We saw him, haggard and worn, and weary, | in the darkest hours of his struggle, and though he was pointed out to strangers as the man who was crazy on the subject of India-rubber, we saw in the pale and careworn man the faith and hope that, though cast down, are not destroyed, and a gleaming fire in his eye that bespoke perfect confidence in himself and in his great idea. It requires but a moment's reflection to perceive that few inventions have done more to increase human comfort than that by which caoutchouc, or India-rubber, is made available, as it now is, for so many uses. We remember when India-rubber was used only to erase pencil-marks from paper. The rude shoes first made over lasts of clay, so stiff and hard when exposed to a temperature below the freezing point, that human power could produce scarcely any effect upon them, were thought a great achievement. Its quality of resisting water, and its freedom from a tendency to rot like other fabrics, made it very desirable for articles of clothing for the human body. It was therefore at once seen, that if India-rubber could only be made perfectly, or even partially pliable, like cloth or soft leather, a great desideratum would be gained, and human comfort greatly increased. Chemistry was invoked for aid, and human ingenuity was taxed to the ut most. As it was a new article, the scholars in chemistry could give but little light on the subject. It was left for such men as Goodyear to exhaust everything but ingenuity, backed by an enthusiastic hope which stayed up his heart and strengthened his hands, until success crowned his efforts. In 1834 Mr. Goodyear engaged in the business of manufacturing gum elastic in the city of New York. His experiments were continued and various ; but failure and disappointment were his only reward. Though money, time, and health were wasted, yet, as Goodyear's enthusiasm had inspired his faith, he felt attracted by a truth he could not see, and his stout heart fainted not. Disappointment in one experiment, instead of damping his ardor, merely convinced him that the truth he sought, and which he felt sure must exist somewhere, lay in another direction; and since every futile experiment proved where it was not, he believed he was drawing nearer to it; hence every failure was to him but the removing of so much rubbish which hid from his view the object of his research, and thus stimulated him to a further trial. His money and credit were gone; and lawsuits, duns, executions, sheriffs, and sharp pinchings of poverty, soon followed. Destitute of means, yet hunted from place to place, sometimes imprisoned for debt, he still continued to apply himself with invincible pertinacity to the master thought of his life. In January, 1839, he realized his expectations, and was repaid for all his toil, expense, and sufferings, by the discovery of the process so long his untiring object by day, and his dreams by night. In 1844 he obtained his great patent, while residing at Springfield. . . . Mr. Goodyear about this time returned to Naugatuck. and started a large establishment for the manufacture of those beautiful articles now so necessary to every one's wardrobe, and especially serviceable to those exposed to storms. Experience has awakened and directed the ingenuity of the manufacturer to such an extent, that thousands of articles of luxury, ornament, and convenience, are now made from that material which we but recently saw only in a clumsy India-rubber shoe, nearly half an inch thick. From this time Mr. Goodyear had prosperity; but infringements upon his patents caused him much harassing litigation, but he was everywhere honored and respected, and poverty no longer howled, gaunt and hungry, around his hearthstone. In view of his extreme poverty and suffering, Mr. Webster, in his great argument in behalf of Mr. Goodyear's patent, and the last time this prince of advocates ever appeared at the bar, said: "It would be painful to speak of his extreme want; the destitution of his family; half-clad, he picking up with his own hands little billets of wood from the wayside, to warm the household; suffering reproach-not harsh reproach, for no one could bestow that upon him-and receiving indignation and ridicule from his friends." For several years past Mr. Goodyear has resided alternately in England and in France. All the varieties of rubber goods manufactured from his patents are eagerly sought in different parts of Europe. In England and France several large establishments have been built for the production of rubber goods, working under his patents. The shoe establishment at Montarges, in France, produces eight thousand pairs of shoes per day. At the establish | ment in Paris for the manufacture of rubber clothing, nine hundred garments are turned out daily. Both of these are carried on by the firm of Hutchinson, Henderson, & Co. Among the numerous marks of honor conferred upon Mr. Goodyear in Europe, he has received a brevet of knighthood from the Emperor Louis Napoleon. A story is related at Naugatuck, of the result of a night's courting adventure to a youth of that place, in the Revolutionary times. As every little local incident which throws any light upon the history and exigencies of that period possesses a degree of interest, I will give it. While the British were in possession of Long Island, they were in the habit of sending their agents on marauding expeditions to this vicinity, who acted in concert with the tories and "cow-boys." Many a farmer's cow-yard, granary, hen roost, and sheep-fold told the story. These parties used to cross the Sound, sometimes landing near the mouth of the Housatonic, at others coming up in their boats as far as Derby, and occasionally honoring the people of the lower portion of the Naugatuck Valley with a call, and with considerable drafts discounted at sight upon their eatables. At this period there lived at Naugatuck, among many patriotic families, one of the name of Judd. A small settlement in Naugatuck, known as Guntown, was a stronghold of the tories. But these political differences seem not to have cooled the ardor of some of the Naugatuck youths, or to prevent occasional expeditions to Guntown, which, if partaking somewhat of a marauding character, were doubtless looked upon with a certain degree of complacence by the marriageable fair ones in the tory neighborhood. After three or four days his father, accompanied by several friends, having traced him to this neighborhood, entered the house where he was confined. The young man heard distinctly his father's voice in the room above inquiring for him, but he was threatened that if he spoke or made the least noise to acquaint the party of his place of concealment, that he should be instantly killed. There was a well in the cellar into which they had before threatened to throw him. Our hero heard, as may be imagined, with no very pleasant forebodings for the future, the retreating footsteps of his friends. Perhaps he in the meantime repented his night's sparking in the tory neighborhood, but this I will not pretend to say. He might have thought with "the captive knight,” 66 They have gone, they have all pass'd by, They that I loved with a brother's heart, And have left me here to die." After the party in search of the young man had left the house, the occupants began to feel serious apprehensions for the future. The question then arose, how they might best dispose of their prisoner. The leader of the party insisted upon the necessity of killing him. This consultation, as well as the decision, was heard distinctly by the prisoner. The wife, however, of the owner of the domicil, de It was upon one of these expeditions to Guntown that a young man named Chauncey Judd, a son of the person before referred to, started one evening. The night doubtless passed cheerily on, and, in accordance with the custom of those times, it was daylight when our hero left his ladylove. The night's "sparking" ended, the young "rebel" set out on his return home, whistling cheerfully along, and doubtless spinning cobweb fancies for the future. He suddenly discovered a de-clared that she would have no such deed tachment of armed men upon the road a short distance in advance of him, whom he took for Americans, but being somewhat shy, and on one of his first courting expeditions, he wished to avoid their railery, and turned off from the road to cross the lots. He was mistaken, however, in the party, as they proved to be British and "cow-boys," and as soon as they discovered that he sought to avoid them, the leader of the party sent one of his number, who was acquainted with the neighborhood, to examine him, as they were suspicious that he might give information of their whereabouts, and that it would result in their being pursued, as they had been for several days plundering the neighborhood. Cady, the man sent to examine the youth, reported him as belonging to a stanch Whig family in the vicinity. After a consultation they determined to retain him as a prisoner. He was accordingly taken to one of the houses of the tories at Guntown, where he was confined in a cellar. of blood committed in her house, and no ghost of the murdered man hereafter to haunt her. They therefore decided to take him down to a brook near by, and dispatch him there. He soon heard the cellar door open and the sound of footsteps on the stairs; death now seemed inevitably to stare him in the face. He was taken from the house to the spot proposed for the dark deed, and here Cady, the man first sent to examine the youth before his arrest, interfered, and saved his life. The party soon after started with their prisoner down the river in the greatest haste. They arrived at the mouth of the Housatonic during the night. The weather was cold and stormy. Here they took their boat to cross the Sound. One of the thole-pins was missing, and the young man was compelled, notwithstanding the extreme cold, to hold a bayonet for one of the men to row against. They arrived safely on the opposite shore, |