This earthly heritage gave peace and comfort to the widow's heart, dispersed all sore distress; and each day fresh beams of gladness brightened round the maternal mansion, until the deep trumpet's solemn voice called her from the cares of the world to that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

She died in seventeen hundred and ninety-nine. Afterwards Mrs. Elizabeth Scott, her daughter, continued to reside there, having inherited the farm, stock of horses and cattle, implements of husbandry, furniture, and everything belonging thereto, through the noble generosity of her brother, the author, the original inventor, of the GOLDEN DEED.

Robert Fulton's whole life was wonderfully novel. There was some unknown influence that was his guardian GENIUS. The maternal lessons he had received formed his conduct through life; and there was a secret which we cannot fathom, which was useful to his success of affairs, and which at his death produced the greatest respect ever offered to a private citizen. He started through life with his mother's blessing; and that may have been the secret which buoyed up all his hopes and anticipations to surmount and get the better of all difficulties and impediments.

These testimonials of respect were drawn forth chiefly by admiration of the transcendent genius of Fulton, and for the benefits he had rendered to mankind. But there was that in his character which the world did not so readily see, and which was hardly thought of amid all the imposing demonstrations at his funeral. If he was great by the superiority of his genius, he was no less so by the goodness of his heart; and it will be difficult to find, in the whole range of remarkable biographies, anything more touching and beautiful than the filial piety which prompted him, with the very first earnings that he could call his own, to purchase a homestead for his widowed mother. He felt within himself, no doubt, the irrepressible impulses of a great intellect. Humble, unknown, unpatronized as he was, he was yet conscious to himself what great things he was capable of; and the most ardent wish of his soul, we may presume, was to go abroad, to mingle with men, to come in contact with that mighty world on whose destinies he already felt that he was to exert a lasting influence. But, repressing all selfish and personal considerations, all the aspirations of a noble ambition, with a filial piety that never can be too much commended, he devotes his first hard earnings to the comfort of his widowed and dependent mother.

Nor was it until he saw her provided for that he went forth to see the world, and to bring to light the great thoughts and discoveries that were already struggling in his bosom.

In the splendor of his discoveries, we are apt to forget that Fulton was anything but a great mechanical genius; but in his own secret consciousness, we doubt not, and especially as his last hours. drew nigh, the honours paid to his genius gave him less satisfaction than the remembrance of those modest, unseen virtues, which were known only to God and his own heart. And whilst we pay the willing tribute of admiration to his splendid mechanical achievements, let us remember, as at least equally worthy of our respect and imitation, his beautiful devotion to the wants and comfort of his widowed mother. If the mother of Washington felt her heart throb with joy when she replied that George was always a good boy," the county of Washington will for ever bear evidence of the fact that "Robert Fulton was a noble son!”

CHAPTER III.

FINE ARTS, AND MECHANIC ARTS, A SHORT HISTORY OF BENJAMIN WEST, AND THE

INVENTIONS OF MR. FULTON.

When the American poets shall in future times celebrate the golden age of their country, they will draw their descriptions. from the authentic history of Pennsylvania-the age of Penn, of Fulton, and of West.

MR. FULTON'S reception by Mr. West was such as he had been led to expect. That distinguished American was so pleased with his promising and enterprising genius, and his many amiable qualities, that he took him into his house, where he continued an inmate for several years.

When Mr. Fulton returned to this country, he brought with him a family piece representing that great artist and his lady, done by Mr. West himself, who also painted a portrait of Mr. Fulton, which his family now possesses, a correct copy of which embellishes the front of this work. These pieces were offerings of friendship, and were made and received as tokens of the attachment formed between the family of that great painter and his

young friend, at an early day, and which lasted until his death,

After leaving that family, he appears for some time to have made the art in which he had had the benefit of the instructions of that great master, his chief employment. He spent two years in Devonshire, near Exeter, where he made many respectable acquaintances, and among others he became known to the Duke of Bridgewater, so famous for his canals, and Lord Stanhope, a nobleman celebrated for his love of science, and particularly for his attachment to the mechanic arts. Mr. Fulton was for a long time in correspondence with Lord Stanhope; and they communicated to each other ideas on subjects to which their minds were mutually directed.

Mr. Fulton, throughout his course as a civil engineer and mechanist, derived great advantage from his talent for drawing and painting. He was an elegant and accurate draughtsman. Of his abilities in this important branch of his profession, the plates annexed to the "Columbiad," the work we have mentioned, and the copies of which we have here inserted, afford strong proof. This gave him great facility in causing his designs to be executed, and a great advantage over most who have engaged in similar pursuits.