motives ought to lead them to proceed with slowness and caution. Sir Richard Arkwright certainly experienced much of these difficulties, and he has been spoken of by the various descriptions of men, with whom he has had intercourse or connec tion, either as a great man, an indefatigable inventor and superior genius, or as the cunning schemer and collector of other men's inventions, supporting them by borrowed capital, and never afterwards feeling or shewing any emotion of gratitude to the one or the other. After much private enquiry, and having repeated promises of assistance from various quarters, it still remains uncertain in what light this eminent man ought in truth to be placed. Fully aware of the incalculable diffic lties to which inventors are exposed, whether we consider their labors with regard to the scheme they follow, the private connections they form, or the public commercial difficulties they have to overcome, we may easily believe that every successful inventor must necessarily become the object of calumny. Many inventors are certainly deserving of reprehension, but whether this be the case or not in the present instance requires a trial founded upon evidence, without which no decisive opinion can be presented to the public. We have not been able to obtain a statement of the several money connections which sir Richard had during the course of time he was employed in bringing this scheme to perfection. What is here related will in a great measure consist of such evidence as was presented before the Court of King's Bench upon the 25th of June, 1785, where his patent was set aside by scire facias, together with some other facts obtained by private correspondence. coming independent. Difficulties still present themselves; more money is wanted; and as long as the monied man can supply the necessities of the invention and of the inventor, he is in all probability tempted by the sanguine expectations of the latter to go on. Embarrassment, contention, legal processes, ruin to the man who risked his property, and a prison to the inventor, are too frequently the result of this first combination, even in cases where the invention may itself have been of value; and still more frequently, when, as it commonly happens, the invention is the mere speculation of an uninformed, and, perhaps, unprincipled man. For it is the nature of these undertakings, as soon as the mind becomes habituated to them, that they mislead the operator into a notion of their probable success in spite of every intervening impediment; and the inventor must possess more fortitude than usually falls to the lot of a poor man, if he does not go on to flatter himself and his partner as long as any money is to be by such means obtained. When the inventor has acted uprightly, or the first supporter proves a candid man and not of a vindictive disposition, it commonly happens that he withdraws out of the concern with the loss of the whole or a part of his capital, and retains no share whatever in it, least the legal consequences of a partnership should at some future period deprive him of the remainder of his property. The inventor must then apply to some other capitalist, himself possessing tools and machinery, and his former friend being left to the chance of that remuneration which the gratitude or the justice of the speculator may afford him; a chance which upon the whole, as the future labors of the inventor will probably be considerable, is not likely to realize itself in any beneficial form. A second and a third supporter may in this way be tired or exhausted. The inventor necessarily learns much at their expence, and either becomes an unprincipled speculator, or contriver of schemes to raise money in this express way; or else he goes on to The preparation of vegetable and animal fibres to form them into garments by weaving is very well known. The fibres themselves must first be properly disposed by combing or carding, after which treatment they are in a state ng the act of invention by mach Se usual m formed with covered with before des n contact w e adjusted. become an perfect his invention, and the last partner either ready to be spun. The card is a kind of p, accordi shares it with him, purchases it of him, or by brush made with wires instead of hair, the sections, a some quirk of law deprives him of the whole. From this crude outline of a process which is wires not being perpendicular to the plane, but all inclined one way in a certain angle. or every day going forward in this kingdom; a From this description such as are totally un- the raw m process which, like the lottery, enriches a few acquainted with the subject may conceive that, in order t while multitudes become the losers, it may be cotton wool, being stuck upon one of those lectual skill seen how little upon the whole it is likely that cards or brushes, may be scraped with ano knotty inventors should pass through all the difficulties ther card in that direction, that the inclinats, but also of their progress from poverty to opulence, by tion of the wires may tend to throw the whole ut by cert the extreme labor of bringing a new scheme to inwards rather than suffer it to come out. Thad thumbs perfection, subject to an endless struggle with consequence of the repeated strokes of the emp by which t partners, whose natural interest and prudential ty card against the full one must be a distribsisted in a cách two 1 is ( 391 ) ARK tion of the whole more evenly on the surface, and if one card be then drawn in the opposite direction across the other, it will, by virtue of the inclination of its wires, take the whole of the wool out of that card whose inclination is the contrary way. upon the description of a process so common, we Without entering more fully may make a few similar observations with regard to spinning. This is of two kinds; in the one the carded wool is suddenly drawn out during the rapid rotation of a spindle, and forms a loose yarn. In the other process the material spun by a well known small engine or wheel, which requires the spinner to draw the material out between the finger and thumb of each hand. If we suppose the machine itself to be left at liberty and turned without the assistance of the spinner, the twisted thread being drawn inwards by the bobbin, would naturally gather more of the material, and form an irregular thread thicker and thicker, till at length the difficulty of drawing out so large a portion of material as had acquired the twist would become greater than that of snapping the smaller part of the thread, which would accordingly break. It is the business of the spinner to prevent this by drawing out the material with one hand, if the operator be skilful, but if not, with two, that is to say, by holding the material between the finger and thumb of each hand, the intermediate part may be drawn out to the requisite fineness previous to the twist, by separating the hands during the act of pinching. Every rational process of invention must consist, in the first place, in a careful analysis of the operations meant to he performed. The objects of Arkwright's the nature, as it is said, of a perpetual motion. improvements were carding and spinning. To A clockmaker of that place, whose name was do this by machinery, it was required either John Kay, became acquainted with him and disthat the usual manœuvre of the carder should suaded him from it; but remarked that much e performed with square cards, or that cylinrs, covered with the kind of metallic brush- which Kay said he would describe to Arkrk, before described, should be made to re- wright. Arkwright objected, that many genmoney might be gained by spinning cotton, ve in contact with each other, either to card tlemen had ruined themselves by that scheme; to strip, accordingly as their respective velo- but the next morning he came to Kay's bedies, directions, and inclinations of their wires side, and asked if he could make a small engine ht be adjusted. With regard to spinning, at a small expence. This John Kay had been culd become an indispensible condition, not employed as a workman to make a cotton that the raw material should be very nicely spinning engine for a Mr. Hayes, who was red, in order that it might require none of brought in evidence on the trial for setting intellectual skill which is capable of sepa- aside Arkwright's patent, and proved that he the knotty or imperfect parts as they offer had invented an engine of this kind, but not that Eelves, but also that it should be regularly each other. Suppose a very loose thread or slightly twisted carding of cotton to pass proper facing to enable them to hold it; and let it be imagined to proceed from thence to anotween one pair of cylinders, clothed with a bether pair, whose surfaces revolve much quicker. second pair will draw out the cotton, rendering It is evident that the quicker revolution of the vered at the other side. This is precisely the it thinner and longer when it comes to be delifingers and thumb; and if the cotton be then delivered to a spinning apparatus it will be conoperation which the spinner performs with her verted into thread. gine, of which the chief organ consists of two verted into thread. Simple as these notions of pair of cylinders, may appear, they are subject a rotatory carding engine and a spinning enusually present themselves to be overcome by inventors. An account of this would certainly in the practical detail to all the difficulties which form an interesting narrative in the history of the wright succeeded in making these engines go arts, but in this place it is neither practicable by horse, by water, and by steam as first movnor consistent with our plan. Sir Richard Arkers, and the saving of labour, together with the advantages of a patent monopoly, were sufficient to render him one of the most opulent of our manufacturers. ing: about the year 1767 Arkwright came to he out by certain parts representing the Arkwright applied to Peter Atherton, Esq. now = and thumbs of the spinner. The con- of Liverpool, to make such an engine, but from e by which this last means was repre- the poverty of the appearance of the latter, Mr. sisted in a certain number of pair , cach two revolving in contac Atherton refused to undertake it, though after- ed ind to lend Kay a smith and watch-tool maker, to make the heavier part of the engine, and Kay undertook to make the clock-makers part of it, and to instruct the workman. In this way Mr. Arkwright's first engine, for which he afterwards took out a patent, was made. Mr. Arkwright soon afterwards joined in partnership with Mr. Smalley of Preston in Lancashire, but their property falling short, they went to Nottingham, and there met with rich individuals, by the help of whom they erected a considerable cotton-mill turned by horses. The same Hayes had also employed himself in making cylindrical carding engines. died in obscurity and great distress-that he, Arkwright, had invented engines for carding and spinning, in the advancing of which more than five years, with an expence of 12000l. had been consumed before any profit accrued to himself and partners. And as it must be admitted he did not bring his project to bear at once, as a pirate might have done, he must of right be considered as the man who, after embarking in a great national undertaking, where many others had failed, did exhibit enough of perseverance, skill, and activity, to render it of value to himself and the public. After this statement of the case, which is the best that could under the present circumstances be procured, it seems that the merits of sir Richard Arkwright may be summed up by observing, that the object in which he was engaged is of the highest public value; that though his family is enriched, the benefits which have accrued to the nation have been incalculably greater; and that upon the whole he is entitled to the respect and admiration of the world. This is an outline of some of the facts stated on the behalf of Mr. Arkwright's opponents who set his patent aside. The story current in the manufacturing countries is, that he stole these inventions, and enriched himself at the expence and by the ingenuity of other men. Upon the face of the thing, however, without attending to other evidence which might perhaps be brought, it appears that the cotton spinning was no new attempt, when Mr. He was knighted by his present majesty at Arkwright took it up, but an object much St. James's on the 22d of December 1786, on laboured at, and as it had not succeeded, it presenting an address from the high-sheriff and should of course follow that there were diffi- hundred of Wirksworth; and died at his works culties to be overcome, and matters of subordi- at Crumford, in Derbyshire, Aug. 3, 1792.-N. nate invention (which usually cause the failure ARLAUD, JAMES ANTHONY, a celeof new schemes) to be matured, digested, and brated painter, was born at Geneva in 1668. brought into effect. In the hands of Mr. Ark- After pursuing the usual objects of a literary wright the carding and cotton spinning became education as long as the circumstances of his a great national manufacture. Before he under- family would permit, he determined to follow took it it appears to have been nothing. In professionally his decided talent for painting. his Case, as drawn by himself, he states, that With very little instruction but his own, he about 40 or 50 years before his time, one Paul commenced portrait-painter, and leaving Geand others of London invented an engine for neva at the age of 20, went first to Dijon, spinning cotton, and obtained a patent for their where he met with considerable encourageinvention, after which they removed to Not- ment. Thence he removed to Paris, and such tingham and other places, expending much was his industry, that after painting for a submoney and time in the undertaking, and that sistence during the day, he spent part of the many families who had engaged with them night in drawing for improvement. He partiwere reduced to poverty and distress by the cularly excelled in miniature, and besides a failure of the scheme; that about 20 or 30 very delicate finish, he gave a force and chayears back, various engines had been constructed by different persons for spinning cotton, flax, wool, &c. into many threads at once, but they produced no real advantage; and that in 1767 one Hargrave of Blackwell in Lancashire, constructed an engine that would at once spin 20 or 30 threads of cotton into yarn for the fustian manufacture, but that, after suffering the destruction of his engines by popular tumults in Lancashire, and removing to Nottingham, where he practised for a time under a patent, an association was formed against him, by which his patent right was overthrown, and be The racter to his works unusual in that size. ver accomplished a long-projected visit to Italy. Arlaud did not entirely confine himself to portrait-painting, but produced some history pieces and other works. The most celebrated was his Leda, which he copied from a basrelief of Michael Angelo with inimitable delicacy, so as to appear at a small distance like the original marble. This favourite piece he afterwards destroyed, as too licentious. After a residence of 40 years at Paris, he quitted that capital, and retired to his native place with a handsome fortune, and a good collection of pictures, ancient and modern. His reputation caused him to be requested by the grand duke of Tuscany to furnish his own portrait to the famous gallery at Florence of artists painted by themselves. Arlaud died, a batchelor, at his country-house near Geneva, in 1743, aged 75. He left a collection of paintings, drawings, medals, and rare books, to the public library of Geneva. Moreri.-A. ARLOTTO, IL PIOVANO, or THE DEAN, whose family name was MAINARDI, was the first man of his time in the class of drolls or buffoons, and is still celebrated in Italy on that account. He was born at Mugello near Florence in 1395, and was originally brought up to the woollen manufacture of that city; but the love of an easier life induced him at the age of twenty-eight to assume the clerical profession. His natural talent of diverting in conversation by humourous extravagancies and repartees, obtained him preferment, the highest of which was the rural deanery of St. Cresci in the diocese of Fiesole. It cannot be supposed that he gave much edification as a priest; but in a long and rambling life he filled Italy and other countries with stories of his pleasantries and singularities, which partake of the coarseness of the age. He was able, however, to make himself acceptable to such men as Lorenzo and Guiliano de'i Medici. He died in 1483, at the age of 87. After his death a collection of his jests, adventures, and witticisms was made, under the title of "Facetie, Fabule, e Metti del Piovano Arlotto, Prete Fiorentino," which has been many times reprinted.-Tiraboschi. Nouv. Dict. Hist.-A. ARMINIUS, called THE DELIVERER OF GERMANY, a hero of a barbarous nation, was the son of Sigimer, a powerful chieftain of the Catti. He was initiated in armis anong the Roman troops, with whom he served with great reputation, and was rewarded by Argusfus with the citizenship and knighthood of Rome. Conceiving himself not bound by gratitude to the oppressors of his country, he VOL. I. fomented the discontents prevailing among the German nations, and formed a confederacy for revolt. At the same time, by artful suggestions, he drew the Roman commander Varus from the neighbourhood of the Rhine, into the country of the Cherusci. When all was prepared, he led Varus into an ambuscade, where he perished with almost all his forces. This event happened A. D. 10. Tiberius was afterwards sent to keep the Germans from invading Gaul; and in A.D. 16, Germanicus marched with a powerful army to take revenge for the slaughter of Varus. At this time the Germans were divided, one party adhering to Arminius, another to Segestes, his father-in-law, a friend of the Romans. Arminius had besieged Segestes in his camp; but on the arrival of Germanicus, he was defeated, and his wife, then pregnant, taken prisoner. Arminius exerted himself to form a new confederacy, and engaged in it his uncle Inguiomerus, a chieftain of great power. Germanicus advancing against them, Arminius took post in a woody and marshy country, where he could with difficulty be approached; and he was near destroying a part of the Roman army under the command of Cacina; but the Germans were at last routed in an attack on Cæcina's camp. The next year, Germanicus made another expedition into Germany, and met Arminius on the banks of the Visurgis or Weser. Arminius had a brother, by name Flavius, adopted into the Roman army, in which he had long served. The two brothers had a conference across the river, in which each employed his eloquence to engage the other in his own party. Tacitus, who describes the scene, puts into the mouth of Arminius (probably from his own invention) every topic of patriotism and independence; but the issue was, that they parted with mutual reproaches and menaces. Germanicus passed the Weser, and two bloody combats ensued, which ended in the complete defeat of the Germans. Arminius was disabled early by a wound from exerting his usual activity. Still unconquered, he after wards overcame Maroboduus, a German king, in a great battle, and obliged him to have recourse to the Romans for aid. But these civil feuds were at length fatal to him. He is said to have aimed at the sovereignty, and by that means to have excited his countrymen against him. After several vicissi- . tudes of fortune, he perished at length through the treachery of his kindred, in the 37th year of his age, having for 12 years been at the head of his country's armies, and contended (as Tacitus observes) not, like other kings and 3 E to lend Kay a smith and watch-tool maker, to make the heavier part of the engine, and Kay undertook to make the clock-makers part of it, and to instruct the workman. In this way Mr. Arkwright's first engine, for which he afterwards took out a patent, was made. Mr. Arkwright soon afterwards joined in partnership with Mr. Smalley of Preston in Lancashire, but their property falling short, they went to Nottingham, and there met with rich individuals, by the help of whom they erected a considerable cotton-mill turned by horses. The same Hayes had also employed himself in making cylindrical carding engines. died in obscurity and great distress-that he, Arkwright, had invented engines for carding and spinning, in the advancing of which more than five years, with an expence of 12000l. had been consumed before any profit accrued to himself and partners. And as it must be admitted he did not bring his project to bear at once, as a pirate might have done, he must of right be considered as the man who, after embarking in a great national undertaking, where many others had failed, did exhibit enough of perseverance, skill, and activity, to render it of value to himself and the public. After this statement of the case, which is the best that could under the present circumstances be procured, it seems that the merits of sir Richard Arkwright may be summed up by observing, that the object in which he was engaged is of the highest public value; that though his family is enriched, the benefits which have accrued to the nation have been incalculably greater; and that upon the whole he is entitled to the respect and admiration of the world. This is an outline of some of the facts stated on the behalf of Mr. Arkwright's opponents who set his patent aside. The story current in the manufacturing countries is, that he stole these inventions, and enriched himself at the expence and by the ingenuity of other men. Upon the face of the thing, however, without attending to other evidence which might perhaps be brought, it appears that the cotton spinning was no new attempt, when Mr. He was knighted by his present majesty at Arkwright took it up, but an object much St. James's on the 22d of December 1786, on laboured at, and as it had not succeeded, it presenting an address from the high-sheriff and should of course follow that there were diffi- hundred of Wirksworth; and died at his work culties to be overcome, and matters of subordi- at Crumford, in Derbyshire, Aug. 3, 1792.-N nate invention (which usually cause the failure ARLAUD, JAMES ANTHONY, a ce of new schemes) to be matured, digested, and brated painter, was born at Geneva in 16 brought into effect. In the hands of Mr. Ark- After pursuing the usual objects of a lite wright the carding and cotton spinning became education as long as the circumstances r a great national manufacture. Before he under- family would permit, he determined to took it it appears to have been nothing. In professionally his decided talent for p his Case, as drawn by himself, he states, that With very little instruction but his about 40 or 50 years before his time, one Paul commenced portrait-painter, and lea and others of London invented an engine for neva at the age of 20, went first spinning cotton, and obtained a patent for their where he met with considerable invention, after which they removed to Not- ment. Thence he removed to Par tingham and other places, expending much was his industry, that after painti money and time in the undertaking, and that sistence during the day, he spe many families who had engaged with them night in drawing for improvem were reduced to poverty and distress by the cularly excelled in miniature failure of the scheme; that about 20 or 30 very delicate finish, he gave years back, various engines had been construct- racter to his works unusual ed by different persons for spinning cotton, flax, regent duke of Orleans. wool, &c. into many threads at once, but they while other miniature-pa produced no real advantage;-and that in 1767 images, he had found th one Hargrave of Blackwell in Lancashire, con- traits. The duke gar structed an engine that would at once spin 20 St. Cloud, and practic or 30 threads of cotton into yarn for the fus- calling him his mas tian manufacture, but that, after suffering the England, with a rer destruction of his engines by popular tumults cess of Wales, a in Lancashire, and removing to Nottingham, and he was much where he practised for a time under a patent, his stay. His tr an association was formed against him, by and another th lich his patent right was overthrown, and be and afterwar |