The cannons roar from shore to shore,
The small arms make a rattle;
Since war began, I'm sure no man
Ere saw so strange a battle:

The rebel vales, the rebel dales,

With rebel trees surrounded;
The distant woods, the hills and floods,
With rebel echoes sounded.

The fish below swam to and fro,

Attack'd from every quarter; "Why sure," thought they, "the devil's to pay

'Mongst folks above the water."

The kegs, 'tis said, though strongly made
Of rebel staves and hoops,

| Could not oppose their pow'rful foes, The conq'ring British troops.

From morn to night, these men of
might

Display'd amazing courage:
And when the sun was fairly down,
Retir'd to sup their porridge.

A hundred men, with each a pen,
Or more, upon my word,
It is most true, would be too few
Their valor to record:

Such feats did they perform that day
Upon those wicked kegs,

That years to come, if they get home,
They'll make their boast and brags.

The unfortunate issue of Mr. Bushnell's efforts rendered him very dejected. He had been disappointed in his expected support from government, having spent nearly all, if not the whole of his own property in the course of his experiments. Soon after the close of the war, he left his native country for France. The object of this voyage is not known; and it was always supposed, until within a very short time, that he had perished amid some one of the sanguinary scenes of the French revolution. But it appears that, after remaining in Europe a number of years, he returned and settled in Georgia, under the assumed name of Bush, where he lived in a retired manner, gaining his livelihood by the practice of medicine. The tidings of his death, in 1826, accompanied by a handsome bequest, the product of his professional industry, was the first information his relations had received of him for a period of nearly forty years.

AMOS WHITTEMORE,

THE INVENTOR OF THE CARD MACHINE.

Birth.-Early traits of character.-Is apprenticed to a gunsmith.-Industry.— Constructs a wooden clock without a model.-Invents a machine for measuring the progress of vessels.-Becomes a partner in manufacturing cotton and wool cards. Description and imperfection of the old method of making cards.~ Sets about the construction of the card machine.-Wonderful perseverance.Meets with an unexpected obstacle.-Overcomes the difficulty in a dream.-Completes the invention.-Its beauty and precision.-Secures the patent.-Visits England, to secure a patent there.-Taken prisoner by a French man-of-war.— Release.-Dyer's card establishment at Manchester.-Return.-Forms a copartnership to manufacture card machines.-Slow progress and exhausted means.-Visits Washington, and exhibits the invention.-It excites universal admiration.-Congress renews the patent.-Establish a branch in New York. -The New York Manufacturing Company purchase their whole interest.Its succeeding history.-Phoenix Bank.-Singular chain of circumstances.Whittemore purchases a country seat, and retires from active life.-Projects an orrery on a new plan.-Feeble health.-Death.-Character.-Value of the card machine.-Conclusion.

THE incidents in the following memoir are principally such as could be gathered from the memory of one who intimately knew the subject of it while living, and always entertained for him and his memory a high regard. The writer therefore feels some diffidence in recording as strict fact, every part of the relation made to him, inasmuch as the lapse of years may have effaced in some degree the recollection of many of the events. It is believed, however, that its leading features are essentially correct, and as nothing stated can affect others, he feels relieved from responsibility. Amos Whittemore, who, by his extraordinary invention for making cotton and wool cards, merits a prominent place among the first mechanics of the age, was the second of five brothers, and was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, April 19th, 1759. His father was an agriculturist of but moderate means, whose industry enabled him to rear a large family, and give to his children the mere rudiments of an English education. Of the five brothers, it is unnecessary to allude to either than the two next in age, William and Samuel, who, as will appear in the sequel, became interested in business with that brother whose ingenuity laid the foundation of their fortunes.

The youthful days of Whittemore were passed in the usual manner of lads in the country, chiefly in assisting his parent in

the cultivation of the farm. At an early age he manifested a remarkable talent for mechanical pursuits, together with a mind disposed to the contemplation of philosophical and abstruse science.

Aware that he must depend almost entirely upon his own resources, not only for his maintenance, but for his future advancement, it was obvious that he must soon choose a profession which would promote these ends. Free to make his own choice, he selected the trade of a gunsmith, as one which, while it presented a field for the cultivation of mechanical taste, offered the prospects of a fruitful harvest.

On becoming an apprentice, he not only zealously applied himself to the interests of his master, but devoted his leisure to voluntary employment. At this period he invented many ingenious and useful implements; and such was his proficiency, that long ere the expiration of his term of service, his employer confessed himself unable to give further instruction, and advised him to commence business for himself.

Among the many instances of his skill, may be noticed that of an excellent clock made without a model, which remained many years in the family, proving a useful, as well as gratifying memento of his early ingenuity. This was among the first of the kind, although now there is scarcely a cottage in our wide spread country that does not boast of at least one of these indispensable as well as ornamental pieces of furniture. He also invented a machine constructed with dial hands and figures, to be placed in the water at a vessel's stern, for the purpose of accurately measuring its progress. At the suggestion of a medical friend, a Dr. Putnam of Charlestown, he invented a self-acting loom, for weaving duck, which, from the best information we possess, is believed to be the same in principle as the celebrated power loom now so universally used. Owing to the unsettled state of business at this period, and the want of encouragement in the useful arts, these productions, notwithstanding their value, were suffered to lie neglected and forgotten.

For years succeeding the expiration of his apprenticeship, Whittemore was variously, though to himself, in a pecuniary point, unprofitably employed. At length he became interested with his brother William, and five others, in the manufacture of cotton and wool cards, conducting their business in Boston under the firm of Giles, Richards, and Co., and supplying nearly all the cards then used in the country. Amos devoted himself to the mechanical department, as being the most agreeable and useful.

Hitherto, the manufacture of cotton and wool cards, which had already become an article of great demand, was attended with