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BOULTON AND WATT

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bv W.Ho-H', after th& porfrait ~bv Sir 1/9

1'u.bU.sh.Bd. by Joht

LIVES

OF

BOULTON AND WATT

PRINCIPALLY FROM THE ORIGINAL SOHO MSS.

COMPRISING ALSO

A HISTORY OF THE INVENTION AND INTRODUCTION
OF THE STEAM-ENGINE.

BY SAMUEL SMILES,

AUTHOR OF ' INDUSTRIAL BIOGRAPHY,' ETC.

LONDON:
JOHN MUKKAY, ALBEMAELE STKEET.

1865.

The right of Tiunslation -is ftscfced.

LONDON: PRINTKD BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STANFORD STREET,

AND CHARING CROSS.

/J

140

P HE FACE.

THE present volume concludes the author's 'Lives of
the Engineers.' Its preparation was begun many years
since. The favourable reception given to the ' Life
of George Stephenson,' the principal improver and
introducer of the locomotive engine, encouraged the
author to follow it by a Life of James Watt, the prin-
cipal inventor and introducer of the condensing engine.
On making inquiries, however, he found that the
subject had already been taken in hand by J. P. Muir-
head, Esq., the literary executor of the late Mr. Watt,
of Aston Hall, near Birmingham. As Mr. Muirhead
was in all respects entitled to precedence, and was,
moreover, in possession of the best sources of informa-
tion, the author's contemplated Life of Watt was
abandoned, and he satisfied himself with embodying
the substance of the materials he had collected in a
review of Mr. Muirhead's work, which appeared in the
' Quarterly Eeview' for July, 1858.

Having recently, however, through the kindness
of M. P. W. Boulton, Esq., of Tew Park, Oxon, been
enabled to examine the extensive collection of docu-
ments brought from Soho, including the original corre-
spondence between Watt and Small, between Watt and
Boulton, and between the latter and his numerous

vi PREFACE.

intimate friends and business correspondents, it has
appeared to the author that, notwithstanding the valu-
able publications of Mr. Muirhead, the story of the life
of Watt is one that will well bear to be told again, in
connexion with the life and labours of Matthew Boulton
of Soho. The two men were so intimately related
during the most important period of their lives, and
their biographies so closely intermingle, that it is almost
impossible to separate them. They are therefore treated
conjointly in the present volume, under the title of
4 Boulton and Watt,' the name of the old Soho firm
which so long enjoyed a world- wide reputation. But
though the name of Boulton takes priority in the title,
that of Watt will be found in many respects the most
prominent in the narrative.

The MS. papers which have been consulted for the
purposes of the present volume are of an unusually
complete and varied character. They consist of several
thousand documents selected from the tons of busi-
ness books and correspondence which had accumulated at
Soho. The most important were selected and arranged
by the late M. Eobinson Boulton, Esq., who entertained
the highest regard for his father's memory ; and, from
the character of the collection, the author inclines to the
opinion that it must have been made with a view to
the preparation and publication of a Life of Matthew
Boulton, — which has not, however, until now been
undertaken. Thus, among sundry papers endorsed " M.
Boulton — Biographical Memoirs," is found a MS. memoir
in the handwriting of James Watt, entitled " Me-
morandum concerning Mr. Boulton, commencing with
my first acquaintance with him," and another of a

PREFACE. vii

similar character, by Mr. James Keir, — both written
shortly after Mr. Boulton's death. Another collection, en-
dorsed " Familiarum Epistolse et Selects, 1755 to 1808,"
contains letters received from various distinguished
personages iii the course of Mr. Boulton's long and
interesting career. The number of original docu-
ments is indeed so large, that, but for a rigid exclu-
sion of non-essential matter, these Lives must have
expanded into several volumes, instead of being com-
pressed into one. But the author believes labour to be
well bestowed in practising the art of condensation, and
that the interest of biography gains much by judi-
cious rejection. What Watt said to Murdock as to the
production of a machine, holds equally true as to
the production of a book, — " It is a great thing," said
Watt, " to know what to do without."

Besides the memoirs of Boulton and Watt, which
occupy the principal places in the following volume,
it will also be found to contain memoirs of the other
inventors who have at various times laboured at the
invention and application of the steam-engine, — of
the Marquis of Worcester, Dionysius Papin, Thomas
Savery, and Thomas Newcomen. The author has also
been enabled to gather from the Boulton papers a
memoir of William Murdock, which probably contains
all that is likely to be collected respecting that excel-
lent and most ingenious mechanic.

In addition to the essential assistance received from
M. P. W. Boulton, Esq., in preparing the present book,
without which it would not have been undertaken,
the author desires to record his acknowledgments
to J. W. Gibson Watt, Esq., for information relative to

viii PREFACE.

James Watt ; — to Charles Savery, Esq., Clifton, J. T.
Saveiy, Esq., Modbury, Lieutenant-Colonel Yolland,
R.E., and Quartermaster Connolly, R.E., for various
facts as to the family history and professional career
of Thomas Savery, inventor of the " Fire Engine ; " —
and to Thomas Pemberton, Esq., Heathfield ; W. C.
Aitkin, Esq., Coventry ; George Williamson, Esq.,
Greenock ; the late J. Murdock, Esq., Handsworth ;
and the late Mr. William Buckle, of the Eoyal Mint,
formerly of Soho, — for various information as to the
lives and labours of Boulton and Watt.

In his treatment of the subject, it will be observed
that the author has endeavoured, as much as possible,
to avoid introducing technical details relating to the
steam-engine. Those who desire further information
on such points, are referred to the works of Farey,
Tredgold, Bourne, Scott Eussell, Muirhead (' Mecha-
nical Inventions of James Watt5), and other technical
treatises on the subject, where they will find detailed
particulars of the various inventions which are only
incidentally referred to in the following pages.

London, October, 1805.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE I.

Anecdote of Matthew Boulton and George III. — Boger Bacon on steam
power — Early inventors, their steam machines and apparatus — Hero of
Alexandria, Branca, De Cans — The Marquis of Worcester — His water-
works _ His imprisonment — His difficulties — The water-commanding
engine — His " Century of Inventions " — Obscurity of descriptions
of his steam-engine — Persevering struggles — His later years and death

Page 1-26

CHAPTER II.

Zeal of the Marchioness of "Worcester — Sir Samuel Morland — His pumps
and fire-engines — His privations and death — Dr. Dionysius Papin —
His digester — Experiments on the power of steam — His steam-engine —
Proposed steamboat — Early schemes of paddle-boats — Blasco Garay —
Papin's model engine and boat — Destroyed by boatmen — Papin's death

27-38

CHAPTEE III.

Thomas Savery — The Savery family — Savery's mechanical experiments
and contrivances — His paddle-boat — Treatise on ' Navigation Improved '
— Cornish mines and the early pumping machinery — Savery's " Fire-
engine " — Exhibition of his model — Explanations in the * Miner's
Friend ' — The engine tried in Cornwall — Its failure at Broadwaters,
Staffordshire — Savery's later years — His death and testament 39-58

CHAPTEE IV.

Slow progress in invention of the steam-engine — Thomas Newcomen of
Dartmouth — His study of steam-power — Correspondence with Dr.
Hooke of the Eoyal Society — Newcomen's experiments — Assisted by
John Galley — Newcomen's atmospheric engine — Newcomen and Galley
erect their first engine — Humphrey Potter the turn-cock boy's contri-
vance — Engines erected at Newcastle-on-Tyne, Leeds, and Cornwall —
Wheal Fortune engine — Mr. William Lemon — Joseph Hornblower —
Jonathan Hulls and steam propulsion of ships — His steamboat — Ex-
tended use of the Newcomen engines in Cornwall and northern mining
counties — Payne, Brindley, and Smeaton, improvers of the steam-engine

59-76

CONTENTS.

CHAPTEK V.

James Watt, his birthplace and lineage — His grandfather the mathematician

— Cartsdyke and Greenock in the last century — James Watt's father —
His multifarious occupations — His mother — Watt's early years — His
fragile constitution — Sent to school — His first visit to Glasgow — His
indulgence in story-telling — His boyish ingenuity — His home education

— the Stuart rebellion — Watt's love of scientific pursuits — Sent to
Glasgow to learn the trade of mathematical-instrument maker Page 77-95

CHAPTEK VI.

Glasgow in 1754 — The Glasgow tobacco lords — The early clubs, and social
habits of the merchants — Watt's master — Leaves Glasgow, and pro-
ceeds to London on horseback — Is placed with a mathematical-instru-
ment maker — His progress in learning the trade — Frugal living in
London — Danger from press-gangs — His infirm health — Returns to
Scotland — Refused permission to begin business in Glasgow — Gains
asylum in the College — His workshop there — Makes musical instru-
ments — His various reading and studies — Intercourse with the pro-
fessors — Intimate relations of Watt with Robison — Robison's estimate
of Watt 96-110

CHAPTEK VII.

Robison and Watt's conferences on the power of steam — Dr. Black and latent
heat — Watt's experiments on steam — His apparatus — The college
model of the Newcomen engine arrives from London — Watt's experi-
ments upon it — His difficulties and perseverance — His instrument-
making business improves — Takes a partner and opens a shop in the
Salt Market — His marriage — Continued experiments on steam — His
Sunday walk on Glasgow Green, and his first idea of the condensing
engine — His experiments with the model, and successive difficulties —
Anecdote of Watt and Robison and the new apparatus — The model engine

— Removes to a cellar and erects a working engine — Mechanical and
financial difficulties 118-137

CHAPTER VIII.

Watt's introduction to Dr. Roebuck — Begins business as surveyor — Surveys
canals — Partnership with Roebuck in the engine — Difficulties in con-
structing the engine — Watt's visit to Kinneil — A patent determined on

— Watt's despondency — Continues his improvements — Learns German

— Correspondence with Dr. Small — Specification of patent lodged —
Watt erects a trial engine — The washhouse behind Kinneil — The engine
completed — Its defects — Roebuck's embarrassments — Watt accepts
engagement to superintend canal works — Employed in various surveys —
Designs Hamilton Bridge — Supplies plans for dock and pier at Port
Glasgow and harbour at Ayr — Illness and death of Mrs. Watt — Dr.
Roebuck's ruin — Turning point in Watt's fortunes .. .. 138-158

CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE IX.

Birmingham in early times — Its industry — Eoads — William Hutton —
The Boulton family — Matthew Boulton begins business — His trade
correspondence — His marriage — His love of business — Snow-hill and
Soho — Partnership with Fothergill — Aims at excellence in his produc-
tions — Emulates Wedgwood — Surpasses French art-manufacturers —
His royal and noble patrons — Employs the best artists — Visits of
foreigners at Soho — Extension of business — Promotes canals — His vast
business — Commercial panic — Boulton's scientific pursuits Page 161-181

CHAPTER X.

Water- and horse-power at Soho — Boulton's correspondence with Benjamin
Franklin concerning fire-engine — Boulton's model — Correspondence with
Dr. Darwin and Dr. Roebuck — Watt visits Soho — First meeting of
Boulton and Watt — Correspondence of Boulton and Watt, and of Dr.
Small and Watt — Dr. Pioebuck visits Boulton — Watt's anxiety for
Boulton to join him — Watt's discouragements — His continued experi-
ments and their failure — Watt engineer for the Monkland Canal — Com-
mercial panic — Watt loses employment as canal engineer — Roebuck's
failure — Terms of proposed partnership between Watt, Small, and
Boulton — Roebuck's share in Watt's engine transferred to Boulton —
Watt's arrival at Birmingham 182-198

CHAPTER XL

Characteristics of Matthew Boulton — Contrast between him and Watt —
Boulton's friends — Watt's engine at Soho — Boulton's views of engine
business — The Kinneil engine re-erected at Soho — Works successfully —
Inquiries for pumping-engines from the mining districts — Proposed exten-
sion of patent by an Act — Watt in London — Death of Dr. Small —
Watt invited to Russia — Application to Parliament for extension of
engine patent — Application opposed — Watt's arguments — Act obtained
— Watt returns to Birmingham — The manufacture of engines begun —
The Wilkinsons — First iron vessel 199-213

CHAPTER XII.

Watt's house, Harper's Hill — First order for engines — Boulton's activity
- The London engineers prophesy the failure of Watt's engine — Watt
revisits Glasgow — His second marriage — Terms of partnership between
Boulton and Watt — Orders from Scotland for engines — Boulton pressed
with work and anxiety — Watt returns to Soho with his wife — Order
for engine for Ting-tang and Chacewater mines, Cornwall — Watt and
the Shadwell Waterworks Committee — Stratford-le-Bow engine — Diffi-
culties with workmen at Soho, and with unskilled enginemen — Expansive
working . 214-229

xii CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE XIII.

Inefficiency of the Newcomen pumping-engines — More orders from Cornwall
— Watt in Cornwall — United Mines district — Mines drowned — Watt
and Jonathan Hornblower — Mrs. Watt's account of Cornwall — Chace-
water engine finished — Its successful working — Watt's embarrassments
and financial difficulties — Boulton's courage and perseverance, and Fother-
gili's despondency — Fire at Soho — Engine royalty on savings of fuel —
Altercations with adventurers — Watt's frequent calls for Boulton's help —
Boulton's harassments — Proceeds to Cornwall — Watt's return to Bir-
mingham — His despondency — Boulton sustains the firm — Orders for
engines from abroad — William Murdock, his excellencies of character and
ability — First interview with Boulton and engagement — Sent to Corn-
wall — His mode of dealing with the captains — Watt's altercations with
the Cornishmen — His reliance on Boulton — Altercation with Trevithick

Page 230-260

CHAPTEE XIV.

Lieutenant Henderson in Cornwall — Boulton's financial embarrassments
increase — Boulton and Fothergill — The " Soho pictures " — Watt's
letter-copying machine — Boulton pushes the machine — Demand for
copying-presses — More financial difficulties — Watt's sufferings and me-
lancholy — More Cornish engines wanted — Engine-dues — Boulton cheers
Watt — Mining adventurers' meetings — Boulton and Watt take shares —
The mines — Boulton organises the mining business — Boulton's house at
Cosgarne, Cornwall — Mrs. Watt describes her husband's miseries and
weakness — The engine patent threatened by the Cornish men — Watt on
patent right — The Birmingham Copper Company — Boulton improves
. engine-boilers by introducing tubes — His MSS. and drawings concerning
mechanical and scientific experiments — His indefatigable industry

261-284

CHAPTEE XV.

Watt again visits Cornwall — Rotary motion — The crank-engine at Soho —
Theft of the invention — Matthew Washborough — Smeaton and steam-
power — Rotary-motion engine — Boulton and Watt's cares — Evasions
of the engine patent — The Hornblowers' engine — Watt's new inventions

— Boulton's confidence in the engine — Air-engine — Watt's fears for
the patent — The rotary engine invented — New improvements intro-
duced — The equalising beam — Watt's ill health and humour — Various
expedients for producing circular motion — Murdock's sun-and-planet
motion — Patent taken for the reciprocating expansive engine — Troubles
with workmen — Murdock's efficiency and popularity — Watt's despondency

— The firm's London agent's house burnt — Gloomy prospects of the
mining trade 285-316

CONTENTS. Mii

CHAPTEE XVI.

Financial position of the firm — Rotary engines for mills — Bonlton's battles
with the Cornish adventurers — His life in Cornwall — Murdock and the
miners — The Hornblowers' engine at Radstoke — Watt at Bristol —
Major Tucker — Steam mills — Rotary motion applied — The first rotative
engines — Pumping-engines for the Fens — Boulton's health fails — He
visits Scotland, Carron ironworks, Lord Dundonalcl — His extensive corre-
spondence— Grumbling in Cornwall — Concessions to the miners —
Press of work at Soho — Watt's invention of the parallel motion and the
governor — Murdock's model locomotive — Boulton's praise of Murdock —
More pumping-engines wanted — Boulton's affection for his children —
Letter to his son — His scientific recreations — Domestic enjoyment at
Cosgarne Page 317-341

CHAPTEE XVII.

Boulton's action in commercial politics — His interview with Pitt — Agitation
against Pitt's commercial policy — The " Irish resolutions " — Watt on
free commerce — Is opposed to political agitation — Combination against
patents — Fluctuations in the business at Soho — Engine orders from
various quarters — The Cornish copper-miners — The Copper Company
formed, and Boulton's part in it — Riots in Cornwall — Boulton's life
threatened — The esteem in which he was held in Cornwall — His intimacy
with the Quakers — The Albion Mill scheme — The double-acting engines
for the mill — Ill-success of the undertaking — Albion Mill burnt down —
Demand for rotative engines — Want of skill and misconduct of workmen
— Wedgwood's advice to Watt — Speculativeness of Boulton — His
embarrassments — Watt's caution in investing — Boulton's health fails —
His depressed spirits — Generosity to Watt 342-366

CHAPTEE XVIII.

Friends of Boulton and Watt — The Lunar Society — Provincial scientific
societies — Distinguished associates of the Lunar Society — Dr. Darwin —
Dr. Priestley, his gifts and accomplishments — Josiah Wedgwood —
Meetings and discussions of the Lunar Society — Dr. Priestley's specula-
tions and experiments — Composition of water, Watt and Cavendish —
Bleaching by chlorine — Sun-pictures — Saint-Fond at Birmingham, his
descriptions of Watt and Priestley — Decline of the Lunar Society 367-385

CHAPTEE XIX.

Increasing debasement of the coinage — Punishments for counterfeiting —
Birmingham coiners — Boulton refuses orders for base money — Executes
a contract for coin for the East India Company — Applies the steam-engine
to coining — Improves the coining apparatus — Political action in relation

CONTENTS.

to base coin — Strikes model coins for inspection of the Privy Council —
Opposed by the Mint authorities — Presents model coins to the king —
Executes coinage orders for foreign governments — His success — Medalling

— Description of the Soho mint — Large consumption of copper in coining

— Threatened attack on Soho by a mob — Boulton executes the new
copper coinage for Great Britain — Erects the new Government Mint on
Tower Hill, and mints for foreign countries — Watt's estimate of Boulton's
improvements in coining Page 386-399

CHAPTEE XX.

Prosperity of Soho — Kelaxed strain upon Boulton and Watt — Watt's
pleasure tours — His interview with the king at Windsor — Matthew
Robinson Boulton, and James Watt, jun., join their fathers in the business

— their character and attainments — Boulton and young Watt — Young
Boulton's return from Paris — The French revolution — The Birmingham
riots — Priestley's house destroyed — Unpopularity of the " Philosophers "

— Young Watt and the Jacobins — Watt's flight from Paris — Denounced
by Burke — Mr. Watt's fear for his son's safety — The sons join their
fathers in partnership — Important services of the young partners —
Evasion of engine-dues, resistance of the Cornish mining companies —
Legal proceedings and favourable judgments — Progress of the engine
business — William Murdock — His valuable services — His engine

o

improvements — Return to Soho — Invents gas-lighting — Winsor's
wonderful schemes — Murdock's various inventions — Substitute for
isinglass, his idea of power wasted in streets, atmospheric railway, &c. —
His death 400-433

CHAPTEE XXL

First attempts to construct steamboats — All attempts fail until Watt's con-
densing engine invented — The locomotive of Watt and Murdock — William
Symington — His model locomotive — Symington at Edinburgh — Steam-
engine for canal-boats proposed by Symington — Miller's paddle-boats —
Symington, Miller, and Taylor co-operate to produce a steamboat — Sir
John Dalrymple's inquiries of Boulton on the same subject — Boulton's
reply — Symington's engine finished and fitted in Miller's boat — Successful
experiment — Symington makes another engine, further experiments —
Miller applies to Boulton arid Watt to join speculation — Watt's reply —
Symington's engine for the * Charlotte Dundas ' — Symington's success
frustrated — Fulton and Bell inspect the ' Charlotte Dundas ' — Fulton's
steamboat on the Seine — His 'Nautilus' — His application to James
Watt, jun. — Boulton's caution, his letter to Lord Hawkesbury — Fulton
orders an engine from Soho for the 'Clermont' — Its success — Henry
Bell's steamboat 'Comet' — Development of steam-navigation — First
rendered practicable through Watt's inventions 434-455

CONTENTS. xv

CHAPTER XXII.

Watt withdraws from Soho — Bcmlton continues his interest in business —
His patent for raising water — The burglary at Soho — Sir Walter Scott
and Boulton — Watt in retirement — Search for investments — Purchases
land — Makes a foreign tour — Death of Mrs. Keir — Painful bereave-
ments— Death of Dr. Black — Deaths of members of the Lunar Society
— Watt's family bereavements — Watt's studies on the inhalation of gas

— Gregory Watt, his brilliant talents — His friendship with Humphry
Davy — His excursions and tours — His scientific pursuits — His illness
and death — Davy on Gregory's death — Death of Professor Eobison —
Watt's estimate of EobisOn — Boulton's last days, his death and funeral
— His character — Opinions of his contemporaries, Boswell and others,
concerning him — Attachment of the workmen — His Mutual Assurance
Society for the workmen — His powers of organisation — His business
qualities — His strength, courage, and perseverance in fighting the battle
of the steam-engine — Watt's estimate of Boulton — Boulton's generosity

Page 456-487

CHAPTER XXIII.

Watt's closing years — His pursuits — His machine for copying statuary —
Medallions of his friends — His garret workshop — Mrs. Watt's rule over
her husband — Tenacious retention of his faculties — Is consulted by the
Glasgow Waterworks Company — His visits to Cheltenham and other
places — Growth and improvement of Glasgow — Watt's interview with
the brothers Hart — His conversational powers — Sir Walter Scott's pane-
gyric on Watt — His extensive and varied knowledge — His anecdotal powers

— Fondness for novels — Description of him by visitors at Heathfield —
His last improvements in the sculpture-copying machine — His last illness
and peaceful death — Monumental honours — Lord Brougham's inscription

— His qualities and genius — His modesty — His close observation —
Facts and theory — Watt and Smeaton compared — Universal application
of the steam-engine — Conclusion 488-514

INDEX 515

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PORTRAIT OF JAMES WATT ..

„ MATTHEW BOULTON ..

PAGE

Edward, second Marquis of Wor-
cester 2

Ancient Greek ^Eolipile 3

Branca's Machine 7

De Caus's Steam Apparatus .. .. 9

Kuins of Raglan Castle 26

Dionysius Papin 31

Ancient Paddle-Boat 36

Thomas Savery 41

Section of Savery's Paddle-Boat . . 43

Savery's Fire-Engine 52

HuelVor 55

Newcomen's House, Dartmouth . . 60

Newcomen's Atmospheric Engine . . 67

Ruins of Wheal Fortune

70

Polgooth 71

Jonathan Hull's Steam-Boat . . . . 73

Dartmouth from the Harbour . . 76

Greenock and the Clyde, 1865 . . 78

Greenock Harbour, 1768 .. .. 79

Crawfordsburn House, Greenock .. 80

James Watt Tavern, Greenock . . 87

Trongate, Glasgow 97

Inner Quadrangle, Glasgow College 107
Isometric View of Glasgow College,

1693 108

The Broomielaw in 1760 .. .. 116

Professor Robison 117

Papin's Digester 120

The Newcomen Model 121

Watt's House, Delftfield Lane .. 126

Watt's first Improved Apparatus . . 130

Dr. Joseph Black 132

Kinneil House 142

Outhouse behind Kinneil . . . . 148

Hamilton Bridge 156

Port Glasgow 158

Birmingham 160

Soho Manufactory 169

Soho House . 177

to face Title-page

to face page 15!)

PAOS

Watt's House, Harper's Hill .. ..214
Map of United Mines District . . 231
Watt's Pumping-Engine for Mines 23(5

Redruth, High Street 238

Cardozos Pumping-Engine . . . . 260
United Mines District and St. Day 261

Cosgarne House 275

Entrance to ditto 284

The " Waggon and Horses,'' Hands-
worth 285

The Crank as applied in the Foot-
Lathe 287

Interior of the " Waggon and

Horses " 288

Old Engine-House, Dalcoath . . . . 306

Sun-and-Planet Motion 309

" Old Bess " Engine 326

The parallel Motion 334

The Governor 335

Polgooth Engine-House .... . . 339

Double Acting Engine, Albion Mill 355

Dr. Priestley 370

Site of Soho Mint 399

Burning of Dr. Priestley's House . . 411

William Murdock 422

Murdock's House, Handsworth . . 433
The " Comet " passing Dumbarton 453
Watt's House, Heathfield . . . . 456
Boulton's Monument in Hands-
worth Church 478

The Garret at Heathfield . . . . 494

Miller's Triple Vessel 437

Symington's first Steamboat-En-
gine 441

Miller's Experimental Steamboat . . 442
Machinery of the ' Charlotte Dun-

das' 447

Water-Pipe in the Bed of the Clyde 497
Watt's Chapel and Monument,

Handsworth Church 508

Handsworth Church 514

BEGINNINGS OF THE STEAM-ENGINE:

THE EARLY INVENTORS.

HDWAHD, SECOND MARQUIS OP WORCESTER
[By T. D. Scott after Vandyck.]

ANCIENT GREEK

BEGINNINGS OF THE STEAM-ENGINE :

THE EARLY INVENTORS.

CHAPTEK I.

D AWNINGS OF STEAM POWER — THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER.

WHEN Matthew Boultoii entered into partnership with
James Watt, he gave up the ormolu business in which
he had before been principally engaged. He had been
accustomed to supply George III. with articles of this
manufacture, but ceased to wait upon the King for
orders after embarking in his new enterprise. Some
time after, he appeared at the Royal Levee and was at
once recognised by the King. " Ha ! Boulton," said he,
" it is long since we have seen you at Court. Pray,
what business are you now engaged in?" "I am
engaged, your Majesty, in the production of a commodity
which is the desire of kings." " And what is that ? what

B 2

4 BOULTON AND GEORGE III. CHAP. I.

is that?" asked the King. " POWER, your Majesty,"
replied Boulton, who proceeded to give a description of
the great uses to which the steam-engine was capable
of being applied.

If the theory of James Mill l be true, that government
is founded on the desire which exists among men to
secure and enjoy the products of labour, by whatsoever
means produced, probably the answer of Boulton to
George III. was not far from correct. In the infancy of
nations this desire manifested itself in the enforcement
of labour by one class upon another, in the various forms
of slavery and serfdom. To evade the more onerous
and exhausting kinds of bodily toil, men were impelled
to exercise their ingenuity in improving old tools and
inventing new ones, — while, to increase production, they
called the powers of nature to their aid. They tamed
the horse, and made him their servant ; they caught the
winds as they blew, and the waters as they fell, and
applied their powers to the driving of mills and machines
of various kinds.

But there was a power greater by far than that of
horses, wind, or water, — a power of which poets and
philosophers had long dreamt, — capable of being applied
alike to the turning of mills, the raising of water, the
rowing of ships, the driving of wheel-carriages, and
the performance of labour in its severest forms. As
early as the thirteenth century, Roger Bacon described
this great new power in terms which, interpreted by
the light of the present day, could only apply to the
power of Steam. He anticipated that " chariots may
be made so as to be moved with incalculable force, with-
out any beast drawing them," and that " engines of navi-
gation might be made without oarsmen, so that the
greatest river and sea ships, with only one man to steer
them, may sail swifter than if they were fully manned."

1 Article " Government," in ' Encyclopaedia Britannica.'

CHAP. I. MYSTERIOUS POWER OF STEAM. 5

But Bacon was a seer rather than an expounder, a phi-
losophic poet rather than an inventor ; and it was left to
men of future times to find out the practical methods of
applying the wonderful power which he had imagined
and foretold.

The enormous power latent in water exposed to heat
had long been known. Its discovery must have been
almost contemporaneous with that of fire. The expansive
force of steam would be obvious on setting the first par-
tially-closed pipkin upon the fire. If closed, the lid
would be blown off; and even if the vessel were of iron,
it would soon burst with appalling force. Was it possible
to render so furious and apparently unmanageable an
agent, docile and tractable ? Even in modern times, the
explosive force of steam could only be compared to that
of gunpowder ; and it is a curious fact, that both De
Hautefeuille and Papin proposed to employ gunpowder
in preference to steam in driving a piston in a cylinder,
considering it to be the more manageable power of the
two.

Although it appears from the writings of the Greek
physician, Hero, who flourished at Alexandria more than
a century before Christ, that steam was well known to
the ancients, it was employed by them merely as a toy,
or as a means of exciting the wonder of the credulous.
In his treatise on Pneumatics, Hero gives descriptions
of various methods of employing steam or heated air
for the purpose of producing apparently magical effects ;
from which we infer that the agency of heat was em-
ployed by the heathen priests in the performance of
their rites. By one of the devices which he describes,
water was apparently changed into wine ; by another,
the . temple doors were opened by fire placed on the
sacrificial altar ; while by a third, the sacrificial vessel
was so contrived as to flow only when* the money of the
votary was cast into it. Another ingenious device con-
sisted in the method employed to pour out libations.

THE WHIRLING .EOLIPTLE.

(/HAP. 1.

Upon -the altar-fire being kindled, the air in the interior
became expanded and, pressing upon the surface of the
liquid which it contained, forced it up a connecting-
pipe, and so out of the sacrificial cup. The libation
was made, and the people cried, " A miracle ! " But
Hero knew the trick, and explained the arrangement
by which it was accomplished : it forms the subject of
his eleventh theorem.

The most interesting of the other devices described
by Hero is the whirling ^Eolipile, or ball of ^Eolus,
which, though but a toy, possessed the properties of a
true steam-engine, and was most probably the first ever
invented. As Hero's book professes to be, for the most
part, but a collection of the devices handed down by
former writers, and as he does not lay claim to its in-
vention, it is probable the ^Eolipile may Rave been
known long before his time. The machine consisted of
a hollow globe of metal, moving on its axis, and com-
municating with a caldron of water placed underneath.
The globe was provided with one or more tubes pro-
jecting from it, closed at the ends, but open on one
side. When a fire was lit under the caldron, and the
steam was raised, it filled the globe, and, projecting
itself against the air through the openings in the tubes,
the reactive force thus produced caused the globe to spin
round upon its axis " as if it were animated from within
by a living spirit." 1

The mechanical means by which these various objects
were accomplished, as explained by Hero, show that the
ancients were acquainted with the ordinary expedients
for communicating motion, such as the wheel and axle,
spur-wheels, toothed pinions and sectors, the lever-beam,

1 The principle of the ^Eolipile is
the same as that embodied in Avery
and Ruthven's engines for the produc-
tion of rotary motion. " These en-
gines," says Bourne, " are more expen-

sive in steam than ordinary engines,
and travel at an inconvenient speed ;
but in other respects they are quite
as effectual, and their construction is
extremely simple and inexpensive."

CHAP. I.

IWANCA'S MACHINE.

and other well-known expedients ; while they also knew
of the cylinder and piston, the three-way cock, slide-
valves and valve-clacks,1 and many other ingenious
mechanical details which have been reinvented in mo-
dern times.

Hero's book lay hidden in manuscript and buried in
libraries, until the revival of learning in Italy in the
sixteenth century, when a translation of it appeared at
Bologna in 1547. By that time printing had been in-
vented ; and the multiplication of copies being thereby
rendered easy, the book was soon brought under the notice
of inquiring men throughout Europe. The work must,
indeed, have excited
an extraordinary de-
gree of interest ; in
proof of vttiich it may
be inenti oned that eight
different editions, in
different languages,
were published within
a century. The minds
of the curious and the
scientific were thus di-
rected to the subject of
steam as a motive
power. But for a long
time they never got beyond the idea of
Hero's ^Eolipile, though they endeavoured
to apply the rotary motion produced by it
in different ways. Thus, a German writer
suggested that it should be used to turn
spits, instead of turnspit dogs ; and Branca, j
the Italian architect, used the steam jet
projected from a brazen head to drive an apparatus

BRANCA'S MACHINE

1 See Bennet Woodcraft's ' Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria,' from the
original Greek. London, 1851.

8 SOLOMON DE CAUS. CHAP. 1.

contrived by him for pounding drugs. The jet forced
round the vanes of a wheel, so as to produce a rotary
motion, and this, being communicated to other wheels,
set in motion a rod and stamper, after the manner shown
in the preceding cut.

Solomon de Caus was another of the speculative in-
quirers whose attention was drawn to the subject of steam
by the publication of Hero's book. De Caus was a
native of Normandy, and for some time studied the pro-
fession of an architect in Italy ; from whence he returned
to France early in the seventeenth century. Religious
persecution was then raging, and, being a Protestant,
he was glad to take refuge from it in England. He
entered the service of the Prince of Wales, by whom he
was for a time employed in designing grottoes, fountains,
and hydraulic ornaments for the Palace Gardens at Rich-
mond. While occupied in that capacity he gave lessons
in design to the Princess Elizabeth ; and on her marriage
to the Elector Palatine he accompanied her to Heidel-
berg, to take charge of the Castle gardens there. It was
while residing at Heidelberg that De Caus wrote his
well-known book on hydraulics, which was published at
Frankfort in 1615. l

One of De Caus's expedients for raising water con-
sisted of an apparatus in which he proposed to employ
the expansive power of steam for the purpose. In
Hero's book it is shown how a column of water may be
thrown up by means of compressed air ; and De Caus
merely proposed to employ steam instead of air. His
apparatus was very simple. It consisted of a spheri-
cal vessel fitted with two pipes, one of them provided
with a cock and funnel ; the other, which reached down
to near the bottom of the vessel, being open at the top
to the external air. When the vessel was filled with

1 Lcs Eaisons des Forces Mou-
Vflntes, avec diverses machines tant
utiles quo plaisantes, &c., par Solomon

do Cans, Inp;e'nieiir ct Architecte du
Roy. Frankfort, 1615.

CHAP. I.

DE CAUS'S STEAM APPARATUS.

water and a fire lit underneath, the water was forced

up the open tube in a jet, greater or less in proportion

to the elasticity of the steam. When

both tubes were tightly closed, so

that neither steam nor water could

escape, the heat, says De Caus,

would shortly cause a compression

from within so violent that " the

ball will burst in pieces, with a noise

like a petard."

It will be observed that there was
little mechanical contrivance, and
no practical use in this apparatus ; it
merely furnished an illustration of
the extraordinary force of pent-up
steam, and that was all. Though De Caus made many
experiments with his steam-vessel, he never succeeded
in making — if, indeed, he ever attempted to make — a
working steam-engine of any kind. It is not impro-
bable that he was dismayed, as others were, by the
apparent violence of the imprisoned monster ; and it
needed a more ingenious head than his to contrive a
method of rendering him docile, and making him go
quietly in harness.1

DE CADS'3 STEAM APPARATUS

1 De Caus eventually returned to
France, and was appointed engineer to
the King. During the later years of
his life he was employed in carrying
out plans for the better supply of
Paris with water. The story so often
told of De Cans having been shut up
in the Bicetre turns out to be a fic-
tion. Though a Huguenot, he was
not persecuted by Richelieu, but was,
on the contrary, employed by him ;
and in 1624 he dedicated to that
prelate his treatise entitled ' Horologes
Solitaires.' Mr. Charles Read, editor
of several interesting memoirs of early
French Protestants, has recently
brought to light and published in the
' Gazette des Tribunaux ' the proofs
of the patronage of De Caus by

Richelieu, and reproduced the original
documents, which he discovered slum-
bering in the dust of the State Records
at Paris. In 1621 De Caus is found
proposing to Louis XIII. to adopt
measures for cleansing Paris and the
faubourgs of dirt and uncleanness,
by a system of reservoirs established
at elevated points, and by fountains at
various places which he indicated.
The king and his council sent the
propositions to the chief magistrate of
Paris, and Mr. Read transcribes the
deliberation which took place on the
subject at the City Council, as handed
down in the records deposited in the
Imperial Archives. De Caus died at
Paris, and was buried in the church
of La Trinite' in February, 1626.

10 THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER. CHAP. 1.

It is probable that the first contriver of a working
steam-engine was Edward, second Marquis of Worcester,
one of the first and most illustrious of a long line of
unfortunate inventors. The career of that nobleman-
born though he was to high rank and great estate — was
chequered and sad in no ordinary degree. Edward
Somerset was the eldest son of Henry Lord Herbert,
afterwards Earl of Worcester, and consequently heir to
that title. He was born in London in 1601. His early
years were principally spent at Eaglan Castle, his
father's country seat, where his education was carefully
attended to. In the course of his pupilage he made
occasional visits to the continent, accompanied by his
tutor, for the purpose of acquiring that degree of
polish and culture considered necessary for a person
of his social position. On the accession of his father to
the Earldom of Worcester, in 1627, Edward became
Lord Herbert by courtesy ; and in the following year
he married, and went to reside at Eaglan Castle.

From an early period of his life Lord Herbert took
especial pleasure in mechanical studies, and in the
course of his foreign tours he visited and examined the
famous works of construction abroad ; for as yet there
were none such in England. On settling down at
Raglan, he proceeded to set up a laboratory, or work-
shop, wherein to indulge his mechanical tastes, and
perhaps to while away the tedium of a country life.
To assist him in his labours, he engaged a clever foreign
mechanic, named Caspar Kaltoff, who remained in his
service for many years, and materially helped him in
his various contrivances. Among the works executed
by Lord Herbert and his assistant at Raglan, was the
hydraulic apparatus by means of which the castle was
supplied with water. From an incidental reference to
the "water-works" by a contemporary writer, we learn
that they consisted of a series of engines and wheels, by
means of which water was raised through pipes to a

CHAP. I.

HIS WATER- WORKS.

li

cistern placed on the summit of the central tower.1 It
is probable that the planning and construction of these
works induced Lord Herbert to prosecute the study of
hydraulics, and to enter upon that series of experiments
as to the power of steam which eventually led to the
contrivance of his " Water-commanding Engine."

In pursuits and studies such as these, Lord Herbert
spent about seven years at Raglan Castle. But his wife
dying in 1635, the place became connected in his mind
with too painful associations, and he shortly after left
it to reside in London. On his arrival there, he pro-
ceeded to put to the practical test a plan of perpetual
motion which he had long studied, and now thought
he had brought to perfection. He accordingly had
his self-moving wheel2 set up in the Tower; but
though it moved, its motion did not prove perpetual,
and it shortly dropped out of sight, to be no more
heard of.

1 Dr. Bayly, in his ' Apothegms ' !
(1682), p. 87, describes the fright \
given to some Puritan visitors on the j
occasion of their searching Raglan I
Castle for arms, the Marquis of Wor- >
cester being a known Papist. " Hav-
ing carried them up and down the
castle, his lordship at length brought
them over a high bridge that arched
over the moat between the castle and
the great tower, wherein the Lord
Herbert had lately contrived certain
water-works, which, when the several
engines and wheels were set agoing,
much quantity of water through the
hollow conveyances of the aqueducts
was to be let down from the top of
an high tower." When all was ready
for the surprise, the water was let in,
and it made such a hideous and fearful
noise by reason of the hollowness of
the tower, and the neighbouring
echoes of the castle, that the men
stood amazed and terror-struck. At
this point up came a man staring and
running, who exclaimed, " Look to
yourselves, my masters, for the lions
are got loose." Whereupon the Puri-

tans fled down the narrow staircase in
such haste that they lost footing and
fell, tumbling one over the other, and
never halted until they had got the
castle out of sight. Mr. Dircks, in
his able and exhaustive ' Life, Times,
and Scientific Labours of the Marquis
of Worcester,' London, 1865, says
that this hydraulic apparatus " pro-
bably depended for its operation on
the influence of heat from burning
fuel acting on a suitably constructed
boiler, and so arranged as to be able
to apply the expansive force of steam
to the driving of water through ver-
tical pipes to a considerable eleva-
tion." But it does not seem to us
that the facts stated are sufficient to
warrant this assumption.

2 Mr. Dircks says " it was a ma-
chine consisting of a wheel 14 feet
in diameter, carrying forty weights
of forty pounds each, and is supposed
to have rotated on an axle supported
on two pillars or upright frames," as
indicated in the 'Century of Inven-
tions,' Art. 56.

12 THE GREAT REBELLION. CHAP. T.

After the lapse of four years, Lord Herbert again
married, taking to wife the Lady Margaret, second
daughter of the Earl of Thomond. In the year after his
second marriage, the celebrated Long Parliament began
its sittings. Questions of great public import were
agitating the minds of thinking men, and the nation
was gradually becoming divided into two hostile parties,
soon to be arrayed against each other in deadly strife.
A Eoyalist and a Roman Catholic like his father, Lord
Herbert at once ranged himself on the side of the King.
On the outbreak of the Civil War, we find both father
and son actively employed in mustering forces, and pre-
paring to hold the western counties against the Parlia-
ment. Eaglan Castle was strongly garrisoned, and for-
tifications were thrown up around it, so as to render it
secure against assault. The Earl, now Marquis of Wor-
cester, was appointed Generalissimo of the Western
Forces, while his son, Lord Herbert, was made General
of South Wales. From this office he was shortly after
called by the King, who, creating him Earl of Gla-
morgan, despatched him on a mission to Ireland, with
the object of stirring up the loyalists of that kingdom,
and inducing them to come to his help. This delicate
office he is said to have performed with more zeal than
discretion. Indeed, the studious habits of his early life
must in a measure have unfitted him for the conduct of
so important an affair ; and the bungle he made of it
was such that the King felt himself under the necessity
of repudiating the acts which the Earl had done in his
name.

It is unnecessary that we should follow the fortunes
of the house of Raglan in the course of the civil war.
Suffice it to say that the King's cause was utterly lost ;
that Raglan Castle was besieged, taken, and dismantled ;
that the Marquis of Worcester, having advanced to the
King at different times as much as 122,500/., had com-
pletely impoverished himself; and that when the Earl

( 'HAP. I. IMPRISONED IN THE TOWER. 13

succeeded to his father's title, and became second Mar-
quis of Worcester, in 1646, he inherited an exhausted
exchequer, a confiscated estate, and a ruined home.
The services he had rendered to the King were remem-
bered against him ; and to escape the vengeance of his
political enemies he took refuge in France. There he
lived in poverty and in exile for a period of about five
years. At length, drawn to England by the powerful
attractions of wife and family, and probably also com-
missioned to perform a service for the exiled Charles II.,
the Marquis secretly visited London in 1655, where he
was shortly after detected, apprehended, and imprisoned
in the Tower. He sought and found solace, during
his confinement, in study and contemplation, reverting
to his early experiments in mechanics ; and he occupied
the long and weary hours in committing to paper
descriptions of his many ingenious devices, which he
afterwards published in his ' Century of Inventions/
The Marquis's old and skilled mechanic, Caspar Kaltoff,
continued faithful to him in his adversity, and was per-
mitted to hold free communication with him ; from
which we infer that his imprisonment was not of a very
rigid character.

After lying in the Tower for about two years,
the Marquis was liberated on bail, in October, 1654,
when he proceeded to take steps to erect his long-con-
templated Water-commanding Engine. Even while a
prisoner, we find him negotiating with the then owner
of Yauxhall for its purchase, with a view to the esta-
blishment there of a school of skilled industry ; thus
anticipating by nearly two centuries the School of Mines
and Manufactures at South Kensington. In the month
preceding his enlargement we find Hartlib writing to
the Hon. Eobert Boyle, — " The Earl of Worcester is
buying Fauxliall from Mr. Treiichard, to bestow the use
of that house upon Caspar Calchoff and his son as long*
as they shall live, for he intends to make it a College of

14 STRAITENED IN MEANS. CHAP. 1

Artizaris." 1 His main difficulty, however, consisted in
raising the necessary means for carrying his excellent
project into effect. He was, indeed, so reduced in his
circumstances as to be under the necessity of petitioning
his political enemies for the bare means of living ; and
we find Cromwell, in the course of the year following
his liberation from prison, issuing a warrant for the pay-
ment to him of three pounds a week " for his better main-
tenance." The Marquis also tried the experiment of
levying contributions from his friends ; but they were,
for the most part, as poor as himself. He next tried the
wealthy men of the Parliamentary party, and succeeded
in obtaining several advances of money from Colonel
Copley, who took an active interest in the prosecu-
tion of various industrial undertakings.2 The following
letter from the Marquis to Copley shows the straits to
which he was reduced : —

"DEAR FRIEND, — I kiiowe not with what face to desire a curtesie
from you, since 1 have not yet payed you the five powndes, and the
iriayne businesse soe long protracted, whereby my reality and
kindiiesse should with thankfullnesse appeare ; for though the least
I intende you is to make up the somme already promised to a
thousand powndes yearly, or a share ammounting to four more,
which, to nominate before the perfection of the woorke, were but an
indimduum vagum, and, therefore, I deferre it, and upon noe other
score. Yet in this interim, my disappointments are soe great, as
that I am forced to begge, if you could possible, eyther to helpe me
with tenne powndes to this bearer, or to make use of the coache,
and to goe to Mr. Clerke, and if he could this day help me to fifty
powndes, then to paye your selfe the five powndes 1 owe you out of
them. The Alderman has taken three days' time to consider of it.
Pardon the great trouble I give you, which I doubt not but in time
to deserve, by really appearing

" Your most thankfull friend,

" WORCESTER.
" 2Sth March, 1656.
" To my honoured friend, Collonel CHRISTOPHER COPPLEY, these."

The original of this letter is endorsed " My Lord of

1 ' Weld's .Royal Society,' i. 53. 2 ' Industrial Biography,' p. 57.

("HAP. T. HOPES REVIVED. 15

Worcester's letter about my share in his engine," from
which it would appear that the Marquis induced his
friends to advance him money on the promise of a cer-
tain proportion of shares in the undertaking. He also
pressed his invention upon the notice of Government,
representing that he was in a position to do his High-
ness the Protector " more service than any one subject
of his three nations." But neither the Protector nor his
Ministers took any further notice of the Marquis or his
project. It is probable that they regarded him as a
bore, and his water-commanding engine as the mere
dream of a projector.

The Marquis himself continued to be as confident as ever
of the ultimate success of his scheme. He believed that
it would yet realise him an immense fortune. Writing
of the engine to the Earl of Lotherdale, he described it
as " the greatest invention for profit that I ever yet
heard of vouchsafed to a man, especially so unworthy
and ignorant as I am." But the Marquis was not so
humble as he affected to be, believing in his heart that
he had invented, without exception, the most wonderful
machine of the age. Still it remained a mere project.
Without the means of erecting an engine, it promised
to remain such; and all his efforts to raise the necessary
funds had thus far proved unavailing.

The Restoration of Charles II., in 1660, revived his
hopes. Now that the King enjoyed his own again, the
Marquis believed that he, too, would come into posses-
sion of the means for carrying out his project, For
thirteen years he had lived in exile, in prison, and in
poverty : but brighter days had dawned at last ; and
he indulged in the hope that compensation would at
length be made to him for his sufferings in the cause of
the Stuarts, and that he would now bask in the sunshine
of Roval favour. He made all haste to represent his case
to the king, and to claim restitution for his heavy losses
in the late war. But there were thousands of like sup-

HIS INVENTIONS PROTECTED.

CHAP. I.

pliants all over the kingdom, and redress came slowly.
The Marquis was, however, shortly put in possession of
such parts of his estates as had not been sold by the Pro-
tector ; but he found them for the most part cleared of
their timber, and comparatively valueless. The castle
at Raglan was in ruins. He himself was heavily
burdened with debt, and his creditors were becoming
increasingly importunate for money. It was thus long
before he could shake himself clear of his embarrass-
ments, and devote himself to the great object of his life,
the prosecution of his water-commanding engine.

One of his first cares, on the partial recovery of his
property, was to obtain a legal protection for his in-
ventions ; and in the year following the Restoration we
find him taking out a patent for four of his schemes,—
a watch or clock, guns or pistols, an engine to give
security to a coach, and a boat to sail against wind and
tide. In the session of Parliament, 1662-3, he obtained
an Act securing to himself the profits of the water-
commanding engine. About the same time he gave to
the world his famous ' Century,' 1 which contains his
own account of his various inventions. In the second
dedication of the book to the members of both Houses
of Parliament he states that he had already expended
the large sum of 10,000/. on experiments; but he
professed that he esteemed himself sufficiently rewarded
by the passing of " the Act of the Water-commanding
Engine," and, his debts once paid, he intended to devote
the rest of his life to the service of his King and country.
The ' Century ' is a mere summary of things alleged to
have been tried and perfected, conveyed in vague and
mysterious language, and calculated rather to excite

1 'A Century of the Names and
Scantlings of such Inventions as at
present 1 can call to mind to have
tried and perfected, which (my former
Notes being lost) I have, at the in-

stance of a powerful Friend, en-
deavoured now, in the year 1055, to
set these down in such a way as may
sufficiently instruct me to put any of
them in practice.' London, 1G63.

CHAP. I.

SUGGESTIONS IN THE ' SCANTLINGS.'

17

wonder than to furnish information. The descriptions
were unaccompanied by plans or drawings, so that we
can only surmise the means by which he proposed to
carry his schemes into effect. It is possible that he
purposely left the descriptions of his inventions vague,
in order that he might not be anticipated in their
application ; for it is certain that at the time the book
was written the Marquis had not taken out his first
patent, nor obtained the Act securing to him the profits
of his engine.

There can, however, be no doubt that, vague and
mysterious though the ' Scantlings' be, they indicate a
knowledge of mechanical principles considerably in
advance of the age, as well as a high degree of me-
chanical ingenuity. The hundred Articles into which
the book is divided contain suggestions, in shorthand
descriptions, of things so various as ship -destroy ing
machines, telegraphs, combination and escutcheon locks,1
improvements in fire-arms, universal alphabets, seals and
watches, various kinds of cipher, a boat rowing against
wind and tide, automata, and mechanical appliances of
different kinds, including the u stupendious and- semi-
omnipotent" engine. Some of them read like descrip-
tions of conjuring tricks, such as the artificial bird,
the hour water-ball, the flying man, the brazen head,
the dicing-box, and various automata. Others are full

1 The writer of the elaborate article
" Lock," in the supplement to the
' Penny Cyclopedia ' (ii. 217), in de-
scribing the combination lock, says :
" The Marquis of Worcester, in whose
'Century of Inventions' several dif-
ferent kinds of lock, which lay claim
to the most marvellous properties, are
enumerated, would appear, from his
72nd article, to have devised an im-
provement on this apparatus ; as he
refers to * an escutcheon to be placed
before any of these locks,' one of the
properties of which he describes as
being that ' the owner, though a

woman, may, with her delicate hand,
vary the ways of coming to open the
lock ten millions of times beyond the
knowledge of the smith that made it,
or of me who invented it.' The details
of this invention are not given ; but in
the third volume of the ' Transactions
of the Society of Arts,' pp. 160-5, is
an escutcheon of similar character,
invented by Mr. Marshall, and re-
warded by the Society in 1784. The
details of this ingenious contrivance
are fully given in the volume referred
to."

C

is

ENGINE AT VAUXHALL.

CHAP. .1.

of prophetic insight, and contain anticipations of me-
chanical marvels, which, however wonderful they may
at that time have appeared, have since been fully realised.
The style in which the treatise was written, however,
presented so remarkable a contrast to the contemporary
writings of Newton, Boyle, Pascal, Guericke, and others,
that it is not improbable it had the effect of prejudicing
the minds of scientific men against the writer, and led
them to regard his schemes as those of a wild projector,
and hence to treat his propositions with neglect, if not
with contumely.

So soon as the Marquis had become possessed of the
requisite funds, he proceeded to erect an engine at Yaux-
hall to illustrate the uses of his principal invention. He
was assisted, as before, by his old workman, Caspar
Kaltoff. It is probable that the engine was erected by
the beginning of 1663 ; for in the course of that year
M. Sorbiere paid his visit to England, and found the
Marquis's " hydraulic machine " at work. He describes
it as capable of raising, by the strength of one man
only, within a minute of time, four large buckets of
water to a height of forty feet, through a pipe eight
inches in diameter. He proceeds to compare it with
another machine at Somerset House, worked by one or
two horses, which he considers the more effective ma-
chine of the two.1 This account of the Marquis's in-

1 His words are these : — " One of
the most curious things that I wished
to see was an hydraulic machine which
the Marquis of Worcester has invented,
and of which he is making trial. I
went with all speed to Fox-hall, on
the other side of the Thames, a little
balow Lambeth, which is the Palace of
the Archbishop of Canterbury, in sight
of London. This machine will raise to
the height of forty feet, by the strength
of one man only, and in a minute of
time, four large buckets of water
through a pipe of eight inches. But
what will be the most powerful help

to the wants of the public is the work
which is performed by another in-
geniously-constructed machine, which
can be seen raised on a wooden tower
on the top of Somerset House, which
supplies that part of the town with
water, but with some difficulty, and a
smaller quantity than could be desired.
It is somewhat like our Samaritane
water- work on the Pont Neuf; and
on the raising-pump they have added
an impulsion which increases the
force ; but for what we obtain by the
power of the Seine, they employ one
or two horses, which incessantly turn

CHAP. I. RIDICULE OF HIS CONTRIVANCE. 19

vention is confirmed by another brief description of it,
which occurs in the narrative of the travels of Cosmo,
Grand Duke of Tuscany, in England, some years later.
Count Magalotti, the narrator, says, " It raises water
more than forty geometrical feet, by the power of one
man only ; and in a very short space of time will draw up
four vessels of water through a tube or channel not more
than a span in width, on which account it is considered to
be of greater service to the public than the other machine
at Somerset House." It will thus be observed that the
Duke's secretary entertained a different opinion from that
expressed by M. Sorbiere as to the comparative merits
of the two engines spoken of.

It is worthy of remark that the incidental accounts of
these two foreigners contain almost the only contem-
porary information we possess as to the character of the
Marquis's invention. English writers of the time are
almost entirely silent about it; and when Dr. Hooke,
the learned Secretary of the Royal Society, refers to the
contrivance, it is in a tone of ridicule rather than of
praise. Writing to Mr. Boyle, in 1667, he characterises
the definition or description of the water-commanding
engine as " so purely romantic that it would serve one
rarely to fill up half a dozen pages in the ' History of
Fortunatus his Wishing Cap.' ... "I was," he adds,
" since my return to London to see this engine, when
I found Caltrop [Kaltoff ], his chief engineer, to laugh
at it ; and as far as I was able to see it, it seemed one of
the perpetual-motion fallacies; of which kind Caltrop
himself, and two or three others that I know, are labour-
ing at this time in vain to make, but after several ways ;
and nothing but costly experience will make them desist." 1

It is difficult to gather from the statements of Sor-

the machine, as the river changes its
course twice a day, and the spring or
wheels which are used for the ebbing
tide would not do for the flow." —

Sorbiere, ' Relation d'un Voyage en
Angleterre.'

1 The Works of the Hon. Robert
Boyle, v. 532.

c 2

20 THE MARQUIS'S DEFINITION. CHAP. I

biere and Cosmo de Medici what was the precise nature
of the Marquis's hydraulic apparatus. There is no men-
tion whatever of steam, either in their accounts or in
that of Dr. Hooke ; but the latter does not seem to
have been allowed to examine the details of the machine.
From the mention by Sorbiere of the " four large
buckets of water," and by Cosmo's secretary, of " four
vessels of water," it might possibly have been only an
improved hydraulic apparatus, worked by a man instead
of a horse. In order, therefore, to obtain a clue to the
real nature of the machine we find it necessary to resort
to the Marquis's ' Scantlings' for his own account of its
action, and we find it in article No. 68, which runs as
follows : —

" 68. An admirable and most forcible way to drive up water by
fire, not by drawing or sucking it upwards, for that must be as the
Philosopher calleth it, Intra sphceram activitatis, which is but at ,suoh
a distance. But this way hath no Bounder, if the Vessels be strong
enough ; for I have taken a piece of a whole Cannon, whereof the
end was burst, and filled it three-quarters full of water, stopping
and scruing up the broken end ; as also the Touch-hole ; and making
a constant fire under it, within twenty-four hours it burst and made
a great crack : So that having a way to make my Vessels, so that
they are strengthened by the force within them, and the one to fill
after the other, I have seen the water run like a constant Fountaine-
stream forty foot high ; one Vessel of water rarified by fire driveth
up forty of cold water. And a man that tends the work is but to
turn two Cocks, that one Vessel of water being consumed, another
begins to force and refill with cold water, and so successively, the
fire being tended and kept constant, which the self-same Person
may likewise abundantly perform in the interim between the
necessity of turning the said Cocks."

From this account we gather that the Marquis had
contrived a plan for raising water by the expansive force
of steam, after the manner of De Caus, but with im-
portant modifications and improvements. It had obvi-
ously occurred to him, that by generating the steam in
a separate vessel, and conveying it by means of a 'suit-
able pipe to a second closed vessel, he could thereby

CHAP. I. HIS STEAM-ENGINE. 21

make it expel the water which the latter contained by
pressing upon its surface, as in De Caus's apparatus.
The admission of the steam could easily be regulated by
the turning of two cocks ; one to admit the steam from
the boiler, and the other to allow the exit of the water.
On the expulsion of the water, and the production of
a vacuum by the condensation of the contained steam,
the empty vessel would at once be refilled by the action
of the atmospheric pressure on the surface of the water
to be raised. It is probable that this engine was
—in the absence of a feed-pump, of which there is
no mention — provided with two boilers as well as with
the two cisterns in which the "forcing and refilling"
went on, so as to maintain the " constant fountain-stream"
which the Marquis describes. But the precise arrange-
ment of parts by which he accomplished this object must
ever remain a matter of mere conjecture.

We have other distinct indications of a steam-engine
in the Marquis's 98th, 99th, and 100th Articles, which
ought to be read in connection with the 68th Article :
they run as follows : —

" 98. An Engine so contrived, that working the Primum mobile
forward or backward, upward or downward, circularly or corner-
wise, to and fro, streight, upright or downright, yet the pretended
Operation continueth, and advanceth none of the motions above-
mentioned, hindering, much less stopping the other ; but unani-
mously, and with harmony agreeing they all augment and contribute
strength unto the intended work and operation : And therefore I call
this A Semi-omnipotent Engine, and do intend that a Model thereof be
buried with me."

"99. How to make one pound weight to raise an hundred as high
as one pound falleth, and yet the hundred pound descending doth
what nothing less than one hundred pound can effect."

" 100. Upon so potent a help as these two last-mentioned Inven-
tions a Waterwork is by many years experience and labour so
advantageously by me contrived, that a Child's force bringeth up
an hundred foot high an incredible quantity of water, even two
foot Diameter, so naturally, that the work will not be heard even
into the next Koom; and with so great ease and Geometrical
Symmetry, that though it work day and night from one end of the

22 NO MODEL PRESERVED. CHAP. I.

year to the other, it will not require forty shillings reparation to
the whole Engine, nor hinder ones day-work. And I may boldly
call it The most stupendous Work in the whole world : not onely with
little charge to drein all sorts of Mines, and furnish Cities with
water, though never so high seated, as well to keep them sweet,
running through several streets, and so performing the work of
Scavengers, as well as furnishing the Inhabitants with sufficient
water for their private occasions ; but likewise supplying Eivers
with sufficient to maintaine and make them portable from Towne to
Towne, and for the bettering of Lands all the way it runs ; with
many more advantageous, and yet greater effects of Profit, Admira-
tion, and Consequence. So • that deservedly I deem this Invention
to crown my Labours, to reward my Expences, and make my
Thoughts acquiesce in way of further Inventions : This making up
the whole Century, and preventing any further trouble to the
Reader for the present, meaning to leave to Posterity a Book,
wherein under each of these Heads the means to put in execution
and visible trial all and every of these Inventions, with the shape
and form of all things belonging to them, shall be Printed by Brass-
plates."

The promised book was never written, and we are
accordingly left in uncertainty as to the precise character
of the Marquis's inventions. That he had a full convic-
tion of the great powers of steam, as well as of its manage-
ability and extensive practical uses, is sufficiently clear ;
but that he ever erected any engines after the plans
thus summarily described is matter of considerable
doubt. It is remarkable that, notwithstanding the number
and variety of his suggested inventions, not a single
model or machine constructed by the Marquis or his
skilled workmen has been preserved. Mr. Dircks, who
has collected and published all that is likely to be brought
to light relative to the life and works of the Marquis,
and has laboured at his task with a rare love and enthu-
siasm for his subject, naturally expresses surprise that
" none of the many cabinets of the curious seem to have
possessed any model or work of his production ; not even
the indefatigable Tradescant, although his museum was
at Lambeth." ] But it is probable, as we have already

1 Dircks's ' Life and Times,' &c., 356.

CHAP. I.

AMBIGUITY OF THE ARTICLES.

23

observed, that the Marquis's ' Scantlings/ notwithstand-
ing his statement that he had " tried and perfected" the in-
ventions of which he speaks, were rather the foreshadow-
ings of things to come than the descriptions of things
that had actually been executed. Thus, no one pretends
that the Marquis ever constructed a steamboat, and yet
his description of a vessel " to work itself against wind
and tide, yea, both, without the help of man or beast,"
can apply to nothing else.1 " This engine," said he, " is
applicable to any vessel or boat whatsoever, without
being therefore made on purpose, and worketh these
effects : it roweth, it draweth, it driveth, (if need be) to
pass London Bridge against the stream at low-water,
and a boat laying at anchor, the engine may be used for
loading or unloading." But it would not be possible for
any one to make an engine after the description given
in the ' Scantlings ;' and to a generation unacquainted
with the powers of steam, his suggestions would be
altogether without meaning.

The strongest evidence which could be adduced of the
ambiguity of the Marquis's 'Articles' is to be found in
the fact that the various ingenious writers who have
given plans of his supposed engine have represented it
in widely different forms. Farey assumes that it worked
by the expansive force of steam ; Bourne, that it worked
by condensation and atmospheric pressure ; Dircks infers
that it included such ingenious expedients as valves and
even a four-way cock, worked by a lever-handle ; Stuart,
that it contained a cylinder and piston, and was, in fact,
a complete high-pressure lever-engine. Again, the
drawings of the various writers on engineering who
have attempted to reproduce the engine — of Stuart,

1 Mr. Woodcroft is, however, of
opinion that the Marquis's contrivance
was but a boat with paddle-wheels,
with an axis across it, which axis
was turned by the action of the stream
on the paddles, and thus wound up a

rope and dragged the boat onward to
the other end of the rope fixed by an
anchor ; certainly a more clumsy and
less notable contrivance than that of
a htt-amboat.

24 SEEKS ACCESS TO THE KING. CHAP. I.

Galloway, Millington, and Dircks— differ in essential
respects. 4

When Watt was on one occasion asked for his opinion
as to the precise nature of the Marquis's contrivance,
his answer was, that the descriptions given were too
obscure to enable any definite opinion to be formed on
the subject ; but he thought that the expansive power
of steam was the principle on which the engine worked.
He added, that no one could possibly erect an engine
after the Marquis's 6 Scantlings,' and that any inventor
desirous of constructing a steam-engine would have to
begin again at the beginning. But though the Marquis
did not leave the steam-engine in such a state as to be
taken up and adopted as a practicable working power,
he at least advanced it several important steps. In this
world, it is not given to man to finish ; to persevere,
to improve, and to advance, are all that can be hoped for ;
and these are enough for the real philosopher.

Little remains to be told of the unfortunate Marquis's
history. His water-commanding engine proved of no
service to him. It only increased his embarrassments
by involving him in further debts. The Restoration,
though it gave him back his estates, did not mend his
fortunes, and he continued to importune his friends for
loans. He sought access to the King by petition ; but
it became more and more difficult to approach him. On
one occasion he tried to accomplish his purpose through
the influence of his Majesty's mistress, Lady Castlemaine.
Provided she could persuade the king to grant his
request, he offered to present to her " a thousand pieces
to buy her a little jewel, which she deserves to wear
every day of the week. And if it please God I live but
two years," he added, " I will, out of the profits of my
water-commanding engine, appropriate four hundred

pounds yearly, for ever, to her Grace's disposal

all which, as I am a gentleman and a Christian, shall be
faithfully and most thankfully performed ; though the
benefit I pretend to by my petition will not amount to

CHAP. I. HIS EMBARRASSMENTS INCREASE. 25

what my gratitude obliges, yet the satisfaction which
it will be to my mind, and my credit therein at stake,
I value at ten times as much. And this will enable me
to place my Water-commanding Engine, when I am
certained of an hundred pounds a day profit, without
further troubling the king or anybody." 1

All his piteous importunity proved of no avail. His
friends turned aside from his petitionings, and the
king would give him no help. He came to be regarded
as a crack-brained enthusiast, and a wild projector of
impracticable things. He could not find any one to
believe in his water-commanding engine, though he
himself regarded it as of greater worth than either his
titles or his estates. It had been his own creation — the
child of his brain — the product of studies and experi-
ments extending over nearly forty years. But what
signified all this if no one would make use of the
invention ?

His difficulties and embarrassments grew from day to
day ; and his projects met with increased contumely
and even contempt. None valued them, because none
understood them. It was even proposed to appro-
priate to other purposes the premises at Yauxhall, on
which he so much plumed himself, but which he had
been unable to purchase. To prevent this, he again
petitioned the king in 1666, representing that he had
expended 9000£. in building the house he occupied there
as " an operatory for engineers and artists to make
public works in," and " above 50,000^. trying conclu-
sions of arts in that operatory which may be useful to
his Majesty and his kingdom;" and he concluded by
praying that Yauxhall might be granted to him at a
fee-farm rent. The Marchioness, his wife, at the same
time petitioned the House of Lords, representing the
state of poverty to which her husband had been reduced,
and that, in consequence of an execution having been

1 Letter to sonic person unknown, quoted by Mr. Dircks from the Badminton
MSS.— Dircks's 'Life, Times,' &c., 276.

26 DEATH OF THE MARQUIS. CHAP. I.

put in at Worcester House, through a debt of 6000/.
which the Marquis had incurred in 1642 to pay the
garrison of Monmouth, then in a state of mutiny, he
was actually threatened to be turned out of house and
home. It is riot known what came of this petition ;
but shortly after its presentation the poor Marquis was
beyond all worldly help. Broken in health, harassed,
embarrassed, and disappointed, he died in April, 1667,
in the sixty-sixth year of his age, and his remains were
conveyed to Raglan for interment in the family vault.

It will be remembered that the Marquis concluded the
98th article of his ' Century ' with the words, " I call
this a semi-omnipotent engine, and do intend that a
model thereof be buried with me." A diligent search
for the model has recently been made in the vault under
Raglan church, under the direction of Mr. Berinet
Woodcroft, whose enthusiasm as a collector of primitive
engines and machines is so well known ; but the search
proved unsuccessful, and no traces of the Marquis's
model could be found.

KDINS OF RAGLAN CASTLE. [By Percival Skelton.J

CHAP. II. ZEAL OF THE MARCHIONESS. 27

CHAPTEK II.

SIR SAMUEL MORLAND — DR. DIONYSITJS PAPIN.

AFTER the death of the Marquis of Worcester, the
Marchioness, his widow, made various efforts to turn his
inventions to account. Sceptical though the world was
as to their utility, she fully believed in them ; and now
that he was gone, it would have been dishonouring to
his memory to entertain a doubt as to his engine being
able to do all that he had promised. The Marchioness
had not only to maintain the fame of her dear husband,
but to endeavour, if possible, to pay the debts he had
contracted in prosecuting his inventions. She accor-
dingly sought to interest persons of authority and
influence in the water-commanding engine, and seized
every opportunity of bringing it into notice.

To such an extent did the Marchioness carry her zeal,
that her friends began to fear lest her mind was be-
coming disordered ; and her father-confessor was re-
quested to expostulate with her as to the impropriety
of her conduct. He accordingly implored her to desist
from her vain endeavours to get " great sums of money
from the King to pay her deceased lord's debts, en-
riching herself by the great machine, and the like."
He added that he feared " the devil, to make his sugges-
tions the more prevalent, doth make use of some motives
that seem plausible, as of paying your lord's debts, of
founding monasteries, and the like ;'' pointing out that
the end did not justify the means, and that such under-
takings were improper for her ladyship, and by no
means likely to be attended with success. It is not im-

28 SIR SAMUEL MORLAND. CHAP. II.

probable that these representations had their effect ; the
more especially as the Marchioness was no more suc-
cessful in inducing the public to adopt the invention
than the Marquis himself had been. Accordingly, the
water-commanding engine very shortly dropped out of
sight, and in the course of a few years was almost
entirely forgotten.

The steam-engine project, however, did not die; it
only slept. It had been the fruit thus far of noble
effort, of persevering self-denial, and unquestionable skill.
What was good in it would yet live, and reappear per-
haps in other forms, to vindicate the sagacity and fore-
sight of its inventor. Even during the Marquis's lifetime
other minds besides his were diligently pursuing the
same subject. Indeed, his enthusiasm was of a kind
especially calculated to inflame other minds; and the
success he had achieved with his engine, imperfect
though it might be, was of so novel and original a cha-
racter that it could not fail to excite a warm interest
amongst men of like mechanical genius.

One of the most distinguished of these was Sir Samuel
Morland, appointed Master of Mechanics to Charles II.
immediately after the Restoration. He had been for
some time previously in the employment of the Pro-
tectorate. He formed one of the embassy to Sweden,
with Whitlocke, in 1653. Some years later he took an
active part in the relief of the sufferings of the per-
secuted Protestants of Piedmont — whose history he
afterwards wrote, — having been appointed Commissioner
Extraordinary for the distribution of the collected
moneys. For some time he officiated as assistant to
Thurloe, Crom well's secretary ; and it was while acting
in this capacity that he became cognisant of a plot
against the life of Charles II., then in exile. Morland
divulged the plot to the king's friends, and thereby
perhaps sa\7ed his life. For this service, Charles, on
his Restoration, presented him with a medal, as a badge

CHAP. II.

HIS PUMPS AND FIRE-ENGINES.

29

of his signal loyalty, and also appointed him Master of
Mechanics.

From that time until the close of his life, Morland
devoted himself entirely to mechanical studies. Among
his various inventions may be mentioned the speaking-
trumpet;1 two arithmetical machines, of which he pub-
lished an illustrated description ; the capstan to heave
ships' anchors ; and various kinds of pumps and water
engines. His pumps were of a very powerful arid
effective kind. One of them, worked by eight men,
forced water from the Thames at Blackmoor Park, near
Winkfield, to the top of Windsor Castle. He also
devoted himself to the improvement of the fire-engine,
in which he employed a cylinder and piston, as well as
a stuffing-box. Towards the later years of his life, he
applied himself more particularly to the study of the
powers and uses of steam.2 In 1677, we find him taking
a lease of Yauxhall, most probably the identical house
occupied by the Marquis of Worcester, where he conducted
a series of experiments as to the power requisite to raise
water by cylinders of different dimensions.3 It is not,

1 We are informed that Morland's
Tuba Stentorphornica, or speaking-
trumpet, is still to be seen at Trinity
College, Cambridge. Butler, in his

* Hudibras,' alludes to the inven-
tion : —

" I heard a formidable voice
Loud as the stentorphornic noise."

2 His first idea seems to have been
to employ gunpowder for the pro-
duction of motive power, for in the

* Calendar of State Papers ' (Dom) we
find the following entry : — " Deer,
llth, 1691.— Warrant for a grant to
Sir Samuel Morland of the sole use
for 14 years of his invention for rais-
ing water out of pits, &c., to a reason-
able height, by the force of powder
and air conjointly." — (' Entry Book,'
V., p. 85.) In vol. XLVL, p. 49, we
find this entry under the same date : —
" Warrant for a grant to Sir S. Morland

of the sole making of an engine in-
vented by him for raising water in
mines or pits, draining marshes, or
supplying buildings with water."

3 The * Harleian Miscellany ' (Brit.
Mus.), No. 5771, contains the follow-
ing brief tract in French, written by
Morland in 1682. It is on vellum,
and entitled * Les Principes de la
Nouvelle Force de Feu :' — " L'eau
estant evaperee par la force de feu,
ces vapeurs demandent incontinant
une plus grand'espace [environ deux
mille fois] que 1'eau n'occupoiet au-
paravant, et plus tost que d'etre tou-
jours emprisonn6s, feroient crever une
piece de canon. Mais estant bien
gouvernees selon les regies de la sta-
tique, et par science reduites a la
mesure an poids, et a la balance, alors
elles portent paisiblement leurs far-
deaux [comme des bons chevaux] et
ainsy seroient elles du grand usage an

30

HIS POVERTY AND BLINDNESS.

CHAP. II.

however, known that he ever erected a steam-engine.
If he did, no account of its performances has been
preserved.

Morland's inventions proved of no greater advan-
tage to him than those of the Marquis of Worcester
had done. His later years were spent in poverty
and blindness, and he must have perished but for the
charitable kindness of Archbishop Tenison and a few
other friends. Evelyn gives the following interesting
account of a visit to him in October, 1695, two months
before his death : — " The Archbishop and myself went
to Hammersmith to visit Sir Samuel Morland, who was
entirely blind; a very mortifying sight. He showed
me his invention of writing, which was very ingenious ;
also his wooden calendar, which instructed him all by
feeling, and other pretty and useful inventions of mills,
pumps, &c., and the pump he had erected that serves
water to his garden, and to passengers, with an inscrip-
tion, and brings from a filthy part of the Thames now
near it, a most perfect and pure water. He had newly
buried 200/. worth of music books, being, as he said, love
songs and vanity. He plays himself psalms and religious
hymns on the theorbo." The inscription to which Evelyn
refers was on a stone tablet fixed on the wall of his
house, still preserved, which runs thus : — " SIR SAMUEL
MORLAND'S WELL, the use of which he freely gives to
all persons : hoping that none who shall come after him,
will adventure to incur God's displeasure, by denying
a cup of cold water (provided at another's cost and not
their own) to either neighbour, stranger, passenger, or
poor thirsty beggar. July 8, 1695."

The next prominent experimenter on the powers of

gendre humain, particulierement pour
1'elevation des eaux, selon la table
suivante que marque les nombres des
livres qui pourrant estre leve's 1800
fois par heure, a 6 pouces de levee, par
de cylindres a moitie remplies d'eau,

ausi bien que les divers diamctres et
profondeurs dc-s dit cylindres." Tables
are then given, showing the pmvcr
requisite to raise given quantities of
water to certain heights by cylinders
of different dimensions.

CHAP. IT.

DK. DIOXYSIUS PAPTX.

31

D1ONYS1OS PAPIN, M.TX, P.K.S.

steam was Dr. Dionysius Papin. He was born at Blois
about the middle of the seventeenth century, and educated
to the profession of medicine. After taking his degree at
Paris, he turned his attention more particularly to the
study of physics, which soon occupied his whole atten-
tion ; and under the celebrated Huyghens, then resident
in that city, he made rapid progress. He would, doubt-
less, have risen to great distinction in his own country,
but for the circumstance of his being a Protestant. To
escape the persecutions to which all members of that
persuasion were then subject, Papin fled from France in
1681, together with thousands of his countrymen, a few
years before the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
He took refuge in London, where he was welcomed by
men of science, and more especially by the celebrated
Boyle, under whose auspices he was introduced to the

32 PAPIN'S DIGESTER. CHAP. II.

Eoyal Society, of which he was appointed Curator at an
annual salary.

It formed part of Papin's duty, in connection with
his new office, to produce an experiment at each meeting
of the Society. He was thus induced to prosecute the
study of physical science ; and in order to stimulate the
interest of the members, he sought to introduce new
subjects from time to time to their notice. One of the
greatest novelties of his "entertainments" was the pro-
duction of his well-known Digester, which excited a
considerable degree of interest; and on one occasion
a philosophical supper, cooked by the Digester, was
served up to the Fellows, of which Evelyn gives an
amusing account in his Diary.

He was led to the invention of the Digester by certain
experiments which he made for Boyle. He discovered
that if the vapour of boiling water could be prevented
escaping, the temperature of the water would be raised
much above the boiling point ; and it occurred to
him to employ this increased heat in more effectually
extracting nutritious matter from the bones of animals,
until then thrown away as useless. The great strength
required for his Digester, and the means he was obliged
to adopt for the purpose of securely confining the cover,
must have early shown him what a powerful agent he
was experimenting on. To prevent the bursting of
the vessel from the internal pressure, he was led to the
invention of the safety-valve, which consisted of a small
moveable plate, or cylinder, fitted into an opening in
the cover of the boiler, and kept shut by a lever loaded
with a weight, capable of sliding along it in the man-
ner of a steel yard. The pressure of the weight upon
the valve could thus be regulated at pleasure. When the
pressure became so great as to endanger the safety of
the boiler, the valve was forced up, and so permitted
the steam to escape. Although Papin was thus the
inventor of the safety-valve, it is a curious fact that he

CHAP. 11. PAPIN'S EXPERIMENTS. 33

did not apply it to the steam-machine which he subse-
quently invented, but adopted another expedient.

The reputation of Papin having extended to Germany,
he was, in 1687, invited to fill the office of Professor of
Mathematics in the University of Marburg, and accepted
the appointment. He continued, however, to maintain
a friendly correspondence with his scientific friends in
England, and communicated to the Royal Society the
results of the experiments in physics which he con-
tinued to pursue. In the same year in which he settled
at Marburg, he submitted to the Society an important
paper, which indicated the direction in which his
thoughts were then running. It had occurred to him,
as it had before done to Hautefeuille, that the explosion
of gunpowder presented a ready means of producing
a power to elevate a piston in a tube or cylinder, and
that, when so raised, a vacuum could be formed under
the piston by condensing the vapour, and so ensuring
its return by the pressure of the atmosphere. He
thought that he might thus be enabled to secure an
efficient moving force. But it was found in practice,
that the proposed power was too violent as well as un-
certain, and it was shortly given up as impracticable.

Papin next inquired whether his proposed elastic
force and subsequent vacuum might not better be pro-
duced by means of steam. He accordingly entered
upon a series of experiments, which gradually led . him
to the important conclusions published in his celebrated
paper on "A New Method of Obtaining very Great
Moving Powers at Small Cost," which appeared in the
6Acta Eruditorum' of Leipsic, in 1790. "I felt con-
fident," he there observes, " that machines might be
constructed wherein water, by means of no very intense
heat, and at small cost, might produce that perfect
vacuum which had failed to be obtained by means of
gunpowder." He accordingly contrived a machine to
illustrate this idea, but it was very imperfect and slow

D

34: PAPIN'S DISADVANTAGE. CHAP. II.

in its action, as may well be imagined from the circum-
stance that to produce the condensation he did not
apply cold, but merely took away the fire! Still he
was successfully working out, step by step, the important
problem of steam power. He clearly perceived that
a piston might be raised in a cylinder by the elastic
force of steam, and that on the production of a vacuum
by its condensation, the piston might be driven home
again by the pressure of the atmosphere. The question
was, how was this idea to be realised in a practicable
working machine ? After many experiments, Papin
had the courage to make the attempt to pump water by
atmospheric pressure on a large scale. He was em-
ployed to erect machines after his principle, for the
purpose of draining mines in Auvergne and Westphalia ;
but from the difficulty he experienced in procuring and
preserving a vacuum, and the tediousness of the process,
his enterprise proved abortive.

The truth is, that fertile though Papin was in con-
ception, he laboured under the greatest possible dis-
advantage in not being a mechanic. The eyes and
hands of others are not to be relied on in the execution
of new and untried machines. Unless eyes and hands
be disciplined by experience in skilled work, and
inspired by intelligence, they are comparatively useless.
The chances of success are vastly greater when mind,
eyes, and hands, are combined in one person. Hence
the unquestionable fact that though the motive power
of steam had long been the subject of ingenious specula-
tion and elaborate experiment amongst scientific men,
it failed to be adopted as a practicable working power
until it was taken in hand by mechanics — by such men
as Newcomen, the blacksmith ; Potter, the engine-driver ;
Brindley, the millwright ; and, above all, by James Watt,
the mathematical instrument maker.

The sagacious foresight of Papin as to the extensive
applicability of steam-power as a motive agent, is

CHAP. II. PROPOSED STEAM-BOAT. 35

strikingly shown by the following passage in the paper
above referred to : — " If any one," says he, " will consider
the magnitude of the forces to be obtained in this way
(i. e., by the atmospheric high-pressure engine he was
suggesting), and the trifling expense at which a suffi-
cient quantity of fuel can be procured, he will certainly
admit that this very method is far preferable to the use
of gunpowder above spoken of, especially as in this
way a perfect vacuum is obtained, and so the incon-
veniences above recounted are avoided. In what
manner that power can be applied to draw water or
ore from mines, to discharge iron bullets to a great
distance, to propel ships against the wind, and to a
multitude of other similar purposes, it would be too
long here to detail ; but each individual, according to
the particular occasion, must select the construction of
machinery appropriate to his purpose." This last was,
however, the real difficulty to be overcome. Steam,
doubtless, contained a power to do all these things ; but
as for the machine that would work quietly, docilely,
and effectively, in pumping water, discharging bullets,
or propelling ships, the mechanic had not yet appeared
that was able to make one.

Papin was, however, a man of great perseverance ;
and, strong in his faith as to the power of steam to
propel ships, he gradually worked his way to the con-
trivance of a model steamboat. When in London, he
had seen an experiment tried by the Prince Palatine
Rupert on the Thames, in which a boat fitted with
revolving paddles attached to the two ends of an axle
which received its motion from a trundle working on
a wheel turned round by horses, went with such rapidity
as to leave the king's barge, manned by sixteen rowers,
far behind in the race. The idea which occurred to
Papin was, to apply a steam machine to drive the
paddles, and thus ensure a ship's motion independent
of wind or tide. For this purpose, it was necessary to

36

BLASCO GAHAY.

CHAP. II.

convert the alternate motion of the piston-rod into
a continuous rotary one ; and this he proposed to effect
"by having the rods of the pistons fitted with teeth,
which would force round small wheels, toothed in like
manner, fastened to the axis of the paddles."

The use of paddle-wheels in propelling boats had long
been known. The Harleian MSS. contain an Italian
book of sketches, attributed to the fifteenth century, in
which there appears the annexed sketch of a paddle-
boat. This boat was evidently intended to be worked by

two men turning the crank
by which the paddles were
made to revolve. There
were many other early
schemes of paddle-boats,
some of which were pro-
posed to be worked by horse-
power . The name of Blasco
Garay has often been men-
tioned as the first who ap-
plied the power of steam to the driving of paddle-boats ;
but for this there is not the slightest foundation. M. Ber-
genroth informs us that he has carefully examined all
the documents relating to the trials of Blasco Garay in
the archives at Simancas, but has found no reference
whatever to steam as the power employed in causing
the paddles to revolve.1 The experiments were made at

ANCIENT PADDLE-BOAT.

1 M. Bergenroth says the documents
at Simancas consist of — 1. A holo-
graph letter of Blasco Garay to the
Emperor, dated Malaga, 10th Sept.,
1540, containing his report on the trial
trip of one of his paddle-wheel ships ;

2. The report of the Captain Antonio
Destigarura on the same trial trip;

3. The report of the Provcedores of
Malaga concerning the same trip, dated
27th July, 1540 ; 4. The report of
Blasco Garay to the Emperor, dated
6th July, 1543, concerning the trial
trip of another of his paddle-wheel

ships made at Barcelona in June,
1543 ; 5. A letter of Blasco Garay to
Carrs, dated 20th June, 1543. In
none of these is there to be found any
reference to steam-power ; but only to
the power of men employed in driving
the paddle-wheels. This is confirmed
by the independent examination of the
same documents by J. Macgregor,
Esq., of the Temple, who gives the
result in a Letter to Bennet Woodcraft,
Esq., inserted as a note to the ' Abridg-
ments of the Specifications relating to
Steam Propulsion,' pp. 105-7.

CHAP. IT. PAPIN'S MODEL STEAM-BOAT. 37

Malaga and Barcelona respectively, in the years 1540
and 1543 : in one the vessel was propelled by a paddle-
wheel on each side worked by twenty-five men, and in
the other by a paddle-wheel worked by forty men.

It appears probable that although others before Papin
had speculated as to the possibility of constructing a boat
to be driven by the power of steam, he was the first to
test the theory by actual experiment ; the first to con-
struct a model steamboat. His first experiments were
doubtless failures. The engine contrived by himself
was found inapplicable to the driving of ships, as it had
been to the pumping of mines ; and it was not until he
saw the model of Savery's engine exhibited to the Eoyal
Society of London, in 1698, and witnessed the trial of the
same inventors paddle-wheel boat on the Thames in the
course of the same year that it occurred to him to com-
bine the two contrivances in one, and apply Savery's
engine to drive Savery's paddle-wheels. Returning to
Marburg, he proceeded with his experiments, and in-
formed Liebnitz that he had employed both suction and
pressure by steam ; that he had made a model of a car-
riage propelled by this force, which succeeded ; and he
hoped that the same power would answer for boats.
Papin prosecuted his idea with great zeal, trying many
expedients, encountering many difficulties, and meeting
with many disappointments. At length, after about
fifteen years' labour, he succeeded in constructing a
model engine, fitted in a boat — "une petite machine
d'unvaisseau a roues" — which worked to his satisfaction.
His next object was to get his model transported to
London, to exhibit it on the Thames. " It is important,"
he writes to Liebnitz (7th July, 1707), "that my new
construction of vessel should be put to the proof in a
seaport like London, where there is depth enough to
apply the new invention, which, by means of fire, will
render one or two men capable of producing more eifect
than some hundreds of rowers." Papin had consider-

38 THE MODEL DESTROYED. CHAP. II.

able difficulty in obtaining the requisite permission from
the authorities to enable his model to pass from the
Fulda to the Weser ; but at length he succeeded, and
the little vessel reached Miinden, when, to Papin's great
grief, it was, seized by the boatmen of the river, and
barbarously destroyed.

The year after this calamity befel Papin's machine he
wrote an urgent letter to his old friends of the Eoyal
Society at London, asking them to advance him sufficient
money to construct another engine " and to fit it so that
it might be applied for the rowing of ships." The
Society, however, did not see their way to assisting
Papin in the manner proposed, most likely because of
the expense as well as uncertainty of the experiment.
Two years later, worn out by work and anxiety, the
illustrious exile died ; and it was left for other labourers
to realise the great ideas he had formed as to locomotion
by steam-power.

The apparently resultless labours of these men will
serve to show what a long, anxious, and toilsome process
the invention of the steam-engine has been. The early
inventors had not the gratification of seeing their toils
rewarded by even the faintest glimmering of practical
success. One after another, they took up the subject,
spent days and nights of study over it, and, laying down
their lives, there left it. To many the study brought
nothing but anxiety, toil, distress, and sometimes ruin ;
while some fairly broke their hearts over it. But it was
never abandoned. Disregarding the fate of their pre-
decessors, one labourer after another resumed the inves-
tigation, advancing it by further stages, until at length
the practicable working steam-engine was invented, pre-
senting, perhaps, the most remarkable illustration of the
power of human skill and perseverance to be found in
the whole history of civilisation.

CHAP. III. THOMAS SAVERY. 39

CHAPTEK III.

CAPTAIN SAVERY — His FIRE-ENGINE.

THE attempts hitherto made to invent a working steam-
engine, it will be observed, had not been attended with
much success. The most that could be said of them was,
that, by demonstrating the impracticable, they were
gradually leading other experimenters in the direction
of the practicable. Although the progress made seemed
but slow, the amount of net result was by no means in-
considerable. Men were becoming better acquainted
with the elastic force of steam. The vacuum produced
by its condensation in a closed vessel, and the con-
sequent atmospheric pressure, had been illustrated by
repeated experiments ; and many separate and minor
inventions, which afterwards proved of great value, had
been made, such as the four-way cock, the safety-valve,
and the piston moving in a cylinder. The principle of
a true steam-engine had not only been demonstrated,
but most of the separate parts of such an engine had
been contrived by various inventors. It seemed as if all
that was now wanting was a genius of more than ordi-
nary power to combine them in a complete and effective
whole.

To Thomas Savery is usually accorded the merit of
having constructed the first actual working steam-engine.
Little is known of his early history ; and various sur-
mises have been formed as to his origin and calling.
Some writers have described him as the captain of a tin-
mine ; others as a naval captain ; while a third says he
was an immigrant Frenchman.1 We are, however,

Burn, 'History of Foreign Protestant Refugees,' 261.

40

THE SAVERY FAMILY.

CHAP. TIT.

enabled to state, from information communicated by his
descendants, that he was the scion of a well-known
Devonshire family. John Savery, of Halberton, or
Harberton, afterwards of Great Totness, was a gentleman
of considerable property in the reign of Henry VIII.
In the sixteenth century the Saverys became connected
by marriage with the Servingtons of Tavistock, another
old county family, one of whom served as sheriff in the
reign of Edward III. In 1588, Christopher Savery,
the head of the family, resided in Totness Castle, of
which he was the owner ; and for a period of nearly
forty years the town was represented in Parliament by
members of the Savery family. Sir Charles served as
Sheriff of Devon in 1619. Though the Saverys took
the side of the Parliament, in resisting the despotic
power assumed by Charles I., they nevertheless held a
moderate course; for we find Colonel Savery, in 1643,
attaching his name to the famous " round robin" pre-
sented to Parliament. Richard Savery, the youngest
son of the Colonel, was father of Thomas Savery, the
inventor of the " fire-engine." Other members of the
Savery family, besides Thomas, were distinguished for
their prosecution of physical science. Thus we find
from the family MSS., Servington Savery correspond-
ing with Dr. Jurin, Secretary to the Royal Society,
respecting an improvement which he had made in the
barometer, and communicating the results of some mag-
netic experiments of a novel kind, which he had recently
performed.4

Thomas Savery was born at Shilston, near Modbury,
in Devon, about the year 1650. Nothing is known of

1 In a letter, dated Shilston, August
9th, 1727, he writes:— "The late Mr,
Thomas Savery, inventor of the en-
gines for rowing, and raising water by
fire, was, I believe, well known to
several of the Royal Society, perhaps
to the President ; but as I am a per-

fect stranger, do acquaint you that his
father was youngest brother to my
grandfather. The late Servington
Savery, M.D., of Marlborough, \vas
one of my family, viz., a brother t<>
my deceased father."

CHAP. TIT.

SAVERY'S EARLY INVENTIONS.

41

his early life, beyond that he was educated to the pro-
fession of a military engineer, and in course of time duly
reached the rank of Trench-master. The corps of en-
gineers was not, however, regarded as an essential
part of the military force until the year 1787, when the
officers ranked with those of the Roval Artillery. The

THOMAS SAVER?, F.K.S.

pursuit of his profession, as well as his natural disposi-
tion, led Savery to the study of mechanics, and he he-
came well accomplished in the physical knowledge of his
time. He occupied much of his spare time in mechanical
experiments, and in projecting and executing contri-
vances of various sorts. One of his early works was a

42

HIS PADDLE-BOAT.

CHAP. IIL

clock, still preserved in the family,1 which until lately
kept very good time ; and when last repaired by a
watchmaker of Modbury was pronounced to be a piece
of very good work, of a peculiar construction, displaying
'much ingenuity.

Another of Savery' s early contrivances was a machine
for polishing plate-glass, for which he obtained a patent.
He was occupied about the same time with an invention
for rowing ships in calms by the mechanical apparatus
subsequently described in his treatise, entitled ' Naviga-
tion Improved.' He there relates how it troubled his
thoughts and racked his brains to find out this invention,
which he accomplished after many experiments, con-
ducted " with great charge." He naturally set much
value on the product of so much study and labour ; and
he was proportionately vexed on finding that others
regarded* it with indifference. He professed to have
had " promises of a great reward from the Court, if the
thing would answer the end for which he proposed it ;"
but instead of a reward, Savery received only. contumely
and scorn. He attributed his want of success to the ill-
humour of the then Surveyor of the Navy, who reported
against his engine, because, said he, " it's the nature of
some men to decry all inventions that are not the pro-
duct of their own brains." He only asked for a fair
trial of his paddle-boat, believing in its efficiency and
utility; declaring , that it was not his " fondness for his
own bratt that made him think so," but the favourable
opinions of several very judicious persons in town, that
encouraged him to urge his invention for public
adoption.

The invention in question consisted of a boat mounted
with two paddle-wheels, one on each side, worked by a
capstan placed in the centre of the vessel. The annexed

1 It is now in the possession of Capt.
Lowe, of the 26th Regiment, whose

grand-aunt was a Miss Savery of Sliil-
ston.

CHAP. III.

HIS SCHEME OPPOSED.

43

SECTION OF SAVERY'S PADDLE-BOAT.

cut will show the nature of the arrangement, which
probably did not differ much from the scheme of Blasco
Garay, above referred to.

Savery says
he was led
to make the \] !,
invention
through the
difficulty which
had been expe-
rienced in get- •
ting ships in HH
motion so as
to place them
alongside of the
enemy in sea-
fights, especially during calm weather. He" thought
that if our fighting-ships could be made to move inde-
pendent of the winds, we should thereby possess an
advantage of essential consequence to the public service.
" The gentlemen," said he, " that were on the Brest expe-
dition with my Lord Caermarthen must know how useful
this engine would have been ; for had they had them there
on board each ship, they might have moved themselves
where they had pleased." He also urged the usefulness
of the engine for packet-boats, bomb- vessels, and sloops,
and especially for use in sea-fights, in bringing off dis-
abled ships. When he had completed his invention, he
took steps to bring it under the notice of Mr. Secretary
Trenchard. The plan was shown to the King, who
thought highly of it, and referred Savery to the Admi-
ralty. When he went there he was told that he should
have gone to the Navy Board. At the Navy Board he
was told that certain objections to the adoption of his
scheme had already been sent to the Admiralty.

Savery having ascertained that the Surveyor was
himself the author of the objections, proceeded to discuss

44

SAVEBTS YACHT.

CHAP. III.

the matter with him. But the Surveyor was not a man
to be argued out of his views by an inventor ; and he
shut up Savery with the remark : " What have inter-
loping people, that have no concern with us, to do to
pretend to contrive or invent things for us ? " Savery
was highly indignant at the official snub, and published
the conversation in his Treatise. " Though one has
found out," said he, " an improvement as great to shipping
as turning to windward or the Compass, unless you can
sit round the Green Table in Crutched Friars, your in-
vention is damned, of course ;" and the testy inventor
concluded : " All I have now to add is, that whoever is
angry with the Truth for appearing in mean language
may as well be angry with an honest man for his plain
habit ; for, indeed, it is as common for Lyes and Non-
sense to be disguised by a jingle of words as for a Block-
head to be hid by abundance of Peruke."1

Notwithstanding his rebuff by the Navy Surveyor,
Savery proceeded to fit up a small yacht with his engine,
and tried an experiment with it on the Thames, in sight
of many thousands of spectators. The experiment was,
in his opinion, entirely successful. The yacht, manned
by eight sailors working the capstan, passed a ketch
with all its sails spread, as well as other vessels. " All
people," said Savery, " seemed to like the demonstration
of the use of my engine, the public newspapers speaking
very largely of it, yet all to no purpose." Savery had
already expended 200£. in his experiments on the paddle-
wheel boat, and was not disposed to go any further,
now that Government had decided not to take up the
invention. Indeed, its practical utility was doubtful.
The power of the wind was, after all, better than hand-
labour for working large ships ; and it continued to

1 * Navigation Improved ; or the Art
of Rowing Ships of all rates in calms,
with a more easy, swift and steady mo-
tion than oars can. Also, a descrip-
tion of the engine that performs it ;

and the Author's answer to all Mr.
Drummer's objections that have been

made against it. By Tho.
Gent. London, 1098.'

•avory,

CHAP. III. MINES OF COKNWALL. 45

maintain its superiority until the steam-engine was
brought to perfection.

It is curious that it should not have occurred to Savery,
who invented both a paddle-wheel boat and a steam-
engine, to combine the two in one machine ; but he was
probably sick of the former invention, which had given
him so much vexation and annoyance, and gave it up
in disgust, leaving it to Papin, who saw both his inven-
tions at work, to hit upon the grand idea of combining
the two in a steam-vessel, — the only machine capable of
effectually and satisfactorily rowing ships in a calm, or
against wind and tide.

It is probable that Savery was led to enter upon his
next and most important invention by the circumstance
of his having been brought up in the neighbourhood of
the mining districts, and being well aware of the great
difficulty experienced by the miners in keeping their
pits clear of water, to enable them to proceed with
their underground operations. The early tin-mining
of Cornwall was for the most part what was called
" stream-work," being confined mainly to washing and
collecting the diluvial deposits of the ore. Mines
usually grew out of these stream-works ; the ground
was laid open at the back of the lodes, and the ore was
dug out as from a quarry. Some of these old openings,
called " coffins," are still to be met with in different
parts of Cornwall. The miners did not venture much
below the surface, for fear of the water, by which they
were constantly liable to be drowned out. But as the
upper strata became exhausted, they were tempted to go
deeper in search of the richer ores. Shafts were sunk
to the lodes, and they were followed underground.
Then it was that the difficulty of water had to be en-
countered and overcome ; for unless it could be got rid
of, the deeper ores of Cornwall were as so much buried
treasure. When the mines were of no great depth, it
was possible to bale out the water by hand-buckets.

46

PUMPING MACHINERY.

CHAP. III.

But this expedient was soon exhausted ; and the power
of horses was then employed to draw the buckets.
Where the lodes ran along a hill-side, it was possible, by
driving an adit from a lower point, to let off the water
by natural drainage. But this was not often found
practicable, and in most cases it had to be raised directly
from the shafts by artificial methods. As the quantity
increased, a whim or gin moving on a perpendicular
axis was employed to draw the water.1 An improve-
ment on this was the rack and chain pump, consisting
of an endless iron chain mounted with knobs of cloth
stiffened with leather, inclosed in a wooden pump of
from six to eight inches bore, the lower part of which
rested in the well of the mine. The chain was turned
round by a wheel two or three feet in diameter, usually
worked by men, and the knobs with which it was
mounted brought up a stream of water according to the
dimensions of the pump. Another method, considered
the most effectual of all, was known as " the water-
wheel and bobs," consisting of a powerful pump, or
series of pumps, worked by a water-wheel. But
although there is no want of water underground in
Cornwall, and no want of rain above ground, there are
few or no great water-courses capable of driving
machinery; besides, as the mines are for the most
part situated on high ground, it will be obvious
that water-power was available to only a very limited
extent for this purpose.

It is also worthy of notice that the early mining of
Cornwall was carried on by men of small capital, prin-
cipally by working men, who were unable to expend
any large amount of money in forming artificial reser-
voirs, or in erecting the powerful pumping machinery

1 Mr. Davies Gilbert says even this
method was comparatively modern, as
he remembered a carpenter who used
to boast that he had assisted in mak-

ing the first whim ever seen westward
of Hayle. — Davies, * Parochial History
of Cornwall,' London, 1838, ii. 83.

CHAP. III. PRIMITIVE DAYS OF MINING. 47

necessary for keeping the deeper mines clear of
water. The Cornish miners, like the Whitstable oyster-
dredgers, worked upon the principle of co-operation.
This doctrine, now taught as a modern one, was prac-
tised by them almost time out of mind. The owner of
the land gave the use of his land, the adventurers gave
their money, and the miners their labour ; all sharing in
the proceeds according to ancient custom. For the use
of his land, and for the ore taken from the mine,
the lord usually took a sixth part ; but in consideration
of draining the mine, and in order to encourage the
adventure, he was often content with an eighth, or it
might be only a tenth part of the produce. The miners,
on their part, agreed to divide in the proportions in
which they took part in the work. Their shares of the
ore raised were measured by barrows, and parcelled
into heaps ; " and it is surprising," says Borlase, " to
see how ready and exact the reckoners are in dividing,
though oftentimes they can neither write nor read.
The parcels being laid forth, lots are cast, and then
every parcel has a distinct mark laid on it with one,
two, or three stones, and sometimes a bit of stick or turf
stuck up in the middle or side of the pile; and when
these marks are laid on, the parcels may continue there
half a year or more unmolested." *

These were, however, the early and primitive days of
mining, when the operations were carried on com-
paratively near the surface, and the capital invested in
pumping-machinery was comparatively small in amount.
As the miners went deeper and deeper into the ground,
and the richer lodes were struck and followed, the cha-
racter of mining became considerably changed. Larger
capitals were required to sink the shafts and keep them
clear of water until the ore was reached ; and a new
class of men, outside the mining districts, was induced

Borlase, 'Natural History of Cornwall,' 175-6.

48

SAVERY'S EXPERIMENTS.

CHAP. III.

to venture their money in the mines as a speculation.
Yet the system above described, though greatly modified
by altered circumstances, continues to this day ; and the
mining of Cornwall continues to be carried on mainly
upon the co-operative or joint-stock system.

When the surface lodes became exhausted, the necessity
of employing some more efficient method of pumping the
water became more and more urgent. In one pit after
another the miners were being drowned out, and the
operations of an important branch of national industry
were in danger of being brought to a complete standstill.
It was under these circumstances that Captain Savery
turned his attention to the contrivance of a more
powerful engine for the raising of water ; and after
various experiments, he became persuaded that the
most effective agency for the purpose was the power of
steam. It is very probable that he was aware of the
attempts that had been previously made in the same
direction, and he may have gathered many useful and
suggestive hints from the Marquis of Worcester's
4 Century ; ' but as that book contained no plans nor
precise definitions of the methods by which the Marquis
had accomplished his objects, it could have helped him
but little towards the contrivance of a practicable
working engine.1

How Savery was led to the study of the power of
steam has been differently stated. Desaguliers says his
own account was this, — that having drunk a flask of
Florence at a tavern, and thrown the empty flask on the

1 The absurd story is told by Dr.
Desaguliers (* Experimental Philo-
sophy,' ii. 465) that Savery, having
read the Marquis's book, "was the
first to put in practice the raising of
water by fire, which he proposed for
the draining of mines;" and having
copied the Marquis's engine, "the
better to conceal the matter, bought
up all the Marquis of Worcester's

books that he could purchase in Pater-
noster-row and elsewhere, and burned
'em in the presence of the gentleman,
his friend, who told me this!" It
need scarcely be said that it was very
unlikely that Savery should have at-
tempted thus to conceal an invention
recorded in a printed book which had
been in circulation for more than forty
years.

CHAP. III. SAVERY'S " FIRE ENGINE." 49

fire, he called for a basin of water to wash his hands,
and perceiving that the little wine left in the flask had
changed to steam, he took the vessel by the neck and
plunged its mouth into the water in the basin, when,
the steam being condensed, the water was immediately
driven up into the flask by the pressure of the atmo-
sphere. Desaguliers disbelieved this account, but admits
that Savery made many experiments upon the powers
of steam, and eventually succeeded in making several
engines " which raised water very well." Switzer, who
was on intimate terms with Savery, gives another
account. He says the first hint from which he took the
engine was from a tobacco-pipe, which he immersed in
water to wash or cool it ; when he discovered by the
rarefaction of the air in the tube by the heat or steam,
and the gravitation or pressure of the exterior air on the
condensation of the latter, that the water was made to
spring through the tube of the pipe in a most surprising
manner;1 and that this phenomenon induced him to
search for the rationale, and to prosecute a series of expe-
riments which issued in the invention of his fire-engine.

However Savery may have obtained his first idea of
the expansion and condensation of steam, and of atmos-
pheric pressure, it is certain that the subject occupied
his attention for many years. He had the usual diffi-
culties to encounter in dealing with a wholly new and
untried power, in contriving the novel mechanism
through wrhich it was to work, and of getting his con-
trivances executed by the hands of mechanics necessarily
unaccustomed to such kind of work. " Though I was
obliged," he says, " to encounter the oddest and almost
insuperable difficulties, I spared neither time, pains, nor
money, till I had absolutely conquered them."

Having sufficiently matured his design, he had a
model of his new " Fire Engine," as he termed it, made

Switzer, ' System of Hydrostaticks and Hydraulic ks,' London, 1729.

E

50

EXHIBITS HIS MODEL.

CHAP. III.

for exhibition before the King at Hampton Court in
1698. William III., who was himself of a mechanical
turn, was highly pleased with the ingenuity displayed
in Savery's engine, as well as with its efficient action,
and he permitted the inventor to dedicate to him ' The
Miner's Friend,' containing the first published descrip-
tion of his invention. The King also promoted Savery's
application for a Patent, which was secured in July,
1698,1 and an Act confirming it was passed in the
following year.

Savery's next step was to bring his invention under
the notice of the Royal Society, whose opinion on all
matters of science was listened to with profound respect.
He accordingly exhibited his model at a meeting held
on the 14th of June, 1699, and it is recorded in the
minutes of that date, that " Mr. Savery entertained the
Society with showing his engine to raise water by
the force of fire. He was thanked for showing the
experiment, which succeeded according to expectation,
and was approved of." The inventor presented the
Society with a drawing of his engine, accompanied by a
description, which was printed in the 'Transactions.'2

Savery next endeavoured to bring his invention into
practical use, but this was a matter of much greater
difficulty. So many schemes with a like object had
been brought out and failed, that the mining interest
came to regard new projects with increasing suspicion.
To persuade them that he was no mere projector, but
the inventor of a practicable working engine, Savery
wrote and published his ' Miner's Friend.' " I am not
very fond," he there said, " of lying under the scandal of

1 The patent is dated the 25th July,
1698, and is entitled, "A grant to
Thomas Savery, Gentl., of the sole
exercise of a new invencon, by him
invented, for raiseing of water, and
occasioning mocon to all sort of mill
works, by the impellant force of fire,
which will be of great use for draining

mines, serving towns with water, and
for the working of all sorts of mills
when they have not the benefit of
water nor constant winds ; to hold for
14 years ; with usual clauses."

2 ' Philosophical Transactions,' No.
252. Weld's ' Royal Society,' i. 357.

CHAP. III. SAVEKY'S EXPLANATIONS. 51

a bare projector, and therefore present you here with a
draught of my machine, and lay before you the uses
of it, and leave it to your consideration whether it be
worth your while to make use of it or no."

Inventors before Savery's time were wont to make a
great mystery of their inventions ; but he proclaimed
that there was no mystery whatever about his machine,
and he believed that the more clearly it was understood,
the better it would be appreciated. He acknowledged
that there had been many pretenders to new inventions
of the same sort, who had excited hopes which had
never been fulfilled ; but this invention which he had
made was a thing the uses of which were capable of
actual demonstration. He urged that the old methods
of raising water could not be carried further ; and that
an entirely new power was needed to enable the miner to
prosecute his underground labours. " I fear," said he,
" that whoever by the old causes of motion pretends to im-
provements within the last century does betray his know-
ledge and judgment. For more than a hundred years
since, men and horses would raise by engines then made
as much water as they have ever done since, or I believe
ever will, or, according to the law of nature, ever can
do. And, though my thoughts have been long employed
about water-works, I should never have pretended to
any invention of that kind, had I not happily found out
this new, but yet a much stronger and cheaper force or
cause of motion than any before made use of." He
proceeded to show how easy it was to work his engine,
—boys of thirteen, or fourteen years being able to
attend and work it to perfection after a few days'
teaching, — and how he had at length, after great
difficulty, instructed handicraft artificers to construct
the engine according to his design, so that, after much
experience, said he, "they are become such masters
of the thing that they oblige themselves to deliver
what engines they make exactly tight and fit for service,

E 2

52

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLAN.

CHAP. III.

and as such I dare warrant them to anybody that has

occasion for them." !

Savery's engine, as described by him-
self, consisted of a series of boilers, con-
densing vessels, and tubes, the action of
which will be readily understood with
the help of the annexed drawing.2

1 ' The Miner's Friend, or an Engine to Raise Water
by Fire, described, and of the manner of fixing it in
Mines, with an account of the several uses it is applicable
unto ; and an answer to the objections
made against it. By Tho. Savery, Gent.'
London, 1702.

2 Two boilers, a large, A, A, and a
smaller, B, were fixed in a furnace, and
connected together at the top by a
pipe, c. The larger boiler was filled
two-thirds full, and the smaller quite
full of water. When that in the larger
one was raised to the boiling-point, the
handle of the regulator, D, was thrust
back as far as it would go, by which
the steam forced itself through the pipe
connected with the vessel E, expelling
the air it contained through the clack
at F. The handle of the regulator being
then drawn towards you, the communi-
cation between the boiler and the vessel,
E, was closed, and that between the
boiler and the second vessel, G, was
opened, which latter was also filled with
steam, the air being in like manner dis-
charged through the clack, H. Cold water was then poured from
the water-cock, T, on to the vessel E, by which the steam was
suddenly condensed, and a vacuum being thereby caused, the water
to be raised was drawn up through the sucking-pipe, J, its return
being prevented by a clack or valve at K. The handle of the regu-
lator D being again thrust back, the steam was again admitted,
and pressing upon the surface of the water in E, forced it out at
the bottom of the vessel and up through the pipe L, from which
it was driven into the open air. The handle of the regulator was
then reversed, on which the steam was again admitted to G, and
the water in like manner expelled from it, while E, being again
dashed with cold water, was refilling from below. Then the cold
water was turned upon G, and thus alternate filling and forcing-
went on, and a continuous stream of cold water kept flowing
from the upper opening. The large boiler was replenished with
water by shutting off the connection of the small boiler with the
cold water pipe, M, which supplied it from above, on which the
steam contained in the latter forced the water through the con-
necting pipe, c, into the large boiler, and kept it running in a continuous
stream until the surface of the water in the smaller boiler was depressed

CHAP. III. SAYKHY'S ENGINK. 53

Its principal features were two large cylindrical
vessels, which were alternately filled with steam from
an adjoining boiler and with cold water from the
well or mine out of which the water had to be raised.
When either of the hollow vessels was filled with steam,
and then suddenly cooled by a dash of cold water, a
vacuum, was thereby created, and, the vessel being
closed at the top and open at the bottom, the water was
at once forced up into it from the well by the pressure
of the atmosphere. The steam, being then let into the
vessel from the top, pressed upon the surface of the
water, and forced it out at the bottom by another pipe
(its return into the well being prevented by a clack),
and so up the perpendicular pipe which opened into
the outer air. The second vessel being treated in the
same manner, the same result followed ; and thus, by
alternate filling and forcing, a continuous stream of
water was poured out from the upper opening. The
whole of the labour required to work the engine was
capable of being performed by a single man, or even
by a boy,. after very little teaching.

Although Savery's plans and descriptions of the
arrangement and working of his engines are clear and
explicit, he does not give any information as to their
proportions, beyond stating that an engine employed in
raising a column of water 34 inches in diameter 60 feet
high, requires a fireplace 20 inches deep. Speaking of
their performances, he says, "I have known, in Corn-
wall, a work with three lifts of about 18 feet each, lift
and carry a 3i-inch bore, that cost 426-. a day (reckoning
24 a day) for labour, besides the wear and tear of en-
gines, each pump having four men working eight hours,
at I4d. a man, and the men obliged to rest at least a
third part of that time." He pointed out that at least
one-third part, of the then cost of raising water might

below the opening of the connecting pipe, which was indicated by the noise
of the clack, when it was refilled from the cold water pipe, M, as before.

54 ITS VARIOUS USES. CHAP. III.

be saved by the adoption of his invention, which on
many mines would amount to "a brave estate " in the
course of a year. In estimating the power of his
engine, Savery was accustomed to compare it with the
quantity of work that horses could perform, and hence
he introduced the term " horse power," which is still in
use.

Although, in the treatise referred to, Savery describes
an engine with two furnaces, the drawing which he
presented to the Royal Society showed only one ; and
it appears that in another of his designs he showed only
one cylindrical vessel instead of two. In order to exhibit
the working of his engine on a larger scale than in the
model, he proceeded to erect one in a potter's house at
Lambeth, where, Switzer says, though it was a small
engine, the water struck up the tiles and forced its way
through the roof in a manner that surprised all the spec-
tators. Switzer mentions other engines erected after
Slavery's designs for the raising of water at Camden
House and Sion House, which proved quite successful.
The former, he says, was the plainest and best pro-
portioned engine he had seen : it had only a single
condensing vessel ; and " though but a small one in
comparison with many others of the kind that are made
for coal-works, it is sufficient for any reasonable family,
and other uses required for it in watering middling
gardens." ] Four receivers full of water, or equal to
52 gallons, were raised every minute, or 3110 gallons
in the hour ; whilst, in the case of the larger engines
with double receivers, 6240 gallons an hour might easily
be raised. The cost of the smaller engine was about
fifty pounds, and the consumption of coal about a bushel
in the twenty-four hours, supposing it was kept con-
stantly at work during that time.

The uses to which Savery proposed to apply his

1 Switzer, « Introduction to a General System of Hydrostaticks and Hydrsiu-
licks,' 237.

CHAP. III. FIRST TRIED AT HUEL VOR. 55

engine were various. One was to pump water into a
reservoir, from which, by falling on a water-wheel, it
might produce a continuous rotary motion. Another was
to raise water into cisterns for the supply of gentlemen's
houses, and for use in fountains and as an extinguisher
in case of fire. A third was to raise water for the
supply of towns, and a fourth to drain fens and marsh
lands. But the most important, in the inventor's esti-
mation, was its employment in clearing drowned mines
and coal-pits of water. He showed how water might
be raised from deep mines by using several engines,
placed at different depths, one over the other. Thus by
three lifts, each of 80 feet, water might be raised from
a mine about 240 feet — then considered a very great
depth From Savery's own account, it is evident that
several of his engines were erected in Cornwall ; and it
is said that the first was tried at Huel Yor, or " The
Great Work in Breage," a few miles from Helstone,
then considered the richest tin mine in the countv.

HDEL VOE, WITH REGAINS OF THE OLD WORKS. [ By R. P Leitrh.]

The engine was found to be an improvement on the
methods formerly employed for draining the mine, and
sent the miners to considerably greater depths. But
the great pressure of steam required to force up a high

56 ITS FAILURE IN STAFFORDSHIRE. CHAP. III.

column of water was such as to strain to the utmost the
imperfect boilers and receivers of those early days ; and
the frequent explosions which attended its use eventually
led to its discontinuance in favour of the superior engine
of Newcomen, which was shortly after invented.

Savery also endeavoured to introduce his engine in
the coal-mining districts, but without success, and for the
same reason. The demand for coal in connection with
the iron manufacture having greatly increased in the
county of Stafford, and the coal which lay nearest
the surface having been for the most part " won," the
mining interest became very desirous of obtaining some
more efficient means of clearing the pits of water, in
order to send the miners deeper into the ground. Wind-
lass and buckets, wind-mills, horse-gins, rack-and-chain
pumps, adits, and all sorts of contrivances had been tried,
and the limit of their powers had been reached. The
pits were fast becoming drowned out, and the ironmasters
began to fear lest their manufacture should become lost
through want of fuel. Under these circumstances they
were ready to hail the invention of Captain Savery,
which promised to relieve them of their difficulty. He
was accordingly invited to erect one of his engines over
a coal-mine at the Broadwaters, near' Wednesbury. The
influx of water, however, proved too much for the
engine ; the springs were so many and so strong, that
all the means which Savery could employ failed to
clear the mine of water. To increase the forcing
power he increased the pressure of steam ; but neither
boiler nor receiver could endure it, and the steam " tore
the engine to pieces ; so that, after much time, labour,
and expense, Mr. Savery gave up the undertaking, and
the engine was laid aside as useless." l

He was no more successful with the engine which
he erected at York-buildings to pump water from the

Dr. Wilkes in ' Shaw's History of Staffordshire,' i. 85, 119.

CHAP. III.

SAVERY'S LATER YEARS.

Thames for the supply of the western parts of London.
Bradley says that to increase its power he doubled every
part, but " it was liable to so many disorders, if a single
mistake happened in the working of it, that at length it
was looked upon as a useless piece of work, and re-
jected."1 Savery's later engines thus lost him much of
the credit which he had gained by those of an earlier
and simpler construction. It became clear that their
application was very limited. They involved much
waste of fuel through the condensation of the hot steam
pressing upon the surface of the cold water, previous
to the expulsion of the latter from the vessel ; and
eventually their use was confined to the pumping of
water for fountains and the supply of gentlemen's houses,
and in some cases to the raising of water for the purpose
of working an overshot water-wheel. Various attempts
were made to improve the engine by Bradley, by Papin,
by Desaguliers, and others ; but no great advance was
made in its construction and method of working until it
was taken in hand by Newcomen and Galley, whose
conjoint invention marks an important epoch in the
history of the steam-engine.

Not much is known of the later years of Savery's life.
We find him a Captain of Military Engineers in 1702 ; 2
and in 1705, with the view of advancing knowledge in
his special branch of military science, he gave to the
world a translation, in folio, of Cohorn's celebrated work
on fortification. The book was dedicated to Prince
George of Denmark, to whom he was indebted, in the
same year, for his appointment to the office of Treasurer
of the Hospital for Sick and Wounded Seamen. Various
letters and documents are still to be found in the Trans-

1 Bradley, ' Discourses on Earth
and Water, &c.' Westminster, 1727.

2 We are informed by Quarter-
master Conolly, 11. E., who has given
much attention to the early history of
the Royal Engineers, that the book

of Warrants and Appointments, anno
1712, No. 172J, in the Tower Kecord-
room, contains the following memo-
randum in pencil on the inside cover :
— [Thomas] " Savery, Engineer officer,
1702-14."

58

HIS DEATH.

CHAP. 111.

port Office, Somerset House, addressed to him in that
capacity.1 In 1714 he was further indebted to Prince
George for the appointment of Surveyor to the Water-
works at Hampton Court ; hut he did not live to enjoy
it, as he died in the course of the following year. He
is said to have accumulated considerable property,
which he bequeathed to his wife, together with all
interest in his inventions. His will was executed on
the day of his death, the 15th of May, 1715, and was
proved four days after in the Prerogative Court of Can-
terbury. He there described himself as "of the parish
of Saint Margaret, at Westminster, Esquire." His
widow herself died before all his effects were adminis-
tered. There was a considerable amount of unclaimed
stock, which the Savery family were prevented from
claiming, as it had passed to the widow ; and it has
since been transferred to the credit of the National
Debt.

1 A pamphlet published in 1712,
entitled 'An Impartial Inquiry into
the Management of the War in
Spain,' contains the following re-
ference to Savery : — " Sums allowed

by Parliament for carrying on the
.war in Spain . . . for the year 1710.
To Thomas Savery, Esq., for Thomas
Gale, surgeon, for caro of disabled
soldiers, 306?. 6s. 4d"

CHAI-. IV. THOMAS NKWroMEX. 59

CHAPTEK IV.

THOMAS NEWOOMEN — THE ATMOSPHERIC ENGINE.

THE invention of the steam-engine had advanced thus
far with halting steps. A new power had been dis-
covered, but it was so dangerous and unmanageable
that it was still doubtful whether it could be applied to
any useful purpose. What was still wanting was an
engine strong enough to resist the internal pressure of
highly-heated steam, and so constructed as to work safely,
continuously, and economically. Many attempts had
been made to contrive such a machine ; but, as we have
shown, the results were comparatively barren. Savery's
small engine could raise water in moderate quantities to
limited heights ; but the pumping of deep mines was
beyond its power. It could force water to a height of
about sixteen fathoms ; but as the depth of mines at
that time was from fifty to a hundred yards, it was
obviously incompetent for their drainage. It is true,
Savery proposed to overcome the difficulty by erecting
a series of engines, placed one over another in the shaft
of the mine ; but the expense of their attendants, the
great consumption of fuel, the cost of w^ear and tear,
the constant danger of explosion, and the risk of the
works being stopped by any one of the engines becoming
temporarily deranged, rendered it clear that the use of
liis engine for ordinary mining purposes was altogether
impracticable.

Such was the state of affairs when Thomas New-
comen of Dartmouth took up the subject. Compara-
tively little is known of the personal history of this
ingenious man. Mechanical inventors excited little

NEWCOMEN'S HOUSE, DAKTMOUTPI.

CHAP. IV.

NEWCOMEN'S HOUSE, DARTMOUTH. [By K. 1>. LeiicL ] 1

notice in those days ; they were looked upon as schemers,
and oftener regarded as objects of suspicion than of
respect. Thomas Newcomen was by trade an iron-
monger and a blacksmith. The house in which he lived
and worked stood, until quite recently, in Lower Street,
Dartmouth. Like many of the ancient timber houses
of that quaint old town, it was a building of singularly
picturesque appearance. Lower Street is very narrow ;
the houses in it are tall and irregular, with overhanging
peaked gable-ends. A few years since, Newccmen's
house began to show indications of decay ; the timber
supports were fast failing ; and for safety's sake it was
determined to pull it to the ground.

1 Newcomen's house occupies the centre of the above engraving — the house
with the peaked gable-end supported by timbers.

CHAP. IV.

STUDY OF STEAM POWER.

(II

The Newcomen family have long since become extinct
in Dartmouth. They are said to have left the place
long ago, and gone northward ; but we have been
unable to trace them. The Newcomens appear to have
occupied a respectable position in Dartmouth down to
about the middle of the last century. Their burying-
place was in the north-side chapel of the fine old parish
church of the town, where several tablets are erected to
their memory. Amongst others, there is one to William
Newcomin, Attorney-at-Law, who died the 24th of
August, 1745, aged 57, supposed to have been a brother,
and another of the same name, who died in 1787, aged
65, supposed to have been a son of the ironmonger.

Thomas Newcomen was a man of strong religious
feelings, and from an early period of his life occupied
his leisure in voluntary religious teaching. He belonged
to the sect of Baptists ; and the place was standing until
recently in which he regularly preached. When he
afterwards went into distant parts of the country on
engine business, he continued to devote his Sundays
to the same work. How he first came to study the
subject of steam is not known. Mr. Holdsworth says
a story was current in Dartmouth in his younger days,
and generally believed, that Newcomen conceived the
idea of the motive power to be obtained from steam by
watching the tea-kettle, the lid of which would fre-
quently rise and fall when boiling ; and, reasoning upon
this fact, he contrived, by filling a cylinder with steam,
to raise the piston, and by immediately injecting some
cold water, to create a vacuum, which allowed the
weight of the atmosphere to press the piston down, and
so give motion to a pump by means of a beam and rods.1

It is probable that Newcomen was wTell aware of the
experiments of Savery on steam while the latter was
living at Modbury, about fifteen miles distant. It

1 Pamphlet on 'Dartmouth: the
advantages of its Harbour as a Station
for Foreign Mail Packets, and a Short

Notice of its Ancient and Present
Condition.' By A. H. Holdsworth.
London, 1841.

02 DR. HOOKE'S CAPITAL IDEA. CHAP. IV.

will be remembered that Savery was greatly hampered
in his earlier contrivances by the want of skilled
workmen ; and as Newcomen had the reputation of
being one of the cleverest blacksmiths in the county, it
is supposed that he was employed to make some of the
more intricate parts of Savery's engine. At all events,
he could scarcely fail to hear from the men of his trade
in the neighbourhood, what his speculative neighbour at
Modbury was trying to compass in the invention of an
engine for the purpose of raising water by fire. He
was certainly occupied in studying the subject about the
same time as Savery ; and Switzer says he was well
informed that " Mr. Newcomen was as early in his in-
vention as Mr. Savery was in his, only the latter being
nearer the Court, had obtained the patent before the
other knew it ; on which account Mr. Newcomen was
glad to come in as a partner to it."1

Another account2 states that a draft of Savery's engine
having come under Newcomen's notice, he proceeded to
make a model of it, which he fixed in his garden, and
soon found out its imperfections. He entered into a cor-
respondence on the subject with the learned and inge-
nious Dr. Hooke, then Secretary to the Eoyal Society,
a man of remarkable ingenuity, and of great mechanical
sagacity and insight. Newcomen had heard or read of
Papin's proposed method of transmitting motive power
to a distance by creating a vacuum under a piston in a
cylinder, and transmitting the power through pipes to a
second cylinder near the mine. Dr. Hooke dissuaded
Newcomen from erecting a machine on this principle, as
a waste of time and labour; but he added the pregnant
suggestion, " could he (meaning Papin) make a speedy
vacuum under your piston, your work were done."

The capital idea thus cursorily thrown out— of intro-
ducing a moveable diaphragm between the active power

1 Switzer, ' Introduction to a System of Hydrostatics and Hydraulics,' p. 342.

2 Harris, ' Lexicon Technicum.'

CHAP. IV. NEWCOMEN'S ENGINE. 03

and the vacuum — set Newcomen at once upon the right
track. Though the suggestion was merely that of a
thoughtful bystander, it was a most important step in
the history of the invention, for it contained the very
principle of the atmospheric engine. Savery created
his vacuum by the condensation of steam in a closed
vessel, and Papin created his by exhausting the air in a
cylinder fitted with a piston, by means of an air-pump.
It remained for Newcomen to combine the two expe-
dients— to secure a sudden vacuum by the condensation
of steam ; but, instead of employing Savery 's closed
vessel, he made use of Papin's cylinder fitted with a
piston. After long scheming and many failures, he at
length succeeded, in the year 1705,1 in contriving a
model that worked with tolerable precision ; after which
ho sought for an opportunity of exhibiting its powers in
a full-sized working engine. It ought to be mentioned,
that in the long course of experiments conducted by
Newcomen with the object of finding out the new
motive power, he was zealously assisted throughout by
one John Galley, a glazier of Dartmouth, of whom
nothing further is known than that he was Newcomen' s
intimate friend, of the same religious persuasion, and
afterwards his partner in the steam-engine enterprise.

Newcomen's engine may be thus briefly described :—
The steam was generated in a separate boiler, as in
Saveiy's engine, from which it was conveyed into a
vertical cylinder underneath a piston fitting it closely,
but moveable upwards and downwards through its
whole length. The piston was fixed to a rod, which

1 It has been stated that New-
comen took out a patent for his in-
vention in 1705 ; but this is a mis-
take, as no patent was ever taken out
by Newcomen. It is supposed that
Savery, having heard of his invention,
gave him notice that he would re-
gard his method of producing a speedy
vacuum bv condensation, as an in-

fringement of his patent, and that
Newcomen accordingly agreed to give
him an interest in the new engine
during the term of Savery's patent.
It will, however, be observed that the
principle on which Newcomen's en-
gine worked was entirely different
from that of Savery.

64 ITS IMPROVEMENT. CHAI». IV.

was attached by a joint or a chain to the end of a lever
vibrating upon an axis, the other end being attached to
a rod working a pump. When the piston in the cylinder
was raised, steam was let into the vacated space through
a tube fitted into the top of the boiler, and mounted
with a stopcock. The pump-rod at the further end of
the lever being thus depressed, cold water was applied
to the sides of the cylinder, on which the steam within
it was condensed, a vacuum was produced, and the
external air, pressing upon the top of the piston, forced
it down into the empty cylinder. The pump-rod was
thereby raised ; and the operation of depressing and
raising it being repeated, a power was thus produced
which kept the pump continuously at work. Such, in a
few words, was the construction and action of New-
comen's first engine.

It will thus be observed that this engine was essen-
tially different in principle from that of Savery. While
the latter raised water partly by the force of steam
and partly by the pressure of the atmosphere, that
of Newcomen worked entirely by the pressure of the
atmosphere, steam being only used as the most expe-
ditious method of producing a vacuum. The engine
was, however, found to be very imperfect. It was ex-
ceedingly slow in its motions ; much time was occupied
in condensing the contained steam by throwing cold
water on the outside of the cylinder ; and as the boiler
was placed immediately under the cylinder, it was not
easy to prevent the cold water from splashing it, and
thus leading to a further loss of heat. To remedy these
imperfections, Newcomen and Galley altered the ar-
rangement ; and, instead of throwing cold water on the
outside of the cylinder, they surrounded it with cold
water. But this expedient was also found inconvenient,
as the surrounding water shortly became warm, and
ceased to condense until replaced by colder water ; but
the colder it was the greater was the loss of heat by con-

CHAP. IV. ANOTHER CHANGE. 65

densation, before the steam was enabled to fill the cylinder
again on each ascent of the piston.

Clumsy and comparatively ineffective though the
engine was in this form, it was, nevertheless, found of
some use in pumping water from mines. In 1711
Newcomen and Galley made proposals to the owners of
a colliery at Grriff, in Warwickshire, to drain the water
from their pits, which until then had been drained by
the labour of horses ; but, the owners not believing in
the practicability of the scheme, their offer was declined.
In the following year, however, they succeeded in obtain-
ing a contract with Mr. Back, for drawing the water
from a mine belonging to him near Wolverhampton.
The place where the engine was to be erected being
near to Birmingham, the ironwork, the pump-valves,
clacks, and buckets, were for the most part made
there, and removed td the mine, where they were
fitted together. Newcomen had great difficulty at first
in making the engine go ; but after many laborious
attempts he at last partially succeeded. It was found,
however, that the new method of cooling the cylinder
by surrounding it with cold water did not work so well
in practice as had been expected. The vacuum pro-
duced was very imperfect, and the action of the engine
was both very slow and very irregular.

While the engine was still in its trial state, a curious
accident occurred which led to another change in the
mode of condensation, and proved of essential importance
in establishing Newcomen's engine as a practicable work-
ing power. The accident was this : in order to keep
the cylinder as free from air as possible, great pains were
taken to prevent it passing down by the side of the
piston, which was carefully wrapped with cloth or
leather ; and, still further to keep the cylinder air-tight,
a quantity of water was kept constantly laying on the
upper side of the piston. At one of the early trials the
inventors were surprised to see the engine make several

F

66

POTTER'S CONTRIVANCE.

CHAP. IV

strokes in unusually quick succession ; and on searching
for the cause, they found it to consist in a hole in the pis-
ton, which had let the cold water in a jet into the inside
of the cylinder, and thereby produced a rapid vacuum
by the condensation of the contained steam. A new
light suddenly broke upon Newcomen. The idea of
condensing by injection of cold water directly into the
cylinder, instead of applying it on the outside, at once
occurred to him ; and he proceeded to embody the expe-
dient which had thus been accidentally suggested, as part
of his machine. The result was the addition of the in-
jection-pipe, through which, when the piston was raised
and the cylinder was full of steam, a jet of cold water was
thrown in, and the steam being suddenly condensed,
the piston was at once driven down by the pressure
of the atmosphere.

An accident of a different kind shortly after led to
the improvement of Newcomen's engine in another
respect. To keep it at work, one man was required to
attend the fire, and another to turn alternately the two
cocks, one admitting the steam into the cylinder, the
other admitting the jet of cold water to condense it.
The turning of these cocks was easy work, usually
performed by a boy. It was, however, a very mono-
tonous duty, though requiring constant attention. To
escape the drudgery and obtain an interval for rest, or
perhaps for play, a boy named Humphrey Potter, who
turned the cocks, set himself to discover some method of
evading his task. He must have been an ingenious boy,
as is clear from the arrangement he contrived with
this object. Observing the alternate ascent and descent
of the beam above his head, he bethought him of apply-
ing the movement to the alternate raising and lowering
of the levers which governed the cocks. The result was
the contrivance of what he called the scocjgan,1 consisting

1 Scogging is a north country word,
meaning skulking one's work, from
which probably the boy gave the

contrivance its name. Potter, how-
ever, grew up to be a highly-skilled
workman. He went abroad about

CHAP. IV.

BEIGHfON'S IMPROVEMENT.

67

of a catch worked by strings from the beam of the engine.
This arrangement, when tried, was found to answer the
purpose intended. The action of the engine was thus
made automatic ; and the arrangement, though rude, not
only enabled Potter to enjoy his play, but it had the
effect of improving the working power of the engine
itself; the number of
strokes which it made
being increased from
six or eight to fifteen or
sixteen in the minute.
This invention was
afterwards greatly im-
proved by Mr. Henry
Beighton, of New-
castle-on- Tyne, who
added the plug -rod
and hand -gear. He
did away with the
catches and strings of
the boy Potter's rude
apparatus, and substi-
tuted a rod suspended
from the beam, which
alternately opened and shut the tappets attached to the
steam and injection cocks.

Thus, step by step, Newcomen's engine grew in power
and efficiency, and became more and more complete as

NEWCOMEN'S ENGINE.l

the year 1720, and erected an engine
at a mine in Hungary, described by
Leupold in his 'Theatrum Machina-
rum,' with many encomiums upon
Potter, who was considered the in-
ventor.

1 The illustration shows the several
parts of Newcomen's atmospheric en-
gine, a is the boiler ; 6, the piston
moving up and down ; c, the cylinder ;
d, a pipe proceeding from the top of
the boiler, and inserted into the bottom
of the cylinder, having a cock, e, to
interrupt the flow of steam at pleasure ;

/, cold-water cistern, from which the
cold water is conveyed by the pipe g,
called the injection -pipe, and thrown
in a jet into the cylinder, b, on turning
the injection-cock, h; the snifting-
valve, i, enables the air to escape from
the cylinder, while the siphon-pipe,/,
enables the condensed steam to flow
from the same cavity in the form of
water ; k, the main lever beam ; I, the
counterpoise or weight hung on the
balance-beam, or on w, the pump-rod
which works the pump, n.

F 2

68 THE AUSTHORPE ENGINE. CHAP. IV

a self-acting machine. It will be observed that, like all
other inventions, it was not the product of any one man's
ingenuity, but of many. One contributed one improve-
ment, and another another. The essential features of
the atmospheric engine were not new. The piston and
cylinder had been known as long ago as the time of
Hero. The expansive force of steam and the creation
of a vacuum by its condensation had been known to the
Marquis of Worcester, Savery, Papin, and many more.
Newcomen merely combined in his machine the result
of their varied experience, and, assisted by the persons
who worked with him, down to the engine-boy Potter,
he advanced the invention several important stages ; so
that the steam-engine was no longer a toy or a scientific
curiosity, but had become a powerful machine capable of
doing useful work.

The comparative success which attended the working
of Newcomen's first engine at the colliery near Wolver-
hampton, shortly induced other owners of coal-mines to
adopt it. There were great complaints in the north,
of the deeper mines having become unworkable. All
the ordinary means of pumping them clear of water
had failed. In their emergency, the colliery-owners
called Newcomen and Galley to their aid. They were
invited down to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in the neighbour-
hood of which town they erected their second and third
engines. They were next summoned to Leeds, and
erected their fourth engine at Austhorpe, in 1714. It
was the sight of this engine at work which first induced
Smeaton, when a boy, to turn his attention to mechanics,
and eventually led him to study the atmospheric-engine,
with a view to its improvement. The cylinder of the
engine erected at Austhorpe, like those which had pre-
ceded it, was about 23 inches in diameter, and made
about fifteen strokes a minute. The pumps, which were
in two lifts, and of 9 inches bore, drew the water from a
depth of 37 yards. The patentees had 250/. a year for

CHAP. IV.

ENGINES IN CORNWALL.

69

working and keeping the engine in order. Galley super-
intended its erection, and afterwards its working ; but
he did not long survive its completion, as he died at
Austhorpe in 1717.

The next engines were erected by Newcomen in
Cornwall, where there was as great a demand for in-
creased pumping-power as in any of the collieries of the
north. The first of Newcomen's construction in Corn-
wall was erected in 1720, at the Wheal Fortune tin
mine, in the parish of Ludgvan, a few miles north-east
of Penzance. The mine was conducted by Mr. William
Lemon, the founder of the fortunes of the well-known
Cornish family. He was born in a humble station in
life, from which he honourably raised himself by his
great industry, ability, and energy. He began his career
as a mining-boy ; was at an early age appointed one of
the managers of a tin-smelting house at Chiandower,
near Penzance ; and after the experience gained by him
in that capacity he engaged in the working of the Wheal
Fortune mine. With the help of Newcomen's engine,,
the enterprise proved completely successful; and after
realising a considerable sum he removed to Truro, and
began working the great Glwennap mines on such a
scale as had never before been known in Cornwall.1

The Wheal Fortune engine was on a larger scale
than any that had yet been erected, the cylinder being
47 inches in diameter, making about fifteen strokes a
minute. It drew about a hogshead of water at each
stroke, from a pump 30 fathoms deep, through pit-barrels

1 Mr. Lemon eventually became the
principal merchant and tin-smelter
of Cornwall. Mr. Da vies Gilbert says :
— " The energies of his mind were
not limited to these undertakings,
great though they were. He culti-
vated a taste for literature, and, which
is extremely unusual, acquired, amidst
business, and at a middle age, the
power of reading the classic authors

in their original language. . . . He
was distinguished in his district as
" the great Mr. Lemon," but such were
the impressions of his abilities, his
exertions, and general merit, that a
progress so rapid and unexampled does
not appear to have excited envy, or
any of those bad passions which
usually alloy the enjoyment of pros-
perity."— ' History of Cornwall,' ii. 84.

WHEAL FORTUNE.

CHAP. IV.

15 inches in diameter, and its performances were on
the whole regarded as very extraordinary. The prin-
cipal objection to its use consisted in the very large
quantity of coal that it consumed and the heavy cost of
maintaining it in working order. There was a great
waste, especially in boilers, the making of which was
then ill understood. Smeaton relates that in the course
of four years' working of the first Austhorpe engine, not
fewer than four boilers were burnt out. The Wheal
Fortune engine, however, answered its purpose. It kept
down the water sufficiently to enable Mr. Lemon to draw
up his tin, and on leaving the mine, he took with him

.

-=---- --.. ..--.-•*• --JF-. -.,-„_, ^_. ..„. .

1ORTDNE [By R. F Lriich.]

to Truro a clear sum of ten thousand pounds. The
engine-house is now in ruins, and presents a highly
picturesque appearance, as seen from the heights of
Trewal, reminding one of a Border Peel rather than
of a mining engine-house.

Another of Newcomen's engines was erected about
the same time at the Wheal Rose mine, a few miles
north of Bedruth. The engineer appointed to superin-
tend its erection was Joseph Hornblower, who came from
Staffordshire for the purpose about the year 1725. Mr.

CHAP. IV.

POLGOOTH.

Cyrus Redding, one of Horn-
blower's descendants, says,
how he became in any way
connected with Newcomeri
must have arisen from the
latter being at Bromsgrove,
when he visited Mr. Potter,
who got him to build one
of his newly - invented en-
gines at Wolverhampton in
POI.GOOTH. 1712."1 Another engine was

afterwards erected by Horn-
blower at Whenl Busy, or Chacewater, and a third at
Polgooth — all rich and well-known mines in Cornwall.

Though the use of Newcomen's engine rapidly ex-
tended, nothing is known of the man himself during
this time. All over the mining districts his name was

1 " It may be interesting to know
that it required three hands to work
Newcomen's first engines. I have
heard it said that when the engine
was stopped, and again set at work,
the words were passed " Snift Beniy ! "
"Blow the fire, Pomery!" "Work
away, Joe ! " The last let in the con-
densing water. Lifting the condensing
clack was called "snifting," because
on opening UK; valve, the air rushing
through it made a noise like a man

snifting. The fire was increased
through artificial means by another
hand, and all being ready, the ma-
chine was set in motion by a third." —
Cyrus Eedding, 'Yesterday and To-
day.' London, 1863. The " snifting
clack" was a valve in the cylinder
opening outwards, which permitted
the escape of air or permanently
elastic fluid, which could not be con-
densed by cold and run off through
the eduction- pipe.

72 JONATHAN HULLS. CHAP. IV.

identified with the means employed for pumping the
mines clear of water, and thereby enabling an important
branch of the national industry to be carried on ; but of
Newcomen's personal history, beyond what has been stated
above, we can gather nothing. It is not known when or
where he died, whether rich or poor. The probability
is that, being a person of a modest and retiring disposi-
tion, without business energy, and having secured no
protection for his invention, it was appropriated and
made use of by others, without any profit to him, whilst
he quietly subsided into private life. It is supposed that
he died at Dartmouth about the middle of last century ;
but no stone marks the place where he was laid. The
only memorial of Newcomen to be found at his native
place is the little steam-boat called by his name, which
plies between Totness and -Dartmouth.

During Newcomen's lifetime the proposal was revived
of applying the steam-engine to the propelling of ships.
Since Papin's time nothing had been accomplished in
this direction. Now that the steam-engine was actively
employed in pumping mines, it was natural enough that
the idea should be revived of applying it to navigation.
The most enthusiastic advocate of the new power was
Jonathan Hulls, a native of Campden, in Gloucestershire,
where he was born in 1699. He married a wife in 1719,
before he was out of his teens ; an act of indiscretion
in which, however, he had the example of one no less
distinguished than Shakspeare. Living as he did in an
inland country place, it seems remarkable that he should
have directed his attention to the subject of steam-navi-
gation. We find him making experiments with models
of boats on the river Avon, at Evesham, and in course
of time he duly matured his ideas and embodied them
in his patent of 1736.1 He proposed to place a New-
comen engine on board a tow-boat, and by its means to

1 In 1737 he published a Treatise
on the subject entitled, ' A descrip-
tion and Draught of a new-invented
Machine for carrying Vessels or Ships

out of or into any Harbour, Port, or
River, against Wind or Tide, and in u
Calm,' by Jonathan Hulls.

CHAP. IV.

HULLS'S STEAM-BOAT.

73

work a paddle- wheel placed at the stern. His method
of converting the rectilinear motion of his piston into a
rotary one was ingenious, but, like Savery, he missed
the crank on the paddle-shaft, and many years passed
before this simple expedient was adopted.1 " The
work to be done by this machine," said he, " will be
upon particular occasions, when all other means yet
found out are wholly insufficient. How often does a
merchant wish that his ship were on the ocean, when, if
she were there, the wind would serve tolerably well to
carry him on his intended voyage, but does not serve at
the same time to carry him out of the river he happens
to be in, which a few hours' work of the machine would
do. Besides, I know engines that are driven by the
same power as this is, where materials for the purpose
are dearer than in any navigable river in England;
therefore experience demonstrates that the expense will
be but a trifle to the value of the work performed by
those sort of machines, which any person that knows
the nature of those things may easily calculate." His
treatise was illustrated by a drawing, of which the fol-
lowing is a copy on a reduced scale.

JONATHAN HDLLS'S STEAM-BOAT.

1 In di'scribing his mode of obtain-
ing rotary motion by ratchet wheels,

a wei

ght, and ropes, Hulls states that

he uses two axes, one behind the
other, each of which is essential to
the object ; and he then adds, that

74 UNSATISFACTORY TRIAL. CIIAI-. IV-

The inventor, aware of the novelty of his proposal
and of the readiness of the public to ridicule novelties,
deprecated rash censure of his project, and only claimed
for it a fair and unprejudiced trial. In order to exhibit
the powers of his steam-boat, he constructed an engine
in 1737, and had it fixed on board a little vessel for trial
in the river Avon at Evesham. The trial was not satis-
factory, and the engine was taken on shore again. " A
failure ! A failure ! " cried the spectators, who stigma-
tised the projector as an ass. The prophet had, indeed,
no honour whatever in his own country. Long after
his steam-boat experiment had been forgotten, these lines
about him were remembered : —

" Jonathan Hull,

With his paper skull,
'Fried hard to make a machine
That should go against wind and tide :
But he, like an ass,
Couldn't bring it to pass,
So at last was ashamed to be seen." l

Not much more is known of Jonathan Hulls' s history.
In 1754 he published, in conjunction with two others,
a treatise on ' The Art of Measuring made Easy, by the
help of a new Sliding-rule ;' and shortly after ' The Malt-
maker's Instructor ;' but nothing more was heard of
Jonathan Hulls's steam-boat.

We return to the Newcomen engine, which became
increasingly employed as a pumping power in all the
mining districts. Borlase, writing in 1758, says that
" fire-engines " were then in regular use at North Downs

when his tow-boat is to be used in
shallow rivers, the machine works by
two cranks fixed to the hindermost
axis ; to which cranks are fixed two
shafts (or poles) of proper length to

rotary motion from the axis on which
they are placed, and do not, as has
been erroneously stated, impart that
motion to it. — Bennet Woodcroft,
' Sketch of the Origin and Progress

reach the bottom of the river, and of Steam Navigation.' London, 1848.
which move alternately forward from l There are several versions of the
the motion of the wheels ~by which the same satire current to this day in the
vessel is carried on : so that the j villages of Campden and Hanging
cranks, as described by Hulls, receive ! Aston.

&

I'HAi-. IV. OBJECTIONS TO NEWCOMEN'S ENGINE. 75

near Kedruth, Pitt-louarn, Polgooth, Wheal-rith, Pool,
Dolcoath, Her land, and many other places.1 Indeed
there was scarcely a tin or copper mine of any import-
ance in Cornwall that had not one or more of New-
come n's engines at work. They were also in general use
in Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Northumber-
land. In the latter counties, where they were principally
used for pumping water out of the coal mines, fuel was
ready at hand, cheap and abundant. But in Cornwall
it was otherwise. The coal had to be brought thither
from a great distance, partly by sea and partly by land,
and the cost of carriage was very heavy. It, therefore,
became an object of much importance to reduce the con-
sumption of fuel, to prevent the profits of the mines
being absorbed by the heavy cost of working the pumps.
This, indeed, was the great objection to Newcomen's
engine, especially in Cornwall. The consumption of
fuel at some mines was so enormous, that it was doubt-
ful whether the cost of steam did not exceed that of an
equal amount of horse power, and it became more and
more difficult to realise even a bare margin of profit.
The two engines at Wheal Rose and Wheal Busy, near
Chace water, of 66 and 72 inches diameter, consumed
each about thirteen tons of coal daily. To relieve the
mining interest, in some measure, from this charge,
government allowed a drawback of five shillings a
chaldron on coal ; but in some cases this was found
insufficient, and it began to be complained that the
consumption of coal was so great, that the mines were
barely paying.

Invention, however, was constantly at work, and
new improvements were from time to time introduced,
with the object of economising fuel and increasing the
efficiency of the engine. Among the ingenious men
who devoted themselves to this work, were Payne,

Borlase, 'Natural History of Cornwall,' p. 175.

76

DARTMOUTH.

CHAP. IV.

Brindley, and Smeaton. Of these, the last especially
distinguished himself by his improvements of the New-
comen engine, which he may be said to have carried
to the highest perfection of which it was capable. His
famous Chacewater engine was the finest and most
powerful work of the kind which had until then been
constructed, and it remained unrivalled until super-
seded by the invention of Watt, to whose life and
labours we now proceed to direct the attention of the
reader.

DARTMOUTH, FROM THE HARBOUR. [By R. P. Leitch ]

JAMES WATT:

HIS BOYHOOD AND EARLY LIFE: MECHANICAL INSTRUMENT
MAKER, SURVEYOR, AND INVENTOR.

GREENOCK AND THE CLYDE, 1865
[By R. P. Leitch. after a sketch by J S Smiles ]

GREENOCK HARBOUR, V,
[Fac-simile of an old print..]

CHAPTEE V.

JAMES WATT — LINEAGE AND BIRTHPLACE — BOYHOOD AND
APPRENTICESHIP.

JAMES WATT was born at G-reenock, on the Clyde, on
the 19th of January, 1736. His parents were of the
middle class, industrious, intelligent, and religious
people, with a character for probity which had de-
scended to them from their " forbears," and was che-
rished as their proudest inheritance. James Watt was
thus emphatically well-born. His father and grand-
father both held local offices of trust, and honourable
mention is made of them in the records of Greenock.
His grandfather, Thomas Watt, was the first of the
family who lived in that neighbourhood. He had mi-
grated thither from the county of Aberdeen, where his
father was a small farmer in the time of Charles I. It
is supposed that he took part with the Covenanters in
resisting the Marquis of Montrose in his sudden descent
upon Aberdeen at the head of his wild Highlanders in

80 WATT'S GRANDFATHER CHAP. V.

the autumn of 1644 ; and that the Covenanting farmer
was killed in one of the battles that ensued. The dis-
trict was ravaged by the victorious Royalists ; the crops
were destroyed, cattle lifted, dwellings burnt ; and many
of the inhabitants fled southwards for refuge in more
peaceful districts. Hence Thomas Watt's migration to
Cartsdyke, where we find him settled as a teacher of
navigation and mathematics, about the middle of the
seventeenth century.

Cartsdyke, or Crawfordsdyke, was then a village
situated a little to the east of G-reenock, though now
forming part of it. Crawfordsburn House, still standing,
was the residence of the lord of the manor, and is a good
specimen of the old-fashioned country mansion. It is

C-RAWFOKDSBCT.RN HOUSE, NEAB, GKEENOCJK.

beautifully situated on the high ground overlooking the
Clyde. In former times a green slope stretched down
from it towards the beach, along which lay the village,
consisting of about a hundred cottages, mostly thatched.
Cartsdyke was, however, in early times, a place of greater
importance than G-reenock. It had a pier, which
Greenock as yet had not ; and from this pier the first
Clyde ship which crossed the Atlantic sailed for Darien
in 1697. What little enterprise existed in the neigh-

CHAP. V. APPOINTED AN ELDER. 81

bourhood was identified with Cartsdyke rather than
with Greenock ; and hence Thomas Watt's preference
for it, in setting up there as a teacher. He, too, like his
sire, seems to have been a sturdy Covenanter ; for we
find him, in 1683, refusing to take the test in favour of
prelacy, and he was consequently proclaimed to be a
"disorderly schoolmaster officiating contrary to law."
He nevertheless continued the teaching of the mathe-
matics, in which he seems to have prospered, as, besides
marrying a wife, he shortly after bought the house and
garden which he occupied, and subsequently added to
his possessions a tenement in the neighbouring village
of Greenock.

From the nature of his calling, it is obvious that he
must have been a thoughtful and intelligent person ;l
and that he was a man of excellent character is clear
from the confidence he inspired in those who had the
best opportunities of knowing him. When William
and Mary were confirmed in their occupancy of the
British throne, shortly after the Revolution of 1688,
one of the first acts of Mr. Crawford, of Crawfordsburn,
the feudal superior, was to appoint Thomas Watt baillie
of the barony — a position of local importance, involving
the direction of public affairs within the limits of his
jurisdiction.

A few years later, the Kirk Session of Greenock,
having found him " blameless in life and conversation,"
appointed him an Elder of the parish, when it became
part of his duty to overlook not only the religious
observances, but the manners and morals, of the little
community. Kirk Sessions did not then confine them-
selves to ecclesiastical affairs, but assumed the function
of magistrates, and almost exercised the powers of an

1 Among the few household articles
belonging to him which descended to
his son, and afterwards to his grand-

one of Sir Isaac Newton, and the
other of John Napier, the inventor of
Logarithms.

son the engineer, were two portraits,

G

82 GRAMMAR SCHOOL. CHAP. V.

inquisition. One of their most important duties was to
provide for the education of the rising generation, in
pursuance of the injunction of John Knox, "that no
father, of what estate or condition that ever he may be,
use his children at his own fantasie, especially in their
youthhead ; but all must be compelled to bring up their
children in learning and virtue," — words which lie at
the root of much of Scotland's mental culture, as well
as, probably, of its material prosperity. In 1696
the Act was passed by the Scotch Parliament which is
usually regarded as the charter of the Scotch parish-
school system ; and in the following year the Kirk Ses-
sion of Greenock proceeded to make provision for the
establishment of their parish school, which continued
until the Town Council superseded it by the Grammar
School, at which James Watt, the future engineer, re-
ceived the best part of his school education.

After holding the offices of Presbytery Elder and
Kirk Treasurer for some time, Thomas Watt craved
leave to retire into private life. He was seventy years
old, and felt infirmities growing upon him. The plea
was acknowledged, and the request granted ; and on his
retirement from office the Kirk Session recorded on
their minutes that Thomas Watt had been found " dili-
gent and faithful in the management of his trust." He
died at the age of 92, and was buried in the old kirk-
yard of Greenock, where his tombstone is still to be
seen. He is there described as " Professor of Mathe-
matics in Crawfordsdyk." Not far from his grave lie,
"mouldering in silent dust," the remains of Burns' s
Highland Mary, who died while on a visit to a relative
at Greenock.

Two sons survived the " Professor," John and James,
who were well settled in life when the old man died.
John, the elder, was trained by his father in mathe-
matics and surveying ; for some time officiating under
him as clerk to the barony of Cartsdyke, and afterwards

CHAP. V. WATT'S FATHER. 83

removing to Glasgow, where he began business on his
own account. In the year that his father died (1734)
he made the first survey of the river Clyde ; but he
died shortly after, and the map was published by his
nephew. James, the engineer's father, was bound ap-
prentice to a carpenter and shipwright at Cartsdyke,
and on the expiry of his term he set up business for
himself in the same line at Greenock.

About the beginning of the last century, Greenock,
now one of the busiest ports in the kingdom, was but a
little fishing-village, consisting of a single row of
thatched cottages lying parallel with the sandy beach of
the Frith of Clyde, in what was then known as " Sir
John's little bay." Sir John Shaw was the superior, or
lord of the manor, his mansion standing on a height
overlooking the tow^n,1 and commanding an extensive
view of the Clyde, from Roseneath to Dumbarton.
Across the water lay the beautiful north shore, broken
by the long narrow sea-lochs running far away among
the Argyleshire hills. Their waters, now plashed by
the paddles of innumerable Clyde steamers, were then
only disturbed by the passing of an occasional Highland
coble ; whilst their shores, now fringed with villages,
villas, and mansions, were as lonely as Glencoe.

Greenock was in a great measure isolated from other
towns by impassable roads. The only route to Gree-
nock, on the west, lay along the beach, and when strong
winds raised a high tide the communication was en-
tirely cut off. Greenock was separated from Cartsdyke,
on the east, by the Ling Burn, which was crossed by a
plank, afterwards supplanted by an old ship's rudder ;
and it was about the middle of the century before a

The mansion house of the Shaws
is now principally occupied as ma-

principally
ffices. Tin

norial offices. The fine old garden
and pleasure-grounds have been pre-
sented by Sir John Shaw to the

for ever. It is now called " The
Watt Park," and a more beautiful
spot (bating the smoke of the busy
town below) is scarcely to be found
in Britain.

people of Greenock as a public park I

G 2

84

P1UM1TIVE STATE OF GREENOCK.

CHAP. V.

bridge was built across the stream. The other provi-
sions of the place for public service and convenience
were of a like rude and primitive character : thus,
GTreenock could not boast of a public clock until about
the middle of the last century, when a town clock was
mounted in a wooden steeple. Till then, a dial, still
standing, marked the hours when the sun shone, and a
bell hung upon a triangle summoned the people to kirk
and market. Besides the kirk, however, there was
another public building — the Black Hole, or prison,
which, like the other houses in the place, was covered
with thatch. Before the prison were placed the "jougs,"
as a terror to evil-doers, as well as a few old pieces of
cannon, taken from one of the ships of the Spanish
Armada wrecked near Pencores Castle. The Black
Hole, the jougs, and the cannon were thought necessary
precautions against the occasional visits to which the
place was subject from the hungry Highlandmen on
the opposite shores of the firth.1

The prosperity of G-reenock dates from the year 1707,
shortly after the Union with England. The British
Parliament then granted what the Scottish Parliament
had refused — the privilege of constructing a harbour.
Before that time there was no pier, — only a rude
landing-stage which Sir John Shaw had provided for
his barge in the " Little Bay ;" but the fishermen's

1 In 1715 the Greenock and Carts-
dyke men kept strict watch and
ward for eighty days against a threat-
ened visit of Rob Hoy and his caterans.
The conduct of these unruly neigh-
bours continued to cause apprehen-
sions amongst the townspeople until
a much later period, especially during
fair time, then the great event of the
year. The fair was the occasion of
the annual gathering of the people
from the neighbouring country to
buy and to sell. Highlandmen came
from the opposite shores and from
the lochs down the Clyde, men caring
little for Lowland law, but duly im-

pressed by a display of force. Their
boats were drawn up on the beach
with their prows to the High Street,
the north side of which at that time
lay open to the sea. The Highland
folk lived and slept on board, each
boat having a plank or gangway
between it and the shore. On the
first day of the fair Sir John Shaw,
the feudal superior, convened the
local dignitaries, the deacons and the
trades, and after drinking the King's
health and throwing the glasses
amongst the populace, they formed
in procession and perambulated the
town.

CHAP. Y. GREENOCK'S IMPROVEMENT. 85

boats and other small craft frequenting the place were
beached in the usual primitive way. Yessels of burden
requiring to load or unload their cargoes did so at the
pier at Cartsdyke above referred to. When the neces-
sary powers were granted to make a harbour at G-ree-
nock, the inhabitants proceeded to tax themselves to
provide the necessary means, paying a shilling and
fourpence for every sack of malt brewed into ale within
the barony ; ale, not whisky, being then the popular
drink of Scotland. The devotion of the townspeople to
their " yill caups " must have been considerable, as the
harbour was finished and opened in 1710, and in thirty
years the principal debt was paid off.

In course of time Grreenock was made a custom-
house port, and its trade rapidly increased. The first
solitary vessel, freighted with Glasgow merchandise
for the American colonies, sailed from the new har-
bour in 1719 ; and now the custom-house dues col-
lected there amount to more than six times the whole
revenue of Scotland in the time of the Stuarts.

Here James Watt, son of the Cartsdyke teacher of
mathematics, and father of the engineer, began business
about the year 1730. His occupation was of a very
miscellaneous character, and embraced most branches of
carpentry. He was a house wright, shipwright, car-
penter, and undertaker, as well as a builder and con-
tractor, having in the course of his life enlarged the
western front of Sir John Shaw's mansion-house, and
designed and built the Town-hall and Council-chambers.
To these various occupations Mr. Watt added that of a
general merchant. He supplied the ships frequenting
the port with articles of merchandise as well as with
ships? stores. He also engaged in foreign mercantile
ventures, and held shares in several ships.

Three months after the death of his father, to a share
of whose property he succeeded, Mr. Watt purchased a
house on the Mid-Quay Head, at the lower end of

86

WATT'S MOTHFJI.

CHAP. V.

William-street, with a piece of ground belonging to it,
which extended to the beach. On this piece of ground
stood Watt's carpenter's shop, in which a great deal of
miscellaneous work was executed — household furniture
and ships' fittings, chairs, tables, coffins, and capstans, as
well as the ordinary sorts of joinery ; while from his
stores he was ready to supply blocks, pumps, gun-car-
riages, dead-eyes, and other articles used on board ship.
He was ready to " touch " ships' compasses, and to adjust
and repair nautical instruments generally ; while on an
emergency he could make a crane for harbour uses—
the first in G-reenock having been executed in his shops,
and erected on the pier for the convenience of the Vir-
ginia tobacco-ships beginning to frequent the harbour.
These multifarious occupations were necessitated by
the smallness of the place, the business of a single
calling being as yet too limited to yield a competency
to an enterprising man, or sufficient scope for his
powers.

Being a person of substance and respectability, Mr.
Watt was elected by his fellow townsmen to fill various
public offices, such as trustee for the burgh fund, town
councillor, treasurer, and afterwards baillie or chief
magistrate. He also added to his comfort as well as to
his dignity by marrying a wife of character, Agnes
Muirhead, a woman esteemed by her neighbours for her
graces of person, as well as of mind and heart. She is
said to have been not less distinguished for her sound
sense and good manners than for her cheerful temper
and excellent housewifery.1 Such was the mother of

1 Some of her neighbours thought
her stately and unbending, and that
she affected a superior style of living.
In the ' Memorials of Watt,' by the
late George Williamson, Esq., Gree-
nock, are to be found many curious
and interesting details as to the Watt
family; collected partly from tradi-
tion and partly from local records.

Of Mrs. Watt's " superior style of
living," compared with the custom of
the period, the following anecdote is
given : — " One of the author's in-
formants on such points, a venerable
lady in her eightieth year, was wont
to spwik of the worthy baillie's wife
with much characteristic interest and
animation. As illustrative of the

CHAP. V.

WATT'S BIRTHPLACE.

87

James Watt. Three of her five children died in child-
hood ; John, her fifth son, perished at sea when on a
voyage to America in one of his father's ships; and
James, the fourth of the family, remained her only sur-
viving child. He was born in the house which stood at
the corner between the present Dairy m pie-street and
William-street, since taken down and replaced by the
building- now known as the " James Watt Tavern."

JAME3 WATT TAVERN, GKKEJMUCK
[By R P. Leitch]

From his earliest years James Watt was of an ex-
tremely fragile constitution, requiring the tenderest
nurture. Struggling as it were for life all through his
childhood, he acquired an almost feminine delicacy and
sensitiveness, which made him shrink from the rough
play of robust children ; and hence, during his early
years, his education was entirely conducted at home.
His mother taught him reading, and his father a little
writing and arithmetic. His mother, to amuse him,

internal economy of the family, the
old lady related an occasion on which
she had spent an evening, when a
girl, at Mrs. Watt's house, and re-
membered expressing with much
naivetl to her mother on returning
home, her childish surprise that
* Mrs. Watt had two lighted candles

on the table.' Among these and
other reminiscences of her youth, our
venerable informant described James
Watt's mother, in her expressive
Doric, as 'a braw, braw woman —
none now to be seen like her.' " p.
128-9.

88 WATT'S EAELY YEARS. CHAP. V.

encouraged him to draw with a pencil on paper, or with
chalk upon the floor ; and his father supplied him with
a few tools from the carpenter's shop, which he soon
learnt to handle with expertness. In such occupations
he found the best resource against ennui. He took his
toys to pieces, and out of the parts ingeniously con-
structed new ones. The mechanical dexterity which he
thus cultivated even as a child was probably in a great
measure the foundation upon which he built the specu-
lations to which he owes his glory ; nor, without his
early mechanical training, is there reason to believe that
he would afterwards become the improver and almost
the creator of the steam-engine.

The invalid thus passed his early years almost entirely
in the society of his mother, whose gentle nature, strong
good sense, and unobtrusive piety, exercised a most
beneficial influence in the formation of his character.
Nor were his parents without their reward ; for as the
boy grew up to manhood he repaid their anxious care
with obedience, respect, and affection. Mrs. Watt was
in after life accustomed to say that the loss of her only
daughter, which she had felt so severely, had been fully
made up to her by the dutiful attentions of her son.

Spending his life indoors, without exercise, his nervous
system became preternaturally sensitive. He was subject
to violent sick headaches, which confined him to his
room for weeks together ; and it almost seems a marvel
that, under such circumstances, he should have survived
his boyhood. It is in such cases as his that indications
of precocity are generally observed ; and parents would
be less gratified at their display if they knew that they
are usually the symptoms of disease. Several remark-
able instances of this precocity are related of Watt. On
one occasion, when he was bending over the hearth with
a piece of chalk in his hand, a friend of his father said,
" You ought to send that boy to a public school, and not
allow him to trifle away his time at home." " Look how

CHAP. V. REPROVED BY HIS AUNT. 89

my child is occupied," said the father, " before you con-
demn him." Though only six years old, it is said he
was found trying to solve a problem in geometry.

On another occasion he was reproved by Mrs. Muir-
head, his aunt, for his indolence at the tea-table. " James
Watt," said the worthy lady, " I never saw such an idle
boy as you are : take a book or employ yourself usefully ;
for the last hour you have not spoken one word, but
taken off the lid of that kettle and put it on again,
holding now a cup and now a silver spoon over the steam,
watching how it rises from the spout, catching and
counting the drops it falls into." In the view of M.
Arago, the little James before the tea-kettle becomes
athe great engineer, preparing the discoveries which
were soon to immortalize him." In our opinion the
judgment of the aunt was the truest. There is no reason
to suppose that the mind of the boy was occupied with
philosophical theories on the condensation of steam,
which he compassed with so much difficulty in his
maturer years. This is more probably an, afterthought
borrowed from his subsequent discoveries. Nothing is
commoner than for children to be amused with such
phenomena, in the same way that they will form air-
bubbles in a cup of tea, and watch them sailing over the
surface till they burst. The probability is that little
James was quite as idle as he seemed.

When he was at length sent to Mr. M' Adam's com-
mercial school, the change caused him many trials and
much suffering. He found himself completely out of
place in the midst of the boisterous juvenile republic.
Against the tyranny of the elders he was helpless ; their
wild play was most distasteful to him ; he could not join
in their sports, nor roam with them along the beach,
nor shy stones into the water, nor take part in their
hazardous exploits in the harbour. Accordingly they
showered upon him contemptuous epithets ; and the
school being composed of both sexes, the girls joined in

90

VISIT TO GLASGOW.

('HAP. V.

the laugh. He shone as little in the class as in the
playground. He did not possess that parrot power of
learning and confidence in self necessary to achieve
distinction at school ; and he was even considered dull
and backward for his age.1 His want of progress
may, however, in some measure be accounted for by his
almost continual ailments, which sometimes kept him
for weeks together at home. It was not until he reached
the age of about thirteen or fourteen, when he was put
into the mathematical class, that his powers appeared to
develop themselves, and from that time he made rapid
progress.

When not quite fourteen, he was taken by his mother
for change of air to Glasgow, then a quiet place without
a single long chimney, somewhat resembling a rural
market-town of the present day. He was left in charge
of a relation, and his mother returned to Greenock. But
he proved so wakeful during the visit, and so disposed
to indulge in that habit of storytelling, which even Sir
Walter Scott could afterwards admire in him, that Mr.
Watt was very soon written to by his friend, and en-
treated to return to Glasgow and take home, his son.
" I cannot stand the excitement he keeps me in," said
Mrs. Campbell ; "I am worn out for want of sleep.
Every evening, before retiring to rest, he contrives to
engage me in conversation, then begins some striking
tale, and whether humorous or pathetic, the interest is
so overpowering, that the family all listen to him with
breathless attention, and hour after hour strikes un-

1 The truth in regard to young
Watt's first years in the public school
is, that, owing doubtless to infirm
health, to the suffering and depres-
sion which affected his whole powers,
he was prevented for a considerable
time displaying even a very ordi-
nary and moderate aptitude for the
common routine of school lessons ;
and during those years he was re-
garded by his schoolmasters as slow

and inapt. Although to some minds
facts of such a nature may be con-
ceived to mar the romance of a great
man's history, yet, seeing they rest
on authenticity which cannot be im-
pugned, there appears no reasonable
ground on which it may be thought
that they ought to be passed over
as if they had not existed, or were
altogether unfounded. — Williamson's
' Memorials of Watt,' p. 130.

CHAP. V. BOYISH INGENUITY. 01

heeded." He was taken back to Greenock accordingly,
and, when well enough, was sent to the Grammar School
of the town, then kept by Mr. Eobert Arrol. Under
him, Watt made fair progress in the rudiments of Latin
and Greek ; but he was still more successful in the study
of mathematics, which he prosecuted under Mr. John
Marr. It was only when he entered on this branch of
learning that he discovered his strength, and he very
soon took the lead in his class.

When at home the boy continued to spend much of
his time in drawing, or in cutting or carving with his
penknife, or in watching the carpenters at work in
his father's shop, sometimes trying his own hand at
making little articles with the tools which lay about. In
this he displayed a degree of dexterity which seemed so
remarkable that the journeymen were accustomed to say
of him that " little Jamie had gotten a fortune at his
fingers' ends." Even when he had grown old he would
recall to mind the pleasure as well as the profit which
he had derived from working in his shirt -sleeves
in his father's shop. He was, in fact, educating him-
self in the most effectual manner in his own way ;
learning to use his hands dexterously; familiarising
himself with the art of handling tools ; and acquiring a
degree of expertness in working with them in wood
and metal, which eventually proved of the greatest
value to him. At the same time he was training
himself in habits of application, industry, and inven-
tion. Most of his spare time was thus devoted to • me-
chanical adaptations of his own contrivance. A small
forge was erected for him, and a bench fitted up for his
special use ; and there he constructed many ingenious
little objects, such as miniature cranes, pulleys, pumps,
and capstans. Out of a large silver coin he fabricated
a punch-ladle, which is still preserved. But the kind
of work which most attracted him was the repairing of
ships' compasses, quadrants, and nautical instruments,

92

WATT'S HOME EDUCATION.

CHAP. V.

in executing which he exhibited so much neatness, dex-
terity, and accuracy, that it eventually led to his selec-
tion of the business he determined to follow, — that of a
mathematical instrument maker.

The boy at the same time prosecuted his education at
\school; his improving health enabling him to derive
more advantage from the instructions of his masters
thaXin the earlier part of his career. Not the least in-
fluentral part of his training, as regarded the formation
of his character, consisted, as already observed, in the
example and conversation of his parents at home. His
frequent illnesses brought him more directly and conti-
nuously under their influence than is the case with most
boys of his age ; and reading became one of his chief
sources of recreation and enjoyment. His father's library-
shelf contained well-thumbed volumes of Boston, Bunyan,
and ' The Cloud of Witnesses,' with Henry the Rymer's
' Life of Wallace,' and other old ballads, tattered by fre-
quent use. These he devoured greedily, and re-read
until he had most of them by heart. His father would
also recount to him the sufferings of the Covenanters,—
the moors and mosses which lay towards the south of
Greenock having been among their retreats during the
times of the persecution. Then there were the local and
traditionary stories of the neighbourhood, — such as the
exploits of the Greenock men under Sir John Shaw, at
Worcester, in 165 1,1 — together with much of that .un-
written history, heard only around firesides, which
kindles the Scotchman's nationality, and influences his
future life.

We may here mention, in passing, that one of the
most vividly-remembered incidents of James Watt's
boyhood was the Stuart rebellion of the " Forty-five,"

1 The Shaw baronetcy was the
reward of the feudal superior's ser-
vices on the occasion. The banner
carried by the tenantry in the civil

war was long preserved in Greenock,
and was hung up with the other
town flags in one of the public rooms.

CHAP. V. THE STUART REBELLION. 93

which occurred when he was about ten years old. Watt
himself is so intimately identified with the material pro-
gress of the nineteenth century, that it strikes one almost
with surprise that he should have been a spectator, in
however remote a degree, of incidents belonging to an
altogether different age. The Stuart Rebellion may be
said to have been the end of one epoch and the beginning
of another ; for certain it is that the progress of Scot-
land as an integral part of the British empire, and the
growth of its skilled industry — which the inventions of
Watt did so much to develop — appeared as if to spring
from the very ashes of the rebellion. Like other low-
land towns, Greenock was greatly alarmed at the start-
ling news from the Highlands of the threatened descent
of the clans. Sir John Shaw had the trades mustered
for drill on the green in front of his mansion, and held
them in readiness for defence of the town, in case of
attack. G-reenock was otherwise secure, being protected
against the Highlands by the Clyde ; besides, the western
clans were either neutral or adhered to the house of
Hanover. The Pretender with his followers passed
southward by Stirling, and only approached Greenock
on their return from England, — a half-starved and ill-
clad, though still unbroken army. They halted at Glas-
gow, where they levied a heavy contribution on the
inhabitants, and sent out roving parties to try their
fortunes in the neighbouring towns. A small detach-
ment one day approached Greenock, and came as near
as the Clune Brae ; but the townspeople were afoot, and
on guard ; signal was given to the ships of war moored
near the old battery, and a few well-directed shots
speedily sent the Highlanders to the right-about. The
alarm was over for the present ; but it was renewed in
the following year, when the rumour reached Edinburgh
that Prince Charles, hunted from the Highlands, had
landed at Greenock, and lay concealed there. The con-
sequence was that a strict search was made throughout

94 FASCINATED BY ASTRONOMY. CHAP. V.

the town, and Mr. Watt's premises were searched like
the others ; but the Pretender had contrived to escape
in another direction. Such was one of the most memo-
rable incidents in the boy-life of James Watt, so strangely
in contrast with the later events of his industrial career.

During holiday times, the boy sometimes indulged
in rambles along the Clyde, occasionally crossing to the
north shore, and strolling up the Gare Loch and Holy
Loch, and even as far as Ben Lomond. He was of a
solitary disposition, and loved to wander by himself at
night amidst the wooded pleasure-grounds which sur-
rounded the old mansion-house overlooking the town,
watching through the trees the mysterious movements
of the stars. He became fascinated by the wonders of
astronomy, and was stimulated to inquire into the science
by the examination of the nautical instruments which
he found amongst his father's shop-stores. For it was
a peculiarity which characterised him through life, that
he could not look upon any instrument or machine with-
out being seized with a desire to understand its mean-
ing, to unravel its mystery, and master the rationale of
its uses. Before he was fifteen he had twice gone
through with great attention S'Gravande's 'Elements
of Natural Philosophy,' a book belonging to his father.
He performed many little experiments in chemistry, and
even contrived to make an electrical machine, much to
the marvel of those who felt its shocks. Like most
invalids, he read eagerly such books on medicine and
surgery as came in his way. He went so far as to prac-
tise dissection ; and on one occasion he was found carry-
ing off for this purpose the head of a child who had died
of some uncommon disease. " He told his son," says
Mr. Muirhead, " that, had he been able to bear the sight
of the sufferings of patients, he would have been a
surgeon."

In his solitary rambles, his love of wild-flowers and
plants lured him on to the study of botany. Ever ob-

CHAP. V. WATT'S LOVE OF READING. 95

servant of the aspects of nature, the violent upheavings
of the mountain-ranges on the north shores of Loch
Lomond directed his attention to geology. He was a
great devourer of books ; reading all that came in his
way. On a friend once advising him to he less indis-
criminate in his reading, he replied, " I have never yet
read a book without gaining information, instruction,
or amusement." This was no answer to the admonition
of his friend, who merely recommended him to bestow
upon the best books the time he devoted to the worse.
But the appetite for knowledge in inquisitive minds is,
during youth, when curiosity is fresh and unslacked, too
insatiable to be fastidious, and the volume which gets
the preference is usually the first which comes in the
way.

Watt was not, however, a mere bookworm. In his
solitary walks through the country he would enter the
cottages of the peasantry, gather their local traditions,
and impart to them information of a similar kind from
his own ample stores. Fishing, which suited his tranquil
nature, was his single sport. When unable to ramble
for the purpose, he could still indulge the pursuit from
his father's yard, which was open to the sea, and the
water of sufficient depth at high-tide to enable vessels of
fifty or sixty tons to lie alongside.

But James Watt had now arrived at a suitable age to
learn a trade ; and his rambles must come to a close.
His father had originally intended him to follow his own
business ; but having sustained some heavy losses about
this time — one of his ships having foundered at sea, —
and observing the strong bias of his son towards mani-
pulative science and exact mechanics, he at length de-
cided to send him to Glasgow, in the year 1754, when
he was eighteen years old, to learn the trade of a mathe-
matical instrument maker.

96

GLASGOW IN 1754.

CHAP. \L

CHAPTER VI.

JAMES WATT, MATHEMATICAL INSTRUMENT MAKER.

WHEN James Watt, a youth of eighteen, went to
Glasgow in 1754 to learn his trade, the place was very
different from the Glasgow of to-day. Not a steam-
engine was then at work in the town ; not a steam-boat
disturbed the quiet of the Clyde. There was a rough
quay along the Broomielaw, then, as the name implies,
partly covered with broom. The quay was furnished
with a solitary crane, for which there was very little
use, as the river was full of sandbanks, and boats and
gabberts of only six tons burden and under could then
ascend the Clyde.1 Often for weeks together not a
single masted vessel was to be seen in the river. The
principal buildings in the town were the Cathedral and
the University. The west port, now in the centre of
Glasgow, was then a real barrier between the town
and the country. The ground on which Enoch-square
stands consisted chiefly of gardens. A thick wood
occupied the site of the present Custom-house and of
that part of Glasgow situated behind West Clyde-street.
Blythswood was grazing-ground. Not a house had yet
been erected in Hutchinson-town, Laurieston, Tradeston,
or Bridge ton. The land between Jamaica-street on the
east, and Stobcross on the west, and south from Ander-
ston-road to the river, now the most densely populated
parts of Glasgow, consisted of fields and cabbage-gardens.

1 According to Smeaton's report in
1755, there were in spring tides only
3 feet 8 inches water at Pointhouse
Ford. Measures were taken to deepen
the river, and operations with that
object were begun in 1768. Salmon

abounded in the Clyde, and was so
common that servants and apprentices
were accustomed to stipulate that
they should not have salmon for
dinner more than a certain number
of days in the week.

CHAP. VI.

TKOXGATE, GLASGOW

The town had but two main streets, which intersected
each other at the Cross or Market-place, and the only
paved part of them was known as " The Plainstanes,"
which extended for a few hundred yards in front of the
public offices and the Town-hall. The two main streets

TRONGATE, GLASGOW.

contained some stately well-built houses — Flemish-look-
ing tenements with crow-stepped gables, — the lower
stories standing on Doric columns, under which were
the principal booths or shops — small, low-roofed, and
dismal. But the bulk of the houses had only wooden
fronts and thatched roofs, and were of a very humble
character. The traffic along the unpaved streets was so
small, that the carts were left standing in them at night.
? The town was as yet innocent of police ;l it contained

1 The " middens " in the street threatened a penalty of 5s. if middens
were sometimes complained of as a of which complaint had been made
nuisance; and in 1770, the magistrate I were not removed within 48 hours.

98

THE TOBACCO TRADE.

CHAP. VI.

no Irish immigrants, and very few Highlanders. The
latter then thought it beneath them to engage in any
pursuit connected with commerce ; and Eob Roy's con-
tempt for the wabsters of Glasgow, as described by Sir
Walter Scott in the novel, was no exaggeration. No
Highland gentleman, however poor, would dream of
condemning his son to the drudgery of trade ; and even
the poorest Highland cottar would shrink with loathing
from the life of a weaver or a shopkeeper. He would
be a hunter, a fisher, a cattle-lifter, or a soldier ; but
trade he would not touch — that he left to the Low-
landers.1

The principal men of business in Glasgow at the time
of which we speak were the tobacco lords — importers
of that article from the plantations in Virginia,2 — who

1 The Highland gentry and people
regarded the Lowlanders as their
natural enemies, fair subjects for
plunder at all times as opportunities
offered. The Lowlanders, on their
part, regarded the Highlanders very
much as the primitive settlers of
North America regarded the Cherokee
and Chocktaw Indians. Sometimes a
band of uncouth half-clad Highland-
men would suddenly rush down upon
the Lowlands, swoop up all the cattle
writhin their reach, and drive them
off into the mountains. Hence the
Lowlanders and the Highlanders were
always in a state of feud. Long after
the '45 a Highlandman would " thank
God that he had not a drop of Lowland
blood in his veins."

2 The only trade which Glasgow
carried on with foreign countries pre-
vious to the Union, was in coal, grind-
stones, and fish, — Glasgow - cured
herrings being in much repute
abroad. After the Union partnerships
were formed ; vessels were built down
the Clyde, and chartered for carrying
on the trade with Virginia, Maryland,
and Carolina. The first honest vessel
crossed the Atlantic from the Clyde
in 1719 ; in 1735 the Virginia mer-
chants in Glasgow had fifteen vessels
engaged in the trade, and the town

shortly after became the great mart
for tobacco. Of the 90,000 hogsheads
imported into the United Kingdom
in 1772, Glasgow alone imported
49,000, or more than one-half. The
American Revolution had the effect
of completely ruining the tobacco
trade of Glasgow, after which the
merchants were compelled to turn
to other fields of enterprise and in-
dustry. The capital which they had
accumulated from tobacco enabled
them to enter -upon their new un-
dertakings with spirit, and the steam-
engine which had by that time been
invented by their townsman James
Watt, proved their best helper in ad-
vancing the prosperity of modern
Glasgow. The rapidity of its progress
may be inferred from the following
facts. In 1735, though the Glasgow
merchants owned half the entire
tonnage of Scotland, it amounted to
only 5600 tons. In that year the
whole shipping of Scotland was only
one-fortieth part of that of England :
it is now about one-fifth. From 1752
to 1 770 the total tonnage dues of the
harbour of Glasgow amounted to only
147Z., or equal to an average of about
SL per annum. In 1780, the Clyde
having been deepened in the interval,
they reached 1515Z. ; and in 1854,

CHAP. VI.

PRIMITIVE GLASGOW.

99

were often to be seen strutting along the Plainstanes,
dressed in scarlet cloaks, cocked hats, and powdered wigs ;
the " boddies " who kept the adjoining shops eying them
over their half-closed doors, and humbly watching for a
nod of recognition from the mighty potentates. Yet
even the greatest of the tobacco lords only lived in flats,
entering from a common stair ; and the domestic accom-
modation was so scanty and so primitive, that visitors
were of necessity received in the bedrooms. This cir-
cumstance seems to have hac( some influence in the
formation of the Clubs,1 which then formed a curious
feature of society in most Scotch towns. They consisted
of knots of men of like tastes and pursuits, who met in
the evenings at public-houses for purposes of gossip and
social drinking. There they made new and cultivated
old acquaintanceships, and exchanged news with each
other. The Club combined the uses of the newspaper and
the newsroom, which now accomplish the same objects
without the drinking. But Glasgow had then no news-
paper ; and a London news-sheet of a week old was looked
upon as a novelty. There was no coffee-room nor public
library in the town ; no theatre 2 nor place of resort open,
except the " Change-house ;" so that the Club was re-
garded as a social necessity. The drinking was some-
times moderate, and sometimes " hard." The better class
confined themselves to claret and other French wines,

they amounted to 86,5802. The in-
crease has been quite as great in
later years. In point of value of ex-
ports, Glasgow ranks fourth among
the ports of the United Kingdom;
and Greenock now takes precedence
of Bristol.

1 For many curious particulars of
Old Glasgow and its society, see Dr.
Strang's * Glasgow and its Clubs.'

2 A temporary wooden theatre was
run up in 1752, but the religious pre-
judices of the population were vio-
lently excited by the circumstance,
and the place was attacked by a mob

and seriously damaged. The few
persons who went there had to be
protected from insults. In 1762,
when some persons proposed to build
a theatre, not a single individual who
had ground within the burgh would
grant them a site. Two years later
the theatre was erected outside the
precincts, and on the night on which
it was opened it was wilfully set on
fire by some persons instigated by the
preaching of a neighbouring metho-
dist, when it narrowly escaped de-
struction.

H 2

100

WATT'S FTKST MASTER.

>. VI.

which were then cheap, being free from duty. Those
disposed to indulge in more frugal fare confined them-
selves to oat-cake and small-beer. It was not until
heavy taxes were laid on foreign wines arid malt that
the hard whisky-drinking of Scotland set in. Whisky
was introduced from the Highlands shortly after the
" Forty-five ;" and it soon became the popular drink.
By 1780 the drinking of raw whisky in Glasgow at mid-
day had become general.1

When young Watt Arrived in Glasgow he carried
with him but a small quantity of baggage ; the articles
in his trunk including amongst other things a quadrant,
—probably a specimen of his own handiwork, — a leather
apron, about a score of carpenters' and other tools, and
" a pair of bibels." On making inquiry for a proper mas-
ter, under whom to learn the business of mathematical
instrument making, it was found that there was no
such person in Glasgow. There was, however, a me-
chanic in the town, who dignified himself with the name
of " optician," under whom Watt was placed for a time.
He was a sort of Jack-of-all-trades, who sold and mended
spectacles, repaired fiddles, tuned spinets, made and
repaired the simpler instruments used in mechanical
drawing, and eked out a slender living by making and
selling fishing-rods and fishing-tackle. Watt was MS
handy at dressing trout and salmon flies as at most other
things, and his master, no doubt, found him useful
enough ; but there was nothing to be learnt in return for
his services. Though his master was an ingenious
workman, in a small way, and could turn his ready hand

1 When the Lowlanders want to
drink a cheering cup, they go to the
public-house, called the Change-house,
and call for a chopin of twopenny,
which is their yeasty beverage, made
of malt, not quite so strong as the
table-beer of England. . . . . The
Highlanders, on the contrary, despise
the liquor, and regale themselves

with whisky, or malt spirit, as strong
as Geneva, which they swallow in
great quantities, without any signs of
inebriation : they are used to it from
the cradle, and find it an excellent
preservative against the winter cold,
which must be extreme on these
mountains. — Smollett, ' Expedition
of Humphry Clinker.'

CHAP. VI. JOURNEY TO LONDON. 101

to anything, it soon became clear to Watt's relations,
the Muirheads, with whom he lived during his stay,
that the instructions of such an artist were little likely
to advance him in mathematical instrument making.
Among the gentlemen to whom "Watt was introduced
by his relatives was Dr. Dick, Professor of Natural Phi-
losophy in Glasgow College, who strongly recommended
him to proceed to London, and there place himself under
the instruction of some competent master. Watt con-
sulted his father on the subject, who readily gave his
sanction to the proposal ; and, with a letter of introduc-
tion from Dr. Dick in his pocket, he set out for the great
city accordingly.

No stage-coach then ran between Glasgow and Lon-
don ; so it was determined that young Watt should pro-
ceed on horseback, then the most convenient and speedy
mode of travelling. His chest was sent by sea. Old
Mr. Watt's memorandum-book at Heathfield contains the
following entry, under date the 6th June, 1755 "*. —

" To send James Watt's chist to the care of Mr. William Oman,
Ventener in Leith, to be shypt for London to ye care of Captain
\\illiam Watson, at the Hermitage, London.

" Pd- 3s. Gd. for wagon carage to Edenbrough of chist.
Pd- to son James 21. '2s.
Pd- Plaster and Pomet, Is. 4rf.
Pd 4 doz. pencels, Is. 6tf."

The "plaster and pomet" may possibly have been pro-
vided in view of the long journey on horseback and its
contingencies. Jt was arranged that the youth should
travel in the company of a relative, Mr. Marr, a sea-
captain, who was on his way to join his ship, then lying
in the Thames. They set out on the 7th of June,
travelling by way of Coldstream and Newcastle, where
they joined the great north road, then comparatively
practicable to the south of Durham. They reached
London safely on the 19th, having been about a fort-
night on the road.

102 SEARCH FOR A MASTER. CHAP. VI.

Mr. Marr immediately proceeded to make inquiries
for a mathematical instrument maker with whom to
place his young friend. But it was found that a serious
obstacle presented itself in the rules of the trade, which
prescribed that those employed must either be appren-
tices serving under a seven years' apprenticeship, or, if
journeymen, that they should have served for that term.
Watt, however, had no intention of binding himself to
serve for so long a period, and he had no pretensions
to rank as a journeyman. His object was to learn the
business in the shortest possible time, and then return
to Glasgow and set up for himself. The two went
about from shop to shop, but only met with rebuffs.
" I have not yet got a master," Watt wrote to his father
about a fortnight after his arrival ; "we have tried
several, but they all made some objection or other. I
find that, if any of them agree with me at all, it will
not be for less than a year ; and even for that time they
will be expecting some money."

Mr. Marr continued to exert himself on behalf of the
youth. Anxious to be employed in any way rather
than not at all, Watt offered his services gratuitously to
a watchmaker named Neale, with whom Mr. Marr did
business, and he was allowed to occupy himself in his
shop for a time, cutting letters and figures in metal. At
length a situation of a more permanent character was
obtained for him ; and he entered the shop of Mr. John
Morgan, a respectable mathematical instrument maker
in Cornhill, on the terms of receiving a year's instruc-
tion in return for a fee of twenty guineas and the pro-
ceeds of his labour during that time. He soon proved
himself a ready learner and skilful workman. That
division of labour, the result of an extensive trade,
which causes the best London carriages to be superior
to any of provincial construction, was even then applied
to mathematical instruments. " Very few here," wrote
Watt, " know any more than how to make a rule, others

CHAP. VI. WATT'S LIFE IN LONDON. 103

a pair of dividers, and such like." His first employment
was in making brass scales, rules, parallels, and the brass-
work of quadrants ; and by the end of a month he was
able to finish a Hadley's quadrant in better style than
any apprentice in the shop. From rule and quadrant
making he proceeded to azimuth compasses, brass sectors,
theodolites, and the more delicate kinds of instruments.
At the end of the year he wrote home to his father that he
had made " a brass sector with a French joint, which is
reckoned as nice a piece of framing-work as is in the
trade ;" and he expressed the hope that he would soon be
able to work for himself, and earn his bread by his own
industry.

Up to this time he had necessarily been maintained
by his father, on whom he drew from time to time.
Mr. Watt's memorandum-books show that on the 27th
of June he remitted him 10£. ; on the 24th of August
following he enters : " Sent George Anderson by post
SI. to buy a bill of 7/. or 8/. to send Whey thread and
Gifferd, and ballance of my son's bill, 21. 2,9. 3d., for which
ame to remite him more ;" and on the 1 1th September
following, the balance was forwarded through the same
channel. On the 24th October, 4£. 10s. was in like
manner sent to George Anderson " on son James's second
bill ;" and on the 31st December, 10/. was remitted, " to
be put to the credit of son James's last bill." To relieve
his father as much as possible for the cost of his main-
tenance in London, Watt lived in a very frugal style,
avoiding all unnecessary expenses. His living cost him
only eight shillings a week ; and he could not reduce it
below that, he wrote to his father, " without pinching
his belly." He also sought for some remunerative work
on his own account ; and when he could obtain it he sat
up at night to execute it.

During Watt's stay in London he was in a great
measure prevented from stirring abroad by the hot press
for sailors which was then going on. As many as forty

104 DANGER FROM PBESSGANGS. CHAP. VI

pressgangs were at work, seizing all able-bodied men
they could lay hands on. In one night they took not
fewer than a thousand men. Nor were the kidnappers
idle. These were the agents of the East India Company,
who had crimping-houses in different parts of the
city for receiving the men whom they had seized
upon for service in the Indian army. Even when the
demand for soldiers abated, the kidnappers continued
their trade, and sold their unhappy victims to the
planters in Pennsylvania and other North American
colonies. Sometimes severe fights took place between
the pressgangs and the kidnappers for possession of
those who had been seized, the law and police being
apparently powerless to protect them. " They now
press anybody they can get," Watt wrote in the spring
of 1756, "landsmen as well as seamen, except it be in
the liberties of the city, where they are obliged to carry
them before the Lord Mayor first ; and unless one be
either a prentice or a creditable tradesman, there is
scarce any getting off again. And if I was carried
before my Lord Mayor, I durst not avow that 1 wrought
in the city, it being against their laws for. any unfree-
man to work even as a journeyman within the liberties." J
What a curious glimpse does this give us into the prac-
tice of man-hunting in London in the eighteenth century !
Watt's enforced confinement, together with his se-
dentary habits and unremitting labour, soon told upon
his weak frame. When he hurried to his lodgings at
night, his body was wearied, and his nerves exhausted,
so that his hands shook like those of an old man ; yet
he persevered with the extra work which he imposed
upon himself, in order to earn a little honest money to
help to pay for his living. His seat in Mr. Morgan's
shop being placed close to the door, which was often
opened and shut in the course of the day, he caught

Letter to his lather quoted in Mini-head's ' Life of Watt,' p. ol).

CHAP. VI. RETURNS TO SCOTLAND. 105

a severe cold in the course of the winter ; and he was
afflicted by a racking cough and severe rheumatic pains,
from the effects of which he long* continued to suffer.
Distressed by a gnawing pain in his back, and greatly
depressed in spirits, he at length, with his father's
sanction, determined to return to Greenock, to seek
for renewal of health in his native air. His father made
him a further remittance to enable him to purchase
some of the tools required for his trade, together with
materials for making others, and a copy of Bioii's work
on the construction and use of Mathematical Instru-
ments. Having secured these, he set out on his return
journey for Scotland, and reached Greenock in safety in
the autumn of 1756. There his health soon became
sufficiently restored to enable him to return to work;
and with the concurrence and help of his father, he
shortly after proceeded to Glasgow, in his twentieth
year, to begin business on his own account.

In endeavouring to establish himself in his trade,
Watt encountered the same obstacle which in London
had almost prevented his learning it. Although there
were no mathematical instrument makers in Glasgow,
and it must have been a public advantage to have so
skilled a mechanic settled in the place, Watt was opposed
by the corporation of hammermen on the ground that
he was neither the son of a burgess nor had served an
apprenticeship within the borough.1 Failing in his
endeavours to open a place of business, he next tried to
prevail on the corporation to allow him to make use of
a small workshop wherein to make experiments; but

1 The following " letter of Guildry " burgh, as they shall think fit, ay and

while the said unfreemen be put off

embodied the local regulations which
existed for the purpose of preventing
" loss and skaith " to the burgesses
and craftsmen of Glasgow by the in-
trusion of " strangers " : — " The Dean
of Guild and his Council shall have

put off

the town, and restrained, or else be
made free with the town and their
crafts ; and sic like, to pursue, upon
the judges competent, all persons
dwelling within this burgh, and usurp-

full power to discharge, punish, and ing the liberty thereof, obtain dicrets
unlaw all persons, unfreemen, using against them, and cause the same to
the liberty of a freeman within the1 be put to speedy execution."

106

GAINS ASYLUM IN GLASGOW COLLEGE. CHAP. VI.

this also was peremptorily refused. The hammermen
were doubtless acting in a very narrow spirit, in thus
excluding the young mechanic from the privileges of
citizenship ; but such was the custom of the times,—
those who were within the favoured circles usually
putting their shoulders together to exclude those who
were without. Watt had, however, already been em-
ployed by Dr. Dick, Professor of Natural Philosophy, to
repair some mathematical instruments which had been
bequeathed to the University by a gentleman in the West
Indies ; and the professors, having an absolute authority
within the area occupied by the college buildings, deter-
mined to give him an asylum there, and thus free him
from the incubus of the guilds.

In the heart of old Glasgow city, not far from the
cathedral of St. Mungo, which Knox with difficulty pre-
served from the fury of the Scotch iconoclasts, stands
the venerable University, a curiously black and sombre
building, more than 400 years old. Inside the entrance,
on the right-hand side, is a stone staircase, guarded
by fabulous beasts in stone. The buildings consist of
several quadrangles ; but there is not much regularity in
their design, each part seeming to stand towards the other

-^~-

INNER QUADKANGLE, GLASGOW COLLEGE

CHAP. VI.

HIS SHOP IN GLASGOW COLLEGE.

107

parts, in a state of independent crookedness and irregu-
larity. There are turrets in the corners of the quad-
rangles,— turrets with peaked tops, like witches' caps.
In the inner quadrangle, entered from the left-hand side
of the outer court, a workshop was found for our mecha-
nician, in which he was securely established by the
midsummer of 1757. The apartment appropriated to
Watt by the professors is still to be seen in nearly the
same rude state in which he left it. It is situated on
the first floor of the range of building forming the north-
west side of the inner quadrangle, immediately under
the gallery of the Natural Philosophy class, with which
it communicates. It is lighted by three windows, two
of which open into the quadrangle, and the third, at the
back, into the Professors' court. There is a small closet
in the corner of the room, where some students have
cut their names in the plaster, — date "1713." The
access to the room used to be from the court by a spiral
stone staircase ; but that entrance is now closed. The
apartment is only about twenty feet square ; but it served
Watt, as it has since served others, for high thinking
and noble working.1

In addition to his workshop under the Natural Phi-
losophy class, a shop for the sale of his instruments was
also appropriated to Watt by the Professors. It formed
the ground-floor of the house situated next to the Prin-
cipal's Gate, being part of the University Buildings, and
was entered directly from the pavement of the High
Street. It has been described to us, on the authority of
Professor Fleming, as an old house, with a sort of arcade
in front, supported on pillars. In making some altera-
tions in the building the pillars were too much weakened,
and the house, excepting the basement, had to be taken

1 When we visited the room some
years since, we found laid there the
galvanic apparatus employed by Pro-
fessor Thomson for perfecting the

invention of his delicate process of
signalling through the wires of the
Atlantic Telegraph.

108

FINDS HIMSELF IN DIFFICULTIES.

CHAP. VI.

down. The shop occupied by Watt is the little tenement
shown on the right hand of the following engraving ;
but the lower story of the building has since been altered
and repaired, and is now totally different from what it
was in Watt's time.

ISOMETRIC VIEW OI<' GLASGOW COLLEGE, 1693, FKOM. SLE TEH'S 'TBEATKUM SCO7'I£ ' 1

Though his wants were few, and he lived on humble
fare, Watt found it very difficult to earn a subsistence
by his trade. His father sent him remittances from
time to time ; but the old man had suffered serious losses
in his own business, and had become much less able to
help his son with money. After a year's trial, Watt wrote
to his father, that " unless it be the Hadley's instru-
ments there is little to be got by it, as at most other jobs
I am obliged to do the most of them myself; and, as

1 The illustration does not show the
Inner Quadrangle, situated to the left
of the Main Court, that part of the

building having been added since the
view was published.

CHAP. VI.

HIS SLKXDK1! P.l'SIXKSS.

109

it is impossible tor one person to be expert at every-
thing, they often cost me more time than they should
do." Of the quadrants, he could make three in a week,
with the help of a lad ; but the profit upon the three
was not more than 40<S'. The customers for these were
very few in number, as seagoing ships with their cap-
tains could not yet reach Glasgow.1

Failing sufficient customers for his instruments, Watt
sent those which he had made to Port Glasgow and
Greenock, where his father helped him to dispose of
them. He also bethought him of taking a journey to
Liverpool and London, for the purpose of obtaining
orders for instruments ; though, for some reason or
other — most probably because he was averse to " push-
ing," and detested the chaffering of trade — his con-
templated journey was not undertaken. He therefore
continued to execute only such orders as came to him,
so that his business remained very small. He began to
fear that he must give up the trade that would not keep
him, and he wrote to his father : " If this business does
not succeed, 1 must fall into some other." To eke out
his income, he took to map and chart selling, and,
amongst other things, offered for sale the Map of the
River Clyde,2 originally surveyed by his uncle John.

It is well for the world at large that Watt's maps and
quadrants remained on his hands unsold. The most
untoward circumstances in life have often the happiest

1 The author of ' Glasgow, Past
and Present ' thus writes : — " Last
week (Nov. 1851) I was crossing the
ferry at the west end of Tradeston,
and in the course of our passage over
we turned round the bow of a large
ship. The ferryman, looking up to
her leviathan bulwarks, exclaimed,
' She came up here yesterday, draw-
ing eighteen feet water ! ' Now, upon
this very spot seventy years ago,
when a very little boy, I waded across
the river, my feet never being oft' the
ground, and the water not reaching
above my arm-pits. The depth at

that time could not have been much
more than three feet."

2 The « Glasgow Courant ' of Oct.
22, 1759, contains the following ad-
vertisement : —

" Just Published,
" And to be Sold by James Watt, at his Shop

in the College ot Glasgow, price Is. (id.,
" A large Sheet Map of the River Clyde,

from Glasgow to Portincross, from an

Actual Survev.

" To which is added,

" A Draught of Part of the North Channel,
with the Frith of Clyde according to the
best authorities."

110

RESORTS TO OTHER PURSUITS.

CHAP. VI.

results. It is not Fortune that is blind, but man. Had
his instrument-making business prospered, Watt might
have become known as a first-class maker of quadrants,
but not as the inventor of the condensing steam-engine.
It was because his own special business failed that he
was driven to betake himself to other pursuits, and
eventually to prosecute the invention on which his fame
mainly rests. At first he employed part of his leisure in
making chemical and other experiments ; but as these
yielded him no returns in the shape of money, he was
under the necessity of making some sort of article that
was in demand, and for which he could find customers.
Although he had no ear for music, and scarcely knew
one note from another, he followed the example of the
old spectacle-maker, his first master, in making fiddles,
flutes, and guitars, which met with a readier sale than
his quadrants. These articles were what artists call
"pot-boilers," and kept him in funds until a main-
tenance could be earned by higher-class work. We are
informed, through a lady at Glasgow, that her father
bought a flute from Watt, who said to him, in selling it :
" Woe be to ye, Tarn, if you're no guid luck ; for this is
the first I've sold!"

His friend Dr. Black, probably to furnish him with
some profitable employment, asked Watt to make a barrel-
organ for him, which he at once proceeded to construct.
Watt was not the man to refuse work of any kind
requiring the exercise of constructive skill. He first
carefully • studied the principles of harmony, — making
science, in a measure, the substitute for want of ear,1
and took for his guide the profound but obscure work on
6 Harmonics,' published by Dr. R. Smith of Cambridge.
He next made a model of the instrument ; after which
he constructed the organ, which, wiien finished, was
considered a great success. About the same time the

1 General T. Perronet Thompson
is another remarkable instance of a
person without ear for music, who

has mastered the principles of har-
mony and applied them in the inven-
tion of his " Enharmonic Organ."

CHAP. VI.

BUILDS ORGANS.

Ill

office-bearers of a Mason's Lodge in Glasgow sent to ask
him if he would undertake to build for them a finger-
organ. As he had sucessfully repaired an instrument
of the same kind, besides making the barrel-organ, he
readily accepted the order. Watt was always, as he
said, dissatisfied with other people's work, as well as
his own ; and this habit of his mind made him study
to improve upon whatever came before him. Thus, in
the process of building this organ, he devised a number
of novel expedients, such as a sustained monochord, indi-
cators and regulators of the strength of the blast, means
of tuning the instrument according to any system of
temperament, with sundry contrivances for improving
the efficiency of the stops. The qualities of the organ
when finished are said to have elicited the surprise and
admiration of musicians.1

The leisure time which Watt did not occupy with
miscellaneous work of this sort, he spent in reading. He
did not want for books, as the College library was near
at hand ; and the professors as well as students were
willing to lend him from their stores. He was not afraid
of solid, heavy, dry books, provided he could learn some-
thing from them. All were alike welcome ; and one of
his greatest pleasures was in devouring a novel, when it

1 Watt seems to have made other
organs besides those above mentioned.
Not long since a barrel-organ of his
construction was offered for sale at
Glasgow. It was originally in the
form of a table, about three feet square,
having no appearance of a musical
instrument externally. At this table,
when Watt and his friends were
seated, he would set the concealed
mechanism in action, and surprise
them with the production of the
music. It has since been mounted
with an organ front and sides, with
gilt pipes. When in proper tune it
is of considerable power and pleasing
harmony ; and continues orthodox in
its psalm tunes, which range from
" Martyrs " to the " Old Hundred." A
correspondent writes as follows : —

" A large organ made and used by
Watt when he had his shop in
Glasgow, was disposed of by him,
when he finally left this city. It
came into the possession of the late
Mr. Archibald M'Lellan, coach-
builder, Miller Street, Glasgow, and
he had it fitted up in his elegant
residence in that fine old street. I
have heard it played by Mr. M'Lellan.
After his death it was sold, and pur-
chased by Mr. James G. Adam of the
Denny print-works. Mr. Adam died,
and the organ was advertised for sale,
in 1864, and purchased for 10Z., by
Adam Sim, Esq., of Coulter Mains, in
whose possession it now is. Mr. Sim
has authentic documents to prove that
this organ was really James Watt's."

112

VISITS TO HIS CLUB.

CHAP. A'!.

fell in his way. He is even said to have occupied him-
self in writing tales and verses when he had nothing
else to do. As none of his attempts have been preserved,
we cannot offer an opinion upon them ; but it is doubtful
whether Watt's poetry and fiction would display the
same originality and power of invention as his steam-
engine. The only youthful exercises of his which have
been preserved are anything but poetical. One of them,
at Heathfield, is a 4 Treatise on Practical Megethometry ;'
and another is a ' Compendium of Definitions,' in Latin,
by Gerard de Yries, both written in a neat round hand.

Like most of the Glasgow citizens of that time, Watt
occasionally visited his club, where he cultivated the
society of men of greater culture and experience than
himself.1 As he afterwards observed to a friend, " Our
conversations then, besides the usual subjects with young
men, turned principally on literary topics, religion,
morality, belles-lettres, &c. ; and to those conversations
my mind owed its first bias towards such subjects, in
which they were all much my superiors, I never having
attended a college, and being then but a mechanic."

There was another circumstance connected with his
situation at this time which must have been peculiarly
agreeable to a young man of his character, aspirations,
and thirst for knowledge. • His shop, being conveniently
situated within the College, was a favourite resort of
the professors and the students. They were attracted
by the ingenious instruments and models which the shop
contained, and the pleasure always felt in witnessing
the proceedings of a skilful mechanic at his work,

1 The club he frequented was
called the Anderston Club, of which
Mr. (afterwards Professor) Millar,
Dr. Robert Simson, the mathema-
tician, Dr. Adam Smith, Dr. Black,
and Dr. Cullen, were members. The
standing dish of the club was hen-
broth, consisting of a decoction of
" how-towdies " (fowls), thickened

with black beans, and seasoned with
pepper. Dr. Strang says Professor
Simson was in the habit of counting
the steps from his house to the club,
so that he could tell the distance to
the fraction of an inch. But it is not-
stated whether he counted the steps
on his return, and found the number
of steps the same.

CHAP. VI.

WATT'S ASSOCIATES.

113

but more particularly by the easy, unaffected, and ori-
ginal conversation of Watt himself. Though a com-
parative youth, the professors were usually glad to
consult him on points of mechanical knowledge and
practice ; and the acuteness of his observation, the
accuracy of his knowledge, and the readiness with
which he communicated what he knew, soon rendered
him a general favourite. Among his most frequent
visitors were Dr. Joseph Black, the distinguished pro-
fessor of chemistry, who there contracted a friendship
with Watt which lasted, uninterrupted, for a period of
forty years, until the Doctor's death ; Professor Sim-
son, one of the most eminent men of his day, whom
Lord Brougham has described as the restorer of the
science of geometry ; Dr. Dick, the Professor of Natural
Philosophy ; and Professor Anderson.1 Dr. Moor and
Dr. Adam Smith were also frequent callers. But of all
Watt's associates, none is more closely connected with
his name and history than John Robison, then a student
at Glasgow College, and afterwards Professor of Natural
Philosophy at Edinburgh.

Robison was nearer Watt's age than the rest, and
stood in the intimate relation to him of bosom friend,
as well as fellow inquirer in science. He was handsome
and prepossessing in appearance, frank and lively, full
of fancy and humour, and a general favourite in the
College. He was a capital talker, an accomplished
linguist, and a good musician ; yet, with all his versa-
tility, he was a profound thinker and a diligent student,

1 John Anderson was a native of
Greenock, and an intimate friend of
James Watt. He was appointed pro-
fessor of Hebrew in his twenty-seventh
year, and succeeded Dr. Dick as pro-
fessor of Natural Philosophy in 1757.
AVatt spent many of his evenings at
his residence within the College, and
had the free use of his excellent pri-
vate library. Professor Anderson is
entitled to the honour of being the

first to open classes for the instruc-
tion of working men — " anti-toga
classes," as he called them — in the
principles of Natural Philosophy ;
and at his death he bequeathed his
property for the purpose of founding
an institution with the same object.
The Andersonian University was
opened in 1796, long before the age
of Mechanics' Institutes.

114 HOBISON'S INTRODUCTION TO WATT. . CHAP. VI.

especially in mathematical and mechanical science, as
he afterwards proved in his elaborate ' System of
Mechanical Philosophy/ edited by Sir David Brewster,
and his many able contributions to the ' Encyclopaedia
Britannica,' of which he was the designer and editor.

Robison's introduction to Watt has been described
by himself. After feasting his eyes on the beautifully-
finished instruments in his shop, Robison entered into
conversation with him. Expecting to find only a work-
man, he was surprised to discover a philosopher. " I
had the vanity," says Robison, " to think myself a pretty
good proficient in my favourite study (mathematical
and mechanical philosophy), and was rather mortified
at finding Mr. Watt so much my superior. But his
own high relish for these things made him pleased
with the chat of any person who had the same tastes
with himself; and his innate complaisance made him
indulge my curiosity, and even encourage my en-
deavours to form a more intimate acquaintance with
him. I lounged much about him, and, I doubt not,
was frequently teasing him. Thus our acquaintance
began."

In Watt's workshop also, Robison first met Dr. Black,
and there initiated a friendship which ended only with
death. " My first acquaintance with him," Robison
afterwards wrote Watt, " began in your rooms when
you were rubbing up Macfarlane's instruments. He
used to come in, and, standing with his back to us,
amuse himself with Bird's quadrant, whistling softly to
himself, in a manner that thrilled me to the heart."

In 1757 Robison applied for the office of assistant to
Dr. Dick, Professor of Natural Philosophy, in the
place of the son of that gentleman, who had just died ;
but though he had already taken the degree of Master
of Arts, he was thought too young to hold so important
an office, being only about nineteen years old. His
friends wished him to study for the church ; but, pre-

CHAP. VI. KOBISON'S ESTIMATE OF WATT. 115

ferring some occupation in which his mechanical tastes
might be indulged, he turned his eyes to London. Fur-
nished with letters from Professor Dick and Dr. Simson,
he obtained an introduction to Admiral Knowles, who
engaged him to take charge of his son's instruction
while at sea. In that capacity he sailed from Spithead
in 1759, with the fleet which assisted the land forces in
the taking of Quebec ; he and his pupil being rated as
midshipmen in the Admiral's ship. Eobison was on
duty in the boat which carried Wolfe to the point
where the army scaled the heights of Montcalm the
night before the battle ; and as the sun was setting in
the west, the General, doubtless from an association of
ideas suggested by the dangers of the coming struggle,
recited, in an under tone, Gray's ' Elegy on a Country
Churchyard ; ' and when he had finished, said, " Now,
gentlemen, I would rather have been the author of that
poem than take Quebec."

When Robison returned from his voyagings in 1763,
a travelled man, — having had the advantage, during
his absence, of acting as confidential assistant of Admiral
Knowles in his marine surveys and observations,— he
reckoned himself more than on a par with Watt ; but
he soon found that, during the period of his absence
from Glasgow, his friend had been even busier than him-
self. When they entered into conversation, he found
Watt continually striking into new paths where he was
obliged to be his follower. The extent of the mathe-
matical instrument maker's investigations was no less
remarkable than the depth to which he had pursued
them. Not only had he mastered the principles of
engineering, civil and military, but diverged into
studies in antiquity, natural history, languages, criti-
cism, and art. Every pursuit became science in his
hands, and he made use of his subsidiary knowledge
for the purpose of helping him towards his favourite
objects.

116 THEIR MUTUAL ESTEEM. CHAP. VI.

Before long, Watt became to be regarded as one of
the ablest men about college. u When to the supe-
riority of knowledge in his own line," said Robison,
" which every man confessed, there was joined the
iia'ive simplicity and candour of his character, it is
no wonder that the attachment of his acquaintances
was so strong. I have seen something of the world,"
he continued, " and I am obliged to say that I never
saw such another instance of general and cordial
attachment to a person whom all acknowledged to
be their superior. But this superiority was concealed
under the most amiable candour, and liberal allowance
of merit to every man. Mr. Watt was the first to
ascribe to the ingenuity of a friend things which
were very often nothing but his own surmises followed
out and embodied by another. I am well entitled
to say this, and have often experienced it in my
own case."

There are few traits in biography more charming
than this generous recognition of merit mutually
attributed by the one friend to the other. Arago,
in quoting the words of Robison, has well observed that
it is difficult to determine whether the honour of having
thus recorded them be not as great as that of having
inspired them.

THK "HROOMIKLAV;

PROFESSOR ROBISON. Mt. 60. [By T. D Scott, after Raeburn.]

118 WATT'S EXPERIMENTS. CHAP. VII.

CHAPTEE VII.

WATT'S EXPERIMENTS ON STEAM — INVENTS THE SEPARATE
CONDENSER.

IT was in the year 1759 that Robison first called the
attention of his friend Watt to the subject of the steam-
engine. Robison was then only in his twentieth, and
Watt in his twenty-third year. Robison's idea was
that the power of steam might be advantageously
applied to the driving of wheel-carriages, and he sug-
gested that it would be the most convenient for the
purpose to place the cylinder with its open end down-
wards to avoid the necessity of using a working beam.
Watt admits that he was very ignorant of the steam-
engine at the time ; nevertheless, he began making a
model with two cylinders of tinplate, intending that
the pistons and their connecting-rods should act
alternately on two pinions attached to the axles of the
carriage-wheels. But the model, being slightly and in-
accurately made, did not answer his expectations. Other
difficulties presented themselves, and the scheme was
laid aside on Robison leaving Glasgow to go to sea.
Indeed, mechanical science was not yet ripe for the
locomotive. Robison's idea had, however, dropped
silently into the mind of his friend, where it grew from
day to day, slowly and at length fruitfully.

At his intervals of leisure and in the quiet of his
evenings, Watt continued to prosecute his various
studies. He was shortly attracted by the science of
chemistry, then in its infancy. Dr. Black was at that
time occupied with the investigations which led to his
discovery of the theory of latent heat, and it is probable

CHAP. VII.

INQUIRIES AS TO STEAM.

119

that his familiar conversations with Watt on the sub-
ject induced the latter to enter upon a series of experi-
ments with the view of giving the theory some practical
direction. His attention again and again reverted to
the steam-engine, though he had not yet seen even a
model of one. Steam was as yet almost unknown in
Scotland as a working power. The first engine was
erected at Elphinstone Colliery, in Stirlingshire, about
the year 1750 ; and the second more than ten years
later, at Grovan Colliery, near Glasgow, where it was
known by the startling name of "The Firework."
This had not, however, been set up at the time Watt
began to inquire into the subject. But he found that
the College possessed the model of a Newcomen engine
for the use of the Natural^ Philosophy class, which had
been sent to London for repair. On hearing of its
existence, he suggested to his friend Dr. Anderson, Pro-
fessor of Natural Philosophy, the propriety of getting
back the model ; and a sum of money was placed by
the Senatus at the Professor's disposal " to recover the
steam-engine from Mr. Sisson, instrument maker, in
London."

In the mean time Watt sought to learn all that had
been written on the subject of the steam-engine. He
ascertained from Desaguliers, from Switzer, and other
writers, what had been accomplished by Savery,
Newcomen, Beighton, and others : and he went on
with his own independent experiments. His first
apparatus was of the simplest possible kind. He used
common apothecaries phials for his steam reservoirs,
and canes hollowed out for his steam pipes.1 In 1761

1 At a meeting held in Glasgow in
1839 to erect a monument to Watt,
Dr. Ure observed : — "As to the
latent heat of steam," said Mr. Watt
to me, " it was a piece of knowledge
essential to my inquiries, and I
worked it out myself in the best way
that I could. I used apothecaries'

phials for my apparatus, and by
means of them I got approximations
sufficient for my purpose at the
time." The passage affords a striking
illustration of the large results that
may be arrived at by means of the
humblest instruments. In like manner
Cavendish, when asked by a foreigner

120

HIS FIRST RUDE APPARATUS.

CHAP. VI L

means

he proceeded to experiment on the force of steam by
of a small Papin's digester and a syringe.
The syringe was only the third of an inch
in diameter, fitted with a solid piston ;
and it was connected with the digester
by a pipe furnished with a stopcock, by
which the steam was admitted or shut off
at will. It was also itself provided with
a stopcock, enabling a communication to
be opened between the syringe and the
outer air to permit the steam in the
syringe to escape. The apparatus, though
rude, enabled the experimenter to ascer-
tain some important facts. When the steam in the
digester was raised and the cock turned, enabling it to
rush against the lower side of the piston, he found
that the expansive force of the steam raised a weight of
fifteen pounds with which the piston was loaded. Then,
on turning the cock and shutting off the connexion with
the digester at the same time that a passage was opened
to the air, the steam was allowed to escape, when the
weight upon the piston, being no longer counteracted,
immediately forced it to descend.

Watt saw that it would be easy to contrive that the
cocks should be turned by the machinery itself instead of
by the hand, and the whole be made to work by itself
with perfect regularity. But there was an objection to
this method. Water is converted into vapour as soon
as its elasticity is sufficient to overcome the weight of
the air which keeps it down. Under the ordinary
pressure of the atmosphere water acquires this necessary
elasticity at 212°; but as the steam in the digester was
prevented from escaping, it acquired increased heat, and
by consequence increased elasticity. Hence it was that

to be shown over his laboratories,
pointed to an old tea-tray on the
table, containing a few watch-glasses,

test papers, a balance, and a blow-
pipe, and observed, " There is all the
laboratory 1 possess."

CHAP. VII.

THE NEWCOMEN MODEL

121

the steam which issued from the digester was not only
able to support the piston and the air which pressed
upon its upper surface, but the additional load with
which the piston was weighted. With the imperfect
mechanical construction, however, of those days, there
was a risk lest the boiler should be burst by the steam,
which was apt to force its way through the ill-made
joints of the machine. This, conjoined with the great
expenditure of steam on the high-pressure system, led
Watt to abandon the plan ; and the exigencies of
his business for a time prevented him pursuing his
experiments. Watt's own account of his early experi-
ments will be found appended as notes to Brewster's
edition of the articles ' Steam and Steam-engines,'
written by Dr. Eobison for the ' Encyclopaedia Britan-
nica,' and afterwards published in a separate form.

At length the New-
comen model arrived
from London ; and, in
1763, the little engine,
which was destined to
become so famous, was
put into the hands of
Watt. The boiler was
somewhat smaller than
an ordinary tea-kettle.
The cylinder of the en-
gine was only of two
inches diameter and six
inches stroke. Watt at
first regarded it as
merely " a fine play-
thing." It was, how-
ever, enough to set him
upon a track of think-
ing which led to the most important results. When
he had repaired the model and set it to work, he

THE NEWCOMEN A1OD&L.

122 ENCOUNTERS A DIFFICULTY. CHAP. VII.

found that the boiler, though apparently large enough,
could not supply steam in sufficient quantity, and only
a few strokes of the piston could be obtained, when the
engine stopped. The fire was urged by blowing, and
more steam was produced, but still it would not work
properly. Exactly at the point at which another man
would have abandoned the task in despair, the mind of
Watt became thoroughly roused. " Everything," says
Professor Robison, " was to him the beginning of a new
and serious study ; and I knew that he would not quit
it till he had either discovered its insignificance, or had
made something of it." Thus it happened with the
phenomena presented by the model of the steam-engine.
Watt referred to his books, and endeavoured to ascertain
from them by what means he might remedy the defects
which he found in the model ; but they could tell him
nothing. He then proceeded with an independent
course of experiments, resolved to work out the problem
for himself. In the course of his inquiries he came
upon a fact which, more than any other, led his mind
into the train of thought which at last conducted him to
the invention of which the results were destined to prove
so stupendous. This fact was the existence of Latent Heat.
In order to follow the track of investigation pursued
by Watt, it is necessary for a moment to revert to the
action of the Newcomen pumping-engine. A beam,
moving upon a centre, had affixed to one end of it a
chain attached to the piston of the pump, and at the
other a chain attached to a piston that fitted into the
steam cylinder. It was by driving this latter piston up
and down the cylinder that the pump was worked. To
communicate the necessary movement to the piston, the
steam generated in a boiler was admitted to the bottom
of the cylinder, forcing out the air through a valve,
when its pressure on the under side of the piston coun-
terbalanced the pressure of the atmosphere on its upper
side. The piston, thus placed between two equal forces,

CHAP. VII. PRINCIPLE OF LATENT HEAT. 123

was drawn up to the top of the cylinder by the greater
weight of the pump-gear at the opposite extremity of
the beam. The steam, so far, only discharged the office
which was performed by the air it displaced ; but, if
the air had been allowed to remain, the piston once at
the top of the cylinder could not have returned, being
pressed as much by the atmosphere underneath as by
the atmosphere above it. The steam, on the contrary,
which was admitted by the exclusion of the air, could be
condensed, and a vacuum created, by injecting cold water
through the bottom of the cylinder. The piston being
now unsupported, was forced down by the pressure of
the atmosphere on its upper surface. When the piston
reached the bottom, the steam was again let in, and the
process was repeated. Such was the engine in ordinary
use for pumping water at the time that Watt begun his
investigations.

Among his other experiments, he constructed a boiler
which showed by inspection the quantity of water eva-
porated in any given time, and the quantity of steam
used in every stroke of the engine. He was astonished
to discover that a small quantity of water in the form of
steam, heated a large quantity of cold water injected
into the cylinder for the purpose of cooling it; and
upon further examination he ascertained that steam
heated six times its weight of cold water to 212°, which
was the temperature of the steam itself. " Being struck
with this remarkable fact," says Watt, " and not under-
standing the reason of it, I mentioned it to my friend
Dr. Black, who then explained to me his doctrine of
latent heat, which he had taught for some time before
this period (the summer of 1764); but having myself
been occupied by the pursuits of business, if I had heard
of it I had not attended to it, when I thus stumbled
upon one of the material facts by which that beautiful
theory is supported." ]

1 Watt's notes to Eobison's Articles on * Steam and Steam-ensjines.'

124 STRIVES TO ECONOMISE HEAT. CHAP. VII.

When Watt found that water, in its conversion into
vapour, became such a reservoir of heat, he was more
than ever bent on economising it ; for the great waste
of heat involving so heavy a consumption of fuel, was
felt to be the principal obstacle to the extended employ-
ment of steam as a motive power. He accordingly
endeavoured, with the same quantity of fuel, at once
to increase the production of steam, and to diminish its
waste. He increased the heating surface of the boiler,
by making flues through it ; he even made his boiler
of wood, as being a worse conductor of heat than
the brickwork which surrounds common furnaces ; and
he cased the cylinders and all the conducting -pipes
in materials which conducted heat very slowly. But
none of these contrivances were effectual ; for it turned
out that the chief expenditure of steam, and conse-
quently of fuel, in the Newcomen engine, was occa-
sioned by the reheating of the cylinder after the steam
had been condensed, and the cylinder was consequently
cooled by the injection into it of the cold water.
Nearly four-fifths of the whole steam employed was
condensed on its first admission, before the surplus
could act upon the piston. Watt therefore came to the
conclusion, that to make a perfect steam-engine, it was
necessary that the cylinder should be always as hot as the
steam that entered it ; but it was equally necessary that
the steam should be condensed when the piston de-
scended,— nay, that it should be cooled down below
100°, or a considerable amount of vapour would be
given off, which would resist the descent of the piston,
and diminish the power of the engine. Thus the
cylinder was never to be at a less temperature than
212°, and yet at each descent of the piston it was to be
less than 100°; conditions which, on the very face of
them, seemed to be wholly incompatible.

We revert for a moment to the progress of Watt's
instrument-making business. The shop in the College

CHAP. YJI. HIS BUSINESS IMPROVES. 125

was not found to answer, being too far from the prin-
cipal thoroughfares. If he wanted business he must go
nearer to the public, for it was evident that they would
not come to him. But to remove to a larger shop, in a
more central quarter, involved an expenditure of capital
for which he was himself unequal. His father had
helped him with money as long as he could, but could
do so no longer. Though he was as much respected
by his neighbours as ever, he had grown poor by his
losses ; and, instead of giving help, himself needed it.
Watt therefore looked about him for a partner with
means, and succeeded in finding one in a Mr. John
Craig, in conjunction with whom he opened a retail
shop in the Salt-market, nearly opposite St. Andrew's
Street, about the year 1760; removing from thence to
Buchanan's Land, on the north side of the Trongate,
a few years later.1 Watt's partner was not a mechanic,
but he supplied the requisite capital, and attended to
the books. The partnership was on the whole success-
ful, as we infer from the increased number of hands
employed. At first Watt could execute all his orders
himself, and afterwards by the help of a man and a
boy; but by the end of 1764, the number of hands
employed by the firm had increased to sixteen.

His improving business brought with it an im-
proving income, and Watt — always a frugal and thrifty
man — began to save a little money. He was encouraged
to economise by another circumstance — his intended
marriage with his cousin, Margaret Miller. In antici-
pation of this event, he had removed from his rooms
in the College to a house in Delftfield Lane — a narrow
passage then parallel with York Street, but now con-
verted into the spacious thoroughfare of WTatt Street.

1 The following advertisement in I the Saltmercat to Mr. Buchanan's land in the
the 'Glasgow Journal 'of the 1st Dec., I Trongate, where he sells all sorts of M.i-
1763, fixes the date of this last re- thematical and Musical Instruments, with
nioval : variety of toys, and other goods."

'• James Watt has removed his shop from ;

126

HIS MARRIAGE.

CHAP. VH.

WATT'S HOUSE, DELFTFIELD LANE.

Having furnished his house in a plain yet comfortable
style, he brought home his young wife, and installed her
there in July, 1764. The step was one of much im-
portance to his personal wellbeing. Mrs. Watt was of a
lively, cheerful temperament ; and as Watt himself was of
a meditative disposition, prone to melancholy, and a fre-
quent sufferer from nervous headache, her presence at
his fireside could not fail to have a beneficial influence
upon his health and comfort.

Watt continued to pursue his studies as before.
Though still occupied with his inquiries and experi-
ments as to steam, he did not neglect his proper busi-
ness, but was constantly on the look-out for improve-
ments in instrument making. A machine which he
invented for drawing in perspective proved a success ;
and he made a considerable number of them to order,
for customers in London as well as abroad. He was
also an indefatigable reader, and continued to extend

CHAP. VII. GLASGOW GKEEN. 127

his knowledge of chemistry and mechanics by perusal
of the best books on these sciences.

Above all other subjects, however, the improvement
of the steam-engine continued to keep the fastest hold
upon his mind. He still brooded over his experiments
with the Newcomen model, but did not seem to make
much way in introducing any practical improvement in
its mode of working. His friend Eobison says he
struggled long to condense with sufficient rapidity
without injection, trying one expedient after another,
finding out what would do by what would not do, and
exhibiting many beautiful specimens of ingenuity and
fertility of resource. He continued, to use his own
words, " to grope in the dark, misled by many an ignis
fatuus" It was a favourite saying of his, that " Nature
has a weak side, if we can only find it out ;" and he
went on groping and feeling for it, but as yet in vain.
At length light burst upon him, and all at once the
problem over which he had been brooding was solved.

One Sunday afternoon, in the spring of 1765, he
went to take an afternoon walk on the Green, then a
quiet, grassy meadow, used as a bleaching and grazing-
ground. On week-days the Glasgow lasses came thither
with their largest kail-pots, to boil their clothes in ;
and sturdy queans might be seen, with coats kilted,
tramping blankets in their tubs. On Sundays the place
was comparatively deserted, and hence Watt, who lived
close at hand, went there to take a quiet afternoon
stroll. His thoughts were as usual running on the sub-
ject of his unsatisfactory experiments with the Newco-
men engine, when the first idea of the separate condenser
suddenly flashed upon his mind. But the notable dis-
covery is best told in his own words, as related to Mr.
Robert Hart, many years after : —

" I had gone to take a walk on a fine Sabbath after-
noon. I had entered the Green by the gate at the foot
of Charlotte Street, and had passed the old washing-

128

WATT'S ACCOUNT OF HIS INVENTION. CHAP. VII.

house. I was thinking upon the engine at the time,
and had gone as far as the herd's house, when the idea
came into my mind that as steam was an elastic hody it
would rush into a vacuum, and if a communication were
made between the cylinder and an exhausted vessel, it
would rush into it, and might be there condensed with-
out cooling the cylinder. I then saw that I must get
rid of the condensed steam and injection- water if I used
a jet, as in Newcomen's engine. Two ways of doing
this occurred to me. First, the water might be run off
by a descending pipe, if an off-let could be got at the
depth of 35 or 36 feet, and any air might be extracted
by a small pump. The second was to make the pump
large enough to extract both water and air. He con-
tinued : I had not walked further than the Golf-house1
when the whole thing was arranged in my mind." 2

x Great and prolific ideas are almost always simple.
What seems impossible at the outset appears so obvious
when it is effected that we are prone to marvel that it
did not force itself at once upon the mind. Late in life
Watt, with his accustomed modesty, declared his belief
that if he had excelled, it had been by chance and the
neglect of others." To Professor Jardine he said " that
when it was analysed the invention would not appear so
great as it seemed to be. In the state," said he, " in
which I found the steam-engine, it was no great effort
of mind to observe that the quantity of fuel necessary to
make it work would for ever prevent its extensive
utility. The next step in my progress was equally easy

—to inquire what was the cause of the great consump-
tion of fuel : this, too, was readily suggested, viz., the
waste of fuel which was necessary to bring the whole
cylinder, piston, and adjacent parts from the coldness of
water to the heat of steam, no fewer than from fifteen

1 About the site of the Humane
Society's House.

2 Mr. Robert Hart's ' Reminiscences

of James Watt,' in ' Transactions of
the Glasgow Archaeological Society,
1859.'

CHAP. VII.

THE SEPARATE CONDENSER.

120

to twenty times in a minute." The question then
occurred, how was this to be avoided or remedied ?
It was at this stage that the idea of carrying on the
condensation in a separate vessel flashed upon his .mind,
and solved the difficulty.1

Mankind has been more just to Watt than he was to
himself. There was no accident in the discovery. It
had been the result of close and continuous study ; and
the idea of the separate condenser was merely the last
step of a long journey — a step which could not have
been taken unless the road which led to it had been
traversed. Dr. Black says, " This capital improvement
flashed upon his mind at once, and filled him with
rapture ; " a statement which, spite of the unimpassioned
nature of Watt, we can readily believe.

On the morning following his Sunday afternoon's
walk on Glasgow Green, Watt was up betimes making
arrangements for a speedy trial of his new plan. He
borrowed from a college friend a large brass syringe, an
inch and a third in diameter, and ten inches long,
of the kind used by anatomists for injecting arteries
with wax previous to dissection. The body of the
syringe served for a cylinder, the piston-rod passing
through a collar of leather in its cover. A pipe con-
nected with the boiler was inserted at both ends for the
admission of steam, and at the upper end was another
pipe to convey the steam to the condenser. The axis of
the stem of the piston was drilled with a hole, fitted
with a valve at its lower end, to permit the water

1 " The last step of all," says Pro-
fessor Jardine, " was more difficult —
the forming of the separate condensing
vessel. The great knowledge he had
acquired of the mechanical powers
enabled him to construct it, but I have
often heard him say this was a work
of great difficulty, and that he met
with many disappointments before he
succeeded. I have often made use of
this beautiful analysis received from

Mr. Watt, in another department in
which I have been long engaged, to
illustrate and encourage the progress of
genius in youth, to show, that once in
possession of a habit of attention, under
proper direction, it may be carried from
one easy step to another, till the mind
becomes qualified and invigorated for
uniting and concentrating effort — the
highest exertion of genius."

K

130

THE INVENTION TESTED.

CHAP. VII.

produced by the condensed steam on first filling the
cylinder to escape. The first condenser made use of
was an improvised cistern of tinned plate, provided
with a pump to get rid of the water formed by the
condensation of the steam, both the condensing-pipes
and the air-pump being placed in a reservoir of cold
water.

" The steam-pipe," says Watt, " was adjusted to a small boiler.
When steam was produced, it was admitted into the cylinder, and

soon issued through the perforation of the
rod, and at the valve of the condenser ;
when it was judged that the air was ex-
pelled, the steam-cock was shut, and the
air-pump piston-rod was drawn up, which
leaving the small pipes of the condenser
in a state of vacuum, the steam entered
them and was condensed. The piston of
the cylinder immediately rose and lifted
a weight of about 18 Ibs., which was
hung to the lower end of the piston-rod.
The exhaustion-cock was shut, the steam
was readmitted into the cylinder, and the
operation was repeated. The quantity of
steam consumed and the weights it could
raise were observed, and, excepting the non-application of the steam-
case and external covering, the invention was complete, in so far as
regarded the savings of steam and fuel."

But, although the invention was complete in Watt's
mind, it took him many long and laborious years to
work out the details of the engine. His friend Eobison,
with whom his intimacy was maintained during these
interesting experiments, has given a graphic account of
the difficulties which he successively encountered and
overcame. He relates that on his return from the
country, after the College vacation in 1765, he went to
have a chat with Watt and communicate to him some
observations he had made on Desaguliers' and Belidor's
account of the steam-engine. He went straight into
the parlour, without ceremony, and found Watt sitting
before the fire looking at a little tin cistern which he

WATT'S APPARATUS.

CHAP. VII. ROBISON AND WATT. 131

had 011 his knee. Robison immediately started the
conversation about steam, his mind, like Watt's, being
occupied with the means of avoiding the excessive
waste of heat in the Newcomen engine. Watt, all the
while, kept looking into the fire, and after a time laid
down the cistern at the foot of his chair, saying nothing.
It seems that Watt felt rather nettled at Robison
having communicated to a mechanic of the town a
contrivance which he had hit upon for turning the
cocks of his engine. When Robison therefore pressed
his inquiry, Watt at length looked at him and said
briskly, " You need not fash yourself any more about
that, man ; I have now made an engine that shall
not waste a particle of steam. It shall all be boiling
hot, — ay, and hot water injected, if I please." He
then pushed the little tin cistern with his foot under
the table.

Robison could learn no more of the new contrivance
from Watt at that time ; but on the same evening he
accidentally met a mutual acquaintance, who, supposing
he knew as usual the progress of Watt's experiments,
observed to him, " Well, have you seen Jamie Watt ? "
" Yes." " He'll be in fine spirits now with his engine ?"
" Yes," said Robisoii, " very fine spirits." " Gad ! "
said the other, " the separate condenser's the thing :
keep it but cold enough, and you may have a perfect
vacuum, whatever be the heat of the cylinder." This
was Watt's secret, and the nature of the contrivance
was clear to Robison at once.

It will be observed that AVatt had not made a secret
of it to his other friends. Indeed Robison himself
admitted that one of Watt's greatest delights was to
communicate the results of his experiments to others,
and set them upon the same road to knowledge* with
himself; and that no one could display less of the small
jealousy of the tradesman than he did. To his intimate
friend, Dr. Black, he communicated the progress made

K 2

132

DR. BLACK'S FRIENDSHIP.

CHAP. VII.

DR. JOSEPH BLACK.

by* him at every stage ; and the Doctor kindly
encouraged him in his struggles, cheered him in
his encounter with difficulty, and, what was of still
more practical value at the time, he helped him with
money to enable him to prosecute his invention.
Communicative though Watt was disposed to be,
he learnt reticence when he found himself exposed
to the depredations of the smaller fry of inventors.
Robison says that had he lived in Birmingham or
London at the time, the probability is that some one
or other of the numerous harpies who live by sucking
other people's brains, would have secured patents for

CHAP. VII. WATT'S AIR-TIGHT COVER. 133

his more important inventions, and thereby deprived
him of the benefits of his skill, science, and labour.
As yet, however, there were but few mechanics in
Glasgow capable of understanding or appreciating the
steam-engine ; and the intimate friends to whom he
freely spoke of his discovery were too honourable-
minded to take advantage of his confidence. Shortly
after, Watt fully communicated to Eobison the different
stages of his invention, and the results at which he had
arrived, much to the delight of his friend.

It will be remembered that in the Newcomen engine
the steam was only employed for the purpose of
producing a vacuum, and that its working power was
in the down stroke, which was effected by the pressure
of the air upon the piston ; hence it is now usual to
call it the atmospheric engine. Watt perceived that
the air which followed the piston down the cylinder
wTould cool the latter, and that steam would be wasted
in re-heating it. In order, therefore, to avoid this
loss of heat, he resolved to put an air-tight cover upon
the cylinder, with a hole and stuffing-box for the piston-
rod to slide through, and to admit steam above the
piston, to act upon it instead of the atmosphere. When
the steam had done its duty in driving down the piston,
a communication was opened between the upper and
lower part of the cylinder, and the same steam, dis-
tributing itself equally in both compartments, sufficed
to restore equilibrium. The piston was now drawn up
by the weight of the pump-gear; the steam beneath
it was then condensed in the separate vessel so as to
produce a vacuum, and a fresh jet of steam from the
boiler was let in above the piston, which forced it again
to the bottom of the cylinder. From an atmospheric it
had thus become a true steam-engine, and with a much
greater economy of steam than when the air did half the
duty. But it was not only important to keep the air
from flowing down the inside of the cylinder : the

134: HIS MODEL ENGINE. CHAP. VII.

air which circulated within cooled the metal and con-
densed a- portion of the steam within ; and this Watt
proposed to remedy by a second cylinder, surrounding
the first with an interval between the two which was to
be kept full of steam.

One by one these various contrivances were struck
out, modified, settled, and reduced to definite plans;
the separate condenser, the air and water pumps, the
use of fat and oil (instead of water as in the Newcornen
engine) to keep the piston working in the cylinder
air-tight, and the enclosing of the cylinder itself within
another to prevent the loss of heat. They were all but
emanations from the first idea of inventing an engine
working by a piston, in which the cylinder should
be kept continually hot and perfectly dry. " When
once," says Watt, "the idea of separate condensation
was started, all these improvements followed as corollaries
in quick succession ; so that in the course of one or
two days the invention was thus far complete in my
mind."'

The next step was to construct a model engine for
the purpose of embodying the invention in a working
form. With this object Watt hired an old cellar,
situated in the first wide entry to the north of the
beef-market in King Street, and there proceeded with
his model. He found it much easier, however, to pre-
pare his plan than to execute it. Like most ingenious
and inventive men, Watt was extremely fastidious;
and this occasioned considerable delay in the execution
of the work. His very inventiveness to some extent
proved a hinderance ; for new expedients were per-
petually occurring to him, which he thought would be
improvements, and which he, by turns, endeavoured
to introduce. Some of these expedients he admits
proved fruitless, and all of them occasioned delay.
Another of his chief difficulties was in finding com-
petent workmen to execute his plans. He himself had
been accustomed only to small metal work, with com-

CHAP. VII.

HIS WORKING ENGINE.

135

paratively delicate tools, and had very little experience
" in the practice of mechanics in great" as he termed it.
He was therefore under the necessity of depending-,
in a great measure, upon the handiwork of others.
But mechanics capable of working out Watt's designs
in metal were then with difficulty to be found. The
beautiful self-acting tools and workmanship which have
since been called into being, principally by his own
invention, did not then exist. The only available hands
in Glasgow were the blacksmiths and tinners, little
capable of constructing articles out of their ordinary
walks ; and even in these they were often found clumsy,
blundering, and incompetent. The result was, that in
consequence of the malconstruction of the larger parts,
Watt's first model was only partially successful. The
experiments made with it, however, served to verify
the expectations he had formed, and to place the advan-
tages of the invention beyond the reach of doubt. On
the exhausting-cock being turned, the piston, when
loaded with 18 Ibs., ascended as quick as the blow of a
hammer ; and the moment the steam-cock was opened,
it descended with like rapidity, though the steam was
weak, and the machine snifted at many openings.

Satisfied that he had laid hold of the right principle
of a working steam-engine, Watt felt impelled to follow
it to an issue. He could give his mind to no other
business in peace until this was done. He wrote to a
friend that he was quite barren on every other subject.
" My whole thoughts," said he, " are bent on this
machine. I can think of nothing else." l He proceeded

1 " I have now (April, 1765) almost
a certainty of ihefactitrum of the fire-
engine, having determined the follow-
ing particulars : The quantity of steam
produced ; the ultimatum of the lever
engine ; the quantity of steam de-
stroyed by the cold of its cylinder;
the quantity destroyed in mine ; and
if there be not some devil in the hedge,
mine ought to raise wjiter to 44 feet
with the same quantity of steam that

theirs does to 32 (supposing my
cylinder as thick as theirs), which I
think I can demonstrate.. I can now
make a cylinder 2 feet diameter and
3 feet high, only a 40th of an inch
thick, and strong enough to resist the
atmosphere ; sed face. In short, I
can think of nothing else but this
machine." — Watt to Dr. Lind, quoted
in Muirhead's ' Life of Watt,' 94-5.

136 HIS CHIEF DIFFICULTY. CHAP. VII.

*

to make another and bigger, and, he hoped, a more
satisfactory engine, in the following August ; and with
that object he removed from the old cellar in King-
street to a larger apartment in the then disused pottery
or delftwork near the Broomielaw. There he shut
himself up with his assistant, John Gardiner, for the
purpose of erecting his engine. The cylinder was five
or six inches in diameter, with a two-feet stroke. The
inner cylinder was enclosed in a wooden steam-case, and
placed inverted, the piston working through a hole in the
bottom of the steam-case. After two months* continuous
application and labour it was finished and set to work ;
but it leaked in all directions, and the piston was far
from air-tight. The condenser also was in a bad way,
and needed many alterations. Nevertheless, the engine
readily worked with 10 i Ibs. pressure on the inch, and
the piston lifted a weight of 14 Ibs. The 'improvement
of the cylinder and piston continued Watt's chief diffi-
culty, and taxed his ingenuity to the utmost. At so low
an ebb was the art of making cylinders that the one he
used was not bored but hammered, the collective me-
chanical skill of Glasgow being then unequal to the
boring of a cylinder of the simplest kind ; nor, indeed,
did the necessary appliances for the purpose then exist
anywhere else. In the Newcomen engine a little water
was poured upon the upper surface of the piston, and suffi-
ciently filled up the interstices between the piston and the
cylinder. But when Watt employed steam to drive down
the piston, he was deprived of this resource, for the
water and the steam could not coexist. Even if he had
retained the agency of the air above, the drip of water
from the crevices into the lower part of the cylinder
would have been incompatible with keeping the surface
hot and dry, and, by turning into vapour as it fell upon
the heated metal, it would have impaired the vacuum
during the descent of the piston.

While he was occupied with this difficulty, and striving

CHAP. VII. WANTS CAPITAL. 137

to overcome it by the adoption of new expedients, such as
leather collars and improved workmanship, he wrote to a
friend, " My old white-iron man is dead ;" the old white-
iron man, or tinner, being his leading mechanic. Unhap-
pily, also, just as he seemed to have got the engine into
working order, the beam broke, and having great diffi-
culty in replacing the damaged part, the accident threat-
ened, together with the loss of his best workman, to bring
the experiment to an end. But though discouraged by
these misadventures, he was far from defeated, but went
on as before, battling down difficulty inch by inch, and
holding good the ground he had won, becoming every
day more strongly convinced that he was in the right
track, and that the important uses of the invention,
could he but find time and means to perfect it, were
beyond the reach of doubt.

But how to find the means ! Watt himself was a
comparatively poor man ; having no money but what
he earned by his business of mechanical instrument
making, which he had for some time been neglect-
ing through his devotion to the construction of his
engine. What he wanted was capital, or the help of
a capitalist willing to advance him the necessary funds
to perfect his invention. To give a fair trial to the
new apparatus would involve an expenditure of several
thousand pounds; and who on the spot could be ex-
pected to invest so large a sum in trying a machine so
entirely new, depending for its success on physical prin-
ciples very imperfectly understood ?

There was no such help to be found in Glasgow.
The tobacco lords, though rich, took no interest in steam
power, and the manufacturing class, though growing in
importance, had full employment for their little capital
in their own concerns.

138 WATT AND DK. ROEBUCK. CHAP. VIII.

CHAPTEE VIII.

WATT'S CONNEXION WITH DR. KOEBUCK — WATT ACTS AS
SURVEYOR AND ENGINEER.

DR. BLACK continued to take a lively interest in Watt's
experiments, and lent him occasional sums of money
from time to time to enable him to prosecute them to an
issue. But the Doctor's means were too limited to
permit him to do more than supply Watt's more pressing1
necessities. Meanwhile, the debts which the latter had
already incurred, small though they were in amount,
hung like a millstone round his neck. Black then
bethought him whether it would not be possible to asso-
ciate Watt with some person possessed of sufficient
means, and of an active commercial spirit, who should
join as a partner in the risk, and share in the profits of
the enterprise. Such a person, he thought, was Dr.
Eoebuck, the founder of the Carroii Iron Works, an
enterprising man, of undaunted spirit, not scared by
difficulties, nor a niggard of expense when he saw
before him any reasonable prospect of advantage.1

Roebuck was at that time engaged in sinking for coal
on a large scale near Boroughstoness, where he ex-
perienced considerable difficulty in keeping the shafts
clear of water. The Newcomen engine, which he had
erected, was found comparatively useless, and he was
ready to embrace any other scheme which held out
a reasonable prospect of success. Accordingly, when
his friend Dr. Black informed him of an ingenious
young mechanic at Glasgow who had invented a steam-

1 For Memoir of llocbuck, see * Industrial Biography,' p. 133.

CHAP. VIII. FORWARDS DRAWINGS TO ROEBUCK. 139

engine, capable of working with increased power, speed,
and economy, Roebuck immediately felt interested,
and entered into correspondence with Watt on the
subject. He was at first somewhat sceptical as to
the practicability of the new engine, so different in its
action from that of Newcomen ; and he freely stated
his doubts to Dr. Black. He was under the impression
that condensation might in some way be effected in
the cylinder without injection ; and he urged Watt to
try whether this might not be done. Contrary to his
own judgment, Watt tried a series of experiments with
this object, and at last abandoned them, Roebuck him-
self admitting his error.

Up to this time Watt and Roebuck had not met,
though they carried on a long correspondence on the
subject of the engine. In September, 1765, we find
Roebuck inviting Watt to come over with Dr. Black to
Kimieil (where Roebuck lived), and discuss with him
the subject of the engine. Watt wrote to say that " if
his foot allowed him" he would visit Carron on a
certain day, from which we infer that he intended
to walk. But the way was long and the road miry,
and Watt could not then leave his instrument shop, so
the visit was postponed. In the mean time Roebuck
urged Watt to press forward his invention with all
speed, " whether he pursued it as a philosopher or as a
man of business."

In the month of November following, Watt forwarded
to Roebuck the detailed drawings of a covered cylinder
and piston to be cast at the Carron Works. Though
the cylinder was the best that could be made there, it
was very ill-bored, and was eventually laid aside as
useless. The piston-rod was made at Glasgow, under
Watt's own supervision ; and when it was completed
he was afraid to send it on a common cart, lest
the workpeople should see it, which would "occasion
speculation." "I believe," he wrote in July, 1766, "it

140 BEGINS BUSINESS AS A SURVEYOR. CHAP. VIII.

would be best to send it in a box." These precautions
would seem to have been dictated, in some measure, by
fear of piracy ; and it is obvious that the necessity of
acting by stealth increased the difficulty of getting the
various parts of the proposed engine constructed. Watt's
greatest obstacle continued to be the clumsiness and
inexpertness of his mechanics. " My principal hin-
derance in erecting engines," he wrote to Koebuck, " is
always the smith-work."

In the mean time it was necessary for Watt to attend
to the maintenance of his family. He found that the
steam-engine experiments brought nothing in, while
they were a constant source of expense. Besides,
they diverted him from his retail business, which needed
constant attention. It ought also to be mentioned that
his partner having lately died, the business had been
somewhat neglected and had consequently fallen off.
At length he determined to give it up altogether,
and begin the business of a surveyor. He accordingly
removed from the shop in Buchanan's Land to an office
on the east side of King-street, a little south of Prince's-
street. It would appear that he succeeded in obtaining
a fair share of business in his new vocation. He already
possessed a sufficient knowledge of surveying from the
study of the instruments which it had been his business
to make ; and application and industry did the rest.
'His first jobs were in surveying lands, defining boun-
daries, and surveyor's work of the ordinary sort ; from
which he gradually proceeded to surveys of a more im-
portant character.

It affords some indication of the local estimation in
which Watt was held, that the magistrates of Glasgow
should have selected him as a proper person to survey a
canal for the purpose of opening up a new coal-field in
the neighbourhood, and connecting it with the city,
with a view to a cheaper and more abundant supply of

CHAP. VIII. PROCEEDS WITH HIS ENGINE. 141

fuel. He also surveyed a ditch-canal for the purpose
of connecting the rivers Forth and Clyde, by what was
called the Loch Lomond passage ; though the scheme of
Brindley and Smeaton was eventually preferred as the
more direct line. Watt came up to London in 1767,
in connexion with the application to Parliament for
powers to construct his canal; and he seems to have
been very much disgusted with the proceedings before
" the confounded committee of Parliament," as he called
it ; adding, " I think I shall not long to have anything
to do with the House of Commons again. I never saw
so many wrong-headed people on all sides gathered toge-
ther." The fact, however, that they had decided against
him had probably some share in leading him to form
this opinion as to the wrong-headedness of the Parlia-
mentary Committee.

Though interrupted by indispensable business of this
sort, Watt proceeded with the improvement of his steam-
engine whenever leisure permitted. Eoebuck 's confi-
dence in its eventual success was such that in 1767 he
undertook to pay debts to the amount of 1000/. which
Watt had incurred in prosecuting his project up to
that time, and also to provide the means of prosecuting
further experiments, as well as to secure a patent for
the engine. In return for this outlay Eoebuck was
to have two-thirds of the property in the invention.
Early in 1768 Watt made trial of a new and larger
model, with a cylinder of seven or eight inches dia-
meter. But the result was not very satisfactory. " By
an unforeseen misfortune," he wrote Roebuck, " the
mercury found its way into the cylinder, and played
the devil with the solder. This throws us back at least
three days, and is very vexatious, especially as it hap-
pened in spite of the precautions I had taken to prevent
it." Eoebuck, becoming impatient, urged Watt to meet
him to talk the matter over ; and suggested that as Watt

142

KINNEIL HOUSE.

CHAP. VIII.

could not come as far as Carron, they should meet at
Kilsyth, about fifteen miles from Glasgow. Watt
replied, saying he was too unwell to be able to ride so
far, and that his health was such that the journey would
disable him from doing anything for three or four days
after. But he went on with his experiments, patching
up his engine, and endeavouring to get it into working
condition. After about a month's labour, he at last
succeeded to his heart's content ; and he at once com-
municated the news to his partner, intimating his inten-
tion of at last paying his long-promised visit to Roebuck
at Kinneil. " I sincerely wish you joy of this successful
result," he said, " and hope it will make some return for
the obligations I owe you."

KINNEIL HOD3E.

Kinneil House, to which Watt hastened to pay his
visit of congratulation to Dr. Eoebuck, is an old-fashioned
building, somewhat resembling an old French chateau.
It was a former country-seat of the Dukes of Hamilton,
and is finely situated on the shores of the Frith of
Forth. The mansion is rich in classical associations,
having been inhabited, since Roebuck's time, by Dugald
Stewart, who wrote in it his ' Philosophy of the Human

CHAP. VIII.

A PATENT DETERMINED ON.

143

Mind.' l There he was visited by Wilkie, the painter,
when in search of subjects for his pictures; and Dugald
Stewart found for him, in an old farmhouse in the
neighbourhood, the cradle-chimne.y introduced in the
" Penny Wedding." But none of these names can stand
by the side of that of Watt ; and the first thought at
Kinneil, of every one who is familiar with his history,
would be of the memorable day when he rode over
in exultation to wish Dr. Roebuck joy of the success
of the steam-engine. His note of triumph was, how-
ever, premature. He had yet to suffer many sickening
delays and bitter disappointments ; for, though he had
contrived to get his model executed with fair pre-
cision, the skill was still wanting to manufacture the
parts of their full size with the requisite unity ; and his
present elation was consequently doomed to be succeeded
by repeated discomfiture.

The model went so well, however, that it was deter-
mined at once to take out a patent for the engine. The
first step was to secure its provisional protection, and
with that object Watt went to Berwick-upon-Tweed,
and made a declaration before a Master in Chancery
of the nature of the invention. In August, 1768, we
find him in London on the business of the patent. He
became utterly wearied with the delays interposed by
sluggish officialism, and disgusted with the heavy fees
which he was required to pay in order to protect his
invention. He wrote home to his wife at Glasgow
in a very desponding mood. Knowing her husband's
diffidence and modesty, but having the fullest confidence
in his genius, she replied, " I beg that you will not
make yourself uneasy, though things should not succeed

1 When we visited the place many
years ago, Miss Stewart's spinnet still
stood in the drawing-room, but there
was not a tone left in it. Like many
other old houses, Kinneil has the re-
putation of being haunted. The ghost

is that of a " Lady Lilburne," wife of
the Parliamentary General, who is
said to have thrown herself out of one
of the windows during her husband's
absence.

144 TRIES IMPROVEMENTS. CHAP. VIII.

to your wish. If it [the condensing engine] will not
do, something else will ; never despair." Watt must have
felt cheered by these brave words of his noble helpmate,
and encouraged to go onward cheerfully in hope.

He could not, however, shake off his recurring fits
of despondency, and on his return to Glasgow, we find
him occasionally in very low spirits. Though his head
was full of his engine, his heart ached with anxiety for
his family, who could not be maintained on hope,
already so often deferred. The more sanguine Eoebuck
was elated with the good working of the model, and
impatient to bring the invention into practice. He
wrote Watt in October, 1768, " You are now letting the
most active part of your life insensibly glide away.
A day, a moment, ought not to be lost. And you
should not suffer your thoughts to be diverted by any
other object, or even improvement of this, but only the
speediest and most effectual manner of executing an
engine of a proper size, according to your present
ideas."

Watt, however, felt that his invention was capable of
many improvements, and he was never done introducing
new expedients. He proceeded, in the intervals of leisure
which he could spare from his surveying business, to
complete the details of the drawings and specification,
— making various trials of pipe-condensers, plate-
condensers, and dram-condensers, — contriving steam-
jackets to prevent the waste of heat and new methods
for securing greater tightness of the piston, — inventing
condenser-pumps, oil-pumps, gauge-pumps, exhausting-
cylinders, loading-valves, double cylinders, beams, and
cranks. All these contrivances had to be thought out
and tested, elaborately and painfully, amidst many
failures and disappointments ; and Dr. Roebuck began
to fear that the fresh expedients which were always
starting up in Watt's brain, would endlessly protract the
consummation of the invention. Watt, on his part, felt

CHAP. V11I. HIS PERSEVERANCE. 145

that he could only bring the engine nearer to perfection
by never resting satisfied with imperfect devices, and
hence he left no means untried to overcome the many
practical defects in it of which he was so conscious.
Long after, when a noble lord was expressing to him
the admiration with which he regarded his great
achievement, Watt replied : " The public only look
at my success, and not at the intermediate failures
and uncouth constructions which have served me as so
many steps to climb to the top of the ladder."

As to the lethargy from which Roebuck sought to
raise Watt, it was merely the temporary reaction of a
mind strained and wearied with long-continued appli-
cation to a single subject, and from which it seemed
to be occasionally on the point of breaking down alto-
gether. To his intimate friends, Watt bemoaned his
many failures, his low spirits, his bad health, and his
sleepless nights. He wrote to his friend Dr. Small l in
January, 1769, " I have many things I could talk to
you about — much contrived, and little executed. How
much would good health and spirits be worth to me ! "
A month later he wrote, " I am still plagued with head-
aches, and sometimes heart-aches."

It is nevertheless a remarkable proof of Watt's inde-
fatigable perseverance in his favourite pursuit, that at
this very time, when apparently sunk in the depths of
gloom, he learnt German for the purpose of getting at
the contents of a curious book, the Theatrum Machinarum
of Leupold, which just then fell into his hands, and
contained an account of the machines, furnaces, methods
of working, profits, &c., of the mines in the Upper
Hartz. His instructor in the language was a Swiss
dyer,2 settled in Glasgow. With the like object of

1 Dr. Small was born in 17-54- at
Carmylie, Angus, Scotland, of which
parish his father . was the minister.
He had been for some time the pro-
fessor of Natural Philosophy in the

Universit}?" of Williamsburg, Virginia,
from whence he returned to England
and settled at Birmingham.

2 " I have," he writes, "just now
got a curious book, being an account of

L

146

HIS INSIGHT AND FORESIGHT.

CHAP. VIII.

gaining access to untranslated books in French and
Italian — then the great depositories of mechanical and
engineering knowledge — Watt had already mastered
both those languages.

In preparing his specification, Watt viewed the sub-
ject in all its bearings. The production of power by
steam is a very large one, but Watt grasped it
thoroughly. The insight with which he searched,
analysed, arranged, and even provided for future modi-
fications, was the true insight of genius. He seems with
an almost prophetic eye to have seen all that steam was
capable of accomplishing. This is well illustrated by
his early plan of working steam expansively by cutting
it off at about half-stroke, thereby greatly economising its
use ;* as well as by his proposal to employ high-pressure
steam where cold water could not be used for purposes

all the machines, furnaces, methods
of working, profits, &c., of the mines
of the Upper Hartz. It is unluckily
in German, which I understand little
of, but am improving in by the help
of a truly Chymical Swiss Dyer, who
is come here to dye standing red on
linen and cotton, in which he is suc-
cessful. He is according to the
custom of philosophers ennuye to a
great degree, but seems to be more
modest than is usual with them ; and,
what is still more unusual, is attached
only to his dyeing, though he has a
tolerable knowledge of chymestry. He
promises to make me a coat that will
not wet though boiled in water. This
would be of great use to a hundred
people I see just now running by, wet
to the skin. ... I verily believe the
drops are an inch in diameter ! To
return to the book — it contains an
account of all the unsuccessful experi-
ments that have been tried in the
Hartz, and I assure you it gives me
some consolation to see the great
Liebnitz, the rival of Newton, bung-
ling repeatedly, applying wind mills
to raise ore while water ran idle past
him. There is among other machines
the fellow of Blackie's, only worked by
water, and a full and true account of

why it did not succeed, which he
should read. Their machines in gene-
ral display great ingenuity though
ignorance of principles." — Watt to
Small, May 28, 1769. Boulton MSS.
1 " I mentioned to you a method of
still doubling the effect of the steam,
and that tolerably easy, by using the
power of steam rushing into a vacuum,
at present lost. This would do a
little more than double the effect, but
it would too much enlarge the vessels
to use it all. It is peculiarly appli-
cable to wheel engines, and may
supply the want of a condenser where
force of steam is only used ; for, open
one of the steam valves and admit
steam, until one-fourth of the distance
between it and the next valve is filled
with steam, shut the valve, and the
steam will continue to expand and to
press round the wheel with a diminish-
ing power, ending in one-fourth of its
first exertion. The sum of this series
you will find greater than one-half,
though only one-fourth steam was
used. The power will indeed be un-
equal, but this can be remedied by a
fly, or in several other ways." — Watt

to Small, 28th May, 1769.

MSS.

Boulton

CHAP. VIII. WOPKS A PUMPING ENGINE. 174

of condensation.1 The careful and elaborate manner in
which he studied the specification, and the consideration
which he gave to each of its various details, are clear from
his correspondence with Dr. Small, which is peculiarly
interesting, as showing Watt's mind actively engaged in
the very process of invention. At length the necessary
specification and drawings were completed and lodged
early in 1769, — a year also remarkable as that in which
Arkwright took out the patent for his spinning-
machine.

In order to master thoroughly the details of the ordi-
nary Newcornen engine, and to ascertain the extent of its
capabilities as well as of its imperfections, Watt under-
took the erection of several engines of this construction ;
and during his residence at Kinneil took charge of the
Schoolyard engine near Boroughstoness, in order that
he might thereby acquire a full practical knowledge of
its working. Mr. Hart, in his interesting 'Remi-
niscences of James Watt,' gives the following account :
" My late brother had learned from an old man who had
been a workman at Dr. Roebuck's coal-works when
Mr. WTatt was there, that he had erected a small engine
on a pit they called Taylor's Pit. The workman could
not remember what kind of engine it was, but it was
the fastest-going one he ever saw. From its size, and
from its being placed in a small timber-house, the
colliers called it ' the Box Bed.' We thought it likely
to have been the first of the patent engines made by

1 He anticipated the use of higli-
pressure steam, as afterwards em-
ployed in the locomotive by Trevi thick,
in the following passage : — " I intend,"
he said, "in many cases to employ
the expansive force of steam to press
on the piston, or whatever is used

that the powers of these engines will
as much exceed those pressed only by
the air, as the expansive power of the
steam is greater than the weight of
the atmosphere. In other cases,
when plenty of cold water cannot be
had, 1 intend to work the engines by

instead of one, in the same manner as I the force of steam only, and to dis-
the weight of the atmosphere is now j charge it into the air by proper outlets
employed in common fire-engines. In after it has done its office." — Watt to
some cases I intend to use both the Small, March, 1769. Boulton MSS.
condenser and this force of steam, so

L 2

148

WATT ERECTS HIS TKIAL ENGINE. CHAP. VIII.

Mr. Watt, and took the opportunity of mentioning this
to him at our interview. He said he had erected that
engine, but he did not wish at the time to venture on a
patent one until he had a little more experience." l

At length he proceeded
to erect the trial engine
after his new patent, and
made arrangements to
stay at Kinneil until the
work was finished. It had
been originally intended
to erect it in the little town
of Boroughstoness ; but
as prying eyes might have
there watched his pro-
ceedings, and as he wished
to avoid display, being
determined, as he said,
"not to puff," he fixed
upon an outhouse behind
Kinneil, close by the burn-
side in the glen, where
there was abundance of
water and secure pri-
vacy. The materials were
brought to the place,
partly from Watt's small
works at Glasgow, and
partly from Carron, where
the cylinder — of eighteen
inches diameter and five

THE OUTHOUSE BEHIND KIUNEIL.

- had

cast ; and a few workmen were placed at his disposal.
The process of erection was very tedious, owing to

1 Mr. Hart's " Reminiscences of James Watt,'
Glasgow Archaeological Society,' Part 1. 1859.

in ' Transactions of the

CHAP. VIII. THE ENGINE COMPLETED. 149

the clumsiness of the mechanics employed on the job.
Watt was occasionally compelled to be absent on other
business, and on his return he usually found the men
at a standstill, not knowing what to do next. As
the engine neared completion, his " anxiety for his
approaching doom" kept him from sleep ; for his fears,
as he said, were at least equal to his hopes. He was
easily cast down by little obstructions, and especially
discouraged by unforeseen expense. Roebuck, on the
contrary, was hopeful and energetic, and often took
occasion to rally the other on his despondency under
difficulties, and his almost painful want of confidence in
himself. Roebuck was, doubtless, of much service to Watt
in encouraging him to proceed with his invention, and
also in suggesting some important modifications in the
construction of the engine. It is probable, indeed, that
but for his help, Watt could not have gone on. Robison
says, " I remember Mrs. Roebuck remarking one even-
ing, ' Jamie is a queer lad, and, without the Doctor, his
invention would have been lost ; but Dr. Roebuck won't
let it perish.' "

The new engine, on which Watt had expended so
much labour, anxiety, and ingenuity, was completed
in September, 1759, about six months from the date
of its commencement. But its success was far from
decided. Watt himself declared it to be "a clumsy
job." His new arrangement of the pipe-condenser
did not work well ; and the cylinder having been
badly cast, was found almost useless. One of his greatest
difficulties consisted in keeping the piston tight. He
wrapped it round with cork, oiled rags, tow, old hat,
paper, horse-dung, and other things, but still there were
open spaces left, sufficient to let the air in and the
steam out. Watt was grievously depressed by his want
of success, and he had serious thoughts of giving up the
thing altogether. Before abandoning it, however,
the engine was again thoroughly overhauled, many

150 DREARY PROSPECTS. CHAP. VIII.

improvements were introduced in it, and a new trial
was made of its powers. But this proved not more
successful than the earlier ones had been. " You cannot
conceive," he wrote to Small, " how mortified I am with
this disappointment. It is a damned thing for a man
to have his all hanging by a single string. If I had
wherewithal to pay the loss, I don't think I should so
much fear a failure ; but I cannot bear the thought of
other people becoming losers by my schemes ; and I
have the happy disposition of always painting the
worst."

Watt was therefore bound to prosecute his project by
honour not less than by interest; and summoning up
his courage, he went on with it anew. He continued
to have the same confidence as ever in the principles of
his engine : where it broke down was in workmanship.
Could mechanics but be found capable of accurately
executing its several parts, he believed that its success
was certain. But there were no such mechanics then at
Carroii.

By this time Eoebuck was becoming embarrassed
with debt, and involved in various difficulties. The
pits were drowned with water, which no existing
machinery could pump out, and ruin threatened to over-
take him before Watt's engine could come to his help.
He had sunk in the coal-mine, not only his own for-
tune, but much of the property of his relatives ; and
he was so straitened for money that he was unable
to defray the cost of taking out the engine patent
according to the terms of his engagement, and Watt
had accordingly to borrow the necessary money from
his never-failing friend, Dr. Black. He was thus
adding to his own debts, without any clearer prospect
before him of ultimate relief. No wonder that he should,
after his apparently fruitless labour, express to Small his
belief that, " of all things in life, there is nothing more
foolish than inventing." The unhappy state of his mind

CHAP. VITL VARIOUS MINOR INVENTIONS. 151

may be further inferred from his lamentation expressed
to the same friend on the 31st of January, 1770. " To-
day," said he, " I enter the thirty-fifth year of my life,
and I think I have hardly yet done thirty-five pence
worth of good in the world ; but I cannot help it."

Notwithstanding the failure of his engine thus far,
and the repeated resolution expressed to Small that he
would invent no more, leading, as inventing did, to only
vexation, failure, loss, and increase of head-ache, Watt
could not control his irrepressible instinct to invent;
and whether the result might be profitable or not, his
mind went on as before, working, scheming, and
speculating. Thus, at different times in the course of
his correspondence with Small, who was a man of a
like ingenious turn of mind, we find him communi-
cating various new things, " gimcracks," as he termed
them, which he had contrived. He was equally ready
to contrive a cure for smoky chimneys, a canal sluice
for economising water, a method of determining "the
force necessary to dredge up a cubic foot of mud under
any given depth of water," and a means of "clear-
ing the observed distance of the moon from any given
star of the effects of refraction and parallax ; " illustrat-
ing his views by rapid but graphic designs embodied
in the text of his letters to Small and other corre-
spondents. One of his minor inventions was a new
method of readily measuring distances by means of a
telescope.1 At the same time he was occupied in
making experiments on kaolin, with the intention of
introducing the manufacture of porcelain in the pottery
work on the Broomielaw, in which he was a partner.

1 The telescope was mounted with
two parallel horizontal hairs in the
focus of the eyeglass, crossed by one
perpendicular hair. The measuring
pole was divided into feet and inches,
so that, wrote Watt, " if the hairs
comprehend one foot at one chain dis-

tance, they will comprehend ten feet
at ten chains," and so on. This in-
vention Watt made in 1770, and used
the telescope in his various surveys.
Eight years later, in 1778, the Society
of Arts awarded to a Mr. Green a pre-
mium for precisely the same invention.

152

HIS MULTIFARIOUS PURSUITS.

CHAP. VIII.

He was also concerned with Dr. Black and Dr. Koe-
buck in pursuing experiments with the view of decom-
posing sea-salt by lime, and thereby obtaining alkali
for purposes of commerce. A patent for the process
was taken out by Dr. Roebuck, but eventually proved
a failure, like most of his other projects. We also find
Watt inventing a muffling furnace for melting metals,
and sending the drawings to Mr. Boulton at Birming-
ham for trial. At other times he was occupied with
Chaillet, the Swiss dyer, experimenting on various
chemical substances ; corresponding with Dr. Black as
to the new fluoric or spar acid; and at another time
making experiments to ascertain the heats at which
water boils at every inch of mercury from vacuo to air.
Later we find him inventing a prismatic micrometer
for measuring distances, which he described in con-
siderable detail in his letters to Small.1 He was at
the same time busy inventing and constructing a new
surveying quadrant by reflection, and making improve-
ments in barometers and hygrometers. " I should like
to know," he wrote to Small, " the principles of your
barometer : De Luc's hygrometer is nonsense. Pro-
bavi" Another of his contrivances was his dividing-
screw, for dividing an inch accurately into 1000 equal
parts. He states that he found this screw exceedingly
useful, as it saved him much needless compass-work,
and, moreover, enabled him to divide lines into the
ordinates of. any curve whatsoever.

Such were the multifarious pursuits in which this
indefatigable student and inquirer was engaged ;
all tending to cultivate his mind and advance his edu-
cation, but comparatively unproductive, so far as re-
garded pecuniary return. So unfortunate, indeed, had

1 Letter to Small, 24th Nov. 1772.
Watt, however, took no steps to bring
this invention before the public, and
in 1777, a similar instrument having

been invented by Dr. Maskelyne, was
presented by him to the Royal Society.
Thus Watt also lost the credit of this
invention.

CHAP. VITT. ACCEPTS OTHER EMPLOYMENT. 153

Watt's speculations proved, that his friend Dr. Hutton,
of Edinburgh, addressed to him a New-year's day letter,
with the object of dissuading him from proceeding
further with his unprofitable brain-distressing work.
" A happy new year to you ! " said Hutton ; " may it
be fertile to you in lucky events, but no new inven-
tions ! " He went on to say that invention was only for
those who live by the public, and those who from pride
choose to leave a legacy to the public. It was not a thing
likely to be well paid for under a system where the rule
was to be the best paid for the work that was easiest
done. It was of no use, however, telling Watt that he
must not invent. One might as well have told Burns
that he was not to sing because it would not pay, or
Wilkie that he was not to paint, or Hutton himself that
he was not to think and speculate as to the hidden
operations of nature. To invent was the natural . and
habitual operation of Watt's intellect, and he could not
restrain it.

Watt had already been too long occupied with this
profitless work : his money was all gone ; he was in
debt ; and it behoved him to turn to some other em-
ployment by which he might provide for the indispen-
sable wants of his family. Having now given up the
instrument-making business, he confined himself almost
entirely to surveying. Among his earliest surveys was
one of a coal canal from Monkland to Glasgow, in
1769; and the Act authorising its construction was
obtained in the following year. Watt was invited to
superintend the execution of the works, and he had
accordingly to elect whether he would go on with the
engine experiments, the event of which was doubtful,
or embrace an honourable and perhaps profitable em-
ployment, attended with much less risk and uncertainty.
His necessities decided him. " I had," he said, " a wife
and children, and saw myself growing grey without
having any settled way of providing for them." He

154 AFFAIES MORE PROMISING. CHAP. VIIT.

accordingly accepted the appointment offered him by
the directors of the canal, and undertook to super-
intend the construction of the works at a salary of
200/. a year. At the same time he determined not to
drop the engine, but to proceed with it at such leisure
moments as he could command.

The Monkland Canal was a small concern, and Watt
had to undertake a variety of duties. He acted at the
same time as surveyor, superintendent, engineer, and
treasurer, assisted only by a clerk. But the appoint-
ment proved useful to him. The salary he earned
placed his family above want, and the out-doors life
he was required to lead improved his health and
spirits. After a few months he wrote Dr. Small that
he found himself more strong, more resolute, less lazy,
and less confused, than when he began the occupa-
tion. His pecuniary affairs were also more promising.
" Supposing the engine to stand good for itself," he
said, "I am able to pay all my debts and some little
thing more, so that I hope in time to be on a par with
the world." But there was a dark side to the picture.
His occupation exposed him to fatigue, vexation, hun-
ger, wet, and cold. Then, the quiet and secluded
habits of his early life did not fit him for the out-door
work of the engineer. He was timid and reserved,
and had nothing of the navvy in his nature. He had
neither the roughness of tongue nor stiffness of back
to enable him to deal with rude labour gangs. He
was nervously fearful lest his want of practical ex-
perience should betray him into scrapes, and lead to
impositions on the part of his workmen. He hated
higgling, and declared that he would rather " face a
loaded cannon than settle an account or make a bargain."
He had been " cheated," he said, " by undertakers, and
was unlucky enough to know it."

Watt continued to act as engineer for the Monkland

CHAP. VIII.

SURVEYS STRATHMORE CANAL.

155

Canal Company for about a year and a half,1 during
which he was employed in other engineering works.
Among these was a survey of the river Clyde, with a
view to the improvement of the navigation. Watt
sent in his report; but no steps were taken to carry
out his suggestions until several years later, when the
beginning was made of a series of improvements, which
have resulted in the conversion of the Clyde from a
pleasant trouting and salmon stream into one of the
busiest navigable highways in the world.2

Among Watt's other labours about the same period
may be mentioned his survey of a canal between Perth
and Cupar Angus, through Strathmore ; of the Crinan
Canal, afterwards carried out by Rennie ; and other
projects in the western highlands. The Strathmore
Canal survey was conducted at the instance of the Com-
missioners of Forfeited Estates. It was forty miles long,
through a very rough country. Watt set out to make
it in September, 1770, and was accompanied by snow-
storms through almost the entire survey. He suffered
severely from the cold : the winds swept down from
the Grampians with fury and chilled him to the bone.
The making of this survey occupied him forty-three
days, and the remuneration he received for it was
only eighty pounds, which included expenses. The
small pay of engineers at that time may be further
illustrated by the fee paid him in the same year for

1 The Company afterwards came to
grief. The original subscription list
was not rilled up, and the stagnation
in trade which took place at the out-
break of the American war, brought
the works to a standstill. In 1782
the concern was sold to the Messrs.
Stirling, who eventually became the
sole proprietors and finished the un-
dertaking.

2 There was then a ford at Dumbuck,
a few miles below Glasgow, which pre-
vented boats of more than ten tons

burden ascending to the Broomielaw.
This was shortly after removed by
the Clyde Trust, who have expended
3,564,3971. in improvement of the
navigation between 1770 and 1863,
the revenue collected during the same
time in dues having been 2,288,000?.
Vessels drawing 21 feet can now ascend
to the Broomielaw ; and when the pre-
sent improvements are completed the
depth at high water is expected to be
upwards of 24 feet.

156

HAMILTON BRIDGE.

CHAP. VIII.

supplying the magistrates of Hamilton with a design
for the proposed new bridge over the Clyde at that
town. It was originally intended to employ Mr.
Smeaton ; but as his charge was ten pounds, which
was thought too high, Watt was employed in his
stead. The Burgh minutes record that, after the Act
had been obtained in 1770, Baillie Naismith was ap-
pointed to proceed to Glasgow to see Mr. Watt on the
subject of a design, and his charge being only 7/. 7s.,
he was requested to supply it accordingly. " I have
lately," wrote Watt to Small, " made a plan and estimate
of a bridge over our river Clyde, eight miles above

HAMILTON BRIDGE,

this : it is to be of five arches and 220 feet waterway,
founded upon piles on a muddy bottom." ' The bridge,
after Watt's plan, was begun in 1771, but it was not
finished until 1780.2

About the same time Watt prepared plans of docks
and piers at Port Glasgow, and of a new harbour at

1 Watt to Small, 21st Dec. 1770.
Boulton MSS.

2 The bridge was partially de-
stroyed by a flood in 1806, when oue

of the central piers was thrown down.
Two of the arches fell, and were re-
built, but the others stand as origi-
nally constructed.

CHAP. VIII. DEATH OF MRS. WATT. 157

Ayr. The Port Glasgow works were carried out, but
those at Ayr were postponed. When Eennie came to
examine the design for the improvement of the Ayr
navigation, of which the new harbour formed part, he
took objections to it, principally because of the parallelism
of the piers, and another plan was eventually adopted.
His principal engineering job, and the last of the kind
on which Watt was engaged in Scotland, was a survey
of the Caledonian Canal, long afterwards carried out
by Telford. The survey was made in the autumn of
1773, through a country without roads. " An incessant
rain," said he, " kept me for three days as wet as water
could make me ; I could hardly preserve my journal
book."

In the midst of this dreary work, Watt was summoned
to Glasgow by the intelligence which reached him of the
illness of his wife ; and when he reached home he found
that she had died in childbed.1 Of all the heavy blows
he had suffered, this he felt to be the worst. His wife
had struggled with him through poverty ; she had often
cheered his fainting spirit when borne down by doubt,
perplexity, and disappointment ; and now she was gone,
without being able to share in his good fortune as she
had done in his adversity. For some time after, when
about to enter his humble dwelling, he would pause on
the threshold, unable to summon courage to enter the
room where he was never more to meet " the comfort of
his life." " Yet this misfortune," he wrote to Small,
" might have fallen upon me when I had less ability to
bear it, and my poor children might have been left
suppliants to the mercy of the wide world."

Watt tried to forget his sorrow, as was his custom, in

1 The child was stillborn. Of four
other children who were the fruit of
this marriage, two died young. A
son and daughter survived ; the son,
James, succeeded his father, and died
unmarried, at Aston Hall, near Bir- ,

mingham, in 1848. The daughter
married Mr. Miller, of Glasgow, whose
grandson, the present J. W. Gibson
Watt, Esq., succeeded to the Watt
property.

158

TURNING-POINT OF WATT'S FOKTUNES. CHAP. VIII.

increased application to work, though the recovery of
the elasticity of his mind was in a measure beyond
the power of his will. There were, at that time, very
few bright spots in his life. A combination of unfortu-
nate circumstances threatened to overwhelm him. No
further progress had yet been made with his steam-
engine, which he almost cursed as the cause of his mis-
fortunes. Dr. Eoebuck's embarrassments had reached
their climax. He had fought against the water which
drowned his coal until he could fight no more, and he
was at last delivered into the hands of his creditors a
ruined man. " My heart bleeds for him," said Watt,
"but I can do nothing to help him. I have stuck by
him, indeed, till I have hurt myself."

But the darkest hour is nearest the dawn. Watt had
passed through a long night, and a gleam of sunshine at
last beamed upon him. Matthew Boulton, of Birmingham,
was at length persuaded to take up the invention on
which Watt had expended so many of the best years
of his life, and the turning-point in Watt's fortunes had
arrived.

PORT GLASGOW [ By K P. LeilcL ]

/•,'h<} rawed/ by W Ho tt>, after th* vLt by Sir W£ techy. JR. A

Pub Lushed/ by Johsi/ Murray Alkanai

BOTJLTON AND WATT,

ENGINEERS, BIRMINGHAM.

SIRMINGHAM. [By t'ercival Skelton.j

CHAP. IX. INDUSTRY OF BIRMINGHAM. li;i

CHAPTEE IX.

BIRMINGHAM — MATTHEW BOULTON.

FROM an early period, Birmingham has been one of the
principal centres of mechanical industry in England.
The neighbourhood abounds in coal and iron, and has
long been famous for the skill of its artisans. Swords
were forged there in the time of the Ancient Britons.
The first guns made in England bore the Birmingham
mark. In 1538 Leland found "many smiths in the
town that use to make knives and all manner of cutting
tools, and many loriners that make bittes, and a great
many nailers." About a century later Camden described
the place as " full of inhabitants, and resounding with
hammers and anvils, for the most part of them smiths."
As the skill of the Birmingham artisans increased, they
gradually gave up the commoner kinds of smithery, and
devoted themselves to ornamental metal-work, in brass,
steel, and iron. They became celebrated for their
manufacture of buckles, buttons, and various fancy
articles ; and they turned out such abundance of toys
that towards the close of last century Burke characterised
Birmingham as " the great toy-shop of Europe."

The ancient industry of Birmingham was of a staid
and steady character, in keeping with the age. Each
manufacturer kept within the warmth of his own forge.
He did not go in search of orders, but waited for the
orders to come to him. Ironmongers brought their
money in their saddle-bags, took away the goods in ex-
change, or saw them packed ready for the next waggon
before they left. Notwithstanding this quiet way of
doing business, many comfortable fortunes were made in

H

162 ROADS NEAR BIRMINGHAM. CHAP. IX .

the place ; the manufacturers, like their buttons, moving
off so soon as they had received the stamp and the gilt.
Hutton, the Birmingham bookseller, says he knew men
who left the town in chariots who had first approached
it on foot. Hutton himself entered the town a poor
boy, and lived to write its history, and make a fortune
by his industry.

Until towards the end of last century the town was
not very easy of approach from any direction. The
roads leading to it had become worn by the traffic of
many generations. The hoofs of the pack-horses, helped
by the rains, had deepened the tracks in the sandy soil,
until in many places they were twelve or fourteen feet
deep, so that it was said of travellers that they ap-
proached the town by sap. One of these old hollow
roads, still^ called Holloway-head, though now filled
up, was so deep that a waggon-load of hay might pass
along it without being seen. There was no direct com-
munication between Birmingham and London until
about the middle of the century. Before then, the
Great Road from London to Chester passed it four
miles off, and the Birmingham manufacturer, when
sending wares to London, had to forward his package
to Castle Bromwich, there to await the approach of the
packhorse train or the stage-waggon journeying south.
The Birmingham men, however, began to wake up, and
in 1747 a coach was advertised to run to London in two
days " if the roads permit." Twenty years later a stage-
waggon was put on, and the communication by coach
became gradually improved.

When Hutton entered Birmingham in 1740, he was
struck by the activity of the place and the vivacity of
the inhabitants, which expressed itself in their looks as
he passed them in the streets. " I had," he says, " been
among dreamers, but now I saw men awake. Their
very step showed alacrity. Every man seemed to know
and to prosecute his own affairs." The Birmingham

CHAP. IX.

THE BOULTON FAMILY

Ifi3

men were indeed as alert as they looked — steady
workers and clever mechanics — men who struck hard
on the anvil. The artisans of the place had the ad-
vantage of a long training in mechanical skill. It had
'been bred in their bone, and descended to them from
their fathers as an inheritance.1 In no town in England
were there then to be found so many mechanics capable
of executing entirely new work ; nor, indeed, has the
ability yet departed from them, the Birmingham artisans
maintaining their individual superiority in intelligent
execution of skilled work to the present day. We are
informed that inventors of new machines, foreign as
well as English, are still in the practice of resorting
to them for the purpose of getting their inventions em-
bodied in the best forms, with greater chances of success
than in any other town in England.

About the middle of last century the two Boultons,
father and son, were recognised as among the most en-
terprising and prosperous of Birmingham manufac-
turers. The father of the elder Matthew Boulton was
John Boulton of Northamptonshire, in which county
Boultons or Boltons have been settled for a long period,
and where there are records of many clergymen of the
name. About the end of the seventeenth century, this
John Boulton settled at Lichfield, where he married
Elizabeth, heir of Matthew Dyott of Stitchbrooke, by
whom he obtained considerable property. His means
must, however, have become reduced; in consequence

1 There seems reason to believe that
the capacity for skilled industry is to
a certain extent transmissible ; and
that the special aptitude for mechanics
which characterises the population of
certain districts, is in a great measure
the result of centuries of experience,
transmitted from one generation to
another. Mr. Morell takes the same
view : " We have every reason to
believe," he says, " that the power of
specialised instincts is transmitted,

and when the circumstances favour it,
goes on increasing from age to age in
intensity, and in a particular adapta-
tion to the purposes demanded. All
confirmed habits which become a part
of the animal nature, seem to be im-
parted by hereditary descent; and
thus what seems to be an original
instinct may, after all, be but the
accumulated growth and experience of
many generations."

M 2

104 BOULTON ENTERS BUSINESS. CHAP. IX.

of which his son Matthew was sent to Birmingham to
enter upon a career of business, and make his own
way in the world. He became established in the place
as a silver stamper and piecer, to which he added other
branches of manufacture, which his son Matthew after-
wards largely extended.

Matthew Boulton the younger was born at Birming-
ham on the 3rd September, 1728. Little is known of
his early life, beyond that he was a bright, clever boy,
and a general favourite with his companions. He re-
ceived his principal education at a private academy at
Deritend, kept by the Eev. Mr. Ansted, under whom
he acquired the rudiments of a good ordinary English
education. Though he left school early for the purpose
of following his father's business, he nevertheless con-
tinued the work of self-instruction, and afterwards
acquired considerable knowledge of Latin and French,
as well as of drawing and mathematics. But his chief
pleasure was in pursuing the study of chemistry and
mechanics, in which, as we shall shortly find, he became
thoroughly accomplished. Long after he joined his
father in business, he delighted to revert to his classical
favourites. From an entry in his private memorandum-
book of expenses at the age of about thirty, though then
very economical in other respects, we find him ex-
pending considerable sums in experiments on electricity,
and on one occasion laying out a guinea on a copy of
Yirgil, from which it appears that trade had not spoilt
his taste for either science or letters.
. Young Boulton appears to have engaged in business
with much spirit. By the time he was seventeen he
had introduced several important improvements in the
manufacture of buttons, watch-chains, and other trinkets ;
and he had invented the inlaid steel buckles which
shortly after became the fashion. These buckles were
exported in large quantities to France, from whence
they were brought back to England and sold as the

CHAP. IX. TRADE CORRESPONDENCE. 105

most recent productions of French ingenuity. The
elder Boulton, having every confidence in his son's dis-
cretion and judgment, adopted him as a partner so soon
as he came of age, and from that time forward he took
almost the entire management of the concern. Although
in his letters he signed " for father and self," he always
spoke in the first person of matters connected with the
business. Thus, in 1757, we find him writing to
Timothy Holies, London, as to the prices of " coat-link
and vest buttons," intimating that to lower them would
be to beat down price and quality until it became no
business at all ; " yet," said he, " as I have put myself
to greater expense than anybody else in erecting the
best conveniences and the completest tools for the pur-
pose, I am not willing that any interlopers should run
away with it." We find him at the same time carrying
on a correspondence with Benjamin Huntsman, of Shef-
field, the celebrated inventor of cast-steel.1 On the 19th
January, 1757, he sends Huntsman "a parcel of goods
of the newest patterns," and at the same time orders a
quantity of Huntsman's steel. "When thou hast some
of a proper size and quality for me, and an opportunity
of sending it, thou may'st, but I should be glad to have
it a little tougher than the last." He concludes — " I
hope thy Philosophic Spirit still laboureth within thee,
and may it soon bring forth Fruit useful to mankind,
but more particularly to thyself, is the sincere wish of
Thy Obliged Friend." With a view to economy, Boul-
ton in course of time erected a steel-house of his own
for the purpose of making steel ; and he frequently used
it to convert the cuttings and scraps of the small iron
wares which he manufactured, into ordinary steel, after-
wards melting and converting it into cast-steel in the
usual way.

From the earliest glimpses we can get of Boulton as a

For .Memoir of Huntsman, see 'Industrial Biography,' 102-110.

166 BOULTON'S MAEEIAGE. CHAP. IX.

man of business, it would appear to have been his aim
to be at the top of whatsoever branch of manufacture he
undertook. He endeavoured to produce the best pos-
sible articles in regard of design, material, and work-
manship. Taste was then at a low ebb, and " Brum-
magem " had become a byword for everything that was
gaudy, vulgar, and meretricious. Boulton endeavoured
to get rid of this reproach, and aimed at raising the
standard of taste in manufacture to the highest point.
With this object, he employed the best artists to design
his articles, and the cleverest artisans to manufacture
them. Apart from the question of elevating the popular
taste, there can be no doubt that this was good policy on
his part, for it served to direct public attention to the
superior and honest quality of the articles produced by
his firm, and eventually brought him a large accession
of business.

In 1759, Boulton's father died, bequeathing to him
the considerable property which he had accumulated by
his business. The year following, when thirty-two
years of age, Matthew married Anne, the daughter of'
Luke Robinson, Esq., of Lichfield. The lady was a
distant relation of his own ; the Dyotts of Stitchbrooke,
whose heir his grandfather had married, being nearly
related to the Babingtons of Curborough, from whom
Miss Robinson was lineally descended — Luke Robinson
having married the daughter and co-heir of John
Babington of Curborough and Patkington. Consi-
derable opposition was offered to the marriage by the
lady's friends, on account of Matthew Boulton's occu-
pation ; but he pressed his suit, and with good looks
and a handsome presence to back him, he eventually
succeeded in winning the heart and hand of Anne
Robinson. He was now, indeed, in a position to have
retired from business altogether. But a life of inactivity
had no charms for him. He liked to mix with men in
the affairs of active life, and to take his full share in the

CHAP. IX.

HIS LOVE OF BUSINESS.

167

world's business. Indeed, he hated ease and idleness,
and found his greatest pleasure in constant occupation.

Instead, therefore, of retiring from trade, he deter-
mined to engage in it more extensively. He entertained
the ambition of founding a manufactory that should be
the first of its kind, and serve as a model for the manu-
facturers of his neighbourhood. His premises on Snow-
hill,1 Birmingham, having become too small for his
purpose, he looked about him for a suitable spot on
which to erect more commodious workshops ; and he
was shortly attracted by the facilities presented by the
property afterwards so extensively known as the famous
Soho.

Soho is about two miles north of Birmingham, on the
Wolverhampton road. It is not in the parish of Bir-
mingham, nor in the county of Warwick, but just over

1 While on Snow-hill, Mr. Boulton's I
business was principally confined to |
the making of buttons, shoe-buckles, '
articles in steel, and various kinds of
trinkets. His designation was that
of " toymaker," as is shown by the
loll* > wing document copied from the
original : — " Received of Matthew
Boulton, toymaker, Snow-hill, three
shillings and sixpence, for which sum
I solemnly engage, if he should be
chosen by lot to serve in the militia
for this parish, at the first meeting
for that purpose, to procure a substi-
tute that shall be approved of. Bir-
mingham, January 11, 1762, Henry
Brookes, Sergt." The Birmingham
toymaker was, however, often a man |
doing a large business, producing arti-
cles of utility as well as ornament.
Mr. Osier, the Birmingham manufac-
turer of glass beads and other toys, !
when examined before a Committee j
of the House of Commons many years |
since, astonished the members by in- |
forming them that trifling though |
dolls' eyes might appear to be as an
article of manufacture, he had once
obtained an order for 500Z. worth of
the article. " Eighteen years ago,"
said he, " on my first going to London,

a respectable-looking man in the city
asked me if I could supply him with
dolls' eyes ; and I was foolish enough
to feel half offended ; I thought it de-
rogatory to my dignity as a manufac-
turer to make dolls' eyes. He took
me into a room quite as wide, and
perhaps twice the length of this, and
we had just room to walk between
the stacks, from the floor to the ceil-
ing, of parts of dolls. He said,
* These are only the legs and the
arms ; the trunks are below.' But I
saw enough to convince me, that he
wanted a great many eyes. . . . He
ordered various quantities, and of
various sizes and qualities. On re-
turning to the Tavistock Hotel, I
found that the order amounted to
upwards of 500?. . . . Calculating on
every child in this country not using
a doll till two years old, and throwing
it aside at seven, and having a new
one annually, I satisfied myself that
the eyes alone would produce a circu-
lation of a great many thousand
pounds. I mention this merely to
show the importance of trifle?." —
Babbage, ' Economy of Machinery and
Manufactures,' 243-5.

1G8

SITE OF SOHO.

CHAP. IX.

the border, in the county of Stafford. Down to the
middle of last century the ground on which it stands
was a barren heath, used only as a rabbit-warren.
The sole dwelling on it was the warrener's hut, which
stood near the summit of the hill, on the spot afterwards
occupied by Soho House ; and the warrener's well is still
to be found in one of the cellars of the mansion. In
1756, Mr. Edward Euston took a lease of the ground
for ninety-nine years from Mr. Wyerley, the lord of
the manor, with liberty to make a cut about half a mile
in length for the purpose of turning the waters of
Hockley Brook into a pool under the brow of the hill.
The head of water thus formed was used to drive a
feeble mill below, which Mr. Ruston had established for
laminating metals. He also built a small dwelling-
house about 150 yards from the mill, and expended
upon the place a sum of about 1000/. in all. When
Mr. Boulton was satisfied that the place would suit his
purpose, he entered into arrangements with Mr. Ruston
for the purchase of his lease,1 on the completion of
which he proceeded to rebuild the mill on a large scale,

1 Mr. Boulton afterwards purchased
the fee simple of the property, toge-
ther with much of the adjoining land.
The nature of his tenure caused him
to take a lively interest in the ques-
tion of common lands enclosure, and at
a much later period (17th April, 1790)
we find him writing to the Eight Hon.
Lord Hawkesbury as follows : — " The
argument of robbing the poor [by
enclosures of wastes] is fallacious.
They have no legal title to the
common land ; and the more of it that
is cultivated, the more work and the
more bread there will be for them. I
speak from experience ; for I founded
my manufactory upon one of the most
barren commons in England, where
there existed but a few miserable
huts filled with idle beggarly people,
who by the help of the common land
and a little thieving made shift to
live without working. The scene is
now entirely changed. I have em- j

ployed a thousand men, women, and
children, in my aforesaid manufactory
for nearly thirty years past. The
Lord of the Manor hath exterminated
these very poor cottages, and hundreds
of clean comfortable cheerful houses
are found erected in their place. Thus
the inhabitants of the parish have
been trebled without at all increasing
the poor levies. I am more confirmed
in this view when I turn my eyes to
a neighbouring parish (Sutton Cole-
field), where there are 10,000 acres of
common land uncultivated, and yet
the poor rates are very high. Let
this land be divided, enclosed, culti-
vated, and rendered saleable to active,
industrious, and spirited men ; and
the poor will then have plenty of
work, and the next generation of them
will be fully reconciled to earning
their bread instead of begging for it."
— Itoulton MSS.

CHAP. IX.

PARTNERSHIP WITH FOTHERGILL.

1(59

and in course of time removed thither the whole of his
tools, machinery, and workmen. The new manufactory,
when finished, consisted of a series of roomy workshops
conveniently connected with each other, and capable of
accommodating upwards of a thousand workmen. The
building and stocking of the premises cost upwards of
20,000/.

SOHO MANUFACTORY,

Before removing to Soho, Mr. Boultoii took into
partnership Mr. John Fothergill, with the object of
more vigorously extending his business operations. Mr.
Fothergill possessed a very limited capital, but he was
a man of good character and active habits of business,
with a considerable knowledge of foreign markets. On
the occasion of his entering the concern, stock was taken
of the warehouse on Snow Hill ; and some idea of the
extent of Boulton's business at the time may be formed
from the fact, that his manager, Mr. Zaccheus Walker,
assisted by Farquharson, Nuttall, Frogatt, and half-a-
dozen labourers, were occupied during eight days in
weighing metals, counting goods, and preparing an
inventory of the effects and stock in trade. The part-

170

BOULTON'S AIMS AT EXCELLENCE.

CHAP. IX.

nership commenced at midsummer, 1762, and shortly
after the principal manufactory was removed to Soho.

Steps were immediately taken to open up new con-
nexions and agencies at home and abroad ; and a large
business was shortly established with many of the prin-
cipal towns and cities of Europe, in filagree and inlaid
work, livery and other buttons, buckles, clasps, watch-
chains, and various kinds of ornamental metal wares.
The firm shortly added the manufacture of silver plate
and plated goods to their other branches,1 and turned
out large quantities of candlesticks, urns, brackets, and
various articles in ormolu. The books of the firm indi-
cate the costly nature of their productions, 500 ounces of
silver being given out at a time, besides considerable
quantities of gold and platina for purposes of fabrication.
Boulton himself attended to the organization and
management of the works and to the extension of the
trade at home, while Fothergill devoted himself to
establishing and superintending the foreign agencies.

From the first, Boulton aimed at establishing a
character for the excellence of his productions. They
must not only be honest in workmanship, but tasteful
in design. He determined, so far as in him lay, to
get rid of the "Brummagem" reproach. Thus we find
him writing to his partner from London : — " The pre-
judice that Birmingham hath so justly established
against itself makes every fault conspicuous in all
articles that have the least pretensions to taste. How
can I expect the public to countenance rubbish from

1 Mr. Keir, in a MS. memoir of
Mr. Boulton now before us, says lie
was the first to introduce the silver
plate business at Birmingham, and to
make complete services in solid silver.
But the business was not profitable,
in consequence of the great value of
the material, the loss of interest upon
which was not compensated by the

additional price put upon it for work-
manship. One good consequence of
the silver plate business, however,
was the establishment of an assay
office in Birmingham, the necessary
Act for which was obtained at Mr.
Boulton's expense, and proved of much
advantage to the town.

CHAP. IX. HIS DISTINGUISHED PATRONS. 171

Soho, while they can procure sound and perfect work
from any other quarter ? "

He frequently went to town for the express purpose
of reading and making drawings of rare works in metal
in the British Museum, sending the results, down to
Soho. When rare objects of art were offered for sale,
he endeavoured to secure them. " I bid five guineas,"
he wrote his partner on one occasion; " for the Duke of
Murlborough's great blue vase, but it sold for ten. . .
I bought two bronzed figures, which are sent here-
with." He borrowed antique candlesticks, vases, and
articles in metal from the Queen and from various
members of the nobility. " I wish Mr. Eginton," he
wrote, " would take good casts from the Hercules and
the Hydra, and then let it be well gilt and returned
with the seven vases ; for 'tis the Queen's. I perceive
we shall want many such figures, and therefore we
should omit no opportunity of taking good casts."
The Duke of Northumberland lent Boulton many of
his most highly-prized articles for imitation by his
workmen. Among his other liberal helpers in the same
way, we find the Duke of Richmond, Lord Shelburne,
and the Earl of Dartmouth. The Duke gave him an
introduction to Horace Walpole, for the purpose of
enabling him to visit and examine the art treasures of
Strawberry Hill. " The vases," said he, in writing to
Boulton, " are, in my opinion, better worth your seeing
than anything in England, and I wish you would have
exact drawings of them taken, as I may very possibly
like to have them copied by you." Lord Shelburne's
opinion of Boulton may be gathered from his letter to
Mr. Adams, the architect, in which he said : — " Mr.
Boulton is the most enterprising man in different ways
in Birmingham, and is very desirous of cultivating Mr.
Adams's taste in his productions, and has bought his
Dioclesian by Lord Shelburne's advice."

172 EMULATES WEDGWOOD. CHAP. IX.

Boulton, however, did not confine himself to England ;
he searched the Continent over for the best specimens
of handicraft as models for imitation ; and when he
found them he strove to equal, if not to excel them in
style and quality. He sent his agent, Mr. Wendler, on
a special mission of this sort, to Venice, Rome, and
other Italian cities, to purchase for him the best
specimens of metal-work, and obtain for him designs
of various ornaments — vases, cameos, intaglios, and
statuary. On one occasion we find Wendler sending
him 456 prints, Boulton acknowledging that they
will prove exceedingly useful for the purposes of his
manufacture. At the same time, Fothergill was travel-
ling through France and Germany with a like object,
while he was also establishing new connexions with a
view to extended trade.1

While Boulton was ambitious of reaching the highest
excellence in his own line of business, he did not confine
himself to that, but was feeling his way in various
directions outside of it. Thus to his friend Wedgwood
he wrote on one occasion, that he admired his vases so
much that he " almost wished to be a potter." At one
time, indeed, he had serious thoughts of beginning the
fictile manufacture ; but he rested satisfied with mount-
ing in metal the vases which Wedgwood made. " The

1 " If, in the course of your future ! in all things that they may have

travelling," he wrote Mr. Wendler
(July, 1767), " you can pick up for
me any metallic ores or fossil sub-
stances, or any other curious natural
productions, I should be much obliged
to you, as I am fond of all those
things that have a tendency to im-
.prove my knowledge in mechanical
arts, in which my manufactory will
every year become more and more
general, and therefore wish to know
the taste, the fashions, the toys, both

occasion for — gold, silver, copper,
plated, gilt, pinchbeck, steel, platina,
tortoiseshell, or anything else that
may become an article of general de-
mand. I have lately begun to make
snuff-boxes, instrument-cases, tooth-
picks, &c., in metal, gilt, and in tor-
toiseshell inlaid, likewise gilt and
pinchbeck watch-chains. We are
now being completely fixed at Soho,
and when Mr. Fothergill returns
(which will not be for six months), I

useful and ornamental, the imple- I shall then have more time to attend to
ments, vessels, &c., that prevail in all ! improvements than I have at present."
the different parts of Europe, us I — Boulton, MSS.
should be glad to work for all Europe

CHAP. TX. IMVALS FRENCH MAKEIIS. 173

mounting of vases," he wrote, " is a large field for
fancy, in which I shall indulge, as I perceive it pos-
sible to convert even a very ugly vessel into a beautiful
vase." '

Another branch of business that he sought to establish
was the manufacture of clocks. It was one of his lead-
ing ideas, that articles in common use might be made
much better and cheaper if manufactured on a large
scale with the help of the best machinery ; and he
thought this might be successfully done in the making
of clocks and timepieces. The necessary machinery
was erected accordingly, and the new branch of busi-
ness was started. Some of the timepieces were of an
entirely novel arrangement. One of them, invented
by Dr. Small, contained but a single wheel, and was
considered a piece of very ingenious construction.
Boulton also sought to rival the French makers of
ornamental timepieces, by whom the English markets
were then almost entirely supplied ; and some of the
articles of this sort turned out by him were of great
beauty. One of his most ardent encouragers and ad-
mirers, the Hon. Mrs. Montagu, wrote to him, — "I
take greater pleasure in our victories over the French
in the contention of arts than of arms. The achieve-
ments of Soho, instead of making widows and orphans,
make marriages and christenings. Your noble industry,
while elevating the public taste, provides new occupa-

1 Boulton to Wedgwood, January, \ stupendous geniuses of the age, and
1769. — Wedgwood was one of his ' has really cut me up very cleanly. He
most intimate friends ; the two alike j talks, too, that he should not wonder
aiming at excellence in their respec- if some surprising genius at Birming-

tivc branches of production. Their
kindred efforts seem to have excited
the ire of some satirist, whose effusion
against them in the ' Public Ledger *
is thus referred to in the postscript of
a letter from Wedgwood to Boulton,
dated 19th February, 1771 :— " If you
take in the ' Public Ledger' you'll see

ham should be tempted to make
Roman medals and tenpenny nails,
or Corinthian knives and daggers, and
style himself Roman medal and Etrus-
can tenpenny nail-maker to the Em-
press of Abyssinia. But see the paper :
I believe it is the 'first week in
February, and is one of the better

that Mr. Antipuffado has done me the j sort of this class." — Boulton MSS.
honour to rank me with the most

174

ROYAL PATRON?.

CHAP. IX.

tions for the poor, and enables them to bring up their
families in comfort. Go on, then, sir, to triumph over
the French in taste, and to embellish your country with
useful inventions and elegant productions."

Boulton's efforts to improve the industrial arts did
not, however, always meet with such glowing eulogy as
this. Two of his most highly finished astronomical
clocks could not find purchasers at his London sale ; on
which he wrote to his wife at Soho, "I find phi-
losophy at a very low ebb in London, and I have there-
fore brought back my two fine clocks, which I will
send to a market where common sense is not out of
fashion. If I had made the clocks play jigs upon bells,
and a dancing bear keeping time, or if I had made a
horse-race upon their faces, I believe they would have
had better bidders. I shall therefore bring them back
to Soho, and some time this summer will send them to
the Empress of Russia, who, I believe, would be glad
of them." l During the same visit to . London, he
was more successful with the king and queen, who
warmly patronised his productions. "The king," he
wrote to his wife, "hath bought a pair of cassolets,
a Titus, a Venus clock, and some other things, and
inquired this morning how yesterday's sale went. I
shall see him again, I believe. I was with them, the
queen and all the children, between two and three
hours. There were, likewise, many of the nobility
present. Never was man so much complimented as I
have been; but I find that compliments don't make
fat nor fill the pocket. The queen showed me her
last child, which is a beauty, but none of 'em are equal

1 The clocks, with several other
articles, were sent out to Russia, and
submitted to the Empress through
the kindness of Earl Cathcart. His
lordship, in communicating the result
to Mr. Boulton, said — " I have the
pleasure to inform you that her Im-

perial Majesty not only bought them
all, last week, but did me the honour
to tell me that she was extremely
pleased with them, and thought them
superior in every respect to the French,
as well as cheaper, which entitled
them in all lights to a preference."

CHAP. IX. ATTRACTS BY GOOD WAGES. 175

to the General of Soho or the fair Maid of the Mill.1
God bless them both, and kiss them for me."

In another letter he described a subsequent visit to
the palace. " I am to wait upon their majesties again
so soon as our Tripod Tea-kitchen arrives, and again
upon some other business. The queen, I think, is much
improved in her person, and she now speaks English
like an English lady. She draws very finely, is a great
musician, and works with her needle better than Mrs,
Betty. However, without joke, she is extremely sen-
sible, very affable, and a great patroness of English
manufactures. Of this she gave me a particular in-
stance; for, after the king and she had talked to me
for nearly three hours, they withdrew, and then the
queen sent for me into her boudoir, showed me her
chimney piece, and asked me how many vases it would
take to furnish it ; ' for,' said she, ' all that china shall
be taken away.' She also desired that I would fetch
her the two finest steel chains I could make. All
this she did of her own accord, without the presence of
the king, which I could not help putting a kind con-
struction upon." ''

Thus stimulated by royal and noble patronage,
Boulton exerted himself to the utmost to produce articles
of the highest excellence. Like his friend Wedgwood,
he employed Flaxman and other London artists to
design his choicer goods; but he had many foreign
designers and skilled workmen, French and Italian, in
his regular employment. He attracted these men by
liberal wages, and kept them attached to him by kind
and generous treatment. On one occasion we find the
Duke of Richmond applying to him to recommend a
first-class artist to execute some special work in metal
for him. Boulton replies that he can strongly recom-

1 Pet names of his two children, but we infer that they were written
Matthew Robinson and Anne Boulton.

in the summer of 1767.

2 These letters are without date,

VISITED BY FOREIGNERS.

CHAP. IX.

mend one of his own men, an honest, steady workman,
an excellent metal turner. " He hath made for me
some exceeding good acromatic telescopes [another
branch of Boulton's business]. ... I give him two
guineas a week and a house to live in. He is a
Frenchman, and formerly worked with the famous M.
Germain ; he afterwards worked for the Academy of
Sciences at Berlin, and he hath worked upwards of
two years for me." ]

Before many years had passed, Soho was spoken of
with pride, as one of the best schools of skilled industry
in England. Its fame extended abroad as well as at
home, and when distinguished foreigners came into
England, they usually visited Soho as one of the
national sights. When the manufactory was complete 2
and in full work, Boulton removed from his house
on Snow-hill to the mansion of Soho, which he had
by this time considerably enlarged and improved.
There he continued to live until the close of his life,
maintaining a splendid hospitality. Men of all nations,
and of all classes and opinions, were received there by
turns, — princes, philosophers, artists, authors, merchants,
and poets. In August, 1767, while executing the two
chains for the queen, we find him writing to his London
agent as his excuse for a day's delay in forwarding it :
" I had lords and ladies to wait on yesterday ; I have
French and Spaniards to-day ; and to-morrow I shall
have Germans, Russians, and Norwegians." For many
years the visitors at Soho House were so numerous and
arrived in such constant succession, that it more re-
sembled an hotel than a private mansion.

1 Boulton to the Duke of Eichmond,
Ajril 8, 1770. The Duke was en-
gaged at the time in preparing a set
of machines for making the various
experiments in Natural Philosophy
described in S'Gravande's book. The
Duke was himself a good turner and
worker in inclal.

2 The manufactory was complete so
far as regarded the hardware manu-
facture. But additions were con-
stantly being made to it ; and, as
other branches of industry were added,
it became more than doubled in extent
and accommodation.

CHAP. IX. KAPII) EXTENSION OF BUSINESS.

IT

SOHO HOUSE

The rapid extension of the Soho business necessarily
led to the increase of the capitaT invested in it. Boulton
had to find large sums of money for increased stock,
plant, and credits. He raised 3000/. on his wife's
estate ; he borrowed 5000/. from his friend Baum-
garten ; and he sold considerable portions of the pro-
perty left him by his father, by which means he was
enabled considerably to extend his operations. There
were envious busybodies about who circulated rumours
to his discredit, and set the report on foot, that to carry
on a business on so large a scale would require a capital
of 8 0,0 GO/. " Their evil speaking," said he to a corre-
spondent, "will avail but little, as our house is founded
on so firm a rock that envy and malice will not be able
to shake it ; and I am determined to spare neither pains
nor money to establish such a house as will acquire
both honour and wealth." The rapid strides he was
making may be inferred from the statement made to
the same correspondent, which showed that the gross
returns of the firm, which were 7000/. in 1763, had
advanced to 30,000/. in 1767, with orders still upon the
increase.

N

178 DECLINES GENTLEMEN APPRENTICES. CHAP. IX.

Though he had a keen eye for business, Boulton
regarded character more than profit. He would have
no connexion with any transaction of a discreditable
kind. Orders were sent to him from France for base
money, but he spurned them with indignation. " I
will do anything," he wrote to M. Motteaux, his
Paris agent, " short of being common informer against
particular persons, to stop the malpractices of the
Birmingham coiners." He declared he was as ready
to do business on reasonable terms as any other person,
but he would not undersell ; " for," said he, " to run
down prices would be to run down quality, which could
only have the effect of undermining confidence, and
eventually ruining trade." His principles were equally
honourable as regarded the workmen of rival employers.
" I have had many offers and opportunities," he said to
one, " of taking your people, whom I could, with con-
venience to myself, have employed ; but it is a practice
I abhor. Nevertheless, whatever game we play at, I
shall always avail myself of the rules with which
'tis played, or I know I shall make but a very indif-
ferent figure in it." ]

He was frequently asked to take gentlemen appren-
tices into his works, but declined to receive them,
though hundreds of pounds' premium were in many
cases offered with them. He preferred employing
the humbler class of boys, whom he could train up
as skilled workmen. He was also induced to prefer
the latter for another reason, of a still more creditable
kind. " I have," said he, in answer to a gentleman
applicant, "built and furnished a house for the re-
ception of one kind of apprentices — fatherless^ children,
parish apprentices, and hospital boys ; and gentlemen's
sons would probably find themselves out of place in
such companionship."

Eoulton to John Taylor, 23rd January, 1769. Eoulton MSS.

CHAP. IX.

INCREASING BUSINESS.

179

While occupied with his own affairs, and in con-
ducting what he described as " the largest hardware
manufactory in the world," Boulton found time to take
an active part in promoting the measures then on foot
for opening up the internal navigation of the country.
He was a large subscriber to the Grand Trunk and
Birmingham Canal schemes, the latter of which was
of the greater importance to him personally, as it
passed close by Soho, and thus placed his works in
direct communication both with London and the north-
ern coal and manufacturing districts.1

Coming down to a few years later, in 1770, we find
his business still growing, and his works and plant
absorbing §till more capital, principally obtained by
borrowing. In a letter to Mr. Adams, the celebrated
architect, requesting him**!*) prepare the design of a
ne\^ sale-rt)om in London, he described the manufactory
at Soho as in full progress, from 700 to 800 persons
being employed as metallic artists and workers in
tortoiseshell, stones, glass, and enamel. " I have almost
every machine," said he, "that is applicable to those
arts ; I have two water-mills employed in rolling, po-

1 When the canal came to "be con-
structed at the point at which it
passed Soho, it occasioned him great
anxiety through the leakage of the
canal banks and loss of water for the
purposes of his manufactory. The
supply, especially in dry summers,
was already too limited; but the
canal threatened to destroy it alto-
gether. Writing to Mr. Thomas
Gilbert, M. P., on the subject in
February, 1769, he said, " The very
holes which Mr. Smeaton hath dug to
try the ground, drink up the water
nearly as fast as you can pour it in.
.... Let Smeaton or Brindley, or all
the engineers upon earth give what
evidence they will before Parliament,
I am convinced by last summer's
experience that if the proprietors of
the canal continue to take the two
streams on wliich my mill depends, it

is ruined. I might as well have built
it upon the summit of the hill." After
the act had passed he wrote his friend
Garbett, " I have seen the testimony
of the two engineers, Smeaton and
Yeoman, but I value the opinions of
neither of them, nor of Brindley nor
Simcox (in this case), nor of tho
whole tribe of jobbing ditchers, who
are retained as evidence on any side
which first applies for them." His
alarms, however, proved unfounded,
as the leakage of the canal was event-
ually remedied; and in November,
1772, we rind him writing to the Earl
of Warwick, " Our navigation goes on
prosperously; the junction with the
Wolverhampton Canal is complete ;
and we already sail from Birmingham
to Bristol and to Hull." — Boulton
MSS.

x 2

180 COMMERCIAL PANIC. CHAP. IX.

lishing, grinding, and turning various sorts of lathes. I
have trained up many, and am training up more plain
country lads into good workmen ; and wherever I find
indications of skill and ability, I encourage them. I
have likewise established correspondence with almost
every mercantile town in Europe, and am thus regu-
larly supplied with orders for the grosser articles in
common demand, by which I am enabled to employ
such a number of hands as to provide me with an
ample choice of artists for the finer branches of work ;
and I am thereby encouraged to erect and employ
a more extensive apparatus than it would be prudent
to provide for the production of the finer articles
only."

It is indeed probable — though Boulton was slow to
admit it — that he had been extending his business more
rapidly than his capital would conveniently allow ;
for we find him becoming more and more pressed for
means to meet the interest on the borrowed money
invested in buildings, tools, and machinery. He had
obtained 10,000/. from a Mr. Tonson of London ; and
on the death of that gentleman, in 1772, he had con-
siderable difficulty in raising the means to pay off the
debt. His embarrassment was increased by a serious
commercial panic, aggravated by the failure of Fordyce
brothers, by which a considerable sum deposited with
them remained locked up for some time, and he was
eventually a loser to the extent of 200 01. Other failures
and losses followed ; and trade came almost to a stand-
still. Yet he bravely held on. " We have a thousand
mouths at Soho to feed," he says ; " and it has taken so
much labour and pains to get so valuable and well-
organised a staff of workmen together, that the opera-
tions of the manufactory must be carried on at whatever
risk." He continued to receive distinguished visitors
at his works. " Last week," he wrote Mr. Ebbenhouse,
" we had Prince Poniatowski, nephew of the King

CHAP. IX. BOULTON INDEFATIGABLE. 181

of Poland, and the French, Danish, Sardinian, and
Dutch Ambassadors ; this week we have had Count
Orloff, one of the five celebrated brothers who are
such favourites with the Empress of Bussia ; and only
yesterday I had the Viceroy of Ireland, who dined
with me. Scarcely a day passes without a visit from
some distinguished personage."

Besides carrying on the extensive business connected
with his manufactory at Soho, this indefatigable man
found time to prosecute the study of several important
branches of practical science. It was scarcely to be
supposed that he had much leisure at his disposal ; but
in life it often happens that the busiest men contrive
to find the most leisure ; and he who is "up to the ears"
in work, can, nevertheless, snatch occasional intervals
to devote to inquiries in which his heart is engaged.
Hence we find Boulton ranging at intervals over a
wide field of inquiry ; at one time studying geology,
and collecting fossils, minerals, and specimens for his
museum ; at another, reading and experimenting on
fixed air ; and at another studying Newton's works
with the object of increasing the force of projectiles.1
But the subject which perhaps more than all interested
him was the improvement of the Steam Engine, which
shortly after led to his introduction to James Watt.

1 Among Boulton's scientific memo- i proposed the truer boring of the guns,
randa, we find some curious specula- l the use of a telescopic sight, and a
tions, bearing the date of 1766, rela- j cylindrical shot with its end of a
tive to improvements which he was j parabolic form as presenting in his
trying to work out in gunnery. He opinion the least resistance to the air.

182

BOULTON AND FRANKLIN.

CHAP. X.

CHAPTEE X.

BOULTON AND THE STEAM ENGINE — CORRESPONDENCE
WITH WATT.

WANT of water-power was one of the great defects of
Soho as a manufacturing establishment, and for a long
time Boulton struggled with the difficulty. The severe
summer droughts obliged him to connect a horse-mill
with the water-wheel. From six to ten horses were em-
ployed as an auxiliary power, at an expense of from five
to eight guineas a week. But this expedient, though costly,
was found very inconvenient. Boulton next thought
of erecting a pumping-engine after Savery or New-
comen's construction, for the purpose of raising the water
from the mill-stream and returning it back into the reser-
voir— thereby maintaining a head of water sufficient to
supply the water-wheel and keep the mill in regular work.
" The enormous expense of the horse-power," he wrote
to a friend, " put me upon thinking of turning the mill
by fire, and I made many fruitless experiments on the
subject."

In 1766 we find him engaged in a correspondence
with the distinguished Benjamin Franklin as to steam
power. Eight years before, Franklin had visited Boulton
at Birmingham and made his acquaintance. They were
mutually pleased with each other, and continued to cor-
respond during Franklin's stay in England, exchanging
their views on magnetism, electricity, and other subjects.1

1 On the 22nd May, 1765, Franklin
writes Boulton, — " Mr. Baskerville in-
forms me that you have lately had a
considerable addition to your fortune,

on which 1 sincerely congratulate you.
I beg leave to introduce my friend
Doctor Small to your acquaintance,
and to recommend him to your civili-

CHAP. X.

THEIR CORRESPONDENCE.

183

When Boultoii began to study the fire-engine with a
view to its improvement, Franklin was one of the first
whom he consulted. Writing him on the 22nd February,
1766, he said,—

" My engagements since Christmas have not permitted me to make
any further progress with my fire-engine ; but, as the thirsty season
is approaching apace, necessity will oblige me to set about it in
good earnest. Query, — •AVhich of the steam- valves do you like best?
Is it better to introduce the jet of cold water at the bottom of the
receiver, or at the top ? Each has its advantages and disadvantages.
My thoughts about the secondary or mechanical contrivances of the
engine are too numerous to trouble you with in this letter, and yet
I have not been lucky enough to hit upon any that are objectionless.
I therefore beg, if any thought occurs to your fertile genius which
you think may be useful, or preserve me from error in the execution
of this engine, you'll be so kind as to communicate it to me, and
you'll very greatly oblige me."

From a subsequent letter it appears that Boulton, like
Watt — who was about the same time occupied with his
invention at Glasgow — had a model constructed for ex-
perimental purposes, and that this model was now with
Franklin in London ; for we find Boulton requesting
the latter to " order a porter to nail up the model in the
box again and take it to the Birmingham carrier at the
Bell Inn, Smithfield." After a silence of about a month
Franklin replied,—

"You will, I trust, excuse my so long omitting to answer your
kind letter, when you consider the excessive hurry and anxiety I

have been engaged in with our American affairs I know not

which of the valves to give the preference to, nor whether it is best
to introduce your jet of cold water above or below. Experiments
will best decide in such cases. I would only repeat to you the hint
I gave, of fixing your grate in such a manner as to bum all your
smoke. I think a great deal of fuel will then be saved, for two

ties. I would not take this freedom,
if I were not sure it would be agree-
able to you ; and that you will thank
me for adding to the number of those
who from their knowledge of you
must respect you, one who is both an
ingenious philosopher and a most

worthy honest man. If anything new
in magnetism or electricity, or any
other branch of natural knowledge,
has occurred to your fruitful genius
since I last had the pleasure of seeing
you, you will by communicating it
greatly oblige me?'

184 BOULTON'S MODEL. CHAP. X.

reasons. One, that smoke is fuel, and is wasted when it escapes
uninflamed. The other, that it forms a sooty crust on the bottom of
the boiler, which crust not being a good conductor of heat, and pre-
venting flame and hot air coming into immediate contact with the
vessel, lessens their effect in giving heat to the water. All that is
necessary is, to make the smoke of fresh coals pass descending
through those that are already thoroughly ignited. I sent the
model last week, with your papers in it, which 1 hope got safe to
hand." '

The model duly arrived at Soho, and we find Boulton
shortly after occupied in making experiments with it,
the results of which are duly entered in his note-books.
Dr. Erasmus Darwin, with whom he was on very inti-
mate terms, wrote him from Lichfield, inquiring what
Franklin thought of the model and what suggestions he
had made for its improvement. " Your model of a steam-
engine, I am told," said he, " has gained so much appro-
bation in London, that I cannot but congratulate you
on the mechanical fame you have acquired by it, which,
assure yourself, is as great a pleasure to me as it could
possibly be to yourself."2 Another letter of Darwin to
Boulton is preserved, without date, but apparently written
earlier than the preceding, in which the Doctor lays
before the mechanical philosopher the scheme of " a fiery
chariot " which he had conceived, — in other words, of a
locomotive steam-carriage. He proposed to apply an
engine with a pair of cylinders working alternately, to
drive the proposed vehicle ; 3 and he sent Boulton some
rough diagrams illustrative of his views, which he begged

1 Franklin to Boulton, March 19,
1766. Boulton MSS.

2 Darwin to Boulton, March 11,
1766. Boulton MSS.

3 The following passage occurs in
his letter : — " Suppose one piston up,
and the vacuum' made under it by the
jet d'eau froid. That piston cannot
yet descend, because the cock is not
yet opened which admits the steam
into its antagonist cylinder. Hence

mosphere. Then, I say, if the cock
which admits the steam into the
antagonist cylinder be opened gradu-
ally and not with a jerk, that the first
mentioned [piston in the] cylinder
will descend gradually and yet not
less forcibly. Hence by the manage-
ment of the steam cocks the motion
may be accelerated, retarded, de-
stroyed, revived, instantly and easily.
And if this answers in practice as it

the two pistons are in equilibrio, being | does in theory, the machine cannot
cither of them pressed by the at- ' fail of success ! Eureka!"

CHAP. X. WATT VISITS SOHO. 185

might be kept a profound secret, as it was his intention,
if Boulton approved of his plan and would join him as a
partner, to endeavour to build a model engine, and, if it
answered, to take out a joint patent for it. But Dr.
Darwin's scheme was too crude to be capable of being
embodied in a working model; and nothing more was
heard of his fiery chariot.

Another of Boulton's numerous correspondents about
the same time was Dr. Roebuck, of Kinneil, then occu-
pied with his enterprise at Carron, and about to engage
in working the Boroughstoness coal mines, of the results
of which he was extremely sanguine. He also wished
Boulton to join him as a partner, offering a tenth share
in the concern, and to take back the share if the result
did not answer expectations. But Boulton's hands
were already full of business nearer home, and he de-
clined the venture. Roebuck then informed him of the
invention made by his ingenious friend Watt, and of
the progress of the model engine. This was a subject-
calculated to excite the interest of Boulton, himself occu-
pied in studying the same subject, and he expressed a
desire to see Watt, if he could make it convenient to
visit him at Soho.

It so happened that Watt had occasion to be in London
in the summer of 1767, on the business connected with
the Forth and Clyde Canal Bill, and he determined to
take Soho on his way home. When Watt paid his pro-
mised visit, Boulton was absent ; but he was shown over
the works by his friend Dr. Small, who had settled in
Birmingham as a physician, and already secured a high
place in Boulton's esteem. Watt was much struck with
the admirable arrangements of the Soho manufactory,
and recognised at a glance the admirable power of or-
ganisation which they displayed. Still plodding wearily
with his model, and contending with the " villanous bad
workmanship " of his Glasgow artisans, he could not but
envy the precision of the Soho tools and the dexterity of

186

FIRST MEETS BOULTON.

CHAP. X.

the Soho workmen. Some conversation on the subject
must have occurred between him and Small, to whom he
explained the nature of his invention ; for we find the
latter shortly after writing Watt, urging him to come to
Birmingham and join partnership with Boulton and
himself in the manufacture of steam-engines.1 Although
nothing came of this proposal at the time, it had probably
some effect, when communicated to Dr. Eoebuck, in
inducing him to close with Watt as a partner, and thus
anticipate his Birmingham correspondents, of whose
sagacity he had the highest opinion.

In the following year Watt visited London on the
business connected with the engine patent. Small wrote
to him there, saying, " Get your patent and come to
Birmingham, with as much time to spend as you can."
Watt accordingly again took Birmingham on his way
home. There he saw his future partner for the first
time, and they at once conceived a hearty liking for
each other. They had much conversation about the
engine, and it greatly cheered Watt to find that the sa-
gacious and practical Birmingham manufacturer should
augur so favourably of its success as he did. Shortly
after, when Dr. Eobison visited Soho, Boulton told him

1 Small wrote Watt from Birming-
ham, on the 7th January, 1768 : —
" Our friend Boulton will by this
post send letters both to you and Dr.
Roebuck. I know not well how to
resolve without seeing you. I have
not the pleasure of being enough
acquainted with Dr. E. to judge
whether we should all suit one ano-
ther. His integrity and generosity
everybody agrees are great. You
certainly know the proposal he has
made to Boulton, who will tell you
his determination about it. Before I
knew of your connexion with Dr. K.
my idea was that you should settle
here, and that Boulton and I should
assist you as much as we could, which
in any case we will most certainly do.
I have no kind of doubt of your

success, nor of your acquiring fortune,
if you proceed upon a proper plan as
to the manner of doing business;
which, if you do, you will be sole
possessor of the affair even after your
patent has expired. I had not tho-
roughly considered this part of the
matter when you left me. In a
partnership that I liked, I should not
hesitate to employ any sum of money
I can command on your scheme, and
I am certain it may be managed with
only a moderate capital. Whether it
would be possible to manage the wheel
and reciprocating engines by separate
partnerships without their interfering
I am not certain. If it is, Boulton
and I would engage with you in
either, provided you will live here" —
Boulton MSS.

CHAP. X. CORRESPONDS WITH BOULTON. 187

that although he had begun the construction of his pro-
posed pumping-engine, he had determined to proceed no
further with it until he saw what came of Watt and
Roebuck's scheme. " In erecting my proposed engine,"
said he, "I would necessarily avail myself of what I
learned from Mr. Watt's conversation ; but this would
not now be right without his consent." Boulton's con-
duct in this proceeding was thoroughly characteristic of
him, and merely affords another illustration of the general
fairness and honesty with which he acted in all his
business transactions.

Watt returned to Glasgow to resume his engine ex-
periments and to proceed with his canal surveys. He
kept up a correspondence with Boulton, and advised
him from time to time of the progress made with his
model. Towards the end of the year we find him sending
Boulton a package from Glasgow containing " one dozen
German flutes at 5s., and a copper digester II. 105."
He added, " I have almost finished a most complete model
of my reciprocating-engine : when it is tried, I shall
advise the success." To Dr. Small he wrote more con-
fidentially, sending him in January, 1769, a copy of the
intended specification of his steam-engine. He also spoke
of his general business : "Our pottery," said he, " is
doing tolerably, though not as I wish. I am sick of the
people I have to do with, though not of the business,
which I expect will turn out a very good one. I have
a fine scheme for doing it all by fire or water mills, but
not in this country nor with the present people." 1 Later,
he wrote : " I have had another three days of fever, from
which I am not quite recovered. This cursed climate
and constitution will undo me." Watt must have told
Small when at Birmingham of the probability of his
being able to apply his steam-engine to locomotion ; for
the latter writes him, " I told Dr. Robison and his pupil

1 Watt to Small, Janiiary 28, 1769. Boulton MJS!S.

188 SMALL AND WATT'S CORRESPONDENCE. CHAP. X.

that I hoped soon to travel in a fiery chariot of your
invention." Later, Small wrote : " A linendraper at
London, one Moore, has taken out a patent for moving
wheel-carriages by steam. This comes of thy delays. I
dare say he has heard of your inventions. . . . Do come
to England with all possible speed. At this moment,
how I could scold you for negligence ! However, if you
will come hither soon, I will promise to be very civil,
and buy a steam-chaise of you and not of Moore. And
yet it vexes me abominably to see a man of your superior
genius neglect to avail himself properly of his great
talents. These short fevers will do you good." 1 Watt
replied : " If linendraper Moore does not use my engines
to drive his chaises, he can't drive them by steam. If
he does, I will stop them. I suppose by the rapidity
of his progress and puffing he is too volatile to be dan-
gerous. . . . You talk to me about coming to England,
just as if I was an Indian that had nothing to remove
but my person. Why do we encumber ourselves with
anything else ? I can't see you before July at soonest,
unless you come here. If you do I can recommend you
to a fine sweet girl, who will be anything you want
her to be if you can make yourself agreeable to her."
Badinage apart, however, there was one point on which
Watt earnestly solicited the kind services of his friend.
He had become more than ever desirous of securing the
powerful co-operation of Matthew Boulton in introducing
his invention to public notice :—

" Seriously," says he, " you will oblige me if you will negotiate
the following affair : — I find that if the engine succeeds my whole
time will be taken up in planning and erecting Reciprocating
engines, and the Circulator must stand still unless i do what I have
done too often, neglect certainty for hope. Now, Mr. Boulton wants
one or more engines for his own use. If he will make a model of
one of 20 inches diameter at least, I will give him my advice and as
much assistance as I can. He shall have liberty to erect one of any

1 Small to Watt, 18th April, 1769. Boulton MSS.

CHAP. X.

DR. ROEBUCK VISITS BOULTOX.

189

size for his own use. If lie should choose to have more the terms
will be easy, and I shall consider myself much obliged to him. If
it should answer, and he should not think himself repaid for his
trouble by the use of it, he shall make and use it until he is repaid.
If this be agreeable to him let me know, and I will propose it to the
Doctor [Eoebuck], and doubt not of his consent. I wish Mr. Boulton
and you had entered into some negotiation with the Doctor about
coming in as partners. I am afraid it is now too late ; for the nearer
it approaches to certainty, he grows the more tenacious of it.1
For my part, I shall continue to think as I did, that it would be for
our mutual advantage. His expectations are solely from the
Eeciprocator. Possibly he may be tempted to part with the half of
the Circulator to you. This I say of myself. Mr. Boulton asked
if the Circulator was contrived since our agreement. It was ; but
it is a part of the scheme, and virtually included in it."2

From this it will be seen how anxious Watt was
to engage Boulton in taking an interest in his inven-
tion. But though the fly was artfully cast over the
nose of the fish, still he would not rise. The times
were out of joint, business was stagnant, and Boulton
was of necessity cautious about venturing upon new
enterprises. Small doubtless communicated the views
thus confidentially conveyed to him by Watt; and
in his next letter he again pressed him to come to
Birmingham and have a personal interview with
Boulton as to the engine, adding, "bring this pretty
girl with you when you come." But, instead of Watt,
Eoebuck himself went to see Boulton on the subject.
During the time of this visit, Watt again communicated
to Small his anxiety that Boulton should join in the
partnership. " As for myself," said he, " I shall say
nothing ; but if you three can agree among yourselves,
you may appoint me what share you please, and you
will find me willing to do my best to advance the
good of the whole ; or, if this [the engine] should not

1 Roebuck was at this time willing
to admit Boulton as a partner in the
patent, but only as respected the
profits of engines sold in the counties
of Warwick, Stafford, and Derby.
This Boulton declined, saying, " It

would not he worth my while to
make engines for three counties only ;
but it might be worth my while to
make for all the world."

2 Watt to Small, 28th April, 1769.
Boulton MSS.

190 WATT'S DISAPPOINTMENT. CHAP. X.

succeed, to do any other thing I can to make you
all amends, only reserving to myself the liberty of
grumbling when I am in an ill humour." ]

Small's reply was discouraging. Both Boulton and
he had just engaged in another scheme, which would
require all the ready money at their command. Pos-
sibly the ill-success of the experiment Watt had by
this time made with his new model at Kinneil may
have had some influence in deterring them from en-
gaging m what still looked a very unpromising specu-
lation. Watt was greatly cast down at this intelli-
gence, though he could not blame his friend for the
caution he displayed in the matter.2 He nevertheless
again returned to the subject in his letters to Small ;
and at last Boulton was persuaded to enter into a con-
ditional arrangement with Roebuck, which was im-
mediately communicated to Watt, who received the
intelligence with great exultation. "I shake hands,"
he wrote to Small, " with you and Mr. Boulton in our
connexion, which I hope will prove agreeable to us
all." His joy, however, proved premature, as it
turned out that the agreement was only to the effect,
that if Boulton thought proper to exercise the option
of becoming a partner in the engine to the extent of
one-third, he was to do so within a period of twelve
months, paying Roebuck a sum of 1000/. ; but this
option Boulton never exercised, and the engine enter-
prise seemed to be as far from success as ever.

In the mean time Watt became increasingly anxious

1 Watt to Small, 20th September, pleasure at the expense of your quiet,
1769. Boulton MSS. which might be the case if you iu-

2 " I am really very sorry on my own | volved yourself in more business than
account," he wrote, " that your en- you could easily manage, or, what is
gagements hinder you from entering worse, find money for. Besides, this
into our scheme, for that ought to ! is not a trade, but a project ; and no
bo the result of your deliberation. ; man should risk more money on a
Though there are few things I have project than he can afford to lose."-
wished more for than being connected Watt to Small, 21st October, 1769.
with you on many accounts, yet I ! Boulton MSS.

should be very loath to purchase that

•

CHAP. X. APPLIES HIMSELF TO SURVEYING. 191

about his own position. He had been spending more
money on fruitless experiments, and getting into more
debt. The six months he had been living at Kinneil
had brought him in nothing. He had been neglect-
ing his business, and could not afford to waste more
time in prosecuting an apparently hopeless speculation.
He accordingly returned to his regular work, and
proceeded with the survey of the river Clyde, at the
instance of the Glasgow Corporation. " I would not
have meddled with this," he wrote to Dr. Small, " had
I been certain of being able to bring the engine to
bear. But I cannot, on an uncertainty, refuse every
piece of business that offers. I have refused some
common fire-engines, because they must have taken
rny attention so up as to hinder my going on with
my own. However, if I cannot make it answer soon,
I shall certainly undertake the next that offers, for I
cannot afford to trifle away my whole life, which —
God knows — may not be long. Not that I think
myself a proper hand for keeping men to their duty ;
but I must use my endeavours to make myself square
with the world, though I much fear I never shall." l

Small lamented this apparent abandonment of the
engine to its fate. But though he had failed in in-
ducing Boulton heartily to join Watt in the enter-
prise, he did not yet despair. He continued to urge
Watt to complete his engine, as the fourteen years
for which the patent lasted would soon be gone. A't
all events he might send drawings of his engine to
Soho ; and Mr. Boulton and he would undertake to
do their best to have one constructed for the purpose
of exhibiting its powers.2 To this Watt agreed, and

1 Watt to Small, 20th September, ! " are very desirous of is, to move canal
17G9. | boats by this engine; so we have

2 Small informed Watt that it was made this model of a size sufficient
intended to make an engine for the j for that purpose. We propose first to
purpose of drawing canal boats. | operate without any condenser, because
" What Mr. Boulton and I," he wrote, i coals are here exceedingly cheap, and

192

MORE ENGINE EXPERIMENTS.

CHAP. X-

about the beginning of 1770, the necessary drawings
were sent to Soho, and an engine was immediately
put in course of execution. Patterns were made and
sent to Coalbrookdale to be cast ; but when the castings
were received, they were found exceedingly imperfect,
and were thrown aside as useless. They were then
sent to an ironfounder at Bilston to be executed ; but
the result was only another failure.

About the beginning of 1770, another unsuccessful
experiment was made by Watt and Roebuck with
the engine at Kinneil. The cylinder had been repaired
and made true by beating, but as the metal of which
it was made was soft, it was feared that the working
of the piston might throw it out of form. To prevent
this, two firm parallel planes were fixed, through which
the piston worked, in order to prevent its vibration.
" If this should fail," Eoebuck wrote to Boulton, in
giving an account of the intended trial, " then the
cylinder must be made of cast-iron. But I have great
confidence that the present engine will work completely,
and by this day se'nnight you may expect to hear the
result of our experiments." * The good news, however,
never went to Birmingham ; on the contrary, the
trial proved a failure. There was some more tinkering

because you can, more commodiously
than we, make experiments on con-
densers, having several already by
you. Above 150 boats are now em-
ployed on these new waveless canals,
so if we can succeed, the field is not
narrow." This suggestion of working
canal boats by steam immediately
elicited a reply from Watt on the
subject. Invention was so habitual
to him that a new method of em-
ploying power was no sooner hinted
than his active mind at once set to
work to solve the problem. " Have
you ever," he wrote Small, " con-
sidered a spiral oar for that purpose,
or are you for two wheels ?" And to
make his meaning clear, he sketched

out a rough but graphic outline of a
screw propeller. Small's reply was
unfavourable : he replied, " I have
tried models of spiral oars, and have
found them all inferior to oars of either
of the other forms ; I believe because
a cylinder of water immersed in water
can be easily turned round its own
axis. We propose to try gun-lock
springs with the fixed part longer
than the moving. If we cannot suc-
ceed, we will have recourse to what
you have so obligingly and clearly
described." Finally Watt writes a
fortnight later, " concerning spirals, I
do not continue fond of them."

1 Roebuck to Boulton, February
12, 1770.

CHAP. X. REVERTS TO ENGINEERING. 193

at the engine, but it would not work satisfactorily ; and
Watt went back to Glasgow with a heavy heart.

Small again endeavoured to induce Watt to visit
Birmingham, to superintend the erection of the engine,
the materials for which were now lying at Soho. He
also held out to Watt the hope of obtaining some
employment for him in the midland counties as a
consulting engineer. But Watt could not afford to
lose more time in erecting trial-engines ; and he was
too much occupied at Glasgow to leave it for the
proposed uncertainty at Birmingham. He accordingly
declined the visit, but invited Small to continue the
correspondence ; " for," said he, " we have abundance
of matters to discuss, though the damned engine
sleep in quiet." Small wrote back, professing him-
self satisfied that Watt was so fully employed in his
own profession at Glasgow. " Let nothing," he said,
" divert you from the business of engineering. You
are sensible that both Boulton and I engaged in the
patent scheme much more from inclination to be in
some degree useful to you than from any other prin-
ciple ; so that if you are prosperous and happy, we do
not care whether you find the scheme worth prose-
cuting or not." L Eeplying to Small's complaint of
himself, that he felt ennuye and stupid, taking pleasure
in nothing but sleep, Watt said : " You complain of
physic ; I find it sufficiently stupifying to be obliged
to think on any subject but one's hobby ; and I really
am become monstrously stupid, and can seldom think
at all. I wish to God I could afford to live without
it; though I don't admire your sleeping scheme. I
must fatigue myself, otherwise I can neither eat nor
sleep. In short, I greatly doubt whether the silent
mansion of the grave be not the happiest abode. I am
cured of most of my youthful desires, and if ambition

Small to Watt, 17th September, 1770. Bonlton MSS.

O

194

PROSPECTS BRIGHTEN.

CHAP. X

or avarice do not lay hold of me, I shall be almost
as much ennuye as you say you are." ]

Small again recurred to the subject of Watt's removal
to Birmingham, informing him that he had provided
accommodation for him, " having kept a whole house
in my power, in hopes you may come to live here."

Watt's prospects were, however, brightening. He
was then busily occupied in superintending the con-
struction of the Monkland Canal. He wrote Small
that he had a hundred men working under him, who
had "made a confounded gash in a hill," at which
they had been working for twelve months ; that by
frugal living he had contrived to save money enough
to pay his debts, and that he had plenty of remunerative
work before him. He had also become concerned in
a pottery, which, he said, " does very well, though we
make monstrous bad ware." ' He had not, indeed, got
rid of his headaches, though he was not so much
afflicted by low spirits as he had been. But he con-
fessed that after all he hated the business of engineer-
ing, and wished himself well rid of it, for the reasons
stated in a preceding chapter.

This comparatively prosperous state of Watt's affairs
did not, however, last long. The commercial panic
of 1772 put a sudden stop to most of the canal schemes
then on foot. The proprietors of the Monkland Canal
could not find the necessary means for carrying on the
works, and Watt consequently lost his employment
as their engineer. He was thus again thrown upon
the world, and where was he to look for help ? Natu-
rally enough, he reverted to his engine. But it was
in the hands of Dr. Eoebuck, who was overwhelmed
with debt, and upon the verge of insolvency. It

1 Watt to Small, 20th October,
1770. Boulton MSS.

2 He then held an eighth share in the

pottery, which brought him in about
701. a year clear.

CHAP. X. ROEBUCK'S BANKRUPTCY. 195

was clear that no help was to be looked for in that
quarter. Again he bethought him of Small's invi-
tations to Birmingham, and of the interest that Boulton
had taken in the engine scheme. Could he be induced
at last to become a partner ? He again broached the
subject to Small, telling him how business" had failed
him ; fliat he was now ready to go to Birmingham
and engage in English surveys, or do anything that
would bring him in an honest income. But, above all,
would Boulton and Small, now that Eoebuck had failed,
join him as partners in the engine business ?

By this time Boulton himself had become involved
in difficulties arising out of the commercial pressure of
the time, and was more averse than ever to enter
upon such an enterprise. But having ]ent Roebuck a
considerable sum of money, it occurred to Watt that
the amount might be taken as part of the price of
Boulton's share in the patent, if he would consent to
enter into the proposed partnership. He represented
to Small the great distress of Roebuck's situation, which
he had done all that he could to relieve. " What little I
can do for him," he said, "is purchased by denying
myself the conveniences of life my station requires,
or by remaining in debt, which it galls me to the bone
to owe." Reverting to the idea of a partnership with
Boulton, he added, " I shall be content to hold a very
small share in it, or none at all, provided I am to be
freed from my pecuniary obligations to Roebuck, and
have any kind of recompense for even a part of the
anxiety and ruin it has involved me in." And again :
" Although I am out of pocket a much greater sum
upon these experiments than my proportion of the
profits of the engine, I do not look upon that money
as the price of my share, but as money spent on my
education. I thank God I have now reason to believe
that I can never, while I have health, be at any loss

o 2

196

WATT INVITED TO SOHO.

CHAP. X.

to pay what I owe, and to live at least in a decent
manner ; more, I do not violently desire." *

In a subsequent letter Watt promised Small that he
would pay an early visit to Birmingham, and added, " there
is nowhere I so much wish to be." In replying, Small
pointed ouf a difficulty in the way of the proposed part-
nership : "It is impossible," he wrote, " for Mr. Boulton
and me, or any other honest man, to purchase, espe-
cially from two particular friends, what has no market
price, and at a time when they might be inclined to
part with the commodity at an under value."2 He
added that the high-pressure wheel-engine constructing
at Soho, after Watt's plans, was nearly ready, and that
Wilkinson, of Bradley, had promised that the boiler
should be sent next week. " Should the experiment
succeed, or seern likely to succeed," he said, " you ought
to come hither immediately upon receiving the notice,
which I will instantly send. In that case we propose to
unite three things under your direction, which would
altogether, we hope, prove tolerably satisfactory to you,
at least until your merit shall be better known." 3

But before the experiment with the wheel-engine
could be tried at Soho, the financial ruin of Dr. Eoebuck
brought matters to a crisis. He was now in the hands

1 Watt to Small, 30th. August,
1772. Boulton MSS.

2 Small to Watt, 16th November,
1772. Boulton MSS.

3 About this time, in order to bring
himself and his engine into notice,
Watt contemplated writing a treatise
on steam and its applications. " I
have some thoughts," he wrote to
Small, " of writing a book on the
elements of the theory of steam-
engines, in which, however, I shall
only give the enunciation of the
perfect engine. This book might do
me and the scheme good. It would
still leave the world in the dark as to
the true construction of the engine.
Something of this kind is necessary,
as Smeaton is labouring hard at the

subject, and if I can make no profit,
at least I ought not to lose the honour
of my experiments." — Watt to Small,
17th August, 1773. Boulton MSS.
To this letter Small replied, " The
more I consider the propriety of your
publishing about steam, the more I
wish you to publish. Smeaton has
only trifled hitherto, though he may
perhaps discover something. He told
Boulton some time ago that the cir-
cular engine would not do. He said
he had considered it, and was sure of
this. As B. does not much respect
his genius, this had no effect." Watt's
treatise was, however, never written ;
his attention being shortly after fully
occupied by other and more engrossing
subjects.

CHAP. X.

ROEBUCK'S TRANSFER TO BOULTON.

197

of his creditors, who found his affairs in inextricable
confusion. He owed some 1200/. to Boulton, who, rather
than claim against the estate, offered to take Eoebuck's
two-thirds share in the engine patent in lieu of the
debt. The creditors did not value the engine as worth
one farthing, and were but too glad to agree to the
proposal. As Watt himself said, it was only " paying
one bad debt with another." Boulton wrote to Watt
requesting him to act as his attorney in the matter. He
confessed that he was by no means sanguine as to the
success of the engine, but, being an assayer, he was
willing " to assay it and try how much gold it contains."
" The thing," he added, " is now a shadow ; 'tis merely
ideal, and will cost time and money to realise it. We
have made no experiment yet that answers my purpose,
and the times are so horrible throughout the mercantile
part of Europe, that I have not had my thoughts suffi-
ciently disengaged to think of new schemes." l

So soon as the arrangement for the transfer of Roe-
buck's share to Boulton was concluded, Watt ordered
the engine in the outhouse at Kinneil to be taken to
pieces, packed up, and sent to Birmingham.2 Small
again pressed him to come and superintend the work
in person. But before he could leave Scotland it was
necessary that he should complete the survey of the
Caledonian Canal, which was still unfinished. This
done, he promised at once to set out for Soho. In any
case, he had made up his mind to leave his own country,
of which he declared himself " heart-sick." 3 He hated

1 Boulton to Watt, 29th March,
1773. Boulton MSS.

2 " As 1 found the engine at Kinneil
perishing, and as it is from circum-
stances highly improper that it should
continue there longer, and as 1 have
nowhere else to put it, I have this
week taken it to pieces and packed up
the ironwork, cylinder, and pump,
ready to be shipped for London on its
way to Birmingham, as the only place

where the experiments can be com-
pleted with propriety. I suppose the
whole will not weigh above four tons.
I have left the whole of the wood-
work until we see what we are to do."
—Watt to Small, 20th May, 1773.
Boulton MSS.

3 In a letter to Small, Watt wrote,
" I begin now to see daylight through
the affairs that have detained me so
long, and think of setting out for you

198

WATT'S ABKIVAL IN BIRMINGHAM.

CHAP. X.

its harsh climate, so trying to his fragile constitution.
Moreover, he disliked the people he had to deal with.
He was also badly paid for his work, a whole year's
surveying having brought him in only about 200/.
Out of this he had paid some portion to Dr. Roebuck to
help him in his necessity, " so that," he said, " I can
barely support myself and keep untouched the small
sum I have allotted for my visit to you." ]

Watt's intention was either to try to find employ-
ment as a surveyor or engineer in England, or obtain
a situation of some kind abroad. He was, however,
naturally desirous of ascertaining whether it was yet
possible to do anything with the materials which now
lay at Soho ; and with the object of visiting his friends
there and superintending the erection of the trial-
engine, he at length made his final arrangements to
leave Glasgow. We find him arrived in Birmingham
in May, 1774, where he at once entered on a new and
important phase of his professional career.

in a fortnight at furthest. I am
monstrously plagued with my head-
aches, and not a little with unpro-
fitable business. I don't mean my
own whims : these I never work at
when I can do any other thing ; but I
have got too many acquaintances ; and
there are too many beggars in this
country, which I am afraid is going to
the devil altogether. Provisions con-
tinue excessively dear, and laws are
made to keep them so. But luckily

the spirit of emigrating rises high,
and the people seem disposed to show
their oppressive masters that they can
live without them. By the time
some twenty or thirty thousand more
leave the country, matters will take a
turn not much to the profit of the
landholders." — Watt to Small, 29th
April, 1774. Boulton MSS.

1 Watt to Small, 25th July, f?73.
Boulton MSS.

CHAP. XL QUALITIES OF BOULTON. 199

CHAPTEK XL

BOULTON AND WATT — THEIR PARTNERSHIP.

WATT had now been occupied for about nine years in
working out the details of his invention. Five of these
had passed since he had taken out his patent, and he
was still struggling with difficulty. Several thousand
pounds had been expended on the engine, besides much
study, labour, and ingenuity ; yet it was still, as Boul-
ton expressed it, "a shadow, as regarded its practical
utility and value." So long as Watt's connexion with
Roebuck continued, there was indeed very little chance
of getting it favourably introduced to public notice.
What it was yet to become as a working power de-
pended in no small degree upon the business ability,
the strength of purpose, and the length of purse of his
new partner.

Had Watt searched Europe through, probably he
could not have found a man better fitted than Matthew
Boulton for bringing his invention fairly before the
world. Many would have thought it rash on the part
of the latter, burdened as he was with heavy liabilities,
to engage in a new. undertaking of so speculative a
character. Feasible though the scheme might be, it
was an admitted fact that nearly all the experiments
with the models heretofore made had proved failures.
It is true Watt firmly believed that he had hit upon
the right principle, and he was as sanguine as ever of
the eventual success of his engine. But though in-
ventors are usually sanguine, men of capital do not
take up their schemes on that account. Capitalists are
rather disposed to regard sanguine inventors as vision-

200 CONTKAST OF CHARACTER. CHAP. XL

aries, full of theories of what is possible rather than of
well-defined plans of what is practicable and useful.

Boulton, however, amongst his many other gifts pos-
sessed an admirable knowledge of character. His judg-
ment of men was almost unerring. In Watt he had
recognised at his first visit to Soho, not only a man
of original inventive genius, but a plodding, earnest,
intent, and withal an exceedingly modest man ; not given
to puff, but on the contrary rather disposed to under-
rate the merit of his inventions. Different though their
characters were in most respects, Boulton at once con-
ceived a hearty liking for him. The one displayed in
perfection precisely those qualities which the other
wanted. Boulton was a man of ardent and generous
temperament, bold and enterprising, undaunted by diffi-
culty, and possessing an almost boundless capacity for
work. He was a man of great tact, clear perception,
and sound judgment. Moreover, he possessed that
indispensable quality of perseverance, without which
the best talents are of comparatively little avail in the
conduct of important affairs. While Watt hated busi-
ness, Boulton loved it. He had, indeed, a genius for
business, — -a gift almost as rare as that for poetry, for
art, or for war. He possessed a marvellous power of or-
ganisation. With a keen eye for details he combined a
comprehensive grasp of intellect. While his senses were
so acute, that when sitting in his office at Soho he could
detect the slightest stoppage or derangement in the
machinery of that vast establishment, and send his mes-
sage direct to the spot where it had occurred, his
power of imagination was such as enabled him to look
clearly along extensive lines of possible action in Europe,
America, and the East. For there is a poetic as well
as a commonplace side to business ; and the man of
business genius lights up the humdrum routine of daily
life by exploring the boundless region of possibility
wherever it may lie open before him.

CHAP. XL

BOULTON AND HIS FKIENDS.

201

Boulton had already won his way to the very front
rank in his calling, honestly and honourably ; and he
was proud of it. He had created many new branches
of industry, which gave regular employment to hundreds
of families. He had erected and organised a manufactory
which was looked upon as one of the most complete of
its kind in England, and was resorted to by visitors from
all parts of the world. But Boulton was more than a
man of business : he was a man of culture, and the friend
of cultivated men. His hospitable mansion at Soho was
the resort of persons eminent in art, in literature, and
in science ; and the love and admiration with which
he inspired such men affords one of the best proofs
of his own elevation of character. Among the most
' intimate of his friends and associates were Richard Lovell
Edge worth,1 a gentleman of fortune, enthusiastically
devoted to his long-conceived design of moving land-
carriages by steam ; Captain Keir, an excellent practical
chemist, a wit and a man of learning; Dr. Small, the
accomplished physician, chemist, and mechanist ; Josiah
Wedgwood, the practical philosopher and manufacturer,
founder of a new and important branch of skilled
industry ; Thomas Day, the ingenious author of ' Sand-
ford and Merton ; ' Dr. Darwin, the poet-physician ; Dr.
Withering, the botanist ; besides others who afterwards
joined the Soho circle, — not the least distinguished of
whom were Joseph Priestley and James Watt.2

1 Mr. Edgeworth. was first intro-
duced to the notice of Mr. Boulton in
the following letter from Dr. Darwin
(1767) : — " Dear Boulton, I have got
with me a mechanical friend, Mr.
Edgeworth, from Oxfordshire, — the
greatest conjurer I ever saw. God
send fine weather, and pray come to
my assistance, and prevail on Dr.
Small and Mrs. Boulton to attend you
to-morrow morning, and we will re-
convey you to Birmingham if the
devil permit. E. has the principles
of nature in his palm, and moulds

them as he pleases, — can take away
polarity, or give it to the needle by
rubbing it thrice on the palm of his
hand! And can see through two
solid oak boards without glasses ! Won-
derful ! astonishing ! ! diabolical ! ! !
Pray tell Dr. Small he must come to
see these miracles. Adieu, E. Darwin."
2 Kichard Lovell Edgeworth says of
this distinguished coterie, — " By means
of Mr. Keir I became acquainted with
Dr. Small of Birmingham, a man
esteemed by all who knew him, and
by all who were admitted to his

202

THE ENGINE AT SOHO.

CHAP. XI.

Boulton could not have been very sanguine at first
as to the success of Watt's engine. There were a thou-
sand difficulties in the way of getting it introduced
to general use. The principal one was the difficulty of
finding workmen capable of making it. Watt had
been constantly worried by "villanous bad workmen,"
who failed to make any model that would go properly.
It mattered not that the principle of the engine was
right; if its construction was beyond the skill of
ordinary handicraftsmen, the invention was practically
worthless. The great Smeaton was of this opinion.
When he saw the first model working at Soho, he ad-
mitted the excellence of the contrivance, but predicted
its failure, on the ground that it was too complicated,
and that workmen were not to be found capable of'
manufacturing it on any large scale for general uses.

Watt himself felt that, if the engine was ever to
have a fair chance, it was now ; and that if Boulton,
with his staff of skilled workmen at command, could
not make it go, the scheme must be abandoned hence-
forward as impracticable. Boulton must, however, have
seen the elements of success in the invention, otherwise
he would not have taken up with it. He knew the
difficulties Watt had encountered in designing it, and
he could well appreciate the skill with which he had
overcome them ; for Boulton himself, as we have seen,

friendship beloved with, no common
enthusiasm. Dr. Small formed a link
which combined Mr. Boulton, Mr.
Watt, Dr. Darwin, Mr. Wedgwood,
Mr. Day, and myself together — men
of very different characters, but all
devoted to literature and science.
This mutual intimacy has never been
broken but by death, nor have any of
the number failed to distinguish them-
selves in science or literature. Some
may think that I ought with due
modesty to except myself. Mr. Keir
with his knowledge of the world and
good sense ; Dr. Small, with his bene-
volence and profound sagacity ; Wedg-

wood, with his increasing industry,
experimental variety, and calm inves-
tigation ; Boulton, with his mobility,
quick perception, and bold adventure;
Watt, with his strong inventive
faculty, undeviating steadiness, and
bold resources ; Darwin, with his ima-
gination, science, and poetical excel-
lence; and Day, with his unwearied
research after truth, his integrity and
eloquence ; — proved altogether such a
society as few men have had the good
fortune to live with ; such an assem-
blage of friends, as fewer still have
had the happiness to possess, and keep
through life."— Memoirs, i. 186.

CHAP. XL VIEWS OF BOULTON. 203

had for some time been occupied with the study of the
subject. But the views of Boulton on entering into his
new branch of business, cannot be better expressed than
in his own words, as stated in a letter written by him
to Watt in 1769, when then invited to join the Roebuck
partnership : —

" The plan proposed to me," 1 said he, " is so very different from
that which I had conceived at the time I talked with you upon the
subject, that I cannot think it a proper one for me to meddle with,
as I do not intend turning engineer. I was excited by two motives
to offer you my assistance — which were, love of you, and love of a
money- getting ingenious project. I presumed that your engine
would require money, very accurate workmanship, and extensive
correspondence, to make it turn out to the best advantage ; and that
the best means of keeping up our reputation and doing the invention
justice, would be to keep the executive part out of the hands of the
multitude of empirical engineers, who, from ignorance, want of
experience, and want of necessary convenience, would be very liable
to produce bad and inaccurate workmanship ; all which deficiencies
would affect the reputation of the invention. To remedy which, and
to produce the most profit, my idea was to settle a manufactory near
iny own, by the side of our canal, where I would erect all the con-
veniences necessary for the completion of engines, and from which
manufactory we would serve the world with engines of all sizes.
By these means and your assistance we could engage and instruct
some excellent workmen, who (with more excellent tools than would
be worth any man's while to procure for one single engine) could
execute the invention 20 per cent, cheaper than it would be
otherwise executed, and with as great a difference of accuracy as
there is between the blacksmith and the mathematical instrument
maker."

He went on to state that he was willing to enter
upon the speculation with these views, considering
it well worth his while "to make engines for all
the world," though it would not be worth his while
" to make for three counties only ;" besides, he declared
himself averse to embark in any trade that he had not
the inspection of himself. He concluded by saying,

1 Dr. lioebuck proposed to confine
I'M Hilton's profits to the engine busi-
ness done onlv in three counties, it

will be observed that Boulton declined
to negotiate on such a basis.

204

THE KINNEIL ENGINE RE-ERECTED.

CHAP. XL

" Although there seem to be some obstructions to our
partnership in the engine trade, yet I live in hopes that
you or I may hit upon some scheme or other that may
associate us in this part of the world, which would
render it still more agreeable to me than it is, by the
acquisition of such a neighbour." l

Five years had passed since this letter was written,
during which the engine had made no way in the
world. The partnership of Roebuck and Watt had
yielded nothing but vexation and debt ; until at last,
fortunately for Watt — though at the time he regarded
it as a terrible calamity — Roebuck broke down, and
the obstruction was removed which had prevented
Watt and Boulton from coming together. The latter
at once reverted to the plan of action which he had
with so much sagacity laid down in 1769 ; and he
invited Watt to take up his abode at Soho until the
necessary preliminary arrangements could be made.
He thought it desirable, in the first place, to erect
the engine, of which the several parts had been sent
to Soho from Kinneil, in order, if possible, to exhibit
a specimen of the invention in actual work. Boulton
undertook to defray all the necessary expenses, and
to find competent workmen to carry out the instruc-
tions of Watt, whom Boulton was also to maintain
until the engine business had become productive.2

1 Boulton to Watt, 7th Februarv,
1769. Boulton MSS.

2 In a statement prepared by Mr.
Boulton for the consideration of the
arbitrators between himself and
Pothergill as to the affairs of that
firm, the following passage occurs : —
" The first engine that was erected at
Soho I purchased of Mr. Watt and
Dr. Roebuck. The cylinder was cast
of solid grain tin, which engine, with
the boiler, the valves, the condense]-,
and the pumps, were all sent from
Scotland to Soho. This engine was
erected for the use of the Soho manu-
factory, and for the purpose of making

experiments upon by Mr. Watt, who
occupied two years of his time at Soho
with that object : and lived there at
Mr. Boulton's expense. Nevertheless
Mr. Watt often assisted Boulton and
Fothergill in anything in his power,
and made one journey to London upon
their business, when he worked at
adjusting and marking weights manu-
factured by Boulton and Fothergill."
In another statement of a similar
kind, Mr. Boulton says, — " The only
fire-engine that was erected at Soho
prior to Boulton and Watt obtaining
the Act of Parliament, was entirely
made and erected in Scotland, and was

CHAP. XL ITS SUCCESSFUL WORKING. 205

The materials brought from Kinneil were accord-
ingly put together with as little delay as possible ;
and, thanks to the greater skill of the workmen who
assisted in its erection, the engine, when finished,
worked in a more satisfactory manner than it had
ever done before. In November, 1774, Watt wrote Dr.
Eoebuck, informing him of the success of his trials;
on which the Dr. expressed his surprise that the
engine should have worked at all, " considering the
slightness of the materials and its long exposure to the
injuries of the weather." Watt also wrote to his
father at Grreenock. " The business I am here about
has turned out rather successful ; that is to say, the
fire-engine I have invented is now going, and answers
much better than any other that has yet been made ;
and I expect that the invention will be very beneficial
to me." ] Such was Watt's modest announcement of
the successful working of the engine on which such
great results depended.

Much, however, remained to be done before either
Watt or Boulton could reap any benefit from the
invention. Six years out of the fourteen for which the
patent was originally taken had already expired ; and
all that had been accomplished was the erection of this
experimental engine at Soho. What further period
might elapse before capitalists could be brought to recog-
nise the practical uses of the invention could only be
guessed at ; but the probability was that the patent right
would expire long before such a demand for the engines
arose as should remunerate Boulton and Watt for their
investment of time, labour, and capital. And the patent
once expired, the world at large would be free to make
the engines, though Watt himself had not recovered

removed here by sea, being a part of i expense of erecting them." — Boulton
my bargain with Roebuck. All that MSS.

were afterwards erected were for per-
sons that ordered them, and were at the

1 Quoted in Muirhead's ' Mechanical
Inventions of James Watt,' ii. 79.

206 INQUIRIES FOR PUMPING ENGINES. CHAP. XL

one farthing towards repaying him for the long years
of experiment, study, and ingenuity bestowed by him in
bringing his invention to perfection. These considera-
tions made Boultoii hesitate before launching out the
money necessary to provide the tools, machinery, and
buildings, for carrying on the intended manufacture on
a large scale and in the best style.

When it became known that Boulton had taken an
interest in a new engine for pumping water, he had
many inquiries about it from the mining districts. The
need of a more effective engine than any then in use
was every year becoming more urgent. The powers of
Newcomen's engine had been tried to the utmost. So long
as the surface-lodes were worked, its power was suffi-
cient to clear the mines of water ; but as they were carried
deeper, it was found totally inadequate for the work,
and many mines were consequently becoming gradually
drowned out and abandoned. The excessive consump-
tion of coals by the Newcomen engines was another
serious objection to their use, especially in districts such
as Cornwall, where coal was very dear. When Small
was urging Watt to come to Birmingham arid make
engines, he wrote : "A friend of Boul ton's, in Cornwall,
sent us word a few days ago that four or five copper-
mines are just going to be abandoned because of the
high price of coals, and begs us to apply to them instantly.
The York Buildings Company delay rebuilding their
engine, with great inconvenience to themselves, waiting
for yours. Yesterday application was made to me by a
Mining Company in Derbyshire to know when you are
to be in England about the engines, because they must
quit their mine if you cannot relieve them." The neces-
sity for an improved pumping power had set many
inventors to work besides Watt, and some of the less
scrupulous of them were already trying to adopt his
principle in such a way as to evade his patent. Moore,
the London lineiidraper, and Hatley, one of Watt's

CHAP. XL PROPOSED EXTENSION OF THE PATENT. 207

Carron workmen, had brought out and were pushing-
engines similar to Watt's ; the latter having stolen and
sold for a considerable sum working drawings of the
Kinneil engine.

From these signs Boulton saw that, in the event of
the engine proving successful, he and his partner would
have to defend the invention against a host of pirates ;
and he became persuaded that he would not be justified
in risking his capital in the establishment of a steam-
engine manufactory unless a considerable extension of
the patent-right could be secured. To ascertain whether
this was practicable, Watt proceeded to London in the
beginning of 1775, to confer with his patent agent and
take the opinion of counsel on the subject. Mr. Wed-
derburn, who was advised with, recommended that the
existing patent should be surrendered, and in that case
he did not doubt that a new one would be granted.
While in London, Watt looked out for possible orders for
his engine : " I have," he wrote Boulton, " a prospect of
two orders for fire-engines here, one to water Piccadilly,
and the other to serve the south end of Blackfriars
Bridge with water. I have taken advice of several
people whom I could trust about the patent. They all
agree that an Act would be much better and cheaper, a
patent being now 130/., the Act, if obtainable, 110/.
The present patent has eight years still to run, bearing
date January, 1769. I understand there will be an
almost unlimited sale for wheel-engines to the West
Indies, at the rate of 100/. for each horse's power." l

Watt also occupied some of his time in London in
superintending the adjustment of weights manufactured
by Boulton and Fothergill, then sold in considerable
quantities through their London agent. That he con-
tinued to take an interest in his old business of mathe-
matical instrument making is apparent from the visits

Watt to Boulton, 31st January, 1775. JVmlton MSS.

208 DEATH OF DK., SMALL. CHAP. XL

which he made to several well-known shops. One of
the articles which he examined with most interest was
Short's Gregorian telescope. At other times, by Boulton's
request, he went to see the few steam-engines then at
work in London and the neighbourhood, and make
inquiries as to their performances. With that object he
examined the engines at the New River, Hungerford,
and Chelsea. At the latter place, he said, " it was im-
possible to try the quantity of injection, and the fellow
told me lies about the height of the column of water."
But Watt soon grew tired of London, " running from
street to street all day about gilding," inquiring after
metal-rollers, silver-platers, and button-makers. He did
his best, however, to execute the commissions which
Boulton from time to time sent him ; and when these
were executed, he returned to Birmingham to confer
with his friends as to the steps to be taken with respect
to the patent. The result of his conferences with Boulton
and Small was, that it was determined to take steps to
apply for an Act for its extension in the ensuing session
of Parliament.

Watt went up to London a second time for the pur-
pose of having the Bill drawn. He had scarcely arrived
there when the sad intelligence reached him of the
death of Dr. Small. He had long been ailing, yet
the event was a shock alike to himself and Boulton.
The latter wrote Watt in the bitterness of his grief, " If
there were not a few other objects yet remaining for
me to settle my affections upon, I should wish also to
take up my abode in the mansions of the dead." Watt
replied, reminding him of the sentiments of their departed
friend, as to the impropriety of indulging in unavailing
sorrow, the best refuge from which was the more sedu-
lous performance of duty. " Come, my dear sir," said
he, " and immerse yourself in this sea of business as
soon as possible. Pay a proper respect to your friend by
obeying his precepts. I wait for you with impatience,

CHAP. XL WATT INVITED TO RUSSIA. 209

and assure yourself no endeavour of mine shall be want-
ing to render life agreeable to you."

It had been intended to include Small in the steam-
engine partnership on the renewal of the patent. He
had been consulted in all the stages of the proceedings,
and one of the last things he did was to draw up Watt's
petition for the Bill. No settled arrangement had yet
been made — not even between Boulton and Watt. Every-
thing depended upon the success of the application for
the extension of the patent.

Meanwhile, through the recommendation of his old
friend Dr. Eobison, then in Russia officiating as Mathe-
matical Professor at the Government Naval School at
Cronstadt, Watt was offered an appointment under
the Russian Government, at a salary of about 1000/.
a year. He was thus presented with a means of escape
from his dependence upon Boulton, and for the first
time in his life had the prospect before him of an
income that to him would have been affluence. But he
entertained strong objections to settling in Russia : he
objected to its climate, its comparative barbarism, and,
notwithstanding the society of his friend Robison, to
the limited social resources of St. Petersburg. Besides,
Boulton's favours were so gracefully conferred, that the
dependence on him was not felt ; for he made the reci-
pient of his favours feel as if the obligation were entirely
on the side of the giver. " Your going to Russia staggers
me," he wrote to Watt; "the precariousness of your
health, the dangers of so long a journey or voyage, and
my own deprivation of consolation, render me a little
uncomfortable ; but I wish to assist and advise you for
the best, without regard to self." The result was, that
Watt determined to wait the issue of the application for
the extension of his patent.

The Bill was introduced to Parliament on the 28th of
February, 1775, and it was obvious from the first that
it would have considerable opposition to encounter. The

210 APPLICATION TO PARLIAMENT. CHAP. XL

mining interest had looked forward to Watt's invention
as a means of helping them out of their difficulties and
giving a new value to their property by clearing the
drowned mines of water. They therefore desired to
have the free use of the engine at the earliest possible
period ; and when it was proposed to extend the patent
by Act of Parliament, they set up with one accord the
cry of " No monopoly." Up to the present time, as we
have seen, the invention had been productive to Watt of
nothing but loss, labour, anxiety, and headaches ; and it
was only just that a reasonable period should be allowed
to enable him to derive some advantage from the results
of his application and ingenuity. But the mining
interest took a different view of the matter. They
did not see the necessity of recognising the rights of the
inventor beyond the term of his existing patent, and
they held that the public interests would suffer if the pro-
posed " monopoly " were granted. Nor were they without
supporters in Parliament, for among the most strenuous
we find the name of Edmund Burke, — influenced, it is
supposed, by certain mining interests in the neighbour-
hood of Bristol, which city he then represented.

There is no doubt that the public would have benefited
by Watt's invention having been made free to all. But
it was not for the public merely that Watt had been
working at his engine for fifteen long years. He
was a man of comparatively small means, and had
been buoyed up and stimulated to renewed exertion
during that time by the hope of ultimate reward in
the event of its success. If labour could give a man
a title to property in his invention, Watt's claim was
clear. The condensing-engine had been the product df
his own skill, contrivance, and brain-work. But there
has always been a difficulty in getting the claims of
mere brain-work recognised. Had he expended his
labour in building a house instead of in contriving a
machine, his right of property would at once have been

CHAP. XI. WATT'S "CASE." 211

acknowledged. As it was, he had to contend for justice
and persuade the legislature of the reasonableness of
granting his application for an extension of the patent.
In the " Case " which he drew up for distribution amongst
the members of the Lower House, on the motion being
carried for the recommittal of the Bill, he set forth that
having, after great labour and expense extending over
many years, succeeded in completing working engines
of each of the two kinds he had invented, he found that
they could not be carried into profitable execution without
the further expenditure of large sums of money in
erecting mills, and purchasing the various materials
and utensils necessary for making them ; and from the
reluctance with which the public generally adopt new
inventions, he was afraid that the whole term granted
by his patent would expire before the engines should
have come into general use and any portion of his
expenses be repaid :—

"The inventor of these new engines," said he, "is sorry that
gentlemen of knowledge, and avowed admirers of his invention,
should oppose the Bill by putting it in the light of a monopoly.
He never had any intention of circumscribing or claiming the
inventions of others; and the Bill is now drawn up in such a
manner as sufficiently guards those rights, and must oblige him
to prove his own right to every part of his invention which may at
any time be disputed. ... If the invention be valuable, it has been
made so by his industry, and at his expense ; he has struggled with
bad health, and many other inconveniences, to bring it to perfection,
and all he wishes is to be secured in the profits which he may
reasonably expect from it, — profits which he cannot obtain without an
exertion of his abilities to bring it into practice, by which the public
must be the greatest gainers, and which are limited by the per-
formance of the common engines ; for he cannot expect that any
person will make use of his contrivance, unless he can prove to them
that savings will take place, and that his demand for the privilege
of using the invention will amount only to a reasonable part of
them. Xo man will lay aside a known engine, and stop his work
to erect one of a new contrivance, unless he is certain to be a very
great gainer by the exchange ; and if any contrivance shall so
far excel others as to enforce the use of it, it is reasonable that the
author of such a contrivance should be rewarded."

p 2

212

RETURNS TO BIRMINGHAM.

CHAP. XI.

These weighty arguments could not fail to produce
an impression on the minds of all reasonable men, and
the result was, that Parliament passed an Act extend-
ing Watt's patent right for the further term of twenty-
four years. Watt wrote Boulton on the 27th May, — "I
hope to be clear to come away by Wednesday or Thurs-
day. I am heartily sick of this town and fort ennuyee
since you left it. Dr. Eoebuck is likely to get an order,
out of Smeaton's hands, for an engine in Yorkshire that,
according to Smeaton's calculation, will burn 1200/. per
annum in coals. But this has had one bad effect. It
has made the Doctor repent of his bargain and wish
again to be upon the 1-1 Oth [profits] ; but we must see
to keep him right if possible, so don't vex yourself about
it." Dr. Eoebuck had been finally settled with before
the passing of the Act. It had been arranged that
Boulton should pay him 1000/. out of the first profits
arising from his share in the engine, making about
2200/. in all paid by Boulton to Eoebuck for his two-
thirds of the patent.1

Watt returned to Birmingham to set about the
making of the engines for which orders had already been
received. Boulton had been busily occupied during his
absence in experimenting on the Soho engine. A new
18-inch cylinder had been cast for it at Bersham by John
Wilkinson, the great ironfounder,2 who had contrived a

1 Bonds were given for the 1000Z.,
but the assignees of Roebuck be-
coming impatient for the money,
Boulton discharged them to get rid of
their importunity, long before any
profits had been derived from the
manufacture of the engines.

2 John Wilkinson, the " father of
the iron-trade " as he styled himself,
was a man of extraordinary energy of
character. He was strong-headed and
strong-tempered and of inflexible de-
termination. His father, Isaac Wil-
kinson, who originally started the iron
trade at Wrexham, was a man pos-
sessed of quick discernment and versa-

tile talents, though he wanted that
firmness and constancy of purpose
which so eminently distinguished his
son. Isaac Wilkinson used thus to
tell his own history : — " I worked,"
said he, " at a forge in the north.
My masters gave me 12s. a week : I
was content. They raised me to 14s. :
I did not ask them for it. They went
on to 16s., 18s. : I never asked them
for the advances. They gave me a
guinea a week ! Said I to myself, if I
am worth a guinea a week to you,
I am worth more to myself! I left
them, and began business on my own
account — at first in a small way. I

CHAP. XL

THE MANUFACTURE BEGUN.

213

machine for boring it with accuracy. This cylinder was
substituted for the tin one brought from Kinneil, and
other improvements having been introduced, the engine
was again set to work with very satisfactory results.
TV'att found his partner in good spirits ; not less elated
by the performances of the model than by the passing
of the Act ; and arrangements were at once set on foot
for carrying on the manufacture of engines upon an
extensive scale. Applications for terms, followed by
orders, shortly came in from the mining districts ; and
before long the works at Soho were resounding with
the clang of hammers and machinery employed in
manufacturing steam-engines for all parts of the civilised
world.

prospered. I grew tired of my leathern
bellows, and determined to make iron
ones. Everybody laughed at me. I
did it, and applied the steam-engine
to blow them ; and they all cried,
* Who could have thought it ! ' " His
son John carried on the operations
connected with the iron manufacture
on a far more extensive scale than his
father at Bradley, Willey, Snedshill,
and Bersham. His castings were the
largest until then attempted, and
the boring machinery which he in-
vented was the best of its kind. All
the castings for Boulton and Watt's
large Cornish engines were manufac-
tured by him, previous to the erection
of the Soho foundry. He also bored
cannon for the government on a large
scale. Amongst his other merits,
John Wilkinson is clearly entitled to
that of having built the first iron
vessel. It was made to bring peat-
moss to his iron furnace at Wilson
House, near Castle Head, in Cartmel,
in order to smelt the hematite iron-
ore of Furness. This was followed by
other larger iron vessels, one of which
was of 40 tons burden, and used to
carry iron down the Severn. Before

Wilkinson's first iron boat was
launched, people laughed at the idea
of its floating, — as it was so well
known that iron immediately sank in
water ! In a letter to Mr. Stockdale,
of Carke, Cartmel, the original of
which is before us, dated Broseley,

j 14th July, 1787, Mr. Wilkinson says,
"Yesterday week my iron boat was
launched, — answers ail my expecta-
tions, and has convinced the unbe-
lievers, who were 999 in 1000. It
will be only a nine days' wonder, and

' afterwards a Columbus's egg." In
another letter, dated Bradley Iron

: Works, 24th Oct., 1788, he writes to
the same, — " There have been two
iron vessels launched in my service
since 1st September. One is a canal-
boat for this navigation, the other a
barge of 40 tons, for the river Severn.
The last was floated on Moriday, and
is, I expect, now at Stourport, a-lading
with bar-iron. My clerk at Broseley
advises me that she swims remarkably
light, and exceeds even my own ex-
pectations." For further notice of
John Wilkinson, see 'Lives of the
Engineers,' ii. 337, 356.

W ATI'S HOUSE, HARPER'S HILL, BIRMINGHAM.

CHAPTER XII.

BOULTON AND WATT BEGIN THE MANUFACTURE OF STEAM-
ENGINES.

WATT now arranged to take up his residence in Bir-
mingham until the issue of the steam-engine enterprise
could be ascertained, and he went down to Glasgow to
bring up his two children, whom he had left in charge
of their relatives. Boulton had taken a house on Harper's
Hill, which was in readiness for the reception of the
family on their arrival about the end of August, 1775.
Regent' s-place, Harper's Hill, was then the nearest house
to Soho on that side of Birmingham. It was a double
house, substantially built in brick, with stone facings,
standing on the outskirts of the town, surrounded by
fields and gardens. St. Paul's, the nearest church, was
not built until four years after Watt took up his abode
there. But the house at Harper's Hill is in the country

CHAP. XII. ORDER FOR THE FIRST ENGINE. 215

no longer : it is now surrounded in all directions by
dense masses of buildings, and is itself inhabited by
working people.

The first engine made at Soho was one ordered by
John Wilkinson to blow the bellows of his ironworks at
Broseley. Great interest was, of course, felt in the
success of this engine. Watt took great pains with
the drawings ; the workmen did their best to execute
the several parts accurately, for it was understood that
many orders depended upon whether it worked satis-
factorily or not. Wilkinson's iron-manufacturing neigh-
bours, who were contemplating the erection of Newco-
meii engines, suspended their operations until they
had an opportunity of seeing what Boulton and Watt's
engine could do ; and all looked forward to its com-
pletion with the most eager interest. When all was
ready at Soho, the materials were packed up and sent
to Broseley, Watt accompanying them to superintend
the erection. He had as yet no assistant to whom he
could intrust such a piece of work, on which so much
depended. The engine was erected and ready for use
about the beginning of 1776. As it approached com-
pletion Watt became increasingly anxious to make a
trial of its powers. But Boulton wrote to him not to
hurry — not to let the engine make a stroke until every
possible hinderance to its successful action had been
removed ; " and then," said he, " in the name of God,
fall to and do your best." The result of the extreme
care taken with the construction and erection of the
engine was entirely satisfactory. It worked to the ad-
miration of all who saw it, and the fame of Boulton and
Watt became great in the midland counties.

While Watt was thus occupied, Boulton was pushing
on the new buildings at Soho. He kept his partner fully
advised of all that was going on. " The new forging-
shop," he wrote, " looks very formidable : the roof is

216 EMPEESS OF HUSSiA AT BOULTON'S. CHAP. XII.

nearly put on, and the hearths are both built." Tools and
machinery were being prepared, and all looked hopeful
for the future. Orders were coming in for engines.
One in hand for Bloomfield Colliery was well advanced.
Many inquiries had come from Cornwall. Mr. Papps, of
Truro, was anxious to introduce the engine in that county.
Out of forty engines there, only eighteen were in work ;
so that there was a fine field for future operations. " Pray
tell Mr. Wilkinson," Boulton added, " to get a dozen
cylinders cast and bored, from 12 to 50 inches diameter,
and as many condensers of suitable sizes. The latter
must be sent here, as we will keep them ready fitted up,
and then an engine can be turned out of hand in two or
three weeks. I have fixed my mind upon making from
twelve to fifteen reciprocating and fifty rotative engines
per annum. I assure you that of all the toys and trinkets
which we manufacture at Soho, none shall take the place
of fire-engines in respect of my attention." '

Boulton was not, however, exclusively engrossed by
engine affairs. Among other things he informed Watt
that he had put his little boy Jamie to a good school,
and that he was very much occupied, as usual, in enter-
taining visitors. " The Empress of Eussia," he wrote,
" is now at my house, and a charming woman she is."
The Empress afterwards sent Boulton her portrait, and
it was long one of the ornaments of Soho. Amidst
his various occupations he contrived to find leisure for
experiments on minerals, having received from a corre-
spondent in Wales a large assortment of iron-ores to
assay. He was also trying experiments on the model
engine, the results of which were duly communicated to
his partner.2

1 Boulton to Watt, 24th February,
1776. Boulton MSS.

Watt was himself occupied, during

in devising improvements in the de-
tails of his engine. Boulton says — "I
observe you are thinking of making

his temporary residence at Broseley, ; an inverted cylinder. Pray how are

CHAP. Xli. UNBELIEF OF THE LONDON ENGINEERS. 217

On Watt's return to Soho, Boulton proceeded to
London 011 financial affairs, as well as to look after
engine orders. He there found reports in circulation
among the engineering class that the new engine had
proved a failure. The Society of Engineers in Holborn,
of which Smeaton was the great luminary, had settled
it that neither the tools nor the workmen existed that
could manufacture so complex a machine with sufficient
precision, and it was asserted that all the ingenuity and
skill of Soho had been unable to conquer the defects of
the piston. "So said Holmes, the clockmaker," wrote
Boulton, — Holmes being the intimate friend of Smeaton ;
" but no language will be sufficiently persuasive on that
head except the good performance of the engines them-
selves." l Boulton, therefore, urged the completion of
the engine then in hand for Cooke and Company's dis-
tillery at Stratford-le-Bow, near London. " Wilby,"
[the managing partner,] said he, " seems very impatient,
and so am I, both for the sake of reputation as well as
to begin to turn the tide of money," — the current of
which had as yet been all outwards. Boulton went to
see the York Buildings engine, which had been recon-
structed by Smeaton, and was then reckoned one of the
best on the Newcomen plan. The old man who tended
it lauded the engine to the skies, and notwithstanding
Boulton's description of the new engines at work in
Staffordshire, he would not believe that any engine in
existence could excel his own.

In the course of the summer Watt again visited Grlas-

you to counterbalance the descent of
the piston and pump rods, which will
be a vast weight ? If by a counter-
weight you gain nothing. But if you
can employ the power that arises from
the descent of that vast weight to
strain a spring that will repay its

will contribute to overcome the vis
inertice of the column of water to be
raised, you will thereby get rid of that
unmechanical tax, and very much
improve the reciprocating engine." —
Boulton to Watt, 24th February,
1776. Boulton MSS.

debts — if by it you can compress air * Boulton to Watt, 23rd April,
in an iron cylinder which in its return ' 1776. Boulton MSS.

218

WATT KEVISITS GLASGOW.

CHAI>. XII.

(U'ow, — this time for the purpose of bringing back a
wife. The lady he proposed to marry was Miss Anne
Macgregor, daughter of a respectable dyer. The young
lady's consent was obtained, as well as her father's, to
the proposed union ; but the latter, before making any
settlement on his daughter, intimated to Watt that he
desired to see the partnership agreement between him
and Boulton. Now, although the terms of partnership
had been generally arranged, they had not yet been put
into legal form, and Watt asked that this should be done
for the cautious old gentleman's satisfaction without
delay.1 About his love affair Watt wrote, —

" Whether a man of the world, such as you, look upon my present
love as the folly of youth or the dotage of age [Watt was then in his

1 The arrangement between the
partners is indicated by the following
passage of Watt's letter to Boulton : —
" As you may have possibly mislaid
my missive to you concerning the
contract, I beg just to mention what
I remember of the terms.

" 1. I to assign to you two-thirds of
the property of the invention.

" 2. You to pay all expenses of the
Act or others incurred before June,
1775 (the date of the Act), and also
the expense of future experiments,
which money is to be sunk without
interest by you, being the considera-
tion you pay for your share.

" 3. You to advance stock in trade
bearing interest, but having no claim
on me for any part of that, further
than my intromissions ; the stock
itself to be your security and pro-
perty.

" 4. I to draw one-third of the profits
so soon as any arise from the business,
after paying the workmen's wages
and goods furnished, but abstract
from the stock in trade, excepting the
interest thereof, which is to be de-
ducted before a balance is struck.

" 5. I to make drawings, give direc-
tions, and make surveys, the com-
pany paying the travelling expenses
to either of us when upon engine busi-
ness.

" 6. You to keep the books and
balance them once a year.

" 7. A book to be kept wherein to be
marked such transactions as arc
worthy of record, which, when signed
by both, to have the force of the
contract.

"8. Neither of us to alienate our
share without consent of the other,
and if either of us by death or other-
wise shall be incapacitated from acting
for ourselves, the other of us to be the
sole manager without contradiction or
interference of heirs, exeeutors, as-
signees, or others; but the books to
be subject to their inspection, and
the acting partner of us to be allowed
a reasonable commission for extra
trouble.

" 9. The contract to continue in force
for twenty-five years, from the 1st of
June, 1775, when the partnership
commenced, notwithstanding the con-
tract being of later date.

" 10. Our heirs, executors, and as-
signees, bound to observance.

** 11. In case of demise of both par-
ties, our heirs, &c., to succeed in same
manner, and if they all please, they
may burn the contract.

"If anything be very disagreeable in
these terms, you will find me disposed
to do everything reasonable for your
satisfaction." — Boulton MSS.

CHAP. XII. ORDERS FOR ENGINES FROM SCOTLAND. 219

fortieth year], I find myself in no humour to lay it aside, or to look
upon it in either of these lights, but consider it as one of the wisest
of my actions, and should look upon a disappointment in it as one
of the greatest of my misfortunes. ... I have had better health
since I left you than has been my lot for years, and my spirits have
borne me through my vexations wonderfully. I have lost all dread
of any future connexion with Monsieur la Verole, and, if I carry
my point in this matter, I hope to be very much more useful to
you than has hitherto been in my power. The spur will be
greater." '

While in Scotland Watt obtained orders for several
engines ; amongst others, he undertook to supply one
for the Torryburn Colliery, in Fife, on the terms of
receiving one-third of the savings effected by it com-
pared with the engine then at work, with such further
sum as might be judged fair. Another was ordered
by Sir Archibald Hope for his colliery near Edin-
burgh, on similar terms. At the same time Watt pro-
ceeded with the collection of his old outstanding debts,
though these did not amount to much. "I believe,"
he wrote to Boulton, " I shall have no occasion to draw
on you for any money, having got in some of my old
scraps, which will serve, or nearly serve, my occasions
here."

The deed of partnership not arriving, Watt wrote
again, pressing Boulton for some communication from
him to satisfy the old gentleman as to his situation.

" Don't let me be detected in a falsehood," said he, " or accused of
imprudence. The thing which sticks most in his [Mr. Macgregor's]
stomach is, that somehow or other, in case of the failure of success,
I may be brought into a load of debt which may totally ruin me.
I hope you will excuse his caution in this matter, as I do, when
you consider that he is disposing of a favourite child, and conse-
quently must expect all the security possible for her wellbeing.
I must also do him the justice to say that he has behaved to me in
a very open and friendly manner ; and, when he found that his
daughter's aifections were engaged beyond recall, gave his consent
with a good grace. ... I have nothing to write you in the way of

Watt to Boulton, 3rd July, 1776. Boulton MSS.

220 BOULTON'S ADVICE TO WATT. CHAP. XII.

news. I am bandied about like a football, and perfectly impatient
to leave this country, but do not care to come away without my
errand. I long vastly to hear from you, how you all are, and how
matters go on. I hope Jemmy is minding his school and is well :
you need not tell him nor anybody else that I am going to bring
him home a mamma." l

Boulton' s reply was perfectly satisfactory. He con-
firmed the heads of the agreement, as sketched out by
Watt himself, adopting his own words. He warmly
congratulated him on his approaching marriage, being
convinced that it was the goddess of wisdom that had
led him to the altar of love. But he thought Watt
might be over delicate as to money matters.

" You certainly," said he, " have a right to expect from the lady's
father a child's share, both present and reversionary ; and you
certainly have a right to expect some ready money, as a small sum
may be of more importance to you in the meridian of life than a
large one at the close of it. I have always heard you speak of the
old gentleman as a man of exceeding good sound sense, and therefore
I should think you will have the less difficulty in settling matters
with him. No doubt he will expect some settlement to be made
upon his daughter, and all that I advise is, that you do not under-
value (according to your custom) your own abilities or your
property. It may be difficult to say what is the value of your
property in partnership with me. However, I will give it a name,
and I do say that I would willingly give you two or perhaps three
thousand pounds for the assignment of your third part of the Act of
Parliament ; but I should be sorry to make you so bad a bargain,
or to make any bargain at all that tended to deprive me of your
friendship, acquaintance, and assistance, — hoping, as I do, that we
shall harmoniously live to wear out the twenty-five years together,
which I had rather do than gain a Nabob's fortune by being the
sole proprietor. ... I wish I had more time to tell you all the
circumstances that have occurred in the engine trade; but that
shall be the subject of my next. All is well, and when you return
you'll be quite charmed at the simplicity and quietness of the Soho
engine." 2

With his usual want of confidence in himself, Watt

1 Watt to Boulton, 8th July, 1776. Boulton MSS.

2 Boulton to Watt, 15th July, 1776. Boulton MSS.

CHAP. XII. PRESSED WITH EXTRA WORK. 221

urged Boulton to come down to Glasgow and assist him
in concluding matters with the old gentleman.

" I am afraid," he wrote, " that I shall otherwise make a very
bad bargain in money matters, which wise men like you esteem the
most essential part, and I myself, although I be an enamoured
swain, do not altogether despise. You may perhaps think it odd
that in the midst of my friends here I should call for your help ;
but the fact is, that from several reasons I do not choose to place
that confidence in any of my friends here that would be necessary
in such a case, and I do not know any of them that have more to
say with the gentleman in question than I have myself. Besides,
you are the only person who can give him satisfactory information
concerning my situation."

But Boulton was too busy at the time to go down to
Glasgow to the help of his partner. He was full of
work, full of orders, full of Soho. He replied, —

" Although I have added to the list of my bad habits by joking
upon matrimony, yet my disposition and my judgment would lead
me to marry again were I in your case. I know you will be
happier as a married man than as a single one, and therefore it is
wisdom in you to wed ; and if that could not be done without my
coming to Scotland, I certainly would come if it were as far again ;
but I am so beset with difficulties, that nothing less than the
absolute loss of your life, or wife — which is virtually the same
thing — could bring me."

He further explained that a good deal of extra work
had fallen upon him, through the absence of some of his
most important assistants. Mr. Matthews, his London
financial agent, like Watt, was about to be married, and
would be absent abroad for a tour on a wedding trip, in
which he was to be accompanied by Fothergill, Boulton's
partner in the toy and button trade. Mr. Scale, the
manager, was also absent, added to which the button
orders were in arrear some 16,000 gross; so that, said
Boulton, " I have more real difficulties to grapple with
than I hope ever to have in any other year in my life."

There were also constant visitors arriving at Soho:
among others the Duke of Buccleuch, who had called to
see the ^ works and inquire after Mr. Watt; and Mr.

222 FULL OF WOKK AND ANXIETY. CHAP. XII.

Moor, of the Society of Engineers in the Adelphi, who
had come to see with his own eyes whether the reports
in circulation against the new engine were true or false.
The perfecting of the details of the engine also required
constant attention.

" Our copper bottom," said Boulton, " hath plagued us very much
by steam leaks, and therefore I have had one cast (with its
conducting pipe) all in one piece ; since which the engine doth not
take more than 10 feet of steam, and I hope to reduce that quantity,
as we have just received the new piston, which shall be put in and
at work to-morrow. Our Soho engine never was in such good
order as at present. Bloomfield and Willey [engines] are both
well, and I doubt not but Bow engine will be better than
any of 'em."

Boulton was almost as full of speculation as Watt him-
self as to the means of improving the engine. " I did not
sleep last night," he wrote, " my mind being absorbed by
steam." One of his speculations was as to the means of
increasing the heating surface, and with that object he
proposed to apply the fire " in copper spheres within the
water." His mind was also running on economising
power by working steam expansively, " being clear that
the principle is sound."

Later, he wrote Watt that he had an application from
a distiller at Bristol for an engine to raise 15,000 gallons
of ale per hour 15 feet high ; another for a coal mine in
Wales, and two others for London distilleries. To add to
his anxieties, one Humphry Gainsborough, a dissenting
minister at Henley-oii-Thames, had instituted proceed-
ings against Watt for an alleged piracy of his invention !
On this Boulton wrote to his partner, — " I have just
received a summons to attend the Solicitor-General next
week in opposition to Gainsborough, otherwise the
solicitor will make his report. This is a disagreeable
circumstance, particularly at this season, when you are
absent. Joseph [Harrison] is in London, and idleness
is in our engine - shop." There was therefore every
reason why Watt should make haste to get married, and

CHAP. XII.

WATT HASTENS BACK TO SOHO.

223

return to Soho as speedily as possible. On the 28th July,
1770, Watt wrote to apologise for his long absence, and
to say that the event was to come off on the following
Monday, after which he would set out immediately for
Liverpool, where he proposed to meet Boulton, unless
countermanded. He also intimated that he had got
another order for an engine at Leadhills.1 Arrived at
Liverpool, a letter from Boulton met him, saying he
had been under the necessity of proceeding to London.

" Gainsborough," said he, " hath appointed to meet me at Holt's,
his attorney, on Monday, when I shall say little besides learning
his principles and invention. If we had a hundred wheels [wheel-
engines] ready made, and a hundred small engines, like Bow engine,
and twenty large ones executed, we could readily dispose of them.
Therefore let us make hay while the sun shines, and gather our
barns full before the dark cloud of age lowers upon us, and before
any more Tubal Cains, Watts, Dr. Faustuses, or Gainsboroughs,
arise with serpents like Moses's to devour all others. ... As to
your absence, say nothing about it. I will forgive it this time,
provided you promise me never to marry again." 2

Watt hastened back to Birmingham, and after settling
his wife in her new home, proceeded with the execu-
tion of the orders for engines which had come in
during his two months' absence. Mr. Wilby was im-
patient for the delivery of the Bow engine, and as
soon as it was ready, which was early in September,
the materials were forwarded to London with Joseph
Harrison, to be fitted and set to work. Besides careful
verbal instructions, Watt supplied Joseph with full
particulars in writing of the measures he was to adopt

1 During his Scotch visit, Watt
spent much of his time in arranging
his father's affairs, which had got into
confusion. He was now seventy-five
years old, and grown very infirm.
" He is perfectly incapable," wrote his
son, " of giving himself the least help,
and the seeing him in such a situation
has much hurt my spirits." — Watt to
Boulton, 28th July, 1766. Boulton
MSS.

2 Boulton to Watt (without date),
1776. Boulton MSS. In this letter,
Boulton throws out a suggestion for
Watt's consideration — "When," he
says, " we have got our two-foot pumps
up, I think it would be right to try
our Soho engine with a steam strong
enough to work the pumps with the
axis in the centre of the beam, which
will be almost 19 Ib. upon the inch."

224 ENGINE FOR TINGTANG MINE. CHAP. XII.

in putting the engine together. Not a point in detail
was neglected, and if any difficulty arose, Joseph was
directed at once to communicate with him by letter.
When the engine was set to work, it was found that the
steam could not be kept up, on which Watt suggested
that as it had been calculated to make only ten strokes
per minute — that being enough to raise the quantity of
water desired — the reason of the defect must be that, as
it was going at fourteen or fifteen strokes the minute, it
must be going too fast. He also pointed out that pro-
bably the piston was not quite good, and perhaps there
was some steam-leak into the inner cylinder, or by the
regulators into the condenser ; or it was possible that the
injection might spout too far up the horizontal steam-
pipe and throw water into the inner nozzle. All these
points Joseph must carefully look to. On further trials
the engine improved ; still its performances did not come
up to Watt's expectations, and there were consequently
more directions from him as to the packing of the pis-
tons and measures for the prevention of leaks. But to
see that his suggestions were properly carried out, Watt
himself went up to town in November, and had the
machine put in complete working trim. His partner,
however, could not spare him long, as other orders were
coming in. " We have a positive1 order," wrote Boulton,
" for an engine for Tingtang mine, and, from what I
heard this day from Mr. Glover, we may soon expect
other orders from Cornwall. Our plot begins to thicken
apace, and if Mr. Wilkinson don't bustle a little, as well
as ourselves, we shall not gather our harvest before sun-
set." ... "I hope to hear," he added, " that Joseph
hath made a finish, for he is much wanted here. . . .
I perceive we shall be hard pushed in engine-work ; but
I have no fears of being distanced when once the exact
course or best track is determined on." * Joseph Harrison.

1 Boulton to Watt, 3rd November, I informs Watt that Perrins, another
1776. In the same letter Boulton fireman, had returned from Bedwortb,

CHAP. XII. WATT AND THE SHAD WELL COMMITTEE. 225

got quite knocked up and ill through his anxiety about
the Bow engine, on which Boultoii wrote Watt to send
at once for Dr. Fordyce to attend him, " let the expense
be what it will, until you think him safe landed."

A letter reached Soho from the Shad well Waterworks
Company relative to a pumpirig-engine, and Boulton
asked Watt, while in town, to wait upon them on the
subject ; but he cautioned Watt that he " never knew a
Committee but, in its corporate capacity, was both rogue
and fool, and that the Shadwell Committee were rich
rogues." Watt, by his own account, treated them very
cavalierly. " Yesterday," said he, " I went again to
Shadwell to meet the deputies of the Committee, and
to examine their engines when going. We came to no
terms further than what we wrote them before, which I
confirmed, and offered moreover to keep the engine in
order for one year. They modestly insisted that we
should do so for .the whole twenty-five years, which I
firmly refused. They seemed to doubt the reality of the
performances of the Bow engine ; so I told them we did
not solicit their orders and would wait patiently until
they were convinced, — moreover, that while they had
any doubts remaining, we would not undertake their
business on any terms. I should not have been so sharp
with them had they not begun with bullying me, selon
la mode de Londres. But the course I took was not
without its effect, for in proportion as they found I
despised their job, they grew more civil. After parting
with these heroes I went down to Stratford, where I
found that the engine had gone very well. I caused it

and had not a stroke to do, the fittings
for the second engine not having
arrived. The first engine was working
twenty-four hours a day, but the pit
was so full of water that the owners
feared they would before long be
drowned out; and if the work was
stopped, the loss would be far greater
than the whole value of the engine.

But the sales of coal, though large, were
but " a small consideration in com-
parison with the starving to death of
the poor ribbon-weavers of Coventry
and a great part of Oxfordshire. . . .
Coals are 9cZ. and lOd. per cwt., and
'tis said they will be a shilling at
Birmingham on Monday."

Q

226 KELAPSE IN THE BOW ENGINE. CHAP. XII.

to be kept going all the afternoon, and this morning I
new-heat the piston and kept it going till dinner time
at about fifteen strokes per minute, with a steam of one
inch or at most two inches strong, and the longer it went
the better it grew. ... I propose that Joseph should
not leave it for a few days, until both his health and
that of the engine be confirmed. A relapse of the
engine would ruin our reputation here, and indeed
elsewhere."1

The Bow engine had, however, a serious relapse in
the following spring, and it happened in this way : — Mr.
Smeaton, the engineer, having heard of its success, which
he doubted, requested Hadley, Boulton's agent, to go
down with him to Stratford-le-Bow to witness its per-
formances. He carefully examined the engine, and
watched it while at work, and the conclusion he arrived
at was, that it was a pretty engine, but much too com-
plex for practical uses. On leaving the place Smeaton
gave the engineman some money to drink, and he drank
so much that next day he let the engine run quite wild,
and it was thrown completely out of order. Mr. Wilby,
the manager, was very wroth at the circumstance. He
discharged the engineman and called upon Hadley to
replace the valves, which had been broken, and make
good the other damage that had been done to the engine.
When the repairs were made, everything went satis-
factorily as before.

Watt had many annoyances of this sort to encounter,
and one of his greatest difficulties was the incapacity and
unsteadiness of his workmen. Although the original
Soho men were among the best of their kind, the in-
creasing business of the firm necessarily led to the intro-
duction of a large number of new hands, who represented
merely the average workmen of the day. They were

Watt to Bonlton, 3rd December, 1776. Bonlton MSS.

CHAP. XII. DIFFICULTIES WITH WORKMEN. 227

for the most part poor mechanics, very inexpert at
working in metal, and greatly given to drink.1

In organising the works at Soho, Boulton and
Watt found it necessary to carry division of labour to
the farthest practicable point. There were no slide-
lathes, planing-machines, or boring-tools, such as now
render mechanical accuracy of construction almost a
matter of certainty. Everything depended upon the
individual mechanic's accuracy of hand and eye ; and
yet mechanics generally were then much less skilled
than they are now. The way in which Boulton and
Watt contrived partially to get over the difficulty was,
to confine their workmen to special classes of work, and
make them as expert in them as possible. By continued
practice in handling the same tools and fabricating the
same articles, they thus acquired great individual pro-
ficiency. " Without our tools and our workmen," said
Watt, " very little could be done."

But when the men got well trained, the difficulty
was to keep them. Foreign tempters were constantly
trying to pick up Boulton and Watt's men, and induce
them by offers of larger wages to take service abroad.
The two fitters sent up to London to erect the Bow engine
were strongly pressed to go out to Russia.2 There were

ing." Car less and Webb were imme-
diately ordered back to Soho, and the

1 Fire-engines at work were objects
of curiosity in those days, and had
many visitors. The engineman at the
York Buildings reminded those who
went to see his engine that something
was expected, placing over the en-

firm obtained warrants for the appre-
hension of the men as well as of the
person who had bribed them, if they
attempted to abscond " even though,''

trance to the engine room the follow- | said Watt to Boulton, " Carless be a
ing distich : — drunken and comparatively useless

" Whoever wants to see the engine here,

fellow." Later he wrote, " I think

» UUCVCi YVC1I1LO LV OCC lilC ClltliliC Ud^y * • '1C TTT 1151

Must give the engine-man a drop of beer." I th3re 1S ?? risk of Webb « leaving us

soon, and he oners to re-engage. Carless
has been working very diligently this
week, and is well on with "his nozzle
patterns. I mentioned to William

" Mr. White told me this morning
as a great secret," wrote Boulton's
London agent, " that he has reason to
believe that Carless and Webb were
going beyond sea, for Carless had told
him he had 10007. offered for six
years, and he overheard Webb say
that he was ready at an hour's warn-

the story of Sir John Fielding's war-
rant, to show him that we are deter-
mined to act with spirit in case of
interlopers." — Watt to Boulton, May 3,

1777.

Q 2

228 ENGINEMEN'S WANT OF SKILL. CHAP. XII.

also French agents in England at the same time, who
tried to induce certain of Boulton and Watt's men to go
over to Paris and communicate the secret of making the
new engines to M. Perrier, who had undertaken to pump
water from the Seine for the supply of Paris. The
German States also sent over emissaries with a like object,
Baron Stein having been specially commissioned by his
Government to master the secret of Watt's engine — to
obtain working plans of it and bring away workmen
capable of making it, — the first step taken being to
obtain access to the engine-rooms by bribing the work-
men.

Besides the difficulties Boulton and Watt had to en-
counter in training and disciplining their own workmen,
they had also to deal with the want of skill on the part
of those to whom the working of their engines was
intrusted after they had been delivered and fixed com-
plete. They occasionally supplied trustworthy men of
their own ; but they could not educate mechanics fast
enough, and needed all the best men for their own work.
They were therefore compelled to rely on the average
mechanics of the day, the greater part of whom were
comparatively unskilled and knew nothing of the steam-
engine. Hence such mishaps as those which befell the
Bow engine, through the engineman getting drunk and
reckless, as above described. To provide for this con-
tingency Watt endeavoured to simplify the engine as
much as possible, so as to bring its working and repair
within the capacity of the average workman.

At a very early period, while experimenting at Kinneil,
he had formed the idea of working steam expansively,
and altered his model from time to time with that -object.
Boulton had taken up and continued the experiments at
Soho, believing the principle to be sound and that great
economy would attend its adoption. The early engines
were accordingly made so that the steam might be cut
off before the piston had made its full stroke, and expand

CHAP. XI]. EXPANSIVE WORKING. 229

within the cylinder, the heat outside it being maintained
by the expedient of the steam-case. But it was shortly
found that this method of working was beyond the
capacity of the average engineman of that day, and it
was consequently given up for a time.

" We used to send out," said Watt to Eobert Hart, " a cylinder of
double the size wanted, and cut off the steam at half stroke. This
was a great saving of steam so long as the valves remained as at
first ; but when our men left her to the charge of the person who
was to keep her, he began to make or try to make improvements,
often by giving more steam. The engine did more work while the
steam lasted, but the boiler could not keep up the demand. Then
complaints came of want of steam, and we had to send a man down
to see what was wrong. This was so expensive that we resolved to
give up the expansion of the steam until we could get men that
could work it, as a few tons of coal per year was less expensive than
having the work stopped. In some of the mines a few hours'
stoppage was a serious matter, as it would cost the proprietor as
much as 70Z. per hour." l

The principle was not, however, abandoned. It was
of great value and importance in an economical point of
view, and was again taken up by Watt and embodied in
a more complete form in a subsequent invention. Since
his time, indeed, expansive working has been carried to
a much farther extent than he probably ever dreamt of?
and has more than realised the beneficial results which
his sagacious insight so early anticipated.

Robert Hart's * Reminiscences of James Watt,' cited above.

230 WATT'S ENGINE PREFERRED. CHAP. XIII.

CHAPTEK XIIL

WATT IN CORNWALL — INTRODUCTION OF HIS PUMPING-
ENGINES.

THE Cornish miners continued baffled by their attempts
to get rid of the water which hindered the working of
their mines. The Newcomen engines had been taxed to
the utmost, but were unable to send them deeper into
the ground, and they were accordingly ready to welcome
any invention that promised to relieve them of their
difficulty. Among the various new contrivances for
pumping water, that of Watt seemed to offer the greatest
advantages ; and if what was alleged of it proved true —
that it was of greater power than the Newcomen engine,
while its consumption of fuel was much less, — then it
could not fail to prove of the greatest advantage to
Cornish industry.

Long before Watt's arrival in Birmingham, the Cornish-
men had been in correspondence with Boulton, making
inquiries about the new Scotch invention, of which they
had heard ; and Dr. Small, in his letters to Watt, re-
peatedly urged him to perfect his engine, with a view
to its being employed in the drainage of the Cornish
mines. Now that the engine was at work in several
places, Boulton invited his correspondents in Cornwall
to inquire as to its performances, at Soho, or Bedworth,
or Bow, or any other place where it had been erected.
The result of the inquiry and inspection was satisfactory,
and several orders for engines for Cornwall were received
at Soho by the end of 1776. The two first that were
ready for erection were those ordered for Wheal Busy,
near Chace water, and for Tingtang, near Redruth. The

CHAP. XIII.

WATT IN CORNWALL.

231

materials for the former were shipped by the middle of
1777 ; and, as much would necessarily depend upon the
successful working of the first engines put up in Corn-
wall, Watt himself went to superintend their erection in
person.

Watt reached his destination after a long and tedious
journey over bad roads. He rode by stage as far as
Exeter, and posted the rest of the way. At Chace water
he found himself in the midst of perhaps the richest
mining district in the world. From thence to Caniborne,
which lies to the west, and Gwennap to the south, is a

MAP OF UNITED MINES DISTRICT.

constant succession of mines. The earth has been bur-
rowed in all directions for many miles in search of ore,
principally copper — the surface presenting an unnatu-
rally blasted and scarified appearance by reason of the
" deads " or refuse run out in heaps from the mine-heads.
Engine-houses and chimneys are the most prominent
features in the landscape, and dot the horizon as far as
the eye can reach.

When Watt arrived at Chacewater he found the

232 WATT MEETS HOKNBLOWER. CHAP. XIII.

materials for the Wheal Busy engine had come to hand,
and that some progress had been made with its erection.
The materials for the Tingtang engine, however, had
not yet been received from Soho, and the owners of the
mine were becoming very impatient for it. Watt wrote
to his partner urging despatch, otherwise the engine
might be thrown on their hands, especially if the Chace-
water engine, now nearly ready for work, did not give
satisfaction. From Watt's account, it would appear that
the Cornish mines were in a very bad way. " The
Tingtang people," he said, " are now fairly put out by
water, and the works are quite at a stand." The other
mines in the neighbourhood were in no better plight.
The pumping-engines could not keep down the water.
" Poldice has grown worse than Wheal Yirgin was :
they have sunk 40 01. a month for some months past, and
TOO/, the last month ; they will probably soon give up.
North Downs seems to be our next card." * The owners
of the Wheal Virgin mine, though drowned out, like
many others, could not bring their minds to try Watt's
engine. They had no faith in it, and stuck by the old
atmospheric of Newcomen. They accordingly erected
an additional engine of this kind to enable them to go
about eight fathoms deeper, " and they have bought,"
wrote Watt, " an old boiler of monstrous size at the
Briggin, which they have offered 50/. to get carried to
its place."

At Chacewater Watt first met Jonathan Hornblower,
son of the Joseph Hornblower who had come into Corn-
wall from Staffordshire, some fifty years before, to erect
one of the early Newcomen engines. The son had followed
in his father's steps, and become celebrated in the Chace-
water district as an engineer. It was natural that he
should regard with jealousy the patentees of the new
engine ; for if it proved a success, his vocation as a

1 Watt to Boulton, 4th August, 1777.

CHAP. XIII.

SEVERAL ORDERS PROMISED.

233

maker of atmospheric engines would be at an end.
Watt thus referred to him in a letter to Boultori : " Horn-
blower seems a very pleasant sort of old Presbyterian :
he carries himself very fair, though I hear that he is an
unbelieving Thomas." His unbelief strongly showed
itself on the starting of the Wheal Busy engine shortly
after, when he exclaimed, " Pshaw ! it's but a bauble : I
wouldn't give twopence halfpenny for her." There were
others beside Hornblower who disliked and resented what
they regarded as the intrusion of Boulton and Watt in
their district, and indeed never became wholly reconciled
to the new engine, though they were compelled to admit
the inefficiency of the old one. Among these was old
Bonze, the engineer, a very clever mechanic, who posi-
tively refused to undertake the erection of the proposed
new engine at Wheal Union if Boulton and Watt were
to be in any way concerned with it. But the mine-
owners had to study their own interest rather than the
humour of their former engineers, and Watt secured
the order for the Wheal Union engine. Several other
orders were promised, conditional on the performances
of the Wheal Busy engine proving satisfactory. " Ale
and Cakes," l wrote Watt, " must wait the result of Chace-
water : several new engines will be erected next year,
for almost all the old mines are exhausted, or have got
to the full power of the present engines, which are
clumsy and nasty, the houses cracked, and everything
dropping with water from their cisterns." 2

Watt liked the people as little as he did their engines.
He thought them ungenerous, jealous, and treacherous.
" Certainly," said he, " they have the most ungracious
manners of any people I have ever yet been amongst."
At the first monthly meeting of the Wheal Virgin ad-

1 A mine so-called. Many of the
Cornish mines have very odd names.
" Cook's Kitchen," near Camborae, is
one of the oldest and richest. Another
is called " Cupboard." There arc also

Wheal Fannys and Wheal Abrahams ;
and Wheal Fortunes and Wheal
Virgins in great numbers.

2 Watt to Boulton, 14th August,
1777.

234

WHEAL BUSY ENGINE.

CHAP. XIII.

venturers, which he attended, he found a few gentlemen,
but " the bulk of them would not be disgraced by being
classed with Wednesbury colliers." What annoyed him
most was, that the miners invented and propagated all
sorts of rumours to his prejudice. " We have been ac-
cused," said he, "of working without leather upon our
buckets, and making holes in the clacks in order to
deceive strangers. ... I choose to keep out of their
company, as every word spoken by me would be bandied
about and misrepresented. I have already been accused
of making several speeches at Wheal Yirgin, where, to
the best of my memory, I have only talked about eating,
drinking, and the weather. The greater part of the ad-
venturers at Wheal Yirgin are a mean dirty pack, preying
upon one another, and striving who shall impose most
upon the mine." l Watt was of too sensitive and shrink-
ing a nature to feel himself at home amongst such people.
Besides, he was disposed to be peevish and irritable, easily
cast down, and ready to anticipate the worst. It had
been the same with him when employed amongst the
rough labourers on the Monkland Canal, where he had
declared himself as ready to face a loaded cannon as to
encounter the altercations of bargain-making. But Watt
must needs reconcile himself to his post as he best could ;
for none but himself could see to the proper erection of
the Wheal Busy engine and get it £et to work with any
chance of success. Meanwhile, the native engineers were
stimulated by his presence, and by the reputed power of
the new engine, to exert themselves in improving the
old one. Bonze was especially active in contriving new
boilers and new arrangements, by which he promised to
outstrip all that Watt could possibly accomplish.2

1 Watt to Boulton, 25th August,
1777. Boulton MSS.

2 " I have seen five of Bonze's
engines," wrote Watt, " but was far
from seeing the wonders promised.
They were 60, 63, and 70 inch cylin-

ders. At Dalcoath and Wheal Chance
they are said to use each about 130
bushels of coals in the 24 hours, and
to make about 6 or 7 strokes per
minute, the strokes being under 6 feet
each. They are burdened to 6, 63,

CHAP. XIII.

CHACEWATEU ENGINE FINISHED.

- 235

A letter from Mrs. Watt to Mrs. Boulton, dated
Chacewater, September 1st, 1777, throws a little light
on Watt's private life during his stay in Cornwall. She
describes the difficulty they had in obtaining accommo-
dation on their arrival, "no such thing as a house or
lodging to be had for any money within some miles of
the place where the engine was to be erected ; " hence
they had been glad to accept of the hospitality of Mr.
Wilson, the superintendent of the mine.

" I scarcely know what to say to you of the country. The spot
we are at is the most disagreeable in the whole county. The face
of the earth is broken up in ten thousand heaps of rubbish, and
there is scarce a tree to be seen. But don't think that all Cornwall
is like Chacewater. I have been at some places that are very
pleasant, nay beautiful. The sea-coast to me is charming, but not
easy to be got at. In some cases my poor husband has been obliged
to mount me behind him to go to some of the places we have been
at. I assure you I was not a little perplexed at first to be set on a
great tall horse with a high pillion. At one of our jaunts we were
only charged twopence a piece for our dinner. You may guess
what our fare would be from the cost of it ; but I assure you I
never ate a dinner with more relish in my life, nor was I ever
happier at a feast, than I was that day at Portreath. . . . One thing
I must tell you of is, to take care Mr. Boulton's principles are well
fixed before you trust him here. Poor Mr. Watt is turned Anabaptist,
and duly attends their meeting ; he is, indeed, and goes to chapel
most devoutly."

At last the Chacewater engine was finished and ready
for work. Great curiosity was felt about its per-
formances, and mining men and engineers came from
all quarters to see it start. " All the world are agape,"
said Watt, " to see what it can do." It would not have
displeased some of the spectators if it had failed. But
to their astonishment it succeeded. At starting, it made
eleven eight-feet strokes per minute ; and it worked with
greater power, went more steadily, and " forked " more

and 7 Ibs. per inch. One of the 60
inches threw out about two cubic feet
of hot water per stroke, heated from
60° to 165°. The 63 inches, with a 5

feet stroke, threw out 1£ cubic foot,
heated from 60° to 159°," and so on
with the others. — Watt to Boulton,
25th August, 1777. Boulton MSS.

236 ,

GIVES GENERAL SATISFACTION.

CHAP. XIII.

water than any of the ordinary engines, with only about
one-third the consumption of coal. " We have had
many spectators," wrote Watt, "and several have
already become converts. I understand all the west-
country captains are to be here to-morrow to see the
prodigy."1 Even Bonze, his rival, called to see it, and
promised not only to read his recantation as soon as con-
vinced, but never to touch a common engine again.
" The velocity, violence, magnitude, and horrible noise
of the engine," Watt added, " give universal satisfaction
to all beholders, believers or not. I have once or twice
trimmed the engine to end its stroke gently, and to

make less noise ; but
Mr. Wilson cannot
sleep without it
seems quite furious,
so I have left it to
the engine-men;
and, by the by, the
noise seems to con-
vey great ideas of
its power to the
ignorant, who seem
to be no more taken
with modest merit
in an engine than
in a man." In a
later letter he
wrote, " The voice
of the country
seems to be at pre-
sent in our favour ;
and I hope will be
much more so when
the engine gets on its whole load, which will be by Tuesday
next. So soon as that is done, I shall set out for home."

WATT'S SINGLE-ACTING POMPING-ENGINE FOR MINES.

1 Watt to Ikmlton, 13th September, 1777.

CHAP. XIII. WATT AGAIN IN COKNWALL. 237

A number of orders for engines had come in at Soho
during Watt's absence ; and it became necessary for him
to return there as speedily as possible, to prepare the
plans and drawings, and put the work in hand. There
was no person yet attached to the concern who was
capable of relieving him of this part of his duties ; while
Boulton was fully occupied with conducting the com-
mercial part of the business. By the end of autumn
he was again at home ; and for a week after his return
he kept so close to his desk in his house on Harper's
Hill, that he could not even find time enough to go out
to Soho and see what had been doing in his absence.
At length he felt so exhausted by the brain-work and
confinement that he wrote to his partner, " a very little
more of this hurrying and vexation will knock me
up altogether." To add to his troubles, letters arrived
from Tingtang, urging his return to Cornwall, to erect
the engine, the materials for which had at last arrived.
" I fancy," said Watt, " that I must be cut in pieces, and
a portion sent to every tribe in Israel."

After four month's labour of this sort, during which
seven out of the ten engines then in hand were finished
and erected, and the others well advanced, Watt again
set out for Cornwall, which he reached by the beginning
of June, 1778. He took up his residence at Eedruth, as
being more convenient for Tingtang than Chacewater,
hiring a house at Plengwarry, a hamlet on the out-
skirts of the town. Eedruth is the capital of the mining
districts of Camborne, Eedruth, and Gwennap. It is
an ancient town, consisting for the most part of a long
street, which runs down one hill and up another.

All round it the country seems to have been disem-
bowelled ; and heaps of scoriae, " deads," rubbish, and
granite blocks cover the surface. The view from the
lofty eminence of Cam Brea, a little to the south of
Eedruth, strikingly shows the scarified and apparently
blasted character of the district, and affords a prospect
the like of which is rarely to be seen.

238

MISTAKES OF THE WORKMEN. CHAP. XIII,

REDROTH HIGH STREET. [ By R. P Leitch.]

On making inquiry as to the materials which had
arrived during his absence, Watt was much mortified to
find that the Soho workmen had made many mistakes.
" Forbes's eduction-pipe," he wrote, " is a most vile job,
and full of holes. The cylinder they have cast for Chace-
water is still worse, for it will hardly do at all. The
Soho people have sent here Chacewater eduction-pipe
instead of Wheal Union ; and the gudgeon pipe has not
arrived with the nozzles. These repeated disappoint-
ments," said he, " will undoubtedly ruin our credit in
the country ; and I cannot stay here to bear the shame
of such failures of promise/'

Watt had a hard time of it while in Cornwall, wlmt

CHAP. XIII. EMBARRASSED POSITION. 239

with riding and walking from mine to mine, listening
to complaints of delay in the arrival of the engines from
Soho, and detecting and remedying the blunders and
bad workmanship of his mechanics. Added to which,
everybody was low-spirited and almost in despair at the
bad times, — ores falling in price, mines filled with water,
engine-men standing idle, and adventurers bemoaning
their losses. Another source of anxiety was the serious
pecuniary embarrassments in which the Soho firm had
become involved. Boulton had so many concerns going
that a vast capital was required for the purpose of
meeting current engagements ; and the engine business,
instead of relieving him, had hitherto only proved a
source of additional outlay, and increased his difficulties
at a time of general commercial depression. He wrote
Watt, urging him to send remittances for the Cornish
engines ; but the materials, though partly delivered, wrere
not erected ; and the miners demurred to paying on
account until they were fixed complete and at work.
Boulton then suggested to Watt that he should try to
obtain an advance from the Truro bankers, on security
of the engine materials. " No," replied Watt, " that
cannot be done, as the knowledge of our difficulties
would damage our position in Cornwall, and hurt our
credit. Besides," said he, "no one can be more cautious
than a Cornish banker ; and the principal of the firm
you name is himself exceedingly distressed for money." l
Nor was there the least chance, in Watt's opinion, even
if they had the money to advance, of their accepting
any security that Boulton and Watt had to offer. " Such
is the nature of the people here," said he, " and so little
faith have they in our engine, that very few of them
believe it to be materially better than the ordinary one,
and so far as I can judge, no one I have conversed with
would advance us 500/. on a mortgage of it."2

All that Watt could do was to recommend that the

1 Watt to Eoulton, 2nd July, 1778. I - Watt to Boulton, 8th July, 1778,
Boulton MSS. Boulton MSS.

240 DESPONDENCY OF FOTHEKGILL. CHAP. XIII.

evil day should be staved off as long as possible, or at
all events until the large engines he was then erecting
were at work, when he believed their performances
would effect a complete change in the views of the
adventurers. The only suggestion he could offer was
to invite John Wilkinson, or some other moneyed
man, to join them as partner and relieve them of their
difficulties ; for " rather than founder at sea," said he,
"we had better run ashore."1 Meanwhile, he urged
Boulton to apply the pruning-knife and cut down ex-
penses, assuring him that he himself was practising all
the frugality in his power. But as Watt's personal
expenses at the time did not amount to 2/. a week, it is
clear that any savings he could effect, however justifiable
and laudable, were but a drop in the ocean compared
with the liabilities to be met, and which must be pro-
vided without delay to avoid insolvency and ruin.

Fothergill, Boulton' s other partner, was even more
desponding than Watt. When Boulton left Soho on
his journeys to raise ways and means, Fothergill pur-
sued him with dolorous letters, telling him of mails
that had arrived without remittances, of bills that must
be met, of wages that must be paid on Saturday night,
and of the impending bankruptcy of the firm, which he
again and again declared to be " inevitable." " Better
stop payment at once," said he, " call our creditors toge-
ther, and face the worst, than go on in this neck-and-
neck race with ruin." Boulton would hurry back to
Soho, to quiet Fothergill, and keep the concern going ;
on which another series of letters would pour in upon
him from Mr. Matthews, the London financial agent,
pressing for remittances, and reporting the increasingly
gloomy and desperate state of affairs.

Boulton himself was, as usual, equal to the occasion.
His courage and determination rose in proportion to the

1 Watt to Boulton, 8th July, 1778. Boulton MSS.

CHAP. XIIT.

ENGINE-ROOM TAKES FIRE.

241

difficulties to be overcome. He was borne up by his in-
vincible hope, by his unswerving purpose, and above all
by his unshaken belief in the commercial value of the
condensing" engine. If they could only weather the storm
until its working powers could be fully demonstrated,
all would yet be well.

In illustration of his hopefulness, we may mention
that in the midst of his troubles a fire took place in the
engine-room at Soho, which was happily extinguished,
but not before it had destroyed the roof and done serious
damage to the engine, which was brought to a stand-
still. Boulton had long been desirous of rebuilding the
engine-house in a proper manner, but had been hindered
by Watt, who was satisfied with alterations merely suf-
ficient to accommodate the place to the changes made
from time to time in the engine which he called
"Beelzebub."1 On hearing of the damage done by the
fire, Boulton, instead of lamenting over it, exclaimed,
" Now I shall be able at last to have the engine-house
built as it should be."

After many negotiations, Boulton at length succeeded

1 While in Cornwall in the previous
year, Watt wrote long letters to his
partner as to certain experimental
alterations of " Beelzebub." This was
the original engine brought from
Kinneil, which continued to be the
subject of constant changes. " I send
a drawing," he wrote on the 4th
August, 1777, " of the best scheme I
can at present devise for equalising
the power of Beelzebub, and obliging
him to save part of his youthful
strength to help him forward in his
old age. ... As the head of one of
the levers will rise higher than the
roof, a hole must be cut for it, which
may after trial be covered over. If
the new beam answer to be centred
upon the end wall and to go out at a
window, it will make the execution
easy. ... I long (he concluded) to
have some particulars of Beelzebub's
doings, and to learn whether he has '

got on his jockey coat yet [i. e. an
outer cylinder], for till that be done,
you can form no idea of his perfection."
The engine continued to be the subject
of repeated alterations, and was re-
newed, as Watt observed, like the
Highlandman's gun, in stock, lock, and
barrel. After the occurrence of the
above fire, we learn from Watt's
MS. Memoir of Boulton, that " Beelze-
bub " was replaced by a larger engine,
the first on the expansive principle,
afterwards known by tlie name of
"Old Bess." This engine continued
in its place long after the career of
Boulton and Watt had come to an
end ; and in the year 1857, the present
writer saw "Old Bess" working as
steadily as ever, though eighty years
had passed over her head. The old
engine has since found an honourable
asylum in the Museum of Patents at
South Kensington.

R

242 WOKKING OF CH ACE WATER ENGINE. CHAP. XIII.

in raising a sum of 7000/. by granting a Mr. Wiss
security for the payment of an annuity, while the
London bankers, Lowe, Yere, and Williams, allowed
an advance of 14,000/. on security of a mortgage
granted by Boulton and Watt on the royalties derived
from the engine patent, and of all their rights and privi-
leges therein. Though the credit of the house was thus
saved, the liabilities of Boulton and his partners con-
tinued to press heavily upon them for a long time to
come. Meanwhile, however, a gleam of light came from
Cornwall. Watt sent the good news to Soho that " both
Chacewater and Tingtang engines go on exceedingly
well, and give great satisfaction. Chacewater goes 14
strokes of 9 foot long per minute, and burns about 128
bushels per 24 hours. The water has sunk 12 fathoms
in the mine, and the engine will fork [i. e. pump out]
the first lift this night. No cross nor accident of any
note has happened, except the bursting of a pump at
Tingtang, which was soon repaired." Four days later
Watt wrote, " The engines are both going very well,
and Chacewater has got the water down 18 \ fathoms;
but after this depth it must make slower progress, as
a very large house of water begins there, and the feeders
grow stronger as we go deeper."1

Watt looked upon the Chacewater trial as the experi-
mentum crucis, and continued to keep his partner duly
informed of every circumstance connected with it.
" They say," he wrote, " that if the new engine can fork
the water from Chacewater, it can fork anything, as that
is the heaviest to fork in the whole county." On the
15th of August he wrote, " Chacewater is now down to
10 fathoms of the second lift, and works steady and
well ; it sinks 9 feet per day. Chacewater people in
high spirits : Captain Mayor furiously in love with the
engine." On the 29th he wrote again, "Chacewater

1 Watt to Boulton, 8th August, 1778. Boulton MSS.

CHAP. XIII. ENGINE ROYALTY. 243

engine is our capital card, for should it succeed in forking
this mine all doubts will then be removed." The ad-
venturers of the great Poldice mine watched the opera-
tions at Chace water with much interest. Two common
engines, pumping night and day for months, had failed
to clear their mine of water ; and now they thought of
ordering one of the new engines to take their place ;
" but all this," said Watt, " depends on the success of
Chace water, which God protect: it is now down 31^
fathoms, and will be in fork of this lift to-morrow, when
it is to be put down three fathoms lower, and fixed
there." On the 17th he wrote, " I have been at Chace-
water to-day, where they are in fork of the second lift
34^ fathoms. The great connexion-rod still unbalanced.
The engine went yesterday 14 strokes per minute. To-
morrow I go to Wheal Union, and on Saturday to Truro,
to meet Poldice adventurers. . . . By attending to the
business of this county alone," said he, " we may at least
live comfortably ; for I cannot suppose that less than
twelve engines will be wanted in two or three years,
but after that very few more, as these will be sufficient
to get ore enough ; though you cannot reckon the average
profits to us at above 200/. per engine."

When Boulton and Watt first started the manu-
facture of steam-engines, they were mainly concerned
to get orders, and were not very particular as to the
terms on which they were obtained. But when the
orders increased, and the merits of the invention gra-
dually became recognised, they found it necessary to re-
quire preliminary agreements to be entered into as to
the terms on which the patent was to be used. It
occurred to them, that as one of its principal merits
consisted in the saving of fuel, it would be a fair
arrangement to take one-third of the value of such
saving by way of royalty, leaving the owners of the
engines to take the benefit of the remaining two-
thirds. Nothing could be fairer than the spirit of

K 2

244

ALTEECATIONS WITH ADYENTUEERS. CHAP. XIII.

this arrangement, which, it will be seen, was of even
more advantage to the owners of the engines than to
the patentees themselves. The first Cornish engines
were, however, erected without any* condition as to
terms ; and it was only after they had proved their
power by " forking " the water, and sending the miners
twenty fathoms deeper into the ground, that the ques-
tion of terms was raised. Watt proposed that agree-
ments should be entered into on the basis above indicated.
But the Cornish men did not see the use of agreements.
They had paid for the engines, which were theirs, and
Boulton and Watt could not take them away. Here was
the beginning of a long series of altercations, which
ended only with the patent right itself. The miners
could not do without the engine. It was admitted to
be of immense value to them, rendering many of their
mines workable that would otherwise have been value-
less. But why should they have to pay for the use
of such an invention ? This was what they never could
clearly understand.

To prevent misunderstandings in future, Watt wrote
to Boulton, recommending that no further orders for
engines should be taken unless the terms for using
them were definitely settled beforehand. " You must
excuse me," he added, " when I tell you that, for my
part, I will not put pen to paper [i. e. make the requi-
site drawings] on a new subject until that is done.
Until an engine is ordered, our power is greater than
that of the Lord Chancellor ; as I believe even he cannot
compel us to make it unless we choose. Let our terms
be moderate, and, if possible, consolidated into money
a priori, and it is certain we shall get some money,
enough to keep us out of jail, in continual apprehension
of which I live at present." l

1 Watt to Boulton, 29th August,
1778. Later, Watt wrote from Eed-
rutli, " Captain Paul desires me to

attend at Wheal Virgin meeting on
Thursday, where several Tingtang
people will he; hut I shall only

CHAP. XIII. DUES ON SAVINGS OF FUEL. 245

To meet the case, a form of agreement was drawn up
and required to be executed before any future engine
was commenced. It usually provided that an engine of
certain given dimensions and power was to be erected
at the expense of the owners of the mine ; and that the
patentees were to take as their recompense for the use
of their invention, one-third of the value of the fuel saved
by it compared with the consumption of the ordinary
engine. It came to be understood that the saving of
fuel was to be estimated according to the number of
strokes made. To ascertain this, Watt contrived an in-
genious piece of clockwork, termed the Counter, which,
being attached to the main beam, accurately marked and
registered, under lock and key, the number of its vibra-
tions. Thus the work done was calculated, and the
comparative saving of fuel was ascertained.

Though the Cornish miners had been full of doubts
as to the successful working of Watt's engine, they
could not dispute the evidence of their senses after it
had been erected and was fairly at work. There it
was, "forking water" as never engine before had been
known to " fork." It had completely mastered the
water at Wheal Busy ; and if it could send the work-
men down that mine, it could in like manner send them
down elsewhere. Wheal Virgin was on the point of
stopping work, in which case some two thousand per-
sons would be thrown out of bread. Bonze's new atmo-
spheric engine had proved a failure, and the mine con-
tinued flooded. It had also failed at Poldice, which was

write, as I know they will be just in
the worst of humours about Wheal
Virgin affairs, and they are very dis-
agreeable at the best. Every article
must be settled and sealed with
Cornish adventures before we begin,
otherwise never. . . Do not let Chelsea
begin until signed arid sealed. I hope
you will not take amiss my writing so

ments ; but really my faith in man-
kind will carry me no further, and if
I can't get money, I'm resolved to
save my bacon and to live in hunger
and ease. As it is, we don't get such
a share of reputation as our works
deserve, for every man who cheats us
defames us in order to justify himself."
—Watt to Boulton, 6th September,

positively on this subject of agree- 1778. Boulton MSS.

246

BOULTON'S HELP CALLED FOR.

CHAP. XIII.

drowned out. " Notwithstanding the violence and pre-
judice against us," wrote Watt, " nothing can save the
mines but our engines .... Even the infidels of Dal-
coath are now obliquely inquiring after our terms !
Cook's Kitchen, which communicates with it, has been
drowned out some time." Watt, accordingly, had
many applications about engines ; and on that account
he entreated his partner to come to his help. He con-
tinued to hate all negotiating about terms, and it did
not seem as if he would ever learn to like it. He had
neither the patience to endure, nor the business tact to
conduct a negotiation. He wanted confidence in him-
self, and did not feel equal to make a bargain. He
would almost as soon have wrestled with the Cornish
miners as higgled with them. They were shrewd, prac-
tical men, rough in manner and speech, yet honest
withal ; * but Watt would not encounter them when he
could avoid it. Hence his repeated calls to Boulton to
come and help him. Writing to him about the proposed
Wheal Virgin engine, he said, "Before I make any
bargain with these people, I must have you here." A
few days after, when communicating the probability of
obtaining an order for the Poldice engine, he wrote,—
" I wish you would dispose yourself for a journey here,
and strike while this iron is hot." A fortnight later he
said, " Poldice people are now welding hot, and must
not be suffered to cool. They are exceedingly impatient,
as they lose 150/. a month until our engine is going . . .
I hope this will find you ready to come away. .At
Bedruth, inquire for Plengwarry Green, where you
will find me."

Boulton must have been greatly harassed by the

1 " With all the faults of the Cor-
nish people, I think we have a better
chance for tolerable honesty here than
elsewhere, as, their meetings being
public, they will not choose to expose

themselves any further than strict
dealing may justify ; and besides, there
are generally too many to cabal."—
Watt to Boulton, 29th August, 1778.
Boulton MSS.

CHAP. XIII.

BOULTON GOES TO CORNWALL.

247

woes of his partners. Fothergill was still uttering
lamentable prophecies of impending ruin ; his only
prospect of relief being in the success of the engine.
He urged Boulton to endeavour to raise money by the
sale of engine contracts or annuities, in order to avert
a crash. Matthews, the London agent, also continued
to represent the still urgent danger of the house, and
pressed Boulton to go to Cornwall and try to raise money
there upon his engine contracts. Indeed, it was clear
that the firm of Boulton and Fothergill had been losing
money by their business for several years past ; and
that, unless the engine succeeded, they must, ere long,
go to the wall. But when Boulton turned to Corn-
wall, he found little comfort. Though the engines there
were successful, Watt could not raise money upon them.
The adventurers were poor, — were for the most part
losing by their ventures, in consequence of the low
price of the ore ; and they almost invariably put off
payment by excuses. Thus, while Boulton was in
London trying to obtain accommodation from his
bankers, the groans of his partner in Birmingham were
more than re-echoed by the lamentations of his other
partner in Cornwall, who rang the changes of misery
through all the notes of the gamut.

At length, about the beginning of October, 1778,
Boulton contrived to make his long-promised journey
into Cornwall.1 He went round among the mines, and
had many friendly conferences with the managers. He
found the engine had grown in public favour, and that
the impression prevailed throughout the mining dis-
tricts that it would before long become generally
adopted. Encouraged by his London financial agent,
he took steps to turn this favourable impression to

1 During his absence Mr. Keir took
charge of the works at Soho. It had
been intended to introduce him as a
partner, and he left the glass-making
concern at Stourbridge, into which he

had entered, for the purpose ; but when
he came to look into the books of
the Soho firm, he was so appalled by
their liabilities that he eventually de-
clined the connexion.

248

WATT RETURNS TO BIRMINGHAM.

CHAP. XIII.

account.1 Before he left Cornwall, where he remained
until the end of the year, he succeeded in borrowing
a sum of 2000/. from Elliot and Praed, the Truro
bankers, on security of the engines erected in the
county ; and the money was at once forwarded to
the London agents for the relief of the Birmingham
firm. He also succeeded in getting the terms definitely
arranged for the use of several of the more important
engines erected and at work. It was agreed that
TOO/, a year should be paid as royalty in respect of
the Chace water engine, — an arrangement even more
advantageous to the owners of the mine than to the
patentees, as it was understood that the saving of coals
amounted to upwards of 2400/. a year. Other agree-
ments were entered into for the use of the engines
erected at Wheal Union and Tingtang, which brought
in about 400/. per annum more, so that the harvest of
profits seemed at length fairly begun.

Watt remained at Cornwall for another month, plod-
ding at Poldice and Wheal Virgin engines, and returned
to Birmingham early in January, 1779. Though the
pumping-engine had thus far proved remarkably suc-
cessful, and accomplished all that Watt had promised, he
was in no better spirits than before. " Though we have,
in general, succeeded in our undertakings," he wrote

1 Matthews wrote him on the 8th
October, 1778, that he had met a Mr.
Boldero at the Goldsmiths' Hall, who
had much influence in Cornwall, and
that he expressed the opinion that, if
the engines could do what Boulton
and Watt promised, they might soon
get from 40,0002. to 80,000?. for them
in Cornwall. Matthews accordingly
recommended Boulton to apply to
Elliot and Praed, the Cornish bankers,
for an advance on security of the
engine contracts. — It would appear
from a letter written to Boulton a few
days later, by Mr. Barton, Matthews's
partner, that Boulton was, amidst his
many- speculations, engaged in a priva-
teering adventure during the war of

the American Revolution : — " It may
give you some pleasure," wrote Barton,
" to hear we are likely to receive some
produce from our adventure to New
York. One of the vessels our little
brig took last year was fitted out at
New York, and in a cruise of 13 weeks
has taken 13 prizes, 12 of which are
carried safe in, and we have advice of
200 hogsheads of tobacco being shipped
as part of the prizes, which, if now
here, would fetch us 10,0002. But
while the embargo on shipping at
New York continues, they cannot stir
out of port. However, / think we
shall see them before you raise that
sum from your engine concern, and
yet I hope that is not very far off"

CHAP. XIII. WATT'S FEAR OF ORDERS. 249

Dr. Black, " yet that success has, from various unavoid-
able circumstances, produced small profits to us ; the
struggles we have had with natural difficulties, and with
the ignorance, prejudices, and villanies of mankind,
have been very great, but I hope are now nearly come
to an end, or vanquished." l His difficulties were not,
however, nearly at an end, as the heavy liabilities of
the firm had still to be met. More money had to be
borrowed ; and Watt continued to groan under his in-
tolerable burden. " The thought of the debt to Lowe,
Vere, and Co.," he wrote to his partner, " lies too heavy
on my mind to leave me the proper employment of my
faculties in the prosecution of our business ; and, besides,
common honesty will prevent me from loading the scheme
with debts which might be more than it could pay." 2

A more hopeful man would have borne up under
these difficulties ; for the reputation of the engine was
increasing, and orders were coming in from various
quarters. Soho was full of work ; and, provided their
credit could be maintained, it was clear that the under-
taking on which the firm had entered could not fail to
prove remunerative. Watt could not see this, but his
partner did ; and Boulton accordingly strained every
nerve to keep up the character of the concern. While
Watt was urging upon him to curtail the business,-
Boulton sought in all ways to extend it. He sent
accounts of his marvellous engines abroad, and orders for
them came in from France 3 and Holland. Watt was

1 Watt to Black, 12th December,
1778.

2 Watt to Boulton, 15th Jan., 1779.
8 M. Perrier, of Paris, ordered an

engine early in 1779, and the mate-
rials were despatched to Nantes by the
end of May in the same year. The
engine was erected by M. Jary at a
colliery near Nantes, but the fitting
was so bad — the steam-case having
been forgotten — that it went only four
strokes per minute. As Boulton and

Watt sought a patent for France, it ported from Soho.

was necessary in the first place that
Commissioners should certify that the
new engine was superior to the common
engine. This they could not do, and
the patent was not secured. Watt
feared that there was " a plot " against
him ; as Perrier immediately proceeded
with a manufacture of steam-engines
after the alleged invention of M.
Betancourt, though this " invention "
turned out to be a close copy of the
engine M. Betancourt liimself had im-

250 HOME ORDERS SATISFACTORY. CHAP. XIII.

more alarmed than gratified by the foreign orders, ,
fearing that the engine would be copied and exten-
sively manufactured abroad, where patents had not yet
been secured. He did not see that the best protection
of all was in the superiority of his tools and mechanics,
enabling first-class work to be turned out, — important
advantages, in which the Soho firm had the start of the
world. It is true his mechanics were liable to be
bribed, and foreigners were constantly haunting Soho
for the purpose of worming out the secrets of the manu-
facture, and decoying away the best men. Against
this every precaution was taken, though sometimes in
vain. Two Prussian engineers came over from Berlin
in 1779, to whom Watt showed every attention; after
which, in his absence, they got into the engine-room,
and carefully examined all the details of " Old Bess,"
making notes. When Watt returned, he was in high
dudgeon, and wrote to his partner that he "could not
help it unless by discountenancing every foreigner who
does not come avowedly to have an engine." l

Their principal reliance, however, was necessarily 011
home orders, and these came in satisfactorily. Eight
more engines were wanted for Cornwall, those already
at work continuing to give satisfaction. Inquiries were
also made about pumping engines for collieries in
different parts of England. But where coals were cheap,
and the saving of fuel was of less consequence, the
patentees were not solicitous for orders unless the pur-
chasers would fix a fair sum for the patent right, or
rate the coals used at a price that would be remune-
rative in proportion to the savings effected. The
orders were, indeed, becoming so numerous, that the
firm, beginning to feel their power, themselves fixed
the annual royalty, though it was not always so easy
to get it paid.

1 Watt to Boulton, 27th January, 1779. Boulton MSS.

CHAP. XIII. DEFECTS OF WOEKMEN. 251

The working power of Watt himself was but limited.
He still continued to suffer from intense headaches ; and,
as all the drawings of new engines were made by his
own hands, it was necessary in some measure to limit
the amount of work undertaken. " I beg," he wrote to
his partner in May, 1779, relative to proposals made for
two new engines, "that you will not undertake to do
anything for them before Christmas. It is, in fact,
impossible, at least on my part ; I am quite crushed."
But he was not always so dispirited, for in the following
month we find him writing Boulton an exultant letter,
announcing orders for three new engines from Corn-
wall.1

Watt continued for some time longer to suffer great
annoyance from the shortcomings of his workmen.
He was himself most particular in giving his instruc-
tions, verbally, in writing, and in drawings. When he
sent a workman to erect an engine, he sent with him
a carefully drawn up detail of the step by step pro-
ceedings he was to adopt in fitting the parts together.
Where there was a difficulty, and likely to be a hitch,
he added a pen and ink drawing, rapid but graphic, and
pointed out how the difficulty was to be avoided. It
was not so easy, however, to find workmen capable of
intelligently fitting together the parts of a machine so
complicated and of so novel a construction. Moreover,
the first engines were in a great measure experimental,
and to have erected them perfectly, and provided by an-
ticipation for their various defects, would have argued
a knowledge of the principles of their construction
almost as complete as that of Watt himself. He was
not sufficiently disposed to make allowances for the work-

We make them a present of 100 guineas —
Peace and good-fellowship on earth —

1 The following is Watt's letter,
written in a very unusual style : —

" Birmingham, June 30th, 1779. J0™1"" and Evans *? "c. «^"««^»-

« Hallelujah ! "Hallelujee ! n T* ^T T i '" C™

We have concluded witl, Hawkesburv, Oudley ""P011*81"11 and {'mendant-
21 7f. per annum from Lady-day last ; Yours rejoicing,

275^. 5s. for time past ; 157/. on account. JAMES WATT.''

252

WATT'S COMPLAINTS OF ENGINEMEN. CHAP. XIII.

men's want of knowledge and want of experience, and
his letters were accordingly full of complaints of their
shortcomings. He was especially annoyed with the
mistakes of a foreman, named Hall, who had sent the
wrong articles to Cornwall, and he urged Boulton to
dismiss him at once. . But Boulton knew better. Though
Watt understood engines, he did not so well understand
men. Had Boulton dismissed such as Hall because they
made mistakes, the shop would soon have been empty.
The men were as yet but at school, learning experience,
and Boulton knew that in course of time they would
acquire dexterity. He was ready to make allowance for
their imperfections, but at the same time he did not
abate in his endeavours to find out and engage the best
hands, wherever they were to be found — in Wales, in
Cornwall, or in Scotland. He therefore kept on Hall,
notwithstanding Watt's protest, and the latter sub-
mitted.1

Watt was equally wroth with the enginemen at Bed-
worth. " I beg and expect," he wrote Boulton, " that so
soon as everything is done to that engine, you will in-
stantly proceed to trial before creditable witnesses, and
if possible have the whole brood of these enginemen
displaced, if any others can be procured ; for nothing
but slovenliness, if not malice, is to be expected of
them." It must, however, be acknowledged that the
Bedworth engine was at first very imperfect, having
been made of bad iron, in consequence of which it fre-
quently broke down. In Cornwall the men were no
better. Dudley, Watt's erector at Wheal Chance and

1 Watt wrote Boulton, 2nd July,
1778,—" On the subject of Mr. Hall
I should not have been so earnest
had I not been urged on by the pro-
spect of impending ruin, which may
be much accelerated by a wicked or
careless servant in his place." Later,

on the 6th August, Watt wrote, " I
look upon Hall as a very great blun-
derer, and very inattentive to every-
thing that has hitherto been committed
to his care ; but I think that our pre-
sent necessities will oblige us to em-
ploy him." — Boulton MSS.

CHAP. XIII.

THE BEST PROVE FAITHLESS.

253

Hallamanin, was pronounced incapable and a blunderer.
" If something be not very bad in London, I wish you
would employ Hadley to finish those engines, and send
Joseph here to receive his instructions and proceed to
Cornwall, otherwise Dudley will ruin us." ]

The trusty " Joseph " was accordingly despatched to
Cornwall to look after Dudley, and remedy the defects
in Wheal Chance and Hallamanin engines ; but when
Watt arrived at Chace water shortly after, he found that
Joseph, too, had proved faithless. He wrote to Boulton,
" Joseph has pursued his old practice of drinking in the
neighbourhood in a scandalous manner, until the very

enginemeii turned him into ridicule I have not

heard how he behaved in the west; but that he gave
the ale there a bad character."2 Notwithstanding, how-
ever, his love of strong potations, Joseph was a first-rate
workman. Two days later, Watt wrote, " Though
Joseph has attended to his drinking, he has done much
good at his leisure hours, and has certainly prevented
much mischief at Hallamanin and some at Wheal Union.
He has had some hard and long jobs, and consequently
merits some indulgence for his foibles." By the end of
the month " Joseph had conquered Hallamanin engine,
all but the boiler," but Watt added, "His indulgence
has brought on a slight fit of the jaundice, and as soon
as the engine is finished, he must be sent home." 3

By this time Watt had called to his aid two other
skilled workmen, Law and Murdock, who arrived in
Cornwall in the beginning of September, 1779. In
Watt's letters we find frequent allusions to Murdock.
Wherever any work had to be done requiring more
than ordinary attention, Watt specially directed that
" William " should be put to it. " Let William be sent

1 Watt to Boulton, llth August,
1779.

2 Watt to Boulton, 4th October,

1779.

3 Watt to Boulton, 28th October,
1779.

254 WILLIAM MURDOCK. CHAP. XIII.

for from Bedworth," he wrote from Cornwall in 1778,
" to set the patterns for nozzles quite right for Poldice."
Boulton wished to send him into Scotland to erect the
engine at Wenlockhead, but Watt would not hear of it.
" William " was the only man he could trust with the
nozzles. Then William was sent to London to take the
charge of Chelsea engine ; next to Bedworth, to see to
the completion of the repairs previous to the final trial ;
then to Birmingham again to attend to some further
special instructions of Watt ; and now we find him in
Cornwall, to take charge of the principal engines
erecting there.

William Murdock was not only a most excellent and
steady workman, but a man of eminent mechanical
genius. He was the first maker of a model locomotive
in this country ; he was the introducer of lighting by
gas, and the inventor of many valuable parts of the
working steam-engine, hereafter to be described. His
father was a millwright and miller, at Bellow Mill, near
Old Cumnock, in Ayrshire, and was much esteemed for
his probity and industry, as well as for his mechanical
skill. He was the inventor of bevelled cast-iron gear
for mills, and his son was proud to exhibit, on the lawn
in front of his house at Sycamore Hill, Handsworth, a
piece of the first work of the kind executed in Britain.
It was cast for him at Carron Ironworks, after the pat-
tern furnished by him, in 1766. William was born in
1754, and brought up to his father's trade. On arriving
at manhood, he became desirous of obtaining a larger
experience of mill-work and mechanics than he could
acquire in his father's little mill. Hearing of the fame
of Boulton and Watt, and the success of their new
engine, he determined to travel south, and seek for a
job at Soho. Many Scotchmen were accustomed to call
there on the same errand, probably relying on the
known clanship of their countrymen, and thinking that
they would find a friend and advocate in Watt. But

CHAP. XIII. MURDOCK'S FIRST INTERVIEW WITH BOULTON. 255

strange to say, Watt did not think Scotchmen capable
of becoming first-class mechanics.1

When Murdock called at Soho, in the year 1777, to
ask for a job, Watt was from home, but he saw Boulton,
who was usually accessible to callers of every rank. In
answer to Murdock's inquiry whether he could have a
job, Boulton replied that work was rather slack with
them then, and that every place was filled up. During
the brief conversation that ensued, the blate young
Scotchman, like most country lads in the presence of
strangers, had some difficulty in knowing what to do
with his hands, and unconsciously kept twirling his hat
with them. Boulton' s attention was directed to the
twirling hat, which seemed to be of a peculiar make. It
was not a felt hat, nor a cloth hat, nor a glazed hat ;
but it seemed to be painted, and composed of some un-
usual material. " That seems to be a curious sort of
hat," said Boulton, looking at it more closely ; " why,
what is it made of ? " " Timmer, sir," said Murdock,
modestly. " Timmer ! Do you mean to say that it is
made of wood ? " " Yes, sir." " Pray, how was it made ? "
" I turned it mysel', sir, in a bit lathey of my own
making." Boulton looked at the young man again.
He had risen a hundred degrees in his estimation. He
was tall, good-looking, and of open and ingenuous coun-
tenance ; and that he had been able to turn a wooden
hat for himself in a lathe of his own making was proof
enough that he was a mechanic of no mean skill. " You

1 Watt told Sir Walter Scott that the workmen."— Note to Lockhart's
though hundreds probably of his ' Life of Scott.' The fact, we suppose
northern countrymen had sought em- j was, that the Scotch mechanics were
ployment at his establishment, he , only as yet in course of training, — the
never could get one of them to become a ! English having had a long start of
first-rate mechanic. " Many of them," | them. Though Watt's statement that
said he, " were too good for that, and | Scotchmen were incapable of being
rose to be valuable clerks and book- ! first-class mechanics may have been
keepers ; but those incapable of this true in his day, it is so no longer, as
sort of advancement had always the the workshops of the Clyde can prove;
same insuperable aversion to toiling so some of the most highly finished
long at any one point of mechanism steam-engines of modern times having
as to gain the highest wages among been turned out of Glasgow workshops.

256 MUKDOCK IN CORNWALL. CHAP. XIII.

may call again, my man," said Boultoii. " Thank you,
sir," said Murdock, giving his hat a final twirl.

When Murdock called again, he was at once put upon
a trial job, after which he was entered as a regular
hand. We learn from Boulton's memorandum-book
that he was engaged for two years, at 1 5s. a week when
at home, 17.<?. when from home, and 18s. when in Lon-
don. Boulton's engagement of Murdock was amply
justified by the result. Beginning as a common me-
chanic, he applied himself diligently and conscientiously
to his work, and became trusted. More responsible
duties were confided to him, and he strove to perform
them to the best of his power. His industry and his
skilfulness soon marked him for promotion, and he rose
from grade to grade until he became Boulton and Watt's
most trusted co-worker and adviser in all their mecha-
nical undertakings of importance.

When Murdock went into Cornwall to take charge
of the engines, he gave himself no rest until he had
conquered their defects and put them in thorough
working order. He devoted himself to his duties
with a zeal and ability that completely won Watt's
heart. He was so filled with his work, that when he
had an important job in hand, he could scarcely sleep
at nights for thinking of it. When the engine at
Wheal Union was ready for starting, the people of
the house at Eedruth, in which Murdock lodged, were
greatly disturbed one night by a strange noise in his
room. Several heavy blows on the floor made them
start from their beds, thinking the house was coming
down. They rushed to Murdock's room, and there
was he in his shirt, heaving away at the bed-
post in his sleep, calling out, " Now she goes, lads !
now she goes."

Murdock was not less successful in making his
way with the Cornishmen with whom he was brought
into daily contact; indeed, he fought his way to their

CHAP. XIII. MURDOCK AND THE CORNISHMEN. 257

affections. One day at Chacewater, some half-dozen
of the mining captains came into the engine-room and
began bullying him. This he could not stand, and
adopted a bold expedient. He locked the door, and
said, " Now, then, you shall not leave this place until
I have it fairly out with you." He selected the biggest,
and put himself in a fighting attitude. The Cornishmen
love fair play, and while the two engaged in battle, the
others, without interfering, looked on. The contest was
soon over ; for Murdock was a tall, powerful fellow,
and speedily vanquished his opponent. The others,
seeing the kind of man they had to deal with, made
overtures of reconciliation ; and they shook hands all
round, and parted the best of friends.1

Watt continued to have his differences and alterca-
tions with the Cornishmen, but he had no such way
of settling them. Indeed, he was almost helpless
when he came in contact with rough men of business.
Most of the mines were then paying very badly, and
the adventurers raised all sorts of objections to making
the stipulated payment of the engine dues. Under such
circumstances, altercations with them took place for
which Watt was altogether unprepared. He was under
the apprehension that they were constantly laying their
heads together for the purpose of taking advantage of
him and his partner. He never looked on the bright
side of things, but always on the darkest. " The ras-
cality of mankind," said he to Dr. Black, "is almost
beyond belief." Though his views of science were large,
his views of men were narrow. Much of this may have
been the result of his recluse habits and closet life, as
well as of his constant ill-health. With his racking

1 The above anecdotes, of Murdoch's
introduction to Soho, and the fight
with the captains, were communicated
by his son, the late Mr. Murdock of
Sycamore Hill near Birmingham. He
also informed us that Murdock fought

a duel with Captain Trevi thick (father
of the Trevithick of Locomotive cele-
brity), in consequence of a quarrel
between him and Watt, in which Mur-
dock conceived his master to have
been unfairly and harshly treated.

258 WATT'S KEL1ANCE ON BOULTON. CHAP. XIII.

headaches, it was indeed difficult for him to be cheerful.
But no one could be more conscious of his own defects—
of his want of tact, his want of business qualities, and
his want of temper — than he was himself. He knew
his besetting infirmities, from which even the best and
wisest are not exempt. His greatness was mingled with
imperfections, and his strength with weakness, else had
he been more than human. It is riot in the order of
Providence that the gifts and graces of life should be
concentrated in any one perfectly adjusted character.
Even when we inquire into the " Admirable Crichton "
of biography, and seek to trace his life, it vanishes almost
into a myth.

In the midst of his many troubles and difficulties,
Watt's invariable practice was to call upon Boulton for
help. Boulton was satisfied to take men as he found
them, and try to make the best of them. Watt was a
man of the study ; Boulton a man of the world. Watt
was a master of machines ; but Boulton, of men.
Though Watt might be the brain, Boulton was the
heart of the concern. "If you had been here," wrote
Watt to Boulton, after one of his disagreeable meetings
with the adventurers, " If you had been here, and gone
to that meeting with your cheerful countenance and brave
heart, perhaps they would not have been so obstinate."
The scene referred to by Watt occurred at a meeting of
the Wheal Union Adventurers, at which the savings
effected by the new engine were to be calculated and
settled. Here is Watt's own description of the affair,
and his feelings on the occasion, which will give a good
idea of the irksomeness of his position, and the disagree-
able people he had occasionally to encounter : —

" At Wheal Union account our savings were ordered to be charged
to the interest of Messrs. Edwards and Phillips; but when to be
paid, God knows ! Bevan said in a month. After all this was
settled, in came Capt. Trevithick, I believe on purpose, as he came

CHAP. XIII. ALTEECATION WITH TREVITHICK. 259

late and might have heard that I was gone there. He immediately
fell foul of our account, in a manner peculiar to himself . . . laboured
to demonstrate that Dalcoath engines not only surpassed the table,
but even did more work with the coals than AY heal Union did, and
concluded' with saying that we had taken or got the advantage of
the adventurers. I think he first said the former and then hedged
off by the latter statement. Mr. Phillips defended, and Mr. Edwards,
I thought, seemed staggered, though candid. Mr. Phillips desired
the data that he might calculate it over in his way. Mr. Edwards
slipped away, but I found afterwards that he was in another room
with Capt. Gundry (who, and Hodge also, behaved exceedingly well
—I believe Gundry to be a very sincere, honest man). I went out
to speak to Joseph, and on my return found only Trevithick, Be van,
Hodge, and some others. Soon after, Mr. Edwards called out
Trevithick to him and Gundry. I heard them very loud, and
waited their return for an hour ; but they not seeming ready to return,
night coming on, and feeling myself very uncomfortable, I came away
— so know not what passed further. During all this time, I was so
confounded with the impudence, ignorance, and overbearing manner
of the man that I could make no adequate defence, and indeed could
scarcely keep my temper ; which however I did, perhaps to a fault ;
for nothing can be more grievous to an ingenuous mind than the
being suspected or accused of deceit. To mend the matter, it had
been an exceedingly rainy morning, and I had got a little wet going
thither, which had rather hurt my spirits. Yesterday I had a

violent headache and could do nothing Some means must be

taken to satisfy the country, otherwise this malicious man will hurt
us exceedingly. The point on which Mr. Edwards seemed to lay
the most stress was the comparing with a 77^ cylinder, as he
alleged they would not have put in so large an engine ; and in this
there is some reason, as I do not think they believed that the engine
would be so powerful as it is. Add to this, that the mine barely
pays its way. Trevithick made a great noise about short strokes at
setting on, &c. The Captains seemed to laugh at that ; and I can
demonstrate that, were it allowed for, it would not come to 2s. 6d.
per month. I believe they can be brought to allow that they would
have put in a 70-inch. Now, query if we ought to allow this to be
calculated from a 70 (at which it will come to near 400/. a year),
and on making this concession insist on our having a good pay-
master to pay regularly once a month, and not be obliged to go like
beggars to their accounts to seek our due and be insulted by such
scoundrels into the bargain. As to Hallamanin, they have not met
yet, and when they do meet, I shall not go to them. ' I cannot bear
such treatment, but it is not prudent to resent it too warmly just
now. I believe you must come here. I think fourteen days would

s 2

260

CORNISH RAIN.

CHAP. XIII.

settle matters. Besides my inability to battle such people, I really
have not time to bestow on them." l

In subsequent letters Watt continued to urge Boulton
to come to him. His headaches were constant, unfitting
him for work. Besides, he could scarcely stir out of
doors for the rain. " It rains here," said he, " prodi-
giously. When you come, bring with you a waxed
linen cloak for yourself, and another for me, as there is
no going out now for a few miles without getting wet to
the skin. When it rains in Cornwall, and it rains often,
it rains solid."

1 Watt to Boulton, from Chacewatcr, 16th October, 1779. Boulton MSS.

CARDOZOS PUMPING-ENGINE, UNITED MINES.

UNITED MINE

i: i— ST. DAY IN THE M1DDL
[By R. P. Leitrh]

CHAPTEK XIV.

FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES — BOULTON IN CORNWALL
AND DEFENCE OF THE ENGINE PATENT.

ATTACK

BOULTON again went to Watt's help in Cornwall at the
end of autumn, 1779. He could not afford to make a
long stay, but left so soon as he had settled several
long-pending agreements with the mine proprietors.
The partners then returned to Birmingham together.
Before leaving, they installed Lieutenant Henderson as
their representative, to watch over their interests in
their absence. Henderson was a sort of Jack-of-all-trades
and master of none. He had been an officer of marines,
and afterwards a West India sugar-planter. He lost
all that he possessed in Jamaica, but gained some know-
ledge of levelling, draining, and machinery. He was
also a bit of an inventor, and first introduced himself
to Boulton's notice by offering to sell him a circular

262

FINANCIAL CRISIS.

CHAP. XIV.

motion by steam which he alleged he had discovered.
This led to a correspondence, which resulted in his en-
gagement to travel for the firm, and to superintend the
erection of engines when necessary.

Henderson experienced the same difficulty that Watt
had done in managing the adventurers, and during his
stay in Cornwall he was never done calling upon Boulton
to hasten to his assistance and help him, as he said, " to
put them in good spirits and good temper." As the
annual meetings drew near, Henderson anticipated a
stormy time of it, and pleaded harder than ever for
Boulton to come to him. It seemed as if it would be
necessary for Boulton to take up his residence in Corn-
wall ; and as the interests at stake were great, it might
be worth his while to do so. By the summer of 1780,
Boulton and Watt had made and sold forty pumping-
engines, of which number twenty were erected and at
work in different parts of Cornwall ; and it was gene-
rally expected that before long there would scarcely be
an engine of the old construction at work in the county.
This was, in fact, the only branch of Boulton's extensive
concerns that promised to be remunerative.1 He had
become loaded with a burden of debt, from which the
success of the engine-business seemed to offer the only
prospect of relief.

Boulton's affairs seemed indeed fast approaching to a
crisis. He had. raised money in all directions to carry
on his extensive concerns. He had sold the Patkington
estate, which came to him by his wife, to Lord Donegal,
for 15,OOQ/. ; he had sold the greater part of his father's
property, and raised further sums by mortgaging the
remainder ; he had borrowed largely from Day,2 Wedg-

1 It appears from a statement pre-
pared by Zaccheus Walker, the ac-
countant of Boulton and Fothergill,
that on an invested capital of about
20,0001., the excess of losses over
profits during the eighteen years

ending 1780, had been upwards of
11,000?. ; and that but for the capital
and credit of Matthew Boulton, that
concern must have broken down.

2 Thomas Day, the eccentric but
kindly author of ' Sandford and

CHAP. XIV.

BOULTON AND FOTHERGILL.

2G3

wood, and others of his personal friends, and obtained
heavy advances from his bankers ; but all this was found
insufficient, and his embarrassments seemed only to in-
crease. Watt could do nothing to help him with money,
though he had consented to the mortgage of the steam-
engine royalties to Mr. Wiss, by which the sum of 7000^.
had been raised. This liability lay heavy on the mind
of Watt, who could never shake himself free of the
horror of having incurred such a debt ; and many were
the imploring letters that he addressed to Boulton on
the subject. "I beg of you," said he, "to attend to
these money affairs. I cannot rest in my bed until they
[i.e. the mortgage and banker's advance] have some
determinate form. I beg you will pardon my impor-
tunity, but I cannot bear the uneasiness of my own
mind, and it is as much your interest as mine to have
them settled."1

The other partner, Fothergill, was quite as down-
hearted. He urged that the firm of Boulton and
Fothergill should at once stop payment and wind up ;
but as this would have seriously hurt the credit of the
engine firm, Boulton would not listen to the suggestion.
They must hold on as they had done before, until better
days came round. Fothergill recommended that at least
the unremunerative branches of the business should be

Merton,' lent Boulton 3000Z. at 4 per
cent. When Boulton came to pay a
higher rate of interest on other loans,
he wrote Day proposing to pay him
the same rate; but Day refused to
accept the advance, as he could not
make more of his money elsewhere.
Day, however, offered him some good
advice. " Give me leave," said he,
" with the real interest of a sincere
friend, to express my wishes that now
at last when a fortune is within your
power, you will contract that wide
sphere of business in which your in-
genuity has so long kept you engaged,
and which has prevented you hitherto,
if I mav believe the words of one of

your sincerest friends, the late Dr.
Small, from acquiring that independ-
ence which you ought to have had long
ago. I should think that now, like a
good Christian, thoroughly convinced
of the inutility of other works, you
ought to attach yourself to the one
thing needful, and determine to be
saved ' even as by fire.' You are now,
dear Sir, not of an age to sport any
longer with fortune. Forgive the
freedom of these sentiments, and
believe me, with the greatest sincerity
and regard, Yours, &c.,

" THOMAS DAY."

1 Watt to Boulton, 20th January,
1779.

264

THE " SOHO PICTURES.'

CHAP. XIV.

brought to a close. The heaviest losses had indeed been
sustained through Fothergill himself, whose foreign
connexions, instead of being of advantage to the firm,
had proved the reverse ; and Mr. Matthews, the London
agent, repeatedly pressed Boulton to decline further
transactions with foreigners.

There was one branch of the Boulton and Fothergill
business which Boulton at once agreed to give up.
This was the painting and japanning business ; by
which, as appears from a statement prepared by Mr.
Walker, now before us, the firm were losing at the rate
of 500/. a year.

The picture-painting business seems to have been
begun in 1777, and was carried on for some years under
the direction of Mr. Eginton, who afterwards achieved
considerable reputation at Birmingham as a manufac-
turer of painted glass. A degree of interest has been
recently raised on the subject of the Soho pictures,
in consequence of the statements hazarded as to the
method by which they are supposed to have been pro-
duced. It has been surmised that they were taken by
some process resembling photography. We have, how-
ever, been unable to find anything in the correspond-
ence of the firm calculated to support this view. On
the contrary, they are invariably spoken of as " mecha-
nical paintings," " pictures," or " prints," produced by
means of " paints " or " colours." Though the precise
process by which they were produced is not now known,
there seems reason to believe that they were impressions
from plates prepared in a peculiar manner. The im-
pressions were taken " mechanically " on paper ; and
both oil and water colours1 were made use of. Some

1 Some of the specimens in water
colour are to be seen at the Museum
of Patents, South Kensington. When
the paper is moistened with the finger,
the colour easily rubs off. The whole
subject of these pictures has recently

been thoroughly sifted by M. P. W.
Boulton, Esq., in his ' Bemarks on
some Evidence recently communicated
to the Photographic Society' (Brad-
bury and Evans, 1864), apropos of the
Papers of Mr. W. P. Smith on the

CHAP. XIV. LETTER-COPYING MACHINE. 265

of the pictures were of large size — 40 by 50 inches — the
subjects being chiefly classical. This branch of the busi-
ness being found unproductive, was brought to a close
in 1780, when the partnership with Eginton was at the
same time dissolved.

Another and more fortunate branch of business into
which Boulton entered with Watt and Keir, about the
same time, was the manufacture of letter-copying ma-
chines. Watt made the invention, Boulton found the
money for taking out the patent, and Keir conducted
the business. Watt was a very voluminous correspondent,
and the time occupied by him in copying letters, the
contents of which he desired to keep secret from third
parties, was such that in order to economise it he
invented the method of letter-copying in such com-
mon use. The invention consisted in the transfer, by
pressure, of the writing made with mucilaginous ink,
to damped and unsized transparent copying-paper, by
means either of a rolling press or a screw press. Though
Watt himself preferred the rollers, the screw press is
now generally adopted as the more simple and effica-
cious process.

This invention was made by Watt in the summer of
1778. In June we find him busy experimenting on
copying-papers of different kinds, requesting Boulton to
send him specimens of " the most even and whitest un-
sized paper ;" and in the following month he wrote
Dr. Black, "I have lately discovered a method of

same subject, in which it was sur-
mised that they were the result of some
photographic process. Mr. Boulton
clearly shows, from the original corre-
spondence, that the process was me-

pressed to other persons, that in the
coloured specimens in the Museum,
there are indications that the colour
was laid on mechanically, — not by
hand or brush." As the process of

chanical colour - printing. He also I " dead-colouring " the pictures is occa-
adds, — " From the brief statements sionally referred to, it is probable that

which I remember to have heard from
my father concerning the polygraphic
process, my impression of it was that
it copied colour mechanically, not
merely chiaro-scuro. And I agree
with the opinion which has been ex-

the pictures passed through more
stages than one, as in the case of
modern colour-printing. In one of
Eginton's letters, three plates were
spoken of as necessary for taking im-
pressions of one of the pictures.

266 COPYING-PRESS — SUPPOSED DANGERS. CHAP. XIV.

copying writing instantaneously, provided it has been
written the same day, or within twenty-four hours.
I send you a specimen, and will impart the secret if
it will be of any use to you. It enables me to copy
all my business letters."1 For two years Watt kept
his method of copying a secret ; but hearing that
certain persons were prying into it with the view of
turning it to account, he determined to anticipate them
by taking out a patent, which was secured in May,
1780. By that time Watt had completed the details
of the press and the copying-ink. Sufficient mahogany
and lignum-vitee had been ordered for making 500
machines, and Boulton went up to London to try and
get the press introduced in the public offices. He first
waited upon several noblemen to interest them in the
machine, amongst others on Lord Dartmouth, who pro-
posed to show it to George III. " The King," said
Boulton, in a letter to Watt, " writes a great deal, and
takes copies of all he writes with his own hand, so that
Lord Dartmouth thinks it will be a very desirable thing
for His Majesty." Several of those to whom the machine
was first shown, apprehended that it would lead to in-
crease of forgery — then a great source of terror to com-
mercial men. The bankers concurred in this view, and
strongly denounced the invention ; and they expostu-
lated with Boulton and Watt's agent for offering the
presses for sale. " Mr. Woodmason," wrote Boulton,
" says the bankers mob him for having anything to do
with it ; they say that it ought to be suppressed."
Boulton was not dismayed by this opposition, but pro-
ceeded to issue circulars to the members of the Houses
of Lords and Commons, descriptive of the machine,
inviting them to an inspection of it, after which he
communicated the results to his partner :—

.... "On Tuesday morning last I waited on some particular
noblemen, according to promise, at their own houses, with the press,

Watt to Dr. Black, 24th July, 1778.

CHAP. XIV. DEMAND FOR PRESSES. 267

and at one o'clock I took possession of a private room adjoining the
Court of Bequests, Westminster Hall, where I was visited by several
members of both Houses, who in general were well pleased with the
invention ; but all expressed their fears of forgery, which occasioned
and obliged me to exercise my lungs very much. Many of the
members tried to copy bank notes, but in vain. I had a full
audience till half-past eight o'clock. ... I had quite a mob of
members next day ; some of them mobbed me for introducing such
wicked arts ; however, upon the whole, I had a greater majority
than Lord North hath had this year.

On Thursday ... at half-past two . . I had a tolerable good
House, even a better than the Speaker, who was often obliged to
send his proper officer to fetch away from me the members to vote,
and sometimes to make a House. As soon as the House formed into
a Committee upon the Malt-tax, the Speaker left the chair and sent
for me and the machine, which was carried through the gallery in
face of the whole House into the Speaker's Chamber. I found him
full of fears about the dreadful consequences, which I quieted before
I left him, and he with his two friends subscribed. I attended again
on Friday, but, from a very thin House and curiosity abating, I had
very few [subscriptions]. Mr. Banks came to see the machine on
Thursday. I thought it might be of service to show it to the Eoyal
Society that evening. . . . After the business of the Society was over,
he announced Mr. Watt's invention, and my readiness to show it,
and it was accordingly brought in and afforded much satisfaction to
a crowded audience. I did not show the list of subscribers and the
proposals, nor dishonour philosophy by trade in that room. . . .
I spent Friday evening with Smeaton and other engineers at a
coffee-house, when a gentleman (not knowing me) exclaimed against
the copying-machine, and wished the inventor was hanged and the
machines all burnt, which brought on a laugh; as I was known to
most present. . . . There are great names enough already among
the subscribers to give a sanction and authority to it, as well as to
make it fashionable, which has more influence upon the minds
of three-fourths of the Londoners than the intrinsic merit of the
thing, and without which it would have been some years in making
its way." '

By the end of the year, the 150 machines first made
were sold off, and more orders were coming in. Thirty
were wanted for exportation abroad, and a still greater
number were wanted at home. The letter-copying ma-
chine gradually and steadily made its way, until at
length • there was scarcely a house of any extensive

1 Boulton to Watt, 14th May, 1780. Boulton MSS.

268

' MORE -FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES.

CHAP. XIV.

business transactions in which it was not to be. found.
Watt himself, writing of the invention some thirty years
later, observed that it had proved so useful to himself that
it had been worth all the trouble of inventing it, even had
it been attended with no pecuniary profit whatever.

Boulton' s principal business, however, while in town,
was not so much to push the letter-copying machine, but
to set straight the bankers' account, which had been
overdrawn to the amount of 17, GOO/. He was able to
satisfy them to a certain extent by granting mortgages
on the engine royalties payable in Cornwall, besides
giving personal bonds for repayment of the advances
within a given time. It was necessary to obtain Watt's
consent to both these measures ; but, though Watt was
willing to agree to the former expedient, he positively
refused to be a party to the personal bonds.1 Boulton
was therefore under the necessity of arranging the
matter himself. He was thereby enabled to meet the
more pressing claims upon the firm, and to make
arrangements for pushing on the engine business with
renewed vigour. Watt was, however, by no means so
anxious on this score as Boulton was. He was even
desirous of retiring from the concern, and going abroad
in search of health. " Without I can spare time
this next summer," he wrote, " to go to some more
healthy climate to procure a little health, if climate
will do, I must give up business and the world too.
My head is good for nothing."2 While Boulton was
earnestly pressing the invention on the mining interest,

1 On the 18th May, 1780, Watt
wrote Boulton, then in London, as
follows : — " I am sorry, my dear Sir,
to prove in any shape refractory to
what you desire, but my quiet, my
peace of mind, perhaps my very exist-
ence, depend on what I have told you.
I am unhappy in not having any
person I can advise with on this
subject ; and my own knowledge of it
is insufficient. Therefore, if 1 appear

too rigid, do not blame me, but my
ignorance and timidity." And again,
on the 19th,. on returning the draft
mortgage, he wrote: — "If my exe-
cuting this deed cannot be dispensed
with, I will do it, but will not execute
any personal bond for the money. I
would rather assign you all Cornwall
on proper conditions than execute

this.'

Watt to Boulton, llth April, 1780.

CHAP. XIV. WATT'S SUFFERINGS. 269

and pushing for orders, Watt shuddered at the prospect
of one. He saw in increase of business only increase of
headaches. " The care and attention which our business
requires," said he, " make me at present dread a fresh
order with as much horror as other people with joy
receive one. What signifies it to a man though he
gain the whole world, if he lose his health and his life ?
The first of these losses has already befallen me, and
the second will probably be the consequence of it, with-
out some favourable circumstances which at present I
cannot foresee should prevent it."

Judging by the correspondence of Watt, his sufferings
of mind and body at this time must have been excessive ;
and the wonder is how he lived through it. But " the
creaking gate hangs long on its hinges," and he lived to
the age of eighty-three, long surviving his stronger and
more courageous partner. Intense headache seemed to
be his normal state, and his only tolerable moments
were those in which the headache was less violent than
usual. His son has since described how he remembered
seeing his father about this time, sitting by the fireside
for hours together, with his head leaning on his elbow,
suffering from most acute sick-headaches, and scarcely
able to give utterance to his thoughts. " My headache,"
he would write to Boulton, " keeps its week-aversary
to-day." At another time, " I am plagued with the
blues ; my head is too much confused to do any brain-
work." Once, when he had engaged to accompany his
wife to an evening concert, he wrote, "I am quite eat
up with the mulligrubs, and to complete the matter I
am obliged to go to an oratorio, or serenata, or some
other nonsense, to-night." Mrs. Watt tried her best to
draw him out of himself, but it was not often that she
could divert him from his misery. What relieved him
most was sleep, when he could obtain it ; and, to recruit
his powers, he was accustomed to take from nine to
eleven hours sleep at night, besides naps during the

270 MORE CORNISH ENGINES WANTED. CHAP. XIV.

day. When Boulton had erysipelas, in Cornwall, and
could not stir abroad, he wrote to his partner com-
plaining of an unusual lowness of spirits, on which
Watt undertook to be his comforter in his own peculiar
way. " There is no pitch of low spirits," said he,
" that I have not a perfect notion of, from hanging
melancholy to peevish melancholy : conquer the devil
when he is young." Watt experienced all the tortures
of confirmed dyspepsia, which cast its dark shadow over
the life of every day. His condition was often most
pitiable. It is true, many of the troubles which beset
him were imaginary, but he suffered from them in idea
as much as if they had been real. Small evils fretted
him, and great ones overwhelmed him. He met them
all more than halfway, and usually anticipated the
worst. He had few moments of cheerfulness, hopeful-
ness, or repose. Speaking of one of his violent head-
aches, he said, " I believe it was caused by something
making my stomach very acid ;" and unhappily, as
in the case of most dyspeptics, the acidity communicated
itself to his temper. When these fits came upon him,
and the world was going against him, and ruin seemed
about to swallow him up quick, he would sit down and
pen a long gloomy letter to his partner, full of agony
and despair. His mental condition at the time shows at
what expense of suffering in mind and body the tri-
umphs of genius are sometimes achieved.

In the autumn of 1780, Boulton went into Cornwall
for a time to look after the business there. Several new
engines had been ordered, and were either erected or
in progress, at Wheal Treasury, Tresavean, Penrydee,
Dalcoath, Wheal Chance, Wheal Crenver, and the United
Mines. One of the principal objects of his visit was to
settle the agreements with the mining companies for the
use of these engines.

It had been found difficult to estimate the actual savings
of fuel, and the settlement of the accounts was a con-

CHAP. XIV.

THE ENGINE-DUES.

271

stant source of cavil. There was so much temptation
on the one side to evade the payments according to the
tables prepared by Watt, and so much occasion for sus-
picion on the other that they had been evaded by unfair
means, that it appeared to Boulton that the only prac-
ticable method was to agree to a fixed annual payment
for each engine erected, according to its power and the
work it performed. Watt was very averse to giving up
the tables which had cost him so much labour to prepare ;
but Boulton more wisely urged the adoption of the plan
that would work most smoothly, and get rid of the
heartburnings on both sides. Boulton accordingly sent
down to Watt a- draft agreement with the Wheal Virgin
adventurers, who were prepared to pay the large sum
of 2500/. a year in respect of five new engines erected
for their firm ; and urged him to agree to the terms.
" You must not be too rigid," said he, " in fixing the
dates of payment. A hard bargain is a bad bargain."
Watt replied in a long letter, urging the accuracy of
his tables, and intimating his reluctance to depart from
them. To this Boulton responded, " Now, my dear Sir,
the way to do justice to our own characters, and to
trample under our feet envy, hatred, and malice, is to
dispel the doubts, and to clear up the minds of the
gentlemanly part of this our best of all kingdoms ; for
if they think we do wrong, it operates against us
although we do none, just as much as if we really did
the wrong. Patience and candour should mark all our
actions, as well as firmness in being just to ourselves
and others. A fair character and standing with the
people is attended with great advantage as well as satis-
faction, of which you are fully sensible, so I need say

no more.

1 Boulton, at Plengwarry, to Watt,
at Birmingham, 14th September, 1780.
This day was Boulton's birthday, and
alluding to the circumstance he wrote,
— " As sure as there are 1728 inches

in a cubic foot, so sure was I born in
that year; and as sure as there are
52 weeks in the year and 52 cards in
the pack, so surely am I 52 years old
this very day. May you and Mrs.

272 BOULTON CHEERS WATT. CHAP. XIV.

Watt did not give up his favourite tables without
further expostulation and argument, but at length he
reluctantly gave his assent to the Wheal Yirgin agree-
ment, by which the annual payment of 2500/. was
secured. Though this was really an excellent bargain,
Watt seemed to regard it in the light of a calamity.
In the letter intimating his reluctant concurrence, he
observed: "These disputes are so very disagreeable to
me, that I am very sorry I ever bestowed so great a
part of my time and money on the steam-engine. I can
bear with the artifices of the designing part of mankind,
but having myself no intention to deceive others, I
cannot brook the suspicions of the honest part, which
I am conscious I never merited even in intention, far
less by any actual attempt to deceive/'1 Two days later
Watt again wrote, urging the superiority of his tables,
concluding thus: "I have been so much molested with
headaches this week, that I have perhaps written in a
more peevish strain than I should have done if I had
been in better health, which I hope you will excuse."
Boulton replied, expressing regret at his lowness of
spirits and bad health, advising him to cheer up. " At
your leisure," said he, " you may amuse yourself with a
calculation of what all the engines we shall have in
eighteen months erected in Cornwall will amount to;
you will find it good for low spirits." "I assure you,"
he said at another time, "you have no cause for appre-
hension as to anything in this country; all is going on
well." Boulton seemed to regard his partner in the
light of a permanent invalid, which he was; and on
writing to his various correspondents on matters of
business at Soho, he would abjure them not to cross
Mr. Watt. To Fothergill he wrote respecting the
execution of an order, "the matter must be managed

Watt live very long and be very I 1 Watt to Boulton, 10th October,
happy." | 1780. Boulton MSS.

CHAP. XTV. MINING ADVENTURERS' MEETINGS. 273

with some delicacy respecting Mr. Watt, as you know
that when he is low-spirited he is vexed at trifles."

Another important part of Boulton's business in
Cornwall, besides settling the engine agreement, was
to watch the mining adventures themselves, in which
by this time Boulton and Watt had become largely
interested. In the then depressed state of the mining
interest, it was in many cases found difficult to raise
the requisite money to pay for the new engines ; and the
engineers must either go without orders or become
shareholders to prevent the undertakings dropping
through altogether. Watt's caution impelled him at
first to decline entering into such speculations. He
was already in despair at what he considered the bad
fortunes of the firm, and the load of debts they had
incurred in carrying on the manufacture of engines.
But there seemed to be no alternative, and he at length
came to the conclusion with Boulton, that it was better
" not to lose a sheep for a ha'porth of tar." 1

Rather than lose the orders, therefore, or risk the
losses involved by the closing of the mines worked by
their engines, the partners resolved to incur the risk of
joining in the adventures, and in course of time they
became largely interested in them. They also induced
friends in the North to join them, more particularly
Josiah Wedgwood and John Wilkinson, who took
shares to a large amount.

Boulton now made it his business to attend the
meetings of the adventurers, in the hope of improving
their working arrangements, which he believed were
very imperfect. He was convinced of this after his first
meeting with the adventurers of the Wheal Virgin
mine. He found their proceedings conducted without
regard to order. The principal attention was paid to
the dining, and after dinner and drink little real

1 Watt to Boulton, 20th April, 1780.

T

274 ORGANISES THE MINING BUSINESS. CHAP. XIV-

business could be done. No minutes were made of the
proceedings ; half the company were talking at the same
time on different subjects; no one took the lead in con-
ducting the discussions, which were disorderly and
anarchical in the extreme. Boulton immediately ad-
dressed himself to the work of introducing order and
despatch. He called upon his brother adventurers to do
their business first, and dine and talk afterwards. He
advised them to procure a minute-book in which to enter
the resolutions and proceedings. His clear-headed
suggestions were at once agreed to ; and the next meet-
ing, for which he prepared the agenda, was so entirely
different from all that had preceded -it, in respect of
order, regularity, and the business transacted, that his
influence with the adventurers was at once established.
"The business," he wrote to Watt, "was conducted with
more regularity, and more of it was done, than was
ever known at any previous meeting." He perceived,
however, that there was still room for great improve-
ments, and added, " somebody must be here all next
summer. . . I shall be here myself the greater part of
it, for there will want more kicking than you can do.
... Grace au Dieu ! I neither want health, nor spirits,
nor even flesh, for I grow fat." l

To increase his influence among the adventurers, and
secure the advantages of a local habitation among them,
Boulton deemed it necessary to take a mansion capable
of accommodating his family, and which should serve
the same purpose for his partner when sojourning
in the neighbourhood. Boulton's first idea was to have a
portable wooden house built and fitted up in the manner
of a ship's cabin, which might readily be taken to pieces
and moved from place to place as business required.
This plan was, however, eventually abandoned in favour
of a residence of a more fixed kind. After much search-

1 Boulton to Watt, 25th and 30th September, 1780. Boulton MSS.

CHAP. XIV.

HOUSE AT COSGARNE.

275

ing, a house was found which promised to answer the in-
tended purpose, — an old-fashioned, roomy mansion, with
a good-sized garden full of fruit trees, prettily situated
at Cosgarne, in the Grwennap valley. Though the
United Mines district was close at hand, and fourteen
of Boulton and Watt's engines were at work in the
immediate neighbourhood, not an engine chimney was
to be seen from the house, which overlooked Tresamble
Common, then an unenclosed moor. Here the partners
by turns spend much of their time for several successive
years, travelling about from thence on horseback from
mine to mine to superintend the erection and working
of their engines.

COSG-ARNE HODSE.

By this time the old Newcomen engines had been
almost completely superseded, only one of that construc-
tion remaining at work in the whole county of Cornwall.
The prospects of the engine business were, indeed, so
promising, that Boulton even contemplated retiring alto-
gether from his other branches of business at Soho, and
settling himself permanently in Cornwall.1

His partner Fothergill would not,

and the Soho business was continued

however, consent to let Boulton go, until the death of Fothergill (bank-

T 2

27G MRS. WATT'S APPEAL TO BOULTON. CHAP. XIV.

Notwithstanding the great demand for engines, the
firm continued for some time in serious straits for money,
and Boultori was under the necessity of resorting to
all manner of expedients to raise it, sometimes with
Watt's concurrence, but oftener without. Watt's inex-
perience in money matters, conjoined with his extreme
timidity and nervousness, made him apprehend ruin ;m<l
bankruptcy from every fresh proposition made to him
on the subject of raising money. He was kept so
utterly wretched by his fears as to be on occasions quite
unmanned, and he would brood for days together on the
accumulation of misery and anxiety which his great
invention had brought upon him. His wife was kept
almost as miserable as himself, and as Matthew Boulton
was the only person, in her opinion, who could help him
out of his troubles, she privately appealed to him in the
most pathetic terms : — •

" I know," she wrote, " the goodness of your heart will readily
forgive me for this freedom, and your friendship for Mr. Watt will,
I am sure, excuse me for pointing out a few things that press upon
his mind. I am very sorry to tell you that both his health and
spirits have been much worse since you left Soho. It is all that
I can do to keep him from sinking under that fatal depression.
Whether the badness of his health is owing to the lowness of his
spirits, or the lowness of his spirits to his bad health, I cannot
pretend to tell. But this I know, that there are several things that
prey so upon his mind as to render him perfectly miserable. You
know the bond that he is engaged in to Vere's house has been the
source of great uneasiness to him. It is still so, and the thought of
it bows him down to the very ground. He thinks that company
has used both you and him very ill in refusing to release him, when
you can give them security for a vast deal more than you are bound
for. Forgive me, dear Sir, if I express myself wrong. It is a
subject I am not used to write on. I know if you can you will set
his mind at rest on this affair. I need not tell you that the seeing
him so very unhappy must of consequence make me so. There is
another affair that sits very heavy on his mind ; that is, some old
accounts that have remained unsettled since the commencement of the

rupt) in 1782, after which it was continued for some time longer under the
firm of Koulton and Scale.

CHAP. XIV. WATT'S DISTRESS OP MIND. 277

business. They never come across his mind but he is rendered
unfit for doing anything for a long time. A thousand times have I
begged him to mention them to you. ... I am sure he would suffer
every kind of anxiety rather than ask you to do a thing you seemed
not to approve of. I know the humanity of your nature would
make you cheerfully give relief to any of the human race that was
in distress, as far as was within your power. The knowledge of
this makes me happy in the thought that you will exert every nerve
to give ease to the mind of your friend. Believe me, there is not
on earth a person who is dearer to him than you are. It causes
him pain to give you trouble. The badness of his constitution, and
his natural dislike to business, make him leave many things undone
that he knows ought to be done, and, when it is perhaps too late, to
make himself unhappy at their being neglected. . . . In his present
state of weakness, every ill, however trifling, appears of a gigantic
size, while on the other hand every good is diminished. Again,
I repeat, that from the certain knowledge I have of his temper,
nothing could contribute more to his happiness and make him go
on cheerfully with business than having everything finished as he
goes along, and have no unsettled scores to look back to and brood
over in his mind." l

Mrs. Watt concluded by entreating that no mention
would be made to her husband of her having written
this letter, as it would only give him pain, and ex-
plaining that she had adopted the expedient merely in
the hope that something might be done to alleviate his
sufferings. This, however, was a very difficult thing
to do. Boulton could remind his hopeless partner of
the orders coming in for engines, and that such orders
meant prosperity, not ruin ; but he could not alter the
condition of a mind essentially morbid. Boulton was
himself really in far greater straits than Watt. He
had risked his whole fortune on the enterprise; and
besides finding money for buildings, plant, wages, mate-
rials, and credits, he was maintaining Watt until the
engine business became productive. We find from the
annual balance-sheets that Watt was regularly paid
330£. a year, which was charged upon the hardware

1 Mrs. Watt to Mr. Boulton, then in London, 15th April, 1781. Boulton MSS.

278

THE PATENT AGAIN THREATENED. CHAP. XIV.

business ; and that this continued down to the year
1785. Till then everything had been out-go; the profits
were all to come. It was estimated that upwards of
40, GOO/, were invested in the engine business before it
began to yield profits ; and all this was found by Boulton.
In one of his letters to Matthews he wrote, "I find my-
self in the character of P, pay for all," but so long as
his credit held good, Watt's maintenance was secure.

So soon, however, as it became clear that the enter-
prise would be a success, and that the demand for engines
must shortly become national, the firm was threatened
with a danger of another kind, which occasioned almost as
much alarm to Boulton as it did to Watt. This was the
movement set on foot in Cornwall and elsewhere with
the object of upsetting their patent. Had the engine been
a useless invention, no one could have questioned their
right of property in it ; but, being recognised as of bound-
less utility,, it began to be urged that .the public ought
to be free to use it without paying for it. It was
alleged that it had become indispensable for the proper
working of the mines, and that the abolition of the
patent right would be an immense boon to the mining
interest, and enable them to work the ores at a much
reduced cost, while the general industry of the country
would also be greatly benefited.

When Boulton wrote Watt from Cornwall, informing
him that the Cornishmen were agitating the repeal of
the special Act by which their patent had been extended,
and getting up petitions with that object, Watt replied,
"I suspected some such move as this; and you may
depend upon it they will never be easy while they pay
us anything. This is a match of all Cornwall against
Boulton and Watt; and though we may be the better
players, yet they can hold longer out. However, if we
do die, let us die hard." l

1 In another letter Watt described
himself as " worried by the Wheal

Chanceians. ... In short," says he,
" I am at this moment so provoked at

CHAP. XIV.

WOULD IT BE KEVOKED ?

279

But would Parliament really take away that right of
property in the invention which they had granted, and
deprive Watt and his partner of the fruits of their long-
labour and anxiety, and their heavy outlay, now that
the superiority of the engine had become established ?
Would the legislature consign them to certain ruin
because it would be for the advantage of the Cornish
miners to have the use of the invention without paying
for it ? Watt would not for a moment believe this, and
both he and Boulton felt strong in the conviction that
their patent right would be maintained.

Time was, when Watt would have gladly parted with
his invention for a very small sum, and made the engine
free to all, so far as he was concerned. Even after
it had been perfected at Soho, after repeated and costly
experiments, he declared his willingness to sell all
his interest in it for 70 OO/., which would have barely
remunerated him for the time and labour he had
bestowed upon it, then extending over nearly twenty
years of the best period of his life. And now, after six
years of the partnership had run, and the heavy ex-
penditure incurred by Boulton in introducing the engine
was still unproductive, he regarded it as cruel in the
extreme to attempt to deprive him of his just reward.
To Boulton he disburdened himself fully, in strong and
sometimes bitter terms. " They charge us," he said, " with
establishing a monopoly, but if a monopoly, it is one
by means of which their mines are made more pro-
ductive than ever they were before. Have we not
given over to them two-thirds of the advantages
derivable from its use in the saving of fuel, and reserved
only one-third to ourselves, though even that has been
still further reduced to meet the pressure of the times ?

the undeserved rancour with which
we are persecuted in Cornwall, that,
were it not on account of the de-
plorable state of debt I find myself in,
I would live on bread and cheese, and

suffer the water to run out at their
adits, before I would relax the slightest
iota of what I thought my right in
their favour." — Watt to Boulton, 17th
October, 1780. Boulton MSS.

280 WATT ON PATENT RIGHT. CHAP. XIV.

They say it is inconvenient for the mining interest to be
burdened with the payment of engine dues ; just as it is
inconvenient for the person who wishes to get at my
purse that I should keep my breeches-pocket buttoned.
It is doubtless also very inconvenient for the man who
wishes to get a slice of the squire's land, that there
should be a law tying it up by an entail. Yet the
squire's land has not been of his own making, as the
condensing engine has been of mine. He has only
passively inherited his property, while this invention
has been the product of my own labour, and of God
knows how much anguish of mind and body ; "-

" Why don't they," he asked, " petition Parliament to take
Sir Francis Bassett's mines from him ? He acknowledges that he
has derived great profits from using our engines, which is more
than we can say of our invention ; for it appears by our books that
Cornwall has hitherto eaten up all the profits we have drawn from
it, as well as all that we have got from other places, and a good sum
of our own money into the bargain. We have no power to compel
anybody to erect our engines. What, then, will Parliament say to
any man who comes there to complain of a grievance he can avoid,
and which does not exist but in his own imagination? Will
Parliament give away our property without an equivalent?
Will they not collect that equivalent from the county of Cornwall ?
Will they adjudge them to pay us any less sum than it has cost
ourselves? Will they not further add some reward for the quantity
of life that has been devoted to the pursuit of what is evidently for
the advantage of others, but hitherto has not been for our own ?
Lastly, will Parliament compel us to work for anybody without a
remuneration adequate to our experience, or will they oblige us to
labour for any one without our consent ? We are in the state of
the old Eoman who was found guilty of raising better crops than
his neighbours, and was therefore ordered to bring before the
assembly of the people his instruments of husbandry, and to tell
them of his art. He complied, and when he had done said, ' These
0 Romans, are the instruments of our art ; but I cannot bring into
the forum the labours, the sweats, the watchings, the anxieties, the
cares, which produced these crops.' So, every one sees the reward
which we may yet probably receive from our labours; but few
consider the price we have paid for that reward, which is by no
means a certain annuity, but a return of the most precarious sort.
To put an end, as far as lies in my power, to all disputes with the

CHAP. XIV.

BIRMINGHAM COPPER COMPANY.

281.

people of Cornwall, let them pa.y iny debts and give me a reasonable
sum for the time I Lave lost, and I will resign my part in their
favour, and think myself well oif by the bargain. Or, if you can
find any man who is agreeable to yourself, I'll sell him my share
on reasonable terms, and, like the sailor, I will promise to contrive
no more fire-engines. In short, my dear Sir, with a good cause in
hand, I do not fear going before Parliament or anywhere. I am
sure that if they did anything they would put us in a better position
than we are in now." '

The petition to Parliament, though much talked
about, was not, however, presented; and the schemers
who envied Boulton and Watt the gains which they
had now the prospect of deriving from the use of their
engine, shortly after resorted to other means of par-
ticipating in them, to which we shall hereafter refer.
In the mean time Boulton, at the urgent entreaty of
Watt, who described himself as "loaded to 121bs. on the
inch," returned to Birmingham ; though he had scarcely
left before urgent entreaties were sent after him that he
must come back again to Cornwall.2

While Boulton was in Cornwall, the principal manu-
facturers of Birmingham, dissatisfied with the bad and
dear supply of copper, resolved to form themselves into
a company for the purpose of making brass and spelter ;
and they wrote to Boulton offering to raise the requisite
means, provided he would take the lead in the manage-
ment of the concern. He could not but feel gratified at
this best of all proofs of the esteem in which his towns-
men held him, and of their confidence in his business
qualities. Boulton, however, declined to undertake so
large an addition to his labours. He felt that he would

1 Watt to Boulton, 31st October,
1780. Boulton MSS.

2 " Though your long stay, when
you were last here," wrote Henderson,
the resident agent, " must have been
attended with great inconveniences,
yet you are now very much \vanted
in Wheal Virgin affairs. Different
interests have produced a sort of
anarchy. . . . Were Mr. Watt here

now, I don't think his health would
allow him to stand the battles with
the different people. I have not written
to him freely on this subject, as I am
afraid it would hurt him. . . . Your
authority here as an adventurer has
much greater weight than anything I
can propose." — Henderson to Boulton,
4th February, ITS I. Boulton MSS.

.282 1MPEOVES ENGINE BOILERS. CHAP. XIV.

soon be an old man, and that it would be necessary for
him to contract rather than extend the field of his opera-
tions ; besides, the engine business was already suffi-
ciently prosperous to induce him to devote to it the chief
share of his attention. But he promised to his Birming-
ham friends that he would always be glad to give them
his best advice and assistance. He accordingly furnished
them with a plan of operations, and drew up a scheme
for their consideration, which was unanimously adopted,
and the whole of the share capital was at once subscribed
for. He also made arrangements with his Cornish
friends for a regular supply of copper direct from the
mines on the best terms. On his return to Birmingham,
we find him entering upon an elaborate series of experi-
ments, to determine the best constituents of brass; in
the course of which he personally visited the principal
calamine works in Wales and Derbyshire, for the pur-
pose of testing their different produce. He diligently
read all the treatises on the subject, and made inquiries
as to the practice adopted in foreign countries. Finding,
however, that the continuance of his connexion with the
brass company was absorbing more of his time than he
could afford to bestow upon it, he shortly withdrew from
the concern,' — partly also^ because he was dissatisfied with
what he considered the illiberal manner in which the
managing committee were conducting its affairs.

Another subject which occupied much of Boulton's
attention about the same time, was the improvement
of engine boilers. At an early period he introduced
tubes in them, through which the heated air of the
furnace passed, thereby greatly increasing the heating
surface and enabling steam to be raised more easily and
rapidly. We find him in correspondence with Watt
on the subject, while residing at Redruth in the autumn
of 1780. He first suggested iron tubes; but Watt
wrote, " I cannot advise iron for the tubes of boilers, but

CHAP. XIY. BOULTON'S EXPERIMENTS. 283

they may be thought of." ] Next Boulton suggested
the employment of copper tubes ; to which Watt replied,
" I approve of what you observe about making copper
flanches to the boiler pipes in future, and Ale and Cakes
can easily be converted to that way whenever they put
up a second boiler." We find Boulton introducing four
copper tubes 20 inches in diameter into the Wheal Busy
boiler, which was 26 feet in length, — the fire passing
through two of the tubes, and returning through the
other two. ' Here, therefore, we have Boulton anticipating
the invention of the tubular boiler, and clearly adopting
it in practice, before the existence of the locomotive,
for which it was afterwards re-invented. In fact, the
multitubular boiler is but a modification and extension
of Boulton' s principle, as applied by him at so early
a period in the Cornish boilers.

The numerous MS. books left by Boulton show the
care with which he made his experiments, and the scru-
pulousness with which he recorded the results. Copies
of his observations and experiments on boilers were
sent to Watt, to be entered by him in "the calculation
book," in which was recorded the tabulated experience
of the firm. Boulton was also an excellent mechanical
draughtsman, as appears from his tablets, which contain
a number of beautifully executed drawings of engines
and machinery, with very copious and minutely-written
instructions for erecting them. Some of the drawings
of sugar-mills are especially well executed, and delicately
coloured. A rough sketch is given in one of the books,
with a written explanation in Boulton's hand, of a
mode of applying power in taking canal-boats through
tunnels. It consists of an engine-boat, with toothed
claws attached to it for the purpose of catching metal
racks fastened along the sides of the tunnel, such being

1 Watt to Boulton, 17th October, 1780.

L'8-J

HIS INDEFATIGABLE INDUSTRY.

CHAP. XIV.

liis design for working boats upon canals. While in
Cornwall, he occupied his evenings in drawing sections
of various mines, showing the adits, and the method of
applying the pumping machinery, to which were also
added numerous elaborate calculations of the results of
engine working. He also continued to devise improve-
ments in the construction and working of the steam-
engine, on which subject he exchanged his views with
Watt at great length. In one of his letters he says :
" I like your plan of making all the principal wearing
parts of tempered steel, and the racks of best Swedish
iron, with the teeth cut out. Query : Would it not be
worth while to make a machine for dividing and cutting
the teeth in good form out of sectors ? The iron would
be less strained by that mode of cutting." At other
times, when the steam-engine subject seemed exhausted,
he proceeded with the designing of road-carriages, in
which he was an adept, filling a quarto drawing-book,
entitled 6 Thoughts on Carriages/ with sketches of
different kinds of vehicles, some in pencil and Indian
ink, and others in colours, beautifully finished. Such
were the leisure employments of this indefatigably
industrious man.

t.Is'l KANCK 1O CUt

HJS1K EODSE

"HE ' WAGGON AND HORSES/ EANDSWORTH.

CHAPTEE XV.

WATT AGAIN VISITS CORNWALL — INVENTION OP THE KOTARY
MOTION — THE PATENT EIGHT AGAIN ASSAILED,

WATT'S presence being much wanted in Cornwall, he
again proceeded thither, accompanied by his wife and
family, and arrived at Cosgarne towards the end of
June, 1781. He found that many things had gone
wrong for want of the master's eye, and it was some
time before he succeeded in putting affairs in order.
The men had been neglecting their work, " going
a-drijiking." Cartwright had "contracted a fever in
his working arm, and been swallowing ale for a cure,"
until he heard Watt had come, when the fever left him.
Mrs. Watt also found occasion to complain of sundry little
grievances, and favoured Boulton with a long catalogue
of them. Gregory and Jessy had caught cold on the
journey, and workmen were hammering about the house
making repairs. There was, however, one gleam of

280

MEDITATES ROTARY MOTION.

CHAP. XV.

brightness in her letter: "James's spirits were sur-
prisingly mended since his arrival."

Watt was a most voluminous correspondent. He wrote
Boulton several times a week great folio sheets, written
close, in small hand. The letters must have occupied
much of his time to write, and of Boulton' s to read.
The latter, seeing his partner's tendency to indulge in
"worrit" about petty troubles, advised him in a kindly
spirit not to vex himself so much about such matters,
but to call philosophy to his aid. Why should he not
occupy some of his spare time in writing out a history
of all his steam-engine contrivances, to be dedicated to
Sir Joseph Banks, and published in the ' Transactions of
the Eoyal Society ' ? But Watt was extremely averse
to writing anything for publication, and the suggestion
wras not acted on. Then, knowing Watt's greatest
pleasure to be in inventing, Boulton in a subsequent
letter advised him to take up afresh, and complete a
plan which they had often discussed, of producing rotary
motion, by which the engine might be applied to work
mills and drive machinery.

Watt had from the first regarded the employment of
the steam-engine in producing continuous rotary motion
as one of its most useful applications, and with this
object he invented his original wheel-engine. No steps
were taken to introduce the invention to practical use ;
but it occurred to Watt that the same object might be
better effected by employing the ordinary engine for
the purpose, with certain modifications.1 The subject
had partially occupied his attention during his first>visit

1 In June, 1780, we find Boulton
describing to Colonel Watson the
progress of the Soho business, as
follows : — " Since I had the honour of
seeing you in England we have erected
upwards of 40 of our new steam-
engines, and have (from so much ex-
perience) obviated every difficulty, and
made it a most practicable and perfect

machine. The steam wrheel we have
not meddled with since you were at
Soho, as we have been fully em-
ployed upon large beam - engines ;
besides, we have applied the beam
engine to rotative motions so success-
fully that the wheel engine seems
almost unnecessary."

CHAP. XV. EMPLOYS THE CRANK. 287

to Cornwall; for we find him writing Boulton from
Chace water, in 1779, "As to the circular motion, I will
apply it as soon as I can, but foresee that I shall be very
busy shortly, and much out of doors." On his subsequent
return to Birmingham, after frequent conferences with
his partner on the subject, he proceeded to prepare
a model, in which he made use of a crank connected
with the working beam of the engine to produce
the rotary motion. There was no originality in the
employment of the crank, which was an expedient that
Watt had long before made use of.1 The crank was,
indeed, one of the most common of mechanical ap-
pliances. It was in daily use in every spinning-wheel,
in every grindstone turned by hand, in every turner's
and knife-grinder's foot-lathe, and in every potter's wheel.
It was one of the commonest,
as it must have been one of
the oldest, of mechanical ex-
pedients. "The true in-
ventor of the crank rotative
motion," said Watt,' " was
the man who first contrived
the common foot-lathe : ap-
plying it tO the engine Was THE CRANK AS APPLIED IN THE

like taking a knife to cut

cheese which had been made to cut bread."

Though Watt had become very reserved, especially to
strangers, about his inventions, he could not altogether
keep from the knowledge of his workmen the con-
trivances on which his thoughts were occupied. He
was under the necessity of employing them to make
patterns after his drawings, from which any ingenious
man might readily apprehend what he was aiming at.

1 Watt had made use of the crank denser, I laid aside the spiral wheels
at a very early period. Thus we find j because of the noise and thumping,
him writing to Dr. Small on the 20th and substituted a crank : in other
September, 176U, — " As to the con- respects it performed well enough."

288 SCENE AT THE "WAGGON AND HORSES." CHAP. XV.

The Soho workmen were naturally curious about trie
new inventions and adaptations which Watt was con-
stantly producing, and these usually formed the subject
of conversation at their by-hours. While the model of
the crank engine was under construction at Soho in
the summer of 1780, a number of the workmen met
one Saturday evening, according to custom, to drink
together at the " Waggon and Horses," a little old-
fashioned, low-roofed, roadside public-house, still standing

INTERIOR OF THE "WAGGON AMP HORSES."
[Hy Ptrcival Rkeltc.n ]

in the village of Handsworth. The men were seated
round the little kitchen-parlour, talking about their
work, and boasting, as men will do over their beer, of
the new and wonderful things which they were carrying
forward in the shops. Dick Cartwright, the pattern
maker, was one of the loudest of the party. He was
occupied upon a model for the purpose of producing
rotary motion, which he declared would prove one of
the best things Mr. Watt had ever brought out. The
other men were curious to know all about it, and to
illustrate the action of the machine, Cartwright pro-

CHAP. XV. UATTIIKW \V ASH ]>,< >];< >H ill. 289

ceeded to make a rude sketch of the crank upon the
wooden table with a bit of chalk. A person who sat in
the kitchen corner in the assumed garb of a workman,
drank in greedily all that the men had been saying ;
for there were many eavesdroppers constantly hanging
about Soho, some for the purpose of picking up surrep-
titious information, and others to decoy away skilled work-
men who were in the secrets of the manufacture. Watt
himself had never thought of taking out a patent for
the crank, not believing it to be patentable ; but the
stranger aforesaid had no such hesitation, and it is said
he posted straight to London and anticipated Watt- by
securing a protection for the contrivance.1

Watt was exceedingly wroth when he discovered the
trick which had been played him, and he suspected that
Matthew Washborough was at the bottom of it. Wash-
borough was a Bristol mechanic, who carried on several
branches of mechanical trade, amongst others that of
clock-making on a large scale. Watt had employed
Washborough to make nozzles for several of the Cornish
engines, but was not satisfied with his work ; for we find
him writing to his partner, " If Washborough makes no
better engines than he does eduction-pipes, he will soon
be blo\vn : the Wheal Union pipe is the worst job you
ever saw, being worse than Forbes 's, which was very bad ;
I scarce know what to do with it." It would appear from
this that Washborough had begun to make engines,
thereby turning to account the knowledge he had
acquired in Cornwall. One of the first he made was for
the purpose of driving the lathes of his own manu-
factory at Bristol ; and it affords a clear proof of Wash-
borough's ingenuity that in this engine he employed
both the fly-wheel and the crank. He has been styled

1 The invention was patented by employing it in the engine invented
James Picknrd, a Birmingham button- - by him for securing circular motion,
maker, on the 23rd August, 1780 j Washborough's own patent has no re-
(Xo. 1263). Matthew Washborough | ference to the crank, though he is usu-
of Bristol arranged with Pickard for ; ally named as the inventor of it.

U

290

WATT AND THE CRANK.

CHAP. XV.

the inventor of the fly-wheel, but he was no more its
inventor than he was of the crank ; the Irish Professor
Fitzgerald having proposed to employ it as part of a
Papin's engine as early as the year 1757. Washborough
shortly after erected an engine after the same plan for
a manufacturer on Snow Hill, Birmingham ; and then
it was that Watt learned that he had been " bolted out,"
as he termed it, from making use of the crank.

At first he was puzzled what to do to overcome the
difficulty, but his prolific mind was rarely at a loss, and
before many months were over he had contrived several
other methods for effecting rotary motion. "I dare
not, however," he wrote to Boulton, "make my new
scheme, lest we be betrayed again ; I believe we had
best take the patent first." At the same time Watt
was persuaded that no contrivance could surpass the
crank * for directness, simplicity, and efficiency. He was
therefore desirous, if possible, of making use of it in his
rotative engine, as originally proposed ; and he wrote to
Boulton, then at Redruth, " I think you ought to call
upon Washborough as you return, and let him know that
we will dispute his having an exclusive right to those
cranks."2 Boulton called upon Washborough accord-
ingly, and gave him notice to this effect. But Watt
hesitated to use the crank after all. Although the con-
trivance was by no means new, its application to the
steam-engine was new ; and, notwithstanding the unfair
way in which Pickard had anticipated him, Watt
did not like to set the example of assailing a patent,
however disputable, as it might furnish a handle to
those who were at the time seeking to attack his

1 At a later date we find him writing
to his partner thus : — " I cannot agree
with Mr. Palmer's notion about the
crank engine, as, though a crank is not
new, yet that application of it is new
and never was practised except by us.
It is by no means our interest to
demolish the crank patent, because

then all our own machines of that
kind will be of no use, and 1 am con-
vinced that the crank can be made
their superior." — Watt to Boulton,
15th October, 1781.

2 Watt to Boulton, 19th November,
1780.

CHAP. XV. WATT'S OPINION OF WASHBOROUGH. 291

own. The proposal was made to him that he should
allow the Washborough Company to use his steam-
engine in exchange for their allowing him to use the
crank ; but this he positively refused to agree to, as he
felt confident in yet being able to produce a circular
motion without employing the crank at all.

Thus matters stood until the beginning of the year
1781, when Washborough, having entered into an ar-
rangement with the Commissioners of the Navy to
erect an engine for grinding flour at the Deptford
Victualling Yard,1 a formal application was made to
Boulton and Watt to apply their engine for the purpose.
Watt protested that he could not bring himself to
submit to such an indignity. If the Commissioners
thought proper to employ him to erect the necessary
engine, rotative motion, and machinery, he would exert
every faculty which God had given him in doing so,
but he "would never consent to hold the candle to
Washborough."

" Had I esteemed him," he wrote to Boulton, " a man of ingenuity
and the real inventor of the thing in question, I should not have
made any objection ; but, when I know that the contrivance is my
own, and has been stolen from me by the most infamous means, and,
to add to the provocation, a patent been surreptitiously obtained
for it, I think it would be descending below the character of a man
to be found in any way aiding or assisting him in his pretended
invention. ... I think, therefore, that you should propose to the
Honourable Board to undertake the direction of the whole; and,
provided you can agree with them about the customary premium

1 Boulton and Watt were by this | to the work of ten men for ten hours,
time employing their engine for a like j and these mills may be made very
purpose, as appears from a letter of j much more powerful than any water-
Boulton to S. Wyatt, dated 28th mills in England." To Mr. Henderson

February, 1781, in which he says, —
" \Ve are now applying our engines to
all kinds of mills, such as corn mills,
rolling iron and copper, winding coals
out of the pit, and every other purpose
to which the wind or water mill is
applicable. In such applications, one
hundred weight of coals will produce
as much mechanical power as is equal

he wrote at the same date :— " I make
no scruple to say but that I could
readily build a more powerful and in
every respect better copper-rolling mill
by steam than any water-mill now in
England. As soon as the Cornish
engines are at work, I intend to turn
millwright and make our steam-mills
universally known."

u 2

292 SMEATON REPORTS AGAINST STEAM POWER. CHAP. XV.

for the savings by our engine, you should do the whirligig part [the
rotative motion] for love. If this proposal should not be accepted,
I beg of you to decline having any concern with it, and leave the
field clear to Washborough. We may perhaps gain more by so
doing than we can lose, as I assure you I have a very mean opinion
of the mechanical abilities of our opponents. They have committed
many gross errors in such of their works as I have had occasion to
know about, and we may get honour by rectifying their mistakes.
Perhaps this may seem to you to savour of vanity. If it does,
excuse it on account of the very provoking circumstances which
have extorted the confession. If these engineers had let us alone, I
should not have meddled with them ; but, as it is, I think we should
be wanting in common prudence if we suffered a marriage between
our machine and theirs, and if we did not do all we could to strip
them of their borrowed feathers, which I hope there is justice
enough left in England to enable us to do." 1

Boulton acted on his partner's advice, and declined
the proposed connexion. The Navy Board were placed
in a dilemma by this decision. They then referred
the matter to Mr. Smeaton, and requested him to report
to them as to the most suitable plan of a flour-mill,
and the steam-engine best calculated to drive it. To
the great surprise of Watt as well as Washborough,
Smeaton reported that both their engines were alike

1 Watt to Boulton, 21st April, 1781.
On the following" day (the 22nd
April) Watt wrote another long letter
to Boulton on the same subject.
His mind could not be at rest,
and he thus unburdened himself
of his indignation : — " If you find
yourself so circumstanced, as you
say you are, that you dare not refuse
[to erect the proposed engine for the
Navy Board], then let them pay M.
Washborough and have done with him,
and let the engine be erected under
our direction or Mr. Smeaton's. With
the latter I will go hand in hand ; nay
I will do more — I will submit to him
in all mechanical matters ; but I will
by no means submit to go on with
thieves and puppies, whose knowledge
and integrity I contemn. Though I
am not so saucy as many of my coun-
trymen, I have enough of innate pride
to prevent me from doing a mean

action because a servile prudence may
dictate it. If a king were to think
Matt Washborough a better engineer
than me, I should scorn to undeceive
him. I should leave that to Matthew.
The connexion would be stronger as
the evidence would be undeniable. So
much for heroics !....! will never
meanly sue a thief to give me my
own again, unless 1 have nothing left
behind. As it now stands, I have
enough left to make their patent
tremble, and shall leave no mechanical
stone unturned to aggrieve them. I
will do more. I will publish my
inventions, by which means they will
be entirely precluded, because they
must be fools indeed that will pay
them for what they can have for
nothing. I am very ill with a head-
ache, therefore can write no more than
passion dictates."

CHAP. XV. ROTARY-MOTION ENGINE. 293

unsuited for such a purpose. " I apprehend," he said,
" that no motion communicated from the reciprocating
lever of a fire-engine can ever produce a perfect circular
motion, like the regular efflux of water in turning
a water-wheel ! " This report relieved the Commis-
sioners. They abandoned their scheme, and the order for
Washborough's engine was at once countermanded.1

So soon as Watt had got fairly settled at Cosgarne,
in the summer of 1781, he proceeded to work out the
plan of a rotary-working engine. Boulton was making
experiments with the same object at Soho, communi-
cating to him the results from day to day. He was stimu-
lated to prosecute the inquiry by the applications which
he received from many quarters for steam-engines
suitable for driving mills. He therefore urged Watt
to complete the invention, and to prepare the drawings
and specification, declaring his readiness at any time to
provide the money requisite for taking out a patent.
" The people in London, Manchester, and Birmingham,"
said he, " are steam-mill mad. I don't mean to hurry
you, but I think that in the course of a month or two
we should determine to take out a patent for certain
methods of producing rotative motion from the vibrating
or reciprocating motion of the fire-engine, — remembering
that we have four months in which to describe the par-
ticulars of the invention." 2

Watt proceeded to put his ideas in a definite shape as
fast as his bad health and low spirits would allow.
Every now and then a fit of despair came upon him
about his liability to the bankers, and so long as it lasted
he was unmanned, and could do nothing. At the very

1 Washborough was much mortified
by the decision of the Navy Board,
and alleged that he had been badly
used by them. The anxieties occa-

off in October, 1781, when only in
his 28th year. He was unquestion-
ably a young man of much inge-
nuity and merit, and had he lived

sioned by his failure, and the pecu- i would have achieved high eminence
niary losses he had sustained, preyed and distinction as an engineer,
heavily upon his mind, and he was 2 Boulton to Watt, 21st June,
seized by a fever which earned him j 1781.

294

WATT AND BOULTON'S CARES.

CHAP. XV.

time that Boulton was writing the letter last quoted,
Watt was thus bewailing his unhappy lot :—

" When I executed the mortgage," said he, " my sensations were
such as were not to be envied by any man who goes to death in a
just cause ; nor has time lessened the acuteness of my feelings. . . .
I thought I was resigning in one hour the fruits of the labour of my
whole life, — and that if any accident befell you or me, I should have
left a wife and children destitute of the means of subsistence, by
throwing away the only jewel Fortune had presented me with. . . .
These transactions have been such a burden upon my mind that I
have become in a manner indifferent to all other things, and can take
pleasure in nothing until my mind is relieved from them; and
perhaps, from so long a disuse of entertaining pleasing ideas, never
may be capable of receiving them any more." l

Boulton made haste to console his partner, and pro-
mised to take immediate steps to relieve his mind of the
anxiety that weighed so heavy upon it; and he was
as good as his word. At the same time he told Watt
that he must not suppose he was the only man in the
world who had cares and troubles to endure. Boulton
himself 'had, perhaps, more than his share, but he
tried to bear them as lightly as he could. With
his heavy business engagements to meet, his large con-
cerns to keep going, he was not a man much to be
envied ; yet he continued to receive his visitors as
usual at Soho, and to put on a cheerful countenance.
"I am obliged," he wrote, "to smile, to laugh, to be
good-humoured, sometimes to be merry, and even go to
the play ! Oh, that I were at the Land's End ! " Such
was his playful way of reminding Watt of the neces-
sity of cheerfulness to enable one to get through work
pleasantly.2 But Watt's temperament was wholly dif-

1 Watt to Boulton, 21st June,
1781.

2 While Boulton spoke good hu-
mouredly to his partner in Cornwall
with the object of cheering him up,
he privately unbosomed himself to his
friend Matthews in London. When
requesting him to call at once on the

bankers and get the account reduced
to an advance of 12,000?., and thus
obtain Mr. Watt's release, he com-
plained of the distress which the com-
munications of the latter had caused
him. He thought his conduct un-
generous, taking all the circumstances
into account, and considering that the

CHAP. XV. ATTEMPTED EVASIONS OF PATENT. 295

ferent. His philosophy never rose to the height of
taking things easy. He could not cast his cares behind
him, nor lose sight of them ; but carried them about
with him by day, and took them to bed with him at
night ; thus making life a sort of prolonged vexation —
a daily and nightly misery.

But a new and still more alarming source of anxiety
occurred to disturb the mind of poor Watt, and occasion
him many more sleepless nights. The movement to
abolish the patent by repeal of the Act of Parliament
having broken down, attempts were now made in many
quarters to evade it by ingenious imitations, in which
the principle of Watt's engine was adopted in variously
disguised forms. But to do this successfully would have
required an inventive faculty almost as potent as that of
Watt himself; and he had drawn the specification of his
patent too carefully to be easily broken through by
the clumsy imitators who made the attempt. It was,
however, only natural that the success of the new engine
should draw the attention of ingenious mechanics to
the same subject. Watt had drawn a great prize,
and why should not they? though they little knew the
burden of sorrow which his prize had brought upon
him. They only knew of the large annual dues —
probably exaggerated by the tongue of rumour — which
were being paid to the patentees for the use of their
engines ; and they not unnaturally sought to share in the
good fortune. There might possibly be other mechanical

firm were within a year of being j by the same rule I ought not to
tolerably easy in money matters, neglect mine.- His wife's fortune

" When I reflect," he wrote, " on his
situation in 1772 and my own at that
time, and compare them with his and
mine now, I think I owe him little. . .
I some time ago gave him a security
of all my two-thirds, after paying off
L. V. and W. [the bankers], from
which you may judge how little
reason he has to complain. He talks
<>f his duty t<> his wife and children;

joined to his own did not amount to
sixpence: my wife brought me in
money and land 28,000/. I advanced
him all he wanted without a security,
but in return he is not content with
an ample security for advancing
nothing at all but what he derived
from his connexion with me." —
Boulton to Matthews, 28th June,
1781. Boulton MSS.

296 THE BORNBLOWER FAMILY. CHAP. XV.

methods by which the same objects were to be accom-
plished, without borrowing from Watt ; at all events it
was worth trying. Hence the number of mechanical
schemers who made their appearance almost simul-
taneously in all parts of the country, and the number of
new methods of various kinds contrived by them for
the production of motive power.

Watt was very soon informed of the schemes which
were on foot in his immediate neighbourhood — much
too soon for his peace of mind. He at once wrote to
his partner : " Some Camborne gentlemen (supposed
to be Bonze and Trevi thick) have invented a new
engine which they say beats ours two-thirds, and one of
the partners has gone to London to procure a patent
for it. A Mr. Yice says he has also invented a new
engine, and that they have stolen his and compounded
it with ours ; he intends to take out a caveat against
them." l Though Bonze was an excellent engineer,
and elicited the admiration of Watt himself, it turned
out that he had no concern with the new invention.
Its projectors proved to be the Hornblowers, also engi-
neers of considerable local repute. Watt had befriended
the family, arid employed them in erecting his engines,
by which means they became perfectly familiar with
their construction and mode of action. Jonathan Horn-
blower had a large family of sons, of whom Jabez,
Jesse, Jethro, and Jonathan were engineers, like their
father. Jabez, one of the cleverest, had spent some
time in Holland, from whence he had returned with
some grand scheme in his head for carrying out an
extensive system of drainage in that country. Like his
father and the other sons, he was employed in erecting
TVatt's engines,2 which had the effect of directing his

1 Watt to Boulton, 24th June, 1781.

2 Watt befriended Jabez like the
other members of his family, as ap-
pears from the following passage in a

1778):— "Capt Paul has turned
Jabez adrift, having for some time
taken umbrage at him because he
would do his work well and therefore

letter to Boulton (6th September, expensively. Jabez has* a bad wile, is

• CHAP. XV. THE HORNBLOWERS' ENGINE. 297

attention to the invention of a new power which should
supersede that of his employer.

It was for some time doubtful what was the precise
character of the new engine. Indeed the Horn-
blowers themselves long remained undecided about its
actual form, being still in the throes of invention.
They knew that they must copy discreetly, so as not to
lay themselves too open to attack ; and though they
urged the superiority of their engine so strongly as
to induce several of the mining companies to believe
in them, and even to withhold orders from Boulton
and Watt, they refrained as yet from publishing
their invention. Watt wrote to his partner that he
understood the Hornblowers' engine was on some new
principle, and the only novelty he could think of
was a caloric air-engine. He therefore asked Boulton
to make all the inquiries he could as to the respective
bulks and prices per 1000 feet of all possible kinds
of air in their most expanded states. " I am much
vexed," he continued, " by this affair. Jabez does
not want abilities : the rest are fools. If they have
really found a prize, it will ruin us Bank-
ruptcy might ensue to both. But I don't fear getting
my bread independent of engines, though much easier
with them." l Watt was, however, in error as to the
nature of the Hornblowers' engine, which he discovered
three days later, when he wrote Boulton,- —

" The matter is this : Ever since the ungrateful, idle, insolent
Hornblowers knew anything about our engines, they have laboured

- and unhappy. He is very clever, blower has disobliged Mr. Daniel. I
good engineer, and industrious, j have my fears they will not employ
though he seems not to have the | him ; but when our own business is

faculty of conciliating people's affec-
tions. I fear he will go to Holland, and
as he can hurt us [there being no patent
for the engine secured there] 1 must

sealed to-morrow, I will make a push
in his favour. That family hath not
been successful in conciliating the
affections of the people in this neigh-

try to get him bread here." Later, bourhood."

Houlton wrote Watt from Kcdruth * Watt to Boulton, 16th Julv,

( 1 8th November, 1780),—" Old Horn- 1781.

298 WATT AND THE " HORNERS." CHAP. XV.

to evade our Act, and for that purpose have long been possessed of
a copy of our specification. They made an attempt at Wheal Maid
two years ago, by connecting two cylinders together and injecting
into one of them, which did not succeed, although they had gathered
together numbers of their friends in order to make a great exhibition.
Since that, Jonathan the coppersmith, who, like Alexander of the
like trade, hath done me much evil, has laboured close at some more
successful evasion, which he says he has now completed and taken
a patent for, — concerning which I hear as follows from public
reports, propagated by Jethro's confidants : — 1st. That Jonathan
Hornblower is the inventor and patentee ; that Winwood, Jones and
Company, of Bristol, are his partners and supporters with money (that
Winwood was lately in this country on a sleeveless errand is certain) ;
that they have made their model work to 141bs. on the inch, and
expect it will work to ] 8 Ibs. 2ndly. That they press the piston down
by steam, and maintain they have a right to do so, because, say
they, it can be proved that such was done before my patent.
I suppose by this they allude to Gainsborough's bauble, which, by-
the-by, was after the patent. If they do not mean this I am at a
loss, as I now declare that I do not know of any one having done it
before the patent except myself. However, it behoves us to inquire
into this, and if the exhibition was not a public one it avails not.
3rdly. That they pretend to condense the steam in the cylinder ;
but I have heard that they do it in a separate vessel within the
cylinder, or close to it. 4thly. That they do not use an air or
water pump, from which I conjecture that they let the hot water
down the shaft by a pipe more than 30 feet long, as you know I
proposed but had several objections to. You will remember, and
I dare say Joseph and Peploe also do, that we made the 18-in.ch
Soho cylinder work by blowing the hot water out of the eduction-
pipe and used no air-pump, but found a waste of steam by so doing.
There is also some confused report about a wheel being employed
on their engine, which makes me suspect that M. Washborough may
be the Bristol man concerned with them."1

Two days later Watt wrote, — " My principal hope is
that almighty Nature will prove Lord Chancellor, and
put a negative on their scheme. Amen, so be it! I
abhor lawsuits, and reckon a cause half lost that is
litigated."

On the 23rd of July he returned to the subject:—
"The Homers," said he, "continue bragging of what they are to

1 Watt to Boulton, 19th July, 1781. Boulton MSS.

CHAP. XV.

MORE INVENTORS.

299

do, and I hear the country in general takes part with them, as even
the aversion they have to the Homers does not equal the pleasure

they would feel at our undoing The Homers say they can

make a common engine equal to ours, but that their new engine is
one-third better. We must now attend to making use of all the
elastic power of the steam, which, unless I am much deceived, will
save one-half over our best engines, and at any rate it may easily
be applied to work the condenser, which will save about one-eighth.
I will not conceal from you that I am rendered very unhappy by
one thing and another, but fight with it all I can."

In the mean time Boulton continued to urge Watt to
complete the specification and drawings of his rotative
engine, informing him of the success of the model
which he had now completed at Soho :—

" Though you studied a thousand years," said he, " I do not
think you could make one ten per cent, better than a small model
with two cones which Joseph has executed after my drawings. It
has little friction, goes sweeter than anything of the kind you have
yet touched, and has not the least shake. It is so perfect that I
don't consider it worth while even to think of any other for hori-
zontal motions. I am therefore positively decided in my mind as
to the necessity of taking out a patent and including in it all the
principles and constructions you please; for if it be not secured
soon we may lose it." l

In the same letter, Boulton communicated to Watt the
rumours that had reached him from Scotland of more
inventions of engines that were to beat Watt's out of the
field. " The cry is still, they come!" said he. " Hatley
from Scotland is going with Lord Dunmore to Virginny ;
says that he and somebody else in Scotland have in-
vented an engine that is three times better than yours/'

1 Boulton to Watt, 28th June,
1781. On the 3rd July following he
writes, — " The great rotative engine
is finished, and I expected the union
between it and the little engine would
have been performed this evening, but
it can't be till to-morrow. Robert set
the elliptic out so true that it had no
shake and required no alteration. It
goes so much better than the little

model made by Joseph that I am now
ashamed to send the little one. The
great model makes a delightful hori-
zontal foot -lathe. I gave it a few
strokes with my foot, and it made 30
revolutions after T withdrew it, and
that in a quiet and peaceable manner,
which shows how steady and friction-
less it is."

300

WATT'S NEW INVENTIONS.

CHAP. XV.

Boulton recommended that a search should be made at
the Patent-Office, to ascertain what was going on in
new engine patents. Watt entirely approved of this,
and urged that the search should be made at once. " I
do not think we are safe a day to an end," he wrote,
" in this enterprising age. One's thoughts seem to be
stolen before one speaks them. It looks as if Nature
had taken an aversion to monopolies, and put the same
thing into several people's heads at once to prevent
them ; and I begin to fear that she has given over
inspiring me, as it is with the utmost difficulty that I
can hatch anything new."

Notwithstanding this confession on the part of Watt,
his inventive faculties were really never at any period
of his life more vigorous than now ; for he was rapidly
maturing his rotative engine, with its various ingenious
methods for securing circular motion ; and working out
the details of the double-cylinder expansion engine, with
its many admirable contrivances hereafter to be de-
scribed. Boulton continued to receive applications at
Soho, from various quarters, for engines capable of
working flour-mills and other machinery, and Watt
himself was urged by like inquiries from manufacturers
in Cornwall. " Mr. Edwards," he wrote Boulton, " waits
impatiently the success of our rotative machine. He
wants a power able to lift a hammer of 700 Ibs., 2 feet

high, 120 times per minute In relation to the

circular engine, an experiment should be made on a
large scale, and to work a hammer. I want your ideas
on that head."1 A fortnight later, Watt had matured
his own ideas, and made the necessary declaration of
his invention before a magistrate, preliminary to making
the usual application for a patent.2

1 Watt to Boulton, 5th July, 1781.

2 " Yesterday I went to Penryn and
swore that I had invented ' certain
new methods. of applying the vibrating

or reciprocating motion of steam or
fire engines to produce a continued ro-
tation or circular motion round an
axis or centre, and thereby to give

CHAP. XV. BOULTON ENCOURAGES WATT. 301

Watt was exceedingly busy about this time in super-
intending the erection of new engines. No fewer than
twelve were in progress in different parts of the county.
As he travelled about from one mine to another on
horseback, and spent a good deal of his time in the open
air, his mind was diverted from preying upon itself
according to his ordinary habit, and his health and
spirits improved accordingly. Boulton was equally busy
at Soho, where he was erecting a powerful engine for
blowing the furnaces at Walker's ironworks at JRother-
ham, and another for Wilkinson's forges at Bradley, in
which he proposed to employ a double cylinder, with a
double crank1 and a pair of fly-wheels. At intervals
he went into Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Shropshire, to
look after various other engines in progress ; writing
Watt cheerful letters as to the improving prospects of
the firm. He found the steam-engine everywhere
gaining in public estimation. " The more it is known,"
he wrote, " the more it will be in demand. As to the
scheme of the Hornblowers, they shall sooner press me
down into the earth than they shall press down a piston
with steam." And again, " Give yourself no uneasiness
about the Homers' engine. Our title to the invention is
as clear as can be ; and it is as well secured as an Act of
Parliament can make it —

" Doubt that the sun is fire,
Doubt all the powers of sight,
Doubt truth to be a Iyer,
But never doubt our right."

Watt's first surmise, that the Hornblowers intended
to work their engine by heated air or g^as, had set
Boulton upon a series of inquiries and experiments on

motion to the wheels of mills or other making use of the cranks. " In rela-
machines,' which affidavit and petition tion to Wilkinson's forges, I wish you

I transmit to Mr. Hadley by this post
with directions to get it passed with
all due expedition." — Watt to Boulton,
26th July, 1781.

Watt suggested caution as to July, 1781.

would execute them without the
double crank. We shall soon have a
bad enough lawsuit on our hands
without it."-— Watt to Boulton, 10th

302 SUSPECTED AIR-ENGINE. CHAP. XV

the subject, in which he was assisted by Dr. Priestley,
who had shortly before settled in Birmingham, and was
a willing co-operator in all investigations of this nature.
Their object was to ascertain whether it was practicable
to produce mechanical power by the absorption and
condensation of gas on the one hand, and by its disen-
gagement and expansion on the other.

" What yon propose," Watt wrote, " is exceeding probable, and
akin to what I have long contemplated — the use of mixed air
and steam, which have a wonderful expansion and contraction.
Nevertheless, I fear that there is in all such cases a proportional
assumption of latent heat ; but be it tried though it be beginning a
new series of vexations and expense. ... I suspect that a forcible
compression would hinder the gas from separating from the water,
and on the contrary any tolerable degree of vacuum would hinder
the water from attracting it ; but perhaps part of both may be used.
. . . My greatest hope is in the expansive engine with double or
single cylinder, which I consider as proved by many facts, and
shall send you my ideas of the execution of it very soon. At the
same time I am clear to take the air patent, which, as I have worded
the petition, may include some other improvements on the steam-
engine. ... I hope my last letters have relieved you, as the
knowledge of the Homers' being a steam-engine working on our
principle relieved me. I have some trust in tl^e judges, though I
have little in the law ; and I think impartial people will regard us
as injured persons, and not suffer the thief of our horse to escape
because he has painted him of another colour." '

Watt's fears for his patent were about this time
excited anew by the great Arkwright trial, in which
Arkwright was nonsuited, and compelled to forego the
rights derived from his improvements and combinations
of spinning-machinery. The principal ground on which
the patent was set aside was that the specification was
unintelligible. On this, Watt observed,—

" Though I do not love Arkwright, I don't like the precedent of

1 Watt to Boulton, 28th July, I " there is nothing to be feared from

1781. A few days later Boulton
wrote Watt that Dr. Priestley had pro-
ceeded with the experiments, and that
he had come to the conclusion that

any of the tribe of gases, which cannot
be produced nearly so cheap as steam ;
and as to steam you know its limits
better than any man."

CHAP. XV.

WATT'S FEARS FOR HIS PATENT.

303

setting aside patents through default of specification. I fear for our
own. The specification is not perfect according to the rules lately
laid down by the judges. Nevertheless, it cannot be said that we
have hid our candle under a bushel. We have taught all men to
erect our engines, and are likely to suffer for our pains. ... I begin
to have little faith in patents ; for, according to the enterprising
genius of the present age, no man can have a profitable patent but
it will be pecked at, and no man can write a specification of a fire-
engine that cannot be evaded, if the words and not the true intent,
and meaning be attended to. As kissing goes by favour, and as, in
dubious cases, men are actuated by their prejudices, so, where a blue
is very like a green they may decide either way." *

Watt continued to be alarmed by the rumours of
the forthcoming Hornblowers5 engine. " I have heard,"
lie wrote, " that a female confidant of Jonathan's has
seen the engine, and says that they evaporate half

a hogshead of water with one ounce of coals !

that in a few days they are to publish in print what
their invention is, illustrated with a copper-plate.
Then we shall see and admire, if God pleaseth; I hope
we shall not believe and tremble." Later he wrote,
—"Our cause is good, and yet it has a bad aspect.
We are called monopolists, and exactors of money from
the people for nothing. Would to God the money and
price of the time the engine has cost us were in our
pockets again, and the devil might then have the
draining of their mines in place of me. Yet all are not
alike. Some are just, and I believe do not grudge us,

1 Watt to Boulton, 30th July,
1781. Later he wrote, — " I am tired
of making improvements which by
some quirk or wresting of the law
may be taken from us, as I think
has been done in the case of Ark-
wright, who has been condemned
merely because he did not specify
quite clearly. This was injustice,
because it is plain that he has given
this trade a being — has brought his
invention into use and made it of
great public utility. Wherefore he
nil the money lie has got. :

In my opinion his patent should not
have been invalidated without it had
clearly appeared that he did not invent
the things in question. 1 fear we
shall be served with the same sauce
for the good of the public I and in
that case I shall certainly do what he
threatens. This you may be assured
of, that we are as much envied here
as he is at Manchester, and all the
hells in Cornwall would be rung at
our overthrow." — Watt to Boulton,
13th August, 1781.

304 THE HOBNBLOWERS* INVENTION, GHAP. XV.

and some are friendly. All this is to no purpose. The
law must decide whether we have property in this affair
or not, and we must submit to what we cannot help." l

At length Watt learnt the precise nature of the Horn-
blowers' invention. "It is no less," he wrote Boulton,
" than our double-cylinder engine, worked upon our
principle of expansion." This was an old idea of Watt's,
which he had pursued while labouring upon his model
at Kinneil. " It is fourteen years," he said, " since I
thought of the double-cylinder engine, and I think that
I mentioned it to Mr. Smeaton, when I explained the
expansion engine to him in your parlour, some years
ago. Wm. Murdock and Mr. Henderson can testify to
my having mentioned it to them ; but this of the
Homers seems to be a different thing, being hung on
the same beam." 2 As early as May, 1769, he had com-
municated to Dr. Small a clear and explicit description
of his method of working steam expansively ; and he
adopted the principle -in the Soho engine, in 1778, as
well as in the Shad well engine erected in the same year.
He was, however, prevented carrying it out extensively
in practice by the inexpertness of the workmen.
" Though the effect of the steam," he explained to a cor-
respondent, " is thereby increased 50 per cent, (by theory
100 per cent.), it cannot be done without rendering the
machine more complicated than we wish ; and simplicity
is a most essential point in mechanics. There are other
contrivances known to us which would increase the
effect in an inferior degree, say from one-fourth to one-
sixth, but they are all attended with peculiar inconve-
niences which forbid their use until the illiterate and
obstinate people who are intrusted with the care of the
engines become more intelligent and better acquainted
with the machine." 3

1 Watt to Boulton, 13th November, • 1791.

1781. 3 Watt to Samuel Ewer, jun., 9th

* Watt to Boulton, 19th November, July, 1781. Boulton MSS.

CHAP. XV. WATT GOES ON INVENTING. 305

Though suffering much from his usual headaches,
which frequently disabled him from thinking, Watt
finished the drawings of the rotary engine in a week,
and forwarded them to Boulton at Soho. " I believe,"
he said in a later letter, " a well-regulated expansive-
engine is the ne plus ultra of our art." But he intimated
that a new trouble had come upon him in the shape of
another inventor of a steam-engine in which all the dis-
tinctive principles of his own invention were embodied.
" If he be engine mad," said Watt, " and if it be agree-
able to you, he shall have my share of them, provided
he will come to my price. I wish to retire, and eat my
cake in peace, but will not go without the cake. All
mankind seem to have resolved to rob us. Eight or
wrong, they will pluck the meal from our mouths." 1
Boulton, on his next journey to London, called upon the
alleged inventor, a Mr. Ewer, and declared to Watt that
the invention, so far as it was new, was not worth a
farthing, and that all that was good in it was borrowed
from their engine. " Though the white marks on your
cow or your horse," said he, " may be changed to black,
the cow and horse are not the less your property." He
therefore counselled Watt to relieve himself of all
anxiety on this account. Watt replied, " Ewer seems to
have a genius more capable of inventing than of pru-
dently examining the merits of his invention. Poets
lose half the praise they would otherwise get did they
but tell us what they discreetly blot. We must publish
a book of blots."

Meanwhile Watt went on inventing, even while he
was complaining of his inability to invent, and of the
uselessness of inventing. Invention had grown into a
habit with him, which he could not restrain. In the
very letter in which he wrote "It is of no use inventing
—everybody is seizing upon our schemes," he commu-

Watt to Boulton, 30th August, 1781.

306

A NEW CONTRIVANCE.

CHAP. XV.

OLD ENGINE-HOUSE AT DALCOATH. [By R. P. Leitch.]

nicated to Boulton that he had contrived a machine, then
erecting at Dalcoath, for the purpose of stopping the
engine when at full speed, when any accident happened
to the rods or outside chains, — first taking away the
power, and then holding the bob fast whenever it might
be at the turn.1 A few days later he communicated
that he had contrived a new way of opening the regu-
lators. He was also finishing his plan of the new
equalising beam, and the double expansion engine,

1 Watt to Boulton, 30th August,
1781. In a subsequent letter he ex-
plained the invention as follows : —
" The method I propose to stop an
engine when the pump rods break
is by means of an air bellows or
forcing pump of a good large diameter
fixed in the shaft and having a solid
piston in it which is wrought con-
stantly by the engine and quite easily
while it goes at its ordinary speed,
because there is a large valve open
in its bottom or rather top, which
suffers the air to pass and repass easily ;

but whenever the engine attempts to
move quick, that valve shuts and all
exit from the air is cut off, and it
becomes a feather-bed to save the
blow of the engine. This is exempli-
fied by turning the valve-hole of a
common bellows upwards and stopping
the nozzle, then working the bellows
first slowly and then quickly. I
think this contrivance will be of great
use and may prevent damage, espe-
cially those bangs which occur in
setting on an engine." — Watt to
Boulton, 27th September, 1781.

CHAP. XV.

WATT'S VARIOUS INVENTIONS.

307

which he requested might be proceeded with at once.
" I have shown the equalising beam," said he, " to no
person whatever. Please push it on. It is our dernier
ressort, and may perhaps be all that villany will leave
us, and that not long." Boulton wrote back, bidding
his partner to be of good heart. " If our spirits don't
fail us," said he, " I think our engine won't."

At the same time Watt was inventing his new
jointed top-working gear, which he reported answered
exceedingly well with the Dalcoath engine ; and, in
pursuance of an idea thrown out by Boulton, he per-
fected the model of a horizontal-axled elliptical with one
pulley, which he described as performing a merveille,
being free from all untoward frictions. He was also
busy inventing a new method of an equalising beam,
by causing the gudgeon to change its place; and
another by means of a roller acting upon a curve in
the nature of the working gear. Besides his experi-
ments in mechanics, he was prosecuting investigations
as to the properties of nutgalls in combination with
various chemical substances, for the purpose of obtaining
the best kind of ink for use with his copying machines ;
and at another time we find him contriving various
iron cements for joints, confessing that he had " lost all
faith in putty ;" the result of which was his discovery of
the well-known metallic cement.

In the correspondence between the partners on these
various topics, w^e seem to see the ideas out of which so
many inventions grew, in their various stages of birth,

1 Boulton to Watt, 10th September,
1781. Boulton immediately pro-
ceeded with the erection of the new
engine as secretly as possible. " The
principles of the expansion engine,"
said he to Watt, " you had invented
before Dr. Small died, as Mr. Keir
can testify as well as others. However,
it is highly proper to execute every
kind of beam that can be devised for

the purpose of equalising the power.
I have removed the little portions into
the wooden house next the smith's
shop, and have blinded the window
and barred the door. There is a con-
venient well that can be filled from
the back brook, and the engine may
be applied to the raising of water,
which is the best sort of load to calcu-
late from."

x 2

308 ILL HEALTH AND TEMPER. CHAP. XV.

growth and development. They concealed nothing
from each other, but wrote with the most perfect
unreserve. Each improved on the other's ideas, — Watt
upon Boulton's, and Boulton upon Watt's ; both expe-
rimenting on the same subject at the same time, and
communicating the results in the most elaborate detail.
The phrase often occurs in their letters : " I write thus
fully that you may see exactly what is passing in my
mind!' The letters were sometimes of extraordinary
length, one of Boulton's (dated 25th September, 1781)
extending to eight pages folio, closely written, con-
taining upwards of 4000 words. Scarcely a day passed
without their spending several hours in writing to each
other. Boulton also kept up a correspondence with
Mrs. Watt, in addition to his elaborate letters to her
husband. The lady entered into various matters of per-
sonal interest, describing her occupations and domestic
pursuits, and communicating the state of her husband's
health, which was a matter of no less interest to Boulton
than to herself.

As the autumn set in with its fogs and rains, Watt's
headaches returned with increased severity, and he
repeatedly complained to Boulton of being " stupid and
ill, and scarcely able to think." " I tremble," said he,
" at the thought of making a complete set of drawings.
I wish you could find me out a draughtsman of abilities ;
as I cannot stand it much longer." ] Watt's temper was
also affected by the state of his health ; and he con-
fessed that he felt himself not at all cut out for the
work he had to do, so far as related to business : "I am
not philosopher enough," he said, " to despise the ills of
life ; and when I suffer myself to get into a passion,
I observe it hurts me more than it does anybody else.
I never was cut out for business, and wish nothing so
much as not to be obliged to do any; which perhaps

Watt to Boulton, 20th {September, 1781.

CHAP. XV. SUN AND PLANET MOTION. 309

will never fall to my lot; therefore I must drag on a
miserable existence the best way I can." 1

Watt was very busy at this time in preparing the
specification and drawings of the circular motion, which
he said he found an extremely difficult job owing to the
distracted state of his head. The letters patent for
the invention had been secured on the 25th October,
1781, and he had four months allowed him in which to
prepare and lodge the full description. He laboured at
his work late and early, his mind being for months in the
throes of invention. In the beginning of November we
find him writing to Boulton, sending him the " first three
yards of the specification," written out on folio sheets
joined together. Watt's letters to his partner at this
time contain numerous rough sketches of his proposed
methods for securing circular motion without using the
crank, from which he conceived himself to be in a
measure precluded by Pickard's patent. He devised
no fewer than five distinct methods by which this object
might be accomplished, by means of wheels of various
sorts rotating round an axis.
The method eventually pre-
ferred was the one invented
by Wm. Murdock, and com-
monly known as the sun and
planet motion.2 "It has the
singular property," said Watt,
" of going twice round for each
stroke of the engine, and may
be made to go oftener round
if required without additional
machinery."

T» llil P ±1 SDN -AND PLANET MOTION

Eough sketches of these va-
rious methods were forwarded to Soho in order that the
requisite careful drawings of them might be prepared in

1 Watt to Boulton, 18th October, 1781.

2 Watt, in a letter to Boulton, dated the 3rd July, 1782, speaks of it

310

SUPERHEATING STEAM.

CHAP. XV.

time to be lodged with the specification ; but when they
reached Watt in Cornwall, he declared them to be so
clumsily executed that he could not for very shame send
them in ; and though greatly pressed by mining business,
and suffering from " backache, headache, and lowness
of spirits," he set to work to copy them with his own
hands. He worked up his spare time so diligently,
that in ten days he had the plans finished and returned
to Boulton, whom he wrote saying that he had im-
proved the construction of several of the machines,
and " got one copy of the specification drawing finished
in an elegant manner upon vellum, being the neatest
drawing he had ever made." ] The necessary measures
being then taken to perfect the patent, it was duly
enrolled on the 23rd February, 1782.

During the time that Watt was busy completing the
above specification and drawings, his mind was full of
other projects, one of which was the perfecting of his
new expansive engine.2 It is curious to find him, in
his letters to Boulton, anticipating the plan of super-
heating the steam before entering the cylinders, which
has since been carried into effect with so much success.

as an old plan of his own " revived
and executed by William Murdock ;"
but we were informed by the late
Mr. Josiah Parkes, that at an inter-
view which he had with Mr. Watt at
Heathfield, at which Murdock was
present, Murdock spoke of the Sun
and Planet motion as his invention,
which Watt did not contradict.
Boulton also attributed the invention
to Murdock, as appears from his letter
to Henderson, dated 22nd January,
1782; in which he says, — "Mr. Watt's
packet is not ready. 1 am to wait till
his drawings [of the rotatory motion]
are completed, which he is executing
himself. There was some informality
in those sent from Soho. Besides, he
has another rotative scheme to add,
which I could have told him of long
ago, when first invented by William
Murdock, but I did not think it a

matter of much consequence."

1 Watt to Boulton, 26th Jan., 1782.

2 " 1 have some time ago thought,"
wrote Watt, " of a new expansive
engine— a reciprocating engine with a
heavy circular fly moved by a pinion
from the end of the beam, so as to
make three turns per down-stroke and
as many contrariwise per return; so
that in. the first half of the stroke it
may acquire a momentum which will
carry it through the last half; and if
a weight equal to half the load be put
upon the inner end of the beam, and
the engine be made to lift it during
the return, by making a vacuum
above the piston and using a rack
instead of a chain, a cylinder of the
present size may work to the same
depth by half the steam ; and I believe
the engine will work very sweetly."—
Watt to Boulton, 16th January, 1782.

CHAP. XV. MORP] COMPLAINTS OF WORKMEN. 311

By the middle of March he had sufficiently matured
his ideas of a reciprocating expansive engine to enable
him to take out letters patent, and the invention was
enrolled on the 4th of July in the same year. It
included the double engine and double-acting engine
(steam pressing the piston upwards as well as down-
wards), the employment of steam on the expansive
principle, various methods of equalising the power of
the engine, the toothed rack and sector for guiding
the piston-rod, and a rotative engine or steam-wheel.
While perfecting these beautiful adaptations, Watt was
often plunged in the depths of distress through many
causes, — by sickness, headaches, and low spirits ; by
the pecuniary difficulties of the firm; by the repeated
attempts of the Cornish miners to lower their dues ; and
by threatened invasions of his patent from all quarters.
Another of his worries was the unsteadiness of his
workmen. His letters to Boulton were full of com-
plaints on this score. Excepting Wm. Murdock, who
was in constant demand, there was scarcely one of them
on whom he could place reliance. " We have very
little credit, indeed," said he, " in our Soho workmen.
James Taylor has taken to dram-drinking at a most
violent rate, — is obstinate, self-willed, and dissatisfied."
And again, " Cartwright's engine has been a continued
scene of botching and blunders. J. Smith and the rest
are ignorant, and all of them must be looked at daily,
or worse follows. Had I had any one man of common
prudence and experience, who would have attended
from morning till night, these things might have been
avoided, and my life would have been more comfortable.
As things are, it is much otherwise."1 Three months
later, matters had not mended. J. Smith is pronounced
" a very slow hand," and " J. Taylor is sometimes three
days together at the alehouse, except when he judged I

1 Watt to Boulton, 20th September, 1781.

312

MURDOCK'S CONDUCT APPROVED.

CHAP. XV.

should be going my rounds Dick -Cartwright

also continues too much devoted to beer I have

read all our men lectures upon industry and good
hours, though I fear it will not be to much purpose ;
idleness is ingrained in their constitution." Boulton
wrote to him to " send home the most rascally of the
Sohoites ; " but this was impracticable, as better men to
replace them were not at that time to be had. Things
were quite as bad at Soho itself; for early in 1782 we
find Boulton writing thus : " The forging-shop wants a
total reformation ; Peploe and others constantly drunk ;
spoke mildly to them at first, then threatened, and am
now looking out for good hands, which are very
scarce."2

William Murdock was by far the ablest and most
efficient of the Soho men, and won golden opinions
in all quarters; so much so, that he was in constant
request. We find him described as " flying from mine
to mine," putting the engines to rights. If anything
went wrong, Murdock was immediately sent for. He
was active, quick-sighted, shrewd, indefatigable, and an
excellent workman. His wages, down to 1780, were
only 205. a week, and, thinking himself worth more, he
asked for an advance to two guineas. Boulton, instead
of refusing, adroitly managed to obtain a present of ten
guineas from the owners of the United Mines, to which
he added other ten, in acknowledgment of the admirable

1 Watt to Boulton, 20th December,
1781.

2 Boulton to Watt, 26th March,
1782. The following was Boulton's
method of dealing with a refractory and
drunken workman: — "I told you in
my former letters how Jim Taylor
had gone on,— that I had talked to him
in a friendly way but all to no purpose.
He came last Monday evening to the
smith's shop, drank more ale, was
sent for, and he became abusive to
the men, saying we had nobody could
work well but himself, and that we

could not do without him. The next
morning I went into the shop pre-
determined to part with him. I
stopped the noise of bellows and
hammers, and appealed to the jury of
the shop for the justice of my deter-
mination, and made the best use I
could of the example. I sent Taylor
off with deserved contempt, and to
convince him that we really could do
without him. However we are very
much behind hand in nozzles."—
Boulton to Watt,- 19th April,
1782.

CHAP. XV. WANTED AT WHEAL VIRGIN. 313

manner in which he had erected their new engine ; Mr.
Beauchamp, the Chairman of the Company, having
publicly declared that "he regarded William as the
most obliging and industrious workman he had ever
known." Though Murdock's wages were not then
raised, and though Bonze, the Cornish engineer — a man
of means as well as of skill and experience — invited
him to join in an engineering partnership, William
remained loyal to the Boulton and Watt firm, and in
due time he had his reward.

Murdock's popularity with the Cornishmen increased
so much that Watt seems to have grown somewhat
jealous of him, for when William was to be had, they
preferred him to Watt himself.1 At Wheal Yirgin,
the adventurers insisted upon having him all to them-
selves ; but this was not practicable, as there were other
engines in progress requiring constant attention, —
Wheal Crenver, which Watt described as "in the
enemy's country, Pool hardly completed yet, and Dal-
coath in its childhood."

" I cannot now leave Wheal Virgin a single day," wrote Watt,
" without running the risk of some vile blunder, particularly as the
boilers are now setting. Win. Murdock was at Wheal Virgin one
day this week, and that day was taken up with Mr. Wedgwood,2 so

1 " To-day was account day at
Wheal Virgin, when there was nothing
remarkable, only that Mr. Phillips
insisted upon William Murdock
being wholly at Wheal Virgin, which

Watt to Boulton, 15th November,
1781.

2 One of the pleasantest events
that occurred to Watt in the course
of his stay in Cornwall, was the visit

I told him could not possibly be com- j of Wedgwood, who had come to
plied with, unless I went to Crenver inspect some of the mines in which,
in his place, as I had nobody else on Boulton's recommendation, he had

to send thither; nevertheless, that
William should be here as much as
possible. This did not satisfy him,
and 1 know not what to do, as Crenver
will be ready to work in three weeks

and must not be delayed I

think my personal attendance should
satisfy Wheal Virgin adventurers, but
as they seem to have more confidence
in William, I will for peace's sake

taken an interest, and at the same
time to search for clays for use in his
earthenware and porcelain manufac-
ture at Etruria. " Mr. Wedgwood,"
he wrote Boulton, "has been in this
country some days hunting clays and
soap rocks, cobalts, &c. I have had
two visits of him at the expense of a
day and a half. Nevertheless I don't
grudge that, as I am glad to see a

yield to their will, .being satisfied that | Christian. He has just left me.'
William will do the business well."— Watt to Boulton, 18th October, 1781.

314

DESPONDENCY OF WATT.

CHAP. XV.

that it was partly lost. Yesterday he was taken away by Crenver
people and is not returned. I fear I cannot get much of his help,
and I assure you I need it much, for there cannot be a greater
plague than to have five engines making by ignorant men and no
helpmate to look after them. I have been tolerably well these few
days, but cannot get up my spirits, from having too much to think
upon."

Combined with the troubles arising out of the per-
versities, blunderings, and bad conduct of his workmen,
Watt had also to struggle against torment of mind and
body, aggravated by bad news from home. Boulton
was in the crisis of his troubles with his partner
Fothergill, from which he was desperately struggling
to shake himself free.1

Watt was made additionally miserable by the state of
the bankers' account, which was still overdrawn to a
very large amount. The bankers were urgent for
repayment, but neither of the partners saw where the
money was to come from. Watt again thought of
giving up altogether, and selling his share of the
business as the only means of relief which presented
itself.

" I am almost moved," he wrote, " if Lowe, Vere, and Williams
will free me from any demands on my future industry, to give up
my present property altogether, and trust to Providence for my
support. I cannot live as I am with any degree of comfort. The
want of the superfluities of life is a trifle compared with continual
anxiety. I do not see how you can pay L. V. & W. WOOL per

1 Fothergill died insolvent in 1782.
Notwithstanding what he had suffered
by the connexion, Boulton acted with
great generosity towards Fothergill's
family, providing for his widow and
orphan children. " Whatever the
conduct of any part of that family
towards me may have been," said he,
" their present distresses turn every
passion into tender pity. I waited
upon Mrs. Fothergill this morning,
and administered all the consolation
that words could give, but I must do
more, or their distresses will be great
indeed. I never wished for life and

health so fervently as at present ; for I
consider it my duty to act as a father
to that family to the best of my
power, and the addition of a widow
and seven children is no small one."
Boulton was as good as his promises ;
and he not only helped the Fothergill
family through their difficulties, but
he undertook to pay an annual sum
(though under no obligation to do so)
to a Mrs. Swelling-rebel — a widowed
lady from whom Fothergill had ob-
tained money which he lost; and
who, but for Boulton's generous help,
must have been left destitute.

CHAP. XV. THE AGENT'S HOUSE ON FIRE. 315

quarter ; I am sure it cannot be from the engine business, unless
we can reduce the amount of our general expenses to 0 and live
upon air ourselves. . . . Though you and I should entirely lose this
business and all its profits, you will get quit of a burdensome debt ;
and as both of us lived before it had a being, so we may do after-
wards. Therefore consider what can be done, and do it without
reluctance, or with as little as you can ; and depend upon it that I
am sincerely your friqnd, and shall push you to nothing that I do
not think to be for your advantage." l

Two days later, while still in a heavily desponding
humour, he wrote thus :—

" If matters were to come to the worst, many methods may be
fallen upon whereby we may preserve some consequence in the
world. A hundred hours of melancholy will not pay one farthing
of debt. Summon up your fortitute and try to turn your attention
to business, and to correct the abuses at Soho. . . . All the idlers
should be told that in case they persevere in want of attention, then
dismission must ensue. . . . The Soho part of the business has been
somehow a perpetual drain to us, and if it cannot be put on a better
footing, must be cut off altogether by giving out the work to be
done by others." 2

To add to their troubles, a fire broke out in the house
of Boulton and Watt's London agent for the sale of their
copying machines, and the building, with its contents,
was burnt to the ground, thereby causing a loss to the
firm of above a thousand pounds. The mining trade
was also wretchedly bad in Cornwall, several of the
more important mines being unproductive, while ore
was selling at low prices. The adventurers were
accordingly urging Watt to abate the agreed dues for
the use of their engines, and in several cases threatened
to close the mines unless he did so. The United Mines
asked to be reduced 50/. a month. Watt having refused
to make the abatement, the mine was ordered to be
stopped, on which he consented to give up the dues
altogether for a period of six months. " There seemed,"
he wrote to Boulton, "to be no other course, if we

1 Watt to Boulton, 16th March, 1782.

2 Watt to Boulton, 18th March, 1782.

316 WATT LEAVES CORNWALL. CHAP. XV.

would maintain our right, and at the same time do
justice to the poor people, who must otherwise absolutely
starve, and are already riotously disposed through the
stopping of Wheal Yirgin." l "In short," said he,
" almost the whole county is against us, and look upon
us as oppressors and tyrants, from whose power they
believe the horned imps of Satan are to relieve them."
Watt was indeed thoroughly sick of Cornwall, and
longed to get back to Birmingham. He confessed he
did not see how, under the present state of things, he
could be of any more use there. The weather was very
tempestuous, and he felt the fatigue of travelling from
mine to mine too much for him to endure. On the 4th
of April he wrote, — " I returned from the coast to Cos-
game last night with an aching head, after a peregrina-
tion of two days in very stormy weather." " Upon the
whole," he wrote to Boulton, " I look upon our present
Cornish prospects as very bad, and would not have you
build too much upon them nor upon the engine business,
without some material change. I shall think it prudent
to look out for some other way of livelihood, as I expect
that this will be swallowed up in merely paying its
burdens."2 Watt, accordingly, finding that he could
do no more good in Cornwall, left it about the middle
of April, and returned with an aching head and heavy
heart to Birmingham.

1 Watt to Boulton, 27th March, 1782.

2 Watt to Boulton, 30th March, 1782.

CHAP. XVI. IMPROVING PROSPECTS. 317

CHAPTEE XVI.

MORE DIFFICULTIES AND MORE INVENTIONS — BOULTON AGAIN
IN CORNWALL.

THE battle of the firm had hitherto been all up-hill.
Nearly twenty years had passed since Watt had made
his invention. His life since then had been a constant
struggle, and it was a struggle still. Thirteen years
had passed since the original patent had been taken
out, and seven since the Act had been passed for its
extension. But the engine had as yet yielded no
profit, and the outlay of capital continued. Notwith-
standing Boulton' s energy and resources, the partners
were often in the greatest straits for money, and some-
times, as Saturday nights came round, they had to beat
about among their friends for the means of paying the
workmen's wages.

Though Watt continued to imagine himself on the
brink of ruin, things were not really so gloomy as
he supposed. We find Boulton stating in a con-
fidential letter to Matthews, that the dues payable on
the pumping-engines actually erected in 1782 amounted
to 43 2 01. a year; and that when all the engines in
progress had been finished, they would probably amount
to about 9000/. It is true, the dues were paid with
difficulty by the mining interest, still in a state of
great depression, but Boulton looked forward with con-
fidence to better days coming round. Indeed, he already
saw his way through the difficulties of the firm, and
encouraged his doleful partner to hope that in the course
of a very few years more, they would be rid of their
burdens.

318 KOTAKY ENGINES FOK MILLS. CHAP. XVI.

As Cornwall was, however, now becoming well sup-
plied with pumping-engines, it became necessary to open
up new branches of business to keep the Soho manufac-
tory in full work. With this object, Boulton became more
and more desirous of applying the engine to the various
purposes of rotary motion. In one of his visits to
Wales, in 1781, he had seen a powerful copper-rolling
mill driven by water, and when told that its defect was
that it was liable to be stopped in summer during drought,
he immediately asked — " Why not use our engine ? It
goes night and day, summer and winter, and is
altogether unaffected by drought." Immediately on his
return home, he made a model of a steam rolling-mill,
with two cylinders and two beams, connecting the
power by a horizontal axis ; and by the end of the year
he had a steam forge erected at Soho on this plan.
"It answers very well," he wrote to Matthews, "and
astonishes all the ironmasters ; for, although it is a
small engine, it draws even more steel per day than
a large rolling-mill in this neighbourhood draws by
water." Mr. Wilkinson was so much pleased with it
that he ordered one to be made on a large scale for the
Bradley ironworks; and another was shortly after
ordered for Eotherham. But the number of iron mills
was exceedingly limited, and Boulton did not anticipate
any large extension of business in that quarter. If, how-
ever, he could once get the rotary engine introduced as
the motive power for corn and flour mills, he perceived
that the demand would be considerable. Writing to
Watt on the subject, he said, "When Wheal Virgin is
at work, and all the Cornish business is in good train,
we must look out for orders, as all our treaties are
seemingly at an end, having none now upon the tapis.
There is no other Cornwall to be found, and the most
likely line for increasing the consumption of our engines
is the application of them to mills, which is certainly an
extensive field."

CHAP. XVI. WATT UN KOTAT1VES. 319

Watt, on his return to Birmingham from Cornwall,
proceeded to embody his plan for securing rotary motion
in a working engine, so that he might be enabled to
exhibit the thing in actual work. He was stimulated to
action by the report which reached his ears that a
person in Birmingham had set agoing a self-moving
steam rotator, in imitation of his, on which he exclaimed,
" Surely the Devil of Eotations is afoot ! I hope he
will whirl them into Bedlam or Newgate."1 Boulton,
who had by this time gone to Cornwall for the winter,
wrote to him from Cosgarne, "It is certainly expensive ;
but nevertheless I think, as we have so much at stake, that
we should proceed to execute such rotatives as you have
specified. . . . You should get a good workman or two
to execute your ideas with despatch, lest they perish.
The value of their wages for a year might be 100/., but
it would be the means of our keeping the start that we
now have of all others. But above all, there is nothing
of more importance than the perfect completion of the
double expansive reciprocating engine as soon as may
be.2 Watt replied that he was busily occupied in getting
the rotative motion applied to one of the Soho engines.
" These rotatives," said he, " have taken up all my time
and attention for months, so that I can scarcely say that
I have done anything which can be called business.
Our accounts lie miserably confused. We are going on
in a very considerable weekly expense at Soho, and I
can see nothing likely to be produced from it which will
be an equivalent." Speaking of the prospect of further
improvements, he added, "It is very possible that,
excepting what can be done in improving the mechanics
of the engine, nothing much better than we have
already done will be allowed by Nature, who has fixed
a ne plus ultra in most things." :

1 Walt to Boulton, 19th September, 1782.
* Boulton to Watt, 28th September, 1782.
3 Watt to Boulton, 3rd October, 1782.

320

ALTERCATIONS WITH ADVENTURERS.

CHAP. XVI.

While thus hopelessly proceeding with the rotative
engine, Watt was disquieted by the intelligence which
reached him from Boulton, as to the untoward state of
affairs in Cornwall. At some of the most important
mines, in which Boulton and Watt held shares, the
yield had considerably fallen off, and the price of the
ores being still very low, they had in a great measure
ceased to be remunerative. Hence appeals were made
to Boulton on all sides for an abatement of the engine
dues. Unwilling to concede this, the adventurers pro-
ceeded to threaten him with the Hornblowers, whose
engine they declared their intention of adopting. As,
however, Boulton and Watt's engines were all going
exceedingly well, and as the Hornblowers had not yet
been able to get one of their boasted engines to work
satisfactorily,1 the adventurers hesitated for the present
to take any overt steps in the matter.

Boulton had a long and disagreeable battle to fight
with the adventurers on this point, which lasted for
many months, during which the Hornblowers continued
to stimulate them with the agreeable prospect of
getting rid of the dues payable in respect of the savings
of fuel by the condensing engines. Boulton resisted
them at every point single-handed ; the battle being, as
he said, " Boulton and Watt against all Cornwall." 2 He
kept Watt fully informed from day to day of all that
passed, and longed for more rapid means of communi-

1 " On my road to this place
(Cosgarne) I stayed two days at
Bristol in order to learn the-particulars
of Hornblower's new engine erected in
that neighbourhood, and I had the
satisfaction to find that it is worse
than a common engine, although made
upon our principles; but from the
various evasions introduced it is as
bad as need be. Nevertheless I
think we should stop it in order to
stop the effects of the numerous lies
they propagate in this county, and
other mischiefs." — Boulton to Watt,

30th September, 1782.

2 " I don't know a man in Cornwall
amongst the adventurers," he wrote,
" but what would think it patriotism
to free the mines from the tribute
they pay to us, and thereby divide
our rights amongst their own dear
selves. Nevertheless, let us keep our
tempers, and keep the firm hold we
have got ; let us do justice, show
mercy and walk humbly, and all, I
hope, will be right at last."—
Boulton to Watt, 2nd November,
1782.

CHAP. XVL BOULTON'S LIFE IX CORNWALL. 321

cation, — the postal service being then so defective that no
less than thirteen days elapsed before Boulton, at Truro,
could receive an answer from Watt at Birmingham.
On one occasion we find Watt's letter eleven days on
the road between the two places. The partners even
had fears that their letters were tampered with in
transit; and, in order to carry on their correspondence
confidentially, Watt proposed to employ a shorthand
alphabet, which he had learnt from Dr. Priestley, in
which to write at least the names of persons, " as our
correspondence," he observed, "ought to be managed
with all possible secrecy, especially as to names."

Boulton, as usual, led a very active life in Corn-
wall. Much of his time was occupied in riding from
mine to mine, inspecting the engines at work, and
superintending the erection of others. The season
being far advanced, the weather was bad, and the
roads miry; but, wet or dry, he went his rounds. In
one of his letters he gives an account of a miserable
journey home on horseback, on a certain rainy, windy,
dark night in November, when he was " caught in water
up to 1 2 hands." " It is very disagreeable," he adds, " that
one cannot stay out till dark upon the most emergent
business without risking one's life." But once at home
he was happy. " The greatest comfort I find here," he
says, "is in being shut out from the world, and the
world from me. At the same time I have quite as
much visiting as I wish for." One of his favourite
amusements was collecting and arranging fossils, some
for his friend Wedgwood, and others for his own " fos-
silry" at Soho. Boulton was well supported out of
doors by William Murdock, now regarded as " the right
hand " of the concern in Cornwall.

" Murdock hath been indefatigable," he wrote Watt, " ever since
they began [at AY heal Virgin new Engine]. He has scarcely been
in bed or taken necessary food. . . . After slaving day and night on
Thursday and Friday, a letter came from \Vheal Virgin that he

Y

322 MURDOCK AND THE MINERS. CHAP. XVI.

must go instantly to set their engine to work or they would let out
the fire. He went and set the engine to work : it worked well for
the five or six hours he remained. He left it and returned to the
Consolidated Mines about eleven at night, and was employed about
the engines till four this morning, and then went to bed. I found
him at ten this morning in Poldice Cistern, seeking for pins and
casters that had jumped out, when I insisted on his going home to
bed." l

On one occasion, when an engine superintended by
Murdock stopped through some accident occurring to
it, the water rose in the mine, and the miners were
drowned out. Upon this occurring, they came " roaring
at him" for having thrown them out of work, and
threatened to tear him to pieces. Nothing daunted, he
went through the midst of the men, and proceeded to
the invalided engine, which he succeeded in very shortly
repairing and setting to work again. The miners were
so rejoiced that they were carried by their feelings
into the opposite extreme; and when he came out of
the engine-house they cheered him vociferously, and
insisted upon carrying him home on their shoulders
in triumph!

About this time, Boulton became increasingly anxious
to ascertain what the Hornblowers were doing. They
continued to brag of the extraordinary powers of the
engine erected by them at Eadstoke, near Bristol,
whither he proposed to go, to ascertain its construc-
tion and qualities, as well as to warn the persons who
were employing them as to the consequences of their
infringing the existing patent. But he was tied to
Cornwall by urgent business, and could not leave his
post for a day. " During the forking of these two great
mines," said he, " I dare not stir two miles from the
spot, and it will yet be six weeks before I regain my
liberty."2 He determined, therefore, to send over
James Law, a Soho man on whom he could rely, to

1 Boulton to Watt, 30th September, 1782.

2 Eoulton to Watson of Bristol, 7th November, 1782.

CHAP. XVI. WATT AT BRISTOL. 323

ascertain, if possible, the character of the new engine,
and he also asked his partner Watt to wait upon the
proprietors of Radstoke so soon as he could make it
convenient to do so. Law accordingly proceeded to
Radstoke, and soon found out where the engine was ;
but as the Homers were all in the neighbourhood,
keeping watch and ward over it turn and turn about,
he was unable to see it except through the engine-house
window, when it was not working. He learnt, how-
ever, that there was something seriously wrong with
it, and that the engineers were considerably crestfallen
about its performances.

Watt proceeded to Bristol, as recommended by his
partner, for the purpose of having a personal inter-
view with Hornblower's employers. On his arrival, he
found that Major Tucker, the principal partner, was
absent ; and though he succeeded in seeing Mr. Hill,
another of the partners, he could get no satisfactory
reply from him as to the intentions of the firm with
respect to the new engine. Having travelled a hundred
miles on his special errand, Watt determined not to
return to Birmingham until he had seen the principal
partner. On inquiry he found that Major Tucker had
gone to Bath, and thither Watt followed him. At Bath
he found that the Major had gone to Melcompton. Watt
took a chaise and followed him. The Major was out
hunting ; and Watt waited impatiently at a little ale-
house in the village till three o'clock, when the Major
returned — " a potato-faced, chuckle-headed fellow, with
a scar on the pupil of one eye. In short," said Watt,
" I did not like his physiog." After shortly informing
the Major of the object of his visit, who promised to
bring the subject under the notice of his partners at a
meeting to be held in about three weeks' time, Watt,
finding that he could do no more, took his leave ; but,
before he left Bristol, he inserted in the local papers an
advertisement, prepared by Boulton, cautioning the

Y 2

324 STEAM MILLS. CHAP. XVI.

public against using the Hornblowers' engine, as being
a direct infringement of their patent. For the present,
indeed, there seemed but little reason to apprehend
danger from the Hornblowers, whose engine was still
undergoing alterations in detail, if not in principle ; and
it appeared doubtful, from the trials which had been
made of it, whether it would ever prove an economical
working engine.

Watt then returned to Birmingham, to proceed with
the completion of his rotary motion. Boulton kept
urging that the field for pumping-engines was limited,
that their Cornish prospects were still gloomy, and that
they must very soon look out for new fields. One of
his schemes was the applying of the steam-engine to
the winding of coals. "A hundred engines at 100/.
a year each," he said, " would be a better thing than all
Cornwall." But the best field of all, he still held, was
mills. "Let us remember," said he, "the Birmingham
motto, to ' strike while the iron is hot.5 '

"Watt, as usual, was not so sanguine as his partner,
and rather doubtful of the profit to be derived from
this source. From a correspondence between him and
Mr. William Wyatt, of London, on the subject, we
find him discouraging the scheme of applying steam-
engines to drive corn-mills ; on which Boulton wrote
to Wyatt,—

" You have had a correspondence with my friend Watt, but I
know not the particulars. . . . You must make allowance in what
Mr. Watt says ... he under values the merits of his own works.
. . . 1 will take all risks in erecting an engine for a corn-mill. . . .
I think I can safely say our engine will grind four times the quantity
of corn per bushel of coal compared with any engine hitherto
erected." *

About the same time we find Boulton writing to
Watt,—

" You seem to be fearful that mills will not answer, and that you

1 Boulton to Wyatt, 16th December, 1782.

CHAP. XVI. ROTARY MOTION APPLIED. 325

cannot make Reynolds's amount to more than 201. a year. For my
part, I think that mills, though trifles in comparison with Cornish
engines, present a field that is boundless, and that will be more
permanent than these transient mines, and more satisfactory than
these inveterate, ungenerous, and envious miners and mine lords.
As to the trouble of small engines, I would curtail it by making a
pattern card of them (which may be done in the course of next year),
and confine ourselves to those sorts and sizes until our convenience
admits of more." *

In the mean time "Watt, notwithstanding his doubts,
had been proceeding" with the completion of his rotative
machine, and by the end of the year applied it with
success to a tilt-hammer, as well as to a corn-mill at
Soho. Some difficulties presented themselves at first,
but they were speedily surmounted. The number of
strokes made by the hammer was increased from 18 per
minute in the first experiment, to 25 in the second ;
and -Watt contemplated increasing the speed to even
250 or 300 strokes a minute, by diminishing the height
to which the hammer rose before making its descending
blow. " There is now no doubt," said he, " that fire-
engines will drive mills; but I entertain some doubts
whether anything is to be got by them, as by any com-
putation I have yet made of the mill for Reynolds
[recently ordered] I cannot make it come to more than
20£. per annum, which will do little more than pay
trouble. Perhaps some others may do better."2

The problem of producing rotary motion by steam-
power was thus solved to the satisfaction even of Watt
himself. But though a boundless field for the employ-
ment of the engine now presented itself, Watt was
anything but elated at the prospect. For some time
he doubted whether it would be worth the while of the
Soho firm to accept orders for engines of this sort.
When Boulton went to Dublin to endeavour to secure
a patent for Ireland, Watt wrote to him thus : — " Some

1 Boulton to Watt, 7th December,

1782.

2 Watt to Boulton, 28th November,

1782.

326

OLD BESS" ENGINE.

CHAP. XVI

'OLD BESS."

people at Burton are making1 application to us for an
engine to work a cotton-mill ; but from their letter and
the man they have sent here, I have no great opinion

1 The above illustration represents
the first engine employed at Soho,
with the alterations subsequently in-
troduced, for the purpose of producing
rotary motion. The old Kinneil
engine, "Beelzebub," as Watt called
her, was entirely removed, and re-
placed by this engine, as explained by
Watt in his MS. Memoir of Boulton
now before us, wherein he states, —
" The first engine of 18 inches cylin-
der, which was employed in returning
the water to Soho mill, was replaced
about 1778 or 1779 by a larger engine,
the first on the expansive principle,
which still remains there." The

engine became known at Soho as
" Old Bess," and she continued in
regular work until within the last
eight years. The illustration shows
the state in which the engine now
stands in South Kensington Museum.
A. steam cylinder ; B. steam pipe ; C.
throttle valve; D. steam valve; E. educ-
tion valve ; F. eduction pipe ; G. valve
gearing; H. condenser; I. air pump; K.
air pump rod; L. foot valve; M. hand
gear tappet rod ; N. parallel motion ;
0. balance weight ; P. rocking beam ;
Q. connecting rod ; R. feed pump rod ;
S. sun wheel; T. planet wheel; U. fly
wheel ; W. governor ; X. feed water
cistern.

CHAP. XVI.

FIRST ROTATIVE ENG1XKS.

327

of their abilities If you come home by way of

Manchester, please not to seek for orders for cotton-mill
engines, because I hear that there are so many mills
erecting 011 powerful streams in the north of England,
that the trade must soon be overdone, and consequently
our labour may be lost." Boulton, however, had no
such misgivings. He foresaw that before long the
superior power, regularity, speed, and economy, of
the steam-engine, must recommend it for adoption in
all branches of manufacture in which rotative motion
was employed ; and he had no hesitation in applying
for orders notwithstanding the opposition of his partner.
The first rotary engine was made for Mr. Eeynolds, of
Ketley, towards the end of 1782, and was used to drive
a corn-mill. It was some time before another order was
received, though various inquiries were made about
engines for the purpose of polishing glass, grinding
malt, rolling iron, and such like.1 The first engine of
the kind erected in London was at Groodwyn and Co.'s
brewery; and the second, still working, though in an
altered form, at the Messrs. Whitbread's. These were
shortly followed by other engines of the same descrip-
tion, until there was scarcely a brewery in London
that was not supplied with one.

In the mean time, the works at Soho continued to be
fully employed in the manufacture of pumping-engines.
But as the county of Cornwall was becoming well
supplied, — no fewer than twenty-one having now been
erected there, only one of the old Newcomen construc-
tion continuing in work, — it was probable that before

1 " We have had a visit to-day
from a Mr. Cort of Gosport, who says
he has a forge there, and has found
out some grand secret in the making
of iron, by which he can make double
the quantity at the same expense and
in the same time as usual. He says
he wants some kind of engine, but
could not tell what ; wants some of us

to call on him, and says he had some
correspondence with you on the sub-
ject. He seems a simple goodnatured
man, but not very knowing. He
says he has most of the smith-work
for the king's yard, and has a forge,
a rolling and slitting mill. I think
him a brother projector." — Watt to
Boulton, 14th December, 1782.

328 BOULTON'^ HEALTH GIVES WAY. CHAP. XVI.

long the demand from that quarter must slacken, if
not come to an end. There were, however, other
uses to which the pumping-engine might be applied ;
and one of the most promising was the drainage of
the Fen lands. Some adventurers at Soham, near
Cambridge, having made inquiries on the subject, Watt
wrote to his partner, "I look upon these Fens as
the only trump card we have left in our hand." * The
adventurers proposed that Boulton and Watt should
take an interest in their scheme by subscribing part of
the necessary capital. But Watt decidedly objected
to this, as he did not wish to repeat his Cornish diffi-
culties in the Fens. He was willing to supply engines
on reasonable terms, but as for shares he would have
none of them. The conclusion he eventually arrived at
with respect to his proposed customers was this, — " Con-
sider Fen men as Cornish men, only more cunning."

In the midst of his great labours, Boulton was re-
minded that he was human. He had for years been
working at too high pressure, and the tear and wear
began to tell upon his health. Watt expostulated with
him, telling him that he was trying to do half-a-dozen
men's work; but in vain. He was committed to so
many important enterprises — he had so much at stake
—the liabilities he had to meet from day to day were so
heavy — that he was in a measure forced to be active.
To his friend Matthews he lamented that he was under
the necessity of " slaving from morning till night,
working fourteen hours a day, in the drudgery of a Bir-
mingham manufacturer and hardware merchant." But
this could not last, and before long he was threatened
with a break-down. His friends Drs. Withering and
Darwin urged him at once to " knock off" and take a
long holiday — to leave Soho and its business, its cor-
respondence, and its visitors, and get as far away from it
as possible.

1 4th December, 1782.

CHAP. XVI. HE VISITS SCOTLAND. 329

Acting on their advice, he resolved on making a long-
promised visit to Scotland, and he set out on his tour
in the autumn of 1783. He went by Newcastle, where
he visited the principal coal mines, and from thence to
Edinburgh, where he had some pleasant intercourse
with Dr. Black and Professor Robison. It is evident
from his letters that he did not take much ease during
his journey, for he carried about with him his steam-
engine — at least in his head. " I talked with Dr. Black
and another chemical friend," he wrote, " respecting my
plan for saving alkali at such bleach-grounds as our fire-
engines are used at instead of water-wheels : the Doctor
did not start any objections, but, on the contrary, much
approved it." From Edinburgh he proceeded to the
celebrated ironworks at Carron, a place in which he
naturally felt a peculiar interest. There his friend
Roebuck had started his great enterprise, and there
Watt had erected his first engine. His visit there,
however, was not so much for curiosity or pleasure, but
for business and experiment. " During my residence in
Scotland," said he, " one month of my time was closely
employed at Carron Ironworks in settling accounts, but
principally in making a great number of experiments
on all their iron ores, and in putting them into the train
of making good bar-iron, in which I succeeded to my
wishes, although they had never made a single bar of
tough iron at Carron before." l In the course of his
journey he made a large collection of fossils for his
museum, and the weight of his bags sensibly increased
almost daily. On his way through Ayrshire he called
on Lord Dundonald, a kindred spirit in chemical and
mechanical scheming, and examined his mineral tar
works. He wrote to Mr. Gilbert, the Duke of Bridge-
water's manager at Worsley, that " the tar is better for
the bottoms of vessels than the vegetable tar ; and the

Letter to Thomas Knox, M.P.

330

EETUKNS IMPROVED TO SOHO.

CHAP. XVI.

coal-oil hath many uses. Query — if such a work might
not be a useful appendage to your colliery and canal."

Boulton returned to Soho greatly improved in health,
and was shortly immersed as before in the business of
the factory. He found considerable arrears of corre-
spondence requiring to be brought up. Several of the
letters waiting for him were from schemers of new
inventions connected with the steam-engine. Whenever
an inventor thought he had discovered anything new,
he at once rushed to Boulton with it. He was looked
upon as the lord and leader of steam power. His repu-
tation for enterprise and business aptitude, and the
energetic manner in which he had pushed Watt's inven-
tion, were now so widely known, that every new
schemer saw a fortune within his reach could he but
enlist Boulton on his side. Hence much of his time
was occupied in replying to letters from schemers,—
from inventors of perpetual motion, of flying-machines,
of locomotion by steam, and of various kinds of rotary
motion. In one of his letters we find him complaining
of so much of his time being " taken up in answering
great numbers of letters he had lately been plagued
with from eccentric persons of no business ; " for it was
his practice never to leave a letter unanswered, no
matter how insignificant or unreasonable his corre-
spondent might be.1

1 With an almost excess of polite-
ness, Boulton wrote long letters to
unknown correspondents to set them
right about mechanical errors into
which they seemed to him to have
fallen. Thus a Mr. Knipe of Chel-
sea, supposing he had discovered
a perpetual motion machine, wrote
inviting Boulton to join him as a
partner. Though the man was without
means and evidently foolish, Boulton
wrote him several long letters in the
kindest spirit, pointing out that his
scheme was contrary to reason and sci-
ence. "It is impossible," said he, " for

inanimate mechanism to produce the
least degree of power or to augment
the sum total of the primum mobile.
Mechanism may communicate or con-
centrate or economise power, but cannot
create or augment it." Knipe replied
at great length, vindicating his inven-
tion. His enthusiasm pleased Boulton,
who, in the generosity of his nature,
sent him a draft for ten guineas on his
London bankers to enable the poor
inventor to secure his invention if
there was really anything in it. But
nothing more was heard of Knipe's
Perpetual Motion Machine.

CHAP. XVI.

GEUMBLING IN CORNWALL.

331

After a short visit to London, Boulton proceeded into
Cornwall to look after the engines there, and watch the
progress of the mining operations in which by this time
he had become so largely interested. He found the
adventurers in a state of general grumble at the badness
of the times, the lowness of prices, the losses incurred
in sinking for ore that could not be found, and the
heaviness of the dues for engine-power payable to
Boulton and Watt. At such times, the partners were
usually beset with applications for abatement, to which
they were under the necessity of submitting to prevent
the mines being altogether closed. Thus the dues at
Chacewater were reduced from 2500/. to 1000/. a year,
and the adventurers were still pressing for further
reductions.1 What provoked Boulton most, however,
was, not the loss of dues so much as the threats which
were constantly held out to him that unless the demands
of the adventurers were complied with, they would
employ the Hornblowers.

" It is a disagreeable thing," he wrote, " to live amongst one's
enemies, and all the adventurers are so, except Phillips and the Foxes,
who are fair men although they would rather have engines free. I
have had many hints given me that the Trumpeters were reviving
their mischief, and many causes for uneasiness, but I did not wish
you to partake of them, and therefore have been silent ; but they
are now striking at the root of us, and therefore we must defend

1 No wonder the miners were so
urgent for reductions in working ex-
penses, as we find from a communica-
tion from Watt to Boulton, of facts to
be laid before Parliament against the
proposed tax on coal, that Ohacewater
had sunk 50,000?. in setting the mine
to work ; Wheal Virgin 28,000?. in
ten months, and still unprosperous ;
Poldice a very large sum, and merely
paying expenses ; Wheal Chance
35,000?., and only moderately pros-
perous; Pool 14,000?., without much
prospect of recovery ; Roskere lan-
guishing, and not paying expenses;
United Mines, which had been at

death's door, still in a tottering
state; Wheal Union stopped, after
losing about 8000?.; Dalcoath 500?.
spent on timber per month, and a new
kibble-rope, of above a ton weight,
worn out in a fortnight. [To draw a
kibble of ore then, weighing about
3 cwt., took fully fifteen minutes,
owing to the great depth of that mine,
and two-thirds of the stuff drawn was
stones.] To which Watt added, " if we
had not furnished the miners with
more effectual means of draining the
water, almost all the deep mines
would have been abandoned before
now."

332 FURTHER CONCESSIONS. CHAP. XVI.

ourselves or fall. ... I think if we could but keep up our spirits
and be active we might vanquish all the host. But I must own
that I have been low-spirited ever since I have been here — have
been indolent, and feel as if the springs of life were let down."

It does not, however, appear from the letter to Watt
in which this complaint occurs, that Boulton had been
at all indolent, as he speaks of being in almost daily
attendance at the miners' meetings ; one day at Poldice,
the next at Consolidated Mines, and so on. Of the
latter meeting he says, — -

" There was a full attendance ; Jethro looked impudent, but
mortified to see the new little engine drawing kibbles from two pits
exceedingly well and very manageable, and afterwards it worked
six stamps each 2% = 14 cwt., lifted twice at each revolution, or
four times for every stroke of the engine. I suppose there were a
thousand people present to see the engine work."

Watt was, on his part, rather opposed to making
further concessions, which only seemed to have the effect
of inviting demands for more.

" People," said he, " do not employ us out of personal regard, but
to serve themselves ; and why should not we look after ourselves
in like manner. . . . John Taylor died the other day worth 200,000?.,
without ever doing one generous action. I do not mean that we
should follow his example. I should not consent to oppression or to
take any unfair advantage of my neighbour's necessity, but I think
it blameable to exercise generosity towards men who display none
towards us. It is playing an unfair game when the advantage is
wholly on their side. If Wheal Virgin threatened to stop unless
we abated one-half, they should stop for me ; but if it appeared that,
according to the mode settled in making the agreement, we had
too high a premium, I should voluntarily reduce it to whatever was
just."

While Boulton was fighting for dues in Cornwall,
and labouring as before to improve the business
management of the mines in which he was interested
as a shareholder, Watt was busily occupied at Soho in
turning out new engines for various purposes, as well
as in perfecting several long-contemplated inventions.
The manufactory, which had for a time been unusually

CHAP. XVI.

PEESS OF WORK AT SOHO.

333

slack, was again in full work. Several engines
were in hand for the London brewers. Wedgwood had
ordered an engine to grind flints ; * and orders were
coming in for rotative engines for various purposes,
such as driving saw-mills in America and sugar-mills in
the West Indies. Work was, indeed, so plentiful that
Watt was opposed to further orders for rotatives being
taken, as the drawings for them occupied so much time,
and they brought in but small profit. " I see plainly,"
said he, " that every rotation engine will cost twice the
trouble of one for raising water, and will in general pay
only half the money. Therefore I beg you will not
undertake any more rotatives until our hands are clear,
which will not be before 1785. We have already more
work in hand than we have people to execute it in the
interval." 2

One reason why Watt was more than usually econo-
mical of his time was, that he was then in the throes of
the inventions patented by him in the course of this
year. Though racked by headaches which, he com-
plained, completely " dumfounded " him and perplexed
his mind, he could not restrain his irrepressible instinct
to invent ; and the result was the series of inventions
embodied in his patent of 1784, including, among other
things, the application of the steam-engine to the
working of a tilt-hammer for forging iron and steel, to
driving wheel-carriages for carrying persons and goods,
and for other purposes. The specification also included
the beautiful invention of the parallel motion, of which
Watt himself said, " Though I am not over anxious after
fame, yet I am more proud of the parallel motion than of
any other mechanical invention I have ever made." Watt
was led to meditate this contrivance by the practical

1 The engine was of 40-horse power.
It was erected at the " Black Works,"
Etruria, where it continues working
with the sun and planet motion, — one
of the very few engines of the old

construction still remaining in ex-
istence.

2 Watt to Poulton, 22nd June,
1784.

334 THE PARALLEL MOTION. CHAP. XVT,

inconvenience which he experienced in communicating
the direct vertical motion of the piston-rod by means of
^ racks and sectors, to the

U angular motion of the

§1 Rfelfea* working beam. He was

gradually led to entertain
the opinion that some
means might be contrived
for accomplishing this ob-
ject by motions turning
upon centres ; and, work-
ing upon this idea, he
J gradually elaborated his

THE P^KAIXEL MOTION invention. So soon as he

caught sight of the possible means of overcoming the
difficulty, he wrote to Boulton in Cornwall,—

" I have started a new hare. I have got a glimpse of a method of
causing a piston-rod to move up and down perpendicularly by only
fixing it to a piece of iron upon the beam, without chains or
perpendicular guides or untowardly friction, arch heads, or other
pieces of clumsiness; by which contrivance it answers fully to
expectation. About 5 feet in the height of her house may be saved
in 8 -feet strokes, which I look upon as a capital saving, and it will
answer for double engines as well as for single ones. I have only
tried it in a slight model yet, so cannot build upon it, though I
think it a very probable thing to succeed. It is one of the most
ingenious, simple pieces of mechanism I have ever contrived, but I
beg nothing may be said on it till I specify." l

He immediately set to work to put his idea to the
practical proof, and only eleven days later he wrote,—

" I have made a very large model of the new substitute for racks
and sectors, which seems to bid fair to answer. The rod goes up
and down quite in a perpendicular line without racks, chains,
or guides. It is a perpendicular motion derived from a combination
of motions about centres — very simple, has very little friction, has
nothing standing higher than the back of the beam, and requires
the centre of the beam to be only half the stroke of the engine
higher than the top of the piston-rod when at lowest, and has

1 Watt to Boulton, 30th June, 1784. Boulton MSS.

CHAP. XVI.

THE GOVERNOR

335

no inclination to pull the piston-rod either one way or another, only
straight up and down. . . . However, don't pride yourself on it — it
is not fairly tried yet, and may have unknown faults." *

Another of Watt's beautiful inventions of the same
period, was the Governor, contrived for the purpose of
regulating the speed of the engine. This was a point
of great importance in all cases where steam-power was
employed in processes of manufacture. To modify the
speed of the piston in the single-acting pumping-engine,
Watt had been accustomed to use what is called a
throttle valve, which was regulated by hand as occasion
required. But he saw that to ensure perfect uniformity
of speed, the action of the engine must be made auto-
matic if possible, and with this object he contrived the
Governor, which has received no improvement since it
left his hand. Two balls are fixed to the ends of arms
connected with the engine by a moveable socket, which
plays up and down a vertical rod re-
volving by a band placed upon the
axis or spindle of the fly-wheel. Ac-
cording to the centrifugal force with
which the balls revolve, they diverge
more or less from the central fixed
point, and push lip or draw down the
moveable collar ; which, being con-
nected by a crank with the throttle-
valve, thereby regulates with the most
perfect precision the passage of the
steam between the boiler and the
cylinder. When the pressure of steam
is great, and the tendency of the en-
gine is to go faster, the governor
shuts off the steam ; and when it is less, the governor
opens the throttle-valve and increases the supply. By

THE GOVERNOR.

1 The parallel motion was first put
in practice in the engine erected for
Mr. Whitbread ;. Watt informing

Boulton (27th October, 1785) that
" the parallel motion of Whitbread's
answers admirably."

336 MUKDOCK'S MODEL LOCOMOTIVE. CHAP. XVI.

this simple and elegant contrivance the engine is made
to regulate its own speed with the most beautiful pre-
cision.

Among the numerous proposed applications of the
steam-engine about this time, was its employment as
a locomotive in driving wheel-carriages. It will be
remembered that Watt's friend Robison had, at a very
early period, directed his attention to the subject ; and
the idea had since been revived by Mr. Edgeworth,
who laboured with great zeal to indoctrinate Watt with
his views. The latter, though he had but little faith in
the project, nevertheless included a plan of a locomotive
engine in his patent of 1784 ; but he took no steps to
put it in execution, being too much engrossed with
other business at the time, His plan contemplated the
employment of steam either in the form of high-pressure
or low-pressure, working the pistons by the force of
steam only, and discharging it into the atmosphere
after it had performed its office, or discharging it into
an air-tight condenser made of thin plates or pipes, with
their outsides exposed to the wind or to an artificial
current of air, thereby economising the water which
would otherwise be lost.

Watt did not carry his design into effect ; and, so far
as he was concerned, the question of steam locomotion
would have gone no further. But the subject had
already attracted the attention of William Murdock,
who had for some time been occupied during his leisure
hours in constructing an actual working model of a
locomotive. When his model was finished, he proceeded
to try it in the long avenue leading to the parsonage at
Redruth, in the summer of 1784; and in so doing
nearly frightened out of his wits the village pastor,
who encountered the hissing, fiery little machine, while
enjoying his evening walk.1

Lives of Engineers,' iii. 77.

CHAP. XVI.

WATT AND THE LOCOMOTIVE.

337

When Watt heard of this experiment, he wrote to
Boulton, advising that Murdock should be gently coun-
selled to give up his scheme, which might have the
effect of withdrawing him from the work of the firm,
in which he had become increasingly useful.

"As to my own part," wrote Watt, " I shall form no obstacle to
the scheme. My only reasons against it were that I feared it would
deprive us of a valuable man ; that it would, if we were to be con-
cerned in it, divert us from more valuable business, and perhaps
prove a sinking fund ; and lastly, that I did not like that a scheme
which I had revolved in my mind for years and hoped to be able at
some favourable time to bring to perfection, if capable of it, should
be wrested from me, or that I should be compelled to go into it as a
secondary person. But I have now made the latter objection give
way. And as to the first, I think it will take place at any rate, so
we must make the best of it." l

Boulton was accordingly recommended in the first
place to endeavour to dissuade Murdock from pursuing
the subject further, but if he could riot succeed in that,
rather than lose him, he was to let him have an advance
to the extent of 100/., to enable him to prosecute his
experiments; and if within a year he succeeded in
making an engine capable of drawing a postchaise
carrying two ordinary persons and the driver, with
200 Ibs. of luggage, fuel for four hours, and water for
two hours, going at the rate of four miles an hour, then
a partnership was to be entered into, in which Boulton
and Watt were to find the capital, and Murdock was to
conduct the business and take his share of the profits.

1 In a letter dated 28th August,
1784, Watt communicated his views
to his partner on the subject of loco-
motive engines at great length. In
the course of the letter he says, —

" My original ideas on this subject were
prior to my invention of the improved
engines, or before the crank or any other
rotative motions were thought of. My
plan then was to have two inverted cylin-
ders with toothed racks instead of piston
rods, which were to be applied to the
ratchet wheels on the axletree, and to act
alternately ; and I am partly of opinion that

this method might be applied with advan-
tage yet, because it needs no fly, and has
other conveniences.

" From what I have said, and from much
more which a little reflection will suggest
to you, you will see that without several
circumstances turn out more favourable than
has been stated, the machine will be clumsy
and defective, and that it will cost much
time to bring it to any tolerable degree of
perfection ; and that for me to attempt to
interrupt the career of my business to bestow
any attention to it, would be imprudent.
I even grudge the time I have taken to write
these comments on it."

338

BOULTON'S PRAISE OF MURDOCK.

CHAP. XVI

Murdock, however, had so many urgent matters to
attend to, that, sanguine though he continued to be as
to the success of his scheme, he could not find time
to pursue it. He was a man after Boulton's own heart,
unsparing of himself and indefatigable in whatsoever
he undertook ; nor was Boulton sparing of praises of
him in his confidential letters to Watt.

" We want more Murdocks," he wrote on one occasion, " for of all
our men he is the most active. He is the best engine erector I ever
saw, and of his energy I had one of the best proofs this day. They
stopped Poldice lower engine last Monday and took her all to pieces ;
took out the condenser, took up out of the shaft the greatest part of
the pumps, took the nozzles to pieces, cut out the iron seatings and
put in brass ones with new valves, mended the eduction-pipe,
and did a great number of repairs about the beam and engine ; put
the pumps down into the new engine shaft, did much work at the
new engine ; and this done, about noon both the engines, new and
old, were set to work again complete. When I look at the work
done it astonishes me, and is entirely owing to the spirit and
activity of Murdock, who hath not gone to bed for three nights,
and I expect the mine will be in full fork again by Wednesday
night. I have got him into good humour again without any
coaxing, have prevailed on him not to give up Wheal Virgin
engine, which he had been resolved to do from the ungenerous
treatment he received from the captains. I have also prevailed on
him to put off his determined journey to Scotland until North
Downs engines are got to work, and have quieted his mind about
wheel carriages till then." '

Notwithstanding Watt's fears of a falling off, the

1 Boulton to Watt, 8th November,
1784. Though Murdock was thus
occupied, he did not abandon his idea
of making a working locomotive. Two
years later we find Watt thus writing
Boulton : —

" I am extremely sorry that W. Murdock
still busies himself with the steam carriages.
In one of my specifications I have secured it,
as well as words could do, according to my
idea of it, and if to that you add Syming-
ton's and Sadler's patents, it can scarcely be
patentable, even if free of the general specifi-
cation in the Act of Parliament ; for even
granting that what I have done cannot secure
it, yet it can act as a prior invention against
anybody else ; and if it cannot be secured by

patent, to what purpose should anybody
labour at it ? 1 have still the same opinions
concerning it that 1 had, but to prevent as
much as possible more fruitless argument
about it, 1 have one of some size under hand,
and am resolved to try if God will work a
miracle in favour of these carriages. I shall
in some future letter send you the words of
my specification on that subject. In the
mean time I wish William could be brought
to do as we do, to mind the business in
hand, and let such as Symington and Sadler
! throw away their time and money in hunting
shadows." — Watt to Boulton, 12th Sept.,
1786. In a subsequent letter, Watt ex-
presses himself as much gratified to learn
" that William applies to his business."

CHAP. XVI.

POLGOOTH MINE.

POLGOOTH. QBy R. P. Leitch.]

engine business still continued to prosper in Cornwall.
Although the mining interests were suffering from
continued depression, new mines were being opened
out, for which pumping-engines were wanted ; and
Boulton and Watt's continued to maintain their supe-
riority over all others. None of their threatened rivals
had yet been able to exhibit an engine in successful
work; and those of the old construction had been
almost completely superseded. In 1784, new engines
were in course of erection at Poldice, New Poldory,
Wheal Maid, Polgooth, and other mines. Almost the
last of the Newcomen engines in Cornwall had been
discarded at Polgooth in favour of one of Boulton and
Watt's 58-inch cylinder engines.

The dues paid yearly in respect of these and other
engines previously erected were very considerable ;
Boulton estimating that, if duly paid, they would
amount to about 12, GOO/, a year. There seemed, there-

z 2

340 BOULTON'S LETTER TO HIS SON. CHAP. XVI.

fore, every reasonable prospect of the financial difficulties
of the firm at last coming to an end.

Boulton's visit to Cornwall on this occasion was en-
livened by the companionship of his wife, and her friend
Miss Mynd. Towards midsummer he looked forward with
anticipations of increased pleasure to the visit of his two
children — his son Matt and his daughter Nancy — during
their school holidays. It was a source of much regret to
him, affectionate as his nature was, that the engrossing
character of his business prevented him enjoying the
society of his family so much as he desired. But he
endeavoured to make up for it by maintaining a regular
correspondence with them when absent. His letters to
his children were full of playfulness, affection, and good
advice. To his son at school he wrote telling him of
his life in Cornwall, describing to him the house at
Cosgarne, the garden and the trees he had planted
in it, the . pleasant rides in the neighbourhood, and the
visit he had just been paying to the top of Pendennis
Castle, from which he had seen about a hundred sail of
ships at sea, and a boundless prospect of land and water.
He proceeded to tell him of the quantity of work he did
connected with the engine business, how he had no
clerk to assist him, but did all the writing and drawing
of plans himself: "When I have time," said he, "I
pick up curiosities in ores for the purpose of assays, for
I have a laboratory here. There is nothing would so
much add to my pleasure as having your assistance in
making solutions, precipitates, evaporations, and crystal-
lisations." After giving his son some good advice as
to the cultivation of his mind, as calculated to render
him an intelligent and useful member of society, he pro-
ceeded to urge upon him the duty of cultivating polite
manners, as a means of making himself agreeable to
others, and at the same time of promoting his own
comfort. " But remember," he added, " I do not wish
you to be polite at the expense of honour, truth, sin-

CHAP. XVI. DOMESTIC ENJOYMENT AT COSGARNE. 341

cerity, and honesty ; for these are the props of a manly
character, and without them politeness is mean and
deceitful. Therefore, be always tenacious of your honour.
Be honest, just, and benevolent, even when it appears
difficult to be so. I say, cherish those principles, and
guard them as sacred treasures."

At length his son and daughter joined him and took
part in his domestic and out-door enjoyments. They
accompanied him in his drives and rides, and Matt took
part in his chemical experiments. One of their great
delights was the fabrication of an immense paper bal-
loon, and the making of the hydrogen gas to fill it
with. After great preparations the balloon was made and
filled, and sent up in the field behind the house, to the
delight of all concerned. To Mrs. Watt he wrote
expressing to her how much pleasanter his residence in
Cornwall had become since his son and daughter's visit.
" I shall be happier," he said, " during the remainder of
my residence here than in the former part of it ; for I
am ill calculated to live alone in an enemy's country,
and to contest lawsuits. Besides, the only source of
happiness I look for in my future life is in my children.
Matt behaves extremely well, is active and good-
humoured; and my daughter, too, has, I think, good
dispositions and sentiments, which I shall cherish, and
prevent as much as possible from being sullied by
narrow and illiberal-minded companions." After a few
months' pleasant social intercourse with his family at
Cosgarne, varied by occasional bickerings with the
adventurers out of doors about dues, Boulton returned
to Birmingham, to enter upon new duties and undertake
new enterprises.

342 COMMERCIAL POLITICS. CHAP. XVII.

CHAPTEE XVII.

COMMERCIAL POLITICS — THE ALBION MILLS — KIOTS IN
CORNWALL — PROSPERITY OF BOULTON AND WATT.

WHEN Boulton returned to Birmingham, lie was urgently
called upon to take part in a movement altogether foreign
to his habits. He had heretofore been too much engrossed
by business to admit of his taking any active part in
political affairs. Being, however, of an active tempera-
ment, and mixing with men of all classes, he could not
but feel an interest in the public movements of his time.
Early in 1784, we find him taking the lead in getting
up a loyal address to the King on the resignation of the
Portland Administration and the appointment of Mr.
Pitt as Prime Minister. It appears, however, that Pitt
disappointed his expectations. One of his first projects
was a scheme of taxation, which he introduced for the
purpose of remedying the disordered state of the finances,
but which, in Boulton's opinion, would, if carried, have
the effect of seriously damaging the national industry.
The Minister proposed to tax coal, iron, copper, and
other raw materials of manufacture, to the amount of
about a million a year. Boulton immediately bestirred
himself to oppose the adoption of the scheme. He held
that for a manufacturing nation to tax the raw mate-
rials of wealth was a suicidal measure, calculated, if
persevered in, to involve the producers of wealth in
ruin. " Let taxes," he said, "be laid upon luxuries, upon
vices, and if you like upon property ; tax riches when
got, and the expenditure of them, but not the means of

CHAP. XVII. AGITATION AGAINST MINISTERS. 343

getting them ; of all things, don't cut open the hen that
lays the golden eggs." l

Petitions and memorials were forthwith got up in the
midland counties, and presented against the measure ;
and Boulton being recognised as the leader of the
movement in his district, was summoned by Mr. Pitt to
London to an interview with him on the subject. He
then took the opportunity of pressing upon the Minister
the necessity of taking measures to secure reciprocity of
trade with foreign nations, as being of vital importance
to the trade of England. Writing to his partner
Scale, he said, " Surely our Ministers must be bad poli-
ticians, to suffer the gates of nearly every commercial
city in the world to be shut against us." " There is no
doubt," he wrote to his friend Garbett, " but the edicts,
prohibitions, and high duties laid upon our manufac-
turers by foreign powers will be severely felt, unless
some new commercial treaties are entered into with
such powers. I fear our young Minister is not suffi-
ciently aware of the importance of the subject, and I
likewise fear he will pledge himself before Parliament
meets to carry other measures in the next session that
will be as odious to the country as his late attempts.'*

As Boulton had anticipated, the Ministry introduced
several important measures, calculated to have a highly
injurious effect upon English industry, and he imme-
diately bestirred himself, in conjunction with Josiah
Wedgwood, of Etruria, to organise a movement in
opposition to them. Wedgwood and Boulton met at
Birmingham in February, 1785, and arranged to
assemble a meeting of delegates from the manufac-
turing districts, who were to meet and sit in London
" all the time the Irish commercial affairs were pending."
A printed statement of the objects of the movement

1 Boulton to Wilson, 16th December, 1784. Boulton MSS.

344 THE "IRISH RESOLUTIONS." CHAP. XVII.

f

was circulated, and Boulton and Wedgwood wrote to
their friends in all quarters to meet and appoint dele-
gates to the central committee in London. Boulton was
unanimously appointed the delegate for Birmingham,
and he proceeded to London furnished with a bundle of
petitions from his neighbourhood. The delegates pro-
ceeded to form themselves into a Chamber of Manu-
facturers, over the deliberations of which Wedgwood,
Boulton, or John Wilkinson usually presided.

The principal object of these meetings and petitionings
was to prevent, if possible, the imposition of the pro-
posed taxes on coal, iron, and raw materials generally,
as well as the proposed export duties on manu-
factured articles. At a time when foreign govern-
ments were seeking to exclude English manufactures
from their dominions by heavy import duties, it was felt
that this double burden was more than English industry
could bear. The Irish Parliament were at the same time
legislating in a hostile spirit towards English commerce ;
imposing taxes upon all manufactures imported into
Ireland from England, while Irish manufactures were
not only sent into England duty free, but their own
parliament encouraged them by a bounty on exportation.
The committee strongly expostulated against the partial
and unjust spirit of this legislation, and petitioned for
free interchange on equal terms. So long as such a
state of things continued, the petitioners urged that
" every idea of reciprocity in the interchange of manu-
factures between Britain and Ireland was a mere
mockery of words."

Although Watt was naturally averse to taking any
public part in politics, his services were enlisted in the
cause, and he drew up for circulation "An answer to the
Treasury Paper on the Iron Trade of England and
Ireland." The object of his statement was to show that
the true way of encouraging manufactures in Ireland
was, not by bounties, not by prohibitions, but by entire

CHAP. XVII. WATT ON FEEE COMMEKCE. 345

freedom of industry. It was asserted by the supporters
of the propositions, that the natives of Ireland were
ignorant, indolent, and poor. " If they be so," said Watt,
"the best method of giving them vigour is to have
recourse to British manufacturers, possessed of capital,
industry, and knowledge of trade." The old covenanting
spirit of his race fairly breaks out in the following
passage : —

"It is contemptible nonsense to argue that because Ireland has
never had iron manufactories she cannot soon have them. . . . One
hundred years ago the Irish had no linen manufacture ; they
imported linen ; and now they sell to us to the amount of a million
annually. How came this about ? The civil wars under Charles L,
and the tyranny of the Scotch Privy Council under Charles II.,
chased the people out of Scotland, because they were Presbyterians.
Ireland received and protected them; they peopled the northern
provinces; many of them were weavers; they followed their
business in Ireland, and taught others. Philip II. chased the
inhabitants out of Flanders, on account of religion ; Queen Elizabeth
received and protected them ; and England learnt to manufacture
woollen cloth. The persecutions of Lewis XIV. occasioned the
establishment of a colony in Spitalfields. And the Parliament

of Britain, under the auspices of and , and others, imposed

oppressive duties on glass ; and 's Act gave the Irish liberty to

export it to our Colonies ; the glass-makers fled from the tyranny
of the Excise ; Ireland has now nine glass-houses. Britain has lost
the export trade of that article ! More examples of the migrations
of manufactures could be adduced, but it seems unnecessary ; for it
cannot be denied that men will fly from tyranny to liberty, whether
Philip's Priests, Charles's Dragoons, or our Excisemen be the
instruments of the tyranny. And it must also be allowed that
even the Inquisition itself is not more formidable than our Excise
Laws (as far as property is concerned) to those who unhappily are
subjected to them."

Towards the end of the statement he asks, " Would it
not be more manly and proper at once to invite the Irish
to come into a perfect union with Britain, and to pay
the same duties and excises that we do? Then every
distinction of country might with justice be done away
with, and they would have a fair claim to all the
advantages which we enjoy."

346 WATT OPPOSED TO AGITATION. CHAP. XVII.

The result of the agitation was that most of the pro-
posals to impose new taxes on the raw materials of
manufacture were withdrawn by the Ministry, and the
Irish resolutions were considerably modified. But the
relations of British and Irish industry were by no means
settled. The Irish Parliament might refuse to affirm
the resolutions adopted by the British Parliament, in
which case it might be necessary again to oppose the
Ministerial measures ; and to provide for this con-
tingency, the delegates separated, with the resolution to
maintain and extend their organisation in the manu-
facturing districts. Watt did not, however, like the
idea of his partner becoming engrossed in political
agitation, even in matters relating to commerce. He
accordingly wrote to Boulton in London, " I find myself
quite unequal to the various business now lying behind,
and wish much you were at home, and that you would
direct your attention solely to your own and to Boulton
and Watt's business until affairs can be brought into
reasonable compass."1 Later he wrote,— "At Manchester
they are busy making a collection for the Chamber of
Manufacturers, which I fancy will be in vogue again
next winter. But I hope that neither you nor I will be
mad enough to be demagogues then. Let us leave that
to those who can defy Ministers, and get our property
secured, which may be done in the confusion."

Watt was at this time distressed by an adverse decision
against the firm in one of the Scotch courts. " I have
generally observed," he wrote, "that there is a tide in
our affairs. We have had peace for some time, but now
cross accidents have begun, and more are to be feared."
His anxieties were increased by the rumour which
reached his ears from several quarters of a grand com-
bination of opulent manufacturers to make use of every
beneficial patent that had been taken out, and cut them

Watt to Boulton, 3 1st March, 1785.

CHAP. XVII. COMBINATION AGAINST PATENTS.

347

down by scire facias, as they had already cut down
Arkwright's. It was said that subscriptions had
been obtained by the association amounting to 50,000/.
Watt was requested to join a counter combination of
patentees to resist the threatened proceedings. To this,
however, he objected, 011 the ground that the associa-
tion of men to support one another in lawsuits was
illegal, and would preclude the members from giving
evidence in support of each other's rights. " Besides,"
said he, " the greater number of patentees are such as
we could not associate with, and if we did it would do
us more harm than good." ]

Towards the end of 1785 the engines which had been
in hand were nearly finished, and work was getting
slacker than usual at Soho. Though new orders gave
Watt trouble, and occasioned him anxiety, still he would

1 Watt to Boulton, 21st July,
1785. Writing to Boulton on a later
occasion on the subject of these
threatened attacks on all patents, he
said, " A pursuance of such decisions
as have been given lately in several
cases must at length drive men of
invention to take shelter in countries
where their ingenuity will be pro-
tected ; and the other states of Europe
know their interest too well to neglect
any opportunity of curbing the inso-
lence and humbling the pride of
Britain. If the minister should not
think it right to amend and confirm
the patent laws, the next best thing
would be to make a law totally taking
away the king's power of granting
them. 1 mean, this would be the
honest part."— Watt to Boulton, 19th
March, 1786. Boulton himself had
equally strong views on the subject of
patents, believing that they tended to
encourage industrious and ingenious
men to labour for the common good.
Referring to the decision against Ar-
gand's lamp patent, he wrote De Luc
in 1787, — " It was hard, unjust, and
impolitic, as it hath (to my knowledge)
discouraged a very ingenious French
chemist from coniiim' over and estab-

lishing in this country an invention
of the highest importance to one of our
greatest manufactures. Moreover, it
tends to destroy the greatest of all
stimulants to invention, viz. the idea
of enjoying the fruits of one's own
labour. Some late decisions against
the validity of certain patents have
raised the spirits of the illiberal, sordid,
unjust, ungenerous, and inventionless
misers, who prey upon the vitals of
the ingenious, and make haste to seize
upon what their laborious and often
costly application has produced. The
decisions to which I refer have en-
couraged a combination in Cornwall to
erect engines on Boulton and Watt's
principles, contrary to the Law of
Patents and the express provisions of
an Act of Parliament ; and this they
are setting about in order to drive us
into a court of law, flattering them-
selves that it is the present disposition
of the judges to set their faces against
all patents. Should such a disposition
(so contrary to Lord Mansfield's deci-
sions) continue to prevail, it will pro-
duce far greater evils to the manufac-
turing industry of the kingdom than
the gentlemen of the law can have any
idea of."

348 SOHO AGAIN BUSY. CHAP XVII.

rather not be without them. " It will be well," he
wrote to his partner, " if we can get some orders now
for engines worth while. What we have been doing
lately has been very trifling, and if we don't get orders
soon, our men will be idle. As it happens at present,
we have at least three engineers too few here, there
being eight engines to be done in two or three months,
and only three engineers." l It was matter of grati-
fication to Watt to be able to report that the en-
gines last delivered had given great satisfaction. The
mechanics were improving in skill, and their workman-
ship was becoming of a superior character. "Strood
and Curtis's engine," said he, " has been at work some
time, and does very well. Whi thread's has also been
tried, and performs exceedingly well." The success of
Whitbread's engine was such that it had the honour
of a visit from the King, who was greatly pleaded with
its performances. Not to be outdone, " Felix Calvert,"
wrote Watt, " has bespoken one, which is to outdo
Whitbread's in magnificence."

The slackness of work at Soho was not of long con-
tinuance. Orders for rotative engines came in gradually ;
one from Harris, of Nottingham ; another from Mac-
clesfield, to drive a silk-mill ; a third from Edinburgh,
for the purposes of a distillery ; and others from different
quarters. The influx of orders had the effect at the
same time of filling Soho with work, and plunging
Watt into his usual labyrinth of perplexity and distress.
In September we find him writing to Boulton.—

" My health is so bad that I do not think I can hold out much
longer, at least as a man of business, and I wish to consolidate
something before I give over." . . . Again, " I cannot help being
dispirited, because I find my head fail me much, business an
excessive burden to me, and little prospect of my speedy release
from it. Were we both young and healthy, I should see no reason
to despair, but very much the contrary. However, we must do the

Watt to Boulton, 27th August, 1785.

CHAP. XVII. THE CORNISH COPPER-MINERS. 349

best we can, and hope for quiet in heaven when our weary bones
are laid to rest." *

A few months later, so many more orders had come
in, that Watt described Soho as " fast for the next four
months," but the additional work only had the effect of
increasing his headaches. " In the anguish of my mind,"
he wrote, " amid the vexations occasioned by new and
unsuccessful schemes, like Lovelace I ' curse my inven-
tions,' and almost wish, if we could gather our money
together, that somebody else should succeed in getting
our trade from us. However, all may yet be well.
Nature can be conquered if we can but find out her
weak side."

We return to the affairs of the Cornish copper-miners,
which were now in a very disheartening condition.
The mines were badly and wastefully worked ; and the
competition of many small companies of poor adven-
turers kept the copper trade in a state of permanent
depression. In this crisis of their affairs it was deter-
mined that a Copper Company should be formed, backed
by ample capital, with the view of regulating this im-
portant branch of industry, and rescuing the mines and
miners from ruin. Boulton took an active part in its
formation, and induced many of his intimate friends in
the north to subscribe largely for shares. An arrange-
ment was entered into by the Company with the adven-
turers in the principal mines, to buy of them the whole
of the ore raised, at remunerative prices, for a period of
eleven years. At the first meeting, held in September,
1785, for the election of Governor, Deputy-Governor,
and Directors, Boulton held in his hands the power of
determining the appointments, representing, as he did
by proxy, shares held by his northern friends to the
amount of 86,000£. The meeting took place in the
Town-hall at Truro, and the proceedings passed off

1 Watt to Boulton, 24th September, 1785.

350 THE COPPEE COMPANY OBGANISED. CHAP. XVII.

satisfactorily ; Boulton using his power with due dis-
cretion. " We met again on Friday," he wrote to
Matthews, "and chose the assay ers and other sub-
ordinate officers, after which we paid our subscriptions,
and dined together, all in good humour ; and thus this
important revolution in the copper trade was finally
settled for eleven years."

Matters were not yet, however, finally settled, as
many arrangements had to be made for setting the
Company to work, in which Boulton took the leading
part; the Governor and Directors pressing him not to
leave Cornwall until they were definitely settled. It
happened to suit his convenience to remain until the
Wheal Fortune engine was finished — one of the most
formidable engines the firm had yet erected in Corn-
wall. In the mean time he entered into correspondence
with various consumers of copper at home and abroad,
with the object of finding a vend for the metal. He
succeeded in obtaining a contract through Mr. Hope, of
Amsterdam, for supplying the copper required for the
new Dutch coinage ; and he opened out new markets for
the produce in other quarters. Being a large holder of
mining shares, Boulton also tried to introduce new and
economical methods of working the mines ; but with
comparatively little result. To Wilkinson he wrote,—
" Poldice is in a desponding way, and must give up
unless better managed. North Downs is managed as
badly by incapable, ignorant, drunken captains, who
hold their posts not by merit, but by their cousinship to

some of the adventurers I should spend a great

part of next year in Cornwall, and make myself master
of the minutiae. I think I could then accomplish many
necessary regulations."

Though actively bestirring himself for the good of
the mining interest, Boulton had but small thanks for

1 Boulton to Wilkinson, 21st November, 1785.

CHAP. XVII. RIOTS IN CORNWALL. 351

his pains. The prominence of his position had this
disadvantage, that if the price of the ore went down,
or profits declined, or the yield fell off, or the mines
were closed, or anything went wrong, the miners were
but too ready to identify him in some way with the evil ;
and the services which he had rendered to the mining
interest * were in a moment forgotten. On one occasion
the discontent of the miners broke out into open revolt,
and Boulton was even threatened with personal violence.
The United Mines having proved unprofitable in the
working, notice was given by the manager of an in-
tended reduction of wages, this being the only condition
on which the mines could be carried on. If this could
not be arranged, the works must be closed, as the
adventurers declined to go on at a loss. On the an-
nouncement of the intended lowering of wages being
made, there was great excitement and discontent among
the workpeople. Several hundreds of them hastily
assembled at Eedruth, and took the road for Truro, to
pull down the offices of the Copper Mining Company,
and burn the house of the manager. They were especially
furious with Boulton, vowing vengeance on him, and
declaring that they would pull down every pumping-
engine he had set up in Cornwall. When the rioters
reached Truro, they found a body of men, hastily armed
with muskets taken from the arsenal, stationed in front
of the Copper Mining Company's premises, supported
by six pieces of cannon. At sight of this formidable de-
monstration the miners drew back, and, muttering threats
that they would repeat their visit, returned to Eedruth

;

1 Writing to M. De Luc, the Queen's
Librarian, of what he and his partner
had done for Cornwall, Boulton said,
— " The copper and tin mines of
Cornwall are now sunk to so great a
depth that had not Mr. Watt and
myself nearly expended our fortunes
and hazarded our ruin by neglecting
our regular business, and by a long
series of expensive experiments in

bringing our engine to its present
degree of perfection, those mines must
inevitably have stopped working, and
Cornwall at this time would not have
existed as a mining county. The very
article of extra coals lor common
engines would have amounted to more
than the entire profits of their work-
ing."— Boulton to De Luc, 31st March,
1787.

352 BOULTON'S CORNISH FRIENDS. CHAP. XVII.

as they had come. Two companies of soldiers and two
of local militia were brought into the town immediately
after ; and the intended assault was not made. When
Watt was informed of the violence with which his
partner had been threatened, he wrote, — " In my opinion
nothing can be more ungrateful than the behaviour of
those people who endeavour to make you the object
of the resentment of the mob, at a time when (setting
aside former services) you are doing all that lies in your

power to serve them If you still find the same

spirit continue, for God's sake leave them immediately.
The law can reach the adventurers, if it cannot the
miners."

This was, however, but the wild and unreasoning
clamour of misguided and ignorant men. Boulton was
personally much esteemed by all who were able to
appreciate his character, and to understand the position
of himself and his partner with reference to the engine
patent. The larger mining owners invited him to
their houses, and regarded him as their friend. The
more intelligent of the managers were his strenuous
supporters. First and foremost among these was Mr.
Phillips, manager of the Chace water mines, of whom he
always spoke with the highest respect, as a man of the
most scrupulous integrity and honour. Mr. Phillips
was a member of the Society of Friends, and his wife
Catherine was one of the most celebrated preachers of
the body. Boulton and Watt occasionally resided with
them before the house at Cosgarne was taken, and
conceived for both the warmest friendship. If Watt was
attracted by the Cornish Anabaptists, Boulton was equally
so by the Cornish Quakers. We find him, in one of his
letters to Mrs. Boulton, describing to her a great meeting
of Friends at Truro which he had attended, " when,"
he said, " I heard our friend Catherine Phillips preach
with great energy and good sense for an hour and a
half, although so weak in .body that she was obliged to

CHAP. XV IT. ALBION MILL SCHEME. 353

lie abed for several days before." Boulton afterwards
dined with the whole body of Friends at the principal
inn, being the only person present who was not of the
Society; and he confessed to have spent in their com-
pany a very pleasant evening.1

We return to the progress of the engine business at
Soho. The most important work in hand about this
time was the double-acting engine intended for the
Albion Mill, in South wark.2 This was the first rota-
tive with a parallel motion erected in London ; and as
the more extended use of the engine would in a great
measure depend upon its success, the firm naturally
looked forward with very great interest to its perform-
ances. The Albion Mill scheme was started by Boulton
as early as 1783. Orders for rotatives were then
coming in very slowly, and it occurred to him that if he
had but the opportunity of exhibiting the powers of the
new engine in its best form, and in connexion with
the best machinery, the results would be so satisfactory
and conclusive as to induce manufacturers generally
to follow the example. On applying to the London
capitalists, Boulton found them averse to the under-
taking ; and at length Boulton and Watt became per-
suaded that if the concern was to be launched at all, they

1 Two clays after this event, when j garden near Kedruth. Boulton, in
about to set out for Polgooth, a mes- j writing to Mrs. Boulton, said, " I wish

senger arrived at Boulton's lodgings,
bringing him the sad news of Mr.
Phillips's sudden death. He describes
the scene at the funeral, at which
Catherine Phillips, though strongly
urged by him to stay away, insisted
on being present. " She was attended
by a widow lady who had lost a good
husband last year, and though she had
not been accustomed to speak in the
congregation of the righteous, yet on
this occasion she stood with her hand
upon her husband's coffin and spoke

I had time to give you the history and
character of ray departed friend, as
you know but little of his excellences.
I cannot say but that I feel a gloomy
pleasure in dwelling upon the life and
death of a good man : it incites to
piety and elevates the mind above
terrestrial things. Now, let me ask
you to hold a silent meeting in your
heart for half an hour and then return
to your work."

2 The Albion Mill engine was set
to work in 1786. The first rotative

above an hour, delivering one of the | with a parallel motion in Scotland,
most pathetic discourses I ever heard." j was erected for Mr. Stein, of Kennet
A large concourse of people attended j Pans near Alloa, in the following
the interment, which took place in a year.

2 A

354

ENGINES FOK ALBION MILL.

CHAP. XVII.

must themselves find the principal part of the capital.
A sufficient number of shareholders was got together to
make a start, and application was made for a charter of
incorporation in 1784 ; but it was so strongly opposed by
the millers and mealmen, on the ground that the applica-
tion of steam-power to flour-grinding would throw wind
and water mills out of work, take away employment
from the labouring classes, and reduce the price of
bread,1 that the charter was refused ; and the Albion
Mill Company was accordingly constituted on the ordi-
nary principles of partnership.

By the end of the year the Albion Mill engines, care-
fully designed by Watt, were put in hand at Soho ; the
building was in course of erection, after the designs of
Mr. Wyatt, the architect ; while John Rennie, the
young Scotch engineer, was engaged to design and fit
up the flour-grinding and dressing machinery. " I am
glad," wrote Boulton to Watt, " you have agreed with
Rennie. Mills are a great field. Think of the crank
— of Wolf, Trumpeter, Wasp, and all the ghosts we
are haunted by." The whole of the following year
was occupied in the erection of the buildings and ma-
chinery; and it was not until the spring of 1786 that
the mill was ready to start. Being the first enter-
prise of the kind, on an unprecedented scale, and com-
prising many novel combinations of machinery, there
were many " hitches " before it could be got to work
satisfactorily. After the first trial, at which Boulton
was present, he wrote his partner expressing his dis-
satisfaction with the working of the double-acting

1 In a letter to Mr. Matthews (30th
April, 1784) Boulton wrote, — " It
seems the millers are determined to
be masters of ns and the public.
Putting a stop to' fire-engine mills
because they come into competition
with water-mills, is as absurd as
stopping navigable canals would be
because they interfere with farmers
and waggoners. The argument also

applies to wind and tide mills or any
other means whereby corn can be
ground. So all machines should be
stopped whereby men's labour is
saved, because it might be argued
that men were thereby deprived of a
livelihood. Carry out the argument,
and we must annihilate water-mills
themselves, and thus go back again to
the grinding of corn by hand labour ! "

CHAP. XVII. THE DOUBLE-ACTING ENGINE.

355

DOUBLE-ACTING ENGINE, ALBION MILL.

engine, expressing the opinion that it would have been
better if they had held by the single-acting one.1 Watt

1 Watt, however, continued to
adhere to his own views as to the
superiority of the plan adopted : — " I ,
am sorry to find," he observed in his
reply to Boulton, " so many things are |
amiss at Albion Mill, and that you j
have lost your good opinion of double j
engines, while my opinion of them is j
mended. The smoothness of their !
going depends on the steam regulators j
being opened a little before the vacuum '

regulators, and not opened too sud-
denly, as indeed the others ought not
to be. Otherwise the shock comes so
violently in the opposite direction that
no pins or brasses will stand it.
Malcolm has no notion how to make
gear work quietly, nor do I think he
properly understands it. You must
therefore attend to it yourself, and not
leave it until it is more perfect," —
Watt to Boulton, 3rd March, 1786.

2 A 2

350 DIFFICULTIES WITH THE ENGINES. CHAP. XVII

was urged to run up to town himself and set matters to
rights ; but he was up to the ears in work at Soho, and
could not leave for a day.

" I can by no means leave home at present," he wrote, " otherwise
we shall suffer much greater losses than can come from the Albion
Mill. The work for Cornwall which must be planned and put in
train is immense, and there will more come from that quarter.
Besides, I am pulled to pieces by demands for forwardness from
every side. I have lost ten days by William Murdock, Wilson,
Wilkinson, and headaches, and I have neither health nor spirits to
make the necessary exertions. If I went to London I should be in
torment all the while with the thoughts of what was lying behind
here."

After pointing out what course should be taken to
discover and remedy the faults of the engine, he pro-
ceeded : —

" Above all, patience must be exercised and things coolly
examined and put to rights, and care be taken not to blame
innocent parts. Everything must, as much as possible, be tried
separately. Eemind those who begin to growl, that in new, com-
plicated, and difficult things, human foresight falls short — that time
and money must be given to perfect things and find out their de-
fects, otherwise they cannot be remedied." l

Not being able to persuade "Watt to come to his help,
Boulton sent to Cornwall for Murdock, always ready to
lend a hand on an emergency, and in the course of a
few weeks he was in town at work upon the engines.
The result is best told in Wyatt's letter to Boulton, who
had by this time returned to Birmingham : —

" Mr. Murdock has just set the engine to work. All the rods are
altered. I think he has done more good than all the doctors
we have had before ; and his manner of doing it has been very
satisfactory — so different from what we have been used to. He
has been through all the flues himself, and really takes uncommon
pains. Pray write to him ; thank him for his attention. He will
not have left town before he gets your letter, and press him to stay
as long as he can be essentially serviceable."

There was, however, so great a demand for Murdock's

1 Watt to Boulton, 10th March, 1786.— Boulton MSS.

CHAP. XVII. ALBION MILL FOLLIES. 357

presence in Cornwall, that he could not be spared for
another day, and he hurried back again to his multi-
farious duties at the mines.

The cost of erecting the mill proved to be consider-
ably in excess of the original estimate, and Watt early
feared that it would turn out a losing concern. He had
no doubt about the engines or the machinery being
able to do all that had been promised ; but he feared
that the absence of business capacity on the part of the
managers would be fatal to its commercial success.1 He
was especially annoyed at finding the mill made a
public show of, and that it was constantly crowded with
curious and frivolous people, whose presence seriously
interfered with the operations of the workmen. It
reached his ears that the managers of the mill even
intended to hold a masquerade in it, with the professed
object of starting the concern with eclat ! Watt
denounced this as sheer humbug. " What have Dukes,
Lords, and Ladies," said he, " to do with masquerading
in a flour- mi 11 ? You must take steps to curb the
vanity of - — , else it will ruin him. As for ourselves,
considering that we are much envied at any rate,
everything which contributes to render us conspicuous
ought to be avoided. Let us content ourselves with
doing!"2' It was also found that the mill was becoming
a nest for schemers and speculators occupied in devising

The Albion Mill," wrote Watt
to Boulton, " requires your close at-
tention and exertions. I look upon it

body except Mr. W. and ourselves,
and that if we go on as expensively
in carrying on the business as in the

as a weight about our necks that will i erection, it is impossible but that we
sink us to the bottom, unless people should be immense losers, and thus
of real activity and knowledge of probably our least loss will be to
business are found to manage it. I stop where we are. As to our repu-
would willingly forfeit a considerable tation as engineers, I have no doubt
sum to be clear of the concern. If but the mill will perform its business,
anybody will take my share I will but whether with the quantity of
cheerfully give him 500?. and reckon coals and labour is what I cannot say."
myself well quit. My reasons are — Watt to Boulton, 19th March,
that none of the parties concerned . 1786.

are men of business, that no attention ! 2 Watt to Boulton, 17th April,
has been hitherto paid to it by any- 1786.

358 THE MILL BURNT BY INCENDIARIES. CHAP. XVII.

all manner of new projects. Boulton bestirred himself
to put matters in a more business-like train. Steps
were taken to close the mill against the crowd of idle
visitors ; and Boulton shortly after reported that " the
manufacturing of Bubbles and new schemes is removed
from the Mill to a private Lodging."

When the mill was at length set to work, it per-
formed to the entire satisfaction of its projectors. The
engine, on one occasion, ground as much as 3000
bushels of wheat in twenty-four hours. The usual rate
of work per week of six days was 16,000 bushels of
wheat, cleaned, ground, and dressed into fine flour
(some of it being ground two or three times over) ; or
sufficient, according to Boulton's estimate, for the weekly
consumption of 150,000 people. The important uses of
the double rotative engine were thus exhibited in the
most striking manner ; and the fame of the Albion Mill
extended far and wide. It so far answered the main
purpose which Boulton and Watt had in view in ori-
ginally embarking in the enterprise ; but it must be
added that the success was accomplished at a very
serious sacrifice. The mill never succeeded com-
mercially. It was too costly in its construction and its
management, and though it did an immense business it
was at a loss. The concern was, doubtless, capable of
great improvement, and, had time been allowed, it
would probably have come round. When its prospects
seemed to be brightening,1 it was set on fire in several
places by incendiaries on the night of the 3rd of March,
1791. The villains had made their arrangements with
deliberation and skill. They fastened the main cock of
the water- cistern, and chose the hour of low tide for
firing the building, so that water could not be got to
play upon the flames, and the mill was burnt to the .

1 Watt wrote Boulton from London,
1st October, 1789,— "I called on Wyatt
(the architect) last night. He says

the mill sold above 4000/. worth of
flour last week and is doing well."

CHAP. XVII. DEMAND FOB ROTATIVE ENGINES. 359

ground in a few hours. A reward was offered for
the apprehension of the criminals, but they were never
discovered. The loss sustained by the Company was
about 10,000/. Boulton and Watt were the principal
sufferers ; the former holding 6000/., and the latter
3000/. interest in the undertaking.1

Meanwhile orders for rotative engines were coming
in apace at Soho, — engines for paper-mills and cotton-
mills, for flour-mills and iron-mills, and for sugar-mills in
America and the West Indies. At the same time pump-
ing-engines were in hand for France, Spain, and Italy.
The steam-engine was becoming an established power,
and its advantages were every day more clearly recog-
nised. It was alike docile, regular, economical, and
effective, at all times and seasons, by night as by day,
in summer and in winter. While the wind-mills were
stopped by calms and the water-mills by frosts, the
steam-mill worked on with untiring power. " There
is not a single water-mill now at work in Staffordshire,"
wrote Boulton to Wyatt in December ; " they are all
frozen up, and were it not for Wilkinson's steam-mill,
the poor nailers must have perished ; but his mill goes
on rolling and slitting ten tons of iron a day, which is
carried away as fast as it can be bundled up ; and thus
the employment and subsistence of these poor people
are secured."

As the demand for rotative engines set in, Watt
became more hopeful as to the prospects of this branch
of manufacture. He even began to fear lest the firm
should be unable to execute the orders, so fast did
they follow each other. " I have no doubt," he wrote
to Boulton, " that we shall soon so methodize the rota-
tive engines as to get on with them at a great pace.
Indeed, that is already in some degree the case. But
we must have more men, and these we can only have

1 For further particulars as to the Albion Mill, see Life of Rcnnie in
' Lives of the Engineers,' ii. 137.

360

FAULTS OF WORKMEN.

CHAP. XV11.

by the slow process of breeding them."1 A fortnight
later he wrote, " Orders for rotative engines are coming
in daily ; but, if we part with any more men here, we
must stop taking them in." Want of skilled workmen
continued to be one of Watt's greatest difficulties. When
the amount of work to be executed was comparatively
small, and sufficient time was given to execute it, he
was able to turn out very satisfactory workmanship ; a
but when the orders came pouring in, new hands were
necessarily taken on, who proved a constant source of
anxiety and trouble. Even the " old hands," when sent
to a distance to fit up engines, being left, in a great
measure, to themselves, were apt to become careless and
ill-conditioned. With some, self-conceit was the stum-
bling-block, with others temper,* but with the greater
number, drink. "I am very sorry to hear," wrote
Watt to Boulton, "that Malcolm Logan's disease in-
creases. I think you should talk to him roundly upon
it, and endeavour to procure him to make a solemn
resolution or oath against drinking for some given
term." Another foreman sent to erect an engine in
Craven was afflicted with a distemper of a different
sort. He was found to have put the engine very badly
together, and, instead of attending to his work, had
gone a-hunting in a pig-tail wig ! "If the half of this
be true," wrote Watt, " as I fear it is, he will not do to
be sent to New River Head [where an engine was about
to be erected], and I have at present nobody else here
.... I suppose I shall be obliged to send Joseph over,
for we must not have a bad engine if it can be helped.
.... We seem to be getting into our old troubles
again."3

1 Watt to Boulton, 23rd September,
1786.

2 He spoke of Goodwyn's Brewery
engine, finished in 1784, as the best
that Soho had up to that time turned
out — it " performed wonderful well —

not the smallest leak and scarce any
noise. . . . The working gear and
joints are the best I ever saw."

3 Watt to Boulton, 24th February,
1786.

CHAP. XVII. PRESS OF ORDERS AT SOHO. 361

William Murdock continued, as before, an admirable
exception. He was as indefatigable as ever, always
ready with an expedient to remedy a defect, and willing
to work at all hours. A great clamour had been raised
in Cornwall during his stay in London while setting
the Albion Mill to rights, as there was no other person
there capable of supplying his place, and fulfilling his
numerous and responsible duties. Boulton deplored
that more men such as Murdock were not to be had ;
— -" He is now flying from mine to mine," he wrote,
" and hath so many calls upon him that he is inclined
to grow peevish ; and if we take him from North
Downs, Chace water, and To wan (all of which engines
he has the care of), they will run into disorder and
ruin ; they have not a man at North Downs that is
better than a stoker."

Towards the end of 1786 the press of orders increased
at Soho. A rotative engine of forty-horse power was
ordered by the Plate Glass Company to grind glass.
A powerful pumping- engine was in hand for the Oxford
Canal Company. Two engines, one of twenty and the
other of ten horse power, were ordered for Scotch dis-
tilleries, and another order was shortly expected from
the same quarter. The engine supplied for the Hull
paper-mill having been found to answer admirably,
more orders for engines for the same purpose were
promised. At the same time pumping-engines were
in hand for the great French waterworks at Marli.
" In short," said Watt, " I foresee I shall be driven
almost mad in finding men for the engines ordered here
and coining in." Watt was necessarily kept very full
of work by these orders, and we gather from his letters
that he was equally full of headaches. He continued to
give his personal attention to the preparation of the
drawings of the engines, even to the minutest detail.
On an engine being ordered by Mr. Morris, of Bristol,
for the purpose of driving a tilt-hammer, Boulton wrote

362

WEDGWOOD'S ADVICE TO WATT.

CHAP. XVII.

to him, — "Mr. Watt can never be prevailed upon to
begin any piece of machinery until the plan of the
whole is settled, as it often happens that a change in
one thing puts many others wrong. However, he has
now settled the whole of yours, but waits answers to
certain questions before the drawings for the founder
can be issued."1

At an early period his friend Wedgwood had strongly
urged upon Watt that he should work less with his own
head and hands, and more through the heads and hands
of others.2 Watt's brain was too active for his body,
and needed rest ; but rest he would not take, and per-
sisted in executing all the plans of the new engines
himself. Thus in his fragile, nervous, dyspeptic state,
every increase of business was to him increase of brain-
work and increase of pain ; until it seemed as if not only
his health, but the very foundations of his reason must
give way. At the very time when Soho was beginning
to bask in the sunshine of prosperity, and the financial
troubles of the firm seemed coming to an end. Watt
wrote the following profoundly melancholy letter to
a friend :—

" I have been effete and listless, neither daring to face business,
nor capable of it, my head and memory failing me much ; my stable
of hobby-horses pulled down, and the horses given to the dogs for
carrion. ... I have had serious thoughts of laying down the
burden I find myself unable to carry, and perhaps, if other
sentiments had not been stronger, should have thought of throwing
off the mortal coil; but, if matters do not grow worse, I may

1 Boulton to Morris, 2nd November,
1786.

2 "Your mind, my friend, is too
active, too powerful for your body,
and harasses it beyond its bearing.
If this was the case with any other
machine under your direction, except
that in whose regulation your friends
take so much interest, you would
soon find out a remedy. For the
present permit me to advise a more
ample use of tke oil of delegation

through your whole machinery, and 1
am persuaded you will soon find some
salutary effects from this application.
Seriously, I shall conclude in saying
to you what Dr. Fothergill desired
me to say to Brindley — ' Spare your
machine a little, or like others under
your direction, it will wear out the
sooner by hard and constant usage.' " —
Josiah Wedgwood to Watt, December
LO, 1782.

CHAP. XVII. THE ENGINE AT LAST PRODUCTIVE. 363

perhaps stagger on. Solomon said that in the increase of knowledge
there is increase of sorrow; if he had substituted business for know-
ledge, it would have Leen perfectly true." l

As might be expected, from the large number of
engines sold by the firm to this time, and the increasing
amounts yearly payable as dues, their income from the
business was becoming considerable, and promised,
before many years had passed, to be very large. Down
to the year 1785, however, the outlay upon new foun-
dries, workshops, and machinery had been so great, and
the large increase of business had so completely
absorbed the capital of the firm, that Watt continued
to be paid his household expenses, at the rate of so
much a year, out of the hardware business, and no divi-
sion of profits upon the engines sold and at work had
as yet been made, because none had accrued. After the
lapse of two more years, matters had completely changed ;
and after long waiting, and indescribable distress of mind
and body, Watt's invention at length began to be pro-
ductive to him. During the early part of his career,
though his income had been small, his wants were
few, and easily satisfied. Though Boulton had liberally
provided for these from the time of his settling at
Birmingham, Watt continued to feel oppressed by the
thought of the debt to the bankers for which he and
his partner were jointly liable. In his own little busi-
ness he had been accustomed to deal with such small
sums, that the idea of being responsible for the repay-
ment of thousands of pounds appalled and unnerved him ;
and he had no peace of mind until the debt was dis-
charged. Now at last he was free, and in the happy
position of having a balance at his bankers. On the
7th of December, 1787, Boulton wrote to Matthews,
the London agent, — " As Mr. Watt is now at Mr. Mac-

Watt to his brother-in-law, Gilbert Hamilton, Glasgow, June 18, 1786.

364 SPECULAT1VENESS OF BOULTON. CHAP. XVII.

gregor's, in Glasgow, I wish you would write him a
line to say that you have transferred 4000/. to his
own account, that you have paid for him another
1000^. to the Albion Mill, and that about Christmas
you suppose you shall transfer 200 7/. more to him, to
balance."

But while Watt's argosies were coming into port
richly laden, Boulton's were still at sea. Though the
latter had risked, and often lost, capital in his various
undertakings, he continued as venturesome, as enter-
prising as ever. When any project was started calcu-
lated to bring the steam-engine into notice, he was
immediately ready with his subscription. Thus he
embarked 6000/. in the Albion Mill, a luckless adven-
ture in itself, though productive in other respects. But
he sadly missed the money, and as late as 1789, feelingly
said to Matthews, " Oh that I had my Albion Mill
capital back again ! " When any mining adventure
was started in Cornwall for which a new engine was
wanted, Boulton would write, "If you want a stop-
gap, put me down as an adventurer ;" and too often
the adventure proved a failure. Then, to encourage
the Cornish Copper Mining Company, he bought large
quantities of copper, and had it sent down to Bir-
mingham, where it lay long on his hands without a
purchaser. At the same time we find him expending
5000/. in building and rebuilding two mills and a ware-
house at Soho, and an equal amount in " preparing for
the coinage." These large investments had the effect of
crippling his resources for years to come ; and when the
commercial convulsion of 1788 occurred, he felt himself
in a state of the most distressing embarrassment. The
circumstances of the partners being thus in a measure
reversed, Boulton fell back upon Watt for temporary
help ; but, more cautious than his partner, Watt had
already invested his profits elsewhere, and could riot

CHAP XVII.

HIS HEALTH FAILING.

36.5

help him.1 He had got together his store of gains with
too much difficulty to part with them easily ; and he was
unwilling to let them float away in what he regarded as
an unknown sea of speculation.

To add to his distresses, Boulton's health began to fail
him. To have seen the two men, no one would have
thought that Boulton would have been the first to break
down ; but so it was. Though Watt's sufferings from
headaches, and afterwards from asthma, seem to have
been almost continuous, he struggled on, and even grew
in strength and spirits. His fragile frame bent before
disease, as the reed bends to the storm, and rose erect
again ; but it was different with Boulton. He had
toiled too unsparingly, and was now feeling the effects.
The strain upon him had throughout been greater than
upon Watt, whose headache had acted as a sort of safety-
valve by disabling him from pursuing further study
until it had gone off. Boulton, on the other hand, was
kept in a state of constant anxiety by business that
could not possibly be postponed. He had to provide the
means for carrying on his many businesses, to sustain
his partner against despondency, and to keep the whole
organisation of the firm in working order. While
engaged in bearing his gigantic burden, disease came
upon him. In 1784 we find him writing to his wine-
merchant, with a cheque in payment of his account,—
" We have had a visit from a new acquaintance — the
gout." The visitor returned, and four years later we
find him complaining of violent pain from gravel and
stone, to which he continued a martyr to the close of his
life. " I am very unwell indeed," he wrote to Matthews

1 " Mr. Watt hath lately remitted
all his money to Scotland, and I have
lately purchased a considerable quan-
tity of copper at the request of Mr.
Williams. . . . Besides which I have
more than 45 tons of copper by
me, 20 of which was bought of the
Cornish Metal Company, and 20 of the

Duke's at 707., and not an ounce of
either yet used. In short, I shall be
in a very few weeks in great want of
money, and it is now impossible to
borrow in London or this neighbour-
hood as all confidence is fled." — Boulton
to Wilson, 4th May, 1788.

366

BOULTON'S " DARKEST HOUR,'

CHAP. XV J I.

in London ; " I can get no sleep ; and yet I have been
obliged to wear a cheerful face, and attend all this week
on M. 1'Abbe de Callone and his friend Brunelle." 1 He
felt as if life was drawing to an end with him : he asked
his friend for a continuance of his sympathy, and pro-
mised to exert himself, " otherwise," said he, " I will lay
me down and die." He was distressed, above all things,
at the prospect of leaving his family unprovided for,
notwithstanding all the labours, anxieties, and risks
he had undergone. " When I reflect," he said, " that I
have given up my extra advantage of one-third on all
the engines we are now making and are likely to make,2
—when I think of my children, now upon the verge of
that time of life when they are naturally entitled to
expect a portion of their patrimony, — when I feel the
consciousness of being unable to restore to them the pro-
perty which their mother intrusted to me, — when I see
all whom I am connected with growing rich, whilst I
am groaning under a load of debt and annuities that
would sink me into the grave if my anxieties for my
children did not sustain me, — I say, when I consider all
these things, it behoves me to struggle through the small
remaining fragment of my life (being now in my 60th
year), and do my children all the justice in my power by
wiping away as many of my incumbrances as possible."

It was seldom that Boulton wrote in so desponding a
strain as this ; but it was his " darkest hour," and
happily it proved the one "nearest the dawn." Yet,
we shortly after find him applying his energies, appa-
rently unabated, in an entirely new direction — that of
coining money — which, next to the introduction of the
steam-engine, was the greatest enterprise of his life.

1 Boulton to Matthews, 22nd De-
cember, 1788.

2 Boulton acted with his usual open-
handed generosity in his partnership
arrangements with Watt. Although
the original bargain between them
provided that Boulton was to take

two-thirds, and Watt one-third profits,
Boulton providing the requisite capital
and being at the risk and expense of
all experiments, he subsequently, at
Watt's request, agreed to the profits
being equally divided between them.

CHAP. XVITT. !',< H'LTON'S FRIENDSHIPS. 36<

CHAPTEE XVIII.

FKIENDS OF BOTTLTON AND WATT — THE LUNAR SOCIETY.

As men are known by the friends they make and the
books they read, as well as by the recreations and pur-
suits of their leisure hours, it will help us to an appre-
ciation of the characters of Boulton and Watt if we
glance briefly at the social life of Soho during the
period we have thus rapidly passed under review.

Boulton was of a thoroughly social disposition, and
made friends wherever he went. He was a favourite
alike with children and philosophers, with princely
visitors at Soho, and with quiet Quakers in Cornwall.
When at home, he took pleasure in gathering about
him persons of kindred tastes and pursuits, in order at
the same time to enjoy their friendship, and to cultivate
his nature by intercourse with minds of the highest cul-
ture. Hence the friendships which he early formed for
Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Small, Dr. Darwin, Josiah
Wedgwood, Thomas Day, Lovell Edge worth, and others
equally eminent ; out of which eventually grew the
famous Lunar Society.

Towards the close of last century, there were many
little clubs or coteries of scientific and literary men
established in the provinces, the like of which do not
now exist, — probably because the communication with
the metropolis is so much easier, and because London
more than ever absorbs the active intelligence of Eng-
land, especially in the higher departments of science,
art, and literature. The provincial coteries of which
we speak, were usually centres of the best and most
intelligent society of their neighbourhoods, and were

368 LUNAR SOCIETY FORMED. CHAP. XVI 1 1 .

for the most part distinguished by an active and liberal
spirit of inquiry. Leading minds attracted others of
like tastes and pursuits, and social circles were formed
which proved in many instances the source of great
intellectual activity as well as enjoyment. At Liver-
pool, Roscoe and Currie were the centres of one such
group ; at Warrington, Aikin, Enfield, and Priestley, of
another ; at Bristol, Dr. Beddoes and Humphry Davy
of a third ; and at Norwich, the Taylors and Martineaus
of a fourth. But perhaps the most distinguished of
these provincial societies was that at Birmingham, of
which Boulton and Watt were among the most pro-
minent members.

From an early period, the idea of a society, meeting
by turns at each other's houses, seems to have been
entertained by Boulton. It was probably suggested in
the first place by his friend Dr. Small. The object of
the proposed Society was to be at the same time friendly
and scientific. The members were to exchange views
with each other on topics relating to literature, art, and
science ; each contributing his quota of entertainment
and instruction. The meetings were appointed to be
held monthly at the full of the moon, to enable distant
members to drive home by moonlight ; and this was
the more necessary as some of them — such as Darwin
and Wedgwood — lived at a considerable distance from
Birmingham.

When Watt visited Soho in 1768, on his way home
from London to Glasgow, some of the members of the
Society — Dr. Small, Dr. Darwin, and Mr. Keir — were
invited to meet him at FMtel de Tamitie sur Handsworth
Heath, as Boulton styled his hospitable mansion. The
Society must, however, have been in a somewhat unde-
fined state at even a considerably later period, as we
find Boulton writing to Watt in 1770, after the latter
had settled in Birmingham, " Pray remember that the
celebration of the third full moon will be on Saturday,

CHAP. XVIII. DR. DABWIN. 369

March 3rd. Darwin and Keir will both be at Soho.
I then propose to submit many motions to the members
respecting new laws and regulations, such as will tend
to prevent the decline of a Society which I hope will
be lasting." The principal members, besides those
above named, were Thomas Day, R. Lovell Edgeworth,
Samuel Gralton, Dr. "Withering, Baskerville the printer,
Dr. Priestley, and James Watt. Each member was at
liberty to bring a friend with him, and thus many
visitors of distinction were present at the meetings of
the Society, amongst whom may be named Mr. Smeaton,
Dr. Parr, Sir Joseph Banks, Sir William Herschel,
Dr. Solander, De Luc, Dr. Camper, and occasional
scientific foreigners.

Dr. Darwin was regarded as the patriarch of the
Society. His fame as a doctor, philosopher, and poet,
was great throughout the Midland Counties. He was
extremely speculative in all directions, even in such mat-
ters as driving wheel-carriages by steam, — also a favourite
subject of speculation with Mr. Edgeworth.1 Dr. Dar-
win's time, however, was so much engrossed by his
practice at Lichfield, that he was not very regular in
his attendance at the meetings, but would excuse him-
self for his absence by such a letter as the following :—

" DEAR BOULTON, — I am sorry the infernal divinities who
visit mankind with diseases, and are therefore at perpetual
war with Doctors, should have prevented my seeing all your great
men at Soho to-day. Lord! what inventions, what wit, what
rhetoric, metaphysical, mechanical, and pyrotechnical, will be on
the wing, bandied like a shuttlecock from one to another of your
troop of philosophers ! while poor I, I by myself I, imprison'd in a
postchaise, am joggled, and jostled, and bump'd, and bruised along
the King's high-road, to make war upon a stomach-ache or a
fever!"2

1 As early as August, 1768, we
find Dr. Small in one of his letters
describing Edgeworth to Watt as " a
gentleman of fortune, young, mechani-
cal, and indefatigable, who has taken
a resolution to move land and water

by steam, and has made

considerable progress in the short
space of time that he has devoted to
the study."

2 Dr. Darwin to Boulton, April 5,
1778. When the Doctor removed to

2 B

370

PR. PRIESTLEY.

CHAP. XVIII.

While Dr. Darwin and Mr. Edgeworth were amongst
the oldest members of the Society, Dr. Priestley, the
discoverer of oxygen and other gases, was one of
the most recent. We find Boulton corresponding
with him in 1775,1 principally on chemical subjects,
and supplying him with parcels of fluor spar for pur-
poses of experiment. Five years later, in 1780, he was
appointed minister of the Presbyterian Congregation
assembling in the New Meeting-house, Birmingham ;
and from that time forward he was one of the most
active members of the Lunar Society, by whom he was
regarded as a great acquisition.

Dr. Priestley was a man of extraordinary gifts and
accomplishments. He had mastered many languages
before he was twenty years old. He was well versed
in mechanical philosophy and metaphysics, a skilled
dialectician, and the most expert chemist of his time.
Possessed by an irrepressible activity and untiring per-
severance, he became an enthusiast on whatever subject
he undertook, whether it was an inquiry into history,

Derby in 1782, he wrote, — " [ am
here cut off from the milk of science,
which flows in such redundant streams
from your learned Lunatics, and which,
I can assure you, is a very great regret
to me." In another letter he said, —
" I hope philosophy and fire-engines
continue to go on well. You heard
we sent your Society an air-balloon,
which was calculated to have fallen in
your garden at Soho ; but the wicked
wind carried it to Sir Edward Little-
ton's. Pray give my compliments to
your learned Society." In another
letter he wrote, — " I hope Behemoth
has strength in his loins. Belial and
Ashtaroth are two other devils of conse-
quence, and good names for engines of
Fire." When he heard of the Albion
Mill being burnt down, the Doctor
wrote, — "The conflagration of the
Albion Mill grieved me sincerely, both
as it was a grand and success fu] effort
of human art, and also because I fear
you were a considerable sufferer by it.

I well remember poor old Mr. Seward
comparing the Immortality of the
Soul (in a devout sermon) to a fire-
engine. He might now have made it
| a type of the mortality of this world,
and the conflagration of all things."

1 In a letter from Priestley to
Boulton, dated London, 6th November,
1775, he wrote, — "I shall not quarrel
with you on account of our different
sentiments in politics. When I tell
you what is fact, that the Americans
have constructed a cannon on a new
principle, by which they can hit a
mark at a distance of a mile, you will
say their ingenuity has come in aid of
their cowardice! I would tell you
the principle of it, but that I am
afraid it would set your superior
ingenuity to improve upon it for the
use of their enemies." From Boulton's
memoranda-books we find that the
subject of improved artillery had
occupied his attention some ten years
before.

CHAP. XVIII.

HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

371

theology, or science. He himself likened experimental
philosophy to hunting, and in his case it was the pursuit
of facts that mainly concerned him. He was cheerful,

DR, PRIESTLEY.

hopeful, and buoyant ; possessed of a most juvenile tem-
perament ; happiest when fullest of work ; ranging from
subject to subject with extraordinary versatility ; laying
aside metaphysics to pursue experiments in electricity,
next taking up history and politics, and resting from
these to experiment on gases, — all the while carrying on
some public controversy on a disputed point in religion
or politics. For it is a curious fact; that gentle, affec-
tionate, and amiable though Priestley was, — devout
in temperament, and single-minded in the pursuit of

2 B 2

372

HIS ENTHUSIASM IN CHEMISTRY.

CHAP. XVIII .

truth,1 — he was almost constantly involved in paper
wars. He described himself, and truly, as "one of the
happiest of men ; " yet wherever he went, in England or
America, he stirred up controversy and exasperated
opponents, seeming to be the very Ishmael of polemics.

At the time when he settled at Birmingham,
Priestley was actively engaged in prosecuting inquiries
into the constitution of bodies. He had been occupied
for several years before in making investigations as
to the gases. The discovery of carbonic acid gas
by Dr. Black of Edinburgh, had attracted his atten-
tion ; and, living conveniently near to a brewery at
Leeds, where he then was, he proceeded to make expe-
riments on the fixed air or carbonic acid gas evolved
during fermentation. From these he went on to other
experiments, making use of the rudest apparatus,—
phials, tobacco-pipes, kitchen utensils, a few glass tubes,
and an old gun-barrel. The pursuit was a source of
constant pleasure to him. He had entered upon an
almost unexplored field of science. Then was the child-
hood of chemistry, and he gazed with large-eyed wonder
at the marvels which his investigations brought to light.
He had no teacher to guide him — nothing but experi-
ment ; and he experimented constantly, carefully noting
the results. Observation of facts was his great object ;
the interpretation of the facts he left to others. Such
was Priestley, and such were his pursuits, when he
settled at Birmingham in 1780.

1 Mrs. Schimmelpenninck, who had
no sympathy for Dr. Priestley's re-
ligious views, nevertheless bears
eloquent testimony to the beauty of
his character-. She speaks of him as
" a man of admirable simplicity,
gentleness, and kindness of heart,
united with great acuteness of in-
tellect. I can never forget," she says,
" the impression produced on me by
the serene expression of his counte-
nance. He, indeed, seemed ever
present with God by recollection, and
with man bv cheerfulness. ... A

sharp and acute intellectual perception,
often a pointed, perhaps a playful
expression, was combined in him with
a most loving heart. . . Dr. Priestley
always spent part of every day in
devotional exercises and contempla-
tion; and unless the railroad has
spoilt it, there yet remains at Dawlish
a deep and beautiful cavern, since
known by the name of " Dr. Priestley's
cavern," where he was wont to pass
an hour every day in solitary retire-
ment.— ' Life of Mary Ann Schimmel-
penninck.'

CHAP. XVIII.

BOULTON STUDIES CHEMISTKY.

373

There can be little doubt that his enthusiasm as an
experimenter in chemistry exercised a powerful influence
on the minds of both Boulton and Watt, who, though
both full of work, anxiety, and financial troubles,
were nevertheless found taking an active interest from
this time forward in the progress of chemical science.
Chemistry became the chief subject of discussion at
the meetings of the Lunar Society, and chemical ex-
periments the principal recreation of their leisure
hours.

" I dined yesterday at the Lunar Society (Keir's house)," wrote
Boulton to Watt ; " there was Blair, Priestley, Withering, Galton,
and an American ' rebel,' Mr. Collins. Nothing new except that
some of my white Spathos Iron ore was found to contain more air
than any ore Priestley had ever tried, and, what is singular, it
contains no common air, but is part fixable and part inflam-
mable." l

To Henderson, in Cornwall, Boulton wrote, two
months later,—

" Chemistry has for some time been my hobby-horse, but I am
prevented from riding it by cursed business, except now and then
of a Sunday. However, I have made great progress since I saw you,
and am almost an adept in metallurgical moist chemistry. I have
got all that part of Bergmann's last volume translated, and
have learnt from it many new facts. I have annihilated Wm.
Murdock's bedchamber, having taken away the floor, and made
the chicken kitchen into one high room covered over with shelves,
and these I have filled with chemical apparatus. I have likewise
set up a Priestleyan water-tub, and likewise a mercurial tub for
experiments on gases, vapours, &c., and next year I shall annex
to these a laboratory with furnaces of all sorts, and all other utensils
for dry chemistry." 2

The " Priestleyan water-tub " and " mercurial tub,"
here alluded to, were invented by Priestley in the course
of his investigations, for the purpose of collecting and
handling gases ; and the pneumatic trough, with glass

1 Boulton to Watt, 3rd July, 1781.
Dr. Black denominated carbonic acid
,u'us " fixed air " because of his having
tirst discovered it in chalk, marble,
&f., wherein it was fixed until the

furnace or other means extracted it
from its fixture.

2 Boulton to Henderson, Oth Sep-
tember, 1781.

374 JOSIAH WEDGWOOD. CHAP. XVIII.

retorts and receivers, shortly became part of the furni-
ture of every chemical laboratory.

Josiah Wedgwood was another member of the Lunar
Society who was infected by Dr. Priestley's enthusiasm
for chemistry ; and, knowing that the Doctor's income
from his congregation was small, he and Boulton took
private counsel together as to the best means of providing
him with funds so as to place him in a position of com-
parative ease, and enable him freely to pursue his in-
vestigations. The correspondence which took place on
the subject is creditable to all parties concerned ; and
the more so to Boulton, as he was embarrassed at the
time by financial difficulties of the most distressing kind,
as has been already explained in a preceding chapter.
Wedgwood had undertaken to sound Dr. Priestley, and
he thus communicated the result to Boulton:—

" The Doctor says lie never did intend or think of making any
pecuniary advantage from any of his experiments, but gave them to
the public with their results, just as they happened, and so he should
continue to do, without ever attempting to make any private
emolument from them to himself.

" I mentioned this business to our good friend, Dr. Darwin,
who agrees with us in sentiment, that it would be a pity that
Dr. Priestley should have any cares or cramps to interrupt him in
the fine vein of experiments he is in the midst of, and is willing
to devote his time to the pursuit of, for the public good. The
Doctor will subscribe, and has thought of some friends who, he is
persuaded, will gladly do the same. . . .

" You will see by the enclosed list that one cannot decently
exceed ten guineas unless it be under the cover of a friend's name,
which method I shall take if I think it necessary to write more
than ten ; but that is the subscription I shall begin with, and for
three years certain.

" Dr. Darwin will be very cautious who he mentions this affair
to, for reasons of delicacy which will have equal weight with us all.
I mentioned your generous intention to Dr. P., and that we thought
of 201. each ; but that, you will perceive, cannot be, and the Doctor
says much less will suffice, as he can go on very well with 100Z. per

1 Wedgwood to Boulton, Etmria, 10th March, 1781.

CHAP. XVIII. DISCUSSIONS AT THE LUNAR SOCIETY. 375

Boulton wrote Wedgwood in reply, requesting that
the money subscribed should be collected and paid to
Dr. Priestley in such a way as not to wound his sensi-
tive feelings. He suggested that in order to avoid this,
it might be better if, instead of an annual subscription, a
dozen gentlemen were found willing to give a hundred
pounds each for the purpose of buying an annuity, or
investing the amount in stock for the Doctor's benefit.

" I have never yet spoken to him on the subject," he added ; " I
wish to avoid it, and so doth my neighbour Galton. Therefore
I beg you will manage the affair so that we may contribute our
mites to so laudable a plan, without the Doctor knowing anything of
the matter, and favour us with a line on the subject at your leisure." l

In a subsequent part of the same letter he indicated
the subject of Priestley's experiments at the time :—

" We have long talked," said he, " of Phlogiston without knowing
what we talked about ; but now that Dr. Priestley hath brought the
matter to light, we can pour that element out of one vessel into
another, can take it out of one metal and put it into another,
can tell how much of it, by accurate measurement, is necessary
to reduce a calx to a metal, which is easily done, and without
putting that calx into contact with any visible thing. In short,
this goddess of levity can be measured and weighed like other matter.
For the rest, I refer you to the Doctor himself."

The discussions at the Lunar Society were not, how-
ever, exclusively chemical, but were varied according to
the visitors who from time to time honoured the
members with their presence. Thus, in the autumn of
1782, the venerable Smeaton, having occasion to be in
Birmingham upon canal business, was invited to attend
a meeting of the Society held in Watt's house at Harper's
Hill. Watt thus described the evening's proceedings in
a letter to Boulton, then in London : —

"He [Smeaton] grows old, and is rather more talkative than
he was, but retains in perfection his perspicuity of expression
and good sense. He came to the Philosophers' Meeting at my

1 Boulton to Wedgwood, 30th March, 1781.

370

PBIESTLEY'S DISCOVERIES.

CHAP. XVIII.

house on Monday, and we were receiving an account of his experi-
ments on rotatives and some new ones he has made, when unluckily
his facts did not agree with Dr. Moyes the blind philosopher's
theories, which made Moyes contradict Smeaton, and brought
on a dispute which lost us the information we hoped for, and
took away all the pleasure of the meeting, as it lasted two hours
without coming half an inch nearer to the point." l

A few days later, we find De Luc paying his first
visit to Watt at Birmingham, accompanied by Baron
Keden, who desired to inspect the Soho works. " M.
De Luc," wrote Watt, " is a modest ingenious man.
On Wednesday, Wilkinson, Keden, and he sent for me
to ' The Castle ' after dinner, and kept me to supper.
On the following day De Luc came to breakfast, and
spent the whole forenoon, insensing 2 himself with steam
and steam-engines. He is making a book, and will
mention us in it. Dr. Priestley came also to dinner,
and we were all good company till six o'clock, when
Wilkinson set off for Broseley, and they for London."

Meanwhile Priestley continued to pursue his investi-
gations with indefatigable zeal, discovering one gas
after another,3 and immediately proclaiming the facts
which he brought to light, so that other minds might be
employed on them besides his own. He kept nothing
secret. Perhaps, indeed, he was too hasty in publishing
the results of experiments still unfinished, as it occasion-
ally led him into contradictions which a more cautious
method of procedure would have enabled him to avoid.
But he was thoroughly honest, ingenuous, and single-
minded in all his proceedings, entertaining the convic-
tion that in the end truth would vindicate itself, and

1 Watt to Boulton, 26th October,
1782.

2 A common word in the north, —
meaning literally putting sense into one.

3 He discovered, in the course of
his inquiries at different periods, no
fewer than nine new gases, — oxygen,
nitrogen (a discovery also claimed by

Cavendish and Kutherford), nitric
oxide, nitrous oxide, sulphurous acid,
muriatic acid (chlorine), volatile am-
monia, fluo-silicic acid, and carbonic
oxide, — " a tribute to science," as is
truly observed by Dr. Henry, " greatly
exceeding in richness and extent that
of any contemporary."

CHAP. XVIII.

THE COMPOSITION OF WATER.

377

that all that was necessary was to inquire ardently, to
experiment incessantly, and to publish freely.

One of the most interesting speculations to which
Priestley's experiments gave rise was the composition of
water. The merit of discovering the true theory has
been variously attributed to Watt, to Cavendish, and
to Lavoisier ; and perhaps no scientific question has been
the subject of more protracted controversy. It had
been known for some years that a certain mixture of
inflammable and dephlogisticated air (hydrogen and
oxygen), or common air and hydrogen, could be fired
by the electric spark. The experiment had been made
by Volta and Macquer in 1776-7 ; and in the spring
of 1781 Priestley made what he called a " random ex-
periment" of the same kind, to entertain some philo-
sophical friends. He exploded a mixture of common air
and hydrogen in a glass globe by sending an electric
spark through it, and when the explosion had taken
place it was observed that the sides of the glass were
bedewed with moisture. Mr. Warltire, a lecturer on
Natural Philosophy at Birmingham,1 was present at the
experiment, and afterwards repeated it in a copper flask
for the purpose of trying " whether heat is heavy or
not." In the mean time, Mr. Cavendish, who had for
some years been occupied in the special study of pneu-
matic chemistry, and satisfactorily solved the question of
the true composition of atmospheric air, having had his
attention directed to Mr. Warltire' s experiment, repeated
it in London, in the summer of 1781, employing a

1 We find among the Boulton MSS.,
a letter from Priestley, dated Calne,
28th September, 1776, introducing
Warltire to Boulton as follows : — " As
I know you will take pleasure in
everything in which the advancement
of science is concerned, I take the
liberty to recommend to you Mr.
Warltire, who has been some time in
this part of the country, and who is
going to read lectures on the subject

of Air at Birmingham. I think him
an excellent philosopher, as well as a
modest and agreeable man. He is
perfectly acquainted with his subject,
and has prepared a set of experiments
which have given the greatest satis-
faction wherever he has been. He
has been so obliging as to spend some
time with me, and has given me much
assistance in my late experiments, of
which he can give you some account."

378 WATT'S THEORY. CHAP. XV11I.

glass vessel instead of a copper one ; and again the
deposit of dew was observed on the sides of the glass.
This phenomenon, which Priestley had disregarded,
appeared to him to be of considerable importance, and
" likely to throw great light " upon the subject of the
disappearance of oxygen during combustion, which he
had been pursuing experimentally by means of his
well-known eudiometer. " The liquid which resulted
from the detonations was very carefully analysed, and
proved in all the experiments with hydrogen and air,
and in some of those with hydrogen and oxygen, to be
pure water ; but in certain of the latter it contained a
sensible quantity of nitric acid. Till the source of this
was ascertained, it would have been premature to con-
clude that hydrogen and oxygen could be turned into
pure water." l These experiments, however, were not
published, being still regarded as inconclusive. But
with the communicativeness which distinguishes the
true man of science, Cavendish made them known to
Priestley, and, through his friend Dr. Blagden, to La-
voisier. It was not until January, 1784, that he com-
municated the results of his long series of experiments
on the subject to the Royal Society.

In the mean time Watt's attention had been directed
to the same subject by the experiments of Priestley, and
he was led to the same conclusions as Cavendish, though
altogether independent of him, and by means of a dif-
ferent class of experiments. We find him writing to
Boulton, then at Cosgarne, as follows, in 1782 :—

" You may remember that I have often said that if water could
be heated red hot, or something more, it would probably be
converted into some kind of air, because steam would in that case
have lost all its latent heat, and that it would have been turned

1 Wilson's ' Life of Cavendish,' p. Muirhead in his * Correspondence of
60. In this work, the claims of the late James Watt on his Discovery
Cavendish are strongly advocated. I of the Theory of the Composition of
The case in favour of Watt is alike Water.'
strongly and ably stated by Mr. :

CHAP. XVIII. CAVENDISH AND WATT. 379

wholly into sensible heat, and probably a total change of the
nature of the fluid would ensue. Dr. Priestley has proved this by
experiment. He took lime and chased out all the fixed air, and
made it exceedingly caustic by long-continued and violent heat.
He then added to it two ounces of water, and as expeditiously
as possible subjected it again to a strong heat, and he obtained two
ounces' weight of air ; and, what is most surprising, a balloon which
he interposed between the retort and receiver was not sensibly
moistened, nor at all heated that could be observed. The air
produced was but very little more than common air, and contained
scarce any fixed air. So here is a plain account of where the
atmospheric air comes from. The Doctor does me justice as to
the theory." I

The results of this experiment were by no means con-
clusive. That water was composed, at least in part, of
air or gas of some kind was obvious ; but what the gas
was, and whether it existed in combination with other
gases, was still a matter of conjecture. But Priestley,
having proceeded to repeat Cavendish's experiment 2 of
exploding a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen in a glass
vessel, which was followed by the usual deposit of water,
communicated the fact to Watt, and this at once put
him on the track of the true theory. In a letter to
Dr. Black, he communicated the result of Dr. Priestley's
experiments, stating that " when quite dry pure in-
flammable air (hydrogen) and quite dry pure dephlo-
gisticated air (oxygen) are fired by the electric spark in
a close vessel, he finds, after the vessel is cold, a
quantity of water adhering to the vessel equal, or very

1 Watt to Boulton, 10th December, I toujours trouve de 1'eau dans les vases
1782. oil il avoit brule un melange de Fair

2 De Luc, Watt's " ami zele," as he I inflammable et d'air atmospherique,
described himself, confirms the fact j s'etoit applique a decouvrir la source
of Cavendish having, in 1782, com- | de cette eau, et qu'il avoit trouv£
municated to Priestley the nature of qu'un melange d'air inflammable et
his experiments as well as his theory j d'air deplilogistique en proportion con-
of the composition of water, in the I venable, etant allume par 1'etincelle
following passage : — " Vers la fin de | electrique, se convertissoit tout entier
1'annee 1782, j'allai a Birmingham,

oil le Dr. Priestley s'etoit etabli depuis

quelques anne'es. II me communiqua
alors que M. Cavendish, d'apres tine
remarque de M. Warltire, qui avoit

haut

i eau. — Je fus frappe an plus
degre' de cette de'couverte." — ' Idees
sur la Me'teorologie,' tome 2, 1787,
pp. 206-7.

380 THE DISPUTED DISCOVERY. CHAP. XV1I1.

nearly equal, to the weight of the whole air. . . . Are
we not then authorised to conclude, that water is
composed of dephlogisticated and inflammable air or
phlogiston deprived of part of their latent heat ; and
that dephlogisticated or pure air is composed of water
deprived of its phlogiston and united to heat and light ;
and if light be only a modification of heat, or a
component part of phlogiston, then pure air consists of
water deprived of its phlogiston or latent heat ? " J
At the same time Watt wrote to Priestley, - who did not
himself see the force of the experiments as establishing
the true composition of water, — demonstrating the con-
clusions which they warranted, and which were iden-
tical with those already drawn by Cavendish.

Whether Priestley had communicated to Watt the
theory of Cavendish does not appear ; but it is probable
that both arrived at the same conclusions independently
of each other ; Cavendish from the result of his own
experiments, and Watt from those of Priestley. Each
was quite competent to have made the discovery ; nor is
it necessary for the fame of either to strip a leaf of
laurel from the brow of the other. Moreover, we are
as unwilling to believe that Cavendish would have
knowingly appropriated to himself the idea of Watt, as
that Watt would have knowingly appropriated the idea
of Cavendish. As it was, however, Cavendish and
Watt both claimed priority in the discovery; the
advocates of Watt's claim resting their case mainly on
the fact of his having first stated his views on the
subject in writing, in a letter which he wrote to Dr.
Priestley for the purpose of being read to the Eoyal
Society in April, 1783. Before that letter was read,
Watt asked that it should be withheld until the results
of some new experiments of Dr. Priestley could be
ascertained. These proving delusive, Watt sent a

1 Watt to Black, 21st April, 1783.

CHAP. XVIII.

BLEACHING BY CHLORINE.

381

revised edition of the letter to his friend De Luc, in
November, but the reading of it was delayed until the
29th April, 1784, before which time, on the 15th
January, Cavendish's paper on the same subject had
been communicated to the Society. Watt was much
annoyed at the circumstance, and alleged that Cavendish
had been guilty of " plagiarism." At a late period
of his life, when all bitter feelings on the subject had
subsided, Watt declared himself indifferent to the
subject of controversy : " After all," said he, " it matters
little whether Cavendish or I discovered the composition
of water ; the great thing is, that it is discovered."

Pneumatic chemistry continued to form the principal
subject of discussion at the Lunar Society, as we find
from numerous references in Boulton and Watt's letters.
" The Lunar Society," wrote Watt to his partner, " was
held yesterday at Mr. Galton's at Barr. It was rather
dull, there having been no philosophical news lately
except Mr. Kirwan's discovery of an air from phos-
phorus, which takes fire of itself on being mixed with
common or dephlogisticated air." 2 Among Watt's
numerous scientific correspondents was M. Berthollet,
the eminent French chemist, who communicated to
him the process he had discovered of bleaching by
chlorine. Watt proceeded to test the value of the dis-
covery by experiment, after which he recommended his
father-in-law, Mr. Macgregor, of Glasgow, to make trial
of it on a larger scale. This, however, was postponed

1 That Watt felt keenly on the
subject, is obvious from his letter to
Mr. Fry of Bristol (15th May, 1784),
wherein he says, — " I have had the
honour, like other great men, to have
had my ideas pirated. Soon after I
wrote my first paper on the subject,
Dr. Blagden explained my theory to
M. Lavoisier at Paris; and soon after
that, M. Lavoisier invented it himself,
and read a paper on the subject to the
Royal Academy of Sciences. Since

that, Mr. Cavendish has read a paper
to the Royal Society on the same idea,
without making the least mention of
me. The one is a French financier ; and
the other a member of the illustrious
house of Cavendish, worth above
100,OOOZ., and does not spend 1000Z. a
year. Rich men may do mean actions.
May 3'ou and I always persevere in
our integrity, and despise such doings."
2 Watt to Boulton, 20th September,
1785.

382

SUPPOSED DISCOVERY OF PHOTOGRAPHY. CHAP. XVIII.

until Watt himself could find time to superintend it in
person. At the end of 1787, we find him on a visit-
to Glasgow for the purpose, and writing Boulton that
he is making ready for the trial. " I mean," he writes,
" to try it to-morrow, though I am somewhat afraid
to attack so fierce and strong a beast. There is almost
no bearing the fumes of it. After all, it does not appear
that it will prove a cheap way of bleaching, and it
weakens the goods more than could be wished, whatever
good it may do in the way of expedition."1 The experi-
ment succeeded, and we find Mr. Macgregor, in the
following February, "engaged in whitening 1500 yards
of linen by the process." The discovery, not being
protected by a patent, was immediately made use of by
other firms ; but the offensive odour of the chlorine was
found exceedingly objectionable, until it was discovered
that chlorine could be absorbed by slaked lime, the
solution of which possessed great bleaching power, and
this process in course of time superseded all the old
methods of bleaching by chlorine.

It has been recently surmised that the action of light
upon nitrate of silver formed the subject of discussion at
the Lunar Society, and of experiments by Boulton and
Watt ; but we find no indications of this in their cor-
respondence. They were so unreserved with each other
on all matters of business as well as science that, had
any phenomena of so remarkable a character as those
which have issued in the art of photography become
known to either Boulton or Watt, we feel confident that
they must have formed the subject of much personal
discussion, and of many written communications. But
both correspondents are alike entirely silent on the
subject ; and we infer that no such experiments were
made by them, or, if made, that they led to no results !2

1 Watt to Boulton, 30th December,
1787. Boulton MSS.

2 Mr. W. P. Smith, of the Patent

Museum, raised this question at a
meeting of the Photographic Society
held on the 3rd November, 1863.

CHAP. XVIII.

M. FAUJAS-SAINT-FOND.

383

Among the many foreigners who were attracted
by this distinguished circle of scientific men, we find
M. Faujas-Saint-Fond, who visited Birmingham in the
course of his tour in England in 1785, while the circle
wras as yet unbroken, and Watt, Boulton, Priestley, and
the rest, w^ere in the full tide of business, invention,
and inquiry. Saint- Fond had the pleasure of dining
one day with Watt when Dr. Priestley was present,
and describes in glowing terms the interest of their
conversation. " Watt," he says, "joins to the frankness
of a Scotchman the amiability and kindness of a man of
the world. Surrounded by charming children, well
educated and full of talent, he enjoys in their midst the
happiness of regarding them as his friends, while he
is almost worshipped by them as the best of fathers."
A subsequent visit which he paid to Dr. Priestley in
company with Dr. Withering, leads him to describe the

Certain photographic pictures on metal
plates were found in Mr. Boulton's
library at Soho, which, it was sup-
posed, had not been opened for about
fifty years ; and it was accordingly
inferred that these photographs had
been the work of Mr. Boulton, or some
member of the Lunar Society, about
the year 1791. One of them was sup-
posed to be a view of Soho House
" before the alterations, which were
made previous to 1791." But the
evidence is very defective, as has been
clearly shown by M. P. W. Boulton,
Esq., the grandson of Mr. Boulton,
in his * Remarks concerning certain
Photographs supposed to be of early
Date' (Bradbury and Evans, 1804).
Instead of having been closed for fifty
years, the room in which the pictures
were found, was in constant use, and
the books were freely accessible. It
is also very doubtful whether the
house represented in one of the pic-
tures is old Soho House ; the strong
probability being that it is not, but a
house still standing at Winson Green.
The explanation given by Mr. M. P. W.
Boulton seems to be the true one —
that the room in question having been

by a Miss Wilkinson, an expe-
rimenter in photography after its in-
vention by Niepce, these photographs
were merely the results of her first
amateur experiments in the art. The
late Mr. Murdock, son of William
Murdock of Soho, who lived in the
immediate neighbourhood, was also a
very good photographist, and was
accustomed to meet Miss Wilkinson
to make experiments in the new art.

There can be no doubt that the
Wedgwoods of Etruria, more particu-
larly Josiah's son Thomas, as well as
Humphry Davy, were early engaged
in experimenting on the action of light
upon nitrate of silver, but they wholly
failed in fixing the pictures. A letter,
dated " January, 1799," is quoted in
the ' Photographic Journal ' for Jan. 15,
1864, as from James Watt to Josiah
Wedgwood (which must be an error,
as Josiah died in 1795), in which the
following words occur : — " 1 thank
you for your instructions respecting
the silver pictures, about which, when
at home, 1 will make some experi-
ments." If such experiments were
really made, we have been unable to
find any record of them.

384 PEIESTLEY'S HOUSE AT FAIRHTLL. CHAP. XVIIJ.

philosopher's house at Fairhill, then about a mile and a
half from Birmingham. " It is," he says, " a charming
residence, with a fine meadow on one side, and a beauti-
ful garden on the other. There was an air of perfect
neatness about the place within and without." He
describes the Doctor's laboratory, in which he conducted
his experiments, as "situated at the extremity of a
court, and detached from the house to avoid the danger
of fire."

" It consists of several apartments on the ground floor. On
entering it, I was struck with the sight of a simple and ingenious
apparatus for making experiments on inflammable gas extracted
from iron and water reduced to vapour. It consisted of a tube,
tolerably long and thick, made out of one piece of copper to avoid
soldering. The part exposed to the fire was thicker than the rest.
He introduced into the tube cuttings or filings of iron, and instead
of letting the water fall into it drop by drop, he preferred
introducing it as vapour. The furnace was fired by coke instead of
coal, this being the best of combustibles for intensity and equality
of heat. . . . Dr. Priestley kindly allowed me to make a drawing of
his apparatus for the purpose of communicating it to the French
chemists who are engaged in the same investigations as himself.
. . . The Doctor has embellished his rural retreat with a philo-
sophical cabinet, containing all the instruments necessary for his
scientific labours ; as well as a library, containing a store of the most
valuable books. He employs his time in a variety of studies.
History, moral philosophy, and religion, occupy his attention by
turns. An active, intelligent mind, and a natural avidity for
knowledge, draw him towards the physical sciences ; but a soft and
impressible heart again leads him to religious and philanthropic
inquiries. ... I had indeed the greatest pleasure in seeing this
amiable savant in the midst of his books, his furnaces, and his
philosophical instruments; at his side an educated wife, a lovely
daughter, and in a charming residence, where everything bespoke
industry, peace, and happiness." l

Only a few years after the date of this visit, while
Priestley was still busied with his chemical investiga-
tions, his house at Fairhill, thus described by Saint-

1 ' Voyage en Angleterre, en Ecosse, et aux lies Hebrides.' Par B. Faujas-
Saint-Fond. 2 vols. Paris, 1797.

. XVIII. MORAL INFLUENCE OF THE LUNAR SOCIETY. 385

Fond, was invaded by a brutal mob, who ruthlessly
destroyed his library, his apparatus, and his furniture,
and forced him to fly from Birmingham, glad to escape
with his life.

The Lunar Society continued to exist for some years
longer. But one by one the members dropped off.
Dr. Priestley emigrated to America ; Dr. Withering,
Josiah Wedgwood, and Dr. Darwin, died before the
close of the century ; and, without them, a meeting
of the Lunar Society was no longer what it used to
be. Instead of an assembly of active, inquiring men,
it was more like a meeting of spectres with a Death's
head in the chair. The associations connected with the
meeting — reminding the few lingering survivors of
the losses of friends — became of too painful a character
to be kept alive ; and the Lunar Society, like the mem-
bers of which it was composed, gradually expired. Its
spirit, however, did not die. The Society had stimulated
inquiry, and quickened the zeal for knowledge of all
who had come within the reach of its influence ; and
this spirit diffused and propagated itself in all directions.
Leonard Homer, who visited Soho in 1809, thus referred
to the continued moral influence of the association : —
" The remnant of the Lunar Society," he says, " and the
fresh remembrance in others of the remarkable men who
composed it, are very interesting. The impression
which they made is not yet worn out, but shows itself,
to the second and third generation, in a spirit of scien-
tific curiosity and free inquiry, which even yet makes
some stand against the combined forces of Methodism,
Toryism, and the love of gain." l

1 Homer's * Memoirs and Correspondence,' ii. 2.

THE " BHUMMAGEM " MINTS. CHAP. XIX.

CHAPTEK XIX.

BOULTON'S APPLICATION OF THE STEAM-ENGINE TO COINING.

THE manufacture of counterfeit money was very common
at Birmingham about the middle of last century, — so
common, indeed, that it had become an almost recognised
branch of trade. The machinery which was capable of
making a button with a device and letters stamped upon
one side of a piece of metal, was capable, with a few
modifications, of making a coin with a device arid letters
stamped upon both sides. It was as easy to counterfeit
one kind of coin as another — gold and silver, as well as
copper ; the former only requiring a little extra skill in
manipulation, to which the button-makers were found
fully equal.

The profits of this illegal trade were of course very
large ; and so long as the coiners could find a vend for
their productions, they went on producing. But at
length the public, smarting from many losses, acquired
sufficient experience to detect the spurious issues of the
Birmingham mints ; and when an unusually bright
shilling or guinea was offered, they had little difficulty
in pronouncing upon its " Brummagem " l origin. But
though profitable, the prosecution of this branch of
business was by no means unattended with risks. While
some who pursued it on a large scale contrived to
elevate themselves among the moneyed class, others,
less fortunate, secured an elevation of a very different
kind, — one of the grimmest sights of those days being

1 The word " Brummagem " doubtless originated in the numerous issues
of counterfeit money from the Birmingham minis.

CHAP. XIX. ILLEGAL COINING OPPOSED. 387

the skeletons of convicted coiners dangling from gibbets
on Hands worth Heath.1

The production of counterfeit gold and silver coins
came to be avoided as too dangerous ; but the pro-
duction of counterfeit copper money continued active at
Birmingham down to the middle of last century, when
numerous illegal mints were found in active operation.
A Royal proclamation was issued on the 12th July,
1751, warning the coiners against the consequences of
their illegal proceedings ; and shortly after, the Solicitor
for the Mint went down to Birmingham, and had many
of the more noted offenders tried, convicted, and sen-
tenced to two years' imprisonment. The principal
manufacturers and traders of the town met and passed
strong resolutions, condemning the practice of illegal
coining ; but the evil still continued ; and in 1753 it
was estimated that not less than half the copper coin
in circulation was counterfeit. This disgraceful state of
the coinage suggested, and partly justified, companies,
firms, and local bodies, in circulating copper coinages of
their own. These were followed by provincial pence
and halfpence, which were, in their turn, counterfeited
by pieces of baser metal. Most of the new copper coins
of all sorts, good and bad, were executed at Birming-
ham ; and thus coining shortly became one of the leading
branches of business there.

Boulton, as the owner of the largest and best-equipped
manufactory in the neighbourhood, might have done
any amount of coining that he desired ; but the dis-
reputable character of the business deterred him from
entering upon it, and he refused all orders for coun-
terfeit money, whether for home or abroad.2 He took

1 The punishment for this crime was
sometimes of a very brutal character.
In March, 1789, a woman, convicted of
coining- in London, was first strangled
by the stool being taken from under
her, and then fixed to a stake and

burnt before the debtor's door at New-
gate!

2 " I lately received a letter from a
Jew about making for him a large
quantity of base money, but I should
be sorry ever to become so base as to

2 c 2

388 EVILS OF DEBASED COIN. CHAP. XIX.

an active part in the measures adopted by the leading
manufacturers to prevent illegal coining ; and the
interest which he felt in commercial questions gene-
rally continued to keep his attention directed to the
subject. One of the greatest evils of debased coin-
age, in his opinion, consisted in the serious losses that
it occasioned to the labouring people ; many of the
lower classes of traders and manufacturers buying coun-
terfeit money from the coiners at half its current value,
and paying it in wages at full value, thereby wronging
and defrauding the workmen of their hire. He came
to the conclusion that the public interest imperatively
required that the whole of the so-called copper coinage
in circulation should be swept away and superseded
by the issue of new coins, the intrinsic value and supe-
rior workmanship of which should be so palpable as
effectually to suppress counterfeiting and its numerous
evils. He had many interviews with the ministers of
state on the subject ; and we find him alleging in one
of his letters to a friend that "his principal reason for
turning coiner was to gratify Mr. Pitt in his wishes
to put an end to the counterfeiting of money." *

Other circumstances, doubtless, concurred in keeping
his attention directed to the subject. Thus, he had
become largely interested in the copper-trade of Corn-
wall through the shares he held in the mines as well as
in the Copper Mining Company ; and he was himself a
large holder of copper, which he had purchased from
that Company at a time when they could not dispose of
it elsewhere. It was also one of his favourite ideas to
apply the power of the steam-engine to the stamping

execute such orders. On the contrary
I have taken some measures to put a
stop to the execution of them by
others, and if Mr. Butcher hath any
plan of that sort he would do well to
guard against me ; as I certainly shall
endeavour all in my power to prevent j

the counterfeiting of British or other
money — that being the principle on
which I am acting." — Boulton to
Matthews, December, 1787.

1 Boulton to Woodman, 13th No-
vember, 1789.

CHAP. XIX. BOULTON TURNS COINER. 389

of money, — an idea of which he has the exclusive merit.
As early as 1774, Watt says Boulton had many con-
versations with him on the subject ; but it was not until
the year 1786 that he successfully applied the engine
for the first time in executing his contract with the East
India Company for above a hundred tons of copper
coin. James Watt, in his MS. memoir of his friend
Boulton, gives the following account of the origin of
his connexion with the coining business : —

" When the new coinage of gold took place in 178-, Mr. Boulton
was employed to receive and exchange the old coin, which served to
revive his ideas on the subject of coinage, which he had long
considered to be capable of great improvement. Among other
things, he conceived that the coin should all be struck in collars, to
make it exactly round and of one size, which was by no means
the case with the ordinary gold pieces ; and that, if thus made, and
of one thickness, the purity of the gold might be tested by passing
it through a gauge or slit in a piece of steel made exactly to fit a
properly made coin. He had accordingly a proof guinea made, with
a raised border, and the letters en creux, somewhat similar to the
penny pieces he afterwards coined for Government. This com-
pletely answered his intention, as any piece of baser metal which
filled the gauge was found to be considerably lighter ; or, if made
to the proper weight, then it would not go through the gauge.
Such money was also less liable to wear in the pocket than the
common coin, where all the impression was prominent. The
proposals on this head were not however approved by those
who then had the management of His Majesty's Mint, and there
the matter rested for the time.

" In 1786 Mr. Boulton and I were in France, where we saw a
very fine crown-piece executed by Mr. P. Droz in a new manner.
It was coined in a collar split into six parts, which came together
when the dies were brought in contact with the blank, and formed
the edge and the inscription upon it. Mr. Droz had also made
several improvements in the coining-press, and pretended to
others in the art of multiplying the dies. As, to his mechanical
abilities, Droz joined that of being a good die-sinker, Mr. Boulton
contracted with him to come over to England at a high salary and
work at Soho, Mr. B. having then the prospect of an extensive
copper coinage for the East India Company as well as a probability
of one from Government. In anticipation of this contract, a number
of coining-presses were constructed, and a steam-engine was applied
to work them.

390

BOULTON'S COINING MACHINERY.

CHAP. XIX.

" Mr. Droz was found to be of a very troublesome disposition.
Several of his contrivances, being found not to answer, were obliged
to be better contrived or totally changed by Mr. Boulton and his
assistants. The split collar was found to be difficult of execution,
and being subject to wear very soon when in use, it was consequently
unfit for an extensive coinage. Other methods were therefore
invented and applied by Mr. Boulton, and the use of Droz's collar
was entirely given up." l

Although the machinery of the " Hotel de Monnaie,"
which Boulton erected at Soho, was found sufficient for
the execution of his contract with the East India Com-
pany, its action was "violent and noisy," and did not
work to his satisfaction. He accordingly, with his usual
determination to reach the highest degree of mechanical
perfection, proceeded to remodel the whole of his coining
machinery, in the course of which he introduced many
entirely new contrivances and adaptations. In this he
was ably assisted by William Murdock, Peter Ewart,
James Lawson, and John Southern ; but he himself was
throughout the leading spirit, and took the principal
part of the work. He originated numerous essential
improvements in the rolling, annealing, and cleaning
of the metal, — in the forging, multiplying, and tem-
pering of the dies, — and in the construction of the
milling and cutting-out machines, — which were worked
out in detail by his assistants, after various trials,
examined and tested by himself; while the arrangement
and methodising of the system of coining — in a word,
the organisation of the mint — was entirely his own
work. " To his indefatigable energy and perseverance,"
wrote Murdock many years later, " in pursuit of this,
the favourite and nearly the sole object of the last
twenty years of the active part of Mr. Boulton's life,

1 Watt says Droz " did not know
so much on the subject as Boulton
himself did," and being found incom-
petent, a pretender, and disposed to be

quarrelsome and litigious, lie was
shortly after dismissed with liberal
payment.

CHAP. XIX.

IMPROVED COPPER COINAGE.

391

is, in a great measure, to be attributed the perfection to
which the art of coining has ultimately attained." l

While thus labouring at the improvement of his
presses, dies, and the application of the steam-engine
to the process of coining, Boulton was actively engaged
in stirring up public opinion on the subject of an
improved copper coinage. Six presses were fitted and
ready for work at Soho by the end of 1788 ;2 but the
only considerable orders which had as yet been executed
were the copper coinage of the East India Company,
another for the American Colonies, and a silver coinage
for the Sierra Leone Company ; so that the Soho mint,
notwithstanding the capital, skill, and labour bestowed
upon it, remained comparatively idle. Boulton con-
tinued to stir up the Government through his influential
friends ; 3 and he was at length called before the Privy

1 In a letter written by James Law-
son to Matthew Robinson Boulton
shortly after his father's death, he ob-
served,— " God only knows the anxiety
and unremitting perseverance of your
father to accomplish the end ; and we
all aided and assisted to the best of
our powers, without ever considering
by whose contrivance anything was
brought to bear. Indeed the bringing
of everything to bear was by your
father's perseverance, and by his hints
and personal attendance ; for often he
attended and persevered in the experi-
ments till we were all tired." — Lawson
to M. R. Boulton, January 10, 1810.
Boulton MSS.

2 We find numerous letters from
Boulton to Joseph Harrison relative
to the execution of the presses, and
the manner in which the various
details of the work were to be carried
out. On the 10th of January, 1788,
he wrote, — " Push forward with the
utmost expedition six of the cutting-
out presses and one of the coining
presses. I have engaged to have six
of each kind at work by this day
four months. ... I shall be obliged

to work after the rate of 1500 tons a
year. I fear I must have eight presses
[eight were eventually erected] in
which case I must lengthen the build-
ing next the Gate road. Pray push
forward, and be silent." Various
details as to the working of the
presses and the execution of the coin
were given in succeeding letters.

3 To Lord Hawkesbury he wrote
(14th April, 1789), — " In the course
of my journeys I observe that I receive
upon an average two-thirds counterfeit
halfpence for change at toll-gates, &c. ;
and I believe the evil is daily in-
creasing, as the spurious money is
carried into circulation by the lowest
class of manufacturers, who pay with
it the principal part of the wages of the
poor people they employ. They pur-
chase from the subterraneous coiners 36
shillings'- worth of copper (in nominal
value) for 20 shillings, so that the profit
derived from the cheating is very large.
The trade is carried on to so great an
extent that at a public meeting at
Stockport in Cheshire, in January last,
the magistrates and inhabitants came
to a resolution to take no other half-

392

OPPOSED BY THE MINT OFFICIALS.

CHAP. XIX.

Council and examined as to the best means of pre-
venting the issue of counterfeit money. He stated
his views to them at great length ; and the members
+were so much impressed by his statements that they
authorised him to prepare and submit to them a model
penny, halfpenny, and farthing. This he at once
proceeded to do, and forwarded them to the Privy
Council, accompanied by an elaborate report, setting
forth the superiority of the new coins over those then
issued from the Mint ; demonstrating that their adoption
would effectually prevent counterfeiting of base copper
money, and offering to guarantee the execution of a
contract for a new coinage, at " not exceeding half
the expense which the common copper coin hath always
cost at his Majesty's Mint." ]

Although the specimens submitted by Boulton to the
Privy Council were approved and eventually adopted,
the officials of the Mint were enabled, by mere passive
resistance, to delay the adoption of the new copper
coinage for more than ten years. With their lumbering
machinery they could not execute one-third part of the
copper coin required for the ordinary purposes of
currency ; but they could not brook the idea of inviting
a private individual to do that which they were found
unable to do with all the powers of the State at their
back. Rather than thus publicly confess their incom-
petency, they were satisfied to execute only one-third
of the copper coinage, leaving it to the forgers and
private coiners to supply the rest.

Boulton began to fear that the coining presses which
he had erected with so much labour, contrivance, and
expenditure of money, in anticipation of the expected
Government contract, would remain comparatively idle

pence in future than those of the
Anglesey Company [also an illegal
coinage, though of full weight and
value of copper], and this resolution
they have published in their news-

papers.

1 Boulton to the Lords of the Privy
Council for Trade, 16th December,

1787.

APPEALS TO PUBLIC OPINION.

393

after all. But he did not readily give up the idea of
executing the new coinage. "Of all the mechanical
subjects I ever entered upon," he wrote Mr. Garbett,
" there is none in which I ever engaged -with so much
ardour as that of bringing to perfection the art of
coining in the reign of George III., as well as of check-
ing the injurious and fatal crime of counterfeiting."
It occurred to him that it might be possible to over-
come the obstructiveness of officialism by means of
public opinion ; and he proceeded with his usual vigour
to rouse the trading interests throughout the country
on the subject. He had a statement printed and ex-
tensively circulated among the leading merchants and
manufacturers, to whom he also sent specimens of his
model penny and halfpenny, the superiority of which
to the rubbishy government and counterfeit coin then
in circulation, was made apparent at a glance. He
also endeavoured to act upon the Ministry through
the influence of the King, to whom he presented copies
of his model gold, silver, and copper coins ; but though
his Majesty expressed himself highly pleased with them,
the question of their adoption still remained as much in
suspense as ever. The appeals to the public were fol-
lowed by numerous petitions to Parliament and memo-
rials to the Privy Council against counterfeit money,
and in favour of the proposed Boulton coinage.1

1 In 1787, and again in 1789, we
find the merchants, traders, and
others in South wark urgently memo-
rialising the Lords of the Treasury on
the subject. The Memorial addressed
to them in the latter year was signed
by 800 of the principal inhabitants
of the Borough, and presented to
Mr. Pitt by a deputation, headed by
Mr. Barclay, of Thrale's Brewery, it
set forth that the counterfeits of cop-
per coin had become a very serious
burden and loss, more especially to
poor manufacturers, labourers, and
others, many of whom were compelled

to take counterfeit copper coin in
payment of their commodities and
wages ; and concluded by stating that,
having seen specimens of a new copper
coinage made by Mr. Boulton of
Birmingham (under order of the Lords
of the Privy Council) the Memorialists
take leave to represent, that such a
coinage, from its greater weight and
superior execution, would in their
opinion afford to themselves and the
public at large a certain remedy for
the present grievance, and they there-
fore strongly recommended its adop-
tion.

394

ORDERS FROM FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS. CHAP. XIX.

In the mean time, to find employment for the coining
presses he had set up, Boultoii sought for orders from
foreign and colonial governments. In 1790 and 1792
lie executed a large quantity of beautiful copper coin *
for the revolutionary government of France while we
remained at peace with that country. The coin was
afterwards suppressed when the government was over-
turned, to the great loss of the French contractors, who,
nevertheless, honourably fulfilled their engagement with
Mr. Boulton. In 1791 he executed for the colony of
Bermuda a penny coinage; about the same time he
turned out a large number of provincial halfpenny
tokens ; 2 and in 1794 he supplied the Madras Presidency
with its four-faluce and two-faluce coinage. By way
of exhibiting the artistic skill of Soho, and its ability to
turn out first-class medal work, Boulton took advantage
of the King's recovery in 1789, to execute a very fine

1 The coins were : in 1790, a five-
sous piece, " Pacte Fede'ratif;" in
1792, a four sous " Hercule ; " and a
two sous " Liberte." Boulton's repu-
tation as a coiner abroad, brought
upon him while at Paris, a host of
foreign schemers, one of whom pre-
tended that he had discovered an
infallible method of converting copper
into gold ! The schemer and his wife
followed Boulton to Soho, accompanied
by a letter of introduction from his
friend Baumgarten. After taking
measure of the schemer, Boulton
replied to Baumgarten as follows : —

"Deal- Sir, — Who the devil have you sent
me? Is he the angel or the demon (iabriel ?
Is he a seraphim or a swindler? His pro-
positions appear in such a questionable form,
that I know not whether to pronounce him
F. or H. or S., which are favourite letters
amongst English philosophers.

" Doth he mean to make gold by Alchemy,
or after the family receipt by which his
mother and brother extracted two hundred
guineas from my simplicity when at Paris ?

" I am content with the copper coinage, and
shall leave the golden one to you and (iabriel.
The science of alchemy soars so much above
common sense that I never could obtain so
much as a peep into its lower regions. This

said Gabriel and his angel have, however,
condescended to adopt common sense so far
as to take up their lodgings in my cottage !

" The worst of all is, I am at this juncture
extremely busy and can't bear interruption ;
but all that is a trifle when compared with
the magnitude of his project, viz. converting
1500Z/into 60,OOOZ. ! But he says a small
experiment may be made in three days and
three nights in my laboratory. 1 must,
however, own that I had rather be in Jonah's
situation during that time.

" I wish not to offend this angelic couple,
but I should prefer that you had them back
again, with all the favours and profits in-
tended for rne. However, I cannot help
wishing you a better thing; for in spite of
your last favour I sincerely desire for you
and all that are dear to you, many many
happy and prosperous years,
" Ever your faithful and affectionate friend,
" M. BOULTON."

2 The following were the principal
provincial halfpenny tokens executed at
Soho : — 178y, Cronebane and Dundee ;
1791, Anglesey, Cornwall, Glasgow,
Hornchurch, Southampton ; 1793,
Leeds, London, Penryn, John Wilkin-
son's; 1794, Inverness, Lancaster;
1795, Bishops Stortford ; 1800, Ennis-
corthy.

CHAP. XIX. BOULTON'S SUCCESS IN MEDALLIXG. 395

medal commemorative of the event. He sent the first
specimen to his friend M. De Luc, the Queen's Librarian
at "Windsor, for presentation to her Majesty, who
expressed herself much pleased with the medal. In his
letter to De Luc, Boulton stated that he had been the
more desirous of turning out a creditable piece of work-
manship, as the art of medalling was one of the most
backward in England, and had made the least progress
of any during the reign of his present Majesty. In
preparing this medal, he had the co-operation of
Benjamin West, President of the Royal Academy,
who rendered him valuable assistance in supplying the
best models and portraits of the King from which
a satisfactory likeness could be made, and he also in-
spected and corrected the engraving of the dies.

The success of the medal commemorative of the
King's preservation was such as to induce Boulton to
prosecute this department of business, — not that it was
attended with profit, for some of his most costly medals
were produced for presentation to individuals, and not
for sale, — but that it increased the reputation of Soho,
and reflected new credit upon the art manufacture of
England.

In preparing the dies for his various coins and
medals, we find Boulton seeking and obtaining the
assistance of Nollekens, Flaxman, Bacon, and Wilton
(sculptors) ; Mayer (King's miniature painter) ; Gossett
(modeller) ; but above all, he was mostly indebted for
friendly help to Benjamin West, who cordially entered
into his views of " establishing elegant records of the
medallic arts in the reign of George III." Boulton also
executed a series of medals commemorative of the great
events of the French Revolution, for which there must
have been a considerable demand, as we find him
sending at one time not less than twenty tons of his-
torical medals to Messrs. Monneron his Paris agents.
Amongst these, we may mention his medals of the

390

DESCRIPTION OF THE SOHO MINT.

CHAP. XIX.

following subjects : — The Emperor of Russia ; Assassina-
tion of the King of Sweden ; Restoration of the King
of Naples ; Final Interview of the King of France ;
Execution of the King of France ; Execution of the
Queen of France ; Serment du Roi ; Lafayette ; J. J.
Rousseau ; and Respublica Gallica.1

The Boulton MS. contains a brief description, in
Mr. Boulton's handwriting, of the Soho Mint in 1792,
from which we make the following extract : —

" This Mint consists of eight large coining-machines, which are
sufficiently strong to coin the largest money in current use, or even
medals ; and each machine is capable of being adjusted in a few
minutes, so as to strike any number of pieces of money from fifty to
one hundred and twenty per minute, in proportion to their diameter
and degree of relief; and each piece being struck in a steel collar,
the whole number are perfectly round and of equal diameter.
Each machine requires the attendance of one boy of only twelve
years of age, and he has no labour to perform. He can stop his
press one instant, and set it going again the next. The whole of
the eight presses are capable of coining, at the same time, eight
different sizes of money, such as English crowns, 6-livre pieces,
24-sous pieces, 12-sous, or the very smallest money that is used in
France. The number of blows at each press is proportioned to the
size of the pieces, say from fifty to one hundred and twenty blows
per minute, and if greater speed is wanted, he has smaller machines
that will strike 200 per minute.

"As the blows given by Mr. B.'s machinery are much more
uniform than what are given by the strength of men's arms when
applied to the working of the common press, the dies are not so
liable to break, nor the spirit of the engraving to be so soon
injured ; yet nevertheless, from the natural imperfections of steel,
and other unavoidable causes, some time will be lost in changing the

1 The following medals were also
struck by Mr. Boulton at Soho: —
Prince and Princess of Wales on their
marriage ; Marquis Cornwallis on the
peace with Tippoo ; Earl Howe on his
victory of the First of June ; Hudson's
Bay Company ; Slave Trade abolished ;
Chareville Forest ; General Suwarrow
on his successes in Italy ; the Empress
Catherine of Russia; in commemora-
tion of British Victories; Union with
Ireland ; on the peace of 1802 ; Battle
of Trafalgar; Manchester and Salford

Volunteers ; Frogmore Medal ; Prince
Regent of Portugal ; and the Emperor
Alexander of Russia. The execution
of the Trafalgar Medal furnishes a
remarkable illustration of Boulton's
princely munificence. It was struck
on the occasion of Lord Nelson's last
victory, and presented by him, witli
the sanction of government, to every
officer and man engaged in the action.
Ho gave an additional value to the
present by confining the medal to this
purpose only.

.
CHAP. XIX. COMBINATION AGAINST BOULTON. 397

dies and other interruptions. However, it is decided by experience
that Mr. Boulton's new machinery works with less friction, less
wear, less noise, is less liable to be out of order, and can strike very
much more than any apparatus ever before invented; for it is
capable of striking at the rate of 26,000 ecus or English crowns,
or 50,000 of half their diameter, in one hour, and of working night
and day without fatigue to the boys, provided two sets of them work
alternately for ten hours each."

When Boulton's eight presses were in full work,
the quantity of copper coin they turned out was very
large. They could work off with ease twelve hundred
tons of coin annually. The quantity of copper thus
consumed was so great that a difficulty began to be
experienced in keeping up the supply. Instead of
being glutted with the metal, as Boulton had been
before the Mint was started, he had now con-
siderable difficulty in obtaining sufficient for his pur-
poses. He seems to have been, in some measure, the
victim of a combination to keep him out of a supply ;
for when the holders of copper found out that his
contract with the East India Company required him
to deliver the coin within a given time, and that he
must have the metal, they raised- the prices upon him,
and copper went up about 6/. a ton. On this, the Bir-
mingham white metal button-makers lowered the wages
of their workmen, alleging as the cause the rise in
the price of copper, " for which they must thank Mr.
Boulton." The usual strikes followed, with meetings
of trades delegates and street commotions. Though
Boulton had confidence in the Birmingham workmen
generally, among whom he had the reputation of being
a good master, he feared that, in their excited state,
malice might stir them to mischief; and he appre-
hended an attack upon his manufactory. For this he
accordingly made due preparation, placing a strong
armed guard of his own workmen upon Soho, having
the fullest confidence in their fidelity. Writing to his
friend Wilson in Cornwall, he said, —

398 COINAGE ORDER FROM GOVERNMENT. CHAI>. XIX,

..." From the misrepresentations that have been made by the
delegates, this town has been greatly misguided, and I expect every
hour riots of a serious nature.

" Workmen are parading the streets with cockades in their hats.
They are assembled by beat of drum, and headed by Ignorance and
Envy, with their eyes turned towards Soho.

" Yet I am no competitor with the Birmingham trades. I follow
no business but what I have been myself the father of, and I have
done much more for the Birmingham manufactures than any other
individual. I have declined the trade of White Metal Buttons,
which is the article so much affected by the rise of metals, and
that in which the rioters are employed.

" I mix with no clubs, attend 110 public meetings, am of no party,
nor am I a zealot in religion ; I do not hold any conversation with
any Birmingham persons; and therefore I know no grounds but
what may be suggested by wicked and envious hearts for supposing
me to be the cause of the late rise of copper.

" However, I am well guarded by justice, by law, by men, and
by arms." 1

The danger, however, shortly passed, and the threat-
ened attack was not made.

It was not until the year 1797 that Boulton was
employed to execute a copper coinage for Britain.
Ten years before, encouraged by the Lords of the
Treasury, he had fitted up the Mint machinery at a
heavy cost, in anticipation of this very order ; and
now, after executing coinages for many foreign govern-
ments, the order came at last. The new coins consisted
of twopenny, penny, halfpenny, and farthing pieces.
Altogether, about 4200 tons of these coins were issued
from the Soho Mint between 1797 and 1806. So
sensible were the authorities at the Royal Mint of
the advantages of Mr. Boulton's improvements in
coining machinery, that they employed him to erect the
new Mint on Tower Hill, one of the most complete
establishments of the kind until then in existence.
The plans of the new Mint, as regarded the distribution
of the buildings connected with the mechanical depart-
ment, were arranged by him ; and the coining ma-

1 JJoultoii to Wilson, 26th February, 1792. iJoulton M!SS.

CHAP. XIX. WATT'S PRAISE OF BOULTON. 399

chinery and steam-engines were executed at Soho under
his immediate direction, though he was at the time
labouring under the infirmities of age as well as
suffering under the pressure of a painful disease. He
had also the honour of supplying Eoyal Mints for
the Kussian, Spanish, and Danish governments; and
at a later period for Mexico, Calcutta, and Bombay.
"In short," said Mr. Watt, in the MS. memoir from
which we have already quoted, " had Mr. Boulton done
nothing more in the world than he has accomplished in
improving the coinage, his name would deserve to be
immortalised ; and if it be considered that this was done
in the midst of various other important avocations, and
at enormous expense, — for which, at the time, he could
have had no certainty of an adequate return, — we shall
be at a loss whether most to admire his ingenuity, his
perseverance, or his munificence. He has conducted
the whole more like a sovereign than a private manu-
facturer ; and the love of fame has always been to him
a greater stimulus than the love of gain. Yet it is
to be hoped that, even in the latter point of view, the
enterprise answered its purpose."

SITE OF THK SOHO MiM'J'. NOW REMOVED.

400 PROSPERITY OF SOHO. CHAP. XX.

CHAPTEK XX.

PROSPERITY OF SOHO — YOUNG BOULTON AND WATT — THE BIOTS—
WILLIAM MURDOCK.

THE steam-engine had now become firmly established
as a working power. Beginning as a water pumper
for miners, it had gradually been applied to drive corn
and cotton mills, to roll and hammer iron, to coin
money, to work machinery, and to perform the various
labour in which the power of men and horses, of wind
and water, had before been employed. The numerous
orders for new engines which came in at Soho kept the
works increasingly busy. Many skilled workmen had
by this time been trained into expertness and dexterity ;
and, being kept to their special departments of work,—
fathers training their sons to work with them at the
same benches, — a degree of accuracy and finish was
reached which contributed to establish and maintain
the prestige of the manufactory. The prosperity of
the firm was also materially promoted by the able
assistants who had been trained at Soho, and were in
due time promoted to superintend special departments
of the business. Among these were Murdock, Walker,
Southern, Ewart, and Lawson, who enjoyed the fullest
confidence of their chiefs, and repaid it with unswerving
loyalty.

When the concern had become thoroughly organised
under these able heads of departments, Boulton and
Watt began to breathe more, freely. Their financial
difficulties had now disappeared, and instead of laying
out capital, they had begun to accumulate it. They
had laboured hard for their reward and richlv earned

CHAP. XX. PLEASUKE AND BUSINESS. 401

it; and after their long up-hill struggle, they well
deserved rest and peace at last. They now began to
take occasional journeys of recreation, with which they
varied their journeys of business. Thus, in the autumn
of 1789, we find Boulton making a tour in Derbyshire,
during which he was overtaken at Buxton by a letter
from the Lords of the Privy Council on coining business,
giving him " marching orders for London ; " but a
party having been formed to visit the Peak Cavern, he
decided " to obey the Ladies rather than the Lords."
Three days later, however, we find him in London,
" writing in a full chattering coffee-house at Charing
Cross," and desiring his friend Mr. Barrow to pay his
respects to the ladies whom he had so hurriedly left.
While in London, he received a letter inviting him to
pay a visit to Holland and stand godfather to his friend
Mr. Hoofletter's son ; to which he replied, that he would
be glad to stand godfather to the boy and have the
name of Boulton associated with an honest race, but
was sorry that he could not assist at the christening or
at the dinner. " But pray act for me," he added ; " do
everything that's proper (as is the custom in the
country) ; give the nurse five guineas from me, and I
will repay you. My best respects to Mrs. Hoofletter,
and my blessing on the young Christian."

Watt's troubles and anxieties also were in course
of gradual abatement. Though still suffering from
headaches, asthma, and low spirits, he seems on the
whole to have become more satisfied with his lot.
Prosperity agreed with him as it does with most people.
It is a condition easy to bear, and Watt took to it
kindly. As years passed over his head, he became
placid, contented, and even cheerful. His health
improved, and he enjoyed life in his old age as he had
never done in his youth. He ceased longing for the
rest of the grave, and gave over "cursing his inven-
tions." On the other hand, he took pleasure in looking

2 D

402

WATT'S TOURS OF PLEASURE.

CHAP. XX.

back over the long and difficult road he had traversed,
and in recounting the various steps by which he had
perfected his great inventions. Nor did he cease to
invent; for he went on inventing new things to the
close of his life ; but he followed the pursuit as a
recreation and delight, and not as a business and a
drudgery.

Watt too, like his partner, began to make tours of
pleasure, for the purpose at the same time of gathering
health and seeing the beauties of nature. In August,
1789, he wrote Boulton from Cheltenham, that he had
been making a delightful journey through the Western
Counties, by way of Worcester, Malvern, Hereford, and
Chepstow, and that he felt in better health and spirits
than he had been for a very long time. Occasional
letters reached him from Birmingham about orders
received for engines, nothing being done without first
consulting him. That the concern was thriving, may
be inferred from the comparative indifference with
which he now regarded such orders. An engine having
been ordered by a doubtful person, Watt wrote — " I
look upon such orders as of little value. They are so
precarious in their duration, and in this case there is
risk of bad payment or swindling. Whatever care we
take, he is like a shaved pig with a soaped tail." On a
demand being made upon him for abatement of dues, he
wrote — " We have never made concessions to anybody
but they have been attended with loss to us and half a
dozen more ; and it would appear that, if our patent
lasted long enough, the power of a horse would grow
to that of an elephant." 1

1 There was a great deal of graphic
vigour in Watt's correspondence about
engines. Thus, in the case of an
engine supplied to F. Scott and Co.
to drive a hammer, it appears that
instead of applying it to the hammer
only, they applied it also to blow the
bellows. The consequence was, that

it worked both badly. They had also
increased the weight of the hammer.
Watt wrote,- — " It was easy to foresee
all this ; and the only adequate remedy
is to have another engine to blow the
bellows. It is impossible that a re-
gular blast can be had while the
engine works the hammer and bellows,

CHAP. XX. INTEHVIEW WITH THE KING. 403

In the course of the following summer, Watt visited
the pleasantest spots in the neighbourhood of London,
and amongst other places took Windsor in his way,
where he had the honour of an interview with the
King. He had already met his Majesty at Whitbread's
brewery in the early part of 1 787, for the purpose of
explaining to him the action of the new rotary engine ;
and the King had expressed the desire to see him again
when in the neighbourhood of Windsor. The following
is Watt's brief account of the visit : —

" At Windsor I had a short conversation with the King. He never
mentioned you nor the coinage, nor anything that led to it ;
therefore I could not bring it on ; nor do I believe it could have
been of any service. He asked about engines, and how the Albion
mill was going on ?^- Answer : Very well in respect to grinding, but
not so well in regard to the trade. Asked : Who was the manager ?
— Answer: Mr. J. Wyatt, who made the wooden hospitals. He
observed, that Wyatt was not bred to the milling business ; how
had he learnt it ? — -Answer ; That he was a man of ability and
observation. A*ked: What sort of engines were we making? —
Answer: For almost everything, but at present principally for
brewers, distillers, cotton-spinners, iron-men, &c. — Asked : How we
were paid for them.? — Answer : By horses power, 61. a year in the
country, and that we made none under four-horses power. — Asked :
If these premiums afforded sufficient profit ? — Answer : That they did
in large engines, but not in small." *

As Boulton and Watt advanced in years they looked
forward with pleasure to the prospect of their two
eldest sons — Matthew Robinson Boulton and James
Watt, junior — joining them in the business they had
established, and relieving them of the greater part
of their anxieties and labours in connexion with it.
Both were young men of intelligence and character,
carefully educated, good linguists, and well versed in
practical science. We find many references to the

without a regulating Idly as big as a
church. . . . They have been for
having a 2>ocket bible in large print.

regular, they must have a blowing
engine; otherwise they will lose the
price of one in a few months."

If they mean to carry on their work I l Watt to Boulton, 27th June, 1790.

2 D 2

404 EDUCATION OF THEIR TWO SONS. CHAP. XX.

education of the two young men in the letters of
Boulton ; few or none in those of Watt. The former
alike attracted young people and was attracted by
them, entering heartily into their pursuits ; the latter
was too much absorbed by study, by inventions, and by
business, to spare time for the purpose. Besides, he
was, like his countrymen generally, reserved and un-
demonstrative in all matters relating to the feelings and
affections.

Both boys were trained and educated so as to follow
in their fathers' steps. Every pains was taken to give
them the best culture, and to imbue them with the
soundest principles. The two boys usually spent their
holidays together at Soho ; and, growing up together,
they learnt to think, and feel, and work together.

" Jim returns to school this evening," wrote Boulton, to Watt in
Cornwall ; " he has behaved exceedingly well, and not a single bill
of indictment has been found against him. He had got it into
his head that he would not be an engineer, which I did not
contradict, but I gave him and Matt the small wooden water-
wheel, which they proceeded to erect below my duck-pond, and
there worked a forge; but not having water enough, necessity
has put them upon erecting a Savery's engine, which is not yet
finished, though they are both exceedingly keen upon it. We have
killed many poor robins by pouring fixable air upon them, and had
some amusement in our electrical and chemical hobby-horsery,
which the young ones like much better than dry Latin. Jim
desires me to ask you to give him leave to learn French."

At the same time Boulton's own son was making good
progress under the Rev. Mr. Stretch, to whom Boulton
wrote,—

"Baron Eeden has gone to the North. On his return, he will
leave his son with you for a year or two, and then invites Matt to
return with him to Germany. Youth is the time to learn languages,
and the Baron's offer is certainly a great temptation ... let him
[Matt] not neglect the present, but apply himself so as to become
well grounded in Grammar and Latin ... he is capable, but not
of close application, to which he must be inured, as no proficiency
of any kind can be acquired without it."

BOTH/TON'S SON AT PARIS.

40f>

The Baron's offer was not, however, accepted ; but
desirous that his son should acquire proficiency in
French, Boulton took him over to Paris, towards the
end of 1786, and placed him under a competent master.
Many kindly letters passed between father and .son
during the latter 's stay at Paris. The young man
spent rather more money than his father thought could
do him good. He therefore asked him to keep an
account of his personal expenses, which " must balance
exactly," and implored him above all things to " keep
out of bad company."

" The future reputation and happiness of your life," wrote the
anxious father, " depend upon your present conduct. I must
therefore insist that you do not go strolling about Sodom and
Gomorrah under any pretence whatever. ... It will not be
pleasant to you to read this, but I must do my duty to you or I
shall not satisfy my own conscience. I therefore hope you will
do your duty to yourself, or you cannot do it to me. There is
nothing on earth I so much wish for as to make you a man, a good
man, a useful man, and consequently a happy man."1

The father's anxieties abated with time ; the son
applied himself assiduously to French and German, and
gave promise of becoming a man of ability and cha-
racter. Writing to his friend Matthews, Boulton said—
" Matt is a tolerable good chemist. . . . He hath
behaved very well, and I shall be glad when the time
arrives for him to assist me in the business." In the
summer of 1788, young Boulton paid his father a
holiday visit at Soho, returning again to Paris to finish
his studies. Writing of his departure, to Matthews in
London, the father said — " I hope that my son is set off
for Dover : my heart overflows with blessings and love
to him." 2

his son, 19th De-

1 Boulton to
cember, 1787.

2 Boulton to Matthews, 25th
August, 1788. In a letter dated the
preceding day, he wrote — " I have

been exceedingly harassed last week,
have many letters before me un-
answered. I cannot sleep at nights,
and the room 1 write in is so hot by
the fire-engine chimney as to relax

40G

YOUNG WATT'S MONEY AFFAIRS.

CHAP. XX.

The education of young Watt was equally well cared
for. After leaving school at Birmingham, his father
sent him for a year to Mr. Wilkinson's ironworks at
Bersham, to learn carpentry in the pattern shop.1 He
then returned to his father's, from whence he was sent
to school at Geneva, where he remained for three years
perfecting himself in the modern languages. On his
return to England in 1788, we find Boulton writing
to Mr. Barrow of Manchester, asking him to obtain a
position for young Watt in some respectable counting-
house, with a view to his acquiring a thorough com-
mercial training. He was eventually placed in the
house of Messrs. Taylor and Maxwell, where he re-
mained for about two years, improving himself in his
knowledge of business affairs. His father's reputation
and standing, as well as his own education and accom-
plishments, served to introduce the young gentleman
to many friends in Manchester ; and, although far from
extravagant in his habits, he shortly found that the
annual sum allowed him by his father was insufficient
to pay for his board, clothing, and lodging, and at the
same time enable him to keep clear of debt. Knowing
Boulton' s always open hand and heart, and his sympathy
for young people, the embarrassed youth at once applied
to him for help. Why he did not apply to his father
will be best understood from his own letter : —

" I am at this moment," lie explained, " on the best footing
possible with my father, but were I to inform him of my necessities,
I do not know what would be the consequence. Not that I suppose

me, and my head is distracted by the
noise of the engine, by the making
and riveting of boilers, and by a
constant knocking at my door by
somebody or other ; but I believe and
suspect that the separation of my son
from me contributes more to the
oppression of my spirits than anything
else."

1 " I have sent my son to Mr.
Wilkinson's ironworks at Bersham, in

Wales, where he is to study practical
book-keeping, geometry, and algebra,
at his leisure hours ; and three hours
in the day he works in a carpenter's
shop. I intend he should stay there
a year ; what I shall do with him
next 1 know not, but I intend to fit
him for some employment not so pre-
carious as my own." — Watt to Mrs.
Campbell, 30th May, 1784.

CHAP. XX.

BOULTOX TO YOUNG WATT.

407

the money in itself would be an object to him, but because he would
look upon it in the light of encouraging what he would call my
extravagances. Never having been a young man himself, he is
unacquainted with the inevitable expenses which attend my time
of life, when one is obliged to keep good company, and does not
wi.sh to act totally different from other young men. My father's
reputation, and his and my own station in life, require that I should
live at least on a decent footing. I am not conscious of having
committed any foolish extravagances, and I have avoided company
as much as possible; but I have also constantly avoided the
reputation of avarice, or of acting meanly on any occasion. My
father, unfortunately for me, measures the present times and circum-
stances by those when he was of my age, without making the
proper allowances for their immense disparity ; consequently it is
in vain for me to endeavour to convince him of the necessity of my
conduct." '

He concluded by expressing his sense of Mr. Boulton's
many friendly acts towards him, and confessing that
there was no other person on whom he could so
confidently rely for help in his emergency. The reply
of Boulton was all that he could desire. With sound
fatherly advice,2 such as he would have given to his

1 Watt, jun., to Boulton, 4th
December, 1789.

2 Mr. Boulton having been absent
at Bath, some time elapsed before
young Watt's letter reached him.
Receiving no reply, the youth became
apprehensive that his letter had fallen
into his father's hands, and wrote a
second letter expressing his fears.
Thus Boulton replied to both letters
at the same time, informing his corre-
spondent for his satisfaction that they
had reached him "unopened." He
proceeded —

" I now send agreeably to your request,
my draft for 50^. — payable to myself, that
I might thereby conceal your name from all
persons ; and you may tranquillize yourself in
respect to your father, a* 1 promise you he
shall not know aught of the transaction.

" Although I would not willingly give you
pain, yet I must honestly tell you that 1 am
not very sorry you experienced some pain
and anxiety by mv delay ; that you may not
only feel how uncomfortable it is to be in

debt, but that you may experience ere long
how pleasant and how cheerful is independ-
ence, which no man can possess who is in
that condition.

" It is possible your father's ideas may be
too limited in regard to the quantum neces-
sary for your expenses; but I think it equally
probable that yours may be too diffuse, and
therefore can't help wishing it in my power
to expand the one and contract the other.

" I know and speak from experience, that
the principal articles of expenditure in the
generality of young men who live in large
towns are such as produce the least additions
to their happiness or reputation ; for which
as well as for some others I know of, I cannot
help urging you to cut your coat according
to your cloth, as the sure means of preserving
the good opinion of your father, and as the
most likely to induce him to open his hand
more liberally to you.

" It's a subject I can't speak to him upon
without raising his suspicions, but you may
state to him such arguments as may seem
meet to yourself in favour of a further
allowance, and if he speaks to me upon the
subject, I will do the best I can for you.

408

POLITICAL EXCITEMENT.

CHAP. XX.

own son under similar circumstances, he sent him a
draft for 50/., the amount required by young Watt to
clear him of his debts.

Among the friendships which he formed at Man-
chester, was one of an intimate character with Mr.
Cooper, a gentleman engaged in an extensive business,
fond of books, and a good practical chemist. We find
young Watt requesting Boulton to recommend to Mr.
Cooper " a person to keep his library in order and to
make experiments for him, he not having time enough
to attend to the details of them himself." 1 Cooper was
besides a keen politician, and took an active interest
in the discussion of the important questions then agi-
tating the public mind. Watt was inflamed by the
enthusiasm of his friend, and with the ardour of youth
entered warmly into his views as to the regeneration of
man and the reconstruction of society.

Mrs. Schimmelpenninck has, in her autobiography,
given a vivid picture of the interest excited in the circle
of friends amongst whom she moved, by the thrilling
events then occurring in France, and which extended
even to the comparatively passionless philosophers
of the Lunar Society. At one of the meetings held
at her father's house in the summer of 1788 " Mr.
Boulton," she says, " presented to the company his son,
just returned from a long sojourn at Paris. I well
remember my astonishment at his full dress in the
highest adornment of Parisian fashion; but I noticed,
as a remarkable thing, that the company (which con-
sisted of some of the first men in Europe) all with one

" I wish you to keep in view that all our
great Cornish profits have died away till
now they are very small,— that your father is
building an expensive house, — and that he is
married. For these and other reasons, I wish
you to alter the scale of your expenses, as the
surest means of securing your credit and your
happiness, which I am desirous of promoting
or 1 should not have expressed myself so

freely and so unreservedly. .

" I remain, dear Watt,
" Your faithful and affectionate friend,

" MATTHEW BOULTON."

^-Boulton to Watt, junr., 26th December,
1789. Boulton MSS.

1 Watt, junr., to Boulton, 26th
March, 1789.

CHAP. XX. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 409

accord gathered round him, and asked innumerable
questions, the drift of which I did not fully understand.
It was wonderful to me to see Dr. Priestley, Dr. Wither-
ing, Mr. Watt, Mr. Boulton himself, and Mr. Keir,
manifest the most intense interest, each according to his
prevailing characteristics, as they almost hung upon his
words ; and it was impossible to mistake the indications
of deep anxiety, hope, fear, curiosity, ardent zeal, or
thoughtful gravity, which alternately marked their
countenances, as well as those of my own parents. My
ears caught the words ' Marie Antoinette,' ' The Cardinal
de Rohan,' ' diamond necklace,' ' famine,' ' discontent
among the people,' ' sullen silence instead of shouts of
' Yive le Roi ! ' All present seemed to give a fearful
attention. Why, I did not then well know, and, in a
day or two, these things were almost forgotten by me ;
but the rest of the party heard, no doubt, in this young
man's narrative, the distant, though as yet faint rising
of the storm which, a year later, was to burst upon
France and, in its course, to desolate Europe." ] A few
short months passed, and the reign of brotherhood
began. " One evening, towards the end of July,"
continues Mrs. Schimmelpenninck, " we saw at a
distance a vehicle (usually employed to carry servants
to town or church) returning at more than its usual
speed. After some minutes the door of the drawing-
room opened, and in burst Harry Priestley, a youth of
sixteen or seventeen, waving his hat, and crying out,
' Hurrah ! Liberty, Reason, brotherly love for ever !
Down with kingcraft and priestcraft. The majesty of
the people for ever ! France is free, the Bastille is
taken ! '" 2 "I have seen," she adds, " the reception of
the victory of Waterloo and of the carrying of the
Reform Bill ; but I never saw joy comparable in its

1 ' Life of Mary Ann Schimmelpenninck,' 3rd ed., 1859, pp. 125-6.

2 Ibid., p. 181.

410

PRIESTLEY ADVOCATES FRATERNITY.

CHAP. XX.

intensity and universality to that occasioned by the
early promise of the French Revolution."

The impressionable mind of Dr. Priestley was moved
in an extraordinary degree by the pregnant events which
followed each other in quick succession at Paris ; and
he entered with zeal into the advocacy of the doctrines
of liberty, equality, and fraternity, so vehemently pro-
mulgated by the French " friends of man." His chemical
pursuits were for a time forgotten, and he wrote and
preached like one possessed, of human brotherhood, and
of the downfall of tyranny and priestcraft. He hailed
with delight the successive acts of the National Assembly
abolishing monarchy, nobility, church, corporations, and
other long established institutions. He had already
been long arid hotly engaged in polemical discussions
with the local clergy on disputed points of faith ; and
now he addressed a larger audience in a work which he
published in answer to Mr. Burke' s famous attack on the
' French Revolution.' Burke, in consequence, attacked
him in the House of Commons ; while the French Revo-
lutionists on the other hand hailed him as a brother, and
admitted him to the rights of French citizenship.1

These proceedings concentrated on Dr. Priestley an
amount of local exasperation that shortly after burst forth
in open outrage. On the 14th of July, 1791, a public
dinner was held at the principal hotel to celebrate the
second anniversary of the French Revolution. About
eighty gentlemen were present, but Priestley was not of

1 " The address of the Societe des
Amis de la Constitution de Bourdeaux "
to the Revolutionary Society in
London, dated the 21st May, 1791,
contains the following passage : — " Le
jour consacr^ a porter le deuil de M.
Price [the Rev. Dr. Price recently
dead, — an ardent admirer of the
French Revolution in its early stages],
nous avons entendu la lecture du
Discours de M. 1'Eveque d'Autun sur
la Liberte' des Cultes : on nous a fait

en suite le rapport des ouvrages de
MM. Priestley et Payne qui ont
vengd M. Price des ouvrages de M.
Burke; et c'est ainsi que nous avons
fait son oraison funebre. Peut-etre,
Messieurs, apprendrez vous av(=c
quelque interet, que nous avons inscrit
dans la liste de nos Membres les
noms de MM. Payne et Priestley ;
c'est 1'hommage de notre estime, et
1'estime d'hommcs libres a toujotirs
son prix."

CHAP. XX.

HIS CHAPEL AND HOUSE BURNT.

411

the number. A mob collected outside, and after shouting
" Church and King," they proceeded to demolish the
inn windows.' The magistrates shut their eyes to the
riotous proceedings, if they did not actually connive at
them. A cry was raised, " To the New Meeting-
house," the chapel in which Priestley ministered ; and
thither the mob surged. The door was at once burst
open, and the place set on fire. They next gutted the
old Meeting-house, and made a bonfire of the pews and
bibles in the bury ing-ground. It was growing dusk,
but the fury of the mob had not abated. They made

BURNING OF DR. PRIESTLEY'S HOUSE AT FAlRHIIi,'

at once for Dr. Priestley's house at Fairhill, about a
mile and a half distant. The Doctor and his family had

1 The representation given above of
T)r. Priestley's house is taken from a
rare hook, entitled * Views of the Ruins

of the principal Houses destroyed dur-
ing the Riots at Birmingham, 1791.'
London, 1792.

4-12

RIOTS AT BIRMINGHAM.

CHAP. XX.

escaped about half an hour before their arrival ; and
the house was at their mercy. They broke in at once,
emptied the cellars, smashed the furniture, tore up the
books in the library, destroyed the philosophical and
chemical apparatus in the laboratory, and ended by
setting fire to the house. The roads for miles round
were afterwards found strewed with shreds of the
valuable manuscripts in which were recorded the results
of twenty years labour and study, — a loss which
Priestley continued bitterly to lament until the close of
his life.

Thus an utter wreck was made of the philosopher's
dwelling at FairhilL The damage done was estimated
at upwards of 4000/., of which the victim recovered
little more than one-half from the county. The next
day, and the next, and the next, the mob continued to
run riot, burning and destroying. On the second day,
about noon, they marched to Easyhill and attacked and
demolished the mansion of Mr. Eyland, one of the most
munificent benefactors of the town. Bordesley Hall, the
mansion of Mr. Taylor, the banker, was next sacked
and fired. The shop of the estimable William Hutton,
the well-known bookseller and author, was next broken
open and stripped of everything that could be carried
away ; and from his shop in the town they proceeded
to his dwelling-house at Bennett's Hill in the country,
and burnt it to the ground.1 On the third day, six
other houses were sacked and destroyed ; three of them
were blazing at the same time. On the fourth day,
which was a Sunday, the rioters dispersed in bands
over the neighbourhood, levying contributions in

1 " At midnight," says Button, " I
could see from my house the flames
of Bordesley Hall rise with dreadful
aspect. I learned that after I quitted
Birmingham the mob attacked my
house there three times. My son
bought them off repeatedly; but in
the fourth, which began about nine

at night, they laboured till eight the
next morning, when they had so
completely ravaged my dwelling that
I write this narrative in a house
without furniture, without roof, door,
chimneypiece, window, or window-
frame. — ' The Life of William Hutton,'
written by himself. London, 1816.

CHAP. XX.

THE LUNAR SOCIETY IN DANGER.

413

money and drink ; one body of them burning on their
way the Dissenting chapel-house and minister's dwell-
ing-house at Kingswood, seven miles off. Other Dis-
senters, of various persuasions, farmers, shopkeepers, and
others, had their houses broken into and robbed in open
day. It was not until the Sunday evening that three
troops of the Fifteenth Light Dragoons entered Bir-
mingham amidst the acclamations of the inhabitants,
who welcomed them as deliverers. At the instant of
their arrival, the mob had broken into Dr. Withering's
house at Edgbaston Hall, and were rioting in his wine-
cellars, but when they heard that "the soldiers" had
come at last, they slunk away in various directions.

The members of the Lunar Society, or " the Lunatics,"
as they were popularly called, were especially marked
for attack during the riots. A common cry among the
mob was " No philosophers— Church and King for
ever ! " and some persons, to escape their fury, even
painted " No philosophers " on the fronts of their
houses ! There could be no doubt as to the meaning of
this handwriting on the wall. Priestley's house had
been sacked, and Withering's plundered. Boulton arid
Watt were not without apprehensions that an attack
would be made upon them, as the head and front of the
" Philosophers" of Birmingham. They accordingly
prepared for the worst ; called their workmen together,
pointed out to them the criminality of the rioters' pro-
ceedings, and placed arms in their hands on their
promising to do their utmost to defend the premises if
attacked. In the mean time everything portable was
packed up and ready to be removed at a moment's
notice. Thus four days of terror passed, but the mob
came not ; Watt attributing the safety of Soho to the
fact that most of the Dissenters lived in another direction.1

1 " Though our principles, which are
well known, a& friends to the estab-
lished government and enemies of

republican principles, should have
been our protection from a mob whose
watchword was Church and Kiuu,

414 SYMPATHISERS WITH FRENCH REVOLUTION. CHAP. XX.

Many of the rioters were subsequently apprehended,
and several of them were hanged ; but the damage
inflicted on those whose houses had been sacked was
irreparable, and could not be compensated. As for
Dr. Priestley, he shook the dust of Birmingham from
his feet, and fled to London ; from thence emigrating
to America, where he died in 1804.

While such was the blind fury of the populace
of Birmingham, the principles of the French Eevolu-
tion found adherents in all parts of England. Clubs
were formed in London and the principal provincial
towns, and a brisk correspondence was carried on be-
tween them and the Revolutionary leaders of France.
Among those invested with the rights of French
citizenship were Dr. Priestley, Mr. Wilberforce, Thomas
Tooke, and Mr. (afterwards Sir) James Mackintosh.
Thomas Paine and Dr. Priestley were chosen members
of the National Convention ; and though the former
took his seat for Calais, the latter declined, on the
ground of his inability to speak the language suffi-
ciently. Among those carried away by the poli-
tical epidemic of the time, were young James Watt
and his friend Mr. Cooper of Manchester. In 1792
they were deputed, by the " Constitutional Society "
of that town, to proceed to Paris and present an
address of congratulation to the Jacobin Club, then
known as the " Societe des Amis de la Constitution." *
While at Paris, young Watt seems to have taken an
active part in the fiery agitation of the time. He was
on intimate terms with the Jacobin leaders. Southey

yet our safety was principally owing
to most of the Dissenters living south
of the town; for after the first mo-
ments they did not seem over nice in
their discrimination of religion and
principles. I, among others, was
pointed out as a Presbyterian, though
I never was in a meeting-house in
Birmingham, and Mr. Boulton is well

known as a Churchman. We had
everything most portable packed up,
fearing the worst. However, all is
well with us," — Watt to De Luc,
19th July, 1791.

1 The ' Discours ' delivered by the
MM. Cooper and Watt (1792) may be
seen at the British Museum.

CHAP. XX. YOUNG WATT IN DANGEE. 415

says that he was even the means qf preventing a duel
between Daiiton and Robespierre, to the former of
whom he acted as second.1 Robespierre afterwards
took occasion to denounce both Cooper and Watt as
secret emissaries of Pitt, on which young Watt sprang
into the tribune, pushing Robespierre aside, and defended
himself in a strain of vehement eloquence, which com-
pletely carried the assembly with him. From that
moment, however, he felt his life to be unsafe, and he
fled from Paris without a passport, never resting until
he had passed the frontier and found refuge in Italy.

The public part he had taken in French Revolu-
tionary politics could not fail to direct attention to him
on this side of the channel. His appearance at a
public procession, in which he carried the British
colours, to celebrate the delivery of some soldiers
released from the galleys, was vehemently denounced
by Mr. Burke in the House of Commons. The
notoriety which he had thus achieved, gave his father
great anxiety ; and after young James's return to
England in 1794, he was under considerable appre-
hensions for his safety. Several members of the London
political Societies had been apprehended and lodged in
the Tower, and Watt feared lest his son might in some
way be compromised by his correspondence with those
societies. Boulton, then in London, informed him of
the severe measures of the Government, and of the
intended suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act ; to which
Watt replied, —

" I thank you for your intelligence, which I have communicated
with due caution to Mr. S. and my son. The former says he has
had no correspondence whatever with any of these societies,
nor has frequented any here, — that he may have uttered unguarded
or foolish words in private companies, but that he knows nothing of,
nor is he concerned in, any plot or political scheme whatsoever.
The latter says he never corresponded with any of them at any

1 ' Lite of Southey,' vi. 209.

416 WATT'S ALARM FOK HIS SON. CHAP. XX.

time, though he once executed a commission for one of them, and
sent his answer to Mr. Tr., — that for these two years he has had no
sort of connexion with any of them, and for more than a year all
his correspondence has been recommending his friends not to
intermeddle with public affairs. As he proposes to see you to-morrow,
he will explain himself, and I need not bid you council him for the
best."1

A few days later, his apprehensions of danger to his
son not being removed, he wrote Boulton again as
follows : —

" I am made very uneasy on account of James by this Bastille Act 2
now (I fancy) passed, and which I cannot help thinking un pen trop.
I submit whether it might not be best for you to endeavour to make
his peace with M[inist]ry by a candid avowal of his errors, and
of his subsequent change of sentiment and renunciation of all
correspondence with these traitors. In the mean time he had better
make the best of his way to here, Liverpool, or Scotland ; from
either of the latter he might find his way to America if necessary.
In any case let him not go in company with any of the persons who
have laid themselves open to suspicion. I would not, however,
have him rashly run out of the country. M[iiiist]ry must know
who have been the active abettors of the plot, and, if they act
wisely, will not molest those who have seen their error or have had
the good sense to resist all temptations of engaging in plots against
the peace of the country, whatever their opinions about parlia-
mentary representation might be. . . . Query, whether Denmark,
Hamburg, or Norway, might not be preferable to America, lest
we go to war with the latter. If you find he is obnoxious, his
letters to me should be directed by another hand, and not
signed." 3

Four days later, Watt's alarm was not abated by the
appearance in Birmingham of king's messengers making
seizures of persons concerned in seditious correspond-
ence. " They have taken up," he wrote, " one Pare,
who kept a reforming club at his house, and one or two
others. The soldiers were ordered under arms to
prevent tumult. I hear also that Wilkinson has been
threatened with a mob at Bradley, and has prepared to

1 Watt to Eoulton, 16th May,
1794. Boulton MSS.

2 The Habeas Corpus Act was sus-

pended on the 23rd May, 1794.

3 Watt to Boulton, 19th May,
1794. Boulton MSS.

CHAP. XX.

THE YOUNG PARTNERS.

41

defend himself with cannon, pikes, &c., but that matters
are now quiet there. In respect to James, you must
advise him, I cannot ; but I think he would be better
at home, following his business, than elsewhere." l
James eventually returned to Birmingham, where we
find him from this time forward taking an increasingly
active part in the affairs of the concern. He took
entire charge of the manufacture of the letter-copy-
ing machines, now become a considerable branch of
the business ; and he shortly after entered the engine
firm as a partner, in conjunction with Mr. Boulton's
eldest son, Matthew Robinson.

The infusion of young blood had the effect of im-
parting new vigour to all the branches of manufacture
at Soho, and at the same time of relieving the senior
partners from a considerable amount of labour and
anxiety. The business was now in a very thriving
state ; there was abundance of orders for engines

1 Watt to Boulton, 23rd May,
1794. Young Watt continued to
sympathise with his political friends ;
as we find him, some months later,
writing Matthew K, Boulton from
London as follows : — " The citizens
here are all in very high spirits since
the late trials; and I had the honour of
dining with two of the acquitted felons
on Sunday last." Watt, junr., having
remained for some time in London on
business connected with the prosecu-
tion of Bull and others for infringement
of his father's patent, Boulton, junr.,
kept up an active correspondence with
him on the aifairs of the firm. In
one letter (19th February, 1795), after
discussing various matters of detail
relating to the letter-copying machine
and engine business, Boulton entreats
his friendjx) send him down a supply
of hair-po'wder. " I have to intrust
to your care," he says, " the execution
of an important commission on the
part of the ladies and myself. The
report of a scarcity of hair-powder has
caused great consternation amongst
the beaux and belles here, and we beg

of you to preserve for us 1 cwt. of
that necessary article." To which
Watt, jun. replied, — " Your new
order is in train, so that I hope
(whatever the poor may suffer by
the destruction of so scarce an article
of nourishment) your aristocratical
vanity will be gratified, with only the
additional sacrifice of one guinea per
annum to your immaculate friend Mr.
Pitt, for the purpose of carrying on
this 'just and necessary war!'
Under the existing circumstances, I
am doubtful whether I shall not
sacrifice my aristocratical appendage
[queues being then the appendages of
gentlemen], as it goes much against
my inclination to throw away my
money at this moment of personal
poverty, or to contribute any sum,
however small, to the support of
measures which I reprobate in toto.
On the other hand, however, I do say
that, of all the taxes which have ever
been imposed within my memory,
this is the most politic and the least
likely to be burdensome to the poor."
—Boulton MSS.

2 E

418 COLLECTION OF PATENT DUES. CHAP. XX.

coming in ; and the principal difficulty of the firm
was in finding skilled workmen enough to execute
them. Thus we find Watt junior writing to Boulton
junior in January, 1795, — "We must have additional
men, rather too many than too few, until we have got
the start of our orders, for without that we shall always
feel ourselves embarrassed and clogged. I shall therefore
desire Rennie to renew his applications at Lancaster,
which appear as yet to have been unsuccessful."

The junior members of the firm were also useful
in protecting the engine patent right, the infringe-
ment of which had become general all over the country.
This was a disagreeable part of their business ; but, if
not attended to, the patent must be given up as worth-
less. The steam-engine was now regarded as an in-
dispensable power in manufacturing operations. It
had become employed in all important branches of
industry ; and it was, of course, the interest of the manu-
facturers to avoid the payment of dues wherever they
could. An instance of this evasion was detected at the
Bowling Ironworks near Bradford, and notice was
given of proceedings against the Company for recovery
of dues. On this the Bowling Company offered to
treat, and young Watt went down to Leeds for the
purpose of meeting the representatives of the Bowling
Company on the subject. On the 24th February, 1796,
he wrote his friend Matthew Robinson Boulton as
follows : —

" Inclosed you have a copy of the treaty of peace, not amity,
concluded at Leeds, on Saturday last, between me, Minister
Plenipotentiary to your Highnesses on the one part, and the Bowling
Pirates in person on the other part. I hope you will ratify the
terms, as you will see they are founded entirely upon the principle
of indemnity for the past and security for the future. The diameter
and length of stroke of their different engines, four in number,
I have ; the times of their commencing to work will be sent you by
Mr. Paley ; and the amounts of the premiums may be definitively
calculated upon my arrival, which will be about the latter end of
this week."

CHAP. XX. THE CORNISH PIRATES. 419

Another engine constructed after Watt's patent was
discovered working at a mill at Carke, in Cartmel,
Lancashire. Mr. Stockdale, son of the proprietor, tells
the following story of its detection. He states that the
first engine employed at the works was one on New-
comen's construction, which was used to pump water
into the reservoir which supplied the water-power by
which the mill was driven. It was then determined
to apply the steam-power direct to the machinery,
and a new engine was ordered from Manchester,
without communicating with the patentees. The mill
was in full work when a stranger called, representing
that he belonged to the concern of Boulton and Watt,
and requesting to inspect the engine. The request
was complied with, and Mr. Stockdale afterwards
invited him to stay to dinner; but it was the dearest
dinner he ever gave, as only a few weeks later a claim
for 1800/. was made by Boulton and Watt for dues
upon the engine, which was, however, eventually com-
promised by the payment of 40 O/.

The most unscrupulous pirates, however, were the
Cornishmen who, emboldened by the long quiescence
of Boulton and Watt, and knowing that the patent
had only five or six more years to run, believed
that they might set the patentees at open defiance,
which they proceeded to do. Notwithstanding the
agreements entered into and ratified on both sides,
they refused point blank to pay further dues ; and
Boulton and Watt were thus at last driven to have
recourse to the powers of the law. Had they remained
passive, it might have been construed into a tacit
admission that the patent right had from the first been
indefensible, and that the sums which they had up to
that time levied for the use of their engine had been
wrongfully paid to them. But neither had ceased to
have perfect faith in the validity of their patent, and
both determined, even at this late stage, to defend it.

2 E 2

420

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS BEGUN.

CHAP. XX.

" The rascals," wrote Watt to Boulton, " seem to have
been going on as if the patent were their own. . . . We
have tried every lenient means witli them in vain ; and
since the fear of God has no effect upon them, we must
try what the fear of the devil can do." 1 Legal pro-
ceedings were begun accordingly. The two actions
on which the issues were tried were those of Boulton
and Watt v. Bull, and Boulton and Watt v. Horn-
blower and Maberley ; and they were fought on both
sides with great determination. The proceedings ex-
tended over several years, being carried from court to
court ; but the result was decisive in both cases in favour
of Boulton and Watt. It was not until January, 1799,
that the final decision of the judges was given ; 2 almost
on the very eve of expiry of the patent, which had not
then a full year to run. It was not, however, with
a view to the future that these costly, anxious, and pro-
tracted legal proceedings had been carried on,- but
mainly for the recovery of dues under existing agree-
ments, and for dues on engines erected in various
quarters in infringement of the patent. Most of the
Cornish adventurers had paid nothing for years. Thus
Poldice had paid nothing since October, 1793, and was
in arrear 2330/. Wheal Gons had paid nothing since
May, 1793, and was in arrear 4290/. The Wheal
Treasure adventurers, and many others, had set Boul-
ton and Watt at open defiance, and paid nothing at all.
On the issue of the proceedings against Bull, Boulton
and Watt called upon the Mining Companies to " cash
up," and arrears were shortly collected, though with
considerable difficulty, to the amount of about 30,000/.
Young Boulton went into Cornwall for the purpose

1 Watt to Boulton, 20th March,
1790.

2 " We have WON THE CAUSE hol-
low," Watt wrote from London. " All
the Judges have given their opinions
carefully in our favour, and have passed

judgment. Some of them made letter
arguments in our favour than our own
counsel, for lious's speech was too
long and too divergent. 1 most sin-
cerely give you joy." — Watt to
Boulton, 25th January, 1799.

CHAP. XX. PROGRESS OF THE ENGINE BUSINESS. 421

of arranging the settlements, and managed the business
with great ability. " I am now to congratulate you,"
Watt wrote to his partner from Glasgow, whither he
had gone on a visit, " on the success of Mr. R. Boulton's
very able transactions in Cornwall ; and I hope that at
last we may be freed from the anxiety of the issue of
law which has so long attended us, and enjoy in peace
the fruits of our labours. When you write to Mr. B.
I beg you will present my best wishes and best respects
to him, expressing my warmest approbation of his
exertions." On another occasion, while the cause was
in progress before the courts of law, Watt wrote, —
" In the whole affair, nothing was so grateful to me
as the zeal of our friends and the activity of our young
men, which was unremitting."

The senior members of the firm had for some time
been gradually withdrawing from the active manage-
ment of the concern. We find Watt writing to Dr.
Black in 1798, — "In regard to the engine business, I
now take little part in it, but it goes on successfully."
Four years later he wrote, — " Our engine trade thrives ;
the profits per cent, are, however, very, very moderate ;
it is by the great capital and expensive establishment of
engineers, &c., that we keep it up ; without our tools
and men very little could be done, as we have many
competitors, some of whom are men of abilities." But
the business was now safe in the hands of the young
and active partners, who continued to carry it on for
many years, with even greater success than their fathers
had done. They reaped the harvest of which the
others had sown the seed. The patent right expired in
1800 ; but the business of the firm, nevertheless, became
larger and more remunerative than it had ever been
before. The superior plant which they had accumu-
lated, their large and increasing capital, the skilled
workmen whom they had trained, and the first-class
character of the work which they turned out, gave the

422 WILLIAM MURDOCK. CHAP. XX.

establishment of Boultort and Watt a prestige which
they long continued to maintain.

The young partners had also the great advantage
of the skilled heads of the different departments, who
had been trained by long and valuable experience.

WIIXIAM MURDOCK,

For many years William Murdock was the Mentor
of the firm. Though tempting offers of partnerships
were made to him, he remained loyal to Boultoii and
Watt to the last. They treated him generously, and he
was satisfied to spend his life in their service. He had
gradually worked his way to the foremost place in their
establishment, besides achieving reputation as an in-
ventor and a man of practical science. His model

CHAP. XX. HIS INVENTIONS. 423

locomotive of 1784 was the first machine of the kind
made in this country ; and it is to be regretted that he
did not pursue the subject. But Murdock was a very
modest, unambitious man, content to keep in the back-
ground, and not possessed by that "pushing" quality
which helps so many on to fortune. We have already
stated that he invented the sun and planet motion,
which was eventually adopted by Watt in preference to
his own method of securing rotary motion. His daily
familiarity with pumping-engiiies in Cornwall also led
him to suggest and introduce many improvements in
their details, which Boulton and Watt were always
ready to adopt. He was a great favourite in Cornwall,
and not less esteemed for his estimable and manly
qualities than for his mechanical skill. When the
adventurers heard of his intention to return to Soho,
in 1798, they offered him 1000/. a year to continue at
the mines, but he could not be tempted to remain.

Eeturned to Soho, Murdock was invested with the
general supervision and management of the mechanical
department, in which he proved of essential value. He
was regarded as " the right hand " of Boulton and
Watt. He proceeded to introduce great improvements
in the manufacture of the engines, contriving numerous
machines for casting, boring, turning, and fitting the
various parts together with greater precision. His
plan of boring cylinders by means of an endless screw
(turned by the moving power) working into a toothed
wheel, whose axis carried the cutter head, instead of by
spur gear, was found very useful in practice, and pro-
duced a much more smooth and steady motion of the
machine. As early as 1785, he invented the first
oscillating engine,1 which still continues in use in
various improved forms. His invention of the double

1 The muck'l was carefully preserved and exhibited with pride by his son,
in whose house at Hanilsworth we saw it in 1857.

424

INVENTOR OF LIGHTING BY GAS.

CHAP. XX

D slide valve, in place of the four poppet valves in Watt's
double engine,1 was also found of great value ; saving
steam, and ensuring greater simplicity in the construction
and working of the engine. In his oscillating engine
the motion is given to the slide valve by the oscillation
of the cylinder, and engines of small power still continue
to be worked in this manner. Another of his improve-
ments in engine construction was his method of casting
the steam cases for cylinders in one piece, instead of
in separate segments bolted together, according to the
previous practice. He also invented a rotary engine
of an ingenious construction ; but though he had one
erected to drive the machines in his private workshop,
where it continued employed for about thirty years, it
never came into general use.2 Murdock had a good
deal of the temperament of Watt : he was always
scheming improvements, and was most assiduous in
carrying them out. In such cases he would not
trust to subordinates, but executed his designs himself
wherever practicable ; and he sometimes carried his
labours so far into the night that the rising sun found
him at his anvil or his turning lathe.

Murdock is also entitled to the merit of inventing
lighting by gas. The inflammable qualities of the air
obtained by distillation of coal had long been known,3

1 Watt said to Robert Hart, " When
Mr. Murdock introduced the slide valve,
I was very much against it, as I did
not think it so good as the poppet
valve, but I gave in from its sim-
plicity."— Hart, * Reminiscences,' &c.

2 These several inventions were
embodied by him in a patent taken
out in 1799.

3 Burning springs, though by no
means common in Europe, were not
unknown. They were kept .burning
by natural and spontaneous supplies
of carburetted hydrogen gas issuing
from fissures in the earth overlying
beds of asphalte or coal. The inflam-
mable character of fire-damp and the

explosions which it occasioned in coal
mines were also familiar to most
persons living in the coal-mining dis-
tricts. In 1658 Mr. Thomas Shirley
first communicated to the Royal So-
ciety the result of some experiments
which he had made on the inflammable
gas issuing from a well nearWigan in
Lancashire. Some time before 1691.
the Rev. Dr. Clayton, Dean of Kildare,
made some experiments on what he
called the spirit of coal : he distilled
some coal in a retort, and, confining
the gas produced thereby in a bladder,
he amused his friends by burning it
as it issued from a pin-hole. In 1721
Dr. Stephen Hales found it was prac-

CHAP. XX.

MURDOCK'S PAPER ON GAS.

425

but Murdock was the first to apply the knowledge to
practical uses. The subject engaged much of his atten-
tion in the year 1792, when he resided at Eedruth.
As his days were fully occupied in attending to his
employers' engine business, it was only in the evenings,
after the day's work was over, that he could pursue the
subject. It is not improbable that he was led to under-
take the investigation by Mr. Boulton's chemical enthu-
siasm, which communicated itself to all with whom he
came in contact. It will be remembered that the latter
occupied much of his leisure at Cosgarne in analysing
earths, minerals, and vegetable substances, trying to
find out the gases they contained ; and Murdock was
his zealous assistant on these occasions. In the paper
which he communicated to the Royal Society on the
subject of lighting by coal-gas in 1808, for which they
awarded him their large Kumford Gold Medal, he ob-
served,—

"It is now nearly sixteen years since (1792), in the course of
experiments I was making at Kedruth, in Cornwall, upon the
quantities and qualities of the gas produced by distillation from
different mineral and vegetable substances, that I was induced by
some observations I had previously made upon the burning of coal,
to try the combustible property of the gases produced from it, as
well as from peat, wood, and other inflammable substances; and
being struck with the great quantities of gas which they afforded,

ticable to produce elastic inflammable
air from coal and other substances,
and that nearly one -third of Newcastle
coal was drawn off in vapour, gas, &c.>
by the action of heat. In 1733 Sir
James Lowther communicated to the
Koyal Society a paper on the subject of
the fire-damp issuing from the shaft
of a coal mine near Whitehaven,
which had been accidentally set fire
to and continued to burn for two
years. Dr. Watson, Bishop of Landaff,
and Dr. Priestley of Birmingham,
examined the properties of coal-gas,
and made experiments on its inflam-
mable qualities, but pursued the
subject no further. Lord Dundonald

also had been accustomed, for the
amusement of his friends, to set fire
to the gas disengaged by the burning
of coal in the process of coke-making.
The same phenomena must have been
observed on a large scale wherever
coke was made. Each chamber in
which coal was distilled was in point
of fact a gas retort. Oil and gas were
the products of the distillation ; but
strange to say, although the oil was
collected and used, no heed was taken
of the gas. Nor was it until Mr.
Munlock's attention was called to the
subject that lighting by gas was
proved to be practicable.

426 A PATENT SUGGESTED. CHAP. XX.

as well as the brilliancy of the light, and the facility of its
production, I instituted several experiments with a view of
ascertaining the cost at which it might be obtained, compared with
that of equal quantities of light yielded by oils and tallow. My
apparatus consisted of an iron retort, with tinned iron and copper
tubes, through which the gas was conducted to a considerable
distance ; and there, as well as at intermediate points, was burnt
through apertures of various forms and dimensions. The experi-
ments were made upon coal of different qualities, which I procured
from different parts of the kingdom for the purpose of ascertaining
which would give the most economical results. The gas was also
washed with water, and other means were employed to purify it." 1

Murdock put his discovery to the best practical test
by lighting up his house and offices at Redruth with
gas ; and he had a gas lantern constructed, with a jet
attached to the bottom of the lantern and a bladder of
gas underneath, with which he lighted himself home
at night across the moors when returning from his
work to his house at Eedruth.2 On the occasion of
a visit which he made to Soho in 1794, he took the
opportunity of mentioning to Mr. Watt the experi-
ments he had made, and their results ; expressing
his conviction of the superior economy, safety, and
illuminating qualities of coal-gas, compared with oils
and tallow. He then suggested that a patent should
be taken out for the application, and at various subse-
quent periods he urged the subject upon the attention
of his principals. But they were at the time so harassed
by litigation in connexion with their own steam-engine
patent, that they were unwilling to enter upon any

1 ' Philosophical Transactions,' 1808,
pp. 124-132.

2 Many years later (in 1818), when

how to reach the house over such bad
roads was a question not easily solved.
Mr. Murdock, however, fruitful in

Murdock was at Manchester for the resources, went to the Gas Works,

purpose of starting one of Boulton and
Watt's engines, he was invited, with
Mr. William Fairbairn, to dine at
Medlock Bank, then at some distance
from the lighted part of the town.
"It was a dark winter's night," writes
Mr. Fairbairn, our informant, " and

(then established in Manchester),
where he filled a bladder which he
had with him, and placing it under
his arm like a bagpipe, he discharged
through the stem of an old tobacco-
pipe a stream of gas which enabled us
to walk in safety to Medlock Bank."

CHAP. XX.

GAS-LIGHTING ESTABLISHED.

427

new enterprise which might possibly lead them into
fresh embroilments ; and nothing was done to protect
the invention.

On Murdock's return to Soho in 1798, he pro-
ceeded with his investigations, and contrived an ap-
paratus for making, purifying, and storing the gas
on a large scale ; and several of the offices in the
building were regularly lighted by its means. On
the general illumination which took place in celebration
of the Peace of Amiens in 1802, the front of Soho
Manufactory was brilliantly illuminated with gas, to
the astonishment and admiration of the public. The
manageableness, the safety, the economy, and the bril-
liancy of the new light being thus proved, Boulton and
Watt in 1803 authorised Murdock to proceed with the
general fitting up of the manufactory with pipes and
burners, and, from that date, it continued to be regu-
larly lit up with coal-gas. Several large firms followed
their example ; amongst others Phillips and Lee, Burley,
and Kennedy, at Manchester, and Gott and Sons, at
Leeds ; and the manufacture of gas-making apparatus
became one. of the regular branches of business at Soho.
Several years later, in 1805, when Watt went down to
Glasgow, he found gas in pretty general use.

" The new lights," he wrote to Boulton, " are much in vogue
here ; many have attempted them, and some have succeeded tolerably
in lighting their shops with them. I also hear that a cotton-mill
in this neighbourhood is lighted up with gas. A long account of
the new lights was published in the newspapers some time ago, in
which they had the candour to ascribe the invention to Mr. Murdock.
From what I have heard respecting these attempts, I think there is
full room for the Soho improvements,1 though, when once they see
one properly executed, it will have numerous imitations."

Several years after the introduction of the new light,

1 Watt here alluded to the new
machinery and plant erected at Soho
under Murdock's directions, at a cost

of about 5000Z. for the purpose of
manufacturing gas apparatus.

428

WINSOR AND MURDOCK.

CHAP. XX.

a German, named Wintzer or Winsor, brought out (in
1809) a scheme similar to one projected in Paris by
Le Bon, for lighting the streets by gas. He proposed
a Joint Stock Company, with a capital of 300,000/.,
and held forth to subscribers the prospect of a profit
of ten thousand per cent. ! l He applied to Parlia-
ment for a Bill, against which Murdock petitioned,
and was examined before the Committee. Though
they were staggered by the crudities of Winsor, they
had some difficulty even in accepting the more modest
averments of Murdock as to the uses of coal-gas for
lighting purposes. " Do you mean to tell us," asked
one member, "that it will be possible to have a light

1 The invention of lighting by gas
has by some writers been erroneously
attributed to Winsor. It will be
observed, from the statement in the
text, that coal-gas had been in regular
use long before the appearance of his
scheme, which was one of the most
crude and inflated ever brought before
the public. " The Patriotic Imperial
and National Light and Heat Com-
pany," proposed amongst other things
to aid and assist Government with
funds in times of emergency, to
increase the Sinking-fund for reducing
the National Debt, to reward merito-
rious discoverers, &c. &c. Some idea
of the character of the project may be
formed from Mr. [Lord] Brougham's
speech in opening the case against the
Bill : — " ' The neat annual profits,' says
Mr. Winsor, * agreeable to the official
experiments' (that is, the experiments
of Mr. Accum . . . . ) ' amount to
229,353,6272.' .... now Mr. Winsor
says, that he will allow there may be
an error here, for the sake of argu-
ing with those who still have their
doubts ; and he will admit that the sum
should be taken at only one half, or
114,845,2942. ; and then giving up,
to meet all possible objections, nine-
tenths of that sum, still there will
remain, to be paid to the subscribers
of this Company, a yearly profit of
5702. for every 52. of deposit ! So that
upon paying 51. every subscriber is to

receive 5702. a year for ever, and this
to the last farthing ; it may increase
, but less it can never be ; the clear
profit is always to be above 10,0002.
i per cent, upon the capital ! This is
i pretty well, sir, one would think.
There is here estimate and statement
1 enough to captivate the public ; but
| this is not all; for Mr. Winsor has
taken out a patent (of which, indeed,
he has, according to his custom, enrolled
no specification, but, on the contrary,
has enrolled a surrender) for the in-
vention of several things, and, among
others, one for rendering this gas re-
spirable. It is not enough that this
| gas (which everybody knows to be
! not respirable, but as poisonous to the
lungs as fixed air) should be capable
of giving light ; but he thinks it also
necessary to prove that it may easily
be rendered respirable ; in short, that
there is no way in which it may not
be used, and nothing which may not
be made of it. ... In another pam-
phlet. . . . Mr. Winsor endeavours to
prove that this gas is the vital prin-
1 ciple ; that in which life il^elf consists.
I If I had taken the trouble to go through
his publications, which 1 certainly
have not done, it is hard to say what
1 might not have discovered ; but
I should think the difficulty would
rather be, to find one quality which
the gas is not stated to possess."

CHAP. XX.

RIDICULE OF GAS-LIGHTING.

429

without a wick?" " Yes, I do, indeed," answered Mur-
dock. " Ah, my friend," said the legislator, " you are
trying to prove too much." It was as surprising and
inconceivable to the honourable member as George
Stephensori's subsequent evidence before a Parliamentary
Committee to the effect that a carriage might be drawn
upon a railway at the rate of twelve miles an hour
without a horse.

No wonder that strange notions were entertained
about gas in those early days. It seemed so in-
credible a contrivance, to make air that could be sent
along pipes for miles from the place at which it was
made to the place at which it issued as jets of fire, that
it ran entirely counter to all preconceived notions on
the subject of illumination. Even Sir Humphry Davy
ridiculed the idea of lighting towns with gas, and asked
one of the projectors if it were intended to take the
dome of St. Paul's for a gasometer ; and Sir Walter
Scott made many clever jokes about the absurdity of
lighting London with smoke, though he shortly after
adopted the said "smoke" for lighting up his own
house at Abbotsford. It was popularly supposed that
the gas was carried along the pipes on fire, and that
hence the pipes must be intensely hot. Thus, when the
House of Commons was first lighted up with gas,
the architect insisted on the pipes being placed several
inches from the wall for fear of fire, and members might
be seen applying their gloved hands to them to ascer-
tain their temperature, expressing the greatest surprise
on their being found as cool as the adjoining walls.1

1 The first application of the " Gas-
light and Coke Company " to Parlia-
ment in 1809 for an Act proved
unsuccessful, but the " London and
Westminster Chartered Gas - light
and Coke Company" succeeded in
the following year. The Company,
however, did not succeed commer-
cially, and was on the point of disso-

lution, when Mr. Clegg, a pupil of
Murdock, bred at Soho, undertook
the management and introduced new
and improved apparatus. Mr. Clegg
first lighted with gas Mr. Ackerman's
shop in the Strand in 1810, and it
was regarded as a great novelty. One
lady of rank was so much delighted
with the brilliancy of the gas-lamp

430

MURDOCK AN INCESSANT INVENTOR. CHAP. XX.

The advantages of the new light, however, soon
became generally recognised ; and gas companies were
established in most of the large towns. Had Murdock
patented the invention, it must have proved exceedingly
remunerative to him ; but he derived no advantage
from the extended use of the new system of lighting
except the honour of having initiated it, — though of
this more than one attempt was made to deprive him.
As he himself modestly said, in his paper read before
the Royal Society, " I believe I may, without presuming
too much, claim both the first idea of applying, and
the first actual application of this gas to economical
purposes."

Murdock' s attention was, however, diverted from
prosecuting his discovery of the uses of gas to a profit-
able issue by his daily business, which was of a very
engrossing character. He continued, nevertheless, an
almost incessant contriver, improver, and inventor ;
following, like his master Watt, the strong bent of
his inclinations. One of his most cherished schemes
was the employment of compressed air as a motive
power. He contrived to work a little engine of
12-inch cylinder and 18-inch stroke, which drove the
lathe in the pattern-shop, by means of the compressed
air of the blast-engine employed in blowing the cupolas
at the Soho Foundry ; and this arrangement continued
in use for a period of about thirty-five years. He also
constructed a lift worked by compressed air, which
raised and lowered the castings from the Boring-mill
to the level of the Foundry and the Canal Bank.1 He

fixed on the shop counter, that she
asked to be allowed to carry it home
in her carriage, and offered any sum
for a similar one. Mr. Winsor by his
persistent advocacy of gas-lighting,
did much to bring it into further
notice ; but it was Mr. Clegg's prac-
tical ability that mainly led to its
general adoption. When Westminster

Bridge was first lit up with gas in
1812, the lamplighters were so dis-
gusted with it that they struck work,
and Mr. Clegg himself had to act as
lamplighter.

1 " It consisted," says Mr. Buckle,
" of a piston working in a cylinder
10 feet diameter in water, with a lift
of 12 feet, and raised by forcing in air

CHAP. XX.

HIS VA1UOUS CONTRIVANCES.

431

used the same kind of power to ring the bells in his
house at Sycamore Hill ; and the contrivance was after-
wards adopted by Sir Walter Scott at Abbotsford.1 He
experimented on the power of high-pressure steam in
impelling shot, and contrived a steam-engine in 1803,
with which he made many trials at Soho, in anticipation
of Perkins's apparatus. He was the inventor of the well-
known cast-iron cement so extensively used in engine
and machine work ; and the manner in which he was
led to it affords a striking illustration of his quickness of
observation. Finding that some iron-borings and sal-
ammoniac had got accidentally mixed together in his
tool-chest and rusted his saw-blade nearly through, he
took note of the circumstance, mixed the articles in
various proportions, and at last arrived at the famous
cement, which eventually became an article of extensive
manufacture at the Soho works, completely superseding
the cement invented by Watt. In 1810 he took out
a patent for boring stone pipes for water, and cutting
columns out of solid blocks by one operation. In 1815
he invented an apparatus for heating the water for the
Baths at Leamington by the circulation of water
through pipes from a boiler, — a method since exten-
sively adopted 'for heating buildings and garden-houses.
While occupied in erecting the apparatus at Leaming-
ton, a heavy cast-iron plate fell upon his leg and severely
crushed it, laying him up for many months.

His ingenuity was constantly at work, even upon
matters which lay entirely outside his special calling.
Mr. Fairbairn informs us that he contrived a variety
of curious machines for consolidating peat moss, finely
ground and pulverised, under immense pressure, and

from a small blowing cylinder 12
inches diameter, 18 inches stroke,
which was worked by the gearing in
the boring -mill." Paper read by the
late William Buckle at the Institution

of Mechanical Engineers at Bir-
mingham, 23rd October, 1850.

1 Lockhart's * Life of Scott,' one
vol. edition, p. 500.

432

PNEUMATIC HAIL WAY.

CHAP. XX.

moulding it into beautiful medals, armlets, and necklaces,
which took the most brilliant polish, and had the appear-
ance of the finest jet. Observing that fish-skins might
be used as an economical substitute for isinglass, he went
up to London to explain to the brewers the best method
of preparing and using them.1 While in town on this
errand, it occurred to him that there was an enormous
waste of power in the feet of men and animals treading
the streets of London, which might be economised and
made productive ; and he conceived the idea of using
the streets as a grand treadmill, under which the waste
power was to be stored up by mechanical methods,
and turned to account ! Another of his ingenious
schemes — though then thought equally impracticable
with that last mentioned — was his proposed method
of transmitting letters and packages through a tube
exhausted by an air-pump. This idea seems to have
led to the projection of the Atmospheric Railway, the
success of which, so far as it went, was again due to
the practical ability of Murdock's pupil Samuel Clegg.
Though the atmospheric railway was eventually aban-
doned, it is remarkable that Murdock's original idea
has since been revived, and practised with success, by
the London Pneumatic Despatch Company.

Such is a brief sketch of the life and works of this
estimable and ingenious mechanic, for so many years
the mainstay of the Soho works. Mr. Fairbairn, who

1 Mr. Buckle, in the memoir above
cited, says, — " So completely was he
absorbed at all times with the subject
he had in hand, that he was quite
regardless of everything else. When
in London explaining to the brewers
the nature of his substitute for
isinglas, he occupied handsome apart-
ments. He, however, little respected
the splendour of his drawing-room,
and, fancying himself in his laboratory
at Soho, he proceeded with his expe-
riments quite careless and unconscious

of the mischief he was doing. One
morning his landlady calling in to
receive his orders, was horrified to
see her magnificent paper-hangings
covered with wet fish-skins hung up
to dry ; and he was caught in the act
of pinning up a cod's skin to undergo
the same process. Whether the lady
fainted or not is not on record, but
the immediate ejectment of the
gentleman and his fish was the con-
sequence."

CHAP. XX.

DEATH OF MURDOCH

433

first made his friendship at Manchester in 1816, speaks
of him as one of the most distinguished veterans in
mechanical engineering then living, — "tall and well-
proportioned in figure, with a most intelligent and
benevolent expression of countenance." He was a man
of robust constitution, and though he sorely taxed it, he
lived to an old age, surviving the elder Boulton and
Watt by many years.1

MURDOCK'S HOUSE, STCAMOKE HILL, HANDSWORTH. 2

1 The young partners regarded him
with a degree of affection and vene-
ration, which often shows itself in
their correspondence. Towards the
later years of his life Mr. Murdock's
faculties gradually decayed, and he
wholly retired from the business of
Soho, dying at his house at Sycamore
Hill, Handsworth, on the 15th Nov.,
1839, in his 85th year.

2 The first piece of iron -toothed

i gearing ever cast is placed on the lawn
1 in front of Murdock's villa. The teeth
; are of somewhat unequal form, and

the casting is rough — perhaps it has
I been exposed to rough usage. It bears
i the following inscription : — " This
j Pinton was cast at Carron Ironworks
I for John Murdock, of Bellow Mill,

Ayrshire, A.D. 1760, being the first

tooth-gearing ever used in millwork

in Great Britain."

2 F

434 STEAM-POWEK IK NAVIGATION. CHAP. XXI.

CHAPTEE XXI.

APPLICATION OF STEAM-POWER TO NAVIGATION — MILLER AND
SYMINGTON — BOULTON AND WATT'S ENGINE ADOPTED BY
FULTON.

IT will be remembered that one of the early speculations
of Roger Bacon related to the employment of engines of
navigation without oarsmen, " so that the greatest river
and sea ships, with only one man to steer them, may
sail swifter than if they were fully manned,*' — that one
of the uses to which Papin proposed to apply the steam-
engine was to " propel ships against the wind and
tide," in illustration of which he constructed his model
steamboat, — and that, shortly after Newcomen's engine
had become generally introduced as a pumping power,
Jonathan Hulls took out a patent with the object of
applying it to tow ships into and out of harbours.
Hulls was followed, after a long interval, by Jouffroy
in France and by Fitch in America, but none of their
experiments proved successful ; and it was not until
Watt invented the condensing engine that it was found
practicable to employ steam as a regular propelling
power in navigation.

It was natural that the extraordinary success of Watt's
invention should direct attention anew to the subject.
The engine, in the powerful, compact, economical, and
manageable form, into which he had brought it, was
found able to effect rotary motion in the various pro-
cesses of manufacture ; and, in a maritime country like
England, the thought that would naturally occur to
many minds would be this : If the steam-engine can
drive mill-wheels, why may it not in like manner be

CHAP. XXI. WILLIAM SYMINGTON. 435

employed to drive the wheels of carriages by land and
the paddle-wheels of vessels by sea ? The subject was,
indeed, often brought under the notice of both Boulton
and Watt ; but the anxiety, annoyance and expense
to which they had been subjected in defending their
original patent, deterred them from venturing on this
new field of enterprise. Watt never made his proposed
locomotive engine for running on common roads ; and
the model constructed by Murdock at Eedruth in 1784,
remained a model still.

The subject was, however, shortly after taken up
by William Symington, at Wanlockhead, in Scotland,
where his father was employed as engineman in super-
intending the working of one of Boulton and Watt's
pumping-engines. The sight of this engine, and his
father's employment upon it, had probably the effect
of first directing his attention to steam-power and its
extended uses ; and having heard of Murdock's ingenious
design from Boulton and Watt's men, who were con-
stantly visiting and inspecting the pumping-engine,1 it
occurred to him to try whether he could not himself
construct the model of a steam-carriage for use on
common roads. He succeeded in making his model, and
when it was finished, Mr. Meason, the manager of the
Wanlockhead Lead Mines, was so much pleased with it
that he asked the young man to accompany him to
Edinburgh, to show it to the leading men of science
in that city. Mr. Meason allowed it to be exhibited

1 The Symingtons, father and son, , from Scotland. He says Symington
began at an early period to design i has invented a new engine, which is
improvements on Watt's pumping- to work under 12£ Ibs. on the inch
engine, and took out a patent for a and has got a patent for it, which
fire-engine on a new principle as early ] Mr. M [eason] has paid for. By his
as the year 1785. Watt heard of its j account it seems to be on the same
progress from time to time ; but he had j principle as the Trumpeters. As soon
no great opinion of the Symingtons, as they can rely fully on the new
and treated their alleged invention engine, the old one is to be pulled
with indifference. On the 28th Sep- down, and Symington is to put up
tember, 1787, he wrote Boulton, — one of his in the house, and, on that
" Isaac Perrins [a fitter] is returned answering, ours is to be stopped ! "

2 F 2

430 SYMINGTON'S LOCOMOTIVE. CHAP. XXI.

at his own house, Symington being in attendance to
give explanations. Some of the Edinburgh professors,
who came to see the model, were so much pleased with
the youthful inventor (then only about twenty years of
age), and the indications of mechanical genius which
his machine displayed, that they strongly recommended
Mr. Meason to enter him as a student at the University,
which he readily assented to, and Symington accordingly
matriculated at Edinburgh College in 1786, and, amongst
other lectures, attended those of Dr. Black on Chemistry
in the following session.

The Scotch roads were in too bad a condition at the
time to admit of their being run over by a locomotive,
and Symington eventually abandoned his proposed
scheme. But he had also an idea that the steam-engine
might be economically applied to the working of boats
on canals, or ships at sea ; and with that object he
invented an engine specially adapted for the purpose.
This clearly appears from his correspondence with
Thomas Gilbert, M.P., brother to the Duke of Bridge-
water's land steward. Mr. Gilbert had inspected the
model of the steam-carriage while on a visit to Edin-
burgh, and at the same time had some conversation with
Symington as to the employment of the steam-engine
in hauling canal-boats, the ..result of which was that
Symington promised to write him more fully on both
topics. He proceeded to do so in a letter dated Wanlock-
head, 24th September, 1786 ; in which, after describing
the dimensions, power, mode of working, and the probable
price (about 70/.) of a full-sized locomotive, he proceeded—

" But an engine of the same power and apparatus for working-
boats on canals, will only coast about fifty pounds, and will only
weight 110 st. Each strock of the engine will have a force equall to
100 st. weight when applied, which undoubtedly. will be able to drag
a great weight upon water, when we run the proportion between
it and what a man can do in a boat with common oars, whose
exertion does not exceed more than 7 stones ; but of this you will
be a better judge than me. The engine we propose for working

CHAP. XXI. MR. MILLER'S EXPERIMENTS. 437

the land-carriage is Mr. Watt's, with some very material alterations ;
and before we can use it we must make an agreement with him,
which we intend to propose immediately. But the engine we
propose to work boats or ships with is an engine intirely of our own
invention, and more powerful and better adapted for the purpose
than Mr. Watt's engine. This engine of our own we have presently
at worke here is a large moddle, by which we have properly ascer-
tained its power, and found it exceed Mr. Watt's engine nearly two
pounds upon each square inch on the piston, without any greater
consumpt of coals. Another advantage attending our engine is its
being little more complicated than the old engine that works with
an atmospheric pressure. We are to use our endeavours immediately
for a patent for this engine as well as our carriage ; your assistance,
when we get application made, will be of great service to us, and
thankfully received by, Sir, &c. &c., WILLIAM SYMINGTON." '

About the same time that Symington was exhibiting
his model carriage in Edinburgh, Mr. Miller of Dalswin-
ton was trying experiments at Leith in propelling boats
by paddle-wheels worked by men at a capstan. He
had a triple vessel built, with wheels placed inside, on
turning which the vessel was impelled forward. It
will be observed that this was but a repetition of* the
old experiment of Blasco Graray at Barcelona, and
of Savery on the
Thames. The ex-
periments were on
the whole success-
ful, but the power
employed in pro-
pelling the vessel
was felt to be de-
fective, and the
turning of the cap-
stan was very hard work, at which men could not be
brought to work continuously for any long period.

MILLER'S TRIPLE VESSEL.

1 This interesting letter, so in> j Description and Illustrated Catalogue
portant as regards the early history i of the Great Exhibition of 1851,' to

of thp. in volition nf t,ho RfA5llTllvM.fi. wliip.h it. was rvynt.riVmt.prl l-»v IVTr \V (]

of the invention of the steamboat,
appeared for the first time in the
supplementary volume to the * Official

which it was contributed by Mr. W. 0.
Aitkin of Birmingham.

438

MILLEK'S DOUBLE VESSEL.

CHAP. XXL

Mr. Miller, being curious as to all mechanical novel-
ties, went, amongst others, to see Symington's model
locomotive ; and in the course of conversation with the
inventor informed him of his own project, describing
the difficulty he had experienced in getting his paddles
turned for lack of power. The immediate remark of
Symington was, ' Why don't you use the steam-engine ? "
He proceeded to show how easily the engine might be
connected with the wheels of the boat, using the model
of the steam-carriage before him to explain his meaning.
Mr. Miller appeared to have been struck by the sug-
gestion, and in the pamphlet which he shortly after
published describing his new vessel, he referred to the
probable employment of steam-power for the purpose of
driving the paddles. " I have reason to believe," he
said, "that the power of the steam-engine may be
applied to work the wheels, so as to give them a quicker
motion, and consequently to increase that of the ship.
In the course of this summer, I intend to make the
experiment ; and the result, if favourable, shall be com-
municated to the public." 1

Mr. Miller subsequently contrived and constructed a
double vessel, 60 feet in length, worked by a paddle-
wheel placed amidships between the two halves of the
ship, with a clear waterway in the middle in which
the paddle was worked, propelling the vessel. An
experiment with this new ship was tried in June, 1787,
which was considered successful. "The vessel being
put in motion by the water-wheel, wrought by five
men at the capstern, was steered so as to keep the wind
right ahead, and her rate of going was found by the
log to be three and a half miles in the hour." 2 A sailing-
match was arranged by Mr. Miller, in which he was

1 'The Elevation, Section, Plans,
and Views, of a Triple Vessel, and of
Wheels, with Explanations of the
Figures in the Engraving, and a short
Account of the Properties and Advan-

tages of the Invention.' By Patrick
Miller, Esq., of Dalswinton, Edinburgh,
1787.

2 Mr. Miller's statement to the Royal
Society, 20th December, 1787.

CHAP. XXI. ADOPTS THE STEAM-ENGINE. 439

to run his vessel from Inchcolm (a small island in the
Frith of Forth) to Leith, against a Custom-house wherry
which was reckoned a fast sailer. In this race the
double vessel beat by a few minutes. A young man
named James Taylor, who officiated in Mr. Miller's
family as tutor to his two younger sons, was on board
the vessel, and took his turn in working the wheels,
which he found to be " very severe exercise." In conse-
quence of this trial and its results, Taylor became per-
suaded that unless a more commanding power than that
of men could be applied, the invention of the paddle-ship
would prove of little use ; and on turning the matter
over in his mind, he suggested to Mr. Miller the use
of the steam-engine. This, however, was no new
idea, as, from what we have already stated, it is clear
that it had already occurred to Symington, who had
even contrived an engine for the express purpose of
propelling ships. As Taylor was intimate with Syming-
ton, and a fellow-student with him at Edinburgh Col-
lege in the session of 1786-7, it is probable that Taylor
obtained from him his first idea of the application of the
steam-engine to Mr. Miller's paddle-boat.

The result of Symington's and Taylor's suggestion
was, that Mr. Miller resolved to make a further experi-
ment; and he ordered a double boat to be built and
fitted with a steam-engine for trial on Dalswinton Loch,
near his country-seat in Dumfriesshire, in the course
of the following summer. Symington prepared the
plans of the engine, the castings of which were executed
by George Watt, an Edinburgh founder ; and when the
parts were ready, Symington and Taylor went together
to Wanlockhead, in the summer of 1788, to have the
engine erected and placed in the boat in readiness for
the proposed trial.

In the mean time, other projects of a similar kind
were afoot; and Boulton and Watt continued to be
solicited from different quarters on the subject of engines

440 BOULTON ON STEAMBOATS. CHAP. XXI.

for sailing ships. To these they continued to turn
a deaf ear. They were willing to execute engines to
order, but they declined to undertake them as specula-
tions. Thus, in the spring of 1788, we find Sir John
Dalrymple, one of the barons of the Court of Exchequer
at Edinburgh, addressing Boulton on the subject of
the proposed application of the steam-engine to the
propulsion of ships, and the reply of the latter clearly
shows what were then the views of the Soho firm on
the subject :—

"Siu, — I have just received the honour of your letter of the
23rd inst., by which I observe you are intent upon applying
the power of steam to the navigation of ships, boats, &c.

" It is one of the applications of our engine which Mr. Watt and
I have often talked of, but we were deterred from the prosecution
of it more from political than mechanical difficulties, as well as from
some prudential reasons; besides which, we thought we could be
more useful to the public and to ourselves by confining our attention
to such subjects as were within the limits of our own powers and
our own country. We still continue of that opinion, and are
persuaded that it would be folly in us (who have our hands and
heads full of solid and important business) to engage in any set of
new experiments, or, like Charles XII., go in quest of conquest
in foreign kingdoms, and leave our own to be conquered.

" If you or your friends want any of our steam-engines for any
purpose you ma}' think proper to apply them to, we shall be
very glad to serve you upon the usual terms ; although I must
confess that I should be sorry to see them applied to one purpose
which perhaps may be of as much importance to this country
some time or other as Admiral Drake's fire-ship was on a former
emergency.

" I beg the favour of you not to consider me or Mr. Watt as
schemers or projectors, but as men who are following their regular
established trade and manufactures of great extent, — amongst
others that of steam-engines, — and engineers, in which capacity we
shall always be found attentive to your commands." l

in

it was of

OiiC^ii d/J. VV 0/J O M\3 JXTUUVl (Hi IJ UUJ.J. Ill V C l/<_» J\JU.L \j\JlLLLLLailL\JLi3.

Symington had many difficulties to encounter
erecting his engine at Leadhills. Though it was

1 Bonlton to Sir John Dalrymple, i to have been the Torpedo, then a fa-
26th March, 1788. The' "one pur- j vourite scheme with French inventors
pose " alluded to by Boulton is supposed j for blowing up English ships.

CHAP. XXI.

SYMINGTON'S STEAMBOAT ENGINE.

441

very small size, being of only about two horses power,
with a four-inch cylinder, it required as much skill to
construct as a much larger engine would have done.

SYMINGTON'S FIRST STEAMBOAT ENGINE.

The arrangement of the power was new, as well as the
application ; and, as in the case of every new machine,
where unforeseen defects were brought to light, new
expedients had to be contrived for the purpose of over-
coming them. Mr. Miller became impatient for its com-
pletion, and repeatedly wrote from Edinburgh urging
despatch, fearing lest some other projector should get
the start of him in applying the steam-engine to the
driving of ships. Taylor, who managed the correspond-
ing part of the enterprise, replied, " You need be under
very little apprehension as to any person getting
before you in this. It is easy in conversation, but very
different in execution. However, as such a circumstance
would be equally unpleasant to us, to prevent it you may
depend upon the greatest expedition being used." l

Taylor being further urged by his employer, again
wrote from Leadhills on the 12th September, 1788, —
"Mr. Symington and I are as busy here as we possibly
can be. We work from six o'clock in the morning
till dark in the evening, without losing a moment ; also,

1 Taylor to Miller, 20th August, 1788. 'Supplementary Vol. to Official
Description and Illustrated Catalogue of the Exhibition of 1851,' p. 1473.

442

THE FIRST STEAMBOAT EXPERIMENT. CHAP. XXI.

to forward us the more, we have called in the aid
of a watchmaker here, who works along with us. We
are now in great forwardness, and will not be long
of finishing. I could not ascertain to a day when it
will happen, but believe we shall have it at Dalswinton
some time before the end of the month."

The engine was shortly after finished, mounted in a
strong oak frame, and taken to Dalswinton. It was
then placed on the deck of Mr. Miller's double pleasure-
boat, twenty-four feet long and seven broad, which had
been prepared for its reception.

MR. MILLER'S EXPERIMENTAL STEAMBOAT.

The engine was placed on one side of the boat, the
boiler on the other side to balance it, and the paddle-
wheels in the middle ; the rotary motion being obtained
from the engine by chains, ratchet-wheels, and catches.
The first experiment was tried on the 14th of October,
1788, and proved successful, the engine being propelled
at the rate of five miles an hour.2 Among the persons

1 Taylor to Miller, 20th August,
1788. ' Supplementary Vol. to Official
Description and Illustrated Catalogue
of the Exhibition of 1851,' p. 1473.

2 The following contemporary ac-

count of the trial appeared in the
'Scots Magazine' for November,
1788 :— " On October 14th, a boat
was put in motion by a steam-engine
upon Mr. Miller of Dalswinton's piece

CHAP. XXI. MILLER'S SECOND STEAMBOAT. 443

present on the occasion, besides Miller, Symington, and
Taylor, were Alexander Nasmyth, the landscape painter,
and Eobert Burns, the poet, then a tenant of Mr. Miller
on the neighbouring farm of Ellisland. After a few
further experiments the engine was taken out of the
boat and carried into Mr. Miller's house, where it
remained for many years, and was eventually deposited
in the Museum of Patents at Kensington, where it is
now to be seen.

The experiments made with this first steamboat were
so satisfactory that Mr. Miller resolved to try one upon
a larger scale. By this time Messrs. Allen and Stewart,
of Leith, had built for him another double vessel, ninety
feet in length ; and he wrote to Symington, requesting
his estimate of the cost of fitting it with a suitable
steam-engine. Symington's reply was to the effect
that a proper-sized engine for such a vessel wrould,
in his opinion, be about 250/., including the float-
wheels. The necessary order was given, and Symington
proceeded to the Carron Ironworks for the purpose of
constructing it. The vessel arrived at Carron on the
24th June, and by the month of November following
the engine was' finished and put on board ready for
trial.1 The result was not so satisfactory as in the case

of water at that place. That gentle- j points it out to be of the greatest
man's improvements in naval affairs advantage, not only to this island, but
are well known to the public. For ! to many other nations of the world.

some time past his attention has been
turned to the application of the steam-
engine to the purposes of navigation.
He has now accomplished, and evi-

The engine used is Mr. Symington's
new patent engine."

1 From a memorandum found
amongst Mr. Boulton's papers, we

dently shown to the world, the prac- j learn that the following were the
ticability of this, by executing it upon | details of Symington's engine : — "En-
a small scale. A vessel, 25 feet long gine hath two cylinders of 18 inches
and 7 broad, was, on the above date, diameter each and 2 feet stroke. The
driven with two wheels by a small rods of each piston are connected to a
engine. It answered Mr. Miller's circular barrel of cast iron by means
expectations fully, and afforded great of chains, so that whilst one piston
pleasure to the spectators. The > moves down the other ascends, and so
success of this experiment is no small j gives the barrel a reciprocating motion,
accession to the public. Its utility in i Upon the axis of the barrel is an arm
canals, and all inland navigation, i or lever which works the plug and

444

RESULTS NOT SATISFACTORY.

CHAP. XXI.

of the experiment on Dalswinton Loch. The paddle-
wheels were too weak ; first one float and then another
broke off; and the trial had to be suspended until the
defects were remedied. The next trial was, however,
more satisfactory. The vessel reached a speed of seven
miles an hour ; and this was repeated with the same
result. There must, however, have been some defect
in the engine performances ; for, in a letter written by
Miller to Taylor, who was present throughout, he
expressed the opinion that Symington's engine was
altogether unsuitable for giving motion to a vessel.1
He accordingly ordered the engine to be taken out
and placed in the Carron Works, and the vessel itself
to be laid up at Bruce Haven.

Thus matters remained until the spring of the follow-
ing year, when Mr. Miller decided on applying to
Boultori and Watt for an engine of a proper construc-
tion, offering at the same time to associate them with
him in his enterprise. The negotiation was opened by
Robert, afterwards Lord Cullen, who addressed Watt

working gear. Each of the cylinders
hath 2 pistons, one at top and the other
at bottom ; the 2 "bottom pistons have
their rods moving in stuffing-boxes
and are connected together by a beam.
The steam is admitted into the cylinder
at its side, between the 2 pistons, and
moves the one tip and the other down ;
but the motion of the upper is greater
than the under. When the upper
piston is got to the top and the under
one to the bottom, the steam valve is
shut and the exhaustion one opened ;
by which the steam is admitted into
the bottom of the cylinder, and is in its
way met by a jet of cold water, which
condenses it, and then it is squeezed
out by the under piston, which in fact
makes the bottom of the cylinder an
air-pump. Whilst this condensation
is going forward in the one cylinder,
the steam is operating in the other,
and vice versa."

1 " I am now satisfied," he said,

" that Mr. Symington's steam-engine
is the most improper of all steam-
engines for giving motion to a vessel,
and that he does not know how to
calculate frictions or mechanical
powers. By means of a new well-
constructed valve-wheel, and the
pinion being doubled in diameter, I
doubt not that the velocity of the
vessel's motion will be increased ; but,
do as you will, a great deal of power
of the engine must be lost in friction.
I remember well that when the small
engine was wrought in the boat at
Dalswinton, I had formed the same
idea, and that I told you so ; but not
having studied the subject, I gave up
my own common sense. This is now
past1 remedy. As the engine cannot
be of use to me now, I hope, with the
aid of Mr. Tibbets and Mr. Stainton,
you will get it sold before you leave
Carron."— Miller to Taylor, 7th De-
cember, 1789.

CHAP. XXI. WATT ON STEAM NAVIGATION. 445

on the subject ; but his reply was not encouraging.
Like his partner, Watt was averse to new speculations ;
and he had had too much anxiety and worry in con-
nexion with his original enterprise to enter upon any
new one. It will also be observed that he entertained
doubts as to the eventual success of ocean navigation by
steam. The following was his reply :—

" DEAR SIR, — We have heard of Mr. Miller's ingenious experi-
ments on double ships from Sir John Dairy mple, and also some
vague accounts of the experiments with the steam-engine, from which
we could gather nothing conclusive, except that the vessel did move
with a considerable velocity.

" From what we heard of Mr. Symington's engines, we were
disposed to consider them as attempts to evade our exclusive
privilege ; but as we thought them so defective in mechanical
contrivance as not to be likely to do us immediate hurt, we thought
it best to leave them to be judged by Dame Nature first before we
brought them to any earthly court.

" We are much obliged to Mr. Miller for his favourable opinion
of us and of our engines, which we hope experience would more and
more justify. We are also fully sensible of his kind intentions in
offering to associate us with him in his scheme ; but the time of life
we have both arrived at, and the multiplicity of business we are at
present engaged in, must plead our excuse for entering into any
new concern whatever as partners ; but as engineers and engine-
makers we are ready to serve him to the best of our abilities, at our
customary prices, for rotative engines, and to assist in anything we
can do to bring the scheme to perfection.

" We conceive that there may be considerable difficulty in making
a steam-engine to work regularly in the open sea, on account of the
undulating motion of the vessel affecting the vis inertias of the matter ;
however, this we should endeavour to obviate as far as we could.

" It may not be improper to mention that Earl Stanhope has
lately taken a patent for moving a vessel by steam, but not by
wheels. His Lordship has also applied to us for engines ; but we
believe we are not likely to agree with him, as he lays too much
stress upon his own ingenuity.

" We cannot conclude without observing, that were we disposed
to enter into any new concern whatever, there is no person we
should prefer to Mr. Miller as an associate, being fully apprised
of his worth and honour, and admirers of the ingenuity and industry
with which he has pursued this scheme.

" Permit me now, Sir, to return you my thanks for your obliging

440

SYMINGTON'S DISAPPOINTMENT.

CHAP. XXI.

attention to me, and for the trouble you have taken in this affair,
and to ask the favour of your presenting Boulton and Watt's
respectful compliments to Mr. Miller. — I remain, dear Sir, &c. &c.,

"JAMES WATT."1

Mr. Miller proceeded no further with his experiments,
on which he had already expended a large sum of
money. He seems to have lost faith in the applicability
of the steam-engine to the propulsion of ships, and
reverted to his original idea, as we find him taking out
a patent in 1796 for a new kind of flat-bottomed ship,
which he proposed to impel during calms by means of
wheels worked by capstans ; but he makes no mention
whatever of the use of the steam-engine.

Symington was greatly disappointed with the result
of his experiments. Being without the means of carry-
ing the steamboat further, he feared that all his past
labours would prove in vain, and that some more
fortunate speculator would carry off the prize that
seemed almost within his grasp. The subject was not,
however, allowed to sleep. Fitch and Evans were
pursuing the invention in America ; Rumsey, another
American, came over to England in 1788, with a scheme
for propelling boats by steam ; and Fourness and Earl
Stanhope were making experiments in the same direc-
tion ; but none of them had yet succeeded in con-
structing a practicable working steamboat. Thus ten
more years passed, during which other inventors came
forward, took out patents, made their trials, failed, and
disappeared.

In the year 1801 Symington had another chance.
Lord Dundas, G overnor of the Forth and Clyde Canal
Company, had been revolving in his' mind whether
some more expeditious and economical method than
horse-power might not be contrived for hauling the

1 J. Watt to R. Cullen, 24th April,
1790, ' Supplementary Volume to
Official Descriptive and Illustrated

Catalogue of the Exhibition of 1851,'
p. 1475.

THE * CHARLOTTE DUNDAS.'

447

boats along the canal ; and, being aware of the experi-
ments made by Miller and Symington ten years before,
he determined to give Symington's engine another trial.
A boat was accordingly built for the purpose of the
experiment, and named the ' Charlotte Dundas,' after
his Lordship's daughter. For this vessel Symington
contrived a steam-engine of a greatly improved cha-
racter. It was a direct-acting engine, the steam acting
on each side of the piston, after the method invented
by Watt, whose patent had now expired; the rotary
motion of the paddle-wheels being secured by means of
a connecting-rod and crank, instead of by chains and
rat ched- wheels, as in the first two boats.

MACHINERY OF THE ' CHARLOTTE DONDAS.'

The first trial of the vessel was perfectly satisfactory.
After making a trip to Glasgow, she was employed in
towing vessels along the canal. She was also occa-
sionally sent down the Frith to bring up ships detained
by contrary winds to the canal entrance at Grrange-
mouth.1

Fortune at length seemed to smile on poor Syming-
ton, and his spirits were proportionately elate at the

1 One day in March, 1802, on the
occasion of a strong west wind blowing,
when the canal-boats could with diffi-
culty be moved to windward, the
steamer took in tow two laden sloops,

the * Active ' and ' Euphcrnia,' of
seventy tons each, from Lock 20 to
Port Dundas, Glasgow, a distance of
19J miles, in six hours.

448 SYMINGTON'S SUCCESS FRUSTRATED. CHAP. XXI.

result of these important experiments. He had, in
fact, achieved a decided success in the ' Charlotte
Dimdas,' — in which he combined together, for the first
time, those improvements which constitute the present
system of Steam Navigation. Indeed Mr. Woodcroft,
a competent judge, says that " the vessel might, from
the simplicity of its machinery, have been at work at
this day with such ordinary repairs as are now occa-
sionally required to all steamboats." l

Lord Dundas was so well satisfied with the perform-
ances of the vessel that he proposed to introduce the
inventor to the Duke of Bridge water, the great canal
proprietor, who had expressed to him his wish to
employ some method of hauling his boats more effective
than horse-power. His Lordship accordingly directed
Symington to have a model of his steamboat con-
structed for the purpose of showing it to the Duke.
Symington went up to London himself to explain its
mechanical arrangements, and the Duke was so much
pleased with it that he ordered eight boats of the same
construction to be made as speedily as possible for use
upon his canal. Symington returned to Scotland to
proceed with the execution of this important order.

But in the moment of his apparent triumph fate
again proved hostile to the inventor. Though Lord
Dundas was fully satisfied with the performances of
the ' Charlotte Dundas,' and hailed the use of steam
as the beginning of a new era in navigation, the
proprietors of the canal became seriously alarmed
lest the banks should be washed away by the waves
which the steamboat raised in its wake, and they
came to the resolution of prohibiting all further ex-
periments. To add to Symington's vexation, the very
same day on which .this adverse decision of the canal

1 ' A sketch of the Origin and Progress of Steam Navigation.' By Eennet
Woodcroft. London, 1848.

CHAP. XXL

FULTON AND BELL.

449

managers reached him, he received intelligence of
the death of the Duke of Bridgewater, and an order
to suspend the erection of the eight steamboats until
fresh instructions had been given. By this time Lord
Dundas had expended about 700 01. on his experiments,
and was not disposed to proceed any further with them.
The i Charlotte Dundas,' the first successful steamboat,
was accordingly laid up at Bainsford, in a creek of the
canal ; and the attempt to introduce steam navigation
on canals was from that time suspended.1

Symington's experiments, though they proved most
unfortunate as respected himself, nevertheless led to the
adoption of the system of navigation by steam both in
America and Scotland. Among the many visitors who
inspected the ' Charlotte Dundas ' were Fulton the
American artist, and Andrew Bell the engineer, of
Glasgow. Fulton was on board the first vessel in the
month of July, 1801, when she made a run of eight
miles on the Forth and Clyde Canal in an hour and
twenty minutes ; on which occasion he narrowly inquired
into . the action of the engine and paddle-wheels, and
made careful sketches of the vessel and her machinery.2

1 Symington continued to struggle
for many years under the burden of
debt which he had incurred by his
experiments; and though a sum of
100?. was granted him from the Privy
Purse in 1824, and 50?. a year or two
afterwards, he remained in a state of
poverty during the rest of his life. He
died on the 22nd March, 1831, and
was buried in the churchyard of St.
Botolph, Aldgate, London.

2 The following deposition was made
on oath by Robert Weir of Kincardine,
before Robert Dundas J. P. for the
county of Perth, at Blair Castle, on
the 23rd October, 1824 :— " That, in
the year 1801, he remembers of Mr.
Symington erecting a boat, and fitting
a steam-engine into it, and dragging
r \v<.) vessels along the Forth and Clyde
Canal by means of the said steam-

boat. That the deponent was em-
ployed as engine-fireman on board of
the said boat. Deposes that the fol-
lowing persons, now living, were also
on board, viz., Alexander Hart and
John Allen, ship-builders, Grange-
mouth, and John Esplin and William
Gow, shipmasters there. That some
time after the first experiment, while
the boat was lying upon the canal at
Lock 16, it was visited by a stranger,
who requested to see the boat worked.
That the said William Symington
desired the deponent to light the
furnace, which was done, and the
stranger was carried about four miles
along the canal, and brought back.
That this stranger made inquiries
both as to the mode of constructing
and of working the boat, and took
notes of the information given him by

2 a

450

FULTON'S MODEL STEAMBOAT.

CHAP. XXI.

Andrew Bell also made frequent visits to the ' Charlotte
Dundas,' as well as to the pattern shop where the
models of the machinery were kept ; and there is little
doubt that, like Fulton, he obtained his ideas of steam
navigation principally from what Symington had accom-
plished. Fulton and Bell were well acquainted with
each other,1 and kept up a correspondence on the subject
of steamboats. Bell, according to his own account,
supplied Fulton with information and drawings of
steamboat machinery ; and it was by his recommenda-
tion that Fulton ordered the engine for his first suc-
cessful steamboat from Boulton and Watt.

With the information obtained at G-rangemouth, Ful-
ton proceeded to Paris, where we shortly find him in
communication with Mr. Livingstone, the United States'
envoy, who, like Fulton, took much interest in the sub-
ject of steam navigation. They had a model steam-
boat built for trial on the Seine ; but when on the
point of making the first experiment, the weight of
the machinery broke the boat in two, and the whole
went down together. Fulton's greatest difficulty, as was
to be expected, consisted in finding a suitable engine to
propel his proposed boat, and he wrote to his friends
in England on the subject. In March, 1802, we find
him addressing Dr. Cartwright, who had invented an im-
provement in the steam-engine, which he thought would
render it more suitable for driving vessels, requesting to
be informed of the cost of one of six horse power, with
particulars of its size and weight. Fulton communi-

the said William Symington. That
the deponent heard the stranger say
his name was Fulton, and that he was
a native of the United States of
America. That the deponent re-
members Mr. Symington remarking
that the progress of the' boat was
much impeded by the narrowness of
the canal, to which Mr. Fulton
answered that the objection would not
apply to the large rivers of North

America, where he thought the boat
might be used to great advantage."—
From copies of affidavits in the
' Biography of William Symington.'
By j. and W. R. Rankin, Engineers,
Falkirk, 1862.

1 In one of his letters, Bell says—
" Fulton came at different times to
the country and stopped with me for
some time." — ' Life of Henry Bell,'
p. 74.

CHAP. XXI. FULTON TO J. WATT, JUNIOR. 451

cated to his correspondent that, besides his proposed
steamboat, he was experimenting" on his 6 Nautilus ' or
diving-boat for navigating under water ; the object of
this invention being to blow up the English ships
of war which were then blockading the French ports.
The experiments with the ' Nautilus ' under water were
said to have proved tolerably successful, though it had not
yet succeeded in blowing up any of the English ships.

Not being able to obtain any satisfactory informa-
tion from Dr. Cartwright, Fulton addressed a letter to
James Watt, jun., of Soho, requesting to be informed
of the price of a light and compact engine for his
proposed vessel. "The object of my investigation,"
he said, "is to find whether it is possible to apply
the engine to working boats up our long rivers in
America. The persons who have made such attempts
have commenced by what they call improving Watt's
engine, but without having an idea of the physics which
lie hid in it from common observers ; but such improve-
ments have appeared to me like the improvements of
the preceptor of Alcibiades, who corrected Homer for
the use of his scholars. Their ill success, and their
never having found a good mode of taking a purchase
in the water, are the reasons why they have all failed.
Having, during the course of my experiments on sub-
mersive navigation, found an excellent mode of taking
a purchase on the water, I wish to apply the engine to
the movement. The only thing wanting is to arrange
the engine as light and compact as possible."1

The information asked for was duly communicated to
Fulton, and a few months later he sent Boulton and
Watt the drawings of parts of an engine which he
requested them to make for him. By this time the
rumour had gone abroad of the destructive powers of
the ' Nautilus,' and Lord Stanhope publicly called

1 Cited in Muirhead's ' Life of James Watt,' 2nd ed. p. 426.

2 G 2

452 FULTON'S 'NAUTILUS.' CHAP. XXI.

attention to the subject in the House of Lords, repre-
senting the dangerous character of the invention. On
Fulton's order reaching Soho, Boulton suspected that it
might really be intended for the ' Nautilus/ and he at
once communicated with Government on the subject.
To Lord Hawkesbury he wrote,—

" I presume your Lordship is not unacquainted with the name
of Fulton. I mean Fulton the engineer and pretended inventor of
an infernal machine for destroying the British Navy. He is the
same person whom Lord Stanhope alluded to in some of his speeches
in the House of Peers.

" I never had any transaction or acquaintance with him.
However, he has written to my house (Boulton and Watt) from
Paris, and has transmitted drawings of sundry parts of a steam-
engine. The remainder, he says, is to be executed under his own
directions, and though he orders them to be shipped for America,
it is not impossible but they may be transhipped before they reach
there.

" The drawings and letter were delivered to my house, in London-
street by a Mr. Barlow; and as he refers to Sir Francis Baring for
payment, I directed my agent (Mr. John Woodward) to call upon
Sir Francis, and in consequence thereof he wrote to my house a letter,
of which I enclose a correct copy as well as of Mr. Fulton's.

" Whatever doubts we may have of his project, we have none
respecting the propriety of acquainting your Lordship with every
particular as to this matter that has come to our knowledge." *

Boulton .concluded by requesting^ instructions how to
act ; but all necessity for further caution was shortly
after removed by Fulton coming over to England and
imparting his secret to the British Government. An
old Danish brig was placed at his disposal in Walmer
Roads, and after two days' effort, during which he
was assisted by Sir Home Popham, he eventually suc-
ceeded in blowing up the vessel ; but he accomplished
his purpose with so much difficulty, that from that time
no further fears were entertained of the much dreaded
'Nautilus.'

1 Boulton to Lord Hawkesbury, 22nd August, 1803. Boulton MRS.

CHAP. XXI.

HENKY BELL'S ' COMET.'

453

Iii the following year the steam-engine ordered by
Fulton for his proposed boat was proceeded with at
Soho. It was of about nineteen horse power. The
cylinder was 24 inches in diameter, and the stroke
four feet. The dimensions were as nearly as possible
the same as those of Symington's ' Charlotte Dundas '
engine ; and Mr. Woodcroft pertinently remarks that
" such similarity in the dimensions cannot easily be
imagined to have been accidental." The engine, when
finished, was sent to America early in 1805. She was
there fitted on board the vessel which had been pre-
pared for her reception ; and the first voyage of Fulton
and Livingstone's 4 Clermont ' was made in August,
1807, when a speed of nearly four miles an hour was
attained. This was the first vessel that ran regularly
for commercial purposes and for the benefit of her
owners ; and though Fulton neither indented the ship,
nor the engine by which she was driven, nor the com-
bination of the two, he was entitled to every merit for
the perseverance and ability with which he carried his
important enterprise to a successful issue.

A few years later Henry Bell, in like manner, intro-
duced steam navigation on the Clyde. He had at an
early period pressed the subject on the consideration
of the Government, but failed to induce them to take
up the scheme.1 He then resolved himself to start a
steamboat, as the best and most practical method of.
exhibiting its powers ; and the ' Comet,' of thirty tons
burthen, was built to his order by Messrs. John Wood
and Company, of Port Glasgow. The vessel began

1 It is stated in the ' Life of Henry
Bell,' that he applied to Mr. Watt in
the year 1801, for his advice as to a
suitable engine for a steamboat; but
Watt gave him no encouragement to
proceed with his design. " How many
noblemen, gentlemen, and engineers,"

he wrote to Bell, " have puzzled their
brains, and spent their thousands of
pounds, and none of these, nor yourself,
have been able to bring the power of
steam in navigation to a successful
issue."—' Life of Bell.' By E. Morris,
Glasgow, 1844, p. 30.

454 GRADUAL INVENTION OF THE STEAMBOAT. CHAP. XXL

to ply regularly between Glasgow and Greenock in
August, 1812 ;x and before long Clyde steamers were
known all over the world.

THE 'COMET' PASSING DUMBARTON. [By R. P. Leicch.]

It will thus be observed how very gradual has been
the invention of the steamboat. It has been made step
by step, by many men living in many ages. First, we
have Blasco G-aray making experiments with paddle-
wheels in the harbour of Barcelona three hundred years
ago, the revival probably of some old and half-forgot-
ten method of propelling ships ; then the repetition of
the experiment by Prince Eupert and Savery in the
Thames more than a hundred and fifty years later ; next
Savery's invention of his steam-engine, followed by
. Papin's idea of combining the engine with the paddles,
and his construction of a model to illustrate its prac-

1 The starting of the ' Comet ' natu-
rally excited great interest along the
Clyde. In the evenings, thousands of
spectators lined the banks as far as
Govan to see her pass up from Gree-
nock. The masters of the old sailing
craft, however, regarded the ' Comet '
with apprehension and dismay. The
old Highland gabert men were espe-
cially hostile, denouncing the new
vessel as being impelled by the

" teevil's wun " (devil's wind). The
story is told of the steamer one day
coming up with a fly boat tacking
against the tide, when the crew began
to jeer the skipper of the fly, calling
upon him to come along with his lazy
craft. " Get oot o' my sight," he
cried, in reply, " I'm just gaun as it
pleases the breath o' the Almichty, and
I'll ne'er fash my thumb how fast ye
gang wi' your blasted deevil's reek."

CHAP. XXI. ITS SUCCESS SECURED BY WATT. 455

ticability. Later, we have Jonathan Hulls' s patent
for his steamboat, in which the engine was worked
by atmospheric pressure, followed by numerous ex-
periments with a like object, in England, France, and
America. The invention of the condensing engine of
Watt, and its application to rotary motions, was the
next great step. Miller's revival of the experiments
with paddle-wheels led to the application by Symington
of Papin's idea of combining the steam-engine with the
paddles, which he at length successfully worked out in
the ' Charlotte Dundas.' And finally the invention was
applied to practical purposes by Fulton and Livingstone
in America, and by Bell in Scotland.

And thus became established, in the eloquent words
of George Canning, " the new and mighty power, new
at least in the application of its might, which walks
the waters like a giant rejoicing in its course, stemming
alike the tempest and the tide, accelerating intercourse,
shortening distances, creating, as it were, unexpected
neighbourhoods, and new combinations of social and
commercial relations, and giving to the fickleness of
winds and the faithlessness of waves the certainty and
steadiness of a highway upon the land." But it is a
noteworthy fact, that it was not until the invention of
James Watt was applied to the purposes of steam
navigation that its practicability was established and
its success secured. Until then, all the experiments
which had been made were regarded as comparatively
fruitless, though they were leading step by step to the
great result ; and to this day the engines constructed
after Watt's principle continue to be the great motive
power alike of river and ocean navigation.

WATT'S HOUSE, HEATHF1ELD. [ By Percival Skelton.

CHAPTER XXII.

DECLINING YEARS OF BOULTON AND WATT — BEREAVEMENTS —
GREGORY WATT — DEATH OF BOULTON.

Ox the dissolution of the original partnership between
Boulton and Watt at the expiry of the patent in 1800,
Boulton was seventy-two years old, and Watt sixty-
four. The great work of their life had been done, and
the time was approaching when they must needs resign
into other hands the great branches of industry which
they had created. Watt, though the younger of the
two, was the first to withdraw from an active share in
the concerns of Soho. He could scarcely be said to
taste the happiness of life until he had cast business
altogether behind him.

CHAI>. XXII. BOULTON IN HIS RETIREMENT. 457

It was far different with Boulton, to whom active
occupation had become a second nature. For several
years, indeed, his constitution* had been showing signs
of giving way, and nature was repeating her warnings,
at shorter recurring intervals, that it was time to retire.
But in the case of men such as Boulton, with whom
business has become a habit and necessity, as well as a
pleasure and recreation, to retire is often to die. He
himself was accustomed to say that he must either
" rub or rust ; " and as the latter was contrary to his
nature, he rubbed on to the end, continuing to take
an active interest in the working of the great manu-
factory which it had been the ambition of his life to
build up.

The department of business that most interested him
in his later years was the coinage. His chief pleasure con-
sisted in seeing his new and beautiful pieces following each
other in quick succession from the Soho Mint. Nor did
he cease occupying himself with new inventions ; for we
find him as late as 1797 taking out a patent for raising-
water by impulse, somewhat after the manner of Mont-
golier's Hydraulic Earn, to which he added many
ingenious improvements. His house at Soho continued
to be the resort of distinguished visitors; and his
splendid hospitality never failed. But, as years ad-
vanced and his infirmities increased, we find him
occasionally expressing a desire for quiet. He would
then retire to Cheltenham for the benefit of the waters,
requesting his young partners to keep him advised
from time to time of the proceedings at Soho. Thus
we find young Watt writing him during his absence on
one occasion, — " Everything is going on well here : the
Mint works six presses at present with ease ; but,
unless you have secured a supply of copper, I fear
they will soon work out the present stock." In the
same letter his young friend advised him that he had
duly despatched the chemical apparatus ; for even at

458 A BURGLARY AT SOHO. CHAP. XXII.

Cheltenham Boultoii could not be idle, but undertook
a careful analysis of all the waters of the place, the
results of which he entered, in minute detail, in his
memorandum-books .

An alarming incident occurred at Soho towards the
end of 1800, which is worthy of passing notice, as
illustrative of Boulton's vigour and courage even at
this advanced period of his life. A large gang of
Birmingham housebreakers, knowing the treasures
accumulated in the silver-plate house, determined to
break into it and carry off the silver, as well as
the large sum of money usually accumulated in the
counting-house for the purpose of paying the wages
of the workmen, upwards of 600 in number, on Christ-
mas Eve. They had provided false keys for most of
the doors, and bribed the watchman, who communicated
the plot to Boulton, to admit them within the gates.
He took his steps accordingly, arming a number of men,
and stationing them in different parts of the building.

The robbers made the attempt on three several occa-
sions. On the first night they tried their keys on the
counting-house door, but failed to open it, on which
they shut their dark lantern and retired. Boulton sent
an account of the proceedings each night to his daughter
in London. On the first attempt being made, he wrote,—
" The best news I can send you is that we are all alive ;
but I have lost my voice and found a troublesome
cough by the agreeable employment of thief- watching."
Two nights after, the burglars came again, with altered
keys, but still they could not open the counting-
house door. The third night they determined to waive
art, and break in by force. They were allowed to
break in and seize their booty, and were making off
with 150 guineas and a load of silver, when Boulton
gave the word to seize them. A quantity of tow soaked
with turpentine was instantly set fire to, numerous

CHAP. XXII.

SIR WALTER SCOTT.

459

lights were turned on, and the robbers found themselves
surrounded on all sides by armed men. Four of them
were taken after a desperate struggle ; but the fifth,
though severely wounded, contrived to escape over
the tops of the houses in Brook-row.

Writing to his friend Dumergue, in London, of the
exploit, Boulton said, — " You know I seldom do things
by halves ; so I have sent the four desperate wolves to
Stafford Gaol, and I believe the fifth is much wounded.
If I had made my attack with a less powerful army
than I did, we should probably have had a greater list
of killed and wounded." It was in allusion to this
exploit that Sir Walter Scott said of Boulton to Allan
Cunningham, "I like Boulton ; he is a brave man, and
who can dislike the brave ? " 2 The incident, when
communicated to Scott during one of his visits to Soho,
is said to have suggested the scene in ' Guy Manner ing/
in which the attack is made on Dirk Hatterick in the
smuggler's cave.

With Watt, occupation in business was not the neces-
sity that it was to Boulton ; and he was only too glad

1 Boulton to Dumergue, 25th De-
cember, 1800.

2 Lockhart's « Life of Scott.' 8vo.
ed. p. 457. One of Scott's visits to
Soho was made in company with his
wife in the spring of 1803. Boulton
was so pleased with the visit, that he
urged Scott, or at least his wife, to
repeat it, which produced the follow-
ing letter, dated London, 13th May,
1803 :—

" My dear Sir, — He was a wise man who
said ' Trust not thy wife with a man of
fair tongue.' Now as I have very little
wisdom of my own, I am content to gather
all I can get at second hand, and therefore,
upon the faith of the sage whom I have
quoted, I should be guilty of great impru-
dence were I to permit Charlotte to wait upon
you on her return, or even to answer your
kind letter to Mr. Dumergue. That task 1

therefore take upon myself, and you must
receive my thanks along with hers, for your
very kind and flattering invitation to Soho.
But independent of my just suspicion of a
beau who writes such flattering love-letters
to my wife, our time here (owing to the
sitting of our Courts of Justice, which I must
necessarily attend), lays us under an indis-
pensable necessity of returning to Scotland
as speedily as possible, and by the nearest
road. We can therefore only express our
joint and most sincere regret that we cannot
upon this occasion have the honour and satis-
faction of visiting Soho and its hospitable
inhabitants. Mrs. Nicolson, Mr. and Miss
Dumergue join Charlotte and me in the most
sincere good wishes to Miss Boulton, to you,
and to all your friends ; and I suspect so
foolish a letter will make you believe you
have escaped a very idle visitor in,
"Dear Sir,

" Your very faithful servant,
*" WALTER SCOTT.''

460 WATT ENJOYS RETIREMENT. CHAP. XXII.

to get rid of it and engage in those quiet pursuits in
which he found most pleasure. In the year 1790, he
removed from the house he had so long occupied on
Harper's Hill, to a new and comfortable house which
he had built for himself at Heathfield in the parish of
Handsworth, where he continued to live until the close
of his life. The land surrounding the place was, until
then, common, and he continued to purchase the lots
as they were offered for sale, until, by the year 1794,
he had enclosed about forty acres. He took pleasure
in laying out the grounds, planting many of the trees
with his own hands ; and in course of time, as the
trees reached maturity, the formerly barren heath became
converted into a retreat of great rural beauty.

Annexed to the house, in the back yard, he built
a forge, and upstairs, in his " Garret," he fitted up
a workshop, in which he continued to pursue his
mechanical studies and experiments for many years.
While Watt was settling himself for the remainder of
his life in the house at Heathfield, Boulton was erect-
ing his large new Mint at Soho, which was completed
and ready for use in 1791.

When the lawsuits, which had given Watt so much
anxiety, were satisfactorily disposed of, an immense
load was removed from his mind ; and he indulged in
the anticipation of at last enjoying the fruits of his
labour in peace. Being of frugal habits, he had already
begun to save money, and indeed accumulated as much
as he desired. But when the heavy arrears of Cornish
dues were collected, about the period of expiry of the
patent, a considerable sum of money necessarily fell
to Watt's share ; and then he began to occupy himself
in the pleasant recreation of looking out for an invest-
ment of it in land. He was, however, hard to please,
and made many journeys before he succeeded in buying
his estate.

CHAP. XXII. HIS PUECHASES OF LAND. 461

" I have yet met with nothing to my mind," he wrote from
Somerton ; " Lorcl Oxford has some very considerable estates to sell
near Abergavenny, but the roads to them are execrable, and it
seemed that it would be a sort of banishment to live at them,
though the parts I saw are in themselves pleasant. I am to-day
informed of one with a house near Dorchester, which I have sent to
inquire about, though I have my doubts that it will prove like the
rest. I propose, if nothing hinders, to be at Taunton to-morrow
night, and shall then visit the Wedgwoods, who at present live at
Upcot, near that place. Afterwards, I propose making a tour
through the eastern part of Devonshire, and returning by Dorset-
shire to Bath ; but my resolves may be altered by the attractions of
various magnets, so that I cannot tell you where to write to me till
I get some fixed residence." l

A fortnight later he was at Exmouth, but still unde-
cided.

" In respect to estates," he writes, — " I have seen nothing that
pleases me. Most of them, as you know by experience, are
surrounded with bad roads, beggarly villages, or some other
nuisance, and one need not purchase plagues. On the whole,
something nearer home seems more suitable to me than anything
in these western counties, which, though they have more luxuriant
vegetation, and perhaps a milder climate, are not exempt from cold,
as I experience here colder weather than we had last autumn in
Scotland. But the greatest drawback is the absence of such society
as one is used to, and their abominably hilly roads, as they never
flinch, but go straight up any hill which comes in their way, and
Nature has bestowed plenty upon them." 2

Eventually Watt made several purchases of land at
Doldowlod, on the banks of the Wye, between Khayader
and Newbridge, in Eadnorshire. There was a pleasant
farmhouse on the property, in which he occasionally
spent some pleasant months in summer time amidst
beautiful scenery ; but he had by this time grown too
old to root himself kindly in a new place ; and his
affections speedily drew him back again to the neigh-
bourhood of Soho, and to his comfortable home at
Heathfield.

1 Watt to M. Robinson Eoulton, 9th I 2 Watt to M. Robinson Boulton,
September, 1799. | 26th September, 1799.

4(32 BOULTON'S FAILING HEALTH. CHAP. XXII.

During the short peace of Amiens in, the following
year, he made the longest journey in his life. Accom-
panied by Mrs. Watt, he travelled through Belgium,
up the banks of the Rhine to Frankfort, and home by
Strasburg and Paris. While absent, Boulton wrote
him many pleasant letters, telling him of what was
going on at Soho. The brave old man was still at the
helm there, and wrote in as enthusiastic terms as ever
of the coins and medals he was striking at his Mint.
Though strong in mind, he was, however, growing
feebler in body, and suffered much from attacks of his
old disease. " It is necessary for me," he wrote, " to
pass a great part of my time in or upon the bed ; never-
theless, I go down to the manufactory or the Mint
once or twice a day, without injuring myself as here-
tofore, but not without some fatigue. However, as
I am now taking bark twice a day, I find a daily
increase of strength, and flatter myself with the pleasure
of taking a journey to Paris in April or May next." l

On Watt's arrival in London, a letter of hearty
welcome from Boulton met him ; but it conveyed, at
the same time, the sad intelligence of the death of
Mrs. Keir, a lady beloved by all who knew her, and

a frequent inmate at Soho and Heathfield. One by

«

1 Boulton to Watt, 10th October, , copper pieces or fifty-six English
1802. One of Boulton's objects in j crown-pieces per minute, while he
making his contemplated journey to
Paris, was to undertake the erection
of coining machinery for the French
Government, who were about to recoin
the whole of their gold, silver, and
copper money. With their imperfect
machinery, he calculated that it would
take them nearly twenty years to
accomplish this; whereas with his
new machinery he could undertake to
turn out a thousand million of pieces
in three years. He communicated to
Watt, that he had been making expe-
riments as to the maximum speed of
his coining machines, worked by the
steam-engine, and found that he could
regularly strike fifty-three of his

could with one press in collars also
regularly strike India copper pieces of
half the diameter at the rate of 106 to
112 per minute, or from 6360 to 6720
pieces per hour ; but when pieces of
half an inch diameter were wanted he
had recourse to his new small press,
with which he could strike from 150
to 200 pieces per minute ! " My
presses," said he, " are far more exact
and more durable, and my means of
working them are now infinitely be-
yond anything they (the French
coiners) have ever thought of, and my
mint is now in far better order than
ever."

CHAP. XXIL DEATH OF DR. BLACK. 403

one the members of the circle were departing, leaving
wide gaps, which new friends could never fill up. The
pleasant associations which are the charm of old friend-
ships, were becoming mingled with sadness and regret.
The grave was closing over one after another of the
Soho group ; and the survivors were beginning to live
for the most part upon the memories of the past. But it
is one of the penalties of old age to suffer a continuous
succession of such bereavements ; and that state would
be intolerable but for the comparative deadening of
the feelings which mercifully accompanies the advance
of years. " We cannot help feeling with deep regret,"
wrote Watt, "the circle of our old friends gradually
diminishing, while our ability to increase it by new
ones is equally diminished ; but perhaps it is a wise
dispensation of Providence so to diminish our enjoy-
ments in this world that when our turn comes we
may leave it without regret." l

One of the deaths most lamented by Watt was that
of Dr. Black of Edinburgh, which occurred in 1799.
Black had watched to the last with tender interest
the advancing reputation and prosperity of his early
protege'. They had kept up a continuous and confi-
dential correspondence on subjects of mutual interest
for a period of about thirty years. Watt, though
reserved to others, never feared unbosoming himself to
his old friend, telling him of the new schemes he had on
foot, and freely imparting to him his hopes and fears,
his failures and successes. When Watt visited Scotland
he rarely failed to take Edinburgh on his way, for
the purpose of spending a few days with Black and
Eobison. The latter went express to London, for the
purpose of giving evidence in the suit of Watt against
the Hornblowers, and his testimony proved of essential
service. " Our friend Robison," Watt wrote to Black,

Watt to Boulton, 23rd November, 1802.

464 HIS PEACEFUL DEPARTURE. CHAP. XXTI.

" exerted himself much ; and, considering his situation,
did wonders." When Robison returned to Edinburgh,
his Natural Philosophy class received him with three
cheers. He proceeded to give them a short account
of the trial, which he characterised as " not more
the cause of Watt versus Hornblower, than of science
against ignorance." " When I had finished," said he, " I
got another plaudit, that Mrs. Siddons would have
relished." l

No one was more gratified at the issue of the trial
than Dr. Black, who, when Eobison told him of it, was
moved even to tears. " It's very foolish," he said, " but
I can't help it when I hear of anything good to Jamie
Watt." The Doctor had long been in declining health,
but was still able to work. He was busy writing another
large volume, and had engaged the engraver to come
to him for orders on the day after that on which he
died. His departure was singularly peaceful. His
servant had delivered to him a basin of milk, which
was to serve for his dinner, and retired from the room.
In less than a minute he returned, and found his master
sitting where he had left him, but dead, with the basin
of milk unspilled in his hand. Without a struggle, the
spirit had fled. As the servant expressed it, " his poor
master had given over living." He had twice before
said to his doctor that " he had caught himself for-
getting to breathe." On hearing of the good old man's
death, Watt wrote to Robison, — " I may say that to
him I owe, in a great measure, what I am ; he taught
me to reason and experiment in natural philosophy,
and was a true friend and philosopher, whose loss
will always be lamented while I live. We may all
pray that our latter end may be like his ; he has truly
gone to sleep in the arms of his Creator, and been spared
all the regrets attendant on a more lingering exit.

1 Robison to Watt, 3rd February, 1797.

CHAP. XXII. THE LUNAR SOCIETY DIES OUT. 465

I could dwell longer on this subject ; but regrets are
unavailing, and only tend to enfeeble our own minds,
and make them less able to bear the ills we cannot
avoid. Let us cherish the friends we have left, and
do as much good as we can in our day ! " l

Lord Cockburn, in his ' Memorials,' gives the following
graphic portrait of the father of modern chemistry: —
"Dr. Black was a striking and beautiful person ; tall,
very thin, and cadaverously pale ; his hair carefully
powdered, though there was little of it except what was
collected into a long thin queue ; his eyes dark, clear,
and large, like deep pools of pure water. He wore
black speckless clothes, silk stockings, silver buckles,
and either a slim green silk umbrella, or a genteel brown
cane. His general frame and air was feeble and slender.
The wildest boy respected Black. No lad could be
irreverent towards a man so pale, so gentle, so elegant,
and so illustrious. So he glided, like a spirit, through
our rather mischievous sportiveness, unharmed." 2

Of the famous Lunar Society, Boulton and Watt now
remained almost the only surviving members. Day
was killed by a fall from his horse in 1789. Josiah
Wedgwood closed his noble career at Etruria in 1795,
in the sixty-fifth year of his age. Dr. Withering, dis-
tinguished alike in botany and medicine, died in 1799,
of a lingering consumption. Dr. Darwin was seized by
his last attack of angina pectoris in 1802, and, being
unable to bleed himself, as he had done before, he called
upon his daughter to apply the lancet to his arm ; but,
before she could do so, he fell back in his chair and
expired. Dr. Priestley, driven forth into exile,3 closed

1 Cited in Muirhead's ' Origin and
Progress of the Mechanical Inventions
of James Watt,' ii. 264.

2 Lord Cockburn's 'Memorials,' 51.

3 It is a remarkable fact that Dr.
Priestley was regarded wi^h as much
suspicion in America as he had been

ment looked upon him as a spy in the
interest of France ; and he had great
difficulty in forming a Unitarian con-
gregation. The horror of the French
Revolution, which had extended to
America, was the cause of the hostile
feeling displayed towards him. " The

in England. The American govern- change that lias taken place," he said,

2 H

466

WATT'S BEREAVEMENTS.

CHAP. XXII

his long and illustrious career at Northumberland in
Pennsylvania in 1803. The Lunar Society was thus all
but extinguished by death ; the vacant seats remained
unfilled ; and the meetings were no longer held.

But the bereavements which Watt naturally felt the
most, were the deaths of his own children. He had two
by his second wife, a son and a daughter, both full of
promise, who had nearly grown up to adult age, when
they died. Jessie was of a fragile constitution from her
childhood, but her health seemed to become re-estab-
lished as she grew in years. But before she had
entered womanhood, the symptoms of an old pulmonary
affection made their appearance, and she was carried
off by consumption* Mr. Watt was much distressed
by the event, confessing that he felt as if one of the
strongest ties that bound him to life was broken, and
that the acquisition of riches availed him nothing when
unable to give them to those he loved. In a letter to
a friend, he thus touchingly alluded to one of the most
sorrowful associations connected with the deaths of
children : — " Mrs. Watt continues to be much affected
whenever anything recalls to her mind the amiable child
we have parted with ; and these remembrances occur
but too frequently, — her little works of ingenuity, her
books and other objects of study, serve as mementoes of
her who was always to the best of her power usefully
employed even to the last day of her life. With me,
whom age has rendered incapable of the passion of grief,
the feeling is a deep regret ; and, did nature permit, my
tears would flow as fast as her mother's."

in a letter dated 6th September, 1798,
" is indeed hardly credible, as I have
done nothing to provoke resentment ;
but, being a citizen of France, and a
friend to. the Revolution, is sufficient.
I asked one of the more moderate of
the party whether he thought, if Dr.
Price, the great friend of their own
Revolution, were alive, he would now

be allowed to come into this country.
He said, he believed he would not ! "-
In 1801 Dr. Priestley, by deed of
trust, appointed Matthew Boulton,
Samuel Galton, and Wm. Vaughan,
Esqrs., trustees for Mrs. Finch (his
daughter) and her children, in respect
of 1200Z. invested for their benefit in
public securities.

CHAP. XXII. \VATTS SOX GREGORY. 407

To divert and relieve his mind, as was his wont,
he betook himself to fresh studies and new inquiries.
It is not improbable that the disease of which his
daughter had died, as well as his own occasional suffer-
ings from asthma, gave a direction to his thoughts,
which turned on the inhalation of gas as a remedial
agent in pulmonary and other diseases. Dr. Beddoes
of Bristol had started the idea, which Watt now took
up and prosecuted with his usual zeal. He contrived
an apparatus for extracting, washing, and collecting
gases, as well as for administering them by inhalation.
He professed that he had taken up the subject not
because he understood it, but because nobody else did,
and that he could not withhold anything which might
be of use in prompting others to do better. The result
of his investigations was published at Bristol under the
title of ' Considerations on the Medicinal use of Fic-
titious Airs,' the first part of wrhich was written by
Dr. Beddoes, and the second part by Watt.

But a still heavier blow than the loss of his only
daughter, was the death of his son Gregory a few years
later. He was a young man of the highest promise,
and resembled Watt himself in many respects — in mind,
character, and temperament. Those who knew him
while a student at Glasgow College, spoke of him long
after in terms of the most glowing enthusiasm. Among
hi* fellow-students were Francis, afterwards Lord Jef-
frey, and the poet Campbell. Both were captivated not
less by the brilliancy of his talents than by the charm-
ing graces of his person. Campbell spoke of him as
" a splendid stripling — literally the most beautiful youth
I ever saw. When he was only twenty-two, an eminent
English artist — Howard, I think — made his head the
model of a picture of Adam." Campbell, Thomson, and
Gregory Watt, were class-fellows in Greek, and avowed
rivals ; but the rivalry only served to cement their
friendship. In the session of 1793-4, after a brilliant

2 H 2

468 GREGORY'S NOBLE CHARACTER. CHAP. XXII.

competition which excited unusual interest, the prize
was awarded to Thomson ; but, with the exception of
the victor himself, Gregory was the most delighted
student in the class. " He was," says the biographer of
Campbell, " a generous, liberal, and open-hearted youth ;
so attached to his friend, and so sensible of his merit,
that 'the honours conferred on Thomson obliterated all
recollections of personal failure."1 Francis Jeffrey was
present at the commemoration of the first of May, two
years later, and was especially struck with the eloquence
of young Watt, " who obtained by far the greatest
number of prizes, and degraded the prize-readers most
inhumanly by reading a short composition of his own,
a translation of the Chorus of the Medea, with so much
energy and grace, that the verses seemed to me better
perhaps than they were in reality. He is a young man
of very eminent capacity, and seems to have all the
genius of his father, with a great deal of animation and
ardour which is all his own."2

Campbell thought him born to be a great orator,
and anticipated for him the greatest success in Par-
liament or at the Bar. His father had, however,
already destined him to follow his own business. In-
deed, Gregory was introduced a partner into the Soho
concern about the same time as Mr. Boulton, jun., and
his elder brother James. But he never gave much
attention to the business. Scarcely had he left college,
before symptoms of pulmonary affection showed them-
selves ; and, a physician having been consulted, Mr. Watt
was recommended to send his son to reside in the
south of England. He accordingly went to Penzance
for the benefit of its mild climate, and, by a curious
coincidence, he took up his abode as boarder and lodger
in the house of Humphry Davy's mother. The after-

1 Beattie's ' Life of Campbell,' i. 112.

2 Letter to M. R. Morehead, 7th May, 1796.

CHAP. XXII. GREGORY WATT AND HUMPHRY DAVY. 469

wards brilliant chemist was then a boy some years
younger than Gregory. He had already made experi-
ments in chemistry, with sundry phials and kitchen
utensils, assisted by an old glyster apparatus presented
to him by the surgeon of a French vessel wrecked on
the coast. Although Gregory possessed great warmth
of heart, there was a degree of coldness in his manner
to strangers, which repelled any approach to familiarity.
When his landlady's son, therefore, began talking to
him of metaphysics and poetry, he was rather disposed
to turn a deaf ear ; but when Davy touched upon
the subject of chemistry, and made the rather daring
boast for a boy, that he would undertake to demolish
the French theory in half an hour, Gregory's curiosity
was roused. The barrier of ice between them was at once
removed ; and from thenceforward they became attached
friends.1 Young Davy was encouraged to prosecute
his experiments, which the other watched with daily
increasing interest ; and in the course of the following
year, Gregory communicated to Dr. Beddoes, of Bristol,
then engaged in establishing his Pneumatic Institution,
an account of Davy's experiments on light and heat,
the result of which was his appointment as superin-
tendent of the experiments at the Institution, and the
subsequent direction of his studies and investigations.

Gregory's health having been partially re-established
by his residence at Penzance, he shortly after returned
to his father's house at Birmingham, whither Davy fre-
quently went, and kept up the flame of his ambition
by intercourse with congenial minds. Gregory heartily
co-operated with his father in his investigations on air,
besides inquiring and experimenting on original subjects
of his own selection. Among these may be mentioned
his inquiries into the gradual refrigeration of basalt, his
paper on which, read before the Royal Societv, would

Paris's * Life of Davy,' i. 48-9.

470 GREGORY'S TRAVELS FOR HEALTH. CHAP. XXII.

alone entitle him to a distinguished rank among experi-
mentalists.1

By the kindness of his elder brother James, Gregory
Watt was relieved of his share of the work at Soho,
and was thereby enabled to spend much of his time in
travelling about for the benefit of his health. Early
in 1801, we find him making excursions in the western
counties in company with Mr. Murdock, jun. ; and
looking forward with still greater anticipations of
pleasure to the tour which he subsequently made
through France, Germany, and Austria. We find him
afterwards writing his father from Freiburg, to the
effect that he was gradually growing stronger, and
was free from pulmonary affection. From Leipzig he
sent an equally favourable account of himself, and gave
his father every hope that on his return he would find
him strong and sound.

These anticipations, however, proved delusive, for
the canker was already gnawing at poor Gregory's
vitals. Returned home, he busied himself with his
books, his experiments, and his speculations ; assisting
his father in recording observations on the effects of
nitrous oxide and other gases. But it was shortly found
necessary to send him again to the south of England
for the benefit of a milder climate. In the beginning of
1804, his father and mother went with him to Clifton,
where he had an attack of intermittent fever, which left
him very weak. From thence they removed to Bath,
and remained there for about a month, the invalid
being carefully attended by Dr. Beddoes. During their
stay at Bath, Gregory's brother paid him a visit, and
was struck by his altered appearance. The fever had
left him, but his cough and difficulty of breathing were
very distressing to witness. As usual in such com-
plaints, his mind was altogether unaffected. " Indeed,"

1 ' Philosophical Transactions,' xcix. 279.

CHAP. XXII. DEATH OF GREGORY WATT. 471

wrote his brother, " he is as bright, clear, and vigorous,
upon every subject as I ever knew him to be. His
voice, too, is firm and good, and when he enters into
conversation I should lose the recollection of his com-
plaint if his appearance did not so forcibly remind me of
it. It is fortunate that he does not suffer much bodily
pain, or, so far as I can discover, any mental anxiety as
to the issue of his complaint." l

When Gregory was sufficiently recovered from the
debilitating effects of his fever, he was moved to Sid-
mouth, where he appeared to improve ; but he himself
believed the sea air to be injurious to him, and insisted
on being again removed inland. During all this time
his father's anxiety may be imagined, though he bore
up with as much equanimity as was practicable under
circumstances so distressing. "Ever since we left
Bath," he wrote to Mr. Boulton at Soho, " ours has
been a state of anxiety very distressing to us, and the
communication of which would not have been pleasing
to our friends. To add to this, I have myself been
exceedingly unwell, though I am now much better.
Gregory suffered very much from the journey, which
was augmented by his own impatience ; and though he
seemed to recover a little from his fatigue during the
first week, his breath became daily worse, until w^e
were obliged to remove him, on Thursday last, to the
neighbourhood of Exeter, where he now is with his
aunt." : The invalid became rapidly worse, and sur-
vived his removal only a few days. " This day," wrote
the sorrowing father to Boulton, " the remains of poor
Gregory were deposited in a decent, though private
manner, in the north aisle of the cathedral here, near
the transept. ... I mean to erect a tablet to his
memory on the adjoining wall ; but his virtues and

1 J. Watt, jun., to M. R. Boulton, 8th June, 1804.
: Watt to Boulton, Sidmouth, 14th October, 1804.

472 DAVY ON GREGORY WATT'S DEATH. CHAP. XXI I.

merits will be best recorded in the breasts of his friends.
.... As soon as we can settle our accounts, we shall
all return homewards, with heavy hearts."1

Davy was deeply affected by Gregory Watt's death ;
and in the freshness of his grief he thus unbosomed
himself to his friend Clayfield : —

" Poor Watt ! He ought not to have died. I could not persuade
myself that he would die ; and until' the very moment when I was
assured of his fate, I would not believe he was in any danger. His
letters to me, only three or four months ago, were full of spirit, and
spoke not of any infirmity of body, but of an increased strength of
mind. Why is this in the order of Nature, — that there is such
a difference in the duration and destruction of his works ? If the
mere stone decays it is to produce a soil which is capable of
nourishing the moss and the lichen ; when the moss and the lichen
die and decompose, they produce a mould which becomes the bed of
life to grass, and to a more exalted species of vegetables. Vegetables
are the food of animals, — the less perfect animals of the more
perfect; but in man, the faculties and intellect are perfected, — he
rises, exists for a little while in disease and misery, and then would
seem to disappear, without an end, and without producing any
effect.

"We are deceived, my dear Clayfield, if we suppose that the
human being who has formed himself for action, but who has been
unable to act, is lost in the mass of being ; there is some arrange-
ment of things which we can never comprehend, but in which his
faculties will be applied. . . . We know very little; but, in my
opinion, we know enough to hope for the immortality, the individual
immortality of the better part of man. I have been led into all
this speculation, which you may well think wild, in reflecting upon
the fate of Gregory ! My feeling has given wings to my mind.
He was a noble fellow, and would have been a great man. Oh !
there was no reason for his dying — he ought not to have died." 2

More deaths ! A few years later, and Watt lost
his oldest friend, Professor Eobison of Edinburgh, his
companion and fellow-worker at Glasgow College
nearly fifty years before. Since then, their friendship
had remained unchanged, though their respective

1 Watt to Boulton, Exeter, 22nd October, 1804.
3 Paris's ' Life of Davy,' i. 198-200.

CHAP. XXII.

DEATH OF KOBISON.

473

pursuits kept them apart. Robison continued busily
and usefully occupied to the last. He had finished
the editing of his friend Black's lectures, and was
occupied in writing his own ' Elements of Mechanical
Philosophy/ when death came and kindly released him
from a lingering disorder which had long oppressed
his body, though it did not enervate his mind. A few
years before his death he wrote Watt, informing him
that he had got an addition to his family in a fine little
boy, a grandchild, healthy and cheerful, who promised
to be a source of much amusement to him. " I find this
a great acquisition," said he, " notwithstanding a serious
thought sometimes stealing into my mind. I am infi-
nitely delighted with observing the growth of its little
soul, and particularly with the numberless instincts,
which formerly passed unheeded. I thank the French
theorists for more forcibly directing my attention to the
finger of God, which I discover in every awkward
movement and every wayward whim. They are all
guardians of his life, and growth, and powers. I regret
that I have not time to make infancy, and the develop-
ment of its powers, my sole study." * In 1805 he was
taken from his little playfellow, and from the pursuit
of his many ingenious speculations.2 Watt said of him,
" he was a man of the clearest head and the most science
of anybody I have ever known, and his friendship to
me ended only with his life, after having continued for
nearly half a century. . . . His religion and piety,

1 Cited in Muirhead's ' Mechanical
Inventions of James Watt, — Corre-
spondence,' ii. 269.

2 One of these, thrown out in a
letter to Watt, may be mentioned —
a speculation since revived by the
late Dr. S. Brown of Edinburgh, — the
transmutation of bodies. " These are
wonderful steps," said he, " which are
every day making in chemical ana-
lysis. The analysis of the alkalis and
alkaline earths by Guy ton, by Henry,

and others, will presently lead, I think,
to the doctrine of a reciprocal con-
vertibility of all things into all. It
brings to mind a minister lecturing on
the first chapter of one of the Gospels,
when, after reading, ' Adam begat
Abel, and Abel begat,' &c., — to save
himself the trouble of so many cramp
names, he said, * and so they all begat
one another to the 15th verse.' I
expect to see alchemy revive, and be
as universally studied as ever."

474 BOULTON STILL ACTIVE. CHAP. XX11.

which made him patiently submit without even a
fretful or repining word in nineteen years of unre-
mitting pain, — his humility, in his modest opinion
of himself, — his kindness, in labouring with such in-
dustry for his family during all this affliction, — his
moderation for himself, while indulging an unbounded
generosity to all about him, — joined to his talents,
form a character so uncommon and so noble, as can
with difficulty be conceived by those who have not,
like me, had the contemplation of it."

Little more remains to be recorded of the business
life of Boulton and Watt. The former, notwithstand-
ing his declining health and the frequent return of his
malady, continued to take an active interest in the
Soho coinage. Watt often expostulated with him, but
in vain, urging that it was time for him to retire
wholly from the anxieties of business. On Boulton
bringing out his Bank of England silver dollar, with
which he was himself greatly pleased, he sent some
specimens to Watt, then staying at Clifton, for his
inspection. Watt replied, — " Your dollar is universally
admired by all to whom we have shown it, though your
friends fear much that your necessary attention to the
operation of the coinage may injure your health." l And
again he wrote from Sidmouth, — " We are all glad to
hear of your amendment, which we hope will be pro-
gressive, and possibly it might be better if you could
summon up resolution enough to rid yourself of some
of those plagues you complain of ; but while you suffer
yourself to be intruded upon in the manner you do, you
can never enjoy that quiet which is now so necessary
to your health and comfort." Mrs. Watt joined her
entreaties to those of her husband, expressing the wish
that, for Mr. Boulton' s sake, it might rain every day,

1 Watt to Boulton, 13th May, 1804.
- Watt to Boulton, 14th October, 1804.

CHAP. XXII. WATT ENJOYS RETIREMENT. 475

to prevent his fatiguing himself by walking to and
from the works, and there occupying himself with the
turmoils of business. Why should he not do as Mr.
Watt had done, and give up Soho altogether, leaving
business and its anxieties to younger and stronger
men ? But business, as we have already explained,
was Boulton's habit, and pleasure, and necessity. More-
over, occupation of some sort served to divert his
attention from the ever-present pain within him ; and,
so long as his limbs were able to support him, he
tottered down the hill to see what was going forward at
Soho.

As for Watt, we find that he had at last learnt
the art of taking things easy, and that he was trying
to make life as agreeable as possible in his old age.
Thus at Cheltenham, from which place Mrs. Watt
addressed Boulton in the letter of advice above referred
to, we find the aged pair making pleasant excursions in
the neighbourhood during the day, and reading novels
and going to the theatre occasionally in the evening.
" As it is the fashion," wrote Mrs. Watt, — " and wishing
to be very fashionable people , we subscribe to the library.
Our first book was Mrs. Opie's ' Mother and Daughter,'
a tale so mournful as to make both Mr. Watt and myself
cry like schoolboys that had been whipped ; . . . and
to dispel the gloom that poor Adeline hung over us,
we went to the theatre last night to see the ' Honey-
moon,' and were highly pleased/'

Towards the end of 1807 Boulton had a serious
attack of his old disease, which fairly confined him to
his bed ; and his friends feared lest it should prove his
last illness. He was verging upon his eightieth year,
and his constitution, though originally strong, was
gradually succumbing to confinement and pain. He
nevertheless rallied once more, and was again able
to make occasional visits to the works as before. He
had promised to send a box of medals to the Queen, and

476

DE LUC'S ADVICE TO BOULTON.

CHAP. XXII.

went down to the Mint to see them packed. The box
duly reached Windsor Castle, and De Luc acknow-
ledged its reception : —

" As no words of mine," lie said, " could have conveyed your
sentiments to Her Majesty so well as those addressed to me in your
name, I contented myself with putting the letter into her hands.
Her Majesty expressed her sensibility for the sufferings you had
undergone during the period of your silence, and at your plentiful
gift, for which she has charged me to thank you ; and as, at the
same time that you have placed the whole at her own disposal, you
have mentioned the Princesses, Her Majesty will make them par-
takers in the present.

De Luc concluded by urging Mr. Boulton to abstain
from further work and anxiety, and reminded him that
after a life of such activity as his had been, both body
and mind required complete rest.

" Life," said he, " in this world is a state of trial, and as long as
God gives us strength we are not to shun even painful employments
which are duties. But in the decline of life, when the strength
fails, we ought to drop all thought of objects to which we are no
longer equal, in order to preserve the serenity and liberty of mind
with which we are to consider our exit from this world to a better.
May God prolong your life without pain for the good you do
constantly, is the sincere wish of your very affectionate friends (father
and daughter), " DE Luc." 1

Boulton's life was, indeed, drawing to a close. He
had for many years been suffering from an agonising
and incurable disease — stone in the kidneys and bladder
— and waited for death as for a friend. The strong
man was laifl low ; and the night had at length come
when he could work no more. The last letter which he
wrote was to his daughter, in March, 1809 ; but the

1 De Luc to Boulton, Windsor
Castle, 25th January, 1807. It had
been arranged that George III., the
Queen, and the Princesses, should pay
a visit to Soho in 1805, though the
King had by that time become quite
blind. When told of Boulton's illness,
and that he was confined to bed, his

Majesty replied, " Then I will visit
Mr. Boulton in his sick-chamber"
(MS. Memoir by Mr. Keir). The
royal visit was eventually put off, the
Council advising that the King should
go direct to Weymouth and nowhere
else.

CHAP. XXII. DEATH OF BOULTOX. 477

characters are so flickering and indistinct as to be
scarcely legible. "If you wish to see me living," he
wrote, " pray come soon, for I am very ill." Neverthe-
less, he suffered on for several months longer. At last
he was released from his pain, and peacefully expired
on the 17th of August, 1809, at the age of eighty-one.
Though he fell like a shock of corn in full season, his
death was lamented by a wide circle of relatives and
friends. A man of strong affections, with an almost
insatiable appetite for love and sympathy, he inspired
others with like feelings towards himself ; and when he
died, they felt as if a brother had gone. He was alike
admired and beloved by his workmen ; and when he
was carried to his last resting-place in Handsworth
Church, six hundred of them followed the hearse, and
there was scarcely a dry eye among them.1

Matthew Boulton was, indeed, a man of truly noble
nature. Watt, than whom none knew him better,
was accustomed to speak of him as "the princely
Boulton." He was generous and high-souled, a lover
of truth, honour, and uprightness. His graces were
embodied in a manly and noble person. "We are
informed through Dr. Guest that on one occasion, when
Mr. Boulton's name was mentioned in his father's
presence, he observed, " the ablest man I ever knew."
On the remark being repeated to Dr. Edward Johnson,

1 The following is the inscription on the mural monument erected to his
memory in the side aisle of Handsworth Church, in the composition of which
James Watt assisted : —

Sacred to the Memory of

MATTHEW BOULTOX, F.R.S.

By the skilful exertion of a mind turned to Philosophy and Mechanics,

The application of a taste correct and refined,
And an ardent spirit of enterprise, he improved, embellished, and extended

The Arts and Manufactures of his country,
Leaving his Establishment of Soho a noble monument of his

6enius, industry, and success.
The character his talents had raised, his virtues adorned and exalted.

Active to discern merit, and prompt to relieve distress,
His encouragement was liberal, his benevolence unwearied.

Honoured and aimired at home and abroad,

He closed a life eminently useful, the 17th of August, 1809, Aged 81,
Esteemed, loved , and lamented.

478

CHARACTERISTICS OF BOULTON. CHAT. XXII.

BODLTON'S MONUMENT IN HANDSWORTH CHURCH.l

a courtly man, he said, — " As to his ability, other persons
can better judge. But I can say that he was the best
mannered man I ever knew." The appreciation of both
was alike just and characteristic, and has since been con-
firmed by Mrs. Schimmelpenninck. She describes with
admiration his genial manner, his fine radiant counte-
nance, and his superb munificence : " He was in person
tall, and of a noble appearance ; his temperament was
sanguine, with that slight mixture of the phlegmatic
which gives calmness and dignity ; his manners were
eminently open and cordial ; he took the lead in conver-
sation ; and, with a social heart, had a grandiose manner,
like that arising from position, wealth, and habitual
command. He went about among his people like a
monarch bestowing largesse."

Boswell was equally struck by Boulton's personal
qualities when he visited Soho in 1776, shortly after
the manufacture of steam-engines had been begun there.
" I shall never forget," he says, " Mr. Boulton's expres-

1 The monument to Boulton is on the left hand of the altar in the above
illustration ; that of Murdock is opposite to it, on the right.

CHAP. XXII. CONDUCT TOWARDS WORKMEN. 471)

sion to me when surveying the works. ' I sell here,
sir, what all the world desires to have, POWER.' He
had," continues Bos well, " about seven hundred people
at work. I contemplated him as an iron chieftain, and
he seemed to be a father of his tribe. One of the men
came to him complaining grievously of his landlord for
having distrained his goods. " Your landlord is in the
right, Smith," said Boulton ; " but I'll tell you what—
find a friend who will lay down one half of your rent,
and I'll lay down the other, and you shall have your
goods again."

It would be a mistake to suppose that there wa's any
affectation in Boultoii's manner, or that his dignified
bearing in society was anything but natural to him.
He was frank, cheerful, and affectionate, as his letters
to his wife, his children, and his friends, amply demon-
strate. None knew better than he how to win hearts,
whether of workmen, mining adventurers, or philo-
sophers. " I have thought it but respectful," he wrote
Watt from Cornwall, " to give our folks a dinner at
a public-house near Wheal Virgin to-day. There were
present William Murdock, Lawson, Pearson, Perkins,
Malcolm, Robert Muir, all Scotchmen, and John Bull,
with self and Wilson, — for the engines are all now
finished, and the men have behaved wrell, and are
attached to us." At Soho he gave an entertainment
on a much larger scale upon his son coming of age in
1791, when seven hundred persons sat down to dinner.
Boswell's description of him as the father of his tribe is
peculiarly appropriate. No well-behaved workman was
ever turned adrift. On the contrary, fathers introduced
their sons into the factory, and brought them up under
their own eye, watching over their conduct and their
mechanical training. Thus generation after generation
of workmen followed in each other's footsteps at Soho.

There was, no doubt, good business policy in this ;
for Boulton knew that by attaching the workmen to

480

WORKMEN'S ASSURANCE SOCIETY.

CHAP. XXII.

him, and inspiring them with pride in the concern,
he was maintaining that prestige which, before the
days of machine tools, would not have been possible
without the aid of a staff of carefully-trained and
highly-skilled mechanics. Yet he had many scape-
graces amongst them — hard drinkers, pugilists,1 cock-
fighters, and scamps. Watt often got wholly out of
patience with them, 'and urged their dismissal, whatever
might be the consequence. But though none knew
so well as Watt how to manage machines, none
knew so ill how to manage men. Boulton's prac-
tical wisdom usually came to the rescue. He would
tolerate any moral shortcoming save treachery and
dishonesty. But he knew that most of the inert
had been brought up in a bad school, often in no
school at all. "Have pity on them, bear with them,
give them another trial," he would say ; " our works
must not be brought to a standstill because perfect men
are not yet to be had." " True wisdom," he observed
on another occasion, " directs us, when we can, to turn
even evils into good. We must take men as we find
them, and try to make the best of them."

Still further to increase the attachment of the workmen
to Soho, and keep together his school of skilled industry,
as he called it, Boulton instituted a Mutual Assurance
Society in connexion with the works; the first of the
kind, so far as we are aware, established by any large

1 Isaac Perrins was one of the most
noted among the fighters of Soho.
Mr. Scale, a partner in the hardware
business, wrote to Mr. Boulton, then
at Cosgarne (15th October, 1782),—
" Perrins has had a battle with the
famous Jemmy Sargent for a hundred
guineas, in which Perrins came off
conqueror without a fall or hurt : in
13 rounds he knocked down his an-
tagonist 13 times. They had. it out
at Colemore on our Wake Monday.
The Sohoites all returned with blue
cockades." Mrs. Watt, in a gossipy

letter to Mr. Boulton of the same date,
says " 1500Z. was betted against
Perrins at Birmingham, and lost."
Perrins's success led him to turn " pro-
fessional bruiser" for a time, and he
left his place in the smith's shop. But
either not succeeding in his new busi-
ness, or finding the work harder than
that of the smithy, he came back to
Soho, and, being a good workman; he
was taken on again and remained in
Boulton's employment till the close of
his life, leaving sons to succeed him
in the same department.

CHAP. XXTI. ORGANISATION AT SOHO. 481

manufacturer for the benefit of his workmen. Every
person employed in the manufactory, in whatsoever con^
dition, was required to be a member. Boys receiving
2s. Qd. a week paid a halfpenny weekly to the box ;
those receiving 5s. paid a penny a week, and so on, up
to men receiving 20s. a week, who contributed 4rf. ;
payments being made to them out of the fund during
sickness and disablement, in proportion to their contri-
butions during health. The effects of the Society were
most salutary ; it cultivated habits of providence and
thoughtfulness amongst the men ; bound them together
by ties of common interest ; and it was only in the
cases of irreclaimable drunkards that any members of
the Soho Friendly Society ever came upon the parish.

But this was only a small item in the constitution
of the Soho manufactory. Before its establishment,
comparatively little attention had been given to the
organisation of labour on a large scale. Workshops
were so small that everything went on immediately
under the master's eye, and workmen got accustomed
to ply at their work diligently, being well watched.
But when manufacturing was carried on upon so large
a scale as at Soho, and separate processes were con-
ducted in different rooms and workshops, it was im-
possible that the master's eye should be over all his
workers, or over even any considerable portion of
them at the same time. It was therefore necessary
to introduce a new system. Hence the practice of
inspection by deputy, and the appointment of skilled
and trustworthy foremen for the purpose of enforcing
strict discipline in the various shops, and at the same
time economising labour and ensuring excellence of
workmanship. In carrying out this arrangement,
Boulton proved remarkably successful : and Soho came
to be regarded as a model establishment. Men came from
all parts to see and admire its organisation ; and when
Wedgwood proceeded to erect his great pottery works at

2 i

482 BOULTON FIRST-BATE IN BUSINESS. CHAP. XXII.

Etruria, he paid many preliminary visits to Soho for the
purpose of ascertaining how the difficulties occasioned
by the irregular habits of the workpeople had been so
successfully overcome by his friend, and applying the
results of his experience in the organisation of his own
manufactory.

Though Boulton could not keep his eye directly on
the proceedings in the shops, he was quick to discern
when anything was going wrong. While sitting in
the midst of his factory, surrounded by the clang of
hammers and the noise of engines, he could usually
detect when any stoppage occurred, or when the
machinery was going too fast or too slow, and issue
his orders accordingly. The sound of the tools going,
and the hammers clanging, which to strangers was
merely an intolerable noise, was an intelligible music
in his ears ; and, like the leader of an orchestra, who
casts his eye at once in the direction of the player of a
wrong note, so Boulton was at once conscious of the
slightest dissonance in the performances of his manu-
factory, and took the necessary steps immediately to
correct it.

From what we have already said, it will be suffi-
ciently clear that Boulton was a first-rate man of
business. He had a hearty enthusiasm for his calling,
and took a just pride in it. In conducting it, he was
guided by fine tact, great knowledge of character, and
sound practical wisdom. When fully satisfied as to the
course he should pursue, he acted with remarkable
vigour and promptitude, bending his whole mind to
the enterprise which he had taken in hand. It was
natural that he should admire in others the qualities
he himself desired to possess. " I can't say," he wrote
to Watt, "but that I admire John Wilkinson, for his
decisive, clear, and distinct character, which is, I think,
a first-rate one of its kind." Like Wilkinson, Boulton
was also distinguished for his indomitable pluck ; and

CHAP. XXII. HIS INVINCIBLE RESOLUTION. 483

in no respect was this more strikingly displayed than in
his prosecution of the steam-engine enterprise.

Playfair has truly said, that had Watt searched
all Europe over, he could not have found another
person so fitted to bring his invention before the public
in a manner worthy of its merits and importance. Yet
Boulton was by no means eager to engage in the
scheme. Watt cou!4 with difficulty persuade him to
take it up ; and it was only in exchange for a bad debt
that he at length became a partner in it. But when
once fairly committed, he threw himself into the enter-
prise with an extraordinary degree of vigour. He
clearly recognised in the steam-engine a power destined
to revolutionise the industrial operations of the world.
To M. Argand, the famous French lamp inventor, he
described it as " the most certain, the most regular,
the most durable, and the most effective machine in
Nature, so far as her powers have yet been revealed
to mortal knowledge ;" and he declared to him that,
finding he could be of more use to manufactures and to
mankind in general by employing all his powers in the
capacity of an engineer, than in fabricating any kind
of clincaillerie whatsoever, he would thenceforward de-
vote himself wholly to his new enterprise.

But it was no easy work he had undertaken. He
had to struggle against prejudices, opposition, detrac-
tion, and difficulties of all kinds. Not the least difficulty
he had to strive against was the timidity and faint-
heartedness of his partner. For years Watt was on the
brink of despair. He kept imploring Boulton to relieve
him from his troubles ; he wished to die and be at rest ;
he "cursed his inventions;" indeed he was the most
miserable of men. But Boulton never lost heart. He
was hopeful, courageous, and strong — Watt's very back-
bone. He felt convinced that the invention must
eventually succeed, and he never for a moment lost faith
in it. He braved and risked everything to " carry the

2 I 2

484 BOULTON'S VICTORIOUS EFFORTS. CHAP. XXTT.

thing through." He mortgaged his lands to the last
farthing ; borrowed from his personal friends ; raised
money by annuities ; obtained advances from bankers ;
and had invested upwards of 40,000/. in the enterprise
before it began to pay.

During this terrible struggle he was more than once
on the brink of insolvency, but continued as before to
cheer and encourage his fainting partner. " Keep your
mind and your heart pleasant if possible," he wrote to
Watt, "for the way to go through life sweetly is not
to regard rubs." To those about Watt he wrote, " Do
not disturb Mr. Watt, but keep him as free from
anxiety as you can." He himself took the main share
of the burden, — pushing the engine amongst the
Cornish miners, bringing it under the notice of London
brewers and water companies, and finding money to
meet the heavy liabilities of the firm.

So much honest endeavour could not fail. And at
last the tide seemed to turn. The engine became
recognised as a grand working power, and there was
almost a run upon Soho for engines. Then pirates
sprang up in all directions, and started new schemes
with the object of evading Watt's patent. And now
a new battle had to be fought against "the illiberal,
sordid, unjust, ungenerous, and inventionless misers,
who prey upon the vitals of the ingenious, and make
haste to seize upon what their laborious and often
costly application has produced."1 At length this
struggle, too, was conclusively settled in Boulton and
Watt's favour, and they were left at last to enjoy the
fruits of their labour in peace.

Watt never could have fought such a series of battles
alone. He would have been a thousand times crushed;
and, but for Boulton's unswerving courage and resolute
determination, he could neither have brought his engine

Boulton to I)e Luc, 20th October, 1787.

CHAP. XXII. WATT'S ESTIMATE OF BOULTON. 485

into general use, nor derived any adequate reward for
his great invention. Though his specification lodged
in the Patent Office might clearly establish his extra-
ordinary mechanical genius, it is most probable that he
himself would have broken his heart over his scheme,
and added only another to the long list of great martyr
hiA'entors.

None was more ready to acknowledge the immense
services of Boulton in introducing the steam-engine to
general use as a working power, than Watt himself.
In the MS. memoir of his lately deceased friend
deposited among the Soho papers, dated Glasgow, 17th
September, 1809, Watt says, — "Through the whole of
this business Mr. Boulton's active and sanguine dis-
position served to counterbalance the despondency and
diffidence which were natural to me ; and every assist-
ance which Soho or Birmingham could aiford was
procured. Mr. Boulton's amiable and friendly cha-
racter, together with his fame as an engineer and active
manufacturer, procured us many and very active friends

in both Houses of Parliament Suffice it to say,

that to his generous patronage, the active part he took
in the management of the business, his judicious advice,
and his assistance in contriving and arranging many of
the applications of the steam-engine to various machines,
the public are indebted for great part of the benefits
they now derive from that machine. Without him, or
some similar partner (could such a one have been found),
the invention could never have been carried by me
to the length that it has been.

" Mr. Boulton was not only an ingenious mechanic,
well skilled in all the arts of the Birmingham manu-
facturers, but he possessed in a high degree the faculty
of rendering any new invention of his own or of others
useful to the public, by organising and arranging the
processes by which it could be carried on, as well as of
promoting the sale by his own exertions and those of his

486

HIS PROMPTITUDE AND ENERGY.

CHAP. XXII.

numerous friends and correspondents. His conception
of the nature of any invention was quick, and he was
not less quick in perceiving the uses to which it might
be applied, and the profits which might accrue from
it. When he took any scheme in hand, he was rapid
in executing it, and on those occasions spared neither
trouble nor expense. He was a liberal encourager
of merit in others, and to him the country is indebted
for various improvements which have been brought
forward under his auspices

" In respect to myself, I can with great sincerity say
that he was a most affectionate and steady friend and
patron, with whom, during a close connexion of thirty-
five years, I have never had any serious difference.

" As to his improvements and erections at Soho — his
turning a barren heath into a delightful garden, and the
population and riches he has introduced into the parish
of Handsworth, I must leave such subjects to those
whose pens are better adapted to the purpose, and whose
ideas are less benumbed with age than mine now are."1

We have spoken of Boulton's generosity, which was
in keeping with his whole character. At a time when
he was himself threatened with bankruptcy, we have
seen him concerting a scheme with his friend Wedg-
wood to enable Dr. Priestley to pursue his chemical in-

1 The MS. memoir is dated Glasgow
the 17th September, 1809, at which
period Watt was in his 73rd year. It
had evidently been written at the
request of M. Robinson Boulton, Esq.,
shortly after his father's death. We
find various testimony to the same
effect as the above in the Soho papers.
Thus Mr. Peter Ewart, C.E., speaks
of Mr. Boulton's remarkable quick-
ness in selecting objects to which
machinery might be applied with ad-
vantage, and of his great promptitude
and determination in carrying his plans
into effect. He also describes the con-
tagiousness of his example, which
strengthened the weak and inspired

the timid. " He possessed," says Mr.
Ewart, " above all other men I have
ever known, the faculty of inspiring
others with a portion of that ardent
zeal with which he himself pursued
every important object he had in
view ; and it was impossible to be
near him without becoming warmly
interested in the success of his enter-
prises. The urbanity of his manners,
and his great kindness to young people
in particular, never failed to leave the
most agreeable impression on the
minds of all around him; and most
truly may it be said that he reigned
in the hearts of those that were in
his employment." — Boulton MSS.

CHAP. XXII. HIS LARGE-HEARTEDNESS. 487

vestigations free from pecuniary anxiety. To Watt he
was most liberal, voluntarily conceding to him at dif-
ferent times profits derived from certain parts of the
steam-engine business, beyond the proportions stipulated
in the deed of partnership. In the course of his cor-
respondence we find numerous illustrations of his gene-
rosity to partners as well as to workmen ; making up
the losses they had sustained, and which at the time per-
haps he could ill afford. His conduct to Widow Swellen-
grebel illustrates this fine feature in his character. She
had lent money to Fothergill, his partner in the hard-
ware business, and the money was never repaid. The
consequence was, that the widow and her family were
seriously impoverished, and on their return to their
friends in Holland, Boulton, though under no obligation
to do so, remitted her an annuity of fifty pounds a year,
which he continued to the close of her life. " I must
own," he wrote, " I am impelled to act as I do from
pity, as well as from something in my own disposition
that I cannot resist." l

In fine, Matthew Boulton was a noble, manly man,
and a true leader of men. Lofty-minded, intelligent,
energetic, and liberal, he was one of those who consti-
tute the life blood of a nation, and give force and dignity
to the national character. Working in conjunction
with Watt, he was in no small degree instrumental
in introducing and establishing the great new working
power of steam which has exercised so extraordinary an
influence upon all the operations of industry.

1 Boulton to M. Vanlinder, Rotterdam, 24th April, 1788.

488 WATT ON BOULTON'S DEATH. CHAP. XX11I.

CHAPTEK XXIII.

CLOSING YEAES OF JAMES WATT — His DEATH — CONCLUSION.

THE fragile and sickly Watt outlived the most robust of
his contemporaries. He was residing at G-lenarbach,
near Dumbarton, with relatives, when the intelligence
reached him of the death of his partner. To his son
James he wrote at once, expressing his deep sorrow at
the loss of his " very worthy and beloved friend." 1 To
Mr. Boulton's son and successor he wrote, — " However
we may lament our own loss, we must consider, on the
other side, the torturing pain he has so long endured,
and console ourselves with the remembrance of his
virtues and eminent qualifications. Few men have pos-
sessed his abilities, and still fewer have exerted them
as he has done ; and if to these we add his urbanity, his
generosity, and his affection to his friends, we shall
make up a character rarely to be equalled. Such was
the friend we have lost, and of whose affection we have
reason to be proud, as you have to be the son of such
a father."2

The deaths of his friends, one by one, reminded Watt
of his own mortality, and frequent references to the
subject occur in his letters about this time. He felt as

1 " Though I was in some measure
prepared," he wrote, " yet I had hoped
that he might have recovered from
this fit, as he has done from other
severe ones. Such wishes, however,
were selfish ; for in respect to himself,
none of his' friends could, rationally
have desired the prolongation of a life
which has long been passed in torture,

without hope of relief. May he
therefore rest in peace ; and when our
end approaches, may we have as little
to reproach us and as much to console
us as he had." — Mr. Watt to his son,
22nd August, 1809. Bonlton MSS.

2 Watt to M. Robinson Boulton,
23rd August, 180!).

CHAP. XXIII. WATT'S CLOSING YEARS. 489

if he were in danger of being left in the world alone.
But he did not give himself up to melancholy, as he
had been prone to do at the earlier periods of his life.
Shortly after his son Gregory died, he wrote to a rela-
tive,— " I know that all men must die, and I submit
to the decrees of Nature, I hope with due reverence to
the Disposer of events. Yet one stimulus to exertion is
taken away, and, somehow or other, I have lost my
relish for my usual occupations. Perhaps time may
remedy that in some measure ; meanwhile I do not
neglect the means of amusement which are in my
power."

Watt was at no loss for occupation to relieve the
tedium of old age. He possessed ample resources in
himself, and found pleasure alike in quiet meditation
and in active work. His thirst for knowledge was still
unslaked, and he sought to allay it by reading. His
love of investigation was as keen as ever, and he
gratified it by proceeding with experiments on air, on
light, and on electricity. His inventive faculty was still
potent, and he occasionally varied his occupation by
labouring to produce a new machine or to improve an
old one. At other times, when the weather allowed,
he would take a turn at planting in his grounds and
gardens ; and occasionally vary his pleasure by a visit
to Scotland, to London, or to his estate in Wales.
Strange to say, his health improved with advancing
age, and though occasionally dyspeptic, he was now
comparatively free from the racking headaches which
had been the torment of his earlier years. Unlike
Boulton, who found pleasure in the active pursuit of
business, Watt had always regarded it as a worry, and
lie was now glad to have cast it altogether behind
him. His mind was free from harassing cares ; his
ambition in life was satisfied ; he was no more distressed
by fears of Cornish pirates ; and he was content to

490 INVENTION BECOMES HIS HOBBY. CHAP. XXIII.

enjoy at last the fruits of his labour in peace. And
thus it was that Watt's later years may be pronounced
to have been the happiest of his life.

He had, indeed, lost nearly all his old friends, and
often thought of them with a melancholy regret, not,
however, unmingled with pleasure. But other young-
friends gathered about him, sat at his feet, and looked up
to him with an almost reverential admiration. Among
these we find Eennie and, Telford the engineers, Camp-
bell the poet, Humphry Davy, Henry Brougham,
Francis Horner, and other rising men of the new
generation. Lord Brougham bears testimony to Watt's
habitual cheerfulness, and his enjoyment of the plea-
sures of society during the later years of his life. "I
can speak on the point," he says, " with absolute cer-
tainty, for my own acquaintance with him commenced
after my friend Gregory's decease. A few months
after that event, he calmly and with his wonted acute-
ness discussed with me the composition of an epitaph
to be inscribed on his son's tomb. In the autumn and
winter of 1805 he was a constant attendant at our
Friday Club, and in all our private circles, and was the
life of them all." ]

To the close of his life Watt continued to take great
pleasure in inventing. It had been the pursuit of his
life, and in old age it became his hobby. " Without
a hobby-horse," said he, " what is life ?" He proceeded
to verify his old experiments, and to live over again
the history of his inventions. When Mr. Kennedy of
Manchester asked him, at one of his last visits to Heath-
field, if he had been able, since his retirement from
business, to discover anything new in the steam-engine,

1 Lord Brougham's * Lives of Philo- fessor Playfair, Walter Scott, Henry
sophers of the Time of George III.' Brougham, Francis Jeffrey, Leonard
The Friday Club of Edinburgh -was so \ Horner, Lord Corehouse, Sir W. Drum-
called because of the evening of the mond, and others known to fame,
week on which it met and supped. It : Watt wns a regular attender of the
numbered amongst its members Pro- Club during his Edinburgh visits.

CHAP. XXIII. HIS MACHINE FOE COPYING STATUARY. 491

lie replied, " No ; I am devoting the remainder of my
life to perfect its details, and to ascertain whether in
any respect I have been wrong."

But he did not merely confine himself to verifying
his old inventions. He also contrived new ones. One
of the machines that occupied his leisure hours for many
years, was his machine for copying statuary. We find
him busy with it in 1810, and he was still working
upon it in the year of his death, nearly ten years later.
The principle of the machine was to make a cutting tool
or drill travel over the work to be executed, in like
ratio with the motion of a guide-point placed upon the
bust to be copied. It worked, as it were, with two
hands ; the one feeling the pattern, the other cutting
the material into the required form. The object could
be copied either of the full size, or reduced with the
most perfect accuracy to any less size that might be
required.1 In preparing the necessary tools, Watt had
the able assistance of his friend Murdock, who was
always ready with his kindly suggestions and criticisms.
In January, 1813, Watt wrote him, — "I have done a
little figure of a boy lying down and holding out one
arm, very successfully ; and another boy, about six inches
high, naked, and holding out both his hands, his legs

1 In March, 1811, he wrote Dr. P.
Wilson as follows : — " For want of
other news I must now say a little
upon my late invention, with which
Dr. Herschel seemed much pleased.

stone to be cut are. I have also made
some improvements in the tools for
cutting marble and other hard stones.
The things you saw were done by the
tool and the guide-point, moving in

It continues to succeed, and I have parallel lines, straight or circular, and
realised some more of my ideas on the very near one another ; (an illustra-
subject, I have executed several | tion of Euclid's position, that the
small busts in alabaster, not being motion of a point generates a line, and .

strong enough to work in marble. I
had a difficulty in getting the several
segments which form the surface of
the bust to meet, but have now accom-
plished it. It requires a very accurate
construction of the machine, and a
very accurate adjustment of the tools,

the motion of a line generates a sur-
face). I have now contrived, though
not executed, that the two points, the
guide and the cutting point, may
move in any line, whether straight or
crooked, square or diagonal, so that^
an inscription might be cut in stone'

so that their axes may be always ' from a drawing on paper.'' — Cited in
equally distant from each other, as | Muirhead's ' Mechanical Inventions of
the axes of the pattern and that of the ; James Watt,' ii. 329-30.

492

MEDALLIONS OF HIS FRIENDS.

CHAP. XXIII.

also being separate. But I have been principally
employed in making drawings for a complete machine,
all in iron, which has been a very serious job, as inven-
tion goes on very slowly with me now. When you
come home, I shall thank you for your criticisms and
assistance." ]

The material in which Watt executed his copies of
statuary were various, — marble, jet, alabaster, ivory,
plaster of Paris, and mahogany. Some of the speci-
mens we have seen at Heathfield are of exquisite
accuracy and finish, and show that he must have
brought his copying-machine to a remarkable degree
of perfection before he died. There are numerous
copies of medallions of his friends, — of Dr. Black, De
Luc, and Dr. Priestley ; but the finest of all is a reduced
bust of himself, being an exact copy of Chantrey's
original plaster-cast. The head and neck are beauti-
fully finished, but there the work has stopped, for the
upper part of the chest is still in the rough. Another
exquisite work, than which Watt never executed a
finer, is a medallion of Locke in ivory, marked " January,
1812." There are numerous other busts, statuettes,
medallions, — some finished, others half executed, and
apparently thrown aside, as if the workman had been
dissatisfied with his work, and waited, perhaps, until he
had introduced some new improvement in his machine.

Watt took out no patent for the invention, which he
pursued, as he said, merely as "a mental and bodily
exercise." Neither did he publish it,- — but went on
working at it for several years before his intentions
to construct such a machine had become known. When
he had made considerable progress with it, he learned,
to his surprise, that a Mr. Hawkins, an ingenious
person in his neighbourhood, had been long occupied

1 Cited in Muirhead's 'Mechanical
Inventions,' &c., ii. 340-1. These
drawings must be in existence, and

of great interest, as showing the vigour
of Watt's inventive faculty at this
late period of his life.

CHAP. XXTTT. DESCRIPTION OF HTS GARRET. 493

in the same pursuit. The proposal was then made to
him that the two inventors should combine their talents
and secure the invention by taking' out a joint patent.
But Watt had already been too much worried by patents
to venture on taking out another at his advanced age.
He preferred prosecuting the invention at his leisure
merely as an amusement ; and the project of taking out
a patent for it was accordingly abandoned. It may not
be generally known that this ingenious invention of
Watt has since been revived and applied with sundry
modifications by our cousins across the Atlantic, in
fashioning wood and iron in various forms ; and power-
ful copying-machines are now in regular use in the
Government works at Enfield, where they are employed
in rapidly, accurately, and cheaply manufacturing gun-
stocks !

Watt carried on the operations connected with this
invention for the most part in his Garret, a room imme-
diately under the roof at the kitchen end of the house
at Heathfield, and approached by a narrow staircase.
It is a small room, low in the ceiling, and lighted by a
low broad window, looking into the shrubbery. The
ceiling, though low, inclines with the slope of the roof
on three sides of the room, and, being close to the slates,
the place must necessarily have been very hot in
summer, and very cold in winter. A stove was placed
close to the door, for the purpose of warming the apart-
ment, as well as enabling the occupant to pursue his
experiments, being fitted with a sand-bath and other
conveniences. But the stove must have been insuf-
ficient for heating the garret in very cold weather, and
hence we find him occasionally informing his corre-
spondents that he could not proceed further with his
machine until the weather had become milder.

His foot-lathe was fixed close to the window, fitted
with all the appliances for turning in wood and metal
fifty years since ; while a case of drawers fitted into the

494

THE GAKHET AT HEATHFIEL1). CHAP. XXIII.

CHAP. XXITT. WATT'S GARRET OCCUPATIONS. 495

recess on the left-hand side of the room, contained a
large assortment of screws, punches, cutters, taps, and
dies. Here were neatly arranged and stowed away
many of the tools with which he worked in the early
part of his life, one of the drawers being devoted to his
old " flute tools." In other divisions were placed his
compasses, dividers, scales, decimal weights, quadrant
glasses, and a large assortment of instrument-making
tools. A ladle for melting lead, and a soldering-iron
were hung ready for use near the stove.

Crucibles of metal and stone were ranged on the
shelves along the opposite side of the room, which
also contained a large assortment of bottles filled with
chemicals, boxes of fossils and minerals, jars, gallipots,
blowpipes, retorts, and the various articles used in
chemical analysis. In one corner of the room was a
potter's lathe. A writing-desk was placed as close to
the window, for the sake of the light, as the turning-
lathe would allow ; and in the corner was the letter-
copying machine, conveniently at hand.

In this garret Watt spent much of his time during
the later period of his life, only retiring from it when
it was too hot in summer, or too cold in winter to
enable him to prosecute his work. For days together
he would confine himself here, without even descending
to his meals. He had accordingly provided himself,
in addition to his various other tools, with sundry
kitchen utensils, — amongst others, with a frying-pan
and Dutch oven — with which he cooked his meals.
For it must be explained that Mrs. Watt was a
thorough martinet in household affairs, and, above all
things, detested " dirt." Mrs. Schimmelpenninck says
she taught her two pug-dogs never to cross the hall
without first wiping their feet on the mat. She hated
the sight of her husband's leather apron and soiled
hands while he was engaged in his gar ret- work, so he
kept himself out of her sight at such times as much

490 PECULIARITIES OF MflS. WATT. CHAP. XXIIT.

as possible. . Some notion of the rigidity of her rule
may be inferred from the fact of her having had a
window made in the kitchen wall, through which she
could watch the servants, and observe how they were
getting on with their work. Her passion for cleanliness
was carried to a pitch which often fretted those about
her by the restraints it imposed ; but her husband, like
a wise man, gently submitted to her rule. He was fond
of a pinch of snuff, which Mrs. Watt detested, regard-
ing it only as so much " dirt ; " and Mr. Muirhead says
she would seize and lock up the offending snuff-box
whenever she could lay hands upon it. He adds that
at night, when she retired from the dining-room, if Mr.
Watt did not follow at the time fixed by her, a servant
would enter and put out the lights, even when a friend
was present, on which he would slowly rise and meekly
say, " We must go." One can easily understand how,
under such circumstances, Watt would enjoy the perfect
liberty of his garret, where he was king, and could
enjoy his pinch of snuff in peace, and make as much
" dirt " with his turning-lathe, his crucibles, and his
chemicals, as he chose, without dread of interruption.

One of the fears which haunted Watt as old age
advanced upon him was, that his mental faculties, in
the exercise of which he took so much pleasure, were
deserting him. To Dr. Darwin he said, many years
before, — " Of all the evils of age, the loss of the few
mental faculties one possessed in youth is most grievous."
To test his memory, he again began the study of
German, which he had allowed himself to forget ; and
he speedily acquired such proficiency as enabled him to
read the language with comparative ease. But he gave
still stronger evidence of the integrity of his powers.
When in his seventy-fifth year, he was consulted by
the Glasgow Waterworks Company as to the best mode
of conveying water from a peninsula across the Clyde
to the Company's engines at Dalmarnock, — a difficulty

CHAP. XXIII. WATT'S TUBE UNDER THE CLYDE. 497

which appeared to them almost insurmountable ; for it
was necessary to fit, the pipes, through which the water
passed, to the uneven and shifting bed of the river.
Watt, on turning over the subject in his mind, shortly
hit upon a plan, which showed that his inventive
powers were unimpaired by age. Taking the tail of
the lobster for his model, he devised a tube of iron
similarly articulated, of which he forwarded a drawing
to the Waterworks Company ; and, acting upon his
recommendation, they had the tube forthwith executed
and laid down with complete success. Watt declined
to be paid for the essential service he had thus rendered

THE RIVER CLYDE

to the Waterworks Company ; but the directors made
handsome acknowledgment of it by presenting him with
a piece of plate of the value of a hundred guineas,
accompanied by the cordial expression of their thanks
and esteem.

Watt did not, however, confine himself to mechanical
recreations at home. In summer-time he would proceed
to Cheltenham, the air of which agreed with him, and
make a short stay there ; or he would visit his friends
in London, Glasgow, or Edinburgh. While in London,
his great delight was in looking in at the shop-windows,
—the best of all industrial exhibitions, — for there he
saw the progress of manufacture in all articles in
common use amongst the people. To a country person,
the sight of the streets and shop-windows of London
alone, with their display of objects of art and articles
of utility, is always worth a visit. To Watt it was
more interesting than passing along the finest gallery
of pictures.

At Glasgow, where he stayed with his relatives thr

2 K

498

PROSPERITY OF GLASGOW.

CHAP. XXIII.

Macgregors, he took pleasure in revisiting* his old
haunts, dined with the College Professors,1 and noted
with lively interest the industrial progress of the
place. The growth of Glasgow in the course of his
lifetime had, indeed, been extraordinary, and it was in no
small degree the result of his own industrial labours. The
steam-engine was everywhere at work ; factories had
sprung up in all directions ; the Broomielaw was silent-
no longer ; the Clyde was navigable from thence to
the sea, and its waters were plashed by the paddles of
a thousand steamers. The old city of the tobacco lords
had become a great centre of manufacturing industry ;
it was rich, busy, and prosperous ; and the main source
of its prosperity was the steam-engine. A long time
had passed since Watt had first taken in hand the
repair of the little Newcomen engine in Glasgow
College, and afterwards laboured in the throes of his
invention in his shop in the back court in King Street.
There were no skilled mechanics in Glasgow then, and the
death of the " old white-iron man " who helped him had
been one of his sorest vexations. Things were entirely
changed now. Glasgow had already become famous
for its engine-work, and its factories contained among
the most skilled mechanics in the kingdom. Watt's
early notion that Scotchmen were incapable of becoming-
first-rate mechanics, like Englishmen, was confuted by

1 In 1808 Mr. Watt made over
300Z. to the College by Deed of Gift,
for the purpose of founding a prize for
students in Natural Science, as some
acknowledgment of " the many fa-
vours " which the College had con-
ferred upon him. — In 1816 he gave
to the Town of Greenock 100Z. for the
purpose of purchasing books for the
Mathematical School. " My intention
in this donation," he observed in his
letter to Mr. Anderson of "Greenock,
" is to form the beginning of a scientific
library, for the instruction of the youth
of Greenock; and I hope it will

prompt others to add to it, and to
render my townsmen as eminent for
their knowledge as they are for their
spirit of enterprise." Watt's idea has
since been carried out by his towns-
men, and the Watt Library is now
one of the most valuable institutions
of Greenock. It ought to be added,
that the erection of the building was
mainly due to the munificence of Mr.
Watt's son, the late James Watt, Esq.,
of Aston Hall, near Birmingham. A
marble statue of Watt, by Chantrey,
is placed in the Library, with an in-
scription from the pen of Lord Jeffrey.

CHAP. XXIII. VISIT TO MR. ROBERT HART. 499

the experience of hundreds of workshops ; and to
none did the practical contradiction of his theory give
greater pleasure than to himself. He delighted to visit
the artisans at their work, and to see with his own eyes
the improvements that were going forward ; and when
he heard of any new and ingenious arrangement of
engine-power, he would hasten to call upon the mechanic
who had contrived it, and make his acquaintance.

One of such calls, which Watt made during a visit
to Glasgow, in 1814, has been pleasantly related by
Mr. Robert Hart, who, with his brother, then carried on
a small steam-engine factory in the town. " One fore-
noon," he says, " while we were at work, Miss Mac-
gregor and a tall elderly gentleman came into the shop.
She, without saying who he was, asked if we would
show the gentleman our small engine. It was not
going at the time, and was covered up. My brother
uncovered it. The gentleman examined it very minutely,
and put a few pointed questions, asking the reason for
making her in that form. My brother, seeing he under-
stood the subject, said that she had been so made to try
what we thought was an improvement ; and for this
experiment we required another cistern and air-pump.
He was beginning to show what was properly Mr.
Watt's engine, and what was not ; when, at this obser-
vation, Miss Macgregor stopped him, saying, — ' Oh, he
understands it ; this is Mr. Watt.9 I never at any
time saw my brother so much excited as he was at that
moment. He called on. me to join them, saying, — ' This
is Mr. Watt !' Up to this time I had continued to work
at what I was doing when they came ; and, although I
had heard all that was said, I had not joined the party
till I learned who he was. Our supposed improvement
was to save condensing water, and was on the prin-
ciple introduced by Sir John Leslie, to produce cold by
evaporation in a vacuum. Mr. Watt took much interest
in this experiment, and said he had tried the same thing

2 K 2

500 WATT'S CONVERSATION WITH THE HARTS. CHAP. XXIII.

on a larger scale, but without the vacuum, as that in-
vention of Professor Leslie's was not known at the
time. He tried it exposed to the air, and also kept
wet ; and at one of the large porter-breweries in
London he had fitted up an apparatus of the same
nature. The pipes forming his condenser were laid
in the water of the Thames, but he could not keep them
tight, from the expansion and contraction of the metal,
as they were exposed to various temperatures." The
conversation then diverged to the subject of his early
experiments with the Newcomen engine, the diffi-
culties he had encountered in finding a proper material
for steam-pipes, the best method of making steam-
joints, and the various means of overcoming obstacles
which occur in the prosecution of mechanical experi-
ments, in the course of which he reverted to the many
temporary expedients which he had himself adopted in
his early days.

Watt was so much pleased with the intelligence of
the brothers Hart, that he invited them to call upon
him that evening at Miss Macgregor's, where they
found him alone with the ladies. " In .the course of
conversation," continues Mr. Hart, " which embraced
all that was new at the time, the expansion and the
slow contraction of metals were touched on. This led
to a discussion on iron in engine-making," in which
Watt explained the practice which experience had led
him to adopt as the best. The conversation then turned
upon the early scene of his inventions, the room in the
College, the shop in King Street, the place on Glasgow
Green near the Herd's house where the first idea of a
separate condenser flashed upon his mind, and the various
steps by which he had worked out his invention. He went
on to speak of his experience at Kinneil and Borough-
stoness, of the Newcomen engine he had erected and
worked there for the purpose of gaining experience,
and incidentally referred to many of the other interest-

CHAP. XXIII. SIR W. SCOTT'S EULOGY OF WATT. 501

ing events in his past career. At a late hour the
brothers took their leave, delighted, as they well might
be, with the affability and conversableness of " the great
Mr. Watt."

But it was not mechanics alone that Watt fascinated
by his powers of conversation and his stores of know-
ledge relating to the special business of his life : he
was equally at home amongst philosophers, women,
and children. When close upon his eighty-second year,
he formed one of a distinguished party assembled
in Edinburgh, at which Sir Walter Scott, Francis
Jeffrey, and others were present. He delighted the
northern literati with his kindly cheerfulness, not less
than he astonished them by the extent and profundity
of his information. " This potent commander of the
elements," says Scott, — "this abridger of time and
space, this magician, whose cloudy machinery has pro-
duced a change in the world, the effects of which, extra-
ordinary as they are, are perhaps only now beginning
to be felt, — was not only the most profound man of
science, the most successful combiner of powers, and
combiner of numbers, as adapted to practical purposes,
--was not only one of the most generally well-informed,
but one of the best and kindest of human beings. There
he stood, surrounded by the little band of Northern
literati, men not less tenacious, generally speaking, of
their own opinions, than the national regiments are
supposed to be jealous of the high character they have
won upon service. Methinks I yet see and hear what
I shall never, see or hear again. The alert, kind, bene-
volent old man had his attention alive to every one's
question, his information at every one's command. His
talents and fancy overflowed on every subject. One
gentleman was a deep philologist, he talked with him
on the origin of the alphabet as if he had been coeval
with Cadmus ; another, a celebrated critic, you would
have said the old man had studied political economy

502

WATT'S CONVERSATIONAL PC WEES. CHAP. XXT1T.

and belles-lettres all his life; of science it is unnecessary
to speak, it was his own distinguished walk." *

Indeed, the extent of his knowledge was the wonder
of all who came in contact with him. " It seemed,"
said Jeffrey, "as if every subject that was casually
started had been that which he had been occupied in
studying." Yet, though no man was more ready to
communicate knowledge, none could be less ambitious
of displaying it. In company, when not spoken to,
he sat as if tranquilly pursuing his own meditations,
with his head bent forward or leaning on his hand.
But as he could not fail to be a prominent feature in
any society that he entered, it was seldom that he was
left outside the circle of social talk. Men of letters,
men of science, artists, ladies and children, thronged
about him. Once when on a visit to his friend Rennie
in London, he accompanied him to an evening party at
Sir George Warrender's. At first he sat by himself,
quiet and abstracted, until some young ladies engaged
him in conversation, which gradually turned upon the
mystery of the fabrics they wore, the insignificant
materials out of which they were formed, and the beauty
and value given to them by the industry and ingenuity
of man ; and, other auditors being attracted by his
descriptions, he shortly found himself the centre of a
group of fair and admiring listeners.

He seemed to be alike at home on all subjects, the
most recondite and the most common, the most special
and the most general. Mrs. Schimmelpenninck 2 relates
how he took her upon his knee when a little girl, and
explained to her the principles of the hurdy-gurdy, the
piano, the Pan's-pipe, and the organ ; teaching her how
to make a dulcimer and improve a Jew's-harp. To
a Swedish artist he communicated the information that

1 Answer by the author of ' Waver-
ley ' to the Epistle Dedicatory of ' The
Monastery.'

2 'Autobiography of Mrs. Schimmel-
penninck,' 3rd ed. 35.

. XXTTT. VARIETY OF WATT'S KNOWLEDGE.

503

the most pliant and elastic painting-brush was to be
made out of rats' whiskers. He advised ladies how to
cure smoky chimneys, how to warm and ventilate dwell-
ings, and how to obtain fast colours, while he would
willingly instruct a maid-servant as to the best way
of cleaning a grate.1 A lady still living, who re-
members Watt, informs us that he used to carry a
carpenter's foot-rule in the side pocket of his breeches,
and would occasionally bring it out in after-dinner con-
versation or elsewhere, to illustrate the subject under
discussion.

He was full of anecdotes relating to all manner of
subjects, which he was accustomed to tell in a very
effective way.2 He spoke in a low grave tone, with a
broad Scottish accent. The late Mr. Murdock mentioned
to us one of his favourite stories relating to two smugglers
pursued by excisemen. The two smugglers had reached
the mouth of a coal-pit and got into the corve-cage with
their apparatus, the excisemen only coming up in time
to see them descending the shaft, where they were soon
out of sight. On the ascending corves coming up to the
settle-board, the excisemen asked to be sent down after
the smugglers, and they were sent down accordingly.
Halfway down the shaft they met the smugglers in the

1 The following anecdote is told by
Mrs. Schimmelpenninck : — " During
the peace of Amiens, Mr. Watt visited
Paris. It so happened that while
going through one of the palaces, I
believe the Tuileries, a French house-
maid appeared much perplexed con-
cerning some bright English stoves
which had just been received, and
which she did not know how to clean.
An English gentleman was standing
by, to whom she appealed for informa-
tion. This was Charles James Fox.
He could give no help ; " But," said
he, " here is a fellow-countryman of
mine who will tell you all about it."
This was Mr. Watt, to whom he was
at the moment talking ; and who pro-
ceeded to give the housemaid full

instructions as to the best mode of
cleaning her grate. This anecdote I
have often heard Mrs. Watt tell with
great diversion."

2 Lord Brougham says, " His voice
was deep and low, and if somewhat
monotonous, it yet seemed in harmony
with the weight and the beauty of his
discourse, through which, however,
there also ran a current of a lighter
kind ; for he was mirthful, tempe-
rately jocular, nor could anything to
more advantage set off the living
anecdotes of men and things, with
which 'the grave texture of his talk
was interwoven, than his sly and quiet
humour, both of mind and look, in
recounting them." — ' Lives of Philo-
sophers of the Time of George III.'

HIS LOVE OF NOVEL-READING.

CHAP. XXIII.

other cage coming up ! And so the relator kept them
ascending and descending, passing and repassing each
other, — his auditors being in convulsions of laughter,
while he himself seemed wholly unmoved. Campbell,
the poet, who paid Watt a visit in February, 1819,
only six months before his death, describes him as
so full of anecdote that he spent one of the most
amusing days he had ever enjoyed with a man of science
and a stranger to his own pursuits. To the last he
was a great reader of novels ; and Mrs. Watt and he
had many a hearty cry over the imaginary woes of
love-lorn heroes and heroines. Scott says no novel
of the least celebrity escaped his perusal, and that this
gifted man of science was as much addicted to produc-
tions of this sort as if he had been a very milliner's
apprentice of eighteen. A lady, still living,1 informs
us that she remembers the admiration which Watt
expressed for the Waverley novels, then making their
appearance in rapid succession, and used to quote his
opinion as a great authority for her own devotion to
such works, — forgetting that, as the old frame requires
the arm-chair after the heat and burden of the day,
so the taxed mind needs rest and recreation after long
years of study, anxiety, and labour.

Mr. Stockdale, of Carke, gives the following account
of a visit which his sister, a cousin of Mr. Boulton's,
paid to Heathfield in 1818, shortly before Mr. Watt's
death : — " When tea was announced to Mr. Watt, he
came from his ' garret,' and on being told who my sister
was, he asked after her relations in the kindest way,
and then sat down in his arm-chair. A cup of tea was

1 " I remember, as a young girl,"
she says, " the pleasant dinners and
people I have seen at Soho. I re-
member being present one day when
Bertrand de Moleville, the' exiled
minister of Louis XVI., left the
dinner-table to make an omelette,
which was, of course, pronounced ' ex-
cellent.' That man then gave me a

lifelong lesson, — of the power of en-
joyment and of giving pleasure by
his cheerful bright mauner and conver-
sation, under such sad circumstances
as exile and poverty. I looked at
him with great admiration, and I
have his face distinct before me
now, though I saw him only that
once."

CHAP. XXm. " WATT IN HIS EASY CHAIR. 505

handed to him, and alongside of it was placed a small
cup containing a yellow powder, of which he took a
spoonful and put it into his tea, observing that he
had long been plagued with a stomach complaint, for
which he had found this powder of mastich a sovereign
remedy. He talked more than my sister expected.
Sometimes he fell into a reverie, appearing absorbed in
thought, his eyes fixed on space, and his head leaning
over his chest. After a while, he retired to his study,
and my sister returned to Soho." Mr. Hollins, of
Birmingham, sculptor, supplies the following further
reminiscence. When a youth in a local architect's
office, he was sent out to Heathfield one afternoon, to
submit to Mr. Watt the plans of certain proposed altera-
tions in the parish church of Handsw^orth. The church
stood a few fields off, and its spire rose above the trees
within sight of the drawing-room windows. It was his
parish church, in which his friend Boulton had been
buried, and where he himself was to lie. When the
young man mentioned his errand, Mr. Watt said he was
just about to take his afternoon's nap. " But you can sit
down there and read that newspaper, and when I have
got my nap I will look at the plans." So saying he
composed himself to rest in his arm-chair ; the youth
scarce daring to turn the page for fear of disturbing
him. At length, after a short sleep, he woke full up
and said, " Now let me see them." He looked over the
plans, examined them in detail, and criticised them
keenly. He thought the proposed alterations of a paltry
character, unworthy of the wealth and importance of
the parish ; " Why," said he, " if these plans be carried
out, preaching at Handsworth will be like pitching the
word of God out of a keyhole!" When Mr. Watt's
decided views as to the insufficiency of the design was
reported to the committee, steps were taken greatly
to enlarge it, and Handsworth Church was thus
indebted to his suggestions for much of its present
beauty.

r,OG HIS LAST PURSUITS. CITAI>. XXIII.

He proceeded with the completion of his sculpture-
copying machine until nearly the close of his life.
When the weather was suitable, he would go up stairs
to his garret, don his woollen surtout and leather apron,
and proceed with his work. He was as fastidious as
ever, and was constantly introducing new improve-
ments. It was a hobby and a pursuit, and served him
as well as any other. To M. Berthollet he wrote,—
" Whatever may be its success, it has at least had the
good effect of making me avoid many hours of ennui,
by employing my hands when I could not employ my
head, and given me some exercise when I could not go
out." It also pleased him to see the invention growing
under his hands as of old, though it is possible that
during his later years he added but little to the machine.
Indeed, it seems to have been as nearly as possible
complete by the year 1817, if we may judge by the
numerous exquisitely - finished specimens of reduced
sculpture — busts, medallions, and statuary — laid away
in the drawers of the garret at Heathfield. He took
pleasure in presenting copies to his more intimate
friends, jocularly describing them as "the productions
of a young artist just entering his eighty-third year."
Shortly after, the hand of the cunning workman was
stopped by death. The machine remained unfinished,
according to its author's intentions ; and it is a singu-
lar testimony to the skill and perseverance of a man
who had accomplished so much, that it is almost his
only unfinished work.

In the autumn of 1819 he was seized by his last
illness. It could scarcely be called a seizure, for he
suffered little, and continued calm and tranquil, in the
full possession of his faculties, almost to the last. He
was conscious of his approaching end, and expressed
from time to time his sincere gratitude to Divine
Providence for the worldly blessings he had been per-
mitted to enjoy, for his length of days, and his exemption
from the infirmities of age. "I am very sensible," said

CHAP. XXTTT. DEATH OF WATT. 507

he to the mourning" friends who assembled round his
deathbed, " of the attachment you show me, and I hasten
to thank you for it, as I feel that I am now come to
my last illness." He parted with life quietly and peace-
fully, on the 19th of August, 1819, in the eighty -third
year of his age. He was buried near his deceased friend
and partner Mr. Boulton, in Handsworth Church. Over
his remains, which, lie in a side aisle, was placed a
monument by Chantrey, perhaps his finest work,
justifying the compliment paid to the sculptor that he
"cut breath;" for when first uncovered before the old
servants assembled round it at Soho, it so powerfully
reminded them of their old master, that they " lifted up
their voices and wept."

Watt has been fortunate in his monumental honours.
The colossal statue of him in Westminster Abbey, also
from the chisel of Chantrey, bears upon it an epitaph
from the pen of Lord Brougham, which is beyond com-
parison the finest lapidary inscription in the English
language ; and among its other signal merits, it has one
which appertains rather to its subject than its author,
that, lofty as is the eulogy, every word of it is true.1

1 The following is the inscription : —

NOT TO PERPETUATE A NAME
WHICH MUST ENDURE WHILE THE PEACEFUL ARTS FLOURISH,

BUT TO SHOW

THAT MANKIND HAVE LEARNED TO HONOUR THOSE
WHO BEST DESERVE THEIR GRATITUDE,

THE KlNG,

HIS MINISTERS, AND MANY OF THE NOBLES

AND COMMONERS OF THE REALM,

RAISED THIS MONUMENT TO

JAMES WATT,

WHO DIRECTING THE FORCE OF AN ORIGINAL GENIUS
EARLY EXERCISED IN PHILOSOPHIC RESEARCH
TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF

THE STEAM-ENGINE,
ENLARGED THE RESOURCES OF HIS COUNTRY,

INCREASED THE POWER OF MAN,

AND ROSE TO AN EMINENT PLACE

AMONG THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS FOLLOWERS OF SCIENCE,

AND THE REAL BENEFACTORS OF THE WORLD.

BORN AT GREENOCK, 1736.
DIED AT HEATHFIELD, IN STAFFORDSHIRE, 1819.

508

TIIK WATT MONUMENT.

CHAP. XXIII.

WATT'S STATUE IN HANJJSWOKTH CHDBCH.

The monument was raised by public subscriptions, ini-
tiated at a meeting in London presided over by the
Prime Minister, and attended by the most illustrious
statesmen, men of science, men of letters, and men of
art, of the time, who met for the purpose of commemo-
rating in some suitable manner the genius of Watt.
" It has ever been reckoned one of the chief honours of
my life," says Lord Brougham, " that I was called upon
to pen the inscription upon the noble monument thus
nobly reared."

Watt was also honoured during his lifetime. Learned
Societies were proud to enrol him amongst their mem-
bers. He was a Fellow of the Royal Societies of London
and Edinburgh, a Foreign Associate of the Institute
of France, and a Member of the Batavian Society. The
University of Glasgow, conferred on him the degree of
Doctor of Law. Lord Liverpool offered him a baronetcy ;
but, consistent with the simplicity of his character, he

CHAP. XXIII. WATT'S HONOURS IN HIS LIFETIME. 500

declined the honour. He was invited to serve as Sheriff
on two occasions, for Staffordshire and for Kadnorshire -
but he strongly pleaded to be excused undertaking the
office. He was " a timid old man," and hoped that he
" should not have a duty imposed upon him that he was
totally unfit for, nor have his grey hairs weighed down
with a load of vexatious cares. My inventions," he
said, "are giving employment to the best part of a
million of people, and having added many millions to
the national riches, I have a natural right to rest in my
extreme age." His pleas were in both cases regarded
as sufficient, and he was excused the office.

It is altogether unnecessary to pronounce a panegyric
on the character and achievements of James Watt. This
has already been done by Lord Jeffrey in language
that cannot be surpassed. Sir James Macintosh placed
him " at the head of all inventors in all ages and
nations;" and Wordsworth the poet, twenty years after
his death, said, " I look upon him, considering both the
magnitude and the universality of his genius, as perhaps
the most extraordinary man that this country ever pro-
duced : he never sought display, but was content to
work in that quietness and humility, both of spirit and
of outward circumstances, in which alone all that is
truly great and good was ever done."

Watt was himself accustomed to speak of his inven-
tions with the modesty of true genius. To a nobleman
who expressed to him his wonder at the greatness of
his achievements, he said, "the public only look at my
success, and not on the intermediate failures and uncouth
constructions which have served as steps to enable me to
climb to the top of the ladder." Watt looked back upon
his twenty long years of anxiety and labour before the
engine succeeded, and heaved a sigh. " Without affect-
ing any maidenly coyness," he wrote to Dr. Darwin,

510 . MODEST ESTIMATE OF HIMSELF. CHAP. XXIII.

who proposed to eulogise him in his ' Botanic Garden/
" you really make me appear contemptible in my own
eyes by considering how far short my pretensions, or
those of the invention, were of the climax of human
intellect, — I that know myself to be inferior to the
greatest part of enlightened men in most things. If
I have excelled, I think now it has been by chance, and
by the neglects of others. Preserve the dignity of a
philosopher and historian ; relate the facts, and leave
posterity to judge. If I merit it, some of my country-
men, inspired by the amor patrice, may say, ' Hoc a
Scoto factum fait.' '

Although the true inventor, like the true poet, is
born, not made, — and although Watt pursued his inven-
tions because he found his highest pleasure in invent-
' ing, — yet his greatest achievements were accomplished
by unremitting application and industry. He was a
keen observer and an incessant experimenter. " Obser-
vare" was the motto he deliberately adopted; and it
expresses the principle and success of his life. He was
always on the watch for facts, noting and comparing
them. He took nothing for granted ; and accepted no
conclusions save on experimental evidence. " Nature
can be conquered," he said, " if we can but find out her
weak side." His patience was inexhaustible. He was
never baffled by failure, from which he declared that lie
learnt more than from success. " It is a great thing,"
he once observed to Murdock, ato find out what will
not do : it leads to one finding out what will do."

" Give me facts," he once said to Boulton, " I am sick
of theory : give me actual facts." Yet, indispensable
though facts are, theory is scarcely less so in invention ;
and it was probably because Watt was a great theorist,
that he was a great inventor. His invention of the
separate condenser was itself the result of a theory,
the soundness of which he proved by experiment. So
with the composition of water, the theory of which lie

CHAP. XXIII. MR. BATAILLE'S EULOGY OF WATT. 511

at once divined from the experiments of Priestley.
He continued theorising during the whole progress of
his invention of the steam-engine. New facts suggested
new arrangements and the application of entirely new
principles, until in course of time the engine of New-
comen became completely transformed.

Watt's engine was not an invention merely — it might
almost be called a creation. " The part which he played,"
says M. Bataille, " in the mechanical application of the
force of steam, can only be compared to that of Newton
in astronomy, and of Shakspeare in poetry. And is
not invention the poetry of science ? It is only when
we compare Watt with other mechanicians that we are
struck by his immense superiority, — when we compare
him, for example, with Smeaton, who was, perhaps, after
him, the man who had advanced the farthest in indus-
trial mechanism. Smeaton began, about the same time
as Watt, his inquiries as to the best means of improving
the steam-engine. He worked long and patiently, but
in an entirely technical spirit. While he was working
out his improvements, Watt had drawn forth from his
fertile imagination all those brilliant inventions to which
we owe the effective working steam-engine. In a word,
Smeaton knew how to improve, but Watt knew how to
create." 1

As for the uses of the steam-engine, they are too
widely known to stand in need of illustration. Had
Watt, at the outset of his career, announced to man-
kind that he would invent a power that should drain
their mines, blow their furnaces, roll and hammer their
metals, thrash and grind their corn, saw their timber,
drive their looms and spindles, print their books, impel
ships across the ocean, and perform the thousand offices
in which steam is now regularly employed, he would
have been regarded as an enthusiast, if not as a madman.

E. M. Bataille, ' Traite ties Machines a Vapour.' Paris, 1847-9.

512 WONDERFUL EFFECTS OF STEAM-POWER. CHAP. XXI II.

Yet all this the steam-engine has done and is now doing.
It has widely extended the dominion of man over
inanimate nature, and given him an almost unbounded
supremacy over the materials which enter into his daily
use. It has increased his power, his resources, and his
enjoyments. It is the most universal and untiring of
labourers, — the steam-power of Great Britain alone being
estimated as equal to the manual labour of upwards
of four hundred millions of men, or more than double
the number of males supposed to inhabit the globe.1
It is, indeed, no exaggeration to say that the steam-
engine of Watt is, without exception, the greatest in-
vention of modern times ; and that it has been
instrumental in effecting the most remarkable revolu-
tion in all departments of industry that the world has
ever seen.

Some months since, we visited the little garret at
Heathfield in which Watt pursued the investigations of
his later years. The room had been carefully locked up
since his death, and had only once been swept out. Every-
thing lay very much as he left it. The piece of iron he
was last employed in turning lay on the lathe. The ashes
of the last fire were in the grate, the last bit of coal was
in the scuttle. The Dutch oven was in its place over the
stove, and the frying-pan in which he cooked his meal

1 What the steam-engine has done
for the West is well known. What
is yet expected from it in the East
may be gathered from the few preg-
nant words lately uttered by Hassan
Ali Khan, Persian Ambassador at the
Court of France, at the recent celebration
in Paris of a national festival insti-
tuted nineteen centuries before the
birth of Christ. Having recalled the
minds of his hearers to the early fire
worship of his country, which sprang
iiom the primeval idolatry, lie pro-

ceeded to say that it was still to Fire
that he fondly looked for the regene-
ration of Persia. Fire had changed
the face of Europe. In the steam-
engine, the railroad, the electric spark,
the screw or paddle ship, far more
than in gunpowder or rifled cannon,
fire was the great benefactor that
would bless one day the land of his
forefathers, who had instinctively
worshipped that element in secret
anticipation of what was to come.

CHAP. XXIII. THE WATT RELICS. 513

was hanging by its accustomed nail. Many objects lay
about or in the drawers, indicating the pursuits which
had been interrupted by death, — busts, medallions, and
figures, waiting to be copied by the sculpture-machine,—
many medallion moulds, a store of plaster of Paris, and
a box of plaster casts from London, the contents of which
do not seem to have been disturbed. Here are Watt's
ladles for melting lead, his foot-rule, his glue-pot, his
hammer. Reflecting mirrors, an extemporised camera
with the lenses mounted on pasteboard, and many
camera-glasses laid about, indicate interrupted experi-
ments in optics. There are quadrant-glasses, compasses,
scales, weights, and sundry boxes of mathematical instru-
ments, once doubtless highly prized. In one place a
model of the governor, in another of the parallel motion,
and in a little box, fitted with wooden cylinders mounted
with paper and covered with figures, is what we suppose
to be a model of his proposed calculating machine. On
the shelves are minerals and chemicals in pots and jars,
on which the dust of nearly half a century has settled.
The moist substances have long since dried up, the
putty has been turned to stone, and the paste to dust.
On one shelf we come upon a dish in which lies a
withered bunch of grapes. On the floor, in a corner,
near to where Watt sat and worked, is a hair-trunk — a
touching memorial of a long past love and a long dead
sorrow. It contains all poor Gregory's school-books,—
his first attempts at writing, his boy's drawings of
battles, his first school exercises down to his College
themes, his delectuses, his grammars, his dictionaries,
and his class books, — brought into this retired room,
where the father's eye could rest upon them. Near
at hand is the sculpture-machine, on which he continued
working to the last. Its wooden framing is worm-eaten
and dropping into dust, like the hands which made it..
But though the great workman has gone to rest, with

2 L

514

CONCLUSION.

CHAP. XX11I.

all his griefs and cares, and his handiwork is fast
crumbling to decay, the spirit of his work, the thought
which he put into his inventions, still survives, and will
probably continue to influence the destinies of his race
for all time to come.

•HANDSWORTH CHDECH,

THE BO RIAL-PL ACE OF BOULTON.. WATT, AND MORDOCK.
[By Percival Skelton. ]

( 515 )

INDEX.

A.

.-EoLii'iLE, the Greek, 6.

ADVENTURERS, the Cornish meetings of, 258-

60, 273-4, 332.
ALBION Mill scheme, 353-7 ; the mill burnt

by incendiaries, 358-9.
ANDERSON, Professor, Glasgow, 113, 119.
AKKWUIGHT'S patent trial, 302, 347.
AUSTHORPE ENGINE, Leeds, 61.

B

BACON, ROGER, his prophecy of steam
power, 4.

BANKS, Sir JOSEPH, and BOULTON and WATT,
267, 286, 369.

' BEELZEBUB' ENGINE, Soho, 241, 326.

BEIGHTON, HENRY, improvements on New-
comen's engine, 67.

BELL, ANDREW, and Symington's steam-
boat, 449.

BELL, HENRY, — his 'Comet/ 453.

BERTHOLLET, M., on chlorine, 381.

BIRMINGHAM, its ancient industry, 161-3 ;
Copper Company formed, 281-2; illegal
coining, 386-7 ; riots at, 410-13.

BLACK, Dr., intercourse with and friendship
for Watt, 110-14; 123, 132,464; lends
Watt money, 150; Boulton's intercourse
with, 329 ; discovers carbonic acid gas,
372; his death, 464, his character, 465.

BOATS, first constructed of iron, 213.

BOATS, paddle and steam, see Steam and
Paddle boats.

BONZE, Cornish engineer, 233-4, 236 ; his
atmospheric engine, 245, 296, 313.

BOULTON MATTHEW, F.R.S., Birmingham, —
his family, 163; birth and education, joins
his father in business, 1 64 ; his early trade
correspondence, 165; his marriage, 16G;
his business enterprise, 167 ; removes from
Snow-hill to Soho, 168 ; his aims at excel-
lence, 170 ; his distinguished and Royal
patrons, 171, 174, 176, 180-1; his artistic
taste, 172 ; surpasses French art manutac-

BOULTON.

turers, 173; makes clocks and timepieces
174; employs first-rate artists, 175; cor-
responds with Benjamin Franklin concerning
his model fire-engine, 182-4; first meeting
with Watt, 186 ; takes Roebuck's share in
Watt's engine, 197; Boulton's qualities,
199, 200; his friends, 201 ; his views as
to engine business, 202-3 ; his grief at the
death of Dr. Small, 208 ; putsVatt's son
to school, is visited by the Empress of
Russia, 216; goes to London on financial
affairs, 217; terms of partnership, 219;
advice to Watt on his marriage, 219-20;
pressure of work, 221 ; his tubular boilers,
222, 283 ; difficulties, financial, and with
his partners, 240, 247 ; raises extra capital.
242 ; his visits to Cornwall, raises capital,
and combats the adventurers, 247, 261,
270, 273, 317, 320, 331 ; his property and
financial affairs, 262, 277-8, 320, 363-4 ;
pushes the letter-copying machine in Lon-
don, 266-7 ; has erysipelas, 270 ; his cou-
rageous perseverance, patience, and business
tact, 241, 249, 252, 271,273, 276-7, 294;
his tender regard for Watt, and encouraging
treatment, 272, 301 ; organises mining busi-
ness in Cornwall, 273-4 ; suggests a tooth-
cutting machine, 284 ; his mechanical
drawings, 283 ; suggests horizontal-axled
elliptical rotary engines for general uses, 307,
324, 327 ; life in Cornwall, his scientific
tastes, 323, 340-41 ; ill health, and visit
to Scotland, 328-9, 365; his paternal
affection and domestic enjoyments, 340-1 ;
a commercial politician, 342 ; connection
with the Copper Company, 349-50 ; hos-
tility towards him in Cornwall, 351-2;
his sympathy with the Quakers, 352 ;
starts the Albion Mill scheme, 353 ; his
depressed spirits, 366 ; his friendships,
367-71 ; turns coiner by steam power,
his Soho mint, 389-99 ; his success in
medalling, 395 ; contract with Govern-
ment for a new coinage, fits up the Royal
mint and others, 398-9 ; Watt on Boul-
ton's merits in coining, 399 ; his affectionate
nature and generosity, 366, 401,405, 487 ;

2 L 2

516

INDEX.

BOULTON AND WATT.

paternal care for young Watt, 406 ; con-
tinued activity, his water-raising machine,
457, 474 ; his reception of burglars at
Soho, 458; correspondence with Sir W.
Scott, 459 ; failing health, 462, 475 ;
counsel of friends to give up business,
475-6 ; his death and funeral, 477 ;
monumental inscription, his qualities and
character, 477, 478, 486, 487 ; his work-
men's assurance society, 480 ; his powers
for organization and business qualities,
481-4; Watt's estimate of Boultou, 485,
486.

BOULTON AND WATT commence partnership,
197; prospects of engine business, 207;
manufacture of engines commenced, 213-
15; terms of partnership, 218-23; orders
from Scotland, 219; Gainsborough's
attack on the patent, 222-3 ; difficulties
with workmen and engine men. 227-8 ;
Cornish business, 23 1 , 237 ; terms on which
engines were erected, 243-4 ; resistance of
engine dues, 246, 262 ; orders from abroad,
249 ; their altercations with the Cornish
miners, 257-60, 315-16, 331-2; engines
sold, 262 ; engine patent threatened, they
share in mining adventures. 273, 278, 295-
304; their voluminous correspondence,
307-8; adverse circumstances, 315; dues
from pumping-cngines, 317 ; Hornblowers'
opposition, J820 ; miscellaneous engine
orders, 333 ; profits commence, 363 ; their
personal friends, 367 ; their sons join the
firm, 417-21 ; partnership dissolved, 456.

BOULTON, M. KOBINSON, his education and
attainments, 433-4; in Paris, 405; returns,
1788, 408; his reception by the Lunar So-
ciety, 408-9; settles to business, 417; his
business ability, 418-21.

BOULTON, M. P. W., on alleged photographic
discoveries of Boulton and Watt, 383.

BRANGA'S steam machine, 7.

BROUGHAM, LORD, opinion of Watt, 490,
503, 507.

BURKE, EDMUND, opposes Watt's patent-
right, 210 ; denounces Dr. Priestley, 410;
also young Watt, 415.

c.

CALEDONIAN CANAL surveyed by Watt,

157, 197.

GALLEY, JOHN, Dartmouth, 63.
CAMPBELL, THOMAS, opinion of Gregory

Watt, 468.

CARRON IRON WORKS, 138-9, 329, -443.
CARTSDYKE, Greenock, 80-2.
CARTWRIGHT, Dr., and steam navigation, 450.
CAUS, SOLOMON DE, his steam apparatus, 8,

9, 20, 2 1 .

DIGESTER.

I 'CENTURY of Inventions,' Marquis of Wor-
cester's, 10-16.

j CHARLES II. and mechanical inventors, 15,
28.

'CHARLOTTE DUNDAS,' steamboat, of Sy-
mington, 447.

CHASEWATER MINE and engine, 231 ; engine
finished, 235; its working, 242-3.

CHLORINE, bleaching by, 381.

' CLERMONT,' the steamboat, 453.
I CLYDE, survey of, by Watt, 155, 191.
J COINAGE improved by Boulton. 387-99.

COINING, illegal, 386; punishments for,
387.

COINS struck at Soho Mint, 394.

' COMET,' the steamboat, 453-4.

COOPER, of Manchester, political friend of
young Watt, 408 ; they are delegates to
Paris, 414.

COPPER COMPANY organized, 281-2, 349-50.

CORNISH pumping engines, 46, 52, 55, 65,
75, 230-31 ; Chasewater, 235, 239, 242-3 ;
Dalcoath, 246, 270, 306-7; Hallamanin,
253; Huel Vor, 55; United Mines, L>;',7,
275; Poldice, Polgooth, Tingtang, Wheal
Chance, W. Crenver, W. Busy, W. Maid,
W. Treasury, W. Union. W. Virgin, and
others, see passim, 235-327, 339. "

CORNWALL, early mining in, 45-48; Savery's
engines employed, 55 ; Newcomen's, QQ ;
Watt's engines introduced, 230; life
in Cornwall, 235; appearance of mining
districts, 237; character of miners, 257-
(50 ; rain in, 260 ; postal service, roads,
and weather, 321-3; wasteful mining,
349; riots, 351.

CORN-MILL first worked by steam, 325.
j COSGARNE HOUSE, Cornwall, 275.

COSMO, Grand Duke of Tuscany, visit to
Marquis of Worcester's water engine, 19.

COUNTER for steam engine, 245.

CRAIG, JOHN, Watt's partner, 125.

CRANK motion invention stolen, 289.

CROMWELL and the MARQUIS OF WOR-
CESTER, 14.

D.

DALRYMPLE, Sir JOHN, and steam naviga-
tion, 440.

DARWIN, Dr. ERASMUS — correspondence with
Boulton, 184, 201; a Member of the
Lunar Society, 369, 465.

DAVY, Sir HUMPHRY, ou gas-lighting, 429 ;
and Gregory Watt, 468-9 ; Davy on
Gregory's death, 472.

DAY, THOS., author of ' Sandford and Merton,'
201/263.

DICK, Dr., Glasgow, 101, 100, 113-14.

DIGESTER, PAPIN'S, 32, 120.

INDEX.

517

DTRCKS.

DIRCKS, Mr., on Marquis of Worcester's in-
ventions, 11, 22.

DLNDAS, Lord, and steamboats, 448.
DUNDONALD, Lord, and BOULTON, 329.

E.

EDGEWORTH, R. L., and BOULTON, 201 ; and

the locomotive, 336 ; and the Lunar

Society, 369-70.
ENUIXE'DUES — contests with miners, 243-5,

271, 311, 315, 317, 320, 331-2, 339,

418-21.
EGINTON, FR., at Soho, 171; partnership

with Boulton in picture business, 264.
EWART, PETER, — his opinion of Boulton,

486.
EXPAXSIVI: WORKING, 146-7, 228-9, 304,

307, 310-11.

F.

FAIRBAIRN, WILLIAM, opinion of Murdock,
431-2.

FIRE AXD STEAM ENGINES. See Steam
engines.

FOND, M. ST., describes interviews with
Watt and Priestley, 383-5.

FOTHERGILL, JOHN, a Soho partner, 169 ,
travels on the Continent for the firm, 172,
204 ; his despondency, 240, 247, 263 ; his
tenacity, his death, 275 ; his embarrass-
ments, "3 14.

FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN, — correspondence with
Boulton on steam-engine, 182-4.

FULTON inspects Symington's steamboat,
449 ; makes a model steamboat in Paris,
450 ; applies to James Watt, jun., for an
engine, 451; his 'Nautilus' infernal-
machine, 452 ; he fits up the ' Clermont '
steamer, 452.

GAINSBOROUGH, HUMPHREY, attacks Watt's

patent, 222.

GAKAY, BLASCO, and paddle-boats, 36.
GAS-LIGHTING invented by Wm. Murdock,

424-7 ; Wintzer's wonderful project, 428.
GEORGE III. and BOULTON, 3, 174; Watt's

interview with the King, 403, 476.
GLASGOW in 1754, 96-100 ; the tobacco lords,

98 ; the clubs, 99 ; drinking habits, 100 ;

the University and Professors, 106-8,

113-15; the Green, 127.
•GOVERNOR, The, invented by Watt, 335.

GREENOCK at en«I of list century, 80-4 ;

improvements, 85 ; at the rebellion of

1745, 93.
GUNPOWDER AND STEAM as poweis, 5.

H.

HAMILTON BRIDGE — James Watt architect,

156.
HANDSWORTH CHURCH, near Birmingham,

477-8, 505, 507, 514. •
HARPER'S HILL, Birmingham, 214.
HART, ROBERT, — Reminiscences of Watt,

147, 229, 424, 499, 500.
HEATHFIELD, Birmingham, 460, 493-5,

512-13.
HERO OF ALEXANDRIA, his writings on

steam, 5-7.
HOLLINS, Mr., Birmingham, — Reminiscence

of Watt, 505.

HOOKE, Dr., on the Vauxhall hydraulic-
machine, 19 ; correspondence with Nevv-

comen, 62.
HORNBLOWER, JABEZ, and his brothers,

296-7, 332.
HORNBLOWER, JONATHAN, — Watt's first

meeting with, 232-3 ; with his sons, erects

engine to supersede Watt's, 296-304, 320-

24, 331.
HORNBLOWER, JOSEPH, erects Newcomen

engines in Cornwall, 7 1 .
HULLS, JONATHAN, of Campden, 72 ; his

steamboat, 73 ; unsatisfactory trial, his

publications, 74.
HUNTSMAN, BENJAMIN, Sheffield, and

Boulton, '165.
HUTTON, WILLIAM, Birmingham, 153, 162 ;

house destroyed by the rioters, 412.

J.

JOINT STOCK MINING in Cornwall, 47-8.

K.

KALTOFF, CASPAR, assistant to the Marquis

of Worcester, 10, 13, 18, 19.
KEIR, JAS., friend of Boulton, 170, 201 ; his

partner, 265, 409.
KlNNElL HOUSE, 142 ; Watt's workshop,

148.

L.

LATENT HEAT, 122-3.

LAWSON, JAMES, on Boulton's Mints, 391.

LT.MAN, WILLIAM, Penzance, 69.

518

INDEX.

LETTER-COPYING MACHINES.

LETTER-COPYING MACHINES invented by
Watt, — partnership, 265.

LOCOMOTION BY STEAM, 187; patent by j
Watt, 333, 337; Edgeworth, 336; Mur- |
dock's model, 336-7 ; Symington, 435-6.

Luc, M. DK, friend of Boulton and Watt,
351, 369, 376, 381-2, 395, 476.

LUNAR SOCIETY OF BIRMINGHAM, 367-70 ;
its discussions, 375 ; alleged photographic
discovery, 382-3 ; demise of the Society,
its influence, 385; dissolution by deaths,
465.

M.

MEASON, Mr., Wanlockhead, 435-6.

MEDALS struck at Soho Mint, 395-7.

MICROMETER, prismatic, 152.

MILLER, Mr., of Dalswinton, propels boats
by paddle-wheels, 437 ; employs Syming-
ton to make an engine for steamboat, 439 ;
its trial, 442 ; orders a second engine, 443 ,
another trial, applies to Boulton and Watt,
444 ; their reply, 445.

MINES, UNITED DISTRICT, Cornwall, 231.

MINT, Soho, 390, 396, 400.

MINT, Tower Hill, fitted up by Boulton, j
398-9.

MINTS, foreign, fitted up by Boulton, 389.

MONKLAND CANAL, — Watt, engineer, 153-4,
194.

MORLAND, Sir SAMUEL, — his fire-engine, 29 ;
his poverty and blindness, his death, 30.

MURDOCK, WILLIAM, employed by Boulton
and Watt, 253 ; his character, early days,
and antecedents, 254 ; his interview with
Boulton, the wooden hat, and his engage- <
ment, 255 ; sent to Cornwall, interest in
his work, 256; how he dealt with the
bullies, fights a duel with Captain Trevi- j
thick, 257 ; invents sun-and-planet motion,
309 ; his value and merits, 311-12, 337-8,
361 ; presented with an acknowledgment, j
312 ; his popularity in Cornwall, 313 ; j
testimony of Boulton to his worth, 321 ; |
makes a model locomotive, 336-435 ; puts
Albion Mill engine to rights, 356 ; at
Soho, 400 ; his loyalty and usefulness to
the firm, 422 ; his inventions, 423, 430-32 ;
the D slide valve, lighting by gas, 424-28 ;
his steam-gun, engine cement, 431 ; ob-
tains the Hum ford gold medal, 525; Mr.
Fairbairn's opinion of him, 431-3; his
death, 433. .

N.

'NAUTILUS,' the infernal machine, by

Fulton, 452.
NEWCOMEN, THOS., of Dartmouth, 59 ; his

house, 60 ; his family and character, 61 ;

RADSTOKE.

his improvements on the fire-engine, 62-70 ;
correspondence with Dr. Hooke, 62 ; New-
comen engine described, 63-68 ; he erects
colliery engines, 68 ; supplies pmnping-
engines for Cornwall, 69, 71, 74-5; his
obscure end, 72.

NEWCOMEN ENGINES, increased use of for
pumping, 74-75 ; they are superseded,
275.

NEWCOMEN MODEL at Glasgow University,
119-21.

0.
" OLD BESS" engine, Soho, 250, 326.

P.

PAPIN, Dr. D.,— preference for gunpowder
to steam, 5 ; a French refugee, 31 ; Curator
Royal Society, his digester, inventor of the
salety-valve, 32 ; proceeds to Germany,
his experiments on water and steam, 33-35 ;
his steam-boat, 37 ; his misfortunes and
death, 38.

PARALLEL MOTION patented by Watt,
333-4.

PATENT-RIGHT, attacks and defence, Watt
on patent-right, 280-1, 295, 303; com-
bination against, 347 ; Watt, junr., vindi-
cates rights, 41 8.

PICKARD, JAMES, steals Watt's crank motion,
289.

PITT, WILLIAM, — BOULTON, and his com-
mercial policy, 342-6 ; coinage projects,
388, 393.

PORT GLASGOW piers, by Watt, 156.

POTTER HUMPHREY, — his invention of the
" Scoggan," 66.

PRIESTLEY, Dr., of Birmingham and the
Lunar Society, 369; his gifts, 370-72;
Boulton's association with him, 373 ;
meeting of the Lunar Society, 409 ; his
sympathy with its French revolutionists,
410 ; the new rneeting-house and his house
at Fairhill burnt by a mob, 411 ; grievous
loss of his books, MSS., and appaiatus, 412 ;
his death, 466.

PUMPING-ENGINES. See Cornish Pumping-
engines.

Q.

QUEEN CHARLOTTE and BOULTON, 174-5.

B.

RADSTOKE, Bristol, Hornblowers' Engine,
322-3.

INDEX.

519

RAGLAN CASTLE.

RAGLAN CASTLE, 10-1 '2, 26.

REDRUTH, Cornwall, 237-8,

RKXXIE, JOHN, engineer, Albion Mill, 354.

REYNOLDS, Mr., of Ke.tley, has Watt's first
rotary engine, 327.

ROBINSON FAMILY, The, 166.

ROBISON, Professor, — his intercourse with
Watt, 113-14; his voyagings, his estimate
of Watt, 11 5-1 6, 118, 121, 130-31 ; idea of
a locomotive, 336 ; incident in class on his
return from Watt's patent trial, 463-4;
his death, 472-3.

ROEBUCK, Dr., — Carron Works and coal
mining adventures, 138 ; correspondence 1
with Watt, 139 ; terms of partnership
with Watt, 141 ; his h<Mse at Kinneil, 142 ; ,
his embarrassment*, 150; his patent for l
alkali manufacture, 152 ; his ruin, 158 ; |
correspondence with Boulton, 185, 189,
192 ; arrangement to transfer his share in
Watt's engine to Boulton, 190 ; his share
transferred, 195-7, 204.

ROTARY MOTION, 286; Watt employs the
crank, 287 ; the invention stolen, 289 ; ,
293; 299-301; 309-10; 319; 325-7..

RUSSIA, Empress of, visit to Boulton, 216.

s.

SAVERY, CAITAIN THOMAS, his family, 40 ; j
early life, study of mechanics, 41 ; his
clocks, machine for polishing plate glass,
his paddle boat, 42, 43 ; opposed by the
Navy Board, 43; his "Navigation Im-
proved," 42, 44 ; his paddle yacht on the
Thames, 44 ; his fire-engine, 48-54 ; his
' Miner's Friend,' 50, 52 ; his engines used
in Cornwall, 55 ; failures of engines, 56,
57 ; his later years, death, and will, 58.

SCHIMMELPENNINCK, Mrs., descriptions of
meetings of Lunar Society, &c., 408-9 ;
on Watt's character, 503.

SCOTT, Sir W., on gas-lighting, 429, 431 ;
opinion of Boulton, 459 ; of Watt,
501-4.

SCREW-PROPELLER suggested by Watt, 192. >

SHELBURNE, LORD, opinion of Boulton,
171.

SIMSON, PROFESSOR, Glasgow, 112-15.

SMALL, Dr., birth and parentage, 145 ; corre-
spondence with Watt, 146-7, 150-51;
correspondence, 186-198; his attainments,
201; his death, 208.

SMEATON, JAMES, engineer, attracted by the
atmospheric engine, 68 ; improvements on
Newcomen's engine, 76 ; adverse opinion
of Watt's engine, 202 ; improves York
buildings engine, 21 7; 226; 292; 511.

SOHO, Birmingham, its situation and cost of
building, 167-70; its varied manufactures,

TOBACCO.

1 76 ; its distinguished visitors, 176, 180-1 :
extent of capital and trade, 177, 180 ;
persons employed and machinery, 179-80 ;
Watt's first visit, 185 ; brisk engine ti-ade,
348, 361; workmen tempted to leave,
227; training of workmen, 228; Prussian
spies, 250 ; loss by painting business, 264;
letter-copying machine business, 265-8,
349 ; steam corn-mill at, 325 ; the mint
at, 390, 396-99; illuminated with gas,
427.

SOHO pictures, the, 264.

SORBIERE, M., on Marquis of Worcester's
inventions, 18-20.

SPEAKING-TRUMPET invented by Sir S. Mor-
land, 29.

STEAM and paddle boats. See Bell Henry,
453; Fulton, 449-52; Garay, 35, 36;
Hulls, 72-74; Miller, 437-45; Papin, 37 ;
Savery, 37, 42-44 ; Symington, 435-49.

STEAM and fire engines, improvers of, and
alleged inventors, 75-76 ; see also pp. 6,
Branca, 7 ; Caus de, and Worcester, Marquis
of, 9-26 ; Morland, 29 ; Savery, 49-54, 59 ;
Newcomen, 63 ; also index entries, Boulton,
Matthew, and Watt, James; possible de-
fects, 224 ; Watt's single acting pumping
engine, 236.

STEAM FLOUR-MILLS, 291, 325-5, 327.

STEAM-GUN suggested by Murdock, 431.

STEAM HAMMER, Watt's, 300.

STEAM, its employment by the ancients, its
enormous power, 5.

STOCKDALE, Mr., of Carke, visited by Boul-
ton and Watt, 419 ; describes a visit to
Watt, 505.

STRATFORD-LE-BOW ENGINE, 217, 223-6,
369.

STRATHMORE CANAL surveyed by Watt,
155.

" SUN AND PLANET " MOTION, 309.

SYCAMORE HILL, Handsworth, Murdock's
residence, 254.

SYMINGTON, WILLIAM, of Wanlock-head, —
his model locomotive, 435-6 ; matriculates
at Edinburgh University, projects steam-
boat for canals, 436-7 ; joins Mr. Miller in
constructing a steamboat, 439 ; his first
steamboat engine, 441 ; its trial, 442 ;
makes a second engine for Mr. Miller, 443 ;
another trial, 444 ; fits up the ' Charlotte
Dundas,' his adversity and death, 449.

T.

TELESCOPE FOR MEASURING DISTANCES,

invention of Watt, 151.
TILT-HAMMER worked by steam, patent by

Watt, 301, 325, 333.
TOBACCO TRADE, Glasgow, 98-9.

520

INDEX.

TKEVIT1IICK.

TREVTTHICK, Captain, Watt's altercation
with, 257; Murdock fights a duel with,
257 ; 259, 296.

TUBULAR BOILERS made by Boulton, 282-3.

II

UNITED MINES, Cornwall, map, 231, '261,
275.

V.

VAUXHALL WATER ENGINE, &c., 18, 25,
29.

W.

" WAGGON AND HORSES," Birmingham,
288.

WALKER, ZACCHEUS, manager at Soho, 169,
400.

WARLTIRE, Mr., Birmingham, lecturer,
377.

WASHBOROUGH, MATTHEW, of Bristol, 289 ;
Watt's opinion of him, 291-293.

WATER, composition of, — Watt, Cavendish,
Lavoisier, and Priestley, 377-81.

WATER-RAISING ENGINES, 20-25, 29, 52-5>
63-9. See also Cornish pumping-engines.

WATT, GREGORY, — his personal beauty and
brilliant talents, 467-8 ; his infirm health,
is lodged at Penzance, friendship with
Humphry Davy, 468-9 ; his travels, con-
tinued illness and death, 470-71 ; Davy's
appreciation of Gregory Watt, 472.

WATT, JAMES, — the engineer's father, 83;
his varied occupations and trade, 85-6 ;
he fills important public offices, 86.

WATT, JAMES, engineer, F.H.S., &c., — his an-
cestry, 80 ; his birth, feeble constitution,
home education, 87; his early exhibition of
mechanical taste and dexterity, his pre-
cocity, 88 ; sent to school, 89 ; continual
ailments, taken to Glasgow, gift of story-
telling, 90 ; sent to Greenock Grammar
School, 91 ; love of reading, 92; recollec-
tions of the rebellion, 93 ; rambles, scien-
tific pursuits and studies, 94 ; his single
sport, 95 ; goes to Glasgow to learn a trade,
difficulty in finding a master, 100; pro-
ceeds to London, 101 ; has again difficulty
in finding a master, serves a watch-maker,
cuts letters in metal, finds a master, 102 ;
his rapid progress as mathematical-instru-
ment-maker, his life in London, 103;
danger from press-gangs, 104 ; returns to
Sotland, refused permission to commence
business in Glasgow, 105 ; finds asylum in
the college, 106; his shop there, 107;
his unprofitable business, sells maps and

quadrants, 109 ; makes musical instru-
ments, 110; builds organs, 111; his
studies, his club, his intercourse with the
professors and students, 112; his principal
associates, 113; Dr. Robison and others,
114; Watt's scientific attainments, 115;
studies chemistry, 118; the Newcomen
model, studies steam, 119-121 ; his in-
quiries and experiments, 122-124 ; busi-
ness improves, takes a partner, 125;
marries his cousin, 126; his continued
brooding over the steam-engine, 127 ;
walk on Glasgow Green, a discovery,
127-8; the separate condenser, expeii-
mental apparatus, 129-31 ; Robison and
Watt, anecdote, 131 ; friendship with Dr.
Black, 132; Watt's air-tight cover, 133;
his model engine, 134; working engine,
135; mechanical and financial difficulties,
136-37 ; Watt's connexion with Roebuck,
138-9 ; begins business as surveyor, 139 ;
surveys canals, 140; proceeds with the
engine, 141 ; visit to Roebuck at Kinneil
House, 142 ; a patent determined on, 143 ;
strives after improvements, 144 ; his per-
severance, 145; his foresight, 146; erects
Newcomen engines, 147 ; trial engino
erected at Kinneil, 148-9 ; dreary prospects,
Roebuck embarrassed, 150; Watt's minor
inventions, 151; multifarious pursuits,
superintends canal works, 152-3 ; surveys
Strathmore Canal, 155 ; designs Hamilton
Bridge and other engineering works, 156 ;
death of Mrs. Watt, 157; Watt visits
Soho, 185; first meeting with Boulton,
and correspondence with him and Dr.
Small, 186, 190; Watt resumes surveying,
191 ; more unsuccessful engine experi-
ments, 192 ; Monkland Canal works stopped,
and Watt loses employment, 194 ; resumed
overtures, Roebuck's share transferred to
Boulton, and commencement of Boulton
and Watt's partnership, Watt's arrival in
Birmingham, 195-8 ; contrast between
Boulton and Watt, 199-200; the engine
re-erected at Soho, 202-4 ; works success-
fully, 205 ; inquiries for engines, extension
of patent, Watt's arguments, Act obtained,
206-12; invited to Russia, 209 ; visits to
London, 206-7; Bow engine, 224-26;
goes to Cornwall, his life there, describes
the adventurers, 231-34 ; unable to wrestle
for engine-dues, 244-46, 257 ; fears as to
financial obligations, 249, 263, 268, 273,
293-4, 314, 315, 317 ; Watt's imperfec-
fections, 258 ; his infirm health and in-
tolerance of inefficient workmen, 251, 269,
270, 272, 276-7, 308-9, 311-12, 316,
348 ; invents letter-copying machine, 265 ;
opinion on patent right, 280-281 ; rotary
motion, 286, 293, 299-301, 311, 318,

INDEX.

521

325, 327, 359 ; Washborough and
Pickard's piracy, 288-93 ; invents con-
trivance for stopping engine, 305 ; equal-
ising beam, 307 ; experiments on nut-
galls, 307; new patent, 300, 309-310;
visits Radstoke about Hornblowers' engine,
322-3 ; steam applied to the tilt-hammer,
333 ; parallel motion, 334 ; the governor,
335 ; opinions of free commerce, 345 ;
financial caution, 364-5 ; theory on the
composition of water, 377-81 ; connexion
with the Lunar Society, 367 ; experiments
on bleaching by chlorine, 381 ; takes
pleasure tours, 402 ; interview with the
kino;, 403 ; fears for his son's safety,
415-417 ; letter on steam-navigation, 445 ;
his garret-workshop, 460, 493, 495,
513-14 ; ' search after investments, 460-61 ;
his bereavements, 466-74 ; enjoys retire-
ment, 460, 475 ; studies medical che-
mistry, 467 ; sorrow at the death of
Boulton, 488 ; cheerful occupation of de-
clining years, 489-90 ; statuary-copying
machine, 491 ; medallions of his friends,
492; consulted by the Glasgow Water-
works Company, his tours and visits,
497-8; Sir W. Scott, Jeffrey. Mrs.
Schimmelpenninck, on Watt's character and
attainments 501-3; caustic criticism by
Watt, 506 ; last illness and death, monu-
mental honours, 507-8 ; honours conferred
upon and offered to him, 509 ; modest
estimate of himself, traits of character,
510-12 ; concluding reflections, 513.

WATT, Mrs. JAMES, 218 ; letters to Boulton
about life in Cornwall, 235; Watt's dis-
tresses, 276-7, 308, 475 ; is very parti-
cular in domestic affairs, 496.

WATT, JAMES, junr., — his education and
attainments, 403-4, 406 ; Manchester life
and training, his confidence in Boulton,
405-7 ; his political proclivities, 408, 417 ;
a delegate to the Jacobin Club, 414; scene

YORK.

with Robespierre, flees Paris, is denounced
by Burke in the House of Commons, 415;
his liberty endangered, 416 ; settles to
business, 417 ; his business ability, 418.

WATT, THOMAS, the engineer's grandfather,
79-82.

WEDGWOOD, JOSIAH, and BOULTON, 172-3,
201 ; a mining adventurer, 273 ; com-
mercial politics, 343; a member of the
Lunar Society, his delicate and generous
conduct towards Priestley, 374-5, 465.

WILKINSON, JOHN, of Brosely, constructs
the first iron boats, 212-13; orders first
engine from Boulton and Watt, 215 ; casts
cylinders for Boulton and Watt, 216-224;
a mining adventurer, 273 ; orders rotary
engine, 318.

WILLIAM III. and SAVARY, 50.

WITHERING, Dr., and the Lunar Society,
201, 369, 383, 409, 413, 465.

WOODCROFT, B., on Hero of Alexandria, 7 ;
Marquis of Worcester's inventions, 23 ;
steam navigation, 448, 452.

WORCESTER, EDW., Marquis of, — birth and
family, early life and studies, water-com-
manding steam-engine, ' Century of Inven-
tions,' 10-13, 16-23; his escutcheon lock,
17 ; a Royalist in the civil war, advances
money to the king, 12 ; his exile and return,
imprisonment in the Tower, College of
Artisans at Vauxhall, 1 3 ; his poverty, 14 ;
revived hopes, 15; patented inventions,
16; descriptions of his engine, 19; seeks
access to the king, 24 ; his embarrassments,
25; his death, 25.

WORCESTER, Marchioness of, — zeal for her
deceased husband's honour, 25, 27, 28.

YORK BUILDINGS ENGINE, 206; improved
by Smeaton, 217, 227.

THE END.

LONDON: PRINTED BY w. CLOWES AND SONS, DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET,

AND CHARrNG CROSS.

Lately published. By the same Author.
Vols. I. and II., 8vo., 42s., with 5 Steel Portraits and 200 Illustrations on Wood.

LIVES OF THE ENGINEERS;

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR PRINCIPAL WORKS, AND A HISTORY OF INLAND
COMMUNICATION IN BRITAIN.

FIRST SERIES.

Opinions of the Press, &c.

"There may be many here who have made themselves acquainted with a
book that cannot be too widely brought into public notice— I mean the recent
publication of a popular author, Mr. Smiles, entitled The Lives of the Engineers.
There may be those here who have read the Life of Brindley, and perused the
record of his discouragement in the tardiness of his own mind, as well as in
the external circumstances with which he determined to do battle, and over
which he achieved his triumph. There may be those who have read the exploits
of the blind Me teal fe, who made roads and bridges in England at a time when
nobody else had learnt to make them. There may be those who have dwelt with
interest on the achievements of Smeaton, Reiinie, and Telford. In that book we
see of what materials Englishmen are made. These men, who have now become
famous among us, had no mechanics' institutes, no libraries, no classes, no
examinations to cheer them on their way. In the greatest poverty, difficulties,
and discouragements, their energies were found sufficient for their work, and
they have written their names in a distinguished page of the history of their
country." — The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone at Manchester.

"I have just been reading a work of great interest, which I recommend to
your notice — I mean Smiles' s Lives of the Engineers. No more interesting books
have been published of late years than those by Mr. Smiles — his Lives <>f the
Engineers, his Life of George Stephensoit, and his admirable little book on Self-
Help — a most valuable manual." — Sir Stafford Northcotc at Exeter.

"We cannot but refer, in passing, to the captivating and instructive volumes
which Mr. Smiles has devoted to the Lives of the Engineers, a record not before
attempted of the achievements of a race of men who have conferred the highest
honour and the most extensive benefits on their country. 'Who are the great
men of the present age ? ' said Mr. Bright a few nights ago in the House of
Commons,—' Not your warriors — not your statesmen ; they are your engineers.' '' — •
Edinburgh Review.

" A chapter of English history which had to be written, and which, probably,
no one could have written so well. Mr. Smiles, has obtained a mass of original
materials. It is not too much to say that we now have an Engineers' Pantheon,
with a connected narrative of their successive reclamations from sea, bog, and
fen ; a history of the growth of the inland communication of Great Britain by
means of its roads, bridges, canals, and railways ; and a survey of the lighthouses,
breakwaters, docks, and harbours constructed for the protection and accommodation
of our commerce with the world." — Times.

" Happy alike in the choice of his subject and in the treatment he has bestowed
upon it, Mr. Smiles has in these two delightful volumes made another sterling
addition to our standard literature. The history of English engineering, which
he has here traced from the beginning, forms an essential part of the history
of English civilization, but one which had hitherto remained unwritten. The men
whose lives he has narrated were all men of singular genius, and indomitable
energy and perseverance ; self-taught and self-made for the most part, and
impelled by the force of their constructive instincts to the accomplishment,
without precedents or guides, of works of inestimable national importance."—
Daily Neios.

" In two handsome volumes, richly illustrated and luxuriously printed, Mr. Smiles
begins what is in fact a History of the results of Engineering Science in this
country. He puts his history into the most interesting form by developing it
through successive stories of the Lives of the Engineers. Although his subject is
one of the most curious and important in the whole history of civilization, and
abounds in details that are known to delight even our boys, the ground Mr. Smiles
traverses is to a remarkable degree his own peculiar possession." — Examiner.

Lately published. By the same Author.
Vol. III., 8vo., 21s., with 2 Portraits and 70 Illustrations.

LIVES OF THE ENGINEERS,

ETC. ETC.
SECOND SERIES.

"Mr. Smiles' s third volume of Tlie Engineers contains the biographies of George
Stephenson and his son Robert. The life of George Stephenson is a revised
edition of the author's previous excellent work on the same subject, but it is much
more complete, from the circumstance that the history of George's son and life-
long colleague is interwoven with his own. It is impossible fully to comprehend
either without the other. Father and son understood one another better than
any other person could have understood either of them. Their ambition was alike,
and they perfectly coincided as to the means by which its objects were to be accom-
plished. They were equally kindly and generous, and there never was a shadow
of reserve or estrangement between them. It is delightful to contemplate these
two great men in their intercourse with each other, their mutual and perfect confi-
dence, the laborious paths of discovery which they trod together, and the brilliant
combinations of their genius hallowed by their strong affection. . . . This volume
brings down the subject of British engineering to the establishment of the railway
system, in which, as the author justly observes, 'British engineers have displayed
their highest skill and achieved their greatest triumphs.' Mr. Smiles's Life of
George Stephenson is so well and so favourably known that we confine ourselves to
the simple announcement of its appearance in the ' Engineers ' series in a greatly
improved form, and perfected by being blended with that of Robert Stephenson. . . .
This volume is a monument to truth, honour, and integrity, as the deepest and
most solid foundations of human renown." — Daily News. *

" The Biographical History of British Engineering would be very imperfect
without the lives of the Stephensons, and we must thank Mr. Smiles for a third
volume containing the story of the famous father and son, George and Robert.
The career of George Stephenson, indeed, is already familiar to us through the
earlier publication of Mr. Smiles, and the greater part of the present volume may
be looked upon as a new and enlarged edition of that work ; but, in the life of
Robert, Mr. Smiles enters upon new ground, and he has produced a biography
little inferior in interest to his former narrative. As interesting it can scarcely be
called ; for the difficulties which George Stephenson had to encounter were, by his
carefulness, removed to a great extent from the path of his son, and we are not
absorbed in the story of a single-handed battle with innumerable obstacles. The
career of Robert Stephenson is, moreover, so much nearer to us than that of his
father, that it was probably impossible to write its history with that fulness of
biographic detail which presented the very man, George, before us, and gave such
a charm to the story of his life." — London Review.

"It was almost necessary, that the life of George Stephenson as an engineer
should combine itself with that of his son, so closely were the two mixed up in
the most remarkable project of their lives. Robert Stephenson has been removed
by death since his father's biography was first given to the world by Mr. Smiles
and the author has acted very judiciously in adding to his work those special details
which are required to furnish forth a complete biography of the pair. The keen,
bluff, intelligent features of the younger Stephenson are finely engraved among the
illustrations of this volume from a photograph by Claudet. Much is recorded re-
specting the man that is of great interest over and above the information given us
as to the achievements of the engineer. . . . This book will be a sterling addition
to our libraries— adding to its literary and human interest the merits of excellent
typography and fine ornament in the engravings with which it is enriched." — John
Bull.

" A book which has at once the conciseness necessary to render it valuable to
the professional man, and the interesting character which makes it acceptable to
the general reader. . . . The information is so interspersed with anecdotes and
interesting notes, that the work will be read with pleasure by everybody. . . .
Mr. Smiles has enjoyed the active co-operation of those who were able to throw a
light upon the subject, including Robert Stephenson himself." — Mining Journal.

Lately published. By the same Author. Post 8vo. 6.s.

INDUSTRIAL BIOGRAPHY:

IRON WORKERS AND TOOL MAKERS.

" Mr. Smiles is not only a skilful workman, but he has chosen a new field of
work. Hitherto the great biographies have been written of soldiers and sailors,
statesmen, poets, artists, and philosophers. It would seem as if these only were
the great men of the world, as if these only were the benefactors of mankind,
whose deeds are worthy of memory. The suspicion has arisen that, after all,
there may be other heroes than those of the pen, the sceptre, and the sword.
There are, indeed, men in various walks of life whose footsteps are worthy of
being traced ; but surely, considering what England is, and to what we owe most
of our material greatness, the lives of our engineers are peculiarly worthy of being
written. 'The true Epic of our time.' says Mr. Carlyle, 'is not Arms and the
man, but Tools and the man— an infinitely wider kind of Epic. ' Our machinery
has been the making of us ; our ironworks have, in spite of the progress of other
nations, still kept the balance in our hands. Smith-work in all its branches of
engine-making, machine-making, tool-making, cutlery, iron ship-building, and
iron- working generally, is our chief glory. England is the mistress of manufac-
tures and the queen of the world, because it is the land of Smith ; and Mr, Srniles's
biographies are a history of the great family of Smith. . . . Many of the facts
which he places before us are wholly new. and are derived from the most likely
sources. Thus, Maudslay's partner, Mr. Joshua Field, and his pupil, Mr. Nasmyth,
supplied the materials for his biography. Mr. John Penn supplied the chief
material for the memoir of Clement. And so of the other memoirs ; though they
necessarily go over much well-trodden ground, they contain also much original
information, expressed with great clearness, and with a practised skill which
renders the reader secure of entertainment in every page." — Times.

" Mr. Smiles has become the biographer of our profession. Only the other day
the world knew little or nothing of the Lives of the Engineers, whether of this
century or the last. There were none who, as authors, attempted to blend with
general biographical portraiture that popular reference to constructive and
mechanical details, without which the life of an engineer or an inventor would be
either a chapter of naked facts or of indiscriminate eulogy. In his Life of George
Steplienson, Mr. Smiles showed that practical appreciation of the strong points of
engineering life which, with his skill and industry as a biographer, has given us
a new department of literature. The great success of that book proved that there
were many thousands who were not only willing but desirous to know something
of our railway-makers and mechanicians. Mr. Smiles lias since done much in this
branch of biography, and in his present book he has grouped together the leading-
incidents of the professional lives of Dud Dudley, Andrew Yarranton, Abraham
Darby, Richard Reynolds, Benjamin Huntsman, Henry Cort, Dr. Roebuck, David
Mushet, J. B. Neilson, Joseph Bramah, Henry Mauclslay, Joseph Clement, Fox
of Derby, Matthew Murray, Richard Roberts, Joseph Whitworth, James Nasmyth,
and William Fairbairn. A few of the subjects of these memoirs are still living,
but this, certainly, does not render the more important part of their history —
already accomplished as we may believe— the less interesting.' — Engineer.

" This is not a very large book, but it is astonishing how much individual, con-
scientious, and tlioroiighly original research, has been required for its composition,
and how much interesting matter it contains which we possess in no other form.
Mr. Smiles rescues no name, but many histories, from oblivion. His heroes are
known and gratefully remembered for the benefits they have conferred on man-
kind, but our knowledge of our benefactors has hitherto been mostly confined to
our knowledge of the benefit. It was reserved for Mr. Smiles to discover in the
workshop heroes as true as ever hurled their battalions across a battle-field, and
to present us with much-enduring, much-endeavouring, and brave men, where
hitherto we had been content with disembodied, almost meaningless names. The
present work is further distinguished, not indeed from its predecessors, but from
much of the current literature, by the exquisitely pellucid English, the vigorous
but unobtrusive style, in which the narratives are conveyed. The value of the
work before us is doubled, and the time required for [(erasing and especially for
consulting it halved, by the full and minute index in which its contents are tabu-
lated."— Edinburgh Dnilij Hern K-.

Lately published. By the same Author. Post 8vo. 5s.

"SELF-HELP,"

OU CARACTERE, CONDUITE, ET PERSEVERANCE,

ILLUSTRES A L/AIDE DE BIOGRAPHIES.

TRADUIT DE L'ANGLAIS PAR ALFRED TALAXD1ER,

Silt LE TEXTE KEVU ET CORRIGE PAR I/AUTEUR.

" Le sucees de cet ouvrage, qui s'est repandu coinme par enchaiitemeiit dans
les mains de la jeunesse, dans les bibliotheques des villes et des villages, dans les
cottages des ouvriers: est un remarquable indice des tendances du genie anglo-
saxon. Le titre a lui seul est a peu pres intrad (risible : Self-Help (aide-toi toi-
metne). . . . Uue grande sagesse qu'on pourrait appeier la splendeur du bon
sens, comme Platon deimissait le beau la splendeur du vrai, tel est le caractere qui
distingue surtout Self-Help. ... La traduction de M. Talaudier est a la fois
iidele, nerveuse et elegante ; elle contribuera a propager en France les saines idees
de M. Smiles." — Revue des Deux Mondes.

"Les Frangais, nes malins, mais tres-ignorants en ce qui touche leurs voisin.s,
viennent de decouvrir, apres dix ans d'existence, un livre anglais classique,
destine a 1'education des enfants. C'est une espece de morale en action, ecrite pur
un homme de haute valeur, qui a du faire de grands efforts pour se mettre a la
portee de jeu nes intelligences. . . . Le Self-Help, ou caractere, conduite ct per-
severance, est uu livre honnete et se'rieux qu'on lit a petits coups, en le savourant;
il est ecrit pour les enfants avec une simplicite voulue ; il vous dit que la pauvrete
est sainte, que I'liomme ne doit se soucier que de sa conscience ; il honore 1'in-
tlustrie, enseigne le courage, releve les faibles, huinilie les forts, vous dicte des
maximes pour toutes les circonstances de la vie, et appuie tous ses conseils d'une
anecdote qui sert d'exemple. . . . Voici une anecdote a e'crire en lettres d'or :
— Le vrai courage.-' Un officier francais, au combat de cavalerie d'El-Bodon, en
Espagne, s'avance, I'e'pe'e nue, sw Sir Fulton Harvey ; il va le frapper, quand il
s'apercoit que son ennemi n'a qu'un bras; il sarrete aussitot, abaisse son e'pee devant
Sir Fulton et, faisant avec courtoisie le salut militaire, part au galop.' Vous voyc z
que c'est un livre qui eleve plus Tame que les Me'molres d'une femme de chambre ! "
— Le Monde lllustre.

" Le livre de M. Smiles est une nouvelle Morale en action, mais elle a 1'avantage
d'etre complete, me'tliodique, raisonnee, et surtout approprie'e aux gouts et aux
tendances modernes. L'origine de cet ouvrage merite d'etre rapportee, car c'est le
meilleur moyeu d'en faire connaitre le caractere. ... Si nous voulions donner
une idee du livre, il nous suffirait de citer la table des matieres oil se trouvent
reunis les noms des homines qui, fils de leurs oeuvres, out le plus servi la science,
le plus honore 1'humanite. Nous nous contentons done de recommander ce volume
a tous ceux qui aimeut les beaux et bons livres, mais nous tenons toutefois a
ajouter un dernier mot. La plupart des ouvrages de morale (cela est triste a dire,
mais vrai), sont ennuyeux ; les auteurs semblent trop compter sur le merite de
leur sujet, et ils ne se donnent pas la peine d' ajouter quelques oriiemeiits a la
ve'rite. II en resulte que la seve'rite de la forme nuit aux se'rieuses qualite's du
fond, et que plus d'un bon livre reste lettre close pour ceux qui auraient le plus
d'inte'ret a le connaitre. Self-Help est e'crit dans un genre tout different : c'est la
morale la plus pure et la plus saiue presente'e sous la forme la plus attrayante :
c'est un ouvrage dont la lecture offre, plus que toute autre, plaisir et profit."—
Revue de I Instruction Publique.

" 'Ne t'attends qu a toi seul, c'est un commun proverbe,' a dit notre immortel
Lafontaine. Cette utile ve'rite vient d'etre mise en lumiere, ou pour mieux dire,
developpe'e, dans un bon livre anglais dont je veux vous parler. Self-Help,
S' aider soi-meme, c'est ne pas hesiter devarit le travail du jour, c'est re'sister a sa
paresse, a son e'goi'sme, a la pente de ses vices de toute sorte, et en un mot, se
vaincre soi-meme. Quelle victoire ! Rappelez-vous ce mot d'un ancien : ' Si tu
parviens a te vaincre toi-meme, tu vaincras le monde.' . . . Bref, le Self-Help,
qui vient d'etre traduit en francais, est un plaidoyer eloquent en faveur de la con-
iiance en soi-meme, sans orgueil toutefois et sans me'pris des autres, et de 1'aristo-
cratie huinaine et sociale du travail dans toutes ses applications. A cceur vat'Hant
rien d' impossible! comme s'cxprime la devise de Jacques Cocur, cite'e aussi par M.

"SELF-HELP.'

Smiles. C'est pourquoi un president amerieaiii, a qui on demandait quelles
etaient ses armoiries, se souvenant qu'il avait ete bucheron dans sa jeunesse,
repondit : ' Une paire de munches de chemise retroussees.' Je ne sache rien do plus
beau que cette male et fortifiante devise. Vous qui voulez apprendre a quelle
ecole se ferment les homines,— j'entends de ces etres rarissimes que chercliait
Diogene a la lueur de sa lanterne, — lisez et meditez le Self -Help ." — La Sentinelle
du Jura.

" Je veux vous parler ici d'un bon livre. Les livres abjndent ; mais, dans ce
fatras de papiers imprimes et re'unis en faisceaux de toutes formes et de toutes
dimensions, a quels signes particuliers reconnaitrons-nous les bons livres ? . . .
M. Ampere den'nissait ainsi un grand nombre d'ouvrages parus en ce temps : — ' Ce
sont des ceuvres qui inteVessent et souvent meme qui attacbent; mais, quand on a
lini de lire, on e'prouve une singuliere impression : il semble qu'on ait besoin de
brosser son habit et de se laver les mains.' Les bons livres sont une nourriture
plus ou moins de'licate, mais saine et fortifiante, qui procure la sante de 1'ame et de
la conscience. On se sent meilleur, plus heureux meme, a mesure qu'on en suit
les douces pages, et, plus tard, c'est avec un esprit content qu on s'en souvient. II
en coule, en eifet, de 1'espe'rance et de la foi. tout ce qu'il nous faut pour etre
satisfaits du pre'sent, et pour affronter paisiblement 1'avenir. Self-Help est un
livre pre'cieux a tou-s ces titres, et je ne saurais trop vous le recommander. . . .
Le livre de M. Smiles, truduit en iranc,ais par M. Alfred Talandier, obtiendra
tout le succes qu'il me'rite, le succes d'une bonne et vertueuse action. . . . Le
moraliste anglais qui nous occupe a done presente au public une suite de biogra-
phies, tres-ecourtees, mais tres-substantielles, des grands homines qui se sont
honores par leur travail et qui out ensuite glorifie I'lmmauite par leur genie et
leurs decouvertes. ... Quelle notice attachante que celle que M. Smiles a
consacree a ces deux homines illustres qui se sont unis dans une ceuvre com-
mune et dont la gloire est inseparable aussi, Richard et Lenoir ! Leur double
nom a ete donne, a Paris, au boulevard Richard-Lenoir! Mais tout serait a citer
de ce curieux assemblage de salutaires lemons et de profitables anecdotes, oil sont
invoques, tour a tour, Vauquelin, Dupuytren, Ramus, Buffon, Be'ranger, Watt,
Jacquart, Papin, Robert Peel, Michel- Ange, Nicolas Poussin, Ambroise Pare,
Shakspeare, Saint Francois Xavier et Saint Vincent de Paul, Franklin, Walter
Scott, Meyerbeer, etc. Chacun d'eux apporte son te'moignage et vient affirmer
a sa fae,on que le travail seul est grand, que la patience honnete est seule feconde,
que la perseverance et 1'esprit de conduite sont la ve'ritable alchimie que doivent
pratiquer et etudier tous les chercheurs d'or." — Le Moniteur Universel da Soir.

" Le Self-Help ou Aide-toi toi-meme, comme on est oblige de dire pour traduire
litteralement ces deux mots anglais, c est le secret de trouver en nous-memes, si
une volonte ferme et un cceur vaillant nous en rendent dignes, des ressources et
des secours inflniment superieurs a tous ceux qui pourraient nous venir du dehors.
. . . M. Samuel Smiles, s'adressant d'abord a ses compatriotes, leur eitait a
1'appui de ses theories la vie et les ceuvres des hoinmes qui, en Angleterre, out
porte le plus haut la dignite humaine et pousse le plus loin la force de caractere.
Aujourd hui que son livre passe en France, il a change pour nous la plupart de ces
exemples, et ce sont des noms tels que ceux de Palissy, de Papin, de Jacquart,
d'Ambroise Pare, de Nicolas Poussin, et de Richard-Lenoir. qui lui servent a nous
convaincre de la verite de sa doctrine, en meme temps qu'ils font plus fortement
vibrer en nous le sentiment de I'lionneur et de I'aniour-propre national. L'amour-
propre national, en France comme en Angleterre, n'a pas cesse d'agir a sa maniere
sur 1'esprit et sur le courage des homines laborieux qui, voulant honorer avant tout
leur patrie, ont lionore I'lmmanite entiere. Nous ne saurions recommander avec
trop d'instancus ce recueil inte'ressant, instructif et curieux, moral au plus haut
degre, gros d'anecdotes et d'histoires plus emouvantes que celles des romans, ou
1'e'motion est le mieux conduite et le mieux amenee, plein d'enseignements utiles
appuye's sur des biographies on ne peut plus concluantes et laissant apres sa lecture
une impression saine et durable. Ce livre s'adresse aux travailleurs de tous ordres ;
sa place est dans le cabinet de I'liomme d'e'tude et dans 1'atelier de 1'ouvrier; sa
place est surtout dans ces bibliotheques communales, dont nous apprenons la crea-
tion avec tant de plaisir, etqui font naitre en nous tant d'espoir. Self-Help est du
nombre des livres utiles qu'une commune doit acquerir, de fa^on que ceux qui n'ont
pas les moyens d'avoir une bibliotheque puissent cependant le lire. On a dit de
certains ouvrages litte'raires qu'ils sont une bonne action. Self-Help a tous les
droits a ctre ainsi qualifie et de'signe au public." — Le Pays, Journal de V Empire.

Lately published. By the same Author. Post 8vo. (is. each.

JAMES BRINDLEY

AND

THE EAKLY ENGINEERS.

[ABRIDGED FROM 'LIVES OF THE ENGINEERS.']

STORY

OF

THE LIFE OF GEORGE STEPHENSON,

CONTAINING ALSO A MEMOIR OF HIS SON, ROBERT STEPHENSON.

[ABRIDGED FROM « LIVES. OF THE ENGINEERS.']

"We have taken the facts in this account of Brindley from a delightful popular
edition of that part of Mr. Smiles's ' Lives of the Engineers ' which tells of him and
of the earlier water engineers. Of Mr. Smiles's « Lives of George and Eohert
Stephenson ' there is a popular edition as a companion volume, and therein all may
read, worthily told, the tale of the foundation and of the chief triumphs of that
new form of engineering which dealt with water, not by the river-full but by the
bucket-full, and made a few buckets of water strong as a river to sweep men and
their goods and their cattle in a mighty torrent from one corner of the country to
another." — All the Year Hound.

" It would be impossible to have selected two more valuable works for general
circulation in a cheap form, or to have given the working classes a better incentive,
not to ' rest and be thankful ' with their present position and attainments, but to
become convinced that the path of success is always open to those who, by patience
and perseverance, are determined to pursue it. No one knows better than
Mr. Smiles how to promote this important object ; and no one is a greater bene-
factor to his fellow men than himself, since by his talent and discrimination he
incontestably proves how ' Heaven helps those who help themselves.' "—Bell's
Weeldy Messenger,

The Story of the Life of George Stephenson (including a memoir of his son
Robert Stephenson), is a cheaper and more compact form of a work which, on its
first appearance, was received with universal approbation. Now we have it
cheaper and handier — and better than ever. Is it not enough to say this much ?
Could we say more ? James Brindley and the Early Engineers was originally pub-
lished in ' The Lives of the Engineers.' Besides the biography of the man who made
canals do the great carrying work of the country before railways were extended
over the length and breadth of the country, the volume contains memoirs of Sir
Cornelius Vermuyden, who drained the Fens; of Sir Hugh Myddelton, who brought
the New River water into London; of Captain Perry, who stopped a breach
in the Thames embankment at Dagenham : and in an appendix we have the .life
of Pierre Paul Riquet, who constructed the Grand Canal ofLanguedoc, and who
has been fitly called ' the French Brindley.' Two volumes like these cannot tail
to be as widely circulated as is the reputation of those whom they commemorate.
They will go through the length and breadth, and into the nooks and corners of
the land ; and they deserve to go wherever the English language prevails, for
they are models of their kind." — Standard.

"The Life of James Brindley is partly a reproduction of the Lite of Brindley,
originally published in the Lives of the Engineers, and now forms a companion
volume to the L'ife of Stephenson — the two men having so much in common, that
having read the life of one, we look to the other with increased interest ; what
one achieved for railways, the other achieved for canals, each being great in his
particular branch. There are several other lives of engineers given — such as Sir
Hugh Myddelton, Vermuyden, and Captain Perry ; and a very curious memoir of
Pierre Riquet, the French Brindley, whose life is incorporated in the French
edition of Self-Hdp published in Paris. As in the Lives of the Stephensons, the
liberality of the publisher is evinced in making the work, though adapted for the
generarpublic, perfect in every respect; it teems with illustrations of the most
curious nature, which evidently, from their character, must have been collected
with infinite labour. No one will read the lives of Brindley and his brother
engineers without that glow of satisfaction that rises within us from feeling that
these men were thoroughly English in every respect, and that the works illus-
trating their lives are models also of English literature. — News of the World.

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