s writing on the subject of their claims to the invention of steam, and
he winds up in these words:--"They are with this, as they are with
every other thing to which either merit or virtue is attached--the sole
and only proprietors and originators, and say both the one and the other
are unknown out of the universal Yankee nation." I do not endorse the
sentiment, but I quote it to show the effect produced on some minds by
the unfounded claims they have put forward.

They have ingenuity and invention enough legitimately belonging to them
for any nation to be justly proud of, without plucking peacock's
feathers from others, and sending them throughout the length and breadth
of the Republic as the plumage of the American eagle. How many useful
inventions have they not made in machinery for working wood? Is not
England daily importing some new improvement therein from the American
shores? Look again at their perfect and beautiful invention for the
manufacture of seamless bags, by Mr. Cyrus Baldwin, and which he has at
work at the Stark Mills. There are 126 looms in operation, all
self-acting and each one making 47 bags daily; the bags are a little
more than three and a half feet long, and chiefly used, I believe, for
flour and grain. When they are finished, sewing-machines are at hand,
which can hem at the rate of 650 bags each daily. This same gentleman
has also adapted his looms to the making hoses for water, of which he
can complete 1000 feet a day by the experimental loom now in use, and it
is more than probable these hoses will entirely supersede the use of the
leather ones, being little more than one-tenth the price, and not
requiring any expense to keep in order.

Another and very important purpose to which their ingenuity has applied
machinery is, the manufacture of fire-arms. It has long been a matter of
surprise to me, why so obvious and useful an application of machinery
was neglected by the Government at home. The advantages of being able to
transfer all screws, springs, nipples, hammers, &c., from one musket to
another, are so manifest to the most infantine comprehension, that I
suppose they considered it beneath their notice; nor can I make out that
they have duly inquired into the various breech-loading systems used in
the States, some of which they have been testing in their Navy for
years. As, however, we are beginning to copy their application of
machinery, I dare say the next generation will take up the qu