rnment and
by many of the State and municipal governments of the Union. He was
buried from his residence, No. 1 State Street, on the 25th of February,
and his body was placed in the vault of the Livingston family, in
Trinity church-yard.

He left a widow and four children. By the terms of his will he
bequeathed to his wife an income of nine thousand dollars a year, and
five hundred dollars to each of his children until they were twelve
years old, after which they were each to receive one thousand dollars a
year until they should attain the age of twenty-one years.

In person, Fulton was tall and handsome. His manner was polished,
cordial, and winning. He made friends rapidly, and never failed in his
efforts to enlist capital and influence in support of his schemes. He
was manly, fearless, and independent in character, and joined to a
perfect integrity a patience and indomitable resolution which enabled
him to bear up under every disappointment, and which won him in the end
a glorious success. His name and fame will always be dear to his
countrymen, for while we can not claim that he was (nor did he ever
assume to be) the inventor of steam navigation, or even the inventor of
the means of such navigation, we do claim for him the honor of being the
first man to cross the gulf which lies between experiment and
achievement, the man whose skill and perseverance first conquered the
difficulties which had baffled so many others, and made steam navigation
both practicable and profitable. The Committee of the London Exhibition
of 1851 gave utterance in their report to a declaration which places his
fame beyond assault, as follows:

"Many persons, in various countries, claim the honor of having first
invented small boats propelled by steam, but it is to the undaunted
perseverance and exertions of the American Fulton that is due the
everlasting honor of having produced this revolution, both in naval
architecture and navigation."

CHAPTER XIV.

CHARLES GOODYEAR.

In the year 1735, a party of astronomers, sent by the French Government
to Peru for purposes of scientific investigation, discovered a curious
tree growing in that country, the like of which no European had ever
seen before. It grew to a considerable size, and yielded a peculiar sap
or gum. It was the custom of the natives to make several incisions in
each tree with an ax, in the morning, and to place under each incision a
cup or jar made of soft clay. Late