Early

in life he manifested a taste for painting, and porpusing to adopt it as a profe ion, e repaired to England to study under Benjamin West. In that country, however, he became acquainted with the Duke of Bridge water, the founder of the canal system of Great Britain, who induced Fulton to abandon art, and take to the study of mechanical science. This nobleman was at the time engaged in a scheme of steam navigation, which he imparted to Fulton. The latter visiting Birmingham was brought into communication with the celebrated James Watt, who had just succeeded in his great improvement of the steam engine, with the construction of which Fulton made himself thoroughly familiar during his stay. About this time he invented a machine for spinning flax, and another for making ropes, for which he obtained patents in England. In 1796 he published a treatise on the improvement of canal navigation. From 1797 to 1804 he resided in Paris with Mr. Joel Barlow, the American representative at the French court. During this period he invented a submarine or plunging boat, called a “ Torpedo,” designed to be used in naval warfare. He invited the attention of the French government to his invention, and, Bonaparte, then First Consul, appointed Volney, La Place, and Monge as a commi ion to 2xamine it. Several exgs were made in 1801 in the arbor of Brest. He could easily descend to any depth, or rise to the surface; and where there was no strong current, the boat was quite obedient to her helm while under water. On one occasion, he remained in the torpedo several feet below the surface for more than four hours; but the motion of the boat while submerged was very slow, and it was clearly unequal to the stemming of a strong current. The French government declined to patronize the project, and Fulton accepted an invitation from the English ministry, who also appointed a commi ion to test the merits of his torse do. He appears, however, to have received but little encouragement, and in 1806 he returned to the United States. Having been supplied with the nece ary funds by Robert Livings ton, who had been American amba a- ‘dor at Paris, Fulton had the satisfaction of proving, in 1807. that steam could be applied to the propulsion of ve els with entire succe . His achievement excited universal admiration, and from that time steamboats were rapidly multiplied op the waters of the United States. His first steamboat, called ‘‘ The Clermont” (of 140 feet keel and 16% feet beam), made a progre on the Hudson of 5 miles an hour. His second large boat on the Hudson was the “Car of Neptune,” and was built in 1807. He afterward built other steam ve els, one of them a frigate which bore his name. His reputation became established, and his fortune was rapidly increasing, when his patent for steam ve els was disputed, and his opponents were in a considerable degree Bbucce ful. Though an amiable, social, and liberal man, the anxiety and fretfulne occasioned by the lawsuits about his patent rights, together with his enthusiasm, which led him to expose h.mscif while directing his workmen, impaired his constitution, and he died at New York city, Feb. 24, 1815.