A singular originality of
thought was his leading characteristic. He appeared to have
naturally inherited what in others is the result of protracted
study. He seemed to think from originality of perception alone,
and not from induction. He arrived by a glance at inferences which
would have occupied the laborious conclusions of most men. In human
and animal pathology, in comparative anatomy, and in geology, he
perceived facts and formed theories instantaneously, and with a
spirit of inventive penetration which distanced the slower
approaches of more learned men. But if his powers of mind were
singularly great, the qualities which accompanied them were still
more felicitous. He possessed the most singular amenity of
disposition with the highest feeling, the rarest simplicity united
to the highest genius. In the great distinction and the superior
society to which his discovery introduced him, the native cast of
his character was unchanged. Among the great monarchs of Europe,
who, when in Great Britain, solicited his acquaintance, he was the
unaltered Dr. Jenner of his birthplace. In the other moral points of
his character, affection, friendship, beneficence, and liberality
were pre-eminent In religion, his belief was equally remote from
laxity and fanaticism; and he observed to an intimate friend, not
long before his death, that he wondered not that the people were
ungrateful to him for his discovery, but he was surprised that they
were ungrateful to God for the benefits of which he was the humble
means.

ROBERT FULTON[8]

[Footnote 8: Copyright, 1864, by Selmar Hess.]

By OLIVER OPTIC

(1765-1815)

[Illustration: Robert Fulton.]

Very few inventors have achieved success in giving to the world new
or improved methods of carrying on the business of life without long
and hard study, repeated experiments and failures, and trying
struggles with opposing elements. Many have labored through long
years of poverty and obscurity to dazzle their fellow-beings in the
end by the triumph of genius. The idea of an inventor has almost
become coupled with that of anxiety, patient or impatient waiting,
trials, and hardships. They are usually enthusiasts in the special
pursuit to which they devote themselves, and the coldness and
incredulity of those whose approval they seek to win, wear heavily
upon them. The chilling common-sense of men more practical than
themselves overwhelms them.

If the wonderful improvem