder within the last three 
 hundred years has totally changed the art of war, and all 
 
 > Torpedo War, p. 7. 
 
2o8 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 my reflections have led me to believe that this application 
 of it will in a few years put a stop to maritime wars, give 
 that liberty on the seas which has been long and anxiously 
 desired by every good man, and secure to America that 
 liberty of commerce, tranquillity, and independence which 
 will enable her citizens to apply their mental and corporeal 
 faculties to useful and humane pursuits, to the improve- 
 ment of our country and the happiness of the whole 
 people." 
 
 Fulton's operations attracted some little attention on 
 this side of the water and led to means being devised to 
 counteract them. Lord Stanhope, on i6th February 1807, 
 in a patent (No. 3007) including some improvements in 
 shipbuilding provided means for " counteracting or dimin- 
 ishing the danger of that most mischievous invention for 
 destroying ships and vessels known by the name or appel- 
 lation of Submarine Bombs, Carcasses, or Explosions." 
 This can only have referred to Fulton's torpedoes. 
 
 Not only so, but Commodore (subsequently Admiral) Sir 
 E. W. C. R. Owen, whose share in the operations against 
 the Boulogne flotilla has already been mentioned, thought 
 it his duty to submit to the Lords of the Admiralty 
 a very detailed report, dated September 6, 1807, on the 
 construction, operation, and means of defence against 
 Fulton's torpedoes. The covering letter is interesting and 
 the memorandum itself so lucid that we give them in full 
 in an Appendix.^ 
 
 The document gives from an unbiassed source a full 
 description of Fulton's engines, and may therefore be relied 
 upon. Commodore Owen's suggestions for withstanding 
 torpedo attack contain the germ of the present generally 
 adopted system of boom defence. The docket on the 
 letter shows that the information was duly transmitted to 
 Admiral Berkeley in command on the American station. 
 Even had Fulton persuaded the U.S. Naval authorities to 
 adopt his plans he would have found the British ready for 
 
 » See p. 284. 
 
TORPEDO COUNTERACTED 209 
 
 him and able to outmanoeuvre him. No wonder that 
 Britain remained Mistress of the Seas while her navy was 
 commanded by such officers as Owen ! 
 
 Fulton, in ignorance of this, continued his efforts to get 
 his torpedo adopted. He also made public, as he had 
 long before promised, some of the details of his torpedoes 
 in his brochure, Torpedo War and Submarine Explosions, 
 from which we have already quoted at some length ; this 
 was published in January 1810, and bears evidence, as he 
 himself confesses, of having been hastily written, for it was 
 meant more for the purpose of influencing Congress than 
 to redeem a promise. He gives a number of different 
 designs of torpedoes, but only one, i.e. that described by 
 Commodore Owen, was actually successful. This was the 
 method adopted at Brest, Dover, Boulogne, and New 
 York. 
 
 Congress were so favourably impressed that in March 
 1810 they made an appropriation, for the purpose of carry- 
 ing out experiments, of a sum of $5000 to be expended 
 under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, who at 
 once appointed Commodores Rogers and Chauncey to 
 superintend the operations. 
 
 In September Fulton exhibited to them his models and 
 plans as described in his brochure, as well as a new 
 apparatus for cutting the cables of vessels at anchor. This 
 was a very crude affair — just a curved knife, the haft of 
 which was in the barrel of a gun. The whole was to be 
 floated by a buoy against the cable to be cut till the knife 
 caught it, when it was to be discharged by a gun lock ! ! 
 A model, incomplete, however, is in possession of the 
 grandson of the inventor. 
 
 By the following month these officers were ready for 
 the trials in the Navy Yard at Brooklyn. Commodore 
 Rogers must have been a sly old sea-dog, for he had 
 unknown to Fulton prepared the Argus sloop of war, 
 Captain Lawrence, to resist attack by chains lashed to the 
 cable and booms supporting netting extending down to 
 
 o 
 
2IO ROBERT FULTON 
 
 the sea bottom. This is the first instance of the actual 
 employment of this now widely adopted means of defence. 
 Fulton was completely nonplussed and acknowledged 
 defeat, although confident he would find means to over- 
 come the obstacle. He had to content himself with trying 
 his harpoon torpedo and cable cutter, neither of which 
 answered his expectations, although he did actually succeed 
 later in cutting a cable. 
 
 The report, together with a letter from Fulton, was 
 forwarded to the Treasury. In the latter he observes, 
 pertinently, that "an invention which will oblige every 
 hostile vessel that enters our parts to guard herself by such 
 means {i.e. torpedo netting) cannot but be of great impor- 
 tance in a system of defence," and also that he had now 
 discovered a means to render " all such kinds of operations 
 (i.e, protective means) totally useless." 
 
 Fulton, however, does not appear to have carried the 
 matter further, and this is the last we hear of his torpedoes. 
 Strictly speaking, they were floating mines and not tor- 
 pedoes at all J we can therefore hardly call them the pre- 
 decessors of the destructive weapon of to-day, but there 
 was in them the germ of the idea — that of launching 
 against an enemy's ship a missile which would explode on 
 reaching it and inflict injury — and we must confess that 
 Fulton worked out his idea for all it was worth. It was 
 reserved for a later period, when the advance of mechanical 
 science had made it possible to accommodate its motive 
 power within the body of the projectile itself, to develop 
 the germ into something formidable. 
 
 A matter which occupied some small amount of 
 Fulton's attention was the long-deferred publication in 
 the spring of 1807 of his friend Barlow's poem, the 
 Columbiad to which we have already referred. There is 
 good reason to doubt whether, but for the good offices 
 of Fulton, this epic would ever have emerged from the 
 MS. state ; but having decided to do it, he did it well. 
 It was an Edition de luxe in quarto form, embellished 
 
JOEL BARLOW 
 From the engraving by Durand after Fnltoti 
 
UNITED STATES CANALS 211 
 
 with a portrait of Barlow by Fulton and ten plates. The 
 drawings for the latter had been made by Robert Smirke, 
 and Fulton had had them engraved and printed in London. 
 He also bore the cost of the typographical part, amounting 
 in all to $5000, and the work thus became his private 
 property. 
 
 Long after the work had been issued to the public, he 
 wrote on July i, 1810, to Barlow drawing his attention to 
 a belated review of the book : ^ 
 
 " Have you seen the Edinburgh Review of the Colum- 
 biad? Their first principle is that polished literature is 
 not to be expected from America more than from Man- 
 chester or Birmingham. The second position is that the 
 day for epic poetry is gone by ; man cannot now take 
 pleasure in poetic fiction ; the mere didactic is too dry. 
 . . . However they call you a giant compared to modern 
 British bards, though not equal, they think, to Milton." 
 
 Another subject on which Fulton's services were in 
 request was to advise on the question of canals as a means 
 of transport, a question that was then uppermost in men's 
 minds. Had it not been for the coming of the steamboat, 
 and, shortly after, of the locomotive engine, it is very likely 
 that a United States canal system not inferior to that 
 established in Great Britain would have been the outcome 
 of the inquiries which were now being set on foot. Fulton, 
 however, was obliged to decline any offers in this direction : 
 Replying on March 20, 1807, to a letter from General Dear- 
 born, Secretary of War, he says : 
 
 "I am infinitely obliged by the proposal of the President 
 {i.e. Thomas Jefferson) that I should examine the ground 
 and report on a canal to unite the waters of the Mississippi 
 and Lake Pontchartrain, and am sorry I cannot undertake 
 a work so interesting and honourable. The reason is I 
 now have Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, and Carpenters 
 occupied at New York in building and executing the 
 machinery of my Steam Boat, and I must return to that 
 
 ' C. B. Todd, Barlow's Lift and Letters, p. 22 1 . 
 
212 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 City in ten days to direct the work till finished, which will 
 probably require 4 months. The enterprise is of much 
 importance to me individually and I hope will be of great 
 use in facilitating the navigation of some of our long rivers. 
 Like every enthusiast, I have no doubt of success. I there- 
 fore work with ardor, and when adjusting the parts of the 
 machine I cannot leave the men for a day. I am also 
 preparing the engines for an experiment of blowing up a 
 vessel in the harbour of New York this Spring. The 
 machines for this purpose are in great forwardness and I 
 hope to convince the rational part of the inhabitants of our 
 cities that vessels of war shall never enter our harbours 
 or approach our Coasts but by our consent." ^ 
 
 An inquiry was conducted by Mr. A. Gallatin, on 
 behalf of the U.S. Treasury, upon the subject of canals, 
 and his report ^ embodies an extremely lucid statement by 
 Fulton, dated December 8, 1807, of the advantages to be 
 derived from small canals. He refers to his Treatise on 
 Canal Navigation and gives estimates to show that carriage 
 on water by horse haulage would cost less than one-tenth 
 of that on the best roads then available. 
 
 While on the subject of internal communication we 
 ought to mention that early in 181 1 Fulton was seriously 
 entertaining the idea of steam locomotion on rails as a 
 rival to canals. He had an idea of building a railway at 
 Richmond, Virginia, for transporting coal. Chancellor 
 Livingston, replying on March i, i8ii, to a letter of 
 Fulton's of February 25 previous, says : ^ 
 
 " I had before read of your very ingenious propositions 
 as to railway communication. I fear, however, on mature 
 reflection, that they will be liable to serious objections, 
 and ultimately more expensive than a canal." Evidently 
 Fulton had suggested the use of wood for rails, a material 
 
 1 Sutcliffe, Robert Fulton and the " Clermont," p. 288. 
 
 ^ Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the subject of Public Roads 
 and Canals, 1808, p. 108. 
 
 ' Sutcliffe, Robert Fulton and the " Clermont," p. 266. 
 
STEAMBOAT THEORY 213 
 
 which the Chancellor said " would not last a week." He 
 also said that "the carriage of condensing water would be 
 very troublesome," showing that Fulton had not proposed 
 to use the high-pressure engine, so that evidently he had 
 merely touched the fringe of the subject. Still it is note- 
 worthy, because the steam locomotive had not yet come 
 into commercial use in England much less anywhere else. 
 
 We must now turn to the crowning achievement of 
 Fulton's life — that of the successful solution, on a com- 
 mercial scale, of the problem of transport on water by 
 the power of steam. After many years of study, experi- 
 ment, and observation, the time for action had arrived, 
 and he now proceeded to reduce his ideas to practice 
 in the construction of a practical steamboat. 
 
 As we have endeavoured to show, Fulton's qualifica- 
 tions for the task were of a high order. He had studied 
 closely the failures and successes of previous inventors, 
 and analysed them as far as he could to find to what their 
 failure or partial success had been due ; he had, moreover, 
 studied during the time he was staying in France, we can 
 hardly doubt, the theoretical works on the subject of ship 
 resistance written by Bossut and others ; he had, above all, 
 availed himself of the results of Colonel Mark Beaufoy's 
 Nautical Experiments on the resistance to propulsion 
 through water of variously shaped solids, carried out in 
 Greenland Dock, Rotherhithe, in 1793-8, under the direc- 
 tion of the Society for the Improvement of Naval Archi- 
 tecture. In short Fulton had done what every engineer 
 would do in like circumstances — he had availed himself 
 of all practical information that he could find bearing on 
 the subject he was dealing with and had applied also to 
 it the results of theoretical investigations. He was the 
 first to treat the elementary factors in steamship design : 
 dimensions, form, horse-power, and speed in a scienti- 
 fic spirit ; to him belongs the credit of having coupled 
 the boat and the engine as a working unit. 
 
 We have already referred to the experiments of early 
 
214 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 inventors and to Fulton's knowledge of them, and it only 
 remains to give the deductions that Beaufoy had made 
 from his experiments. He showed that the important 
 factors in the total resistance of a solid were : 
 
 1. Skin friction, proportional to the wetted area and 
 to the square of the velocity. 
 
 2. Bow and stern resistance, proportional to the 
 square of the sine of the angle of obliquity of the bow 
 and stern. 
 
 The first is substantially the result accepted to-day, 
 as verified by Froude, while the second is a partial re- 
 cognition of the resistances due to wave making and eddy 
 making as we now know them — partial because the stream 
 line theory connoting the importance of length of entrance 
 and of run aft was not yet enunciated. As Beaufoy's 
 experiments were made with solids of prismatic shape, 
 towed under still water by means of a pendulum apparatus, 
 they were for thalt reason not directly applicable to ship- 
 shaped solids floating on the surface ; although he brought 
 them under the notice of naval architects, it was without 
 much success. Fulton, however, saw their value, and to 
 him belongs the credit of being the first to apply them 
 practically ; indeed it is hardly too much to say that he 
 was the first to apply theoretical investigations to prac- 
 tical ship design, so entirely was the latter at that time a 
 question of "rule of thumb." 
 
 Fulton, in applying Beaufoy's results to his own case, 
 adopted a midship section as nearly as possible rectan- 
 gular with bow and stern wedge-shaped subtending an 
 angle of 60 degrees. He calculated a table of resistances 
 for each speed from i to 6 miles an hour for («) the skin 
 friction, and {b) the bow and stern resistance. To the 
 bow resistance he added what was called the " plus pres- 
 sure,'' i.e. " the additional pressure against the bow while 
 the boat moves forwards " ; from the stern resistance he 
 deducted the " minus pressure occasioned by the fluid 
 not pressing so strongly against the stern when the boat 
 
LAUNCH OF STEAMBOAT 215 
 
 moves forward as when at rest." From this table the 
 total resistance of a boat of any dimensions could quickly 
 be calculated. He then added "a hke power for the 
 propellers," and this he considered to be the total power 
 felt at the paddle-wheels. Piston speed being practically 
 constant, the gearing necessary between the engine and 
 propeller could be calculated and this would give the 
 power that it would be necessary to develop in the cylinder, 
 whence a convenient diameter and stroke could be de- 
 duced. The weight of engine and boiler could then be 
 calculated, and subtracting it from the displacement the 
 tonnage the boat could carry would be known. 
 
 All this is explained at very great length in Fulton's 
 own words in the specification which he enrolled in the 
 United States Patent Office in 1809, and which is repro- 
 duced in an Appendix.^ 
 
 Even the calculations for the actual boat herself are 
 given. The shape of this boat was a decided departure 
 from established practice, for she was rectangular in cross- 
 section for the greater part of her length ; no wonder 
 therefore that her coefficient of fineness was nearly 0.9. 
 Unfortunately no drawings of the boat have been pre- 
 served, although we may be certain that such were made, 
 even if only an outline, for this was always Fulton's 
 practice. A satisfactory reproduction and model have 
 been made, however, from what little details were in 
 existence. 
 
 The construction of the boat was entrusted to Charles 
 Browne, a well-known shipbuilder, whose yard was at 
 Corlear's Hook on the East River. She was pushed for- 
 ward rapidly during the spring of 1807, as is shown by 
 a letter to the Chancellor, dated March 16, in which 
 Fulton says : " The boat is now building." When launched 
 she was not christened, apparently, but was known simply 
 as "the steam boat." It was distinctive enough, too, for 
 she was the only one in the world. After launching she 
 
 ' See p. 289. 
 
TRIAL TRIP 217 
 
 had not been prepared; I therefore turned the boat and 
 ran down with the tide . . . and turned her round neatly 
 into the berth from which I parted. She answers the 
 helm equal to anything that ever was built, and I turned 
 her twice in three times her own length. Much has been 
 proved by this experiment. First, that she will when in 
 complete order run up to my full calculations ; Second 
 that my axles, I believe, will be sufficiently strong to run 
 the engine to her full power ; Third, that she steers well 
 and can be turned with ease." 
 
 Fulton also mentions that " corrections, with the 
 finishing of the cabins will take me the whole week, and I 
 shall start on Monday next at 4 miles an hour." 
 
 The steamboat was not yet in a finished condition. 
 The necessity for providing guards to protect the paddle- 
 wheels from injury had not been realised, nor were they 
 boxed in. The engine also was exposed to view. She 
 was described, not without some point, as " an ungainly 
 craft looking precisely like a backwoods' sawmill mounted 
 on a scow and set on fire." 
 
 However, incomplete as she was, the trial trip took 
 place on the day Fulton had appointed — Monday, August 
 17, 1807 — a day to be kept in remembrance. At one 
 o'clock the boat left her moorings at a dock on the North 
 River near the State's Prison ; on board were about forty 
 guests, almost wholly relatives or intimate friends. So 
 quietly had everything been done that only one paper, the 
 American Citizen, announced the coming event; never- 
 theless a large number of spectators were present. The 
 excitement was intense, the incredulity, scorn, and ridicule 
 that had met him at every turn while "Fulton's Folly," 
 for so the boat was nicknamed, was being built, gave way 
 perforce to silence first and then to shouts of applause 
 and congratulation. 
 
 We cannot do better than give an account of the 
 voyage in Fulton's own words in a letter ^ to Joel Barlow. 
 
 1 Todd, Barlow's Life and Letters, p. 233. 
 
21 8 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 " My steamboat voyage to Albany and back has turned 
 out rather more favourably 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 pro- 
 jectors, 
 
 " 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 merchants 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 
 advantages that my country will draw from the inven- 
 tion. . . ." 
 
 The references to the Mississippi, Missouri, and " other 
 great rivers which are now laying open their treasures " 
 is of course to the recent purchase of Louisiana from 
 France, and shows that Fulton had already directed his 
 attention to this very wide field for enterprise ; he em- 
 barked upon it shortly afterwards. 
 
 To correct erroneous impressions, Fulton, on his 
 return to New York on Friday, August 21, wrote the follow- 
 
LOG OF TRIAL TRIP 219 
 
 ing letter to the editor of the American Citizen, giving 
 what might be called a log of the voyage. 
 
 ^' I arrived this afternoon at 4 o'clock in the steamboat 
 from Albany. As the success of my experiment gives me 
 great hopes that such boats may be rendered of much 
 importance to my country, to prevent erroneous opinions 
 and to give some satisfaction to the friends of useful 
 improvements, you will have the goodness to publish 
 the following statement of facts : 
 
 " I left New York on Monday at i o'clock and arrived 
 at Clermont, the seat of Chancellor Livingston, at i o'clock 
 on Tuesday; time 24 hours ; distance no miles. On 
 Wednesday I departed from the Chancellor's at 9 in the 
 morning and arrived at Albany at 5 in the afternoon; 
 distance 40 miles ; time 8 hours ; the sum of this is 150 
 miles in 32 hours — equal near 5 miles an hour. 
 
 " On Thursday, at 9 o'clock in the morning, I left Albany 
 and arrived at the Chancellor's at 6 in the evening ; I 
 started from thence at 7 and arrived at New York 
 at 4 in the afternoon ; time 30 hours, space run 
 through, 150 miles — equal to 5 miles an hour. Through- 
 out my whole way, both going and returning, the wind 
 was ahead ; no advantage could be derived from my sail. 
 The whole has therefore been performed by the power 
 of the steam engine." 
 
 Another contemporary account which appeared in the 
 English press is even more interesting than the fore- 
 going : 
 
 " I have now the pleasure to state to you the particulars 
 of a late excursion to Albany in the steam-boat, made and 
 completed under the directions of the Hon. Robert R. 
 Livingston and Mr. Fulton, together with my remarks 
 thereon. On the morning of the 19th of August, Edward P. 
 Livingston, Esq., and myself were honoured with an invita- 
 tion from the chancellor and Mr. Fulton to proceed with 
 them to Albany, in trying the fijrst experiment up the river 
 Hudson, in the steam-boat. She was then lying off Clare- 
 
220 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 mont (the seat of the chancellor), where she had arrived in 
 twenty-four hours from New York, being no miles. Pre- 
 cisely at thirteen minutes past nine o'clock a.m. the engine 
 was put in motion, when we made a head against the ebb- 
 tide and head-wind, blowing a pleasant breeze. We 
 continued our course for about eight miles, when we took 
 the flood, the wind still a-head. We arrived at Albany 
 about five o'clock p.m., being a distance from Claremont of 
 forty-five miles (as agreed upon by those best acquainted 
 with the river), which was performed in eight hours, with- 
 out any accident or interruption whatever. This decidedly 
 gave the boat upwards of five miles an hour, the tide 
 sometimes against us, neither the sails nor any other 
 implement but the. steam used. The next morning we 
 left Albany with several passengers on the return to 
 New York, the tide in favour, but a head-wind. We 
 left Albany at twenty-five minutes past nine a.m. and 
 arrived at Claremont in nine hours precisely, which 
 gave us five miles an hour. The current, on returning, 
 was stronger than when going up. After landing us at 
 Claremont, Mr. Fulton proceeded with the passengers to 
 New York. The excursion to Albany was very pleasant, 
 and represented a most interesting spectacle. As we 
 passed the farms on the borders of the river, every eye 
 was intent, and from village to village, the heights and 
 conspicuous places were occupied by the sentinels of 
 curiosity, not viewing a thing they could possibly antici- 
 pate any idea of, but conjecturing about the possibility of 
 the motion. As we passed and repassed the towns of 
 Athens and Hudson, we were politely saluted by the 
 inhabitants and several vessels, and at Albany we were 
 visited by his excellency, the governor, and many citizens. 
 Boats must be very cautious how they attempt to board 
 her when under way, as several accidents had nearly 
 happened when boarding her : to board a-head will en- 
 danger a boat being crushed by the wheels, and no boat 
 can board a-stern, , . . The boat is 146 feeit in length and 
 
FINISHING TOUCHES 221 
 
 12 in width (merely an experimental thing) ; draws to the 
 depth of her wheels two feet of water ; 100 feet deck for 
 exercise, free of rigging or any encumbrances. She is 
 unquestionably the most pleasant boat I ever went in. In 
 her the mind is free from suspense. Perpetual motion 
 authorises you to calculate on a certain time to land ; her 
 works move with all the facility of a clock ; and the noise 
 when on board is not greater than that of a vessel sailing 
 with a good breeze." ^ 
 
 After her return from her first voyage the steamboat was 
 laid up for more than a fortnight in order to complete her 
 equipment and to carry out the improvements that had 
 suggested themselves. These are detailed in a letter which 
 Fulton wrote to the Chancellor from New York on August 
 29 : from this we make the following extract : 
 
 ",I have been making every effort to get off on Monday 
 morning, but there has been much work to do — boarding 
 all the sides, decking over the boiler and works, finishing 
 each cabin with twelve berths to make them comfortable, 
 and strengthening many parts of the ironwork. So much 
 to do and the rain which delays the caulkers will, I fear, 
 not let me off till Wednesday morning. Then, however, 
 the boat will be as complete as she can be made — all 
 strong and in good order and the men well-organized and 
 I hope nothing to do but to run her for six weeks or two 
 months. ... I will have her registered ^ and everything 
 done which I can recollect. Everything looks well and 
 I have no doubt will be very productive." 
 
 In the postscript he says : 
 
 " I think it would be well to write to your brother 
 Edward to get information on the velocity of the Mississippi, 
 the size and form of the boats used, the number of hands 
 
 ' Naval Chronicle, 1808, vol. xix. p. 188. The letter is dated September 8, 
 1807. 
 
 ^ i.e. In the New York Custom House. This was done on September 3, 
 1 807 ; the record of her dimensions has not been preserved. 
 
222 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 and quantity of tons in each boat, the number of miles 
 they make against the current in the hour, and the quantity 
 of tons which go up the river in a year." 
 
 The steamboat was not ready, however, to start till 
 Friday, Sept. 4, as shown by advertisements in the Albany 
 Gazette of Sept, 2 — the first notice to the public of the in- 
 auguration of the new method of transport. This, which 
 ran as follows, continued to appear for three weeks : 
 
 " THE NORTH RIVER STEAM BOAT 
 
 Will leave Pauler's Hook Ferry on Friday the 4th of 
 September at 6 in the morning and Arrive at Albany 
 at 6 in the afternoon. Provisions, good births and 
 accommodations are provided." 
 
 The announcement proceeds to say that she would 
 then leave Albany twice and New York once in the week 
 following and vice versa in the succeeding week, after 
 which date {i.e. September 16) further arrangements would 
 be made. 
 
 True to promise the steamboat sailed on Friday 
 morning from New York on her first voyage as a com- 
 mercial venture. She left at 6.42 a.m. Fulton himself 
 was a passenger as far as Clermont ; besides him there 
 were fourteen others, who, before arriving at Albany, drew 
 up and signed a short account of the voyage. It was quite 
 uneventful, the only thing to note being that it was done 
 in better time than on the occasion of the trial trip, the 
 whole distance to Albany having been accomplished in 
 28 hours 45 minutes. The account concludes : 
 
 " The subscribers, passengers on board of this boat on 
 her first voyage as a packet, think it but justice to state 
 that the accommodation and conveniences on board 
 exceeded their most sanguine expectations." ^ 
 
 The boat did not adhere to her programme exactly on 
 
 '^ Albany Register, September 8, 1807, quoted in Munsell's Annals ot 
 Albany, vol. vi. p. 25. 
 
STEAMBOAT IN SERVICE 223 
 
 account of a mishap. One of the saiUng packets, whether 
 by accident, or, as some people thought, by design, came 
 into colHsion with the steamboat and carried away one 
 of her paddle-wheels. The damage, however, was quickly 
 repaired, and on September 23 the following advertisement 
 as to her future sailings appeared : 
 
 "THE STEAM BOAT being thoroughly repaired, and pre- 
 cautions taken that injury shall not be done to her wheels in 
 future, it is intended to run her as a PACKET for the remainder 
 of the season. She will take her departure from New York and 
 Albany at 9 o'clock in the morning, and always perform her voyage 
 in from 30 to 36 hours." 
 
 Then follows the announcement of dates of sailing 
 from September 25 till October 9. 
 
 Day by day the number of passengers who availed 
 themselves of the new and speedy mode of travel in- 
 creased. On October i the steamboat came from Albany 
 in 28 hours with 60 passengers on board, and next day 
 she left New York with 90 people on board,^ showing 
 what a favourite she was becoming. The newspaper 
 which gives this information pertinently remarks : 
 
 "Would it not be well if she could contract with the Post- 
 master-General to carry the mail from this city to Albany ? " 
 
 It is instructive, as illustrating how events fraught with 
 the greatest import to the human race are ushered into 
 the world almost without comment, to observe the little 
 impression made upon the public by the new mode of 
 transport judging by the notice taken of it in the press 
 of the day. Although New York then boasted a popula- 
 tion of 83,000 souls, and possessed at least twenty news- 
 papers, half of them dailies, besides weekly papers and 
 magazines, yet, excepting the letters written by Fulton and 
 some of the passengers, there is only the barest mention of 
 the steamboat outside the advertisement columns. 
 
 ' Evening Post, October 2, 1807. 
 
224 ROBERT PULTON 
 
 On October 9 Fulton wrote to Andrew Brink, the captain 
 of the boat, giving him instructions, decidedly of a hust- 
 ling character, as to the management of the boat and 
 discipline to be observed on board, as follows : ^ 
 
 Sir, — Inclosed is the number of voyages which it is 
 intended the Boat should run this season. You may have 
 them published in the Albany papers. 
 
 As she is strongly man'd and every one except Jackson 
 under your command, you must insist on each one doing 
 his duty or turn him on shore and put another in his 
 place. Everything must be kept in order, everything in 
 its place, and all parts of the Boat scoured and clean. 
 It is not sufficient to tell men to do a thing, but stand over 
 them and make them do it. One pair of Quick and good 
 eyes is worth six pair of hands in a commander. If the 
 Boat is dirty and out of order the fault shall be yours. 
 Let no man be Idle when there is the least thing to do, 
 and make them move quick. 
 
 Run no risques of any kind when you meet or over- 
 take vessels beating or crossing your way. Always run 
 under their stern if there be the least doubt that you 
 cannot clear their head by 50 yards or more. Give in 
 the account of Receipts and expenses every week to the 
 Chancellor. 
 
 Your most obedient, 
 
 ROBT. Fulton. 
 
 All went well w^ith the steamboat till November 13, 
 when, just as she was leaving New York, "one of the 
 axletrees broke off short and she was obliged to return." 
 These shafts, it should be remembered, were only of cast 
 iron, so that the accident is not to be wondered at. Re- 
 pairs were made in the course of the day and she was 
 again on her station by the morrow. 
 
 By November 19, however, it was reported in the 
 papers that the Hudson from Albany as far down as 
 
 ■ Sutcliffe, Robert Fulton and the " Clermont" p. 253. 
 
PROFITS ON STEAMBOAT 225 
 
 Coxsackie was frozen across entirely, but this did not 
 interfere with the running of the boat, apparently, for 
 in the Evening Post appeared a letter, dated the 19th 
 November, giving an account of a very rough passage 
 during which the boat had to ride at anchor for seven 
 hours. The passengers on this occasion, however, ex- 
 pressed their approbation of the treatment they had re- 
 ceived and their pleasure in being able to report that no 
 accident had happened. 
 
 A few days later it was decided to lay up the boat for 
 the winter, as is clear from the following most interesting 
 letter ^ of Fulton to Livingston, dated November 20 : 
 
 I have received your letter of the lath inst. After all 
 accidents and delays our boat has cleared 5 per cent, on 
 the capital expended, and as the people are not discouraged, 
 but continue to go in her at all risques and even increase 
 in numbers, I think with you that one which should be 
 complete would produce us from 8 to 10,000 dollars a year 
 or perhaps more and that another boat which will cost 15,000 
 dollars will also produce us 10,000 dollars a year ; there- 
 fore, as this is the only method which I know of gaining 
 50 or 75 per cent., I am, on my part, determined not to 
 dispose of any portion of my interest on the North River ; 
 but I will sell so much of my funds as will pay my part of 
 rendering this boat complete and for establishing another, 
 so that one will depart from Albany and one from New 
 York every other day and carry all the passengers. It is 
 now necessary to consider how to put our first boat in 
 a complete state for 8 or 10 years— and when I reflect that 
 the present one is so weak that she must have additional 
 knees and timbers, new side timbers, deck beams and deck, 
 new windows and cabins altered, that she perhaps must be 
 sheathed, her boiler taken out and a new one put in, her 
 axels forged and Iron work strengthened. With all this 
 
 ^ Reproduced by permission of the New York Historical Society, who possess 
 the original. 
 
 P 
 
226 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 work the saving of the present hull is of little consequence 
 particularly as many of her Knees Bolts timbers and 
 planks could enter into the construction of a new boat. 
 My present opinion therefore is that we should build a 
 new hull her knees and floor timbers to be of oak her 
 bottom planks of 2 Inch oak her side planks two Inch 
 oak for 3 feet high. She to be 16 feet wide 150 feet 
 long this will make her near twice as stiff as at present 
 and enable us to carry a much greater quantity of sail, 
 the 4 feet additional width will require 11 46 lbs. additional 
 purchase at the engine moving 2 feet a second or 15 
 double strokes a minute — this will be gained by raising 
 the steam 5 lbs. to the inch as 24 Inches the diameter of 
 the cylinder gives 570 round Inches at 3 lb. to the inch = 
 1710 lb. purchase gained to accomplish this with a good 
 boiler and a commodious boat running our present speed, 
 of a voyage in 30 hours, I think better and more produc- 
 tive to us than to gain one mile on the present boat. 
 
 The new boat, Cabins and all complete, in- 
 cluding our materials will cost perhaps . 2000 dols. 
 
 Boiler 800 „ 
 
 Iron work in the best manner and men's 
 wages during the winter . . . . 1200 ,, 
 
 4000 „ 
 
 To meet this I find that our copper boiler 
 weighs 3930 lbs. which at 40 cents all the 
 price paid by Government will produce . 1570 dols. 
 
 Profits of this year 1000 ,, 
 
 2570 ~ 
 
 So that we shall have to provide about 1500 dols. 
 added to 3000 Bills against us in the Bank. With this 
 arrangement we shall have one Boat in complete play, 
 producing about 10,000 dollars a year to enable us to pro- 
 ceed with the second, to come out in the spring of 1809, 
 and then our receipts will be about 20,000 dollars a year. 
 
 Please to think of this and if you like it to try and 
 
STEAMBOAT REBUILT 227 
 
 contract with the carpenter at Hudson for the hull and 
 let him immediately prepare his timbers, knees, and 
 planks. 
 
 She should be almost wall-sided : if 16 feet at bottom 
 she need not be more than 18 on deck. Streight sides 
 will be strong ; it fits the mill work and prevents motion in 
 the waves. . . . 
 
 It is now time to lay her up for the winter. 
 
 Nothing should be risqued from bad weather — the 
 gain will be trifling, the risque great. 
 
 I cannot be with you before the first week in January. 
 
 Compliments to all friends. Write me again. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 R. Fulton. 
 
 Do not risque the engine in the winds and waves of the 
 season. 
 
 It appears from this letter that the steamboat had, from 
 start to finish, cost 20,000 dollars, of which sum 3000 had 
 been borrowed on bills, possibly the money that we have 
 already mentioned as having been lent by friends. The 
 capital that Fulton had sunk must, therefore, have been 
 8500 dollars — that is to say, it had not exhausted his 
 resources ; indeed, that is clear from his remark, " I will 
 sell so much of my funds." 
 
 As usual Fulton is sanguine ; the profit on the three 
 months' working had been 1000 dollars. For the following 
 year he was reckoning on eight times as much, although 
 the period during which the boat could run would not be 
 as much as four times as long ! 
 
 Fulton's proposal about building a new hull of increased 
 beam appears to have been carried out and this will explain 
 the fact that, while in his patent specification * he gives the 
 beam as 13 feet, in other places he gives it as 16 or 18 
 feet. In her rebuilt state the steamboat might be said to 
 
 • See p. 324. 
 
228 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 be like the Irishman's knife in which everything had been 
 renewed at different times, but it was still the same knife. 
 In fact so great were the changes in the steamboat that 
 under the Act of Congress regulating such matters a new 
 registration at the Custom House became necessary. The 
 enrolment ^ is dated May 14, 1808, and is as follows : 
 
 " Robert R. Livingston of Clermont, Columbia County, 
 State of New York, having taken and subscribed to the 
 Oath required by the said Act and having sworn that he, 
 together with Robert Fulton of the City of New York, are 
 citizens of the United States and sole owners of the ship 
 or vessel called the North River Steamboat of Clermont, 
 whereof Samuel Wiswall is at present master, and as he 
 hath sworn he is a citizen of the United States and that 
 the said ship or vessel was built in the City of New York 
 in the year 1807 as per enrollment 973 issued at this port 
 on the 3d day of September 1807 now given up, the 
 vessel being enlarged. And Peter A. Schenck, Surveyor 
 of the Port, having certified that the said ship or vessel 
 has one deck and two masts and that her length is 149 ft. ; 
 breadth 17 ft. 11 in.; depth 7 ft,, and that she measures 
 i82|-| tons. That she is a square sterned boat, has square 
 tuck ; no quarter galleries and no figure head." 
 
 Known for short as the North River, she started running 
 in May, and in June, Fulton in a letter to C. W. Peale says : 
 
 "My steamboat is now in complete operation and 
 works much to my satisfaction, making the voyage from 
 or to New York or Albany, 160 miles, on an average in 35 
 hours. She has three excellent Cabins or rather rooms, 
 containing 54 births with kitchen, larder, pantry. Bar, and 
 steward's room. Passengers have been encourageing. 
 Last Saturday she started from New York with 70, which 
 is doing very well for these times when trade has not its 
 usual activity," ^ 
 
 A period of prosperity for the partners now began and 
 
 ' Morrison, History of American Steam Navigation, p. 20. 
 * Sutcliffe, Robert Fulton and the " Clermont" p. 269. 
 
BUILDS ANOTHER BOAT 229 
 
 everything promised well. In the following year the 
 North River made upwards of 50 trips of which com- 
 plete passenger lists have been preserved. 
 
 The time during which Livingston and Fulton had to 
 produce proof of their ability to propel a boat by the 
 agency of steam had expired in April 1807, but in the 
 session of 1808 the Legislature of New York passed a law 
 to prolong the exclusive privilege of Livingston and Fulton 
 for 5 years for each additional boat they should establish 
 provided that the whole time should not exceed 30 years ; 
 their original privilege was, it will be remembered, for 20 
 years from 1803 — i.e. to terminate in 1823. This therefore 
 was a very valuable concession because the prejudice 
 against the new mode of travel had disappeared and 
 passengers attracted by its speed and punctuality crowded 
 to take passage in the North River. 
 
 Naturally this success aroused the cupidity of those 
 harpies who live by preying on other people's labour and 
 inventions. Unwilling to aid Fulton the previous year 
 when he was ready to part with one-third of his exclusive 
 right to lessen the pressure on his finances, they now 
 prepared to wrest from him the profits of his enterprise, 
 with the result that will appear later. Nor was this all, for 
 the flyboat and scow owners were already beginning to 
 feel the effects of competition and began the short-sighted 
 policy of endeavouring to do malicious injury to the boat 
 by collisions and obstructions. So serious did this become 
 that in 181 1 the New York Legislature passed a sup- 
 plementary Act giving summary remedies against those 
 who should be guilty of these malpractices. 
 
 But success also spurred on the partners to further 
 efforts, and a second steamboat, the Car of Neptune, was 
 planned. She was practically a duplicate of the North 
 River, being 175 feet long over all, 24 feet beam, 39 feet over 
 the guards, and having the same draught of water. The 
 whole of the machinery appears to have been designed 
 and executed by Fulton himself. This boat was building 
 
230 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 during the summer of 1809, but was not ready till that 
 autumn or the spring of the following year in time for the 
 season. It appears to have cost about 25,000 dollars — i,e. 
 about 50 per cent, more than he had estimated. With these 
 two boats a service twice a week was run. 
 
 The necessity having now arisen to give the older boat 
 a more distinctive name than she had had, it was at this 
 juncture that she was called^ the Clermont, undoubtedly 
 after the residence of his associate and friend Livingston. 
 
 Apparently success completely justified the enterprise, 
 for the partners now planned the construction of a third 
 boat: not only so but they had already extended their 
 sphere of operations to the Mississippi, where, in the autumn 
 of 1810, having received an assurance of obtaining from 
 the state of Louisiana an exclusive privilege which was 
 duly accorded on April 19, 181 1, the New Orleans was 
 being built under the superintendence of Nicholas J. 
 Roosevelt. This boat occasioned a reduction of 25 per 
 cent, as the cost of freight between New Orleans and 
 Natchez.* The work that was crowding in upon them 
 must have decided Fulton that he could not do it all him- 
 self, and he was therefore led to apply once more to 
 Boulton, Watt & Co. for another engine. 
 
 The letter is as follows : 
 
 New York, September 15, l8io. 
 Messrs. Boulton & Watt, 
 
 Gentlemen, — In 1804 you constructed for me a steam 
 engine with a 24 Inch Cylinder and a four foot stroke, 
 which engine has for four years past been driving a boat 
 166 feet long, 18 feet wide drawing i\ feet of water at the 
 speed of 5 miles an hour on the Hudson River ; that is 
 taking the tide for and against the boat her average velocity 
 is 5 miles an hour ; This application of your Invention to 
 drive boats, has been, and will ever continue to to {sic) be 
 
 ' Hudson Bee, May 13, 18 1 o. 
 
 ' Marestier, Mimoire sur les Sateaux i vapeur, 1824, p. 161. 
 
ORDERS ANOTHER ENGINE 231 
 
 of great public Utility in this State, by carrying passengers 
 Between the Cities of New York and Albany distance 160 
 miles, the profits have also been such as to induce me to 
 form similar establishments on some of our other rivers. 
 I will therefore esteem it a favour if you will have the 
 goodness to make for me another engine as soon as 
 possible, the Cylinder to be 26 inches, the stroke as before 
 4 feet. 
 
 Schedule of Materials mtanted 
 
 1st. A Steam Cylinder 26 inches diameter 4 feet 
 stroke, with its top and plate, its bottom gland 
 and brasses complete. 
 
 2cl. Piston, its cover, bottom plate and spanners. 
 
 ^d. Piston rod, its cap and cutters. 
 
 4. Nozzles complete with Valves and Levers. 
 
 5. Working gear Complete with brackets. 
 
 6. Perpendicular steam and eduction pipe. 
 
 7. Condenser Vessel with blow pipe and blowing 
 
 Valve. 
 
 8. Injection cock and handle not wanted as I shall 
 
 have to arrange them to a tube passing through 
 the bottom of the boat. 
 
 9. Air pump its bucket and top and bottom Valves 
 
 complete. 
 
 10. Air pump bucket rod with cap and brackets. 
 
 11. Eduction pipe to Condenser. 
 
 12. Two boxes of Cement. 
 
 This, gentlemen, has been copied from your original 
 estimate and was to be made for 380^^ delivered at Soho. 
 I afterwards found it necessary to have a brass air pump 
 in consequence of working in salt water, that with altering 
 models. Packing cases, &c., &c., brought your final bill to 
 548;^. In this engine the Air pump may be Iron, and all the 
 work as usual where fresh water is used ; The American 
 Minister will obtain permission of the Government to ship 
 the engine to America. I wish it to be sent to the most 
 
232 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 convenient port from Birmingham which I presume is 
 Liverpool. I will write to my Correspondent in London 
 to take charge of the shipment and to settle final accounts 
 with you. Inclosed are the first Nos. of bills of exchange 
 of 527^.^ You will have the goodness to let me know by 
 the first packet if they are accepted and if the engine will 
 be ready to ship in February or March next. — In this, 
 Gentlemen you will much oblige, your most obedient, 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 
 P.S. — Should there be any improvement in the manner 
 of constructing engines since I had the pleasure of seeing 
 you, you will have the goodness to make for me that which 
 you conceive most perfect. 
 
 A coloured sketch giving "the position and distances 
 of a piston " must have been enclosed, for one of the above 
 date has been preserved among the Boulton & Watt MSS. 
 
 This letter was despatched in triplicate ; in the dupli- 
 cate written on December 4 he alters the diameter of the 
 cylinder from 26 inches to 28 inches " if not already cast." 
 Speaking of the air pump he also says : 
 
 " In my letter of September I mentioned that it might 
 be of Iron, but having changed the destination of the 
 engine to a place where it must work in salt water it is 
 necessary the air pump should be Brass and everything 
 about the Buckets and Valves either Brass or copper, as 
 the Iron screws, pins and nuts on your first engine rusted 
 off in 6 months." 
 
 The working drawing of this engine has been pre- 
 served. It is entitled "Mr. R. Fulton, Inch to the foot, 
 23rd Febr. 1811 " ; the cylinder is marked "28 inside" and 
 the stroke is 4 feet. 
 
 Evidently the parts were taken from the firm's 30 H.P. 
 engine. 
 
 ' A note shows that enclosed there were two bills, one for j^'soo and one 
 for ^275. 
 
STEAMBOATS ON HUDSON 233 
 
 From a subsequent letter^ it will be seen that the 
 engine was not quite complete in January 1812 : apparently, 
 however, the engine must have been delivered soon after, 
 for James Watt, writing ** from Heathfield on April 13 of 
 the same year to a correspondent who had inquired about 
 engines for canal boats, explains that he had retired from 
 business for many years, but that " It is a Mr. Fulton who 
 has constructed the steamboats in America ; two of the 
 engines have been made by Boulton, Watt & Co., but the 
 machinery has been made entirely in America under his 
 own direction." He further mentions that the cylinders 
 were 24-inch and 28-inch diameter respectively by 4-feet 
 stroke. It is not certain in which of the boats this engine 
 was fitted, the only one whose diameter and stroke agree 
 with it was the Washington, 1813, which, however, was 
 not built to ply in salt water. The next boat to be built 
 after the Car of Neptune was the Paragon. With her, 
 Fulton was able to inaugurate a service three times a 
 week, as is shown by the following advertisement : * 
 
 "HUDSON RIVER STEAMBOATS 
 
 FOR THE INFORMATION OF THE PUBLIC 
 
 The Paragon, Capt. Wiswell, will leave New York every Saturday 
 afternoon at five o'clock. 
 
 The Car of Neptune, Capt. Roorbach, 6°] d° every Tuesday after- 
 noon at five o'clock. 
 
 The North River, Capt. Bartholomew, every Thursday afternoon 
 at five o'clock. 
 
 The Paragon will leave Albany every Thursday morning at nine 
 o'clock. 
 
 The Car of Neptune d° every Saturday morning at nine o'clock. 
 
 The North River d° every Tuesday morning at nine o'clock. 
 
 1 P. 250. 
 
 ^ Muirhead, Mechanical Inventions of James Watt, vol. ii. p. 338. 
 ^ New York Evening Post, June 1813. 
 
234 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 PRICES OF PASSAGE 
 
 From New York to Verplanck's Point $2 ; West Point $2.50 ; 
 Newburgh S3 ; Wappinger's Creek $3.25 ; Poughkeepsie $3.50 ; 
 Hyde Park $4 ; Esopus S4.25 ; Catskill $5 ; Hudson $5 ; Cox- 
 sachie $5.50 ; Kinderhook $5.75 ; Albany $7. From Albany to 
 Kinderhook $1.50; Coxsachie $2; Hudson $2; Catskill $2.25; 
 Red Hook $2.75 ; Esopus $3 ; Hyde Park $3.25 ; Poughkeepsie 
 l3-5° I Wappinger's Creek $4 ; Newburgh $4.25 ; West Point $4.75 ; 
 Verplanck's Point $5.25 ; New York $7. 
 
 All other passengers to pay at the rate of i dollar 
 for every twenty miles. No one can be taken on board 
 and put on shore however short the distance for less than 
 I dollar. 
 
 Young persons from two to ten years of age to pay 
 half price; Children under two years one fourth price. 
 Servants who use a berth, two thirds price ; half price 
 if none." 
 
 The boats are placed inversely in order of date of con- 
 struction, being that of general convenience and comfort 
 showing that the North River was now a " back number." 
 The list of fares is interesting. The fare between New 
 York and Albany had been 7 dollars from the very first, 
 while fares to and from intermediate places had been 
 reduced from time to time. The number of places of 
 call had increased and yet in spite of that the journey 
 had been gradually accelerated. 
 
 Meanwhile another application of the steamboat had 
 been engaging Fulton's active brain — ^that of the possi- 
 bility of improving the communication between New 
 York and Jersey City, where the Hudson is i| to x\ miles 
 across. Up to that moment the cities had been somewhat 
 inefficiently served by Ferry rowboats ; their slowness 
 and uncertainty were experienced by Fulton every time 
 
STEAM FERRY BOATS 235 
 
 he had occasion to go from his home in New York to 
 Jersey City. 
 
 In 1809 a company was formed with a capital of 
 $50,000. They acquired a lease for nineteen years from the 
 Corporation of New York and from the proprietors of 
 Jersey City of their respective rights, wharves, and boats 
 at New York and Paulus Hook respectively. Fulton was 
 applied to to construct a steam ferry-boat, the details 
 being left entirely in his hands.^ 
 
 His plans for this, the first one of its kind, embodied, as 
 might have been expected from Fulton, novel features. With 
 the idea of preventing injury to the propelling machinery 
 and of minimising rolling, he constructed the boat with 
 two ship-shaped hulls with a single paddle-wheel in the space 
 between and the engine resting on the connecting beams. 
 The fact that a similar arrangement had been adopted 
 by Patrick Miller in his doubled-hulled boats of 1787, 
 propelled by muscular power, may have been known to 
 Fulton and suggested the idea to him. Each hull was 
 80 feet long by 10 feet beam and 5 feet deep in the hold — 
 the space between the hulls was 10 feet. This gave a 
 wide platform for carriage and passengers, and as the 
 hulls were double-ended putting about was obviated. 
 At each side of the river was moored the usual pontoon 
 rising and falling with the tide. Fixed at its shore end 
 and sliding over the pontoon was the bridge. There were 
 floating timbers on either side of the pontoon to guide 
 in the ferry-boat. To take up the shock of impact there 
 was a fender or buffer in front, connected by chains over 
 a pulley so as to raise buckets of water. These buckets 
 had holes in to let out the water so as to bring the whole 
 to rest gradually. A half-hourly service was instituted, 
 the boat taking 15 to 20 minutes for each trip. 
 
 " She has had in her at one time 8 four-wheeled 
 carriages 29 horses and 100 passengers, and could have 
 
 1 American Medical and Philosophical Register, 1813, vol. Hi. pp. 196-203, 
 description by Fulton himself. 
 
236 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 taken 300 more." So great was the success of this boat 
 that in 1811 she was followed by another and in 1812 by 
 a third over the East Hudson River. 
 
 When in 1816 a thoroughfare between these two ferries 
 was opened it was named most appropriately in his 
 honour Fulton Street. 
 
 Before leaving the subject of steamboats a few words 
 are desirable as to the progress that was made during 
 the remainder of Fulton's lifetime and under his direc- 
 tion.^ With this end in view a table of dimensions of 
 steamboats, whence many interesting comparisons emerge, 
 has been compiled from all available sources and is given 
 in an Appendix.^ 
 
 All the early boats were built, like the Clermont, flat- 
 bottomed and wall-sided. The Fulton, for navigating Long 
 Island Sound, was the first made ship-shaped, and, proving 
 successful, all subsequent boats were so built. Fulton 
 yielded in this matter because of the increased strength 
 given to the vessel by regular curves in the moulds rather 
 than from a conviction that the shape diminished resist- 
 ance. The ratio of length to breadth, which in the 
 Clermont was about 10 : i, was reduced gradually till in the 
 Chancellor Livingston (1816), also a river steamer, the ratio 
 was 4.7 : I. In the case of the Connecticut {1816), which 
 like the Fulton was for navigating Long Island Sound, 
 really an arm of the sea, the ratio was 4.1 : i. This no 
 doubt resulted from an attempt to counteract the "hogging" 
 and " sagging " which took place in the early boats. 
 Fulton's own evidence^ as to the Clermont on this point is 
 conclusive, and Marestier in 1824 notes that the deck of 
 the Paragon was sensibly undulating. 
 
 The position of the paddle-wheels in the Clermont 
 was halfway between stem and stern ; afterwards it was 
 
 ^ For much of this matter we are indebted to Marestier, Mimoire sur les 
 Bateaux h vapeur des Etats Unis iTAmerique, 1824, 4to, p. 41 et seq. Marestier 
 made an official visit to the States on behalf of the French Government to report 
 as to the advisability of establishing steam navigation in France. 
 
 ' See p. 326. ' See p. 317. 
 
STEAMBOAT DEVELOPMENT 237 
 
 further forward, but there was never any consensus of 
 opinion on this point. 
 
 The growth in tonnage and with it the increase of 
 engine power due to the growth of traffic was inevitable. 
 The design of the engine was still tentative. The un- 
 mechanical bell-crank engine of the Clermont was modified 
 by a reduction in the number of working parts. The fly- 
 wheel was not done away with till about 1815, although as 
 early as 1810 Fulton had realised that the paddle wheels 
 themselves gave a fly wheel effect. In the Chancellor 
 Livingston the square crosshead or steeple engine due to 
 Stevens was adopted. 
 
 No finality was reached in the type of boiler. It was 
 generally of the internally-fired, return tube type, but the 
 details differed in nearly every boat. 
 
 As the Chancellor Livingston was the last and finest of 
 Fulton's vessels, a detailed description ^ and drawing will 
 be of interest. 
 
 The paddle wheels were placed at the middle of the 
 length of the boat with the engine forward of them and 
 the boiler forward of that again. The paddle wheels were 
 boxed in to obviate splashing. They were supported and 
 protected by sponson beams, over which extended a deck 
 used for the stowage of fuel and for latrines. Space around 
 the engine was occupied by wood and coal bunkers, the 
 galleys and a bar where refreshments were sold. The 
 boiler and engine were covered by a casing open at the 
 sides to allow free circulation of air. The Chancellor 
 Livingston was the first vessel to employ coal as fuel. 
 
 The steering wheel was raised above the casing of the 
 engine so that the pilot might have an uninterrupted view 
 forward. 
 
 The accommodation for passengers was liberal. The 
 after end of the boat was occupied by a large dining 
 saloon, on each side of which were two tiers of berths 
 separated by curtains, and lockers or couches below on 
 
 ' Marestier, loc. cit. , p. 64 ct seg. 
 
238 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 which beds were placed when necessary. There was a 
 side light to each of the upper berths. It is interesting, as 
 showing the points from which development started, to 
 note that this arrangement was adopted for the car for 
 overland travel on the advent of the railway, while in 
 England the sub-division of the railway coach by com- 
 partments was modelled upon stage coach practice. 
 
 On the maindeck above the saloon was a ladies' cabin 
 similarly arranged, access to the saloon being by a com- 
 panion way aft. Forward was a second class cabin with 
 berths in two tiers as before and two similar rows back to 
 back along a partition down the middle line. The crew were 
 accommodated in the forecastle, while the captain's cabin, 
 the purser's cabin, and the baggage room were on the main 
 deck. Nothing was spared to make the boat superior in 
 appointments to anything that had gone before. She cost 
 over ^£25,000. 
 
 In 1823 the capital of the Hudson Steamboat Company 
 invested in their fleet — Car of Neptune, Paragon, Firefly, 
 Richmond, and Chancellor Livingston — including the value of 
 the privilege was estimated' at ^132,000, the gross annual 
 receipts were -^30,000, or ^^10,000 less working expenses, 
 equal to a return of about 8 per cent on the capital. It is 
 quite clear that after Fulton's death the policy of the 
 Company was most unprogressive, and that their whole 
 aim was to make as much money as possible while the 
 privilege lasted. 
 
 It must not be imagined that other inventors had been 
 idle while Fulton had been so busy. On the contrary, had 
 he not appeared at all on the scene there is every proba- 
 bility that steam navigation would have arisen, not quite so 
 quickly perhaps, nor yet possibly so successfully, at the 
 hands of one of the most prolific American inventors — we 
 refer to Colonel John C. Stevens of Hoboken. As early as 
 1803, although not versed in practical engineering, he had 
 constructed a remarkable twin screw steam launch, with a 
 
 ' Marestier, loc. cit., p.iS3. 
 
STEVENS'S STEAMBOAT 239 
 
 not less remarkable high pressure tubular boiler, which 
 are now safely housed in the Smithsonian Institution at 
 Washington. It was over this boiler that Stevens came to 
 grief — he had in fact run up against a problem that, with 
 the mechanical knowledge and materials of construction of 
 those days, was not ripe for solution. Nothing daunted, 
 however, Stevens tried along another line — that of Fulton 
 himself — low pressure and paddle wheels, and built a 
 vessel called appropriately enough the Pkcenix, which was 
 ready for its trials only a month after the Clermont. 
 Colonel Stevens, finding himself debarred by Fulton's mono- 
 poly from navigating the Hudson, was compelled, in order 
 to make pecuniary use of the vessel, to transfer its services 
 to another quarter. In July 1809 the Phoenix was taken 
 under her own steam under the command of Robert L. 
 Stevens, son of the Colonel, coastwise to Philadelphia, 
 whence she plied to Trenton on the Delaware River, Thus 
 he was the first to navigate the open sea by steam. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 UNITED STATES PATENTS— THE STEAMBOAT MONO- 
 POLY AND LITIGATION TO WHICH IT GAVE RISE- 
 STEAMBOAT ENTERPRISE IN EUROPE AND ASIA 
 
 IT is now necessary to record a fact of considerable 
 significance. As we have already seen, Fulton had all 
 along had in view a much wider field of enterprise 
 than the Hudson River. No doubt it was with a view to 
 securing to himself a monopoly over the whole of the 
 United States territory that he now applied for his first 
 patent. Possibly, too, he had some idea that it might be 
 a " second string to his bow " in case his monopoly of 
 the Hudson broke down, the gathering of a storm for that 
 purpose being already apparent, as we shall see later. 
 His application, which is for " Improvements in Steam- 
 boats," is dated January i, 1809, and the patent was granted 
 February nth the same year. 
 
 Fulton's patent is not to be found in the archives of 
 the U.S. Patent Office. It must have perished with many 
 other records in the disastrous fire which occurred there 
 in 1831. 
 
 The author, however, has been fortunate enough to 
 meet with two MS. copies of the specification — one in the 
 Patent Office Library, and the other in the Boulton and 
 Watt MSS., which is of such interest as to be worthy of 
 reproduction in full * on another page. 
 
 There are thirteen sheets of tables and drawings attached 
 to it which appear to be based on actual practice. A 
 definite reference is made to the Clermont, which is 
 
 ' See Appendix E, p. 289. 
 240 
 
STEAMBOAT PATENTS 241 
 
 selected as an example, and there can be little doubt that 
 we have now actual drawings of the engine arrangements 
 of that boat if not of the Paragon and Car of Neptune 
 as well. 
 
 One of the sheets of drawings gives a "table of the 
 resistance of bodies moved through water " " taken from 
 experiments made in England by a Society for Improving 
 Naval Architecture between the years 1793 and 1798." 
 Incidentally this refutes one charge of plagiarism directed 
 against Fulton. The charge need never have been made, 
 for the information was common property, having been 
 published by the Society in 1798. 
 
 Practically the whole claim in this patent is for the 
 right proportioning of the engine to the boat and for the 
 combination of the parts. Indeed no other valid claim 
 was possible, as none of the parts in themselves were novel. 
 To elucidate these points, we find a great deal of the 
 text taken up by calculations showing how to obtain the 
 proportions of a boat and of the engine suitable for it to 
 go at I, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 miles an hour with a given load. 
 Fulton finds the total resistance of the boat to be the 
 sum of — 
 
 i. The immersed cross section of the boat in square feet 
 multiplied by the " plus and minus pressure " the 
 co-efftcient for which he obtains from a table, 
 based on the aforementioned experiments, for each 
 of the speeds named, 
 ii. The friction of the sum of the areas of the bow and 
 stern together multiplied by a corresponding co- 
 efficient, 
 iii. The friction of the sides and bottom of the boat 
 
 similarly calculated. 
 To this total he adds a like power for the paddle-wheels. 
 As these are always to go at twice the speed of the boat, 
 and as he assumes the piston speed to be constant, he is 
 able to decide the necessary ratio of gearing and a con- 
 venient diameter for a cylinder to give the power required. 
 
 Q 
 
242 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Following upon his calculations for a boat to run at 
 6 miles per hour he remarks : 
 
 "As to 6 miles an hour, were it attempted and to 
 succeed, I should consider it more a work of curiosity 
 than utility, as I do not believe it possible to build a steam- 
 boat with any engine which is now known to run 6 miles 
 an hour in still water, and carry either passengers or cargo 
 to pay the expenses." 
 
 He retained the same opinion even as late as i8ii, for, 
 writing on January 9 to Dr. S. Thornton, superintendent of 
 the American Patent Office, he says : 
 
 " If you succeed to run 6 miles an hour in still water 
 with One hundred tons of merchandise I will contract to 
 reimburse the cost of the boat and give you one hundred 
 and fifty thousand dollars for your patent, or if you can 
 convince me of the success by drawings or demonstrations 
 I will join you in the expenses and profits." 
 
 Such an attitude of mind in a man like Fulton seems 
 hardly credible, especially seeing that in 1802 he had 
 anticipated a speed of 16 miles per hour ; with the steady 
 advance that he was making, it was not more than a year 
 or two later before one of his own boats was doing what 
 he now considered impossible. 
 
 On October 2, 1810, Fulton applied for another 
 patent^ for "constructing boats or vessels which are to 
 be navigated by the power of the steam-engine " ; it was 
 granted on February 9, 1811. It is supplementary to the 
 first, and in it he claims, among other things, the coupling 
 boxes, wheel guards, fender strakes, covering over the 
 paddle wheels, placing the steering wheel forward, and 
 hogging frames. Many of these details, while no doubt 
 originating with him, had been public property for some 
 years, so that the patent could hardly have been worth 
 anything, and had the claims been successfully maintained 
 it would have done more to retard than advance the 
 progress of steam navigation. 
 
 * See Appendix F, p. 313. 
 
STEAMBOAT MONOPOLY 243 
 
 The patent is interesting chiefly for the drawings 
 which illustrate some advance in engine construction. 
 One of the drawings foreshadows very clearly the side 
 lever engine which remained for forty years the accepted 
 type for steam navigation. 
 
 We have already alluded at some length to the mono- 
 poly of the waters of New York State enjoyed by Fulton 
 and Livingston, and it is now necessary to explain why 
 it was that it conferred such enormous powers and 
 privileges, and why such a protracted and bitter legal 
 fight was instituted to compass its overthrow. 
 
 The basis upon which the monopoly rested was that 
 the State of New York claimed jurisdiction over all the 
 waters of the Bay and of the Hudson River up to low 
 water mark on the mainland or Jersey shore. As it was 
 for the navigation of these waters that the State of New 
 York had granted a monopoly to Livingston and Fulton, 
 and as no steamboat could approach New York -and enjoy 
 trade with the City without traversing this stretch of water, 
 we can see how it was that these two monopolists were 
 able to keep out all such men as Colonel John Stevens 
 with his steamer the Phcenix. 
 
 This claim on the part of the State of New York was 
 founded neither on reason nor on common sense. A 
 river or lake suggests itself naturally as a boundary 
 between adjacent territories, and, when it is accepted as 
 such, common law assumes that the boundary is in mid- 
 channel or in the deepest part. 
 
 Now the State of New Jersey had always repudiated 
 the claim of the State of New York; indeed in 1806 New 
 York had consented to the appointment of a joint com- 
 mission to try and come to an agreement but without 
 result. It seems to us that it would have been an obvious 
 course for New Jersey to have appealed to the United 
 States Supreme Court for a settlement of this dispute, but 
 possibly the temper of the people was too independent 
 for such a course. Now that steam navigation had been 
 
244 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 introduced and the financial considerations involved were 
 considerable, the question assumed very great importance. 
 Livingston and Fulton's monopoly is so inextricably bound 
 up with it that one can hardly be discussed without the 
 other. 
 
 The first attack upon their vested interest appears to 
 have been made in 1810 or at the beginning of 1811, when 
 a company was formed at Albany to run in opposition 
 to the Fulton line. Their first boat, the Hope, Captain 
 Bunker, was launched March 19, 1811, and their second, the 
 Perseverance, Captain Sherman, somewhat later. Soon 
 after they were placed on the station. The rivalry between 
 them and the Fulton line culminated in a steamboat race 
 — the first in history and the forerunner of a kind of sport 
 much indulged in subsequently. Both boats left Albany 
 at 9 o'clock on the morning of July 27, the Hope leading. 
 This position was maintained until the boats were within 
 two miles of Hudson, when the Clermont by reason of 
 her lighter draught took advantage of the shallows and 
 tried to pass the Hope, which perforce kept to the channel. 
 A collision resulted which, while not injuring either 
 boat, put a stop to the race. Captain Bartholomew of 
 the Clermont at once challenged the doughty Bunker 
 to compete for a stake of 2000 dollars aside over any 
 distance, but the latter declined.^ 
 
 In order to counteract the designs of the opposition 
 steamboat company Fulton and Livingston sought the 
 advice of Thomas Addis Emmet, brother of Robert 
 Emmet the Irish patriot and a famous advocate, who gave 
 a long opinion,^ dated January 19, 181 1, in which he first 
 recites the essential substance of the grants and the acts 
 upon which their monopoly was based, substantially as 
 has been given already. He then sets out the questions 
 to be answered as being : 
 
 " ist. What is the effect and validity of the State Laws 
 
 '^ Jour. Anier. Hist., 1907, p. 422. 
 
 ' New York Public Library Bulletin, vol. xiii. p. 573. 
 
LEGAL OPINION 245 
 
 in conferring any and what exclusive right on Messrs. 
 Livingston and Fulton. 
 
 2nd. By what process can they carry into effect their 
 right under the State Laws to the boat and to the Penalty." 
 
 After discussing the powers that the several States 
 delegated to the Federal Constitution when the latter was 
 formed, particularly with reference to useful inventions, 
 he gives it as his opinion that : 
 
 "after the adoption of the Federal Constitution no State 
 Legislature had any authority to grant an exclusive right 
 of making, constructing, or employing any machine or 
 invention." 
 
 This opinion of course covered both questions, but 
 assuming the State law to be valid, he gives it as his 
 further opinion that the forfeiture of the boat, &c., could 
 be enforced, and also that Livingston and Fulton might : 
 
 " take and hold possession of the forfeited property without 
 any preceding process of law, if they can accomplish that 
 object without a breach of the Peace." 
 
 There are marginal notes on the document signifying 
 disagreement with the opinion expressed which cannot 
 have been otherwise than unpalatable. There was, how- 
 ever, no need to let the opinion be known, and Fulton and 
 Livingston evidently decided to rely still on their original 
 Act of Legislature. That Emmet's opinion was a true 
 one the decisions of the courts subsequently showed. 
 
 The danger that threatened them only deepened when 
 on January 25, 1811, the Legislature of New Jersey passed 
 an Act ^ declaring that : 
 
 "the citizens of New Jersey have a full and equal right 
 to navigate and have and use vessels and boats upon all 
 
 > For a number of facts relating to this case, the writer is indebted to a 
 Souvenir of the Hudson- Fulton Celebration, prepared and published by the 
 Free Library of Jersey City. 
 
246 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 the waters lying between the States of New Jersey and 
 New York, in all cases whatever not prohibited by the 
 constitution, or any law of the United States." 
 
 The Act further provided that any person whose boat 
 might be seized under the law of New York should have a 
 right to retaliate upon any steamboat belonging to citizens 
 of that State which might come into New Jersey waters. 
 The provisions of this Act were much less defensible 
 than were the claims of New York. It carried matters 
 from bad to worse, and was in fact a direct encouragement 
 to piracy. 
 
 The New York Legislature quickly responded in April 
 181 1 by a law authorising Livingston and his associates to 
 seize any steamboat infringing their monopoly, but pro- 
 viding that such steamboat should be held till the settle- 
 ment of the case. 
 
 The only course now open was to attack the opposition 
 steamboat company in the law courts. Fulton must have 
 felt shaky about the validity of Livingston's original Act 
 if submitted to searching attack in the courts, and he 
 seems to have thought it best to prepare evidence by 
 affidavit or deposition as to his actual priority in successful 
 steam navigation. For this purpose he wrote to all his 
 friends to secure their interest. One letter^ to Earl 
 Stanhope is so interesting that we give it in full : 
 
 " New York, April 10, 181 1. 
 " My Lord, — In my former letters I gave you an account 
 of the success of my steam boats, which has been so great 
 that, like every other useful and profitable invention, 
 attempts are now making to evade my patent rights, and 
 deprive me of my mental property. I am therefore under 
 the necessity of collecting all possible evidence of the 
 orginality and priority of my invention. In which water 
 wheels of right proportions and Velocities are of the first im- 
 1 Stanhope MSS. 
 
BEGS FOR AFFIDAVIT 247 
 
 portance. Your Lordship will recollect that, while was 
 in Devonshire in 1793, I wrote you a letter on Using per- 
 pendicular oars or wheels to propell steam Vessels, of 
 which the inclosed is an exact Copy ; it was accompanied 
 with other mechanical speculation which you may yet find 
 among your papers ; if so or your Lordship can distinctly 
 recollect it, it will be of infinate service to me, and my 
 cause, and I shall esteem it a particular favour if you will 
 certify on the inclosed letter and drawing before the 
 American consul or a notary public that the inclosed is 
 a true copy of a letter written to you by me on steam- 
 ships in 1793 : such testimony will be important on the 
 tryal which will commence in September next, in this City, 
 and on which I have at least 7ooO;£ sterling a year at 
 stake. No one feels more sensibly than your Lordship 
 the sacred right of mental property, no one knows better 
 the difficulties which interposed to rendering steam Boats 
 useful, and my clear right to my specific combinations ; 
 which have rendered them useful. In which the wheel in my 
 opinion is indispensibte. Your Lordship will therefore in so 
 important a suit not hesitate to give evidence for an old 
 friend and have the goodness to certify on the inclosed 
 letter the time you received the original from me, after 
 which certificate have the goodness to deliver it to the 
 American Consul general in London, who will forward it 
 to me. I will also thank your Lordship to let me know 
 if there be any steam boat In operation In England or 
 Ireland, if so, when built, by whom and how is she con- 
 structed ; this information will be esteemed a favour in 
 a private letter. I have seen the specification of your 
 Lordship's Stanhope Weatherers with a plan for defending 
 them against torpedoes, the ship is Very ingeneous, but 
 the Torpedoes are now so far improved that any plan I 
 have yet seen cannot defend a ship against a Vigorous 
 attack with them. Our friend Barlow is going Ambassador 
 to St. Cloud at which place I hope his talents will be of 
 use to our country, which is rapidly improving and every 
 
248 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 day gaining strength although our exterior commerce is 
 much embarrassed. The Edict of Nantz gave manufactures 
 to England which she never lost but improved and multi- 
 plied to the sapping of the resources of France, the British 
 orders in Council, the Berlin decrees, the war in Spain 
 and Portugal, which has sent 8000 Mireno Sheep to this 
 country in which they thrive and Improve, has given to 
 us manufacture in Cotton, in Wood and Iron for which 
 we now have the raw material in abundance, which manu- 
 factures we shall never loose but improve and multiply 
 and which must tend to diminish or at least to produce 
 the effect of not increasing in so rapid a degree the 
 resources of England and France. 
 
 Have the goodness to remember me kindly to Mrs. 
 Falkner ; may success attend your Lordship's useful pur- 
 suits and happiness be your companion, is the sincere 
 wish of 
 
 Your most obedient 
 
 RoBT. Fulton. 
 The Right Honble. 
 
 THE Earl of Stanhope. 
 
 P.S. — When I left London in 1806 there was no such 
 thing as a steam boat anywhere in use in Europe ; if any 
 thing of the kind has since been established in England 
 or Ireland, I will thank your Lordship for the particulars 
 of her size and Velocity, to what purposes applied ; by 
 whom made and at what time and how propelled ? 
 
 In a letter to Barlow, dated June 28, 181 1, he gives 
 further details with reference to this opposition steamboat 
 company : 
 
 " My time is now occupied in building North River 
 and Steam ferry boats, and in an interesting lawsuit to 
 crush 22 Pirates who have clubbed their purses and copied 
 my boats and have actually started my own Inventions in 
 opposition to me by running one trip to Albany : her 
 
LAWSUIT 249 
 
 machinery however gave way in the first voyage and she 
 is now repairing, which will detain her I presume until 
 we obtain an Injunction to stop her. A more infamous 
 and outrageous attack upon mental property has not dis- 
 graced America. Thornton has been one of the great 
 causes of it. In this interesting suit which places a great 
 fortune at stake I want you to go or send Lee to Thornton's 
 office and demand a certified copy of my transfer of one 
 half of my United States patents to Robert R. Livingston 
 and let the certificate state that such transfer is legally 
 registered in the patent office." 
 
 The transfer of one half of Fulton's interest in his 
 patents to Livingston was in accordance with their original 
 agreement. 
 
 Fulton also sends with the letter a deposition as to 
 what his achievements in steam navigation had been ; this 
 he asks Barlow to persuade Thornton to sign, as if it were 
 his own production. Thornton did not do so, by the way, 
 but the deposition, giving as it does Fulton's side of the 
 case, may be taken as correct where it gives credit to 
 another than himself, as he does in one sentence : 
 
 " John Stevens Esq. of Broadway, in the City of New 
 York, is the first . . . who has communicated the power 
 from the piston rod to the water wheels by means of 
 crank wheels and shackle bars which work on each side 
 of the Cylender." 
 
 This was the return connecting-rod or steeple engine. 
 
 The lawsuit dragged on wearily, as only lawsuits can ; 
 and Fulton, evidently thinking he must get further evidence, 
 wrote to Boulton, Watt & Co., asking for an affidavit from 
 the great James Watt himself. As Watt had retired from 
 business twelve years before, it is unlikely that he would 
 want to be worried with such a matter ; the firm may 
 have sent a reply ; if so, we have no record of it. 
 
2 so ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Fulton's letter is as follows : 
 
 New York, January /^th, 1812 
 Messrs Boulton & Watt 
 
 Gentlemen, — In consequence of the non-intercourse 
 and the impossibility of getting the original to this country 
 at present I have delayed for a long time to answer your 
 letter, But you will please to finish the engine in the usual 
 way with perpendicular Valves, as the wheels must have the 
 power of turning Backwards and forwards and I will remit 
 you the remainder of the Cost. In a conversation with Mr. 
 Watt Senior in Paris I think in 1803 or 2 I believe he gave it 
 to me as his opinion that it was impracticable to make a 
 useful steamboat or Vessel, I have however succeeded to 
 make a Vessel^ 176 feet long 23 feet beam drawing 2 feet 
 6 inches of Water run 6 miles an hour in Still water, which 
 Useful invention like your useful steam engine is already 
 copied without my consent and my patent right Violated 
 I am involved in a very expensive and important lawsuit, 
 the Enemy cannot deny that they have copied. But they 
 hope to succeed in proving that I am not the Inventor, 
 for which purpose all abortive projects to navigate boats 
 or Vessels by steam wheels [that] have been made within 
 the last 30 years will be collected, in evidence against 
 me, some of which however bear the least resemblance 
 to the combinations or principles of my boats : But as 
 such high authority as Mr. Watt would be of great im- 
 portance to me on the tryal, I should esteem it as a great 
 favour if he would State whether there was to the best of 
 his knowledge a steam boat of any kind or what kind 
 anywhere in permanent and efficient operation anywhere 
 in the three kingdoms in 1803 or to the best of his know- 
 ledge anywhere in Europe. And what was his opinion 
 and appeared to him to be the prevaily {sic) opinion of the 
 practicability of making good steam boats, such for example 
 as should run 5 miles an hour in still water and carry 100 
 * This was almost certainly the Car of Neptune. See Appendix G, p. 326. 
 
BEGS FOR AFFIDAVIT 251 
 
 tons ; was it his opinion in 93 that such a project was 
 practicable or was the mode of effecting it know[n] to 
 him at that time or, to the best of his knowledge known 
 to any other person, A Certificate of these facts as they 
 appeared to him in 93 And affirmed to before the mayor 
 of Birmingham And In presence of any American who 
 may be at Birmingham and witnessed by by (sic) him, 
 and particularly if he should be a person resident in New 
 York, Boston or Phil^- would be exceedingly useful to me. 
 Or should any respectable gentleman of Birmingham see 
 Mr. Watt affirm to the certificate and such person be going 
 to London could swear before Mr. Jonathan Russel American 
 Charge des affairs that he knew it to be Mr. Watts hand- 
 writing It would render the evidence on the science of 
 steam boats in 93 Legal in our courts — and Mr. Russel 
 would transmit the certificate sealed with his official seal 
 to me ; Gentlemen, you have]known so much of the un- 
 blushing piracy of your own Inventions and the importance 
 of evidance to defend such rights. That I shall hope for 
 this most repectable and friendly evidence on the opinion 
 and state of the iscience of steamboats in 93 which is the 
 year I built my first boat, on the Seine near Paris and 
 established all the powers proportions and velocities of 
 parts which have given complete success to all the boats 
 since built on these principles. 
 
 hoping for an answer to this letter as soon as possible 
 believe me gentlemen with the greatest esteem and respect 
 your most 
 
 obedient ROBT. Fulton. 
 
 The conversation that he mentions as having had 
 with Watt in Paris in 1802 or 1803 cannot have taken 
 place, as Watt was not there in those years. Besides, from 
 the tone of Watt's reference to Fulton in a letter to a 
 third party about this time, it would appear that they had 
 never met. 
 
 The case was tried at Trenton, N.J. Fulton's party 
 
252 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 was represented by their friend Thomas A. Emmet ; lawyers 
 of equal eminence being on the other side. Great stress 
 was laid on the letter ^ written from Torquay to Lord Stan- 
 hope in 1793, and capital was made out of the fact that the 
 letter put in by Fulton was a recent copy of it. No one 
 seems to have thought of Fulton's book on Canals, where 
 this correspondence is referred to ; that would surely have 
 substantiated his statement. 
 
 In the end, an injunction against the opposition steam- 
 boat company was obtained, and their boats, of which two 
 had been built, were confiscated and destroyed. 
 
 Hardly had this case been disposed of than opposition 
 arose in another quarter. It appears that Colonel Aaron 
 Ogden,^ an eminent citizen of New Jersey, in conjunction 
 with Daniel Dod,* a well-known engine-builder, had con- 
 structed a steamboat called the Sea Horse, with which they 
 intended to establish a ferry service between Elizabeth- 
 town, N.J., and New York. The engine of this vessel, by 
 the way, was the first of the walking-beam type, which 
 afterwards became so common, and Dod is usually credited 
 with its introduction. 
 
 Finding that the Fulton monopoly prevented him carry- 
 ing out his plan, Colonel Ogden petitioned the New York 
 Legislature to rescind the monopoly. The resolution, to 
 effect this, was lost by one vote only. 
 
 However, Colonel Ogden, who had been chosen by the 
 Legislature of New Jersey on 29th October 1812 to succeed 
 
 ' See p. 24. 
 
 ' Aaron Ogden (b. 1756; d. 1839) took an active part in the War of 
 Independence under Lafayette, and attained to the rank of Quartermaster- 
 General. After the war he took up law, and practised with success. In 1801 he 
 was made a U.S. senator, and held office for two years. In 1806 he was a 
 commissioner in the Boundary Dispute between New York and New Jersey. 
 Trustee of Princeton University from 1803-12, and from 1817 till his death; 
 LL.D. in 1816. 
 
 ' Daniel Dod (b. 1788; d. 1823) devoted himself to steam-engine construc- 
 tion, then in its infancy, with great success. Engined the Savannah, the 
 first vessel to cross the Atlantic by the aid of steam. Killed in a boiler 
 explosion. 
 
MONOPOLY CRUSHED 253 
 
 Joseph Bloomfield, as Governor, managed to get a law 
 passed by that body on November 3, 1813, granting to him- 
 self and Dod the exclusive right to run steamboats on the 
 waters of New Jersey. The Livingston party were at once 
 up in arms, and appealed to the next Legislature in 1814, 
 to repeal the Act. Again the Livingston party were repre- 
 sented by Thomas A. Emmet ; while the other party had 
 two equally famous lawyers. The result was that the New 
 Jersey grant was repealed on February 4, 181 5. 
 
 Unfortunately, while this struggle was going on. Chan- 
 cellor Livingston had died at Clermont, on February 26, 
 1813, at the age of sixty-seven ; and just in the hour of vic- 
 tory Fulton contracted the chill which cut short his career. 
 
 We must, however, briefly pursue the vicissitudes of the 
 steamboat monopoly. The matter was settled for a time 
 by Colonel Ogden buying from the executors of Livingston 
 and of Fulton the exclusive right to run ferry-boats for ten 
 years on the route between Elizabethtown and New York. 
 
 He did not enjoy the privilege long before another 
 storm began to gather on the horizon. Thomas Gibbons, a 
 wealthy Southerner, who passed the summers at Elizabeth- 
 town, saw the desirability of running steamboats, and started 
 an opposition line with the Bellona and the Stoudinger. 
 By a strange vicissitude of fortune, it was the turn of 
 Colonel Ogden, who had been the bitterest opponent of 
 the steamboat monopoly, now to defend it against Gibbons. 
 The latter was a lawyer and a man of means ; as neither 
 party would give way, the suit dragged on till it reached the 
 U.S. Supreme Court, which in 182 1 dismissed Gibbons's 
 case on technical grounds. Beaten, but not crushed, he 
 instituted a fresh trial. He engaged as his counsel Daniel 
 Webster, the famous jurist, who argued that the monopoly 
 infringed the prerogative of the Federal Government to 
 regulate commerce, and that therefore it was unconstitu- 
 tional. The result of it was that in March 1825 the United 
 States Court of Errors, sitting at Albany, decided by a 
 majority of 22 to 9 that no State could grant a monopoly 
 
254 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 of navigation. The Senate Chamber and gallery were 
 crowded with people anxious to hear the decision of the 
 Court on this momentous case. Thus ended a most op- 
 pressive monopoly, at the cost of ruining one at least of the 
 parties. 
 
 The Boundary dispute, however, still flourished, and it is 
 interesting to note the sequel. In 1829, at the instance of 
 the State of New Jersey, the Supreme Court appointed a 
 Commission, with representatives drawn from both States, 
 to settle the question. They arrived at an agreement 
 whereby New York so far abandoned their previous claims 
 as to fix as the boundary the middle of the Hudson River, 
 of New York Bay, and of the waters between Staten 
 Island and New Jersey, subject to certain claims of jurisdic- 
 tion over the Bay and the Hudson south of Spuyten Duyvel 
 Creek. This agreement was ratified by both States in 1834. 
 
 As the meaning of the term " middle " was not clearly 
 defined, it was not long before renewed controversy arose. 
 This was brought to an acute stage when about 1870 the 
 Central Railroad reclaimed land from the Hudson at 
 Communipaw, by filling in. Under their agreement of 
 1834, New York State claimed jurisdiction over the re- 
 claimed land. The case was taken to the New York Court 
 of Appeal, who decided that the jurisdiction given to New 
 York under that agreement was only for sanitary and 
 police purposes. Finally, in 1888, Commissioners from 
 the two States exactly located the boundary-line in the 
 middle of the channel of the river and bay. Thus was 
 settled a controversy which had lasted for over a hundred 
 years. 
 
 We must now cast our minds back a little way to the 
 year 1810, which may perhaps be said to have been the 
 heyday of Fulton's mental and commercial activities ; for 
 besides the large number of steamboats* built or projected 
 for various parts of the Union, Fulton meditated nothing 
 less than the introduction of steam navigation throughout 
 
 ' See Appendix G, p. 326. 
 
STEAMBOATS IN ENGLAND 255 
 
 the civilised world, so great was his belief in its com- 
 mercial future. 
 
 To this end he enlisted in his interest, for exploiting 
 English territory, the services of Mr, J. C. Dyer, a man 
 already favourably known as an inventor. Many years 
 later, after he had settled down to end his days in this 
 country, he, when an octogenarian, told the story of his 
 voyages on the Clermont, and his connection with this 
 enterprise : ^ 
 
 " I undertook, in 181 1, the task of inducing some of the 
 leading engineers and capitalists of London to engage in 
 the construction of steamboats, on Fulton's plan, to run 
 on the Thames and other waters in this country. I had 
 obtained from Mr. Fulton (through a mutual friend) a full 
 description, and the drawings of his inventions and dis- 
 coveries relating to steam navigation with the result of 
 his labours in America. But I found it impossible to con- 
 vince any of them that steamboats could be made to run 
 with safety and profit in the English waters. . . ." 
 
 "... Many of my personal friends urged me strongly 
 not to waste my time and money on so hopeless a task as 
 that of introducing steam navigation into England. Even 
 the great and scientific engineer, John Rennie (father of 
 the present eminent Sir John Rennie), urged me, with 
 parental kindness, to drop all thoughts of bringing these 
 boats into use — and this after having Fulton's plans before 
 him, and fully admitting their success in America." 
 
 In the spring of 1814, Mr. Peter Ewart expressed to 
 Dyer the opinion that " it did not appear likely that they 
 {i.e. steamboats) could ever come into general use in the 
 waters of England," and this in spite of the fact that he 
 knew of Bell's success on the Clyde in 1812. 
 
 Dyer goes on to say : 
 
 " In that year {i.e. 1814) I lent Mr. Ewart Fulton's speci- 
 fications and drawings, which were sent by him to Boulton 
 and Watt, and returned to me about six months after. I 
 
 ^ Mem. Lit. and Phil. Soc, Manchester, third Series, 1865, vol. ii. p. 292. 
 
256 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 have reason to believe that that eminent house was led 
 thereby to make further and more exact inquiries con- 
 cerning the progress of steam navigation in America ; for 
 they, as well as several other engineers, commenced 
 building steamboats in 1815 and 1816." 
 
 Even Bell's success with his vessel the Comet, the 
 centenary of which has just been celebrated, must be 
 attributed in some measure to Fulton. Bell's account of 
 their intercourse is given in a letter 1 he wrote in 1824. 
 
 " He came at different times to this country, and stopped 
 with me for some time. He published, soon afterwards, a 
 Treatise on Canal Declining Railways. I have this Book 
 at hand, but you may obtain it by applying to Mr. Taylor, 
 bookseller, London, price 21J. Mr. Fulton published this 
 work in England in 1804, and on his way to France called 
 on me ; and also when he returned. He was employed by 
 the American Government to come to England, to take 
 drawings of our cotton and other machinery, which 
 quickened his desires after all the engineering branches ; 
 these he took up very quickly. He was also a good painter, 
 and excelled in miniature likenesses. When I wrote to 
 the American Government on the great importance of 
 steam navigation they appointed Mr. Fulton to correspond 
 with me. ..." 
 
 Although, from what has gone before, we know that 
 this is a garbled account, yet it is just what one might 
 expect from a comparatively uneducated man like Bell. 
 We shall not be far wrong in gathering from it that he and 
 Fulton first met in 1804, because that date is corroborated 
 by another account given by Bell in 1816. If so, it must 
 have been at the time that Fulton went to see Symington's 
 Charlotte Dundas. ^ 
 
 It was a letter of Fulton's, written after he had achieved 
 success with the Clermont, that stirred up Bell. He says : 
 
 " This letter led me to think of the absurdity of writing 
 
 ' Morris, Life of Henry Bell, 1844, p. 74. 
 * See p. 179. 
 
STEAMBOATS IN RUSSIA 257 
 
 my opinion to other countries and not putting it in practice 
 in my own country ; and from these considerations I was 
 roused to set on foot a steamboat for which I made a 
 number of different models before I was satisfied." 
 
 The story of the difficulties and trials that beset his 
 path is a long one ; suffice it to say that five years, almost 
 to a day, elapsed before he succeeded, although on a much 
 smaller scale, in repeating Fulton's achievement. 
 
 James Watt, junior, in 1816, engined an experimental 
 boat, and tried her across the German Ocean and up the 
 Rhine. Thereafter his firm engaged very extensively in 
 the marine engine business. 
 
 It was not very many years later — to be exact, in 1819 — 
 that Mr. Rennie had quite changed his mind, and he 
 constantly thereafter urged upon the Admiralty the value 
 of steam-tugs in towing men-of-war. Thus were the 
 tables completely turned. 
 
 It will not be difficult for the engineering reader — with 
 the aid of the drawings attached to Fulton's patents— to 
 trace the evolution of the side-lever engine from his first 
 engine of 1804; and we can, therefore, with every confi- 
 dence, attribute the germ of this design to him, and thus 
 give the credit where it is deserved. 
 
 After England, Russia appears to have had an attraction 
 for Fulton as a field for enterprise. He wrote, in Novem- 
 ber 1811, to John Quincy Adams, then American Ambas- 
 sador in Russia, to ask him to obtain an exclusive right for 
 twenty years for a steamboat-service between St. Petersburg 
 and Cronstadt, to be established in three years after obtain- 
 ing the grant. 
 
 A Russian gentleman, Chevalier Swinine, wrote to 
 Fulton a very significant letter, offering his services. How 
 he had got wind of the affair does not appear, but an 
 extract from his letter^ will be of interest : 
 
 "Doubtless, Sir, it is known to you that for several 
 months past I have been taken up with your admirable 
 
 ' Sutcliffe, Robert Fulton and the " Clermont" p. 296. 
 
258 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 invention of the steam boat, dedicating all my knowledge 
 for its introduction in Russia. As you have received the 
 Imperial permission for this introduction, I offer you, Sir, 
 my services which I flatter myself may be of great utility. 
 Certainly it will be necessary for you to have the plan of 
 the River Neva and of the channel from St. Petersbourg 
 to Cronstadt to have the clearest information of the value of 
 materials necessary for the construction of the steamboat, the 
 description of other communications by water in Russia." 
 
 His conditions were that he should have the title 
 " Superintendent of the Steamboats of Russia " ; and, of 
 course, that he should have an annual salary. 
 
 The principal point to observe is that Fulton had re- 
 ceived the Imperial permission to introduce steamboats. 
 Naturally he wanted a good deal more than this, and on 
 April 12, 1812, he wrote ^ to the Chevalier, saying, that he 
 must wait for Mr, Adams's answer, for until then he could 
 not decide what to do. 
 
 We know that a steamboat, the Emperor of Russia, 
 was on the stocks at the time of Fulton's death, and it has 
 been suggested that it was built for the service under con- 
 sideration, but as there were no means of getting it to 
 Russia, this could not have been the case ; the name must 
 have been given merely as a compliment, but it goes to 
 show that there was something below the surface. As a 
 matter of fact, the first experiments on the Neva were 
 made in November 1815, by Charles Baird, Superintendent 
 of the Mines, with a barge which had been rebuilt for the 
 purpose, and fitted with an engine of the side-lever type 
 and an externally fired boiler having a brick chimney. 
 These experiments were successful, and in 181 7 Baird 
 built a vessel 60 feet long especially for steam propulsion 
 and with her established a passenger service between St. 
 Petersburg and Cronstadt. This engine was almost 
 identical with that shown on Sheet 2 of Fulton's second 
 specification " and if the design was not obtained from him 
 
 ' Loc. cit., p. 295, ' See p. 318. 
 
STEAMBOATS IN INDIA 259 
 
 then all that can be said is that the coincidence is very 
 remarkable. The boiler, too, was just the kind that 
 Fulton was in the habit of fitting. Some day the true 
 relation to one another of these significant facts will be 
 made plain. We do know that Baird had a monopoly of 
 steam navigation on the Neva for twenty years and there- 
 out drew no small return. 
 
 Then again India seems to have had a fascination for 
 Fulton, attracted no doubt by the size of her rivers and 
 the teeming population on their banks. 
 
 He entered into an agreement with a certain Thomas 
 Law^ to introduce steamboats on the Ganges. In a 
 letter^ to him dated April 16, 1812, Fulton says : 
 
 " I agree to make the Ganges enterprise a joint con- 
 cern. You will please to send me a plan how you mean 
 to proceed to secure a grant for 20 years and find funds 
 to establish the first boat. This work is so honorable 
 and important. It is so grand an Idea that Americans 
 should establish steam vessels to work in India — that it 
 requires vigor, activity, exertion, industry, attention, and 
 that no time should be lost. My Paragon beats everything 
 on the globe for made as you and I are, we cannot tell 
 what is in the moon ; this Day she came in from Albany 
 160 miles in 26 hours, wind ahead." 
 
 The letter finished with the words 
 
 " Keep the Ganges Secret." 
 
 Here again, sad to relate, some hitch occurred, whether 
 due to Fulton's death or not we do not know, and no 
 steamboat was seen in India till eight years later when it 
 was introduced from England. 
 
 ' Thomas Law (b. I7S9. d. 1834), son of Edmund Law, Bishop of Carlisle, 
 and brother of Edward Law, first Baron EUenborough, was an official of the 
 Honourable East India Company in Bengal, 1773-91, when he resigned owing 
 to ill health. In 1793, imbued with admiration for President Washington and 
 for American institutions he went to the United States where he laboured 
 to establish a national currency. 
 
 2 Thomas A. Emmet CoUn. Lenox Library, N.Y. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 CONSTRUCTION OF FIRST STEAM MAN-OF-WAR— ILL- 
 NESS AND DEATH— CHARACTER— HUDSON-FULTON 
 CELEBRATION 
 
 WE now come to Fulton's final achievement, that 
 of the construction of the world's first steam- 
 propelled war-vessel, anticipating by more than 
 thirty years the adoption of steam, even as an auxiliary to 
 sails, for the propulsion of such vessels in the navies of 
 Europe. He had been led by his torpedo experiments 
 to try the effect of discharging cannon under water at 
 different depths and had met with some slight success 
 when not more than a few feet away from a target. It 
 was for this that in 1813 Fulton took out his last United 
 States patent.! 
 
 These submarine guns were named by Fulton in com- 
 pliment to Barlow " Columbiads," and in pursuing the 
 subject Fulton was led at the latter end of 1813 to design 
 for them a special vessel which was to be propelled by 
 steam. In November Fulton exhibited his plan to the 
 President bf the United States. 
 
 Since the outbreak of the war with England, the 
 citizens of New York had been aroused to a realisation 
 of the exposed position of their harbour and of its un- 
 protected state. A meeting was held in the beginning 
 of 1814 to concert methods of defence, and a Coast and 
 Harbour Defence Association was formed. Fulton sub- 
 
 ^ Entitled: "for several improvements in the art of maritime warfare and 
 means of injuring and destroying ships and vessels of v^ar by igniting gunpowder 
 under water or by igniting gunpowder below a line horizontal to the surface 
 of the water, or so igniting gunpowder that the explosion which causes injury 
 to the vessel attacked shall be under water." 
 
 260 
 

 ^.^i-'-^-'r-Jtei 
 
 Fulton's steam war shit "demologos," 1S13 
 
 From the orighial drmvin^ in the Bureau of Construction a>id Repair, 
 Navy Departinent^ H'ashington 
 
STEAM MAN-OF-WAR 261 
 
 mitted to them a model, plans, and estimates of his pro- 
 posed coast defence ship or floating battery. Favourable 
 opinions were obtained from naval officers, and the 
 committee memorialised Congress on the subject, offering 
 to build the vessel at the estimated cost ($320,000) if 
 after it was built and proved successful the Government 
 would reimburse that sum to them. In March 1814 the 
 National Legislature authorised one or more floating bat- 
 teries to be built, equipped, and operated. The Association 
 nominated a committee of five, who were recognised by 
 the Government as their agents. Fulton, who entered 
 body and soul into the enterprise, was appointed 
 engineer. 
 
 The design of the vessel^ was a total departure from 
 previous practice in warship construction. Fulton's idea 
 was to make his vessel invulnerable and so obtain the 
 equivalent of a fleet at no greater cost than that of a 
 frigate. The first necessity was to protect the propelling 
 arrangements. This he did by having twin hulls as 
 in his ferry-boats with the paddle-wheel in the space be- 
 tween the hulls and protected by an upper deck with 
 bulwarks and stanchions. This deck also sheltered the 
 engine, which was in one hull, and the boiler, which was 
 in the other. These hulls had flat bottoms, bluff ends, 
 and long parallel middle bodies, and were double ended 
 so as to obviate the necessity for putting about. A rudder 
 at each end or four in all were, of course, required. To 
 make her invulnerable to the attack of any gun then 
 known her main or gun deck was protected by a belt 
 of solid timber 4' 10" thick. Incidentally the double hulls 
 gave a steady gun platform for her armament which was 
 to consist of thirty 32-pounders to fire red-hot shot. In 
 addition to these she was to have hung over her bows 
 
 1 Our account of this vessel and of the circumstances connected with its 
 building is condensed from the " Report of H. Rutgers, S. L. Mitchel, and 
 T. Morris, Commissioners superintending the construction of a steam vessel 
 to Secretary of the Navy," dated New York, December 28, 1815. 
 
262 
 
 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 two columbiads each capable of firing a 100 lb. projectile 
 below the water line. 
 
 The keels were laid in the shipyard of Adam and Noah 
 Browne on the East River, June 29, 1814. In spite of great 
 hindrances due to the shortage of materials owing to 
 the British blockade, to a scarcity of skilled labour, and 
 to depreciation in the paper currency, little more than four 
 months were occupied in building the vessel. On 29th 
 October the Demologos — for so she was christened — 
 was launched amid scenes of great popular enthusiasm. 
 
 An interesting description of the vessel from Fulton's 
 own pen has been preserved in a letter ^ written to General 
 Jonathan Williams of Philadelphia, the gentlemen of 
 which city, emulating those of New York, were desirous 
 of having a duplicate of the Demologos for the protec- 
 tion of the estuary of the Delaware. 
 
 New York, 
 November 23, 1814. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Much occupied on monday («'.«. the 21st) in 
 moving the steam vessel from the East into the north 
 River, I did not receive your communication of 19 till 
 yesterday Tw^jday. 
 
 Her length is on deck 
 
 . 167 feet 
 
 Breadth of beam 
 
 • 56 „ 
 
 depth of hold 
 
 12 „ 
 
 height of gun deck . 
 
 • 8 „ 
 
 Thickness of sides . 
 
 5 ., 
 
 power 
 
 . 120 hor 
 
 Commenced Jupe ist will be finished about i Janry. 
 
 Estimate for 
 
 Engine and hull about 150(000)$. 
 
 It will I believe cost Something more. Her Boilers 
 of copper — which alone will do for salt water weigh 
 
 1 In the New York Public Library, printed in Bulletin, vol. xiii. p. 580 
 and reproduced by their permission. 
 
STEAM MAN-OF-WAR 263 
 
 24 tons. All her valves and communications with salt 
 water is Brass. She is pierced for 30 guns Long 32- 
 pounders. She has 21 on Board with near 60 tons of 
 material and now draws 9 feet 2 Inches of water with this 
 weight. My two Steam boats the Car of Neptune and 
 Fulton towed her through the water at the rate of 3I 
 miles an hour. There is now no room to doubt that when 
 finished she will run from 4J to 5 miles an hour in still 
 water. The $150,000 estimate presented to the secretary 
 of the navy was Independent of guns, coppering, Sails, 
 Anchors, cordage, Joiner' s work and Armament in general. 
 All complete she may be estimated at 235 or 240,000 
 dollars. 
 
 How to construct one from under my eye and else- 
 where than in this city I do not know. Here I have 
 erected work shops, tools and machinery Suited to the 
 construction of large engines and heavy works also, all 
 the models of her castings and fixings, which alone is a 
 work of some months, and has cost from 3 to 4000$. 
 But the hull might be built at Phila. — and the principal 
 part of the machinery be made here in the transport of 
 which there will only be land carriage from Brunswick 
 to Trenton which will cost less than to make the models. 
 I must also remark that as this is a new Invention which 
 requires all my care to render it as complete and useful as 
 can reasonably be expected from my present experience, 
 I cannot trust the construction of the machinery or the fitting 
 out of the vessel to be directed by anyone but myself in 
 which I will give every facility in my power to the Gentle- 
 men of Phila. 
 
 I am Sir Very respectfully 
 your most obedient, 
 
 RoBT. Fulton. 
 
 General Jonathan Williams, 
 Phila. 
 
 It is pretty certain that the construction of this coast- 
 defence ship for Philadelphia fell through rather because 
 
264 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 of the cessation of hostilities with Great Britain than on 
 account of the death of Fulton. This sad event caused 
 no serious delay in the construction of the New York 
 vessel and the plans which he had matured so carefully 
 were carried out without any serious hitch. 
 
 Further details of the Demologos are given in an Ap- 
 pendix,^ and it is only necessary to note further that she 
 was rigged with two masts having lateen yards and two 
 bowsprits each spreading a jib. 
 
 By May 1815 her engines were on board and the 
 machinery in such a forward state that it was possible to 
 have a trial of her. On June i, at 10 A.M., she left the 
 wharf at the Brooklyn Ferry and proceeded under her 
 own steam — no use being made of her sails — into the river 
 with a stiff breeze ahead and against an ebb-tide. After 
 four hours' trial she returned to Paulus Hook, some slight 
 alterations dictated by experience were made, and she cele- 
 brated the Fourth of July by making a passage to the 
 eastward of Sandy Hook and back, a total of 53 miles in 
 8J hours, i.e. at the rate of 6.4 miles per hour. 
 
 On September 11, with twenty-six other guns, ammuni- 
 tion, and stores on board and drawing in consequence 
 about II feet of water, she made another trip, realising on 
 the average a speed of 5.5 miles per hour — i.e. much in 
 excess of Fulton's guarantee. She put about by the double 
 helm, reversed her course by the paddle-wheel alone, and 
 manoeuvred easily. 
 
 Owing to the termination of the war between Great 
 Britain and the United States by the treaty of Ghent 
 (December 24, 1814) the Fulton — for so she had been re- 
 named in memory of her constructor — was never finally 
 completed for service. She was laid up in the Navy Yard 
 at Brooklyn, where she was used as a depot or receiving 
 ship till June 4, 1829, when an explosion occurred accident- 
 ally, resulting in her complete destruction and the loss of 
 twenty-five killed and nineteen wounded. 
 1 P. 326. 
 
STEAM MAN-OF-WAR 265 
 
 She laid the foundation of the American Steam Navy, 
 but was not followed by other vessels till after the lapse 
 of many years. 
 
 That the Demologos or Fulton lost none of her terrors 
 by rumour is apparent from a contemporary account of 
 her published in Scotland.^ The writer, after stating that 
 he had been at much pains to procure full and accurate 
 information about the " steam frigate " which " has been 
 launched at New York," proceeds to give the following 
 startling particulars : 
 
 " Length on deck 300 feet ; breadth 200 feet ; thickness 
 of her sides 13 feet of alternative oak plank and cork wood; 
 carries 44 guns, four of which are 100 pounders quarter 
 deck and forecastle guns 42 pounders ; and farther, to 
 annoy an enemy attempting to board, can discharge 100 
 gallons of boiling water in a minute and, by mechanism, 
 brandishes three, hundred cutlasses with ithe utmost regu- 
 larity over her gunwales, works also an equal number of 
 heavy iron pikes of great length, darting them from her 
 sides with prodigious force and withdrawing the same 
 every quarter of a minute." 
 
 We can only echo the words of Dominie Sampson — 
 " Pro-di-gi-ous." 
 
 It would be extremely interesting to know how the 
 Demologos would have fared in action. That she would 
 have precipitated the fundamental changes in the science 
 of naval warfare which have been realised in our time is 
 fairly certain. Indeed to show that the first steps in this 
 direction were being taken we may mention the little 
 known fact that the building of a steam sloop (H.M.S. 
 Congo) was actually commenced in 1815 at Chatham, by the 
 watchful British Admiralty. But the war with the United 
 States was over, and she was altered before completion into 
 a sailing-vessel, while her engines found a humble fate 
 as a pump in Plymouth Dock, now Devonport Dockyard. 
 
 Fulton had also commenced before his death the con- 
 
 ' Edinburgh Evening Courant, 31st August 1815. 
 
266 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 struction of the submarine Mute, but she was never com- 
 pleted, and no particulars are available. 
 
 The calamity of Fulton's death, which deprived the 
 United States of one of her most useful citizens, arose out 
 of a cold which he had contracted about a fortnight 
 before at Trenton, N.J., where he had appeared as a witness 
 in the New Jersey ferry-boat case to which we have already 
 alluded. In returning he and two friends were detained 
 at Paulus Hook waiting for a boat because the Hudson 
 was partly closed with ice. He occupied the time in 
 visiting his works to examine the Demologos and the boats 
 repairing for the ensuing season. In walking across the 
 ice he got wet through and as a consequence was confined 
 to his room for two or three days. Then, most im- 
 prudently, he ventured across to New Jersey to see the 
 progress of the boats. This brought on inflammation of 
 the lungs and other complications, to which he eventually 
 succumbed early in the morning of February 23, 1815, in 
 the fiftieth year of his age. * 
 
 His death in the plenitude of his powers, while serving 
 his country, was the occasion of mourning such as was 
 customary only in the case of the greatest public men. 
 The Legislature which was then in session passed a resolu- 
 tion that members of both houses should wear mourning 
 for him. Resolutions expressing estimation of his worth 
 and regret at his loss were passed by the Corporation of 
 New York and the various learned societies of which he 
 was a member. The funeral, which took place on the 
 day following his death, was attended from his residence, 
 No. I State Street, by officers of the National and State 
 Governments, by the magistracy, the common council, 
 members of learned societies, and a great concourse of 
 citizens. Shops and business hours in New York were 
 closed as a sign of respect. Minute guns were fired from 
 the Demologos and the West Battery from the time the 
 procession started till it reached Trinity Church in the 
 heart of the city. The body, in a leaden cofiin enclosed 
 
PLACE IN HISTORY 267 
 
 in mahogany with a plate engraved with his name and 
 age, was deposited in the family vault of the Livingstons. 
 
 It seems to us that Robert Fulton ought to take a 
 higher place than he has hitherto done in the roll of 
 honour of the Anglo-Saxon race. As a thinker he saw 
 clearly that free trade intercourse between nations, uni- 
 versal disarmament, the spread of education and of 
 political liberty among all people, were necessary to the 
 progress of the human race. But he saw more than this, 
 for having imagination and a wide outlook he reaHsed 
 the n«eds of advancing civilisation and set himself with 
 pluck and perseverance to supply them. As a worker 
 he opened out new fields for human activity. He was a 
 born engineer of the same type as James Watt and 
 Thomas Telford, who had no greater amount than he of 
 early training in the direction of their future careers. To 
 mention as the offspring of Fulton's genius only the first 
 workable submarine torpedo boat, the first commercially 
 practicable steam vessel, and the first steam-propelled 
 warship, is to entitle him to a place among the giants of 
 the engineering profession. His early death and the 
 fact that others entered into and benefited by his labours 
 have tended to obscure the greatness of his achievements. 
 
 It cannot be denied that he ever neglected an oppor- 
 tunity of profiting pecuniarily by his inventions, but that 
 can hardly be urged against him with society constituted 
 as it was and is at present. He did not make any friends 
 in England over his torpedo transaction with the Admiralty, 
 as it was considered that he had been paid far more 
 generously than he deserved. He had enemies too in 
 America, for there is always prejudice against the owner 
 of a monopoly, and the steamboat monopoly was felt to 
 be an onerous one. It was, however, the money from 
 the torpedo transaction and this monopoly that made the 
 early development of the steamboat so rapid. Had it 
 been left to Colonel Stevens it must have taken many years 
 longer. 
 
268 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 It is always interesting to have criticism of a man from 
 a contemporary source and from a hostile quarter, so that 
 we cannot refrain from quoting that of John Rennie, who, 
 writing in 1817 to Sir John Barrow, Secretary to the 
 Admiralty, says : ^ 
 
 " I send you Mr. Fulton's book on Canals, published in 
 1796 when he was in England and previous to his appli- 
 cation of the steam engine to the working of wheels in 
 boats. On the designs (i.e. as to bridges, &c.) contained 
 in that book, his fame I believe principally rests, although 
 he acknowledges that Earl Stanhope had previously pro- 
 posed similar plans and that Mr. Reynolds of Coal- 
 brookdale in Shropshire had actually carried them into 
 execution ; so that all the merit he has — if merit it can 
 be called — is a proposal for extending the principle pre- 
 viously applied in this country. The first iron bridge 
 was erected at Coalbrookdale in 1779 and between that 
 and the publication of Fulton's book in 1796, many others 
 were erected ; so that in this department he has little to 
 boast of. I consider Fulton, with whom I was personally 
 acquainted, a man of very slender abilities though possess- 
 ing much self confidence and consummate impudence." 
 
 This is quoted to show how completely a great man, 
 even when in possession of the true facts, may misvalue 
 the achievements of another. One is disinclined therefore 
 to place any confidence in the value of his estimate as to 
 any part whatever of Fulton's career. 
 
 Of Fulton's physical appearance, social gifts, and 
 opinions we cannot do better than quote the description * 
 given by his friend and biographer, 'Colden. 
 
 " Mr. Fulton was about six feet high. His person was 
 slender, but well proportioned and well formed — Nature had 
 made him a gentleman and bestowed upon him ease and 
 gracefulness. He had too much good sense for the least 
 affectation ; and a modest confidence in his own worth 
 
 ^ Smiles, Lives of the Engineers, vol. ii., Smeaton and Rennie, p. 231. 
 ' C. D. Colden, Life cf Robert Fulton, pp. 257-8. 
 
V. 
 
 CHARACTER 269 
 
 and talents gave him an unembarrassed deportment in all 
 companies. His features were strong and of a manly 
 beauty : he had large dark eyes, and a projecting brow, 
 expressive of intelligence and thought : his temper was 
 mild, and his disposition lively ; he was fond of society 
 which he always enlivened by cheerful, cordial manners 
 and instructed or pleased by his sensible conversation. 
 He expressed himself with energy, fluency, and correct- 
 ness, and as he owed more to his own experience and 
 reflections, than to books, his sentiments were often inter- 
 esting from their originality. 
 
 In all his domestic and social relations he was zealous, 
 kind, generous, liberal, and affectionate. He knew of no 
 use for money but as it was subservient to charity, hospi- 
 tality, and the sciences. But what was most conspicuous 
 in his character was his calm constancy, his industry, and 
 that indefatigable patience and perseverance which always 
 enabled him to overcome difficulties. 
 
 He was decidedly a republican. The determination 
 which he often avowed that he would never accept an 
 office is an evidence of the disinterestedness of his politics ; 
 but his zeal for his opinions or party did not extinguish 
 his kindness for the merits of his opponents." 
 
 A contemporary description^ of Fulton's appearance 
 and estimate of his character is : 
 
 " Among a thousand individuals you might readily 
 point out Robert Fulton. He was conspicuous for his 
 gentlemanly bearing and freedom from embarrassment, 
 for his extreme activity, his height, somewhat over six feet 
 — his slender yet energetic form and well accommodated 
 dress, for his full and curly dark brown hair, carelessly 
 scattered over his forehead and falling around his neck. 
 His complexion was fair, his forehead high, his eyes dark 
 and penetrating and revolving in a capacious orbit of 
 cavernous depths ; his brow was thick and evinced strength 
 and determination ; his nose was long and prominent, his 
 
 ' Robert Fulton and the " Clermont" p. 213. 
 
270 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 mouth and lips were beautifully proportioned, giving the 
 impress of eloquent utterance. Trifles were not calculated 
 to impede him or damp his perseverance." 
 
 A good story is told of Fulton's quick mechanical 
 intuition. A certain Redheffer announced that he had 
 solved the problem of perpetual motion by a machine 
 which he had invented and was exhibiting at a dollar a 
 head in an isolated house in the suburbs of Philadelphia. 
 Many were the ingenious theories brought forward to 
 account for the phenomenon, Fulton so little believed in 
 the discovery that he was with difficulty persuaded to visit 
 the show. When he did so he noticed after a time, by the 
 noise that the machine made, that the velocity varied during 
 every revolution, leading him to suspect that it was driven 
 by a crank. He roundly denounced the man as an im- 
 postor, and quickly showed that one of the innocent-looking 
 wooden stays that supported the machine from the wall 
 was in reality hollow, and accommodated a gut band. 
 Following this clue, in a loft at the back of the house they 
 found the motive power — a poor old wretch who while 
 turning the handle with one hand was gnawing a crust with 
 the other. The mob made short work of the machine, and 
 Redheffer quickly made himself scarce. 
 
 Fulton had married on January 7, 1808, Harriet Living- 
 ston, a daughter of Walter Livingston of Tiviotdale and a 
 second cousin of the Chancellor's — a union influenced 
 without doubt by that fact. He had issue one son — named 
 after his godfather — Robert Barlow Fulton {b. 1809, d. 1841 
 unmarried), and three daughters : Julia {b. 1810, d. 1848), 
 married Charles Blight of Philadelphia, who had issue 
 three children ; Mary Livingston (b. 1811, d. i860), married 
 Robert Ludlow of Claverack, N.Y., who had issue one son ; 
 Cornelia Livingston {b. 1812, d. 1883), married Edward 
 Charles Crary, who had issue five children and ten grand- 
 children. 
 
 By his will,^ dated December 13, 1814, which is too long 
 
 1 Given in full in Reigart's Life of Fulton, p. 206. 
 
WILL AND TESTAMENT 271 
 
 a document for insertion here, Fulton left out of the 
 annual profits of the steamboats or from other property 
 $9000 per annum and all his household effects to his wife 
 during her lifetime, and $500 per annum for each of his 
 children until they attained the age of twelve, and after- 
 wards $1000 for each up to the age of twenty-one. He 
 made bequests to his brother and sisters, relinquishing at 
 the same time all sums of money that he had lent them 
 at different times. The residue of his estate he left in trust 
 for his children, each to receive his or her share with 
 certain contingencies on attaining the age of twenty-one. 
 In the case of the death of all his children before that 
 of his wife, half of his estate was to go to the " promotion 
 of an Academy of Fine Arts for historical and scientific 
 paintings " ; the other half was to be at his wife's absolute 
 disposal. He further left to the widow of his friend Barlow 
 all the copies of the latter's poem, the Columbiad, which 
 had become Fulton's property. He further directed that 
 the money owing to him from Barlow's estate was to be 
 left to his widow's option as regards repayment during 
 her lifetime. He appointed his wife and her brother-in-law, 
 William Cutting, executors and trustees. The will was 
 proved on February 27. 
 
 Fulton's widow, who had married meanwhile Charles 
 Augustus Dale, came over to England in July 1817 and 
 called on Boulton, Watt & Co. about the last engine 
 ordered, which she seemed to think had not been delivered. 
 
 In 1825 Harriet Dale, James A. Hamilton, and others 
 petitioned the New York Assembly^ that they might be 
 associated for banking purposes by an Act of Incorpora- 
 tion. Conditionally on their being granted this, they were 
 willing to set aside the interest on the sum of $70,000 for 
 the use and benefit of the heirs of Robert Fulton, who were 
 stated to be " utterly destitute of support," no doubt owing 
 to the action of the Court of Errors in the same year in 
 declaring the monopoly invalid. This petition was de- 
 
 • Journal of the Assembly, 1825, pp. 440-2. 
 
272 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 servedly unsuccessful. Philanthropy of this stamp is 
 always to be viewed with suspicion. 
 
 Fulton's friends, however, were not at a loss and they 
 petitioned the Senate and House of Representatives on 
 behalf of his heirs claiming that he was in the service of 
 the Government when he died and that certain sums of 
 salary and out-of-pocket expenses were owing to his estate. 
 On the 9th of April 1836 this petition was referred to the 
 Secretary of the Navy to report thereon. After due 
 examination on January 3, 1837, he foiind that $100,000 was 
 due to the estate. A bill to grant this relief to Fulton's 
 heirs did not, however, become law till July 1846, thirty- 
 One years after his death, when the balance due to his 
 estate was adjudged to be $76,300. 
 
 It can safely be said that till recently Fulton received 
 scant honour even in his own country. As a consequence 
 of his having been buried in the Livingston vault in Trinity 
 Churchyard there was nothing to mark his resting-place 
 even, and the spot was hardly known till in 1901 the 
 American Society of Mechanical Engineers sought to atone 
 for this neglect by the erection there of a column bearing 
 on one side a bronze medallion portrait. Unfortunately, 
 the portrait upon which the medallion is based, is to say 
 the least of extremely doubtful attribution. On the 
 occasion of the centenary of Fulton's successful intro- 
 duction of steam navigation a number of gentlemen 
 determined to erect in his honour a fitting monument in 
 a prominent position on the shores of the Hudson over- 
 looking the scene of his triumph. It was decided that the 
 scheme should include a water-gate to New York City, 
 with a landing basin, a building for the reception of dis- 
 tinguished visitors, and a maritime museum with Fulton's 
 tomb as the central feature. A site 564 feet in length 
 along Riverside Drive, on the west side of Manhattan 
 Island, was chosen. After a limited competition among 
 architects selected from a large number by preliminary 
 open competition, the design of Mr. H. van Buren 
 
ENGINES BEING TESTED 
 
 UN DEE WAY. 
 P.S. "CLERMONT" AS REPRODUCED FOR THE HUDSON-FULTON 
 CELEBRATION IN 1909 
 By courtesy (<f the " Scientijic American 
 
HUDSON-FULTON CELEBRATION 273 
 
 Magonigle was placed first. The design shows the water- 
 gate flanked by colonnades on either side enclosing the 
 basin, whence a flight of steps the full width of the basin 
 leads up to an open peristyle. Fulton's tomb is to stand 
 in the centre, with the museum building on the one hand 
 and the reception building on the other. The peristyle is 
 to be of white marble, while the rest of the buildings are 
 to be of granite. It is somewhat mortifying to have to 
 state that there is very little likelihood of the design being 
 carried out, as all the money subscribed has been spent on 
 the preliminary studies above mentioned and as public 
 interest has waned. 
 
 A few words should perhaps be said about the Fulton 
 centenary celebrations that were held to commemorate 
 the beginnings of commercial steam navigation. These 
 were delayed till 1909 so that they might be celebrated at 
 the same time as the tercentenary of Henry Hudson's 
 exploration of the river named after him. A full-size 
 replica of the Clermont was built for the occasion by the 
 Staten Island Shipbuilding Company, N.Y. The plans for 
 this were drawn out by the well-known naval architects, 
 Frank E. Kirby and J. W. Millard. To meet governmental 
 requirements certain modifications had to be introduced 
 in the engines, e.g. the valve gear and starting and stopping 
 arrangements of the type used in modern walking-beam 
 engines were substituted for the original tappet valve gear, 
 &c., while the boiler was of steel instead of copper and 
 worked at a pressure of 20 lbs. per square inch. The trial 
 trip of this vessel took place on September 14, 1909. 
 
 The grand river pageant illustrating the history of the 
 Hudson for 300 years took place on September 28, and was 
 attended by representatives from most of the great Powers 
 of Europe. Among other guests on board the Clermont 
 were several descendants of Robert Fulton. 
 
APPENDICES 
 
APPENDIX A 
 
 PORTRAITS OF ROBERT FULTON 
 
 The difficulty very often in the case of an inventor is to discover a 
 portrait of any kind whatever, but as Fulton was himself an artist 
 and cultivated the fine arts, portraits of him are numerous and the 
 difficulty becomes rather that of discriminating amongst them, so 
 great are the diiferences not only in merit but in the actual repre- 
 sentation. Making every allowance for the fact that Fulton un- 
 doubtedly changed in appearance as the years went by, it is 
 impossible to accept all the attributions. In the case of one of 
 these reputed portraits, the artist is known to have never painted 
 a portrait of Fulton, and in fact the individual portrayed is 
 some one else altogether. Then, again, copies of these spurious 
 portraits have been multiplied, so that further confusion has been 
 created. Quite a number are attributed to Fulton's own brush, 
 but as he was not a vain person it is difficult to believe that he 
 would have painted himself very often. No one portrait has been 
 generally accepted as the best, although if we judge by the number 
 of times it has been reproduced West's portrait may be said to 
 merit this distinction more than any other. 
 
 In attempting the following selection, consideration has been 
 paid not only to the fame and distinction of the artist concerned 
 but also to coiitemporary descriptions of Fulton's appearance, two 
 of which have been already given.^ 
 
 To descend to particulars and adhering to chronological order 
 it is safe to accept a pencil drawing half-length by John Vanderlyn, 
 in the possession of Judge Peter T. Barlow. It shows features 
 much more softened than other likenesses, and was probably taken 
 in Paris in 1798 at the age of thirty-three. 
 
 \ A marble bust by Jean Antoine Houdon, signed and dated 
 An XII (i.e. when Fulton was in his thirty-ninth year and in Paris), 
 
 * pp. 268 and 269. 
 277 
 
278 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 was exhibited in the French Salon of 1802, and is now in the 
 Mus6e de Marine, the Louvre (see illustration). The virile face 
 and the strongly marked yet pleasing features agree well with the 
 descriptions, and suggest that this is the best likeness extant. 
 
 Till the mistake was pointed out by the author, the bust at 
 the Louvre was thought to be merely a plaster cast of the original. 
 We believe that the authorities there now contemplate withdraw- 
 ing the bust from its present position in order to place it in 
 the Salle Houdon along with the other works of that great 
 sculptor. 
 
 The oil painting half-length attributed to Benjamin West, in the 
 possession of Robert Fulton Ludlow, must have been painted in 
 London at the age of forty or thereabouts. Although strong the 
 face is heavy and the expression almost forbidding. 
 
 There is another portrait attributed to West in the possession of 
 Robert Fulton Cutting. It is improbable that both are originals. 
 
 What looks very like a copy of the first of these, painted by 
 Miss Emmet and engraved by W. R. Leney, is prefixed to Colden's 
 Life of Fulton. 
 
 An oil painting half-length possibly by himself, in the possession 
 of Dr. Gilbert L. Parker (see illustration), looks as if it had been 
 painted about the age of forty when in London : nose and mouth 
 seem too strongly marked, but otherwise the face is good. 
 What St. Peter's at Rome is doing in the background we do not 
 know. 
 
 The oil painting half-length by his friend Charles Willson 
 Peale had been lost sight of for many years till a few months ago, 
 when it was identified by Mr. Charles H. Hart in the Banquetting 
 Hall of the Old State House of Pennsylvania, commonly called 
 Independence Hall from its connection with the Declaration of 
 American Independence. In this portrait, which is believed to 
 date from 1808, and is now reproduced for the first time (see 
 frontispiece), the hair is dark and curly ; the eyes are light brown, 
 having faded possibly from their originally darker hue ; but on 
 the whole it tallies well with the descriptions. Peale was not a 
 great artist, but he preserved very real portraits of his sitters. 
 
 An oil painting half-length by John Wesley Jarvis, the 
 celebrated portrait painter, is in the possession of the Misses 
 Vinton. This must have been painted between 1808 and 1815. 
 The virile face reminds one of Houdon's bust, and this portrait 
 should be regarded as one of the best. The statue of Fulton 
 at the Fulton Ferry House, Brooklyn, is based on this portrait. 
 
APPENDIX A 279 
 
 A miniature half-length in the possession of C. Franklin 
 Crary, by an unknown artist, but said to have been painted from 
 life in Paris, was taken more probably in New York towards the 
 end of Fulton's life, because the face is deeply lined and there is a 
 far-off expression. 
 
APPENDIX B 
 
 LIST OF PAINTINGS 
 By ROBERT FULTON 
 
 John Wilkes Kittera, miniature, c. 1786'} Owned by the Historical 
 
 Mary Kittera, miniature, c. 1786 j Society of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Samuel Beach, miniature, c. 1786, owned by H. A. Boardman. 
 
 Joseph Bringhurst, oil, 1786, owned by Edward Bringhurst. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin, oil, c. 1786, claimed to be owned by the Uni- 
 versity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C. 
 
 Clementina Ross, miniature, c. 1786, owned by the Pennsylvania 
 Academy of Fine Arts. 
 
 Margaret Ross, pastel, 1787, owned by Mrs. C. S. Bradford. 
 
 Ann Conyngham, miniature, owned by John Conyngham Stevens. 
 
 Colonel Michael McCurdy, miniature, owned by Mrs. George 
 McHenry. 
 
 "Portrait of Young Gentleman," oillE^^^'^''^^ at the Royal Aca- 
 " Portrait of Young Gentleman," oilj^^^^^'^Qi ; whereabouts un- 
 
 " Elisha raising the Widow's Son," oil 
 " Priscilla and AUadine from Spenser's 
 
 Faerie Queene," oil 
 " Portrait of a Gentleman," oil 
 " Portrait of a Lady," oil 
 William Courtenay, ninth Earl of Devon, oil, 1791; whereabouts 
 
 unknown. 
 
 " Mary Queen of Scotts under confinement," oil 1 ?°'^ engraved 
 
 " Lady Jane Grey the night before her execution," ''l'™?^^"''"' 7 
 
 oil; whereabouts unknown William Ward, 
 
 J January 1793. 
 "Louis XVI in prison, taking leave of his family,'' oil; where- 
 abouts unknown. Engraved by J. K. Sherwin, 1793. 
 
 * British Museum, 1878, 7, 13; 151 and 152. 
 
 280 
 
 Exhibited at the Royal 
 Society of British Artists, 
 1 791; whereabouts un- 
 known. 
 
APPENDIX B 281 
 
 " Portrait of a Lady " (Mrs. Murray), oil. Exhibited at the Royal 
 
 Academy, 1793; whereabouts unknown. 
 Charles, third Earl Stanhope, oil, c. 179S; owned by Hermann 
 
 Livingston. 
 Robert Fulton, oil, 1795 (attribution not certain); owned by Mrs. 
 
 Robert Fulton Blight. 
 Rev. Edmund Cartwright, D.D., F.R.S., oil, c. 1796; whereabouts 
 
 unknown. Engraved by T. O. Barlow, 1862. 
 Joel Barlow, oil, c. 1797; owned by Judge Peter T. Barlow. This 
 
 is probably the best portrait painted by Fulton. 
 Ruth Barlow, oil, 1800; whereabouts unknown. 
 Joel Barlow, oil, c. 1800; owned by Robert Fulton Ludlow. 
 Fire of Moscow, panorama, oil, 1800. 
 Charlotte Villette, oil, 1802 ; whereabouts unknown. 
 Robert Fulton, oil, c. 1805 (attribution not certain); owned by 
 
 Dr. Gilbert L. Parker of Philadelphia (see illustration). 
 Mrs. Walter Livingston, mother-in-law of Robert Fulton, oil, c. 
 
 1808; owned by Mrs. Hermann H. Cammann. 
 John Livingston, oil, c. 1 8 1 o ; owned by Robert Fulton Ludlow. 
 Abraham Baldwin, U.S. Senator, sketch, c. 1810; whereabouts 
 
 unknown. Copied by E. G. Leutze and engraved by J. B. 
 
 Forrest. 
 
APPENDIX C 
 
 LIST OF WRITINGS 
 
 By ROBERT FULTON 
 
 "Small Canals." Signed article, Star newspaper, London, 
 July 30, 1795. 
 
 A treatise on the improvement of Canal Navigation exhibiting 
 the numerous advantages to be derived from Small Canals and 
 boats of two to five feet wide, containing from two to five tons 
 burthen. With a description of the machinery for facilitating 
 Conveyance by Water through the most mountainous Countries 
 independent of Locks and Aqueducts : including Observations on 
 the great Importance of Water Communications. With thoughts on, 
 and designs for, aqueducts and bridges of Iron and wood. Illus- 
 trated with seventeen plates. 
 London, 1796. 4to. 
 
 (The New York Historical Society possesses a unique copy 
 containing the original drawings from which the en- 
 gravings were made.) 
 
 Recherches sur les Moyens de Perfectionner les Canaux de 
 Navigation, et sur les nombreux avantages de petits canaux, dont 
 les bateaux auraient depuis deux jusqu' a cinq pieds de large et 
 pourraient contenir une cargaison de deux h. cinq tonneaux avec 
 des dessins de construction nouvelles d'aqueducs et de ponts en 
 bois et en fer. 7 plates. 
 
 Traduit par M. de Recicourt. 
 
 Paris, An 7 (1799). 
 
 Tratado do melhoramento da navegagao por Canaes . . . 
 escrito na lingua Ingleza . . . e traduzido para a Portugueza . . . 
 por A. C. Ribeiro de Andrade Machado da Silva. 
 
 Lisbon, 1800. 4to. 
 
 283 
 
APPENDIX C 283 
 
 Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the subject of 
 Public roads and canals. 
 
 Contains letter by Robert Fulton dated December 8, 1807. 
 Washington, 1808. 8vo. 
 
 Torpedo War and Submarine Explosions. 
 New York, 18 10, 4to. 
 
 De la machine infernale maritime ou de la tactique oflFensive et 
 defensive de la Torpille. Traduit de I'anglais par M. E. Minez de 
 Tabokda. 5 plates. 
 
 Paris, 1 81 2. 8vo. 
 
 Letter to the Secretary of the Navy on the Practical use of the 
 Torpedo. 
 
 Washington, 1811. 8vo, 
 
 Report on the Practicability of Navigating with Steamboats on 
 the Southern Waters of the United States. New York, 1813. 
 
 Report of the Board of Commissioners of the Western Canal. 
 Contains letter by Robert Fulton dated February 22, 18 14. 
 Washington, 1814. 8vo. 
 
 Memorial of Robert Fulton and Edward Livingston in regard 
 to Steamboats. 
 Albany, 18 14. 
 
 Advantages of the Proposed Canal from Lake Erie to the 
 Hudson River. 
 
 New York, 1814. 
 
APPENDIX D 
 
 SIR EDWARD OWEN'S DESCRIPTION OF 
 FULTON'S TORPEDO 
 
 Clyde in the Downes, 
 dth September 1807. 
 
 Sir, — When Mr. Robert Fulton was employed by the Government 
 of this Country, I was ordered to make trial against the Enemy at 
 Boulogne of the Machines^ invented by him for destroying Vessels 
 by explosion under Water. My attention was therefore very par- 
 ticularly directed to the Weapon and the means of giving it effect, 
 and I had in consequence a great deal of Conversation and of Cor- 
 respondence with Mr. Fulton on the Subject and was by that 
 means put in possession of most of his opinions on it. 
 
 I confess myself to have been of the Number who very much 
 doubted its eflScacy, and I believe in consequence of my doubts the 
 experiment was made in Walmer Road of blowing up a brig with 
 them, the result of which placed the power of the weapon beyond 
 dispute and left the means and Policy of using it the only questions. 
 
 In the late Newspapers I observe an account of an experiment 
 made by him at New York to prove their effect to the Magistrates 
 of that Town, and as an Enemy's Coast at all times gives a great 
 facility for using them against blockading ships I think it more 
 than probable, that should the Negociations between this Country 
 and America take an unfavorable turn, they may be used against 
 our Naval Force upon that Station. 
 
 I take the Liberty therefore of enclosing you for the Information 
 of My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, a Description of his 
 Machine as latterly fitted with all the improvements which the 
 experience of the Officers had suggested (and which left the 
 Weapon very different from what was first proposed by him), to 
 which I have added some suggestions as to the means of counter- 
 acting them, which shou'd Their Lordships think it necessary to 
 communicate them to the Officers employed on the Coast of 
 America may be improved by them when they understand the 
 
 384 
 
Fi^furc 1 
 
 Ttqwrt, 5 
 
 COM.MODORK OWEN S SKETCH KS OK FULTON' S TORPEDO, 
 Copic.i fioin the or/^t'jt tls at ihe Record Ojffice 
 
 :So7 
 
APPENDIX D 285 
 
 nature of the Weapon they are threatened with. It is that their 
 Lordships may if they think fit be enabled to convey to them this 
 knowledge which very few officers had the means which presented 
 themselves to me of acquiring, that I have written the enclosed 
 description, which I have considered the more necessary as not 
 only was the Weapon itself improved by Mr. Fulton from the 
 knowledge that he gained by practise here, but he himself has 
 gained a more material knowledge in the unreserved communica- 
 tions that he always had with Officers upon the Boulogne Station 
 as to the proper times and means of using it especially the facility 
 a Coast affords of choosing the Station most proper to send forth 
 such an expedition according to the Tide and Wind. 
 I have the honour to remain, 
 
 Sir, your most obedient and 
 very humble Servant, 
 (Commodore) E. W. C. R. Owen. 
 
 Hon. W. W. Pole, 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 minuted 7th Sepr. 
 
 Let copies of these papers be made in 
 duplicate and sent to Adm, Berkeley 
 for his information. 
 
 A Description of the Machine invented by Mr. Robert 
 Fulton for exploding under Ships' Bottoms and by 
 him called the Torpedo 
 
 Figure i 
 
 A B The Copper Cylender made to contain about a Barrel of 
 Gun Powder. 
 
 C The Neck of the Cylender by which the Powder is intro- 
 duced it is afterwards bunged tight and covered over with White 
 Lead and canvass to exclude the Wet. 
 
 D The Vent communicating with the Priming. 
 
 E The Lock screwed into the Vent and set to any given time 
 but prevented from acting until the Machine is used by an Iron 
 Pin, on withdrawing which the works are set in motion. Five 
 minutes or even less is the time latterly adopted. 
 
 F A Box containing Cork which answers a double purpose. 
 First if the Machine is laid obUquely across the Tide it presents to 
 it a flat surface which makes it sheer under the Vessel's bottom. 
 
286 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 the box being on the side of the Machine from the Ship intended 
 to be destroyed. 
 
 Secondly it takes from its specific Gravity leaving it when 
 loaded but little heavier than its bulk of Water, so that when 
 checked by a Line at the Water's edge it may incline upwards and 
 float close to the Vessel's bottom. 
 
 G is a bridle by which it is attached to a Sweep rope to be laid 
 across the Vessel's bow, and intended to give it an Oblique direc- 
 tion across the Tide and make it sheer under the Vessel's bottom. 
 
 H a Cushion of Cork attached to the Slings A B by the 
 lines the length of which is calculated by the supposed Draft of 
 Water of the Vessels to be attacked and serving to suspend the 
 Machine at the proper depth from the Cushion which floats at the 
 Surface of the Water. 
 
 Figure 2 represents two of these machines linked together for 
 service where the several parts are represented by the same letters 
 as in Figure i. K a Line connecting the two Machines and meant to 
 cross the Bows of the Vessel that is attacked and to hang upon her 
 Cables whilst the tide sweeps the machines under her Bottom one 
 on each side. The Moment the line from K to the bridle G comes 
 taut the Machine takes a direction obliquely to the Tide which 
 acting upon the flat Surface of the Box F sheers it directly under 
 the Bottom whilst the buoyancy of the machine (being very little 
 heavier than the Water it displaces) enables the Cushion H by the 
 action of the Tide at the Surface to confine it close to the Vessel's 
 bottom where it acts exactly as a Petard. 
 
 Figure 3 shews the Machine as intended to be placed. K is 
 the bight of the Line which connects the two machines as hung 
 upon the Cable. A is the Machine sheered under the bottom 
 and buoyed up by the action of the Tide on the Cushion H which 
 will perhaps be sunk a little by it. 
 
 The machines are fitted according to the side of the ship it is 
 intended to place them so as always to keep the Box outside from 
 the Ship and the Lock underneath so that its weight assisted by the 
 lines which attach the Cushion may always keep the flat surface of 
 this Box in a perpendicular direction to expose the greatest surface 
 to the Tide. 
 
 A Fast rowing Boat is used for the attack, which having two of 
 these machines properly fitted and connected, rows briskly across 
 the Vessel's Bows between her and her Buoy, throwing the Machines 
 overboard one on each side her Bows when the Rope which con- 
 nects them hanging upon the Cable they are swept by the Tide 
 
APPENDIX D 287 
 
 into the position I have before described or where the Boat is too 
 small to take two of the Machines, (as was the case with our Gigs 
 when we tried them against the Enemy's Vessels at Boulogne) I 
 have attached an empty Cask to the other end of the Line boring 
 it full of holes to let it fill with Water when thrown overboard to 
 act as a counterpoise to the Machine at the other end. 
 
 The efficacy of this machine it will be observed depends first 
 on its being placed between the Ship and her Buoy, for if it was 
 ahead of the Buoy the connecting line would hang upon the Buoy 
 rope and be stopped by it. And 
 
 Secondly upon its being both under the Ship's bottom and 
 close to it, for its greatest action must be upwards, and if any 
 quantity of Water intervened that wou'd receive and destroy its 
 force. 
 
 The Boats employed to use it can only act upon the Lee Tide 
 (unless the Ship is moored) and it is only in a Tidesway that it 
 can be used — the Nature of the Weapon too makes it wholly 
 depend upon surprize, and it can in no instance scarce be used 
 by force. 
 
 A good look out then and Guard Boats at the Buoys, will be 
 the best security, but as an Enemy's Coast gives him always great 
 facilities in using them against blockading Ships, the best look out 
 may under special circumstances be unable to prevent it, it is how- 
 ever highly improbable that the Boat performing such a Service 
 can escape unseen and therefore if every precaution has been 
 taken, there may be time enough to destroy their effect (even if 
 they have been placed) either by keeping them from under the 
 bottom of the Ship, or by sinking them. 
 
 Mr. Fulton attributed our want of success at Boulogne entirely 
 to their not getting fairly under the Vessel's bottom, and he in 
 consequence since that time added the Box F to sheer them under ; 
 they were however (notwithstanding his experiment succeeded in 
 Walmer Road and the Brig blew up) tried with that addition against 
 the Enemy and with no more success, which I attribute to their 
 not riding by their Cable but by springs which prevented them 
 from getting ^under the bottom — to explain what I mean it is 
 necessary to say that the births of the Flotilla I believe are in the 
 center of four small Anchors with Hawsers wound with Chain 
 which always remain and are slipped by the Vessels when they 
 return to Port, but they do not ride by those Hawsers in bad 
 Weather ; they always drop an Anchor in this birth and appear to 
 steady themselves in fine Weather only by the Hawsers and slip 
 
288 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 them when it blows. I have however no exact information on this 
 subject, what I state is from my own observation. 
 
 If this has been the occasion of their failure at Boulogne per- 
 haps a similar effect might be produced by keeping the Lower 
 Studding Sail Booms out at night in the same manner as for Guest 
 Warps and having a Rope thro' a Block at the end of each Boom 
 bent to the Cable about 20 fathoms or more from the Bows which 
 wou'd keep the Machines clear of the Bows as represented by A A 
 in the above Figure. This may be attended with inconvenience 
 particularly on Weather Tides when it may be necessary to over- 
 haul these Ropes and keep them stepped to the Cable near the 
 Hawse out of the Way — and [as] its effect might not be certain the 
 following precaution may therefore be taken for sinking them. 
 
 Let a Fire Grapnel be kept lashed to the Cable outside the 
 Cutwater upon Lee Tides with the Shank down and Flukes up- 
 wards so that if the connecting Line of the Machines sweeps the 
 Cable it may catch upon the Hook of the Fluke, a stout Rope 
 shou'd be passed round the Cutwater under the Cable and each 
 end bent to a Weight (a Pig or two of Iron Ballast) at the Cat 
 Heads — under the Charge of the look out men to be cut away at 
 a Moment's notice. Axes shou'd also be kept at all times by the 
 Cable ready to cut it. 
 
 By this plan supposing the sweep Rope K Figure 3 to be 
 across the Cable it must as the Machines draw it taut hook upon 
 the Fluke of the Grapnel and the Weights let go from the Cat- 
 heads wou'd overlay the connecting line — in this situation the 
 Cutting the Cable wou'd sink the whole together, and the Ship 
 shooting into a clear birth to Seaward may of course bring up again. 
 
 The sending a man on the Cable to cut the connecting Line 
 wou'd seem the readiest and most effective plan, but I had much 
 Conversation with Mr. Fulton on that subject and it was intended 
 to substitute a chain buoyed with Cork. 
 
 On the other side'^ I have endeavoured to shew the supposed 
 positions of the Cable, Grapnel and Weights when let go. 
 
 The Cable shou'd not be cut without some such precaution for 
 the Machines wou'd drift of course with the Ship, and as she 
 gathered headway the Line wou'd hang across her Stern and the 
 machines be placed as well or better than before. 
 
 ' i.e. of the paper. 
 
APPENDIX E 
 
 FULTON'S U.S. PATENT SPECIFICATION 
 OF 1809 
 
 WRITTEN DESCRIPTION OF THE STEAM BOAT' 
 
 Kalorama, District of Columbia, January first, Eighteen hurjdred 
 and nine. 
 
 I Robert Fulton, native of Pennsylvania, citizen of the United 
 States of America and now living at Kalorama in the district of. 
 Columbia, give the following written description of my discoveries, 
 inventions and improvements on Steam Boats. 
 
 To obtain the power for driving the boat, I make use of 
 Messrs. Boulton and Watt's Steam Engine, but instead of a beam 
 above the Cylinder, I have a triangular cast iron beam on each side 
 of it, and near the bottom of the boat ; the base of the Triangle is 
 seven feet long, in the centre of the base a perpendicular is raised, 
 three feet six inches high, which is the Vertex of the triangle, the 
 two triangles are fixed on one strong iron shaft, so that they play 
 together. On the top of the piston rod, there is a Tee piece, or 
 strong iron bar, which moves in guides at each side of the Cylinder, 
 from each end of the Tee piece, and passing down by the sides of 
 the Cylinder is a strong bar of forged iron, called a shackle, which 
 is connected by a shackle pin to the end of the beam, thus the end 
 of the beam moves through a curve in a perpendicular direction, 
 and its vertex moves through a curve in a horizontal direction ; the 
 other end of the triangle is cast with a weight of iron sufficient to 
 balance the weight of the piston and all the weight on the opposite 
 idea of the fulcrum or centre of the base line. From the vertex of 
 each triangle a shackle from six to eight feet long, is connected 
 with a crank which is fixed on each shaft of the propeller wheels ; 
 close to each crank is a cast iron wheel about 4 feet 6 inches dia- 
 meter, each driving a pinion 2 feet 3 inches diameter, these two 
 
 * The text of this and of the succeeding specification is taken from a MS. copy 
 in the possession of the Patent Office Library. It appears to have been obtained 
 from Mr. Joseph C. Dyer by Mr. Bennett Woodcroft, F.R.S., when the latter was 
 preparing his work on "the Rise and Progress of Steam Navigation," 1848. 
 Woodcroft was subsequently appointed Clerk to the Commissioners of Patents and 
 gave this MS. to the Library. A better copy exists at Birmingham among the 
 Boulton ]& WattlMSS. in the possession of Mr. George Tangye; this was made 
 in 1816, without doubt from the same original. The two copies have been 
 collated for the present work. 
 
 289 rr* 
 
290 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 pinions are on one shaft, in the centre of which is a fly-wheel 
 lo feet diameter. The movement for the air pump is taken from 
 the base line of the beam, and 2 1 inches from the fulcrum. The 
 condensing-water comes through the sides or bottom of the boat by 
 a pipe which enters the condenser, and is regulated by a cock or 
 valve. The Hot well, the forcing pump to replenish the boiler, the 
 steam gage, the safety valve, the float in the boiler to regulate the 
 quantity of water, the plug tree and hand gear &c. &c. are so 
 familiar to all persons acquainted with the steam engine and may be 
 arranged in such a variety of ways as not to require a description — 
 I prefer a propelling wheel or wheels, to take the purchase on the 
 water, they may be from 8 to 20 feet diameter, and divided into 
 any number of equal parts from 3 to 20, each wheel may have from 
 3 to 20 propellers, but a wheel or wheels from 12 to 15 feet 
 diameter, each with from 8 to 12 propellers will be found to apply 
 the power of the engine to great advantage. 
 
 Hitherto I have placed a propelling wheel on each side of the 
 boat, with a wheel guard or frame outside of each of them for 
 protection ; a propelling wheel or wheels may however be placed 
 behind the boat, or in the centre between two connected boats. To 
 give room for the machinery, passengers, or Merchandize, I build 
 my boats five or more times as long as their extreme breadth at the 
 Water line. The extreme breadth may be one third from her bow 
 or in the middle, in which case the water line will form two equal 
 segments of a circle united at the ends. 
 
 To diminish the plus and minus pressure, I make the bow and 
 stern sharp to angles of at least 60 degrees, and that the boat may 
 draw as little water as possible, I build it flat or nearly so on the 
 bottom. Having mentioned the essential component parts of a 
 steam boat, and its mechanism, its successful construction and 
 velocity will depend — First, on an accurate knowledge of her total 
 resistance while running i, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 miles an hour in still 
 water. Second, on a knowledge of the diameter of the Cylinder, 
 strength of the steam and velocity of the piston to overcome the 
 resistance of a given boat while running i, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 miles an 
 hour in still water. 
 
 Third, on a knowledge of the square feet or inches which each 
 propeller should have and the velocity it should run to drive a given 
 boat I, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 miles an hour through still water. 
 
 It is a knowledge of these proportions and velocities which is 
 the most important part of my discovery on the improvement of 
 Steam Boats. The following definitions, Tables and calculations 
 will lead to a clear idea of them : 
 
APPENDIX E 
 
 291 
 
 DEFINITIONS 1 
 
 By head pressure is meant the total pressure against the bow 
 when the boat is at rest. 
 
 By stern pressure is meant the total pressure against the stern 
 when the boat is at rest. 
 
 Plus pressure is the additional pressure against the bow while 
 the boat moves forward ; it is occasioned by the fluid being dis- 
 placed, and is in addition to head pressure. 
 
 Minus pressure is a diminution of stern pressure occasioned by 
 the fluid not pressing so strongly against the stern when the boat 
 moves forward as when at rest. 
 
 Friction arises either from the adhesion of the particles of the 
 fluid to the surface of the body, or from the roughness of the body, 
 or from both these causes united. 
 
 Bow resistance is plus pressure, and the friction of the water 
 against the bow united. 
 
 Stern resistance is minus pressure, and the friction of the water 
 against the stern united. 
 
 TABLE OF FRICTION, OF PLUS & MINUS PRESSURE 
 AND OF THE RESISTANCE OF ONE SQUARE FOOT 
 OF PROPELLER 
 
 Nautical Miles an Hour 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 When a boat is smooth and 
 clean the friction on every 50 square 
 feet will be 
 
 .70 
 
 2.36 
 
 4-74 
 
 7-7S 
 
 11.32 
 
 15-43 
 
 The plus & minus pressure on 
 each foot of bow of 60, the stern 
 being also 60 degrees 
 
 .88 
 
 3-31 
 
 7-iS 
 
 12.37 
 
 18-93 
 
 26.78 
 
 The plus & minus pressure on 
 each foot of bow of 20 deg: the 
 Stern being also 20 degrees . 
 
 .61 
 
 2.29 
 
 4-97 
 
 8.64 
 
 13-30 
 
 18.90 
 
 The resistance of one square foot 
 of propellers is ... . 
 
 3-2S 
 
 13.09 
 
 29.36 
 
 51-95 
 
 80.76 
 
 115-71 
 
 ' These definitions appear in the "Report" of the experiments made by 
 Beaufoy published about 1800. They were copied by Charnock in his valuable 
 History of Naval Architecture, 1802, vol. iii. p. 387. Fulton, therefore, had 
 plenty of sources of information open to him. He seems to have taken the 
 definitions verbatim. 
 
292 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 By this table the total resistance of all lengths, widths and drafts 
 of Water of all boats with bows and sterns on angles of 20 or 60 
 degrees may be calculated. 
 
 The resistance of one square foot of propeller is also shewn ; 
 hence when any particular sized boat has been determined on, and 
 the number of miles which she is to run in still water has been 
 decided : First find her total resistance for that velocity, then by 
 the table also find the number of square feet or inches of a pro- 
 peller, which while running a velocity equal to the boat, will make 
 a resistance equal to the boat. It will consequently follow that the 
 resistance of the boat and propellers being equal, they will pass 
 through equal spaces in equal times, and while the boat advances 
 one mile the propellers will strike through the water one mile back- 
 wards; therefore, if the boat is to run i, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 miles an 
 hour the speed of the propellers in the water must be 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 
 or 1 2 miles an hour, one half of each of these velocities is spent in 
 striking water back to create a resistance, equal to the resistance of 
 the boat, the other half is to overtake as she advances. For 
 example, when a boat moves one mile an hour, the water runs 
 along her sides with a speed of one mile an hour ; were the pro- 
 pellers to run only one mile an hour, they would not touch the 
 water which was running from them with any force, but if they run 
 two miles an hour, they would strike the water with the force of one 
 mile and create a resistance equal to the resistance of the boat. 
 The following is the method of finding the total resistance of a boat 
 and of calculating the power and proportions of the machinery to 
 the speed which she is to run. For these calculations say boat 1 54 
 feet long, 18 feet wide, drawing 2 feet of water. Bow and Stern 
 on angles of 60 degrees. Steam engine making a 4 foot stroke and 
 1 5 double strokes a minute, equal two feet a second, the boat to 
 run four miles an hour. 
 
 lb. 
 Plus and minus pressure on one foot 12.37 lb. multiplied 
 
 by 36 feet the boat's bow ..... 445.32 
 Friction on 848 feet of bow and stern at 7.75 lb. for 
 
 every 50 square feet ...... 131.75 
 
 Friction on 2200 square feet of the body of the boat . 341. 
 
 Total resistance of the boat . 918.07 
 A like power for the propellers 918.07 
 
 Total power . 1836.14 
 
APPENDIX E 293 
 
 to be felt at the end of the propellers running 4 Miles an hour, or 
 6 feet a second, this is three times as fast as the piston moves, 
 hence 1836.14 must be multiplied by 3 equal 5508.42 lb. or the 
 power of the engine. A cylinder 27 inches diameter equal 729 
 round inches and 8 pounds to the inch, gives 5832 lb. ; the periphery 
 of the propeller wheel must run 8 miles an hour or 1 2 feet a second 
 equal 720 feet a minute, wheels 14 feet diameter, 44 round and 16 
 revolutions a minute will give 704 feet a minute which is sufficiently 
 near. The total resistance of the boat is 918.07 lb. The re- 
 sistance of one square foot of propeller running 4 miles an hour is 
 51.95 lb. 17J square feet give resistance 909.12 this is 8f feet in 
 each propeller ; by this example all necessary calculations may be 
 made. 
 
 I make use of sails and take advantage of the wind to aid the 
 engine, or when the wind is sufificient I stop the engine, throw the 
 wheels out of gear and move by the power of the wind only. 
 
 To prevent the boat making lee way, she has lee boards, or 
 boards which are let down into the water while she is sailing; 
 hitherto there have been two lee boards on each side of the boat, 
 one on each side near the bow, and one on each side near the stern. 
 That the helrhsman may steer to advantage, I place the wheel for 
 steering, and lead the tiller ropes so near the middle of the boat as 
 to enable him to have an uninterrupted view forward. In any case 
 where a current against the boat is superior to the power of the 
 engine to pass it, I propose to cast anchor in such waters, or obtain 
 any other fastening which will enable me to warp the boat by the 
 power of the engine from station to station until the rapid be past. 
 
 Such Steam boats as are for Passengers, I build with births, 
 good Sophas and beds, Kitchen, bar, and Ice magazine, with every 
 convenience for giving breakfasts, dinners, tea and suppers either in 
 the cabins or under an awning or awnings on deck. 
 
 (Signed) Robert Fulton. 
 Witness. 
 
 John R. Livingston. 
 Maturin Livingston. 
 
 1st /any. 1809 A.D. 
 
 Kalorama, district of Columbia, January ist. Eighteen hundred 
 and nine, I Robert Fulton native of Pennsylvania, Citizen of the 
 United States of America, and now residing at Kalorama in the 
 district of Columbia, give the following description of my inven- 
 tions or discovery for constructing boats or vessels which are to be 
 
294 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 navigated by the power of steam engines, believing myself to be 
 the original inventor or discoverer of the following combinations 
 and the first who has laid down rules that will secure success in 
 building such boats or vessels ; no patent or publication having 
 hitherto appeared, in which exact and mathematical principles are 
 explained to guide Artizans to success in works of this kind. 
 
 I do not consider the successful construction of a steam boat 
 to depend on any new form of steam engine or boiler ; such com- 
 bination will relate to the engine only, and cannot be an improve- 
 ment of importance unless they produce a greater power with less 
 fuel than is produced by those which are made on the principles 
 of Messrs. Boulton & Watt's Steam engine; which principle of 
 Steam engine I prefer to all others for obtaining the necessary 
 power to drive the boat, and I assert that to giye the greatest 
 velocity to a boat with given power of Steam engine, she must be 
 built on the following principles : 
 
 First. — The boat must be so constructed that for any determined 
 weight she is destined to carry, she should present the least possible 
 resistance. For this purpose her Bow and Stern should be sharp 
 to angles of at least 60 degrees and as much sharper as consistent 
 with strength. 
 
 Secondly. — She may be made of a length that her friction will 
 equal her plus and minus pressure (here follow a repetition of the 
 Definitions already given on page 291). After such length has been 
 established should it be desired to have a more powerful engine 
 and a boat to carry a greater cargo, it will be optional to make her 
 longer, and thereby increase her friction or load her to draw so 
 much water that her plus and minus pressure will equal the friction 
 of the intended additional length ; in both cases the total resistance 
 will be equal while the boat moves in a right Une in still water, but 
 loading will be preferable to increasing her length as the demon- 
 strations on this principle will hereafter exhibit. 
 
 Thirdly. — I give the preference to a water wheel or wheels with 
 propelling boards, to gain a purchase on the water, which wheel 
 may have any number of arms and propelling boards from three to 
 twenty; eight arms and propelling boards to each wheel will be 
 found to apply the power of the engine to great advantage. Each 
 wheel may be from six to twenty feet diameter ; that will depend 
 on the speed which the boat is to run, as will be seen hereafter. 
 From 1 2 to 1 5 feet will usually be the best diameter. Previously 
 to adopting wheels, I made experiments on paddles which formed 
 nearly an eliptical movement as deUneated in drawing first figure 
 
kX>^; 
 
 ks ;r 
 
 
 -==, 
 
 -f r\ 
 
 ■"iE»'. ■. ■,. 3:sws-iaLt. _ 
 
 DRAWING NO. I ATTACHED TO FULTON'S U.S. PATENT SPECIFICATION, 
 From a copy in the Boulionand U'aii MSS, 
 
APPENDIX E 295 
 
 first, on endless chains with propelling boards as indicated in figure 
 second, on flyers like those of a smoke jack figure third, none of 
 which are so simple and effectual as wheels, and I mention this 
 to shew that I have not adopted wheels until convinced of their 
 superior advantages which the calculations hereafter will demon- 
 strate. 
 
 Fourth. — When the speed which the boat is to run in still water 
 has been determined, whether i, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 miles an hour, and 
 the power to drive her the intended velocity has been calculated, 
 the diameter of the cylinder of the steam engine, the length of the 
 stroke of the piston, the strength of the steam to be used, and the 
 number of strokes which the piston will strike in a minute, must 
 be calculated to give the power required. 
 
 That any determined power of steam engine shall drive a given 
 boat, with the greatest speed which such engine can effect will 
 depend on certain exact proportions which shall hereafter be ex- 
 plained, between the shape of the bow and stern of the boat, her 
 length, draft of water, velocity and total resistance; and the 
 diameter of her wheels, the velocity of their periphery, and the 
 square feet of their propelling boards which continually act against 
 the water ; a boat may be moved by the power of a steam engine 
 although exact proportions are not observed, but to drive her with 
 the greatest speed, with a given power, the proportions must be 
 adhered to. It consequently follows, that they who attempt to 
 construct steam boats without knowing the proportions and veloci- 
 ties, proceed without any certain guide, and cannot give rules to 
 secure success in building and navigating steam boats of various 
 dimensions and velocities, so as to apply the power of the engine 
 to the greatest advantage. Be it therefore known that I found my 
 claim to exclusive right for my invention or discovery, not only to 
 my particular mode of combining boats and machinery, but also to 
 the necessary form of the boat or boats, to the size of the pro- 
 pelling boards, and the velocity they should run, proportioned to 
 the shape of the bow and stern of the boat, her draft of water, 
 velocity, friction and total resistance, and to the calculations on 
 the power of the steam engine to give the whole the necessary 
 velocity. 
 
 The successful construction of steam boats depends on these 
 parts being well proportioned, whether wheels or any other pro- 
 pellers be used ; with the right proportion of the parts above men- 
 tioned, steam boats may be navigated by the propelling power of 
 wheels, endless chains, or paddles, but without the proportions 
 
296 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 which shall hereafter be explained, they cannot be successfully 
 navigated, with either wheels, endless chains, paddles or any other 
 mode of taking the purchase on the water ; it therefore follows that 
 an exact description of the form of the boat and of the proportions 
 and velocities of the machinery are the most important parts of 
 this invention or discovery, in addition to which I have given modes 
 of combining the boat and Mechanism so as to secure success in 
 building Steam boats for Passengers or Merchandize, 
 
 The Demonstrations are as Follows: 
 
 Drawing second is a table of the resistance of bodies under 
 water at the depth of 6 feet. In these calculations let it be under- 
 stood that the weight or moving power runs thro' the same space 
 in the same time as the body which is drawn through the water. 
 Figure first is a plank one foot square one inch thick. It required 
 3.25 lb. moving one mile an hour to draw it one mile an hour. 
 Figure 2nd is a Cube one foot square, 3.05 lb. is necessary to 
 draw it one mile an hour, the Cube has less resistance than the 
 plank; the reason is that the water not having time to close in 
 behind the plank increases the minus pressure more in this case, 
 than the other, but it has time to run along the sides of the cube, 
 filling in behind and not increasing the minus pressure in so great 
 a degree. 
 
 Figure third is a parallelopiped one foot square 10 feet long, it 
 requires 3.39 lb. to draw it one mile an hour, here the resistance is 
 increased one ninth more than in the cube ; this arises from the 
 length of the body and the friction of the water on its sides. 
 Figure fourth is ten feet long, one foot square with a bow and stern 
 sharpened to angles of 60 degrees, and it requires 1.63 lb. to draw 
 it one mile an hour. This is not half the resistance of figure 
 third, and proves that a bow and stern on angles of 60 degrees 
 may be estimated at less than half the resistance of flat ends ; as 
 half the power is saved by a bow and stern on angles of 60 
 degrees, it may be lead to the hope that an advantage of impor- 
 tance may be obtained by a more acute angle, but figure 5th which 
 is 20 degrees requires 1.48 lb. to draw it one mile an hour, this is 
 an economy of not quite one eighth of the power which was neces- 
 sary to draw figure 4th and not of sufficient importance in most 
 cases to risk so sharp and weak a bow or diminish the space in the 
 boat. Figure 6th is a friction plank 2 1 feet 3 inches long i foot 
 broad, 3 inches thick, it required 1.40 lb. to draw it one mile an 
 hour. Figure 7th is a short friction plank i foot 3 inches long. 
 
>-l. i.,,.»|«7 
 
 F ■ 
 
 ■■ "■ y ■ 7*' •■■- '/"•■- 
 
 
 ifeiililililWiiiiWWrt'hfturiii'gi 
 
 DRAWINGS 2 & 3 ATTACHED TO FULTON's U.S. PATENT SPECIFICATION, l8 
 From a copy in the Boulto7i and Watt MSS. 
 
APPENDIX E 
 
 297 
 
 I foot broad 3 inches thick, it required 0.70 lb. to draw it one 
 mile an hour; the two ends of these bodies their breadth and 
 thickness are exactly alike; but the long plank contains exactly 
 50 square feet of surface for friction more than the short friction 
 plank — therefore subtract the resistance of the short plank from 
 the long one, and the remainder will be the friction on 50 square 
 feet running i, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 miles an hour it will stand thus : 
 
 Miles an hour 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 Long friction plank 
 Short do. plank . 
 
 Friction of 50 Square feet 
 
 1.40 
 0.70 
 
 4.96 
 2.60 
 
 10.33 
 5-59 
 
 17-38 
 9-63 
 
 26.02 
 14.70 
 
 36.17 
 20.74 
 
 0.70 
 
 2.36 
 
 4-74 
 
 7-71 
 
 11.32 
 
 15-43 
 
 ANALYSIS OF THE TOTAL RESISTANCE OF FIGURES 
 
 4 & 5 
 FIGURE 4TH BOW & STERN 60 DEGREES 
 
 Miles an hour 
 
 From total resistance . 
 Deduct friction on top surfece 
 Remains resistance as a boat 
 Then deduct friction on sides 
 
 bottom . 
 Remains plus & minus pressure 
 
 I 
 
 1.63 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 S 
 
 6 
 
 .S-8.-? 
 
 12.21 
 
 20.64 
 
 31.02 
 
 43.25 
 
 0.17 
 
 o.s8 
 
 1. 16 
 
 1.89 
 
 2.76 
 
 3.76 
 
 1.46 
 
 S-2S 
 
 11.05 
 
 i«-75 
 
 28.26 
 
 39.49 
 
 0.58 
 
 1.94 
 
 3-90 
 
 6.38 
 
 9.33 
 
 12.71 
 
 0.88 
 
 3-31 
 
 7-iS 
 
 12.37 
 
 i«.93 
 
 26.78 
 
 FIGURE STH BOW & STERN 20 DEGREES 
 
 Miles an hour 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 S 
 
 6 
 
 From total resistance . 
 Deduct friction on top surface 
 Remains resistance as a boat 
 Then deduct friction on sides & 
 
 bottom 
 
 Remains plus & minus pressure . 
 
 1.42 
 0.18 
 1.24 
 
 0.63 
 0.61 
 
 5.02 
 
 0.61 
 
 4.41 
 
 2.12 
 2.29 
 
 10.46 
 1.23 
 
 9-23 
 
 4.26 
 4-97 
 
 17.62 
 
 2.0Z 
 
 15.61 
 
 6.97 
 8.64 
 
 26.41 
 
 2-93 
 23.48 
 
 10.18 
 13.30 
 
 36.74 
 4.00 
 
 32.74 
 
 13.84 
 18.90 
 
 By this Analysis the plus and minus pressure is discovered. 
 The friction on fifty square feet is also known from which it will 
 be necessary to ascertain the total resistance on any length of boat 
 
298 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 or width or draft of water. On the comparative resistance of 
 friction and plus and minus pressure, to ascertain the length of 
 boats which will carry the most weight with the least resistance. 
 
 This figure represents the bow and stern of a long boat ; on this 
 the plus and minus pressure, the square feet of friction and 
 tonnage will be ascertained. I have made it 18 feet wide, 54 
 feet long drawing 2 feet of water; Bow and Stern on angles of 60 
 degrees ; should a boat be constructed wider, longer, or to draw 
 more water, her plus and minus pressure and friction will increase 
 in proportion, or diminish if she be narrower, shorter, or draw less 
 water. While drawing 2 feet of water this figure represents a bow 
 of 36 feet which multiplied by 12.37 lb. the plus and minus 
 pressure of one foot running 
 
 lb. 
 four miles an hour, gives plus and minus pressure . . 445.32 
 her sides which are under water and bottom equal 848 
 
 square feet on which the friction is . . . . 131.75 
 
 Total resistance while running 4 miles an hour 577.07 
 
 tons 
 She displaces 1232 Cubic feet of water equal to . . 38.5 
 Add 50 feet to her length this will displace 1800 
 
 Cubic feet, or ....... 56.25 
 
 Total 94-75 
 
 lb. 
 Friction on this 50 feet additional length . i7o-S 
 
 Total resistance ........ 747.57 
 
 tons 
 The Steam engine and machinery will weigh . . . 30 
 
 The boat will weigh ..... . 60 
 
 Total 90 
 
APPENDIX E 299 
 
 This leaves only 4.75 tons for Cargo. As her two feet draft 
 gives 94.75 tons, one foot more draft will give 47 tons 750 lb. 
 and to this amount additional cargo may be carried. It is now to 
 be seen which mode will cause the least resistance whether loading 
 the boat 47 tons 750 lbs. and make her draw one foot more 
 water or add such a length to her as to carry the 47 tons 750 lb. 
 without drawing more than two feet water. If she be loaded to 
 draw one foot more it will give 
 
 lbs. 
 In plus and minus pressure ...... 222.66 
 
 In friction along one additional foot of the sides . . 31.00 
 
 Total resistance for 47 tons 750 lbs. 253.66 
 
 If the boat should be made longer to carry the additional cargo 
 there will also be the weight of the additional length of boat to 
 carry, 
 
 lbs. 
 Every lineal foot of the body of the boat will displace 36 
 
 cubic feet of water or ....... 2232 
 
 Every lineal foot of the boat will weigh about . . . 1232 
 
 Thus every lineal foot of the boat will carry 1000 lbs. or half a ton. 
 The boat must therefore be made 95 feet longer to carry the 47 
 tons 750 lb. which additional length gives 2900 square feet of 
 friction, equal ........ 325.50 
 
 The plus and minus pressure and friction of the one 
 
 additional foot of draft is only ..... 253.66 
 
 The economy of power by draft of water is . . . 71-84 
 
 Added to this economy of power the shorter boat will be less 
 expence in building and be navigated with greater ease and security 
 than the long one. 
 
 If width be added to carry the 47 tons 750 lbs. the additional 
 plus and minus pressure and friction will amount to as much 
 resistance as the additional draft of water to carry a like cargo; 
 hence when sufficient length and width have been estimated to 
 carry the machinery with the intended cargo and give stability to 
 the boat, the greatest economy of power will be to let her draw her 
 water ; when her draft of water is ascertained, let the calculations of 
 her total resistance be made on her draft of water, form of bow 
 and stern and friction as before stated. 
 
 Drawing third shows the proportions, which the surface of the 
 
300 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 propelling boards which continually act against the water, should 
 bear to the plus and minus pressure, the friction and total resis- 
 tance of the boat; figure first represents a parallelepiped lo feet 
 long one foot square to run one mile an hour. 
 Its plus and minus pressure is . . . . . .2.83 
 
 Its friction ......... .56 
 
 Total resistance 3.39 
 
 It therefore requires 3.39 lb. falling one mile an hour to draw 
 it one mile an hour or while it moves to A the weight B would 
 descend to C. Figure second shews 2 parallelepipeds each ten 
 feet long, one foot square, placed at equal distances from the centre 
 A. B is a weight of 6.78 lb. which descending to C will draw 
 each parallelopiped to its respective D D,^ the two bodies having 
 equal resistance pass through equal spaces in equal times with equal 
 powers, this proves that whatever may be the total resistance of a 
 boat if the propelling boards, which continually act against the 
 water, are calculated in square feet to make a resistance equal to 
 the boat they will repel the water one mile an hour while the boat 
 advances one mile an hour, total two miles. The propellers must 
 therefore run through the space of two miles that the boat may run 
 one mile ; one mile of which the water yields from the propellers ; 
 the other mile is to overtake the boat, in this case the resistance 
 being equal, the power consumed by the boat and propellers wiU 
 be equal. For example, a boat ten feet long, one foot square, 
 running one mile an hour requires ..... 3.39 
 The propellers in repelling the water .... 3.39 
 
 Total 6.78 
 
 With this equal resistance of boat and propellers, half the total 
 power is consumed on the boat and half on the propellers. It is 
 now to be considered if there is any better application of the total 
 power and what rules can be given to economise from the pro- 
 pellers and give to the boat, or at least to avoid consuming more 
 than half the power in the propellers. Figure third exhibits two 
 parallelepipeds each ten feet long, E is two feet square, presenting 
 4 feet to the water. I will in this case call it the propeller, and F 
 
 ' In this and the following demonstrations the weight hangs to a free pulley, 
 consequently while it descends one foot it draws the cord one foot, on each side 
 of the pulley, total two spaces equal the spaces D D run through by the 
 parallelopipeds. 
 
APPENDIX E 301 
 
 the boat, which being one foot square, presents one foot to the 
 water and will require 3.39 to draw it one mile an hour E having 
 four times as much bow. Stern and friction as F it has four times 
 the resistance, and with 3.39 will move only half a mile an hour; 
 the weight G will descend equal one mile and a half in an hour ; 
 had the bow and stern of E presented only one square foot like F, 
 it would have moved one mile an hour, while F moved one mile, 
 and the weight G would have descended equal two miles as power 
 is a compound of weight and velocity; the additional half mile, 
 which the weight would move through in the same time would be 
 a loss of one fourth of the power ; hence could the combinations of 
 a steam boat be so made, that the square feet of the propellers, 
 which continually act against the water, should have four times the 
 resistance of the total resistance of the boat, one fourth of the total 
 power would be expended on the propellers and three fourths on 
 the boat. The total resistance of the boat before calculated is 
 747-57 lbs. 
 
 The resistance of one square foot running 4 miles an hour is 
 51. 95 the resistance of 14-|- feet 744.60 thus the resistance of 
 propellers i4-J- nearly equal the resistance of the boat. Such 
 propellers and boat would pass through equal spaces in equal 
 times, with equal powers, but that the propellers may move through 
 half the space of the boat, they must equal 4 times 14^ or 57^ 
 feet which is 28 feet and 96 square inches to each propeller, equal 
 9 long by 3 feet one inch wide. This shews the advantage which 
 might be gained by large propellers if they are not too unwieldy to 
 be conveniently applied; in reducing them to a convenient size, 
 care must be taken that they should not be too small. To prove 
 this let E be the boat and F the propeller ; in this case the boat 
 has 4 times the resistance of the propeller and will move only one 
 mile, while the propeller moves two, total three miles. The weight 
 G will descend equal 3 times ; in these proportions two thirds of 
 the total power will be consumed on the propellers and one third 
 on the boat. 
 
 If the boat or parallelepiped presented 16 feet of bow, and the 
 propeller only one foot the propeller must repel ... an hour, in 
 this proportion four fifths of the total power would be consumed in 
 the propellers and 1/5 on the boat. This shews the errors which 
 have been committed by all those who have attempted to navigate 
 steam boats with small paddles, which should have a great velocity. 
 Having shewn the advantage to be gained by propellers, whose 
 numbers of square feet should be such as to make a resistance 
 
302 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 equal to the total resistance of the boat, they repelling with the 
 same velocity which the boat advances. 
 
 I will now assign my reason for preferring a water wheel or 
 wheels to take the purchase on the water. As the resistance of 
 the boat in advancing is constant, the propelling power should be 
 constant also, it is therefore important to have a propeller which 
 shall be constant, of sufficient size and velocity with the least com- 
 plication and friction. For the boat on which these calculations 
 are made, the propellers should equal 14^ feet, a propeller on each 
 side of the boat, 2 feet 4 inches wide, 3 feet long will give the 
 square feet required if the boat be calculated to run 4 miles an 
 hour, the propellers must run 8 mUes an hour through the water, 
 which is 12 feet a second or 720 feet a minute. A wheel 14 feet 
 diameter making 16 revolutions in a minute, will give the desired 
 velocity and an engine of sufficient power to make 16 double 
 strokes in a minute will keep up the perpetuity of motion. Were 
 a crank movement and paddles of any kind used, each paddle 
 must be 2 feet 4 inches wide and 3 feet long or to that amount in 
 square feet if placed on the side of the boat as in drawing first 
 figure 4th — there must be two such paddles on each side that two 
 may enter the water the moment the other two come out, thus 
 keep up the continued propelling power. The two paddles must 
 also be placed side by side, and not one behind the other as in 
 figure first, for if placed one behind the other, the fore paddle 
 having struck the water back with the velocity of 4 miles an hour 
 the boat running forward say 4 miles an hour, the water would 
 pass her sides under her hindmost paddle with the rapidity of 8 
 miles an hour. The hindmost paddle having a velocity of only 8 
 miles an hour would not run faster than the water consequently 
 could produce no good, effect ; for this reason, endless chains and 
 every kind of propeller which is arranged in a line behind each 
 other for taking the purchase on the water, are erroneous com- 
 binations, it is the foremost paddle acting in water which has not 
 been put in motion, that does the execution and no other. As 
 paddles must stand side by side and if placed on the side of the 
 boat must have two on each side, it would make an inconvenient 
 projection of 7 feet from each side ; if placed behind the boat as in 
 figure 5 th two paddles will do, each should equal 14J square feet. 
 
 That the boat may run 4 miles an hour the paddles must run 
 through the water at the speed of 12 feet a second, or 720 feet 
 a minute ; suppose each paddle to strike 8 feet in the water, each 
 must make 90 strokes in a minute the piston of the engine making 
 
"""« J 
 
 DRAWING 4 & 5 ATTACHED TO FULTOn's U.S. PATENT SPECIFICATION-, 1S09 
 From a copy in the Boullon and Walt MSS. 
 
APPENDIX E 303 
 
 15 double strokes in a minute will require a wheel and pinion 
 multiplied 6 to i : that is the first wheel from the engine 12 feet, 
 the pinions to move the paddle cranks two feet, by such arrange- 
 ment and proportions a boat may be navigated with paddles but 
 not so effectually as with wheels. 
 
 OF THE PROPORTIONS AND VELOCITIES 
 
 The following is the method of calculating the power and 
 proportions of the machinery to the speed which the boat is to 
 run giving the power of the steam engine, diameter of the wheels, 
 size and velocity of the propellers, to drive a boat from i to 6 
 miles an hour, these calculations will be made on a boat 1 54 feet 
 long 1 8 feet wide drawing 2 feet of water, bow and stern on angles 
 of 60 degrees, the steam engine double power, the steam acting 
 above and below the piston alternately, the piston making a 4 foot 
 stroke, and 1 5 double strokes in a minute equal 2 feet a second ; 
 although these dimensions may be varied the same principles of 
 calculations must be adhered to. (See the Analysis of the total 
 resistance of Figures 4 and 5 p. 297, also the friction table, p. 291, 
 and Drawing 2nd for the resistance of one square foot.) 
 
 ONE MILE AN HOUR 
 
 The plus and minus pressure of one foot 0.88 lbs. which 
 
 multiplied by 36 feet the boat's bow is . . . 31.68 
 
 Friction on 848 feet of bow and stern, at 0.70 for 50 
 
 square feet is ........ 11.90 
 
 Friction on 2200 square feet of the body is . . . 30.80 
 
 Total resistance of the boat . 74.38 
 A like power for the propellers 74.38 
 
 Total power 148.76 
 
 This power must be felt at propellers, repelling water one mile 
 an hour or i|^ foot a second, which is one fourth slower than the 
 motion of the piston, consequently one fourth may be deducted 
 from 148.76 leaving 111.57 the power of the engine, a cylinder 4 
 inches diameter equal 16 round inches and 8 pounds to the inch 
 gives 128 lb. which is sufficient power. The periphery of the 
 propeller wheels must run two miles an hour or 3 feet a second 
 equal 180 feet a minute. If 11^ feet diameter, 34^ feet round 
 
304 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 5 revolutions and a quarter in a minute gives i8i feet, the engine 
 strikes 15 double strokes a minute, the wheels make 5 J revolutions 
 in a minute, this is a proportion of near three to one, hence the 
 first mover or pinion from the engine may be 2 feet diameter, the 
 wheel on the water wheel shaft 6 feet diameter as in drawing 4th 
 figure ist the total resistance of the boat is 74.38 lbs. one square 
 foot of propeller, running one mile an hour is 3.25 resistance 23 
 feet will give 74.75 this 11 J feet in each propeller. 
 
 TWO MILES AN HOUR 
 
 lbs. 
 The plus and minus pressure of one foot multiplied by 3.31 
 
 36 feet the bow of the boat is . . . . .119.16 
 Friction on 848 square feet of bow and stern at 2.36 for 
 
 50 ft 40.12 
 
 Friction on 2200 square feet of the body of the boat . 103.84 
 
 Total resistance of the boat . 263.12 
 A like power for the propellers 263.12 
 
 Total power 526.24 
 
 to be felt at the propellers running 2 miles an hour or 
 3 feet a second, this is 1/3 faster than the piston 
 moves, hence 1/3 must be added to . . . . 526.24 
 
 175-41 
 
 Power of the Engine 901.65 
 
 A cylinder 10 inches diameter equal 100 round inches and 8 
 pounds to the inch gives 800.00. 
 
 The periphery of the wheels must run 4 miles an hour or 6 
 feet a second equal 360 feet a minute if 12 feet diameter 37J 
 round 10 revolutions will give 375 feet a minute which is suffi- 
 ciently near. The total resistance of the boat is 263.12, one 
 square foot of propeller moving 2 miles an hour is 13.09 lb. 20 
 square feet will give resistance 261.80 lb. this is 10 square feet to 
 each propeller. The wheels making i o revolutions and the piston 
 striking 15 double strokes is a difference of one third. The first 
 mover from the engine may be 4 feet diameter, and the wheel on the 
 propeller wheel shaft 6 feet diameter as in drawing 4th figure 2nd. 
 
APPENDIX E 305 
 
 THREE MILES AN HOUR 
 
 The plus and minus pressure of one foot is 7.15 multi- 
 plied by 36 feet of the bow of the boat is . . . 257.40 
 
 Friction on 848 square feet of bow and stern at 4.74 for 
 
 50 feet is ....... . 80.58 
 
 Friction on 2200 square feet of the body of the boat is . 208.56 
 
 Total resistance, of the boat . 546.54 
 A like power for the propellers 546.54 
 
 Total power 1093.08 
 
 to be felt at the propellers running three miles an hour 
 or 4^ feet a second, this is twice and a quarter 
 faster than the piston moves therefore J= . ' . 1093 
 
 must be doubled 2186.16 
 
 and a quarter added ....... 273.27 
 
 Power of the Engine 2459.43 
 
 A cylinder 18 inches diameter equal 324 round inches and 
 8 lb.- to the inch gives 2592 lb. purchase. The periphery of the 
 propeller wheels must run 6 miles an hour, or 9 feet a second 
 equal 540 feet a minute if 12 feet diameter, 37 J round from 14 to 
 15 revolutions will give the desired velocity, the piston striking 
 from 14 to 15 double strokes; in this case the first mover from the 
 engine may be direct on the crank of the propeller wheel as seen 
 in drawing 4th figure 3rd. 
 
 FOUR MILES AN HOUR 
 
 Plus & minus resistance of one foot 12.37 lb. multi- 
 plied by 36 feet the bow of the boat is . . . 445.32 
 
 Friction on 848 feet of bow & stern at 775 for 50 
 
 square feet . . . . . . . . 131.75 
 
 Friction on 2200 square ft. of the body of the boat . 341.00 
 
 Total resistance of the boat . 918.07 
 A like power for the propellers 918.07 
 
 Total power to be felt at the propellers 1836.14 
 
 running 4 miles an hour or 6 feet a second ; this is 
 three times faster than the piston moves hence 
 1836.14 must be multiplied by 3. 
 
 Power of engine .... 5508.42 
 
 u 
 
3o6 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 A cylinder 27 inches diameter equal 729 round inches, 8 
 pounds to the inch gives 5832.00 purchase. The periphery of the 
 propeller wheels must run 8 miles an hour, or 12 feet a second, 
 equal 720 feet a minute. If 14 feet diameter, 44 feet round, 16 
 revolutions in a minute will give 704 feet a minute. 
 
 In this case the Engine must make 1 6 strokes a minute and 
 act direct on the propeller wheel shaft as in drawing 4th figure 4th. 
 The total resistance of the boat is 918.07. The resistance of one 
 square foot running 4 miles an hour is 51. 95 lbs. or i7|- square 
 feet will give 909.12 resistance this is 8| feet in each propeller. 
 
 FIVE MILES AN HOUR 
 
 Plus & minus pressure of one foot 18.93 multiplied 
 
 by 36 the boat's bow is . . . . . . 681.48 
 
 Friction on 848 square feet of bow & stern at 11.32 
 
 for 50 feet is ....... 192.44 
 
 Friction on 2200 square feet of the body of the boat is . 498.08 
 
 Total resistance of the boat . 1372.00 
 Equal resistance of the propellers 1372.00 
 
 Total power 2744.00 
 
 to be felt at the propellers running 5 miles an hour or 
 7 J feet a second : this is three times and 3/4 faster 
 than the piston multiplied by . 
 
 8232.00 
 Add 3/4 of 2744 2058 
 
 Power of the Engine 10290.00 
 
 A cylinder 36 inches diameter equal 1296 round inches and 
 8 lb. to the inch gives 10,368 pounds. The periphery of the 
 propeller wheels must run 10 miles an hour or 15 feet a second, 
 equal 900 feet a minute. 
 
 If 14 feet diameter, 44 round, 20J revolutions will give 902 
 feet a minute. In this case the wheels running 2o| revolutions, the 
 engine striking 1 5 double strokes, the multiplication of wheel and 
 pinion is one fourth, the first mover from the engine may be 4 feet 
 
APPENDIX E 307 
 
 diameter, the pinion on the propeller wheel shaft 3 feet diameter, 
 as in drawing 4th figure sth. 
 
 The total resistance of the boat is .... 1372.00 
 The resistance of i sq. ft. running 5 miles an hour is 
 
 80.16 — 16^ feet gives 1332.54 
 
 This is 8 J feet to each propeller. As 5 miles an hour requires 
 a cylinder of 36 inches diameter, it will now be necessary to see if 
 the weight of the boat, engine & machinery, will not make her 
 draw more than two feet of water and cause a greater resistance 
 than the engine could drive 5 miles an hour, 
 
 tons 
 
 her bow and stern displace 38.5 
 
 her body 100 feet long will displace 3600 cubic feet 
 
 equal to 112.5 
 
 Total 151.0 
 
 tons 
 Every lineal foot of the boat will weigh 1200 lb. . , 94.0 
 Machinery 40.0 
 
 134.0 
 
 This leaves 17 tons for Cargo, it is therefore practicable to 
 drive such a boat 5 miles an hour. 
 
 SIX MILES AN HOUR 
 
 Plus & minus pressure of one foot 18,90 lbs. multi- 
 plied by 36 feet the boat's bow is . . . . 680.40 
 
 Friction on 848 square feet of bow & stern at 15.43 
 
 for 50 ft. is . . . . . . . 262.31 
 
 Friction on 2200 square feet of her body is . . 678.92 
 
 Total resistance of the boat . 1621.63 
 
 Equal power for the propellers 1621.63 
 
 Total power 3245.26 
 
 to be felt at the end of the propellers running 6 miles ~~~~"~ 
 an hour or 9 feet a second, this is 4J times faster 
 
 than the piston, hence multiply by ... 4 
 
 12973.04 
 
 Add half of 3243.26 1621.63 
 
 Power of the engine 14594.67 
 
3o8 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 A cylinder 44 inches diameter equal 1936 round inches & 
 8 lb. to the inch will give 15472 pounds ■ purchase. The wheels 
 must run 12 miles an hour or 18 feet a second, equal 1080 feet 
 a minute. If 17 feet diameter 53 feet round, 20 revolutions will 
 give 1060 ; in this case the wheels making 1/4 revolutions more 
 than the piston strikes ; the first mover from the engine may be 
 4 feet diameter, the pinion on the propeller wheel shaft 3 feet 
 diameter, as in drawing 4th figure 6th. 
 
 The total resistance of the boat is 1621.63. The resistance 
 of one square foot of propeller running 6 miles an hour is 115.71 
 — 14 square feet gives 1619.981 resistance this is 7 feet for each 
 propeller. The engine & machinery here estimated would not 
 weigh 1 7 tons more than the engine calculated for the boat which 
 was to run 5 miles an hour, it therefore appears that the boat 
 might carry an engine of a power to drive her 6 miles an hour, 
 but she would then be so loaded as not to admit of cargo or 
 additional weight without making her draw more water and create 
 a resistance which the engine could not drive 6 miles an hour. 
 These demonstrations show the little refinement of combination 
 & calculation which is necessary to construct a steam boat to 
 run I, 2 or 3 miles an hour; 4 miles an hour requires exact 
 proportions & good execution ; 5 miles an hour is difficult to 
 effect with the most accurate proportions and perfect workmanship. 
 
 As to six miles an hour, were it attempted and to succeed, I 
 should consider it more a work of curiosity than utility, as I do 
 not beUeve it possible to build a steam boat with any engine 
 which is now known, to run 6 miles an hour in still water and 
 carry either passengers or Cargo to pay the expences. 
 
 I prefer making my calculations to run from 4 to 4J miles an 
 hour in still water ; whatever may be the tide or current in her 
 favour must be added to her velocity in still water ; whatever the 
 tide or current may be against her must be deducted from her 
 speed in still water. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE MACHINERY 
 
 Drawing 5th figure ist shews the manner of constructing the 
 wheels — figure 2nd exhibits a section of the boat and the manner 
 of suspending the wheels. A A are knees which project beyond 
 the wheels to support the wheel guards at B B, see the ground plan 
 of them in drawing 8th, C is a hollow Keel to collect the water 
 from her flat bottom and conduct it to the pump. 
 
"'"■v* 7 
 
 DRAWINGS 6 & 7 ATTACHED TO FULTON'S. U.S PATENT SPECIFICATION, iS 
 Frovi a copy in the Boulton and Wait MSS. 
 
DRAWIXGS 8&9 ATTACHED TO FULTOn's U.S. PATENT SPECIFICATION. lS09 
 From a cofy in the BoiMon ami Watt A/SS. 
 
APPENDIX E 309 
 
 Drawing 6th figure ist is the mode of placing the cylinder in 
 the boat, A the cylinder B the condenser, C a passage in a cast 
 iron bed to conduct the water and air from the condenser to the 
 air pump D D the shackles, E E the ends of the beam. 
 
 Figure 2nd is the air pump, C the passage in the cast iron 
 bed, D D a section of the Beam E E cast to the beam that the 
 shackles F F may be so constructed as to give space for the 
 shackles G G to move past them. 
 
 Drawing 7th A the boiler, B the steam pipe, C a cylinder to 
 receive condensing water through the bottom of the boat, D a 
 condensing tube, E the condensing cock, F cast iron bed with a 
 tube in it to communicate from the condenser to the air pump, 
 G the air pump H a tube to let oflf the waste water when dis- 
 charged from the air pump, I the forcing pump to supply the 
 boiler from the hot well. The movement for the air pump is 
 taken from the beam at J. K is the shackle from the beam 
 communicating from the crank of the wheel L on the shaft of 
 which is the propeller wheel M. N is the fly wheel. 
 
 Drawing 8th is a ground plan of the machinery. By aid of 
 the preceding drawings every Mechanician can understand this 
 combination. A A the propeller wheel guards. B B sliding box 
 to put the propeller wheels in or out of gear. 
 
 Drawing 9th a perspective view of the machinery. A the 
 tube from the forcing pump to supply the boiler, B a valve and 
 weight to let off the surplus water when the float in the boiler has 
 raised so as to shut the cock C, the weight must be more on each 
 round inch of its valve than the pressure of the steam at its 
 highest temperature on each round inch of the boiler. 
 
 Drawing loth is a ferry boat composed of two boats each of 
 which is the segment of a circle. They are separated 10 feet and 
 have a platform built over the wheels and machinery being in the 
 centre, the carriages and passengers enter or land from each end, 
 passing to the right or left of the machinery. There are two 
 rudders at each end, the tillers of the two at either end are united 
 by a bar, so that they act by one movement. As the boat is 
 not designed to put about, either end may run foremost, in which 
 case the end that acts as bow has the rudder pinned. By figures 
 I St 2nd and 3rd every mechanician, who has previously examined 
 the preceding drawings, will understand the combination of the 
 boat and machinery. 
 
 Drawing nth is another mode of constructing a ferryboat, 
 the boiler is placed on one side of the boat, the cylinder and 
 
3IO ROBERT FULTON 
 
 principal movements on the opposite side the fly wheel in the 
 bottom and running horizontally, the carriages drive through the 
 centre of the boat. She is not intended to put about, but having 
 two rudders either end acts as bow, the end acting as bow has 
 the rudder pinned. A, figure 4th, is a stage, one end of which 
 floats on the water, rising and falling with the tide so as always 
 to be even with the platform of the boat and give a commodious 
 mode of entering or landing. 
 
 Drawing 1 2th ^ represents a boat to carry merchandize. I 
 will estimate her the same length and width as the boat on which 
 the calculations of proportions and velocities are made, that boat 
 while drawing z feet of water displaced 151 tons, the boat and 
 machinery weighs 1 34 tons, which leaves 1 7 tons for merchandize ; 
 let her draw 2 feet more of water total 4 feet she will then carry 
 151 & 17 equal 168 tons. 
 
 TO RUN 4 MILES AN HOUR 
 
 Plus & minus resistance of one foot 12.37 multiplied 
 
 by 72 feet the boat's bow ..... 890.64 
 
 Friction on 1048 square ft. of bow & stern at 7.75 for 
 
 50 square feet ....... 155.00 
 
 Friction on 2600 sq. ft. of the body of the boat . . 403.00 
 
 Total resistance of the boat . 1448.64 
 A like power for the propellers 1448.64 
 
 2897.28 
 
 running 4 miles an hour or 6 feet a second this is 3 
 times as fast as the movement of the piston, hence 
 multiply by 3 
 
 Power of the Engine 8691.84 
 
 A cylinder 33 inches diameter equal 1199 round inches 
 
 and 8 pounds to the inch gives .... 9592.00 
 
 this is the power required to run 4 miles an hour by the action 
 of the propellers ; but it may happen that the current opposed to 
 the boat will in some places run 4 miles an hour ; if so the boat 
 would stand still. As such rapids will rarely be of great length, 
 
 ■ This drawing is missing, both from the Patent Office Library and from the 
 Boulton & Watt MSS., unless, as seems likely, it is that shown on the plate 
 facing p. 294. '^ 
 
r,.».i, ■ 
 
 
 !*?33 
 
 1: 
 
 m. s 
 
 DRAWINGS 10 & II ATTACHED TO Fulton's U.S. PATENT SPECIFICATION, 1809 
 From a cof'y in the Boulton and Watt MSS. 
 
APPENDIX E 311 
 
 I propose to pass them by sending a good row boat ahead with 
 an anchor and a rope 500 or 1000 yards long; the anchor being 
 cast the other end of the rope must have two or three coils round 
 a windlass or capstan which is worked by the engine, this having 
 the point of purchase on ground, the calculations on wheel and 
 pinion may be such as to draw the boat against the current of 
 6 miles or more an hour, as indicated in the drawing, when the 
 boat shall be drawn home to the anchor. She must be anchored 
 or made stationary till the row boat runs ahead with the anchor 
 and rope to another station, and so on till the rapid be passed; 
 when opportunity offers the towing rope may be made fast on 
 shore to posts, rocks, trees or any other body of strength. 
 
 Recapitulation of the Combinations and Discoveries which 
 I have made and consider as essential to the successful Construc- 
 tion and Navigation of Steam Boats. 
 
 First, the method of ascertaining the total resistance of the 
 boat when running from one to six miles an hour. Second, the 
 demonstrations on the superior advantage of a propelling wheel 
 or wheels for taking the purchase on the water. Third, the 
 demonstrations on the proportions which the propelling boards 
 should bear to the total resistance of the boat, and the velocity 
 which they should run compared with the intended velocity of 
 the boat. Fourth, the method of calculating the power of the 
 engine to supply the loss of power on the propellers and overcome 
 the total resistance of the boat while running from one to six 
 miles an hour. 
 
 The developement of these principles is indispensable to the 
 most perfect construction of Steam Boats ; it is owing to a want of 
 an accurate knowledge of these principles that the essays on Steam 
 Boats which have been made in different countries for 30 years 
 past have hitherto failed. It consequently follows, that those who 
 are not possessed of this knowledge cannot make a steam boat to 
 run four miles an hour unless by chance nor can they give rules 
 to secure success in building steam boats of various dimensions 
 and velocities. In the developement of the principles, the pro- 
 portions, velocities, and power being ascertained, the remainder is 
 nothing more than mechanical combination, which may be varied 
 in a variety of methods, but which cannot be considered an im- 
 provement unless a greater speed be obtained with less fuel than 
 by the methods I have described. 
 
312 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Having been the first to discover and describe the exact 
 principles and proportions on which steam boats should be built, 
 and having given a mechanical combination, the utility of which is 
 proved by practice, I shall consider every attempt to construct 
 such vessels on those principles as an infringement on my rights. 
 
 As to the Mechanism I have thought it sufficient to give only 
 one mode of combining Steam Boats for Passengers, for Mer- 
 chandize and for Ferries, in each of which sails are used as an aid 
 to the engine. (Signed) Robert Fulton. 
 
 Witnessed by 
 
 John R. Livingston. 
 Maturin Livingston. 
 
 Note in Bennet Wood- [The Patent of which this is the specification 
 croft's handwriting: bears date Feby. nth, 1809.] 
 
APPENDIX F 
 
 FULTON'S U.S. PATENT SPECIFICATION 
 OF 1810 
 
 DESCRIPTION IN WORDS OF INVENTIONS TO MOVE 
 BOATS OR VESSELS BY THE POWER OF STEAM 
 ENGINES. 
 
 October 2nd 18 10. I, Robert Fulton native of Pennsylvania 
 and citizen of the United States of America, now residing in the 
 City of New York, give the following description of my inventions 
 and discoveries, for constructing boats or vessels which are to be 
 navigated by the power of Steam Engines, believing myself to be 
 the original inventor and discoverer of the following combinations : 
 To obtain the power for driving the boat I make use of Watt and 
 Boulton's Steam Engine, or any other steam engine of equal power, 
 my claim to invention not extending to the steam engine, but to 
 the proportioning combining and applying it in such a manner to 
 a boat or vessel of such dimensions as to drive her to a certainty 
 more than four miles an hour in still water. 
 
 After having determined the length, width and draft of water of 
 the boat, the details of my Patent dated February nth 1809 will 
 shew the mode for ascertaining her total resistance while running 
 I J 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 miles an hour in still water, also the mode for 
 proportioning the power of the Engine, the velocity of the Piston, 
 and diameter of the water wheels with the velocity of their 
 periphery and the size of each of their propellers to overcome any 
 given resistance of boat while running i, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 miles an 
 hour in still water. Having been the first to demonstrate the 
 superior advantage of a water wheel or wheels, I claim as my 
 exclusive right the use of two wheels one over each side of the 
 boat to take the purchase on the water ; To turn such wheels 
 forwards or backwards, I claim as my combinations and exclusive 
 right the following modes for communicating the power from the 
 piston rod of the steam engine, to them. First, by two triangular 
 
 313 
 
314 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 beams which are described in the details of my Patent dated nth 
 Feby. 1809 and only mentioned here to bring together my several 
 combinations. Second, by wheels without a beam; in this case 
 a crank or crank wheel is on each side of the cylinder, to which 
 shackle bars descend from the cross bar on the top of the piston 
 rod, which turning the cranks the water wheels being connected 
 with their axis, turn also these two crank wheels drive two wheels 
 of equal diameter, from which a movement may be taken to work 
 the air pump, which two wheels drive two pinions on the shaft of 
 which is the fly wheel or wheels. Third, by means of a cast or 
 wrought iron beam on each side of the cylinder near the bottom of 
 the boat ; from a cross bar on the top of the piston rod, a shackle 
 bar descends on each [side] of the cylinders and connects with the 
 ends of the beams, a shackle bar rises from the other end of each 
 beam to a cross bar, from which cross bar shackle bars descend 
 to turn two cranks or crank wheels, to the axles of which the 
 water wheels are connected, the two crank wheels drive two pinions 
 on the shaft of which the fly wheels are fixed. Fourth, by means 
 of a cast or wrought iron beam above the cylinder, which receives 
 motion from the piston rod; from the other end of the beam a 
 strong shackle bar gives motion to a crank, on the axle of which, 
 or connected with it are the two water wheels. From the crank 
 shaft a movement may be taken to turn the fly-wheels or by using 
 sun and planet wheels the shaft of the sun will act as fly and drive 
 the water-wheels by means of a pinion on the sun wheel shaft and 
 a wheel on the water wheel shaft, thus if required reducing the re- 
 volutions of the water wheels to half the number of revolutions of 
 the fly or if the water wheels are put on the shaft of the sun wheels, 
 and weighted with iron they will act without any other fly, but not 
 to such advantage as with a fly and water wheel because a rapid 
 moving and small propeller is a loss of power — I use coupling 
 boxes or any other means to throw the propelling wheels in or out 
 of gear, or to throw one wheel out and work the other as may be 
 required. This convenience in combining the machinery of Steam 
 boats I claim as my discovery and exclusive right whatever may be 
 the mode by which it may be executed. I also claim as my in- 
 vention and exclusive right the guards which are round the outside 
 of the propelling wheels, which guards may support the outside 
 gudgeons of said propelling wheels and give the convenience of 
 a deposit for fuel, bins or lockers for various materials, water closets 
 for the convenience of Passengers, and steps to enter from or go 
 into the row boats, which guards protect the wheels from injury by 
 
APPENDIX F 315 
 
 wharves, vessels &c. &c. I claim as my invention to project from 
 the side or sides of the steam boat beams or timbers or spars or 
 fenders of wood or Iron of any kind, to guard or protect, the water 
 wheels from injury by wharves, vessels &c. &c. I also claim the 
 exclusive right to cover the water wheels whether by boards, 
 netting or grating canvass or leather or in whatever manner it 
 may be done to prevent them throwing water on deck or en- 
 tangling in ropes. I claim as my invention to place the -tiller and 
 steering wheel and pilot and steersman further forwards in steam 
 boats than is usual in other vessels, the necessity of which is, that 
 the boat being long and the deck covered with passengers the 
 pilot could not see forward unless near the middle of the deck ; 
 hence any one who moves a steersman further forward in a steam 
 boat than is usual in other vessels shall be considered as using 
 this part of my invention in the convenient arrangement of steam 
 boats. I claim as my invention the strait and diagonal braces 
 which I have placed in the sides of my steam boats to give them 
 strength to support the weight of the Engine, Boiler and machinery 
 and which braces extend from a line behind the boiler to a line 
 forward of the machinery. I claim as my invention to set the 
 engine and machinery in a frame which is laid on the bottom of 
 the boat which frame must be of a length, breadth and strength to 
 bear the weight of the machinery and working of the engine and 
 divide it over so great a surface of the boat as to do her no injury. 
 I also claim as my invention to accommodate a steam engine to a 
 boat, my mode of setting the air pump and machinery behind the 
 cylinder, that is, on the side opposite the hand gear and which is 
 the reverse of the mode in which Engines are put up on Land. 
 I claim as my invention and exclusive right the combination of 
 sails with a steam engine to drive a boat, I being the first who have 
 done so and proved by practice the utiUty of the union of the two 
 powers of Wind and Steam. Hence as a boat may be rigged a 
 variety of ways, my invention is not, for any particular mode of 
 rigging, but for the discovery and proof by practice of the impor- 
 tance of using sails with a steam engine to drive a boat. 
 
 I claim as my invention my particular mode of proportioning 
 and placing a propelling wheel or wheels in the Stern of a boat, 
 which wheel or wheels are in a chamber formed by the two sides of 
 the boat extending aft one or more feet further than the extreme 
 diameter of the propelling wheel, to each of which side projections 
 there is a rudder, which two rudders connected by a cross bar 
 working on pivots cause them to move together and parallel to 
 
3i6 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 each other, from this cross bar or from the rudders the ropes or 
 chains for steering lead on to the pilot. 
 
 To put a propelling wheel or wheels in motion at the stern of 
 a steam boat a movement may be carried from the Engine to it or 
 them by bevel wheels and shafts to opposite the centre of the axle 
 of the propelling wheel and between two wheels or by bevel wheels 
 and a shaft on one side of one propelling wheel, or by a triangular 
 beam at the engine and long shackle bars moving in guides on 
 rollers, and which communication may be performed by shackle 
 bars leading along the center of the boat turning a crank between 
 two wheels or by a shackle bar on each side of the propelling 
 wheel, each acting on a crank on each end of the shaft of the 
 propelling wheel. (Signed) Robert Fulton. 
 
 Witness 
 
 (Signed) John Nichelson 
 (Signed) GEO. Lyon. 
 
 New York. October 2nd 1810. I, Robert Fulton native of 
 Pennsylvania and citizen of the United States of America, give the 
 following description of my inventions and discoveries for con- 
 structing boats or vessels which are to be navigated by the power 
 of Steam engines believing myself to be the original Inventor of 
 the following combinations to produce the desired effects; To 
 Obtain a power to drive the boat I make use of Messrs. Boulton 
 & Watt's steam engine or any other Engine of equal power (my 
 claim to invention not extending to the Steam Engine, but to the 
 proportioning combining and applying it in such a manner, to 
 a boat of such dimensions, as to drive her with certainty more than 
 four miles an hour in still water). 
 
 In constructing a steam boat either for Passengers or Mer- 
 chandize, the first consideration is the number of Passengers or 
 tons to be carried, on which the length, width, and draft of water 
 of the boat must be determined. Then by referring to the details 
 of my Patent dated Feby. nth, 1809, the mode to ascertain her 
 total resistance while running i, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 miles an hour in 
 still water will be seen, also the mode of proportioning the power 
 of the Engine, the velocity of the piston, and the diameter of the 
 Water wheels with the velocity of their periphery and the size of 
 each of their propellers to overcome the resistance of any given 
 boat while running i, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 miles an hour in still water. 
 It is a knowledge of these proportions and velocities detailed in 
 my said Patent which is an important part of my discovery for the 
 
DRAWINGS I & 2 ATTACHED TO FQLTOX'S U.S. PATEX I" SPECIFICA IIOX , l8u 
 Frotii a copy in the BoitUon and ll'alt .l/.S'.S'. 
 
APPENDIX F 317 
 
 successful construction of steam boats. I make use of two wheels, 
 one over each side of the boat to take the purchase on the water, 
 to turn the wheels either forward or backward I have made various 
 communications to carry the power from the piston rod to the 
 cranks or shafts of the wheels. The first mode is shewn in 
 drawing 7th and described in the details of my said Patent dated 
 Feby. nth, 1809, by means of two triangular beams and shackle 
 rods. This mode keeps the weight of the beam near the bottom 
 of the boat and causes the whole strain of the Engine to have a 
 horizontal pull in the boat, which is less liable to injure her than 
 when a beam is placed in the usual manner of Boulton and Watt's, 
 which causes a perpendicular pressure from the centre of motion of 
 the beam to the bottom of the boat, having a tendency at each 
 double stroke of the engine to press down and raise up the bottom. 
 
 For example if a piston in the cylinder give four tons purchase 
 moving two feet a second, four tons will be felt on the other end 
 of the beam and eight tons will be felt on the center of motion or 
 gudgeon of the beam, pressing from thence to the bottom of the 
 boat, thus at each down stroke of the piston, eight tons will press 
 downward to the bottom or sides, should the timbers which support 
 the engine be framed to the bottom and sides, and at each up 
 stroke of the engine the bottom of the boat would be pulled 
 upwards with a power of eight tons. 
 
 To guard against the injury which the weight of the boiler and 
 weight and strain of the engine might cause to the hull of the boat, 
 whether the combinations from the piston rod to the wheels be by 
 triangular beams, or straight beams below the deck, or a straight 
 beam or beams above the deck, or a combination without a beam, 
 I place the whole of the Works in a strong frame, which is laid on 
 the bottom timbers of the boat, which bottom timbers being 
 strongly framed or kneed into the sides of the boat, and the frame 
 having a long and broad bearing, receives the pressure from the 
 beam and weight of the Engine dividing it over so great a portion 
 of the boat as to do her no injury. The 2nd method of communi- 
 cating the power from the piston rod to turn the water wheels is 
 without a beam as will be seen annexed to this specification, 
 Drawing ist. There is on each side of the Cylinder a crank and 
 wheel or crank wheel, from a cross bar on the top of the piston 
 rod a shackle A is connected with the crank wheel on each side of 
 the cylinder, thus while the engine is in motion the two cranks are 
 turned round, and the water wheels indicated by the circle B 
 connected with the shafts of said cranks are turned also. The 
 
31 8 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 crank wheels give motion to two wheels of equal diameter C from 
 which a movement is taken for the air pump by a shackle descend- 
 ing from D, to the lever E from which rises a shackle F, on each 
 side of the air pump, which shackle connects with a cross bar on 
 the top of the bucket and piston rod of the air pump gives the 
 necessary movement for pumping. 
 
 The levers E at the end G work the plug tree H. I shews one 
 pinion of the fly wheel shaft, the fly may be put on the outside of 
 the boat as shewn in the ground plan. To work the forcing pump, 
 to supply the boiler and a pump to clear the boat of water, a move- 
 ment may be taken K 81 h, m m m m are weights put into the 
 wheels to balance the weight of the piston, its rods, cross bar and 
 shackles. In working a steam boat it is important to provide a 
 means to throw the water wheels out of gear, to try the movements 
 of the engine or to work one wheel at a time when necessary ; N 
 in the ground plan shews the mode of casting off" the movement 
 of the engine from the water wheel shafts by a /«e-piece O on the 
 shafts of the water wheels, and a sliding coupling box P on the 
 shafts of the cranks ; various other modes of throwing the wheels 
 out of gear may be contrived, such as by a square or angular 
 coupling box or sliding the water wheel inwards and outwards or 
 by a bayonet as delineated Q in drawing ist or by two wheels 
 throwing the teeth in and out of gear. The mode here described 
 has been successful in practice. Therefore being the first to dis- 
 cover the utility and practice of throwing water wheels when applied 
 to steam boats in and out of gear, I claim it as a part of my 
 combination and exclusive right, whatever may be the method by 
 which it shall be executed. 
 
 The third manner of communicating the power from the piston 
 rod to the water wheels is in drawing 2nd by means of a cast or 
 wrought iron beam on each side of the cylinder, near the bottom 
 of the boat as at A, the two beams are fixed on a strong iron shaft 
 as will be seen by the ground plan. On each side of the cylinder 
 a shackle rod B connects the cross bar on the top of the piston 
 rod to the ends of the beams as at D and from the other end of 
 each beam as at E a shackle rod C rises to the cross bar F from 
 whence two shackles G descend to the crank wheels H to the 
 shafts of which the water wheels are connected as indicated by the 
 circle I. J is the pinion of the fly wheel (see the ground plan) 
 K the fly wheel, a movement for the air pump is taken from the 
 beams at L by two shackles which rise to the cross bar on the top 
 of the piston or bucket rod of the air pump. M is a lever re- 
 
DRAWINGS 3 & 4 ATTACHED TO FULTON'S U.S. PATENT SPECIFICATION, l8l I 
 From a copy in the Boiilton and Watt MSS. 
 
APPENDIX F 319 
 
 ceiving motion from the piston rod to work the plug tree, N is the 
 plug tree. From the cross bar over the air pump a movement may 
 be taken to work the forcing pump to supply the boiler and the 
 pump for clearing the boat of water ; O P Q are strong timbers to 
 support the perpendicular pressure of the centre of motion of the 
 beam, and weight of the works, so as to divide such pressure over 
 a large surface of the boat, and prevent her racking by the motion 
 of the engine, in these timbers, other timbers are to be framed with 
 braces and diagonals to support the wheels and machinery, which 
 combination of timbers may be arranged various ways, and is so 
 easy conceived that I have not shewn them in the drawing, to 
 prevent confusion. The fourth mode to communicate the power 
 from the piston rod to the water 'wheels is shewn in drawing 3rd 
 by means of a wrought or cast iron beam A placed above the 
 Cylinder, this beam which need not be more than 8 or 9 feet 
 long is connected by links, and the lever B, to the piston rod in 
 the usual manner of Boulton & Watt's Engine thereby producing 
 a perpendicular motion for the piston rod, or the piston rod may 
 work by a cross piece on its top running in guides. The lever B 
 works the plug tree C from the other end of the beam by means of 
 the shackle D, the crank E is turned to the shafts of which crank 
 on each side, the shafts of the water wheels are connected by the 
 usual coupling boxes. F is a wheel to communicate with G 
 which is the pinion of the fly wheels, they in this combination are 
 to be on the outside of the boat, H is the rod of the air pump, 
 the forcing pump to supply the boiler and the pump to clear the 
 boat of water may receive movement from the beam A or links of 
 the rod. H, I, J, K, L are strong timbers to support the per- 
 pendicular pressure of the beam A from whence rise diagonals 
 M, N with sufficient braces to support the action of the beam and 
 works, and divide it over such a surface of boat as to prevent its 
 doing her any injury ; the whole of this frame must be well bolted, 
 stayed and buckled together. Drawing 4th shews two modes in 
 which I combine and apply the sun and planet wheels to convey 
 the power from the beam to turn the water wheels. Figure ist 
 shews the sun and planet wheels A, B and AB united by one 
 shackle D which wheels BB driving AA turn the shafts of the 
 water wheels CC. In this combination A and B being equal 
 diameters, A will perform 2 revolutions while the piston of the 
 engine makes one stroke down and one up. In such case the 
 water wheels performing two revolutions for each double stroke 
 of the engine, no other fly wheels than the water wheels will be 
 
320 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 required, they must be made heavy with iron. This has been 
 proved by an experiment which was made on the North River 
 steam boat in 1808, having lost both her wheels near Esopus, 
 propelling boards were put on the fly wheels which then were over 
 the outside of the boat. The fly wheels had twice the velocity of 
 the water wheels, that is, the fly wheels performed two revolutions 
 while the engine made one double stroke, in this manner the 
 boat worked well from Esopus to New York, not so well however 
 as with her water wheels which made only one revolution, while 
 the piston made one double stroke because it is an error to have 
 a small and rapid moving propeller, as shewn in the details of my 
 Patent dated Feby. nth, i8og. Figure and shews the side view 
 of the sun and planet movement, D the shackle to connect with 
 the engine beam. Figure 3rd shews a mode to combine the sun 
 and planet movement so as to give the water wheel only one 
 revolution while the piston makes one double stroke, the wheel A 
 and shaft C performing two revolutions for one double stroke of 
 the engine, let D a tooth wheel on the shaft C be half the 
 diameter of E a tooth wheel on the water wheel shaft F and then 
 the water wheels will perform only one revolution for each double 
 stroke of the engine, by this mode of combining or with wheel and 
 pinion the water wheels may be given any required velocity for 
 boats moving under four miles an hour, or more than five miles an 
 hour. Thus the fly wheel or wheels will perform two revolutions 
 for each double stroke of the engine. These modes of combining 
 in a compact manner and adapting the beam and Sun and planet 
 movement to convey the power from the piston of the engine to 
 turn water or propelling wheels when applied to steam boats I 
 claim as my invention. 
 
 In all these combinations to accommodate the engine con- 
 veniently to the boat I have placed the air pump, beam and 
 movements behind the cylinder, that is on the side opposite to 
 the hand gear, Whereas Messrs. Boulton & Watt place the beam, 
 and air pump on the same side of the cylinder with the hand gear 
 and work the air pump from the lower end of the plug tree, which 
 mode of combining would be very inconvenient for a boat, hence 
 for Steam boats I claim it as my particular arrangement and com- 
 bination to set the air pump beam or beams and movements for 
 the wheels behind the cylinder. See Drawing sth figure 4th, 
 instead of a vat round the condenser and air pump I have a 
 tube as at A descending through the bottom of the boat, in this 
 the water from the river rises and passes through the cock B into 
 
"T~~?* 
 
 DRAWING 5 ATTACHED TO FULTON S U.S. PATENT SPECIFICATION, ISII 
 
 (drawing 6 IS MISSING ; SEE NOTE ON P. 325) 
 
 Frojn a cojfy in the Boulion and IVatt MSS, 
 
APPENDIX F 321 
 
 the condenser C, from the reservoir of hot water at the discharging 
 valve of the air pump at D a tube for the waste water E descends 
 through the bottom of the boat. F is a forcing pump receiving 
 hot water through the tube G and forcing it into the boiler by the 
 tube H when the boiler is supplied, the waste water rises by the 
 pipe I through the valve J and escapes by the pipe K into D ; the 
 valve J is held down by means of a sufBcient weight at L to balance 
 the elasticity of the steam in the boiler, this mode of nourishing 
 the boiler is very convenient for a steam boat and much superior 
 to the usual mode of placing engines on land, with a hot well 
 over the boiler, and from 8 to 10 feet higher than the water in 
 the boiler. To give the sides of the boat strength and prevent 
 her bending with the weight of the machinery I put in her on 
 each side and extending from behind the boiler to forward of the 
 Machinery in total length 60 or 80 feet more or less, parallel and 
 diagonal braces as shewn Figure ist drawing 5 th which braces 
 should be of Oak let into the side timbers and well bolted the 
 whole well secured to the bottom timbers of the boat, this invention 
 of side bracing to strengthen steam boats I claim as my invention 
 and exclusive right. 
 
 I also claim as my invention and exclusive right the frame 
 work or guards round the outside of the water wheels as shewn 
 Figure 2nd Drawing 5th the outer side of which guards support 
 the outer ends of the shafts of the water wheels which guards 
 may be one plain band of timber curved or angular or formed to 
 give the convenience of a deposit for wood or coals inside chambers 
 for fish, provisions or other purposes stairs on the sides to make 
 an easy descent into the boats and necessaries or water closets 
 for the convenience of passengers as in my boats on the Hudson 
 River ; all which conveniences resulting from the wheel guards — 
 together with every kind of covering to the wheels to prevent 
 them throwing water on deck or entangling ropes, I claim as my 
 invention and exclusive right; I also claim as my invention the 
 simple projection of beams or timber or braces of iron or wood 
 of any kind as indicated figure 3rd Drawing 4th with or without 
 diagonals, the object of which is to guard the wheels from injury by 
 wharves vessels &c. 
 
 I also claim as my invention (it making part of the convenience 
 of my combinations) my manner of placing the steering wheel 
 further forward than is usual in vessels steering with a wheel and 
 so near the center of the boat that the pilot can see forward without 
 interruption and from his position give orders to the Engineers 
 
 X 
 
322 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 how to work the engine, this mode of placing the steering wheel 
 is very convenient in long steam boats particularly when the Deck 
 is covered with passengers; to the wheel or wheel and pinion or 
 any other instrument to communicate motion from the Pilot to 
 the rudder the tiller or rudder ropes or chains may lead to he 
 inside or outside of the boat. I shall consider the moving the 
 steering wheel or the pilot or the Steersman while steering to a 
 position in steam boats further forward than is usual in other 
 vessels, as an infringement of this part of my invention for con- 
 venience and safety. I also claim as my exclusive right my combi- 
 nation of sails with a steam engine to drive a boat, I being the 
 first who have done so and proved by practice the utility of the 
 union of the two powers of wind and steam on a boat. Drawing 
 6th shews the manner in which I now rig my boats, but be it 
 understood that as a boat may be rigged an infinity of ways, I 
 consider the proof of the utility and practicability of uniting sails 
 with a steam engine to drive a boat as my invention and discovery 
 and my exclusive right whatever may be the manner in which the 
 mast and sails or masts, bowsprit and sails are placed or worked. 
 
 I claim as my invention the four modes which are shown in 
 drawing 7 th and 8th for conveying the power from the piston 
 rod of the steam engine to turn a wheel in the stern of a boat ; 
 figures I St and 2nd shew a crank or crank wheel on each side 
 of the cylinder as at A which turn the wheels B on the axis 
 of which is a bevel wheel C driving another bevel wheel, D con- 
 veying the power by the shaft E to the bevel wheels F, G which 
 turn the water wheel H, the bow of this boat is made sharp like 
 my steam boats already described, but her stern as at I is of a 
 width to admit the wheel H and turns up like the stern of a scow. 
 The sides J, J extend aft one or more feet further than the 
 extreme diameter of the water wheel and are united by timbers K 
 and a neat finish on the stern, this forms a chamber for the 
 wheel and guards it against ice, timbers &c. &c. On the stern 
 projections J, J are the two rudders L, L united by a box M 
 which plays on pins or bolts at N, N causing the rudders to move 
 together and parallel to each other. O, O the steering ropes to 
 lead to the wheel on deck. The fly wheels are over the sides P, P 
 and may have guards round their outsides, they are put in motion 
 by the pinions Q, Q. R is a lever to work the plug tree, S the 
 plug tree, the air pump may be worked by an oval round the shaft 
 B, B or it and the other pumps may be worked by such movements 
 as are already described in my other combinations. In Drawing 
 8th figure ist is a combination at the Cylinder and fly wheel air 
 

 DRAWINGS 7 &8 ATTACHED TO FULTON'S U.S. PATENT SPECIFICATION, 181I 
 From a copy in the Boulton atid Watt MSS. 
 
APPENDIX F 323 
 
 pump &c. like that in the last drawing, but here the shaft A instead 
 of being on one side of the water wheel works in the middle of 
 it as at B. Figure 2nd, in this combination the shackle rods A 
 give motion to the triangular beams B which communicate to the 
 long and strong bar C which is connected to another beam D 
 communicating by the shackle rod E the power from the engine 
 to the crank of the water wheel. Figures 3rd and 4th are ground 
 plans of this combination, Figure 3rd working by one rod in the 
 center of the water wheel and Figure 4th by a rod on each side 
 of the water wheel. In this combination figure 2nd the fly wheels 
 may be over the sides of the boat and put in motion by shackles 
 from the triangular beam B turning the wheels F driving the 
 pinions G of the fly wheel or wheels H. In this mode of com- 
 bining with a wheel behind the boat it must be observed that its 
 diameter, velocity of its periphery and surface of each propeller 
 must be proportioned to the intended velocity and resistance of 
 the boat to be driven as will be seen in the details (dated Feby. 
 nth, 1809) of my Patent for Steam boats. As to the fly wheel or 
 wheels to steam boats on the Seine at Paris in 1803 proves that 
 a Steam boat may be made to act without a fly or that the water 
 wheels may be made to serve for fly wheels also. This I prove 
 by throwing the flies out of gear and working without them, the 
 reason is when the engine has put the boat in motion her action 
 forward has a power to pull the propellers of the water wheels 
 round by drawing them against the water and thus making the 
 crank pass the point where it would be in a right line with 
 the shackles. Having been the first who made this discovery it 
 is my intention to construct a pair of water wheels to act as 
 flies, should they succeed, I claim this discovery as my exclusive 
 right. I also claim as an important discovery in the construction 
 of Steam boats, and one on which their success greatly depends 
 that to drive a boat by the power of a steam engine 4 or 4J miles 
 an hour in still water she must be of a size to displace more than 
 50 tons of water. The reason is that the resistance of a boat 
 displacing only 50 tons of water is much greater in proportion to 
 her capacity to carry passengers or merchandize, than the resist- 
 ance of a boat displacing 1 1 o or more tons of water is in propor- 
 tion to her capacity to carry passengers or freight, and the weight 
 of the engine and machinery is much greater in proportion to the 
 volume of the small boat, than it will be in proportion to the 
 volume of the large boat. For example, ist Boat 90 feet long 
 10 feet wide drawing 2 feet of water bow and stern on angles of 
 60 degrees she will displace 1600 cubic feet of water or about 
 
324 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 50 tons being 2 feet in the water she will present 20 feet to the 
 water the plus and minus resistance of one foot to 4 miles an hour 
 
 lbs. 
 is 12 lb. 37/100 multiplied by 20 the bow of the boat . 247 
 Friction on 1220 superficial feet of bottom and sides at 
 
 7.50 for 50 superficial feet ..... 165 
 
 Total resistance of the boat running 4 miles an hour 412 
 a like power for the propellers . . .412 
 
 Total power felt at the propellers . , . .824 
 The boat running 4 miles an hour is 6 feet a second, 
 this is 3 times faster than the piston runs hence 
 multiply by 3 
 
 Necessary power of the Engine the piston running 2 feet a 
 
 second ......... 2472 
 
 This will require a 17 inch cylinder allowing 9 lbs. clear 
 purchase to the round inch. This engine will occupy at least 33 
 feet by 6 in the boat and with water in the boiler weight of 
 machinery &c. would weigh 20 tons, the boat built strong to 
 support such an engine would weigh 2 5 tons or more hence if 1 2 
 tons of Passengers or merchandize were put in her it would press 
 her down 6 inches or more in the water increasing her resistance 
 and hence the same engine could not drive her 4 miles an hour 
 nor could she carry an engine to run 4^ miles an hour. 
 
 Example 2nd. My first steam boat on the Hudson's River 
 was 150 feet long 13 [feet] wide drawing 2 feet of water bow and 
 stern 60 degrees; she displaced 3640 cubic feet, equal 100 tons of 
 water ; her bow presented 2 6 [square] feet to the water ; 
 
 lbs. 
 Plus and minus resistance of i foot running 4 miles an hour, 
 
 12.37 lb. multiplied by 26 the boat's bow . . .321 
 Friction on 2380 superficial feet of bottom and sides 
 
 at 7.5 lb. for 50 superficial feet . . -352 
 
 Total resistance of the boat running 4 miles an hour 673 
 A like power for the propellers . . . -673 
 
 Total power felt at the propellers . . . 1346 
 
 The boat running 4 miles an hour is 6 feet a second ; this 
 
 is 3 times faster than the piston hence multiplied by . 3 
 
 Necessary power of the engine, the piston running 2 feet 
 
 a second ........ 4038 
 
APPENDIX F 325 
 
 This will require 322 inch cylinder allowing 9 lb. purchase to 
 the round inch : this engine would not occupy in the boat more 
 space than in the small one and it would not weigh two tons more 
 than the 17 inch cylinder; hence say weight of engine 22 tons, 
 weight of boat 40 tons, total 62 tons, this leaves 38 tons for 
 passengers or merchandize with ample space before it could bring 
 her down to 2 feet in the water, but drawing not more than 18 
 inches before cargo or passengers were in and her resistance being 
 diminished near 1/3, the above power would drive her 4^ miles an 
 hour. 
 
 The two preceding examples exhibit in a clear point of view the 
 advantage to be gained in building a large boat to carry a large 
 and powerful engine ; all persons who have tried experiments on 
 steam boats before me, seeing the weight which loaded the boat 
 and great space which was occupied when Watt & Boulton's engine 
 was adopted, attempted to construct engines powerful, lighter and 
 more compact than those of Watt and Boulton and thus they 
 endeavoured to accomodate the engine to a small vessel hoping 
 by that means to drive her 4 miles or more an hour or if they did 
 not endeavour to compress and lighten the engine they always 
 built their boats and engines on too small a scale and thereby 
 made it impossible to gain a velocity of 4 or 4^^ miles an hour in 
 consequence of working on erroneous principles. I discovered this 
 error and not attempting to accomodate an engine to a small 
 boat, I constructed a large boat and accomodated its dimensions 
 to a large and powerful engine. 
 
 The success of my boats on the Hudson River has proved the 
 truth of these principles and the importance of my discovery that 
 to construct useful and convenient steam boats which shall run 
 more than 4 or 4^ miles an hour in still water they must be of 
 a size to displace more than 50 tons of water and this discovery, 
 making an essential part of my invention and combination, I claim 
 the exclusive right to construct steam boats of a size exceeding 
 a displacement of 50 tons of water by which means I am enabled 
 to accomodate the boat to the engine and produce a velocity from 
 4 to 5 or 6 miles an hour. (Signed) Robert Fulton. 
 
 Note. — Drawing 6th, belonging to the above specification, is missing from 
 its place on the plate facing p. 320, and instead there is a " Drawing No. 13 " 
 representing "the water-lines of 3 boats each 150 feet long," but what they 
 refer to one can only conjecture. 
 
APPEN 
 
 TABLE OF DIMENSIONS OF STEAMBOATS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Boilers 
 
 
 Name of Vessel. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Length, 
 
 Ft. 
 
 Breadth, 
 Ft. 
 
 Depth, 
 Ft. 
 
 Draught, 
 Ft. 
 
 Tou- 
 
 aage. 
 
 Name of 
 Builder. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Length. 
 Ft. 
 
 Width, 
 
 Ft 
 
 Hd^t 
 
 North River . 
 \Clermont . . 
 Rariton . . . 
 Car of Neptune . 
 ■Paragon . . . 
 New Orleans . . 
 
 1807 
 1808 
 i8o8 
 1808 
 181 1 
 1811 
 
 133 
 
 149 
 
 17s 
 167 
 138 
 
 13 
 17.9 
 
 24 
 26.9 
 
 7 
 7 
 
 8" 
 7-75 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 ... 
 2.'S 
 
 100 
 
 182^ 
 
 120 
 
 29s 
 
 331 
 
 Charles Browne 
 
 Do. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Do. 
 N. J. Roosevelt 
 
 20 
 
 18 
 21 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 "s 
 
 10 
 
 Firefly .... 
 
 1812 
 
 81 
 
 14 
 
 4-5 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 Charles Browne 
 
 14 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 Jersey .... 
 
 1812 
 
 78 
 
 32 
 
 7 
 
 ... 
 
 118 
 
 Do. 
 
 20 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 York . . . 
 
 1813 
 
 78 
 
 32 
 
 7 
 
 ... 
 
 Ii8 
 
 Uo. 
 
 20 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 ^Richmond . . . 
 
 1813 
 
 154 
 
 28.9 
 
 lO 
 
 ... 
 
 370 
 
 Do. 
 
 21 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 Washington . . 
 
 1813 
 
 I3S 
 
 25 
 
 9 
 
 
 27s 
 
 Do. 
 
 20 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 Fulton . . . 
 
 1813 
 
 133 
 
 29 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 327 
 
 ; Adam and 
 ; NoahBrowne 
 
 H 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 Nassau. . , . 
 
 1813 
 
 78.5 
 
 33 
 
 7 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 Charles Browne 
 
 20 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 Demologos . . 
 
 1814 
 
 167 
 
 56 
 
 20 
 
 10 
 
 247-5 
 
 ( Adam and 
 I NoahBrowne 
 
 22 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 Olive Branch . . 
 
 1816 
 
 124 
 
 30 
 
 8 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 Noah Browne 
 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 Connecticut . . 
 
 1816 
 
 140 
 
 33 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ■Chancellor \ 
 Livingston ] ' 
 
 1816 
 
 157 
 
 33-S 
 
 10 
 
 7-25 
 
 526 
 
 Llew. Eckford 
 
 26 
 
 12 
 
 10 
 
 Emperor of Russia 
 
 1816 
 
 134 
 
 30 
 
 9S 
 
 ... 
 
 330 
 
 Adam Browne 
 
 ... 
 
 Three 
 
 ... 
 
 Camden, ferry-boat (1812), Vesuvius (1813), Aetna, Natchez, Enterprise, and submarine J/ad 
 
 t These dimensions are from the Nev 
 
 3«« 
 
DIX G 
 
 DESIGNED OR BUILT BY ROBERT FULTON 
 
 
 Engines. 
 
 Faddle-wlieels. 
 
 Speed, 
 miles 
 
 
 
 
 Cylinder. 
 
 
 
 Floats 
 
 
 Route or Service 
 
 
 
 
 
 Diam., 
 
 
 
 
 per 
 
 for which used. 
 
 
 Type. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 hour. 
 
 
 
 
 Diam,, 
 
 Stroke, 
 
 rt. 
 
 No. 
 
 Length 
 
 Breadth, 
 
 
 
 
 
 In. 
 
 In. 
 
 
 In. 
 
 In. 
 
 
 
 
 f Bell crank ) 
 \ 2o-h. p. J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4.6 { 
 
 Hudson River 
 
 
 24 
 
 48 
 
 IS 
 
 8 
 
 48 
 
 24 
 
 New York to Albany 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Rariton River 
 
 
 
 33 
 
 52 
 
 14 
 
 ... 
 
 48 
 
 28 
 
 7.'6 
 
 Hudson River 
 
 
 ... 
 
 32 
 
 48 
 
 16 
 
 8 
 
 52 
 
 30 
 
 
 Hudson River 
 
 
 ... 
 
 34 
 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 Mississippi River 
 New York to New- 
 
 
 ... 
 
 20 
 
 45 
 
 12. s 
 
 ... 
 
 42 
 
 24 
 
 burgh 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ... { 
 
 Ferry, New York 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 48 
 
 12 
 
 one 
 wheel 
 
 48 
 
 24 
 
 and Jersey City 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■■■{ 
 
 Ferry, New York 
 
 
 ... 
 
 20 
 
 48 
 
 12 
 
 one 
 wheel 
 
 48 
 
 24 
 
 and Jersey City 
 
 
 
 33 
 
 52 
 
 IS 
 
 8 
 
 57 
 
 30 
 
 ... 
 
 Hudson River 
 
 
 ( BeU'crank ) 
 I 30-h.p. ) 
 
 28 
 
 48 
 
 14 
 
 8 
 
 48 
 
 27 
 
 ... 
 
 Potomac River 
 
 
 ... 
 
 36 
 
 48 
 
 IS 
 
 8 
 
 S8 
 
 28 
 
 J 
 
 ... -y 
 
 Long Island Sound 
 Ferry, New York 
 
 
 ... 
 
 20 
 
 52 
 
 12 
 
 one 
 wheel 
 
 48 
 
 24 
 
 and Brooklyn 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5.5 { 
 
 New York harbour 
 
 
 I20-h.p. 
 
 48 
 
 60 
 
 16 
 
 one 
 
 wheel 
 
 14 
 
 48 
 
 guardship 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ...{ 
 
 New York and New 
 
 
 ... 
 
 36 
 
 48 
 
 16-33 
 
 10 
 
 57 
 
 30 
 
 Brunswick 
 
 
 ... 
 
 40 
 
 S4 
 
 17 
 
 10 
 
 57 
 
 30 
 
 
 Long Island Sound 
 
 
 / Square Cross \ 
 t head,6o-h.p. ) 
 
 40 
 
 60 
 
 18 
 
 8 
 
 70 
 
 36 
 
 6-5 
 
 Hudson River 
 
 
 ... 
 
 36 
 
 60 
 
 16 
 
 ... 
 
 58 
 
 30 
 
 ... 
 
 
 (1815) are mentioned by different writers without, however, giving particulars. 
 York Custom House records. 
 
 327 
 
INDEX 
 
 Academy, Fulton exhibits at Royal, 
 
 14, 18, 280 
 Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 
 
 201, 271 
 Adams, John Quincy, 259 
 Adet, chemical expert, 8i, 97 
 ^tna, steamboat, 326 
 Allen, John, M.D., 127 
 Ambi-Navigator, ship, 26, 50 
 American Philosophical Society, 129, 
 
 206 
 Andr^, Major John, 7 
 Antwerp, siege of, 71 
 Argus, sloop of war, 209 
 
 Ballad on catamarans, 187 ; on pano- 
 ramas, 96 
 
 Banks, Sir Joseph, 185 
 
 Barker's panorama, 95 
 
 Barlow, Joel : Fulton lodges with, in 
 Paris, 65; portrait, 93, 281 ; sends 
 money, 103 ; letters to wife, 103 ; 
 passport, 105, 167; in America, 
 206, 247 
 
 Barlow, Ruth, 65, 271 
 
 Barras, P. J. N. F., 29 
 
 Bascule bridge, 48 
 
 Battery, floating, 261 
 
 Beaufoy's nautical experiments, 139, 
 213,241,291 
 
 Bell, Henry, 4, 256 
 
 Bell-crank engine, 326 
 
 Blagden, Sir Charles, 145 
 
 Bonaparte : letter to, 68 : encourages 
 torpedo experiment, 113; interview 
 with Fulton, in; opinion on steam- 
 boat, 156 
 
 Bossut, French savant, 157, 158, 
 213 
 
 Boulogne Flotilla, 181, 186,193, iPS. 
 284 
 
 Boulton, Matthew, 168 
 
 Boulton & Watt : letters to, 30, 250 ; 
 order for steam engine, 159, 168; 
 
 Fulton visits Soho Foundry, 167; 
 
 payment for engine, 178; further 
 
 order, 230, 271 
 Bourne's submarine, 72 
 Boydell, John, 200 
 Brest, experiments at, 115, 118 
 Bridgewater Canal, 26, 40 
 Brindley, James, 26 
 Brink, Andrew, captain of Clermont, 224 
 Browne, Charles, builds Clermont, 215; 
 
 other boats, 326 
 Bruix, Comte de, 79 
 Bude Canal, 22, 40, 41, 51 
 Burgues-Missiessy, Comte de, 82 
 Bushnell, David, 72, 86 
 
 Cable cutter, 209 
 
 Cachin, civil engineer, 81 
 
 Caffarelli, prefect of Brest, 115,117,125 
 
 Calais Harbour, attack on, 188 
 
 Calla, Etienne, 141, 154 
 
 Camden, steamboat, 326 
 
 Canal : inclined plane, 28, 40, 47, 51, 
 
 66 ; Lord Stanhope's inventions, 23 ; 
 
 Gloucester and Berkeley, 32, 34; 
 
 letter to Washington, 56 ; Erie, 57, 
 
 59,211, 283 
 Canal Navigation, Treatise on, 38, 
 
 256, 268, 282 
 Car of Neptune, steamboat, 229, 233, 
 
 238, 241, 250, 263, 326 
 Carcasses, 183, 188, 193, 196 
 Carnot, inspects steamboat, I57 
 Cartwright, Rev. Edmund, 50, 63 ; 
 
 patents, 66 ; letters from Fulton, 67, 
 
 94, I37> 139 
 Castlereagh, Viscount, 184, 190, 194, 
 
 196 
 Catamaran expedition, 185, 187 
 Cavendish, Hon. Henry, 185 
 Cerberus, H.M.S., 73 
 Chancellor Livingston, steamboat, 236, 
 
 237. 326 
 Chapman, William, 38, 92, 145, 147 
 
 3S9 
 
33° 
 
 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Ckarloite Dundas, steamboat, 179, 
 
 256 
 Charnock's Naval Architecture, 291 
 Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, 61 
 Clermont: steamboat, 230, 236, 240, 
 
 255> 326 ; replica of, 273 
 Coast and Harbour Defence Associa- 
 tion, 260 
 Coffers, 185, 189 
 Colden, C. D., 66, 278 
 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 3 1 
 Columbiad, poem, 144, 200, 210, 271 ; 
 Columbiad, guns, 260 
 Commissions on Fulton's inventions, 
 
 80,97,99, 118, 185 
 Congo, H.M.S., 265 
 Congreve, Sir William, 185, 194 
 Connecticut, steamboat, 236, 326 
 Conservatoire des Arts et Mftiers, 145, 
 
 151 
 Cook, Mrs., Fulton's sister, 18 
 Cordelier, Cartwright's, 94 
 
 Dalb, Charles A., 271 
 Dearborn, General, 211 
 De Cr^s, Admiral, 124 
 Demologos, harbour-defence ship, 262, 
 
 266, 326 
 Desblanc's steamboat, 144, 153 
 Devonshire, visit to, 15, 22 
 Digging machine, 32, 36, 38 
 Directory, French, 64, 74, 78, 97, 
 
 99 
 Dod, Daniel, 252 
 Dorothea, brig, blown up, 192, 194, 
 
 207, 284 
 Drebbel, Cornelius van, 72 
 Dyer, J. C, 255, 289 
 
 Eagle, H.M.S., 73 
 
 Emmet, Thomas Addis, 244, 253 
 
 Emperor of Russia, steamboat, 258, 
 
 326 
 England : Fulton's arrival in, 10 ; tour 
 
 in, 15 ; leaves, 15, 64; again arrives 
 
 in, 167 ; catamaran expedition, 186 ; 
 
 final departure from, 205 
 English patent, Fulton's, 28 
 Enterprise, steamboat, 326 
 Erie Canal, 57, 59, 211, 283 
 Erving, George W., 160, 171, 179 
 Explosion at Havre, 108; at Brest, 
 
 121 ; at Deal, 193 ; at New York, 
 
 307, 212 
 
 Falmouth, Fulton sails from, 3c6 
 
 Ferry-boats, steam, 234, 309, 326 
 
 Firefly, steamboat, 238, 326 
 
 Fitch, John, 129, 130, 132 
 
 Flash boiler, 154 
 
 Floating battery, 261 
 
 Forfait, P. A. L., 81, 97, 99, 112, 114 
 
 France : Fulton visits, 15, 64 ; torpedo 
 experiments, 108 ; steamboat experi- 
 ments, 157 
 
 Francis, Robert, assumed name, 167, 
 18S, l88 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin, 9, 280 
 
 Free Trade, views on, 69, 92 
 
 French Directory, appeals to, 74, 79, 
 
 89.97 
 
 Fulton, Abraham Smith, 5, 14, 17 
 
 Fulton Ferry, 236, 279 
 
 Fulton, origin of name, I 
 
 Fulton, Robert : birth, 5 ; boyhood, 6 ; 
 artistic tastes, 7 ; goes to Philadelphia, 
 8 ; ill health, 10 ; leaves for England, 
 II ; art studies, 12 ; trip to Devon- 
 shire, 15; paintings, 19, 280; Bude 
 Canal, Z2, 5 1 ; inclined plane, 23, 29, 
 40 ; political views, 7, 27 ; partner- 
 ship with Robert Owen, 33, 62 ; in 
 Paris, 64 ; stays at the Barlows, 65 ; 
 panorama, 96, 28 1 ; submarine, 82 ; 
 builds Nautilus, 100 ; trials at Havre, 
 102, 106; at Brest, 118; partner- 
 ship with Livingston, 149 ; steam- 
 boat on the Seine, 155 ; overtures 
 ofBritish Ministers, 165, 189; orders 
 engine from Boulton & Watt, 159. 
 168 ; in Holland, 165 ; arrives in 
 England, 167 ; agreement with Pitt, 
 182; catamaran expedition, 185; 
 arbitration, 199 ; returns to New 
 York, 206; builds Clermont, 213; 
 trial trips, 217; monopoly of the 
 Hudson, 243 ; steamboats in other 
 countries, 255, 259; United States 
 patents, 240, 289, 313; lawsuits, 
 243, 248, 252, 253; steam man-of- 
 war, 260 ; illness and death, 266 ; 
 character, 267, 269 ; descendants, 
 270 ; memorial, 272 ; centenary, 
 273 ; portraits, 277 
 
 Fulton, Robert, sen., 3, 4 
 
 Fulton, Robert Barlow, 270 
 
 Fulton, steamboat, 236, 326 
 
 Fulton the First, harbour-defence 
 ship, 264 
 
 Fulton Tower, 2 
 
 Fulton township, 2, 4 
 
INDEX 
 
 331 
 
 Ganges, steamboats on, 359 
 Gautier du Var, 81 
 Garay, Blasco de, 1 26 
 Ged, William, 204 
 Genevois of Beme, 23 
 Giambelli, Italian engineer, 71 
 Gilpin, Joshua, 40, 61, 91, 92, 94 
 Gloucester and Berkeley Canal, 32, 34 
 Greenland Dock experiments, 26, 148, 
 
 213 
 Guards to paddle-wheels, 237, 242, 
 
 321 
 Guyton de Morveau, 100, 119, 120 
 
 Havre, submarine at, 102, 106 
 Hawkesbury, Lord, 165, 189 
 Henry, William, 132 
 Herbert, Sir Thomas, 84 
 Hogging frames, 236, 242, 317 
 Holland,' Fuhon in, 99, 165 
 Holsworthy, canal at, 22 
 Hope, steamboat, 244 
 Houdon, J. A., bust by, 141, 277 
 Hudson-Fulton celebration, 273 
 Hudson River monopoly, 243, 254 
 Hulls, Jonathan, 1 27 
 
 Inclined plane for canals, 23, 28, 
 
 29, 38, 40, 44, 51 
 India, steamboats in, 259 
 Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 
 
 170 
 Invasion of England, 134, 181, 195 
 
 Jarvis, J. W., 279 
 Jefferson, President, 211 
 Jersey, iexry steamer, 326 
 Johnson, Caleb, schoolmaster, 6 
 
 Kalorama, 206, 289, 293 
 Keith, Admiral, 186, 188, 192, 194 
 Husnt, experimental boat, 26, 50 
 Kilkenny, 3 
 Kirby, F. E., 273 
 
 Lancaster, 57 ; Fulton family in, 
 
 5.6 
 La Place, Marquis de, 105, iii, 113, 
 
 118, 123 
 Law, Thomas, 259 
 Litigation, steamboat, 243, 246, 248, 
 
 251.253 
 Little Britain, Fulton's birthplace, 4 
 
 Livingston, Chancellor Robert R. : 
 Louisiana purchase, 134; experi- 
 ments, 13s ; agreement with Fulton, 
 149; steamboat monopoly, 155; 
 account of partnership, 238 ; death, 
 253 
 
 Livingston, Edward P., 219, 221 
 
 Livingston, Harriet, 270 
 
 Livingston, John R., 281, 293, 312 
 
 Locomotive, proposed, 212 
 
 Long Island Sound, 236, 327 
 
 Louisiana purchase, 1 34 
 
 Lyman, General William, 199 
 
 Man-of-war, steam, 262, 267, 326 
 
 Marble sawing, 22 
 
 Marestier, 236 
 
 Melville, Lord, 182, 197 
 
 Mifflin, Governor John, 52 
 
 Miller, Patrick, 132 
 
 Mississippi, 211, 218, 221, 230, 327; 
 
 Roosevelt's J^ew Orleans, 326 
 Missouri, navigation of, 218 
 Molard, P. G., 151 
 Monge, Gaspard, 105, iii, 113, 118, 
 
 123 
 Monopoly, steamboat, 135, 155, 229, 
 
 243, 253 
 Monroe, James, 160, 164 
 Montgolfier, J. M. de, 67, 79, 144, 
 
 151 
 Moray, Samuel, 132, 146 
 Morris, David, 15, 18, 27, 59 
 " Moscow, Fire of," 96, 281 
 Murray, Mrs., portrait of, 18, 28 1 
 Mute, submarine, 266, 326 
 
 Napoleon ; letter to, 68 ; interviews 
 Fulton, III ; accepts his conditions, 
 114 ;blamed, 125 ; opinion on steam- 
 boat, 156 
 
 Nassau, ferry steamer, 326 
 
 Natchez, steamboat, 326 
 
 National Institute, French, 106, 118, 
 
 123, 157, 159 
 
 Nautilus: submarine, 73; construc- 
 tion, 82, 92, 100; trials at Havre, 
 102; at Brest, 113; disposal of, 
 123 
 
 Neva, steamboats on, 258 
 
 Newcomen engine, 126 
 
 New Orleans, steamboat, 230, 236, 
 326 
 
 North River, steamboat, 228, 233, 
 326 
 
332 
 
 ROBERT FULTON 
 
 Ogden, Aaron, 252, 253 
 Olive Branch, steamboat, 326 
 Owen, Robert, 31; partner with Ful- 
 ton, 33 ; lends money, 35 ; opinion, 
 62 
 Owen, Sir E. W. C. R., 192, 194, 208, 
 284 
 
 Panorama: Barker's, in England, 95 ; 
 
 Fulton's, in France, 96, 281 ; profits 
 
 from, 103 
 Papin, Denis, 126 
 Paragon, steamboat, 233, 236, 238, 
 
 241,259, 326 
 Paris, Fulton in, 64, 99, 108, 118 
 Patents, Fulton's : in England, 28 ; in 
 
 France, 66, 94, 95, 97 ; in United 
 
 States, 240, 242, 260, 289, 313 
 Peale, C. W., 19, 228, 278 
 Pendanter, Stanhope's, 41, 43, 48, So 
 Perier, A. C. and J. C, 68, 79, 81, 97, 
 
 100, 154, 158 
 Perpetual motion, 270 
 Perseverance, steamboat, 244 
 Philadelphia, Fulton in, 8 
 Phoenix, steamboat, 239, 243 
 Pitt, William, 182, 192, 194, 197 
 Pleville-le-Pelley, Admiral, jt, 124 
 Plombi^res, experiments at, 142 
 Plunging boat, 116, 118, 123, 141 
 Plymouth, 51, 265 
 
 Popham, Sir Home R., 184, 185, 188 
 Powderham Castle, 1 5 
 Prony, Baron de, 81, 97, 158 
 
 Quaker City, the, 8 
 
 Railway, proposed, 212 
 Rariton, steamboat, 326 
 Read, Nathan, 132 
 
 Rennie, John, 47, 185, 255, 257, 268 
 Return connecting-rod engine, 249 
 Richmond, steamboat, 238, 326 
 Robinson, Lieut. William, 193, 197 
 Roosevelt, Nicholas J., 132, 230, 326 
 Ropemaking machine, 94 
 Rosily-Mesros, Comte de, 81, 97 
 Rouen, submarine at, 10 1 
 Rowland and Pickering's patent, 44 
 Royal Academy, Fulton's pictures at, 
 
 14, 18, 280 
 Royal Society of British Artists, 
 
 Fulton's pictures at, 14, 280 
 Rumford, Count, 145 
 Rumsey , James, 127 
 
 Russia, steamboats in, 257 
 Ruth ven's propeller, 128 
 
 SCHIMMELPENNICK, Dutch Ambas- 
 sador, 99, 146 
 
 Screw-propeller, 67, 83, 102, 107, 
 IIS, 140, 149 
 
 Sea-horse, steamboat, 252 
 
 Shakespeare Gallery, 200 
 
 Sidmouth, Lord, 165 
 
 Skipwith, Fulner, 148, 1S5 
 
 Smith, Mary, Fulton's mother, 4, 6, 
 10, 13 
 
 Smith, Rev. Joseph, 9 
 
 Smith, Sir Sidney, 191, i94 
 
 Stanhope, Earl : inventions of, 23 ; 
 correspondence with Fulton, 23, 41, 
 48, 49, 247 ; warns Ministry about 
 torpedo, 143 ; torpedo defence, 208 
 
 Steamboat on Seine, i S 5 ! on Hudson, 
 216; in U.S.A., 326 
 
 Steeple engine, 249 
 
 Stereotypy, 202 
 
 Stevens, Col. John C, 216, 238, 243, 
 249 
 
 Submarine: early attempts, 71 ; 
 Fulton's, 74, 82 ; at Havre, loi ; 
 at Brest, 1 1 S 
 
 Swift, Joseph, 6 
 
 Swinine, Chevalier, 257 
 
 Symington, William : experiments in 
 1788, 133 ; Charlotte Dundas 1803, 
 179, 2S6 
 
 Telford, Thomas, 267 
 
 Thayer, J. W., 95, 103 
 
 Thornton, Dr. S., 242, 249 
 
 Tilloch, Alexander, 204 
 
 "Toot," Fulton's nickname, 65, 103, 
 104 
 
 Torpedo: Fulton adopts name, 84, 
 285 ; experiments at Havre, 107 ; 
 at Boulogne, 186, 295 ; at Walmer 
 Roads, 193 ; at New York, 207 
 
 Torpedo netting, 87, 209 
 
 Torpedo War and Submarine Ex- 
 plosions, 209, 283 
 
 Torquay, Fulton at, 23 
 
 Treatise on the Improvement of Canal 
 Navigation, 38, 51, 282 
 
 Tree-stump puller, 37 
 
 Ulster, plantation 01, 2 
 United States patents, 240, 242, 260, 
 289, 313 
 
INDEX 
 
 333 
 
 Vanstaphast, M., 99 
 Vesuvius, steamboat, 326 
 Villaret, Admiral, 117, 121 
 Virginia, warm springs, 10 
 Volney, Count, 106, n8, 123, 158 
 
 Washington, George, letters to, 53, 
 
 56 
 Washington : town of, 10, 206 ; county, 
 
 9 
 Washin^on, steamboat, 233, 326 
 Watt, Gregory, 172 
 
 Watt, James, i68, 267 ; opinion on 
 steamboat, 233, 250 
 
 West, Benjamin, 6 ; studio, 1 1 ; patron o^ 
 Fulton, 1 2 ; disagreement with Fulton, 
 147 ; pictures by, 19, 201, 278 
 
 Williams, Jonathan, 262 
 
 Will, Fulton's, 270 
 
 Windmill, regulating sails of, 119 
 
 Wiswall, Capt. S., 233 
 
 Woodcroft, Bennet, 289 
 
 York, ferry steamer, 326 
 
 THE END 
 
1 1 hhH 
 
 illiiii I iraiinnlB