plainness, and his discourses were exceedingly effectual in exciting attention to religion. He was very regular in religious observances, keeping the Sabbath holy from evening to evening, and it was from him that the form of that observance was disseminated throughout New England. Among his numerous works the most important are those published in the course of his controversy with Roger Williams, "Milk for Babes," a religious book for children, and "The Power of the Keys," on the nature of church government. Against Williams he defended the interference of the civil power in religious matters for the support of the truth, maintaining the duty, for the good of the church and of the people, of putting away those who, after repeated admonitions, persist in rejecting fundamental points of doctrine or worship. A monumental tablet, with a Latin inscription by Edward Everett, was erected in St. Botolph's church in Boston, England, in 1857, in honor of Cotton, chiefly by contributions from his descendants in Boston, Mass.
COTTON, Sir Robert Bruce, an English antiquary, founder of the Cottonian library, born at Denton in Huntingdonshire, Jan. 22, 1570, died in London, May 6, 1631. He wrote many discourses and opinions upon matters of state policy, was knighted by James I. on his accession, and was a member of the first parliament of Charles I. He made a very valuable collection of ancient manuscripts, including many which had been scattered about the kingdom when Henry VIII. dissolved the monasteries. In 1629 he was arrested on a false suspicion of having written an obnoxious pamphlet, thrown into the tower, and his library was sequestrated. Though released, he was still denied access to his library; and to this deprivation he attributed the malady of which he died. His collection was augmented by his son and grandson, and, after having been partly destroyed by fire in 1731, was afterward transferred to the British museum. A catalogue of this library was published by the commissioners upon the public records in 1802.
COTTON MANUFACTURE. The old method of spinning cotton into thread was to attach a bunch of the carded fibre to the end of a forked stick called a distaff, which was held under the left arm; with the right forefinger and thumb the cotton was drawn out and twisted, the size and quality of the yarn being regulated only by the delicacy of the touch as this was passed through the fingers. The thread was wound upon a stick called a spindle, as often as sufficient length was twisted for this to reach the ground. Such was the practice of the "spinsters" of old England up to the time of Henry VIII., when the spinning wheel was introduced which had long been in use in India. In this the spindle was made itself to give the twist as it also wound up the thread, being made to revolve rapidly as with the right hand a large wheel was sent round, which carried the spindle by a cord or belt with greatly increased velocity. To a projecting hook at the end of this the thread was attached, and passed thence to the bunch of cotton held upon the distaff in the left hand of the operative. The irregularity of the cotton threads made by the old method limited their use to the woof only of fabrics, the warp being made of linen threads; but even then it was difficult for the weavers to procure the supplies they required of the families in their vicinity who spun for them. The demand for yarns in the English cotton-spinning districts stimulated a workman named James Hargreaves to the invention, in 1767, of the spinning jenny, in which eight spindles at first were set in a frame and made to spin as many threads at one operation; the ends passing from the spindles through a fluted wooden clasp, which was held in the left hand, and could be made to close upon the threads and hold them fast, as it was moved to and from the spindles. The name of the machine is said to be from gin, a contraction of engine. The number of spindles was afterward increased to 80. Hargreaves, driven from his home by the other spinners, built a small mill at Nottingham to spin yarns by his machines. Richard Arkwright came soon after to the same place with a new invention of spinning by rollers, the effect of which was to draw out the slivers or rolls, as they came from the carding machines, and by the slight pull elongate and straighten the fibres left crooked or doubled in the carding. By bringing together to the rollers from the cards eight of the fleeces or card ends, and passing these through together and causing them to unite into one sliver, elongating this at the same time to eight times the original length, a fleecy ribbon is obtained of great uniformity, which quality is still further increased by uniting four of these into one, and repeating the process by drawing them out to four times the original length. This improvement, and the others introduced by Arkwright in the carding machines, enabled him to produce an even and firm thread, suitable as well for the warp as the woof. With others he built the first mill in which the machinery was run by a water wheel. The machinery was hence known as the water frame, and the yarn as water twist. For the finest threads the doubling of the fibres was many times repeated. To strengthen the loose open cord before spinning, Arkwright caused the cylindrical can into which the sliver coiled itself to revolve upon a pivot during this process; and thus the sliver was changed into an incipient thread called roving, which was either wound upon a bobbin as it was received in the can, or was afterward wound off as a separate process. By the ingenuity of these two inventors an immense impulse was given to the fabrication of cotton cloth in England, and factories were rapidly established throughout the country. In 1782 Arkwright had about 5,000 persons employed in his mills, and by the sale of
