Truly, "wisdom is better than strength, but the
poor man's wisdom is despised."
Whitney, however, was not the man to waste his time in repining. He
abandoned his efforts to protect his cotton gin because of his
conviction that there was not honesty enough in the country to sustain
him in his rights, but he did not abandon with it the idea of winning
fortune. He promptly turned his genius in another direction, and this
time with success.
The fire-arms then in use were heavy, clumsy weapons, and effective only
at very short range. He examined the system closely, and quickly
designed several important improvements in them, especially in the
old-fashioned musket. Although his improved arms were not to be compared
with the terribly effective weapons of to-day, they were admitted to be
the best then in use. By examining the Springfield musket, which is due
almost entirely to his genius, the reader can form an accurate estimate
of the service he rendered in this respect. He has the honor of being
the inaugurator of the system of progressive improvement in fire-arms,
which has gone on steadily and without flagging for now fully sixty
years past.
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