The reading of these remarkable documents of such great historical interest, especially at this time when submarine navigation has been developed to the point of complete success, kindles many lively reflections. The question is whether Fulton acted as a man of honor in abandoning the country for which he had volunteered to fight and where he had received such signal and loyal service from its citizens. Was he justified in transferring his support to another nation at war with France and thus help destroy the growing power of France for which country he had professed so much affection? This question has been debated by Fulton’s biographers, although apparently none of them knew exactly what it was that Fulton had done for the British Government. They were all under the impression that his work consisted chiefly in the demonstration of the efficacy of torpedoes, carcasses or bombs as Fulton vicariously called them, or mines as we would speak of them today. Cadwallader D. Colden gives several pages of his book to developing, with some labor, an excuse for Fulton. Dickinson finds some justification in the fact that Fulton had been only partially reimbursed by the French Government for his work, but more particularly in that the development of Napoleon’s ambitions was repugnant to Fulton’s ideas of republicanism. The last is without question the correct and only view to take. A radical republican, hating blindly all forms of autocracy, he had remained in France believing that in France he would see the full flowering of his principles. He offered his inventions to the French Government, not for pecuniary gain, because his proposals show that he was willing to abide by their decision as to the monetary value to be determined only after he had achieved success, but because he thought that the French revolution was a real movement toward perfect liberty. To this end he offered not only his device, but also himself. He was anxious to be enrolled in the fighting force of France and go forth in his little boat to do battle against mighty England. When, therefore, he was refused by Bonaparte and his sincere offers scorned with absolutely unjustified insult, we can imagine his revulsion of sentiment and forgive any bitterness of feeling. In a moment his idol was shattered. He realized that those in control of the French Government were not actuated by a broad conception of world freedom, but solely by personal ambition and thirst for power. He makes this position quite clear in a letter to Lord Melville quoted by Colden as follows, though, before publishing, the latter must have edited the orthography: “In writing this letter, I feel no enmity to the people of France, or any other people; on the contrary, I wish their happiness; for my principle is, that every nation profits by the prosperity of its neighbours, provided the governments of its neighbours be humane and just. What is here said,