66 accuracy the subject is capable of; for, if the cylinder is "cast ever so crooked, the machines will bore it straight and 66 true, provided there is metal enough to form the required "cylinder, by cutting away the superfluities.' But, notwithstanding the improved cylinder, and those other aids of mechanism which could then be derived from the workshops of Soho and Birmingham, it was very evident, that a long series of experimental trials was still requisite. before the engine could be brought to such perfection as to render it universally available to the public, and, therefore, profitable to its manufacturers. In January, 1775, six years of the period named in the Letters Patent had already expired; and there seemed every probability of the eight that remained proving only sufficient to admit of a great outlay of labour, talent, and money, for the benefit of others who had exerted no ingenuity, incurred no risk, and displayed no perseverance. The eminent counsel whom Mr. Watt consulted, suggested the surrendering up of the patent, and did not doubt that a new one would then be issued, granting the exclusive privilege anew from its date. Other friends recommended that an application should be made for an Act of Parliament extending the time allowed by the first patent, and this was the course which it was finally determined should be taken. The application met, rather unexpectedly, with very strong opposition, to which the great oratorical powers of " the "immortal Burke" gave a dangerous importance. He, it is believed, was influenced by what he conceived to be, or what were represented to him to be, the claims of a constituent, and not by any more unworthy feeling of hostility to either Mr. Watt or his patent; but nevertheless he was led to support with all the power of his great name what he probably would afterwards have confessed to be a measure of gross injustice. Happily, the eloquence of himself, and the influence of his associates, failed of their intended effect; and, on the 8th of May, 1775, Mr. Watt had the pleasure of * Farey, p. 326. R being able to write to his father, from London, the following letter: 66 "Dear Father,-After a series of various and violent oppo"sition, I have at last got an Act of Parliament vesting the property of my new fire-engines in me and my assigns, throughout Great Britain and the Plantations, for twenty"five years to come, which I hope will be very beneficial to me, as there is already considerable demand for them. 66 66 "This affair has been attended with great expense and "anxiety, and without many friends of great interest I should "never have been able to carry it through, as many of the "most powerful people in the House of Commons opposed it. "It has been in Parliament ever since the 22nd of February, "which is a very long time to be kept in suspense. "I shall be obliged to stay here a few days longer, after "which I return to Birmingham to set about making some "engines that are ordered; after which I intend to give myself the happiness of seeing you and the dear children. My warmest wishes and affection ever attend you; 6 may God render your age comfortable is the the prayer of your "ever affectionate and dutiful son, JAMES WATT.” * But while this affair was pending, and Mr. Watt was absent in London attending to it, another heavy blow had fallen upon him. This was, the death of Dr. Small; the faithful and affectionate friend who had so long encouraged him in despondency, consoled him in misfortune, and aided him in attaining to the comparative prosperity which was now at last beginning to dawn upon him. "The last scene," feelingly writes Mr. Boulton to him in London,*" is just closed; the curtain "is fallen, and I have this evening bid adieu to our once 66 good and virtuous friend, for ever and for ever. 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 lodgings in the mansions of the dead." "To pretend "to offer you consolation," is Mr. Watt's reply, "under the 66 * [25 February, 1775.] weight of your present sorrow, I know to be in vain. I only beg leave to repeat to you the sentiments which that "dear friend we lament expressed to me upon a similar occa"sion. It is our duty as soon as possible to drive from our "minds every idea that gives us pain, particularly in cases "like this, where our grief can avail nothing. Remember, "my dear Sir, that our friend enjoys that repose he so much "desired; and we ought not to be so selfish as to render our"selves unhappy by the perpetual recollection of our own "misfortune, however great we may think it, for it is also "irreparable and was inevitable." Come, my dear 66 66 66 66 * 66 Sir, and immerse yourself in this sea of business as soon as possible, and do not add to the griefs of your friends by giving way to the tide of sorrow. I again repeat that it " is your duty to cheer up your mind and to pay a proper respect to your friend by obeying his precepts. I wait for you with impatience, and assure yourself no endeavour of "mine shall be wanting to render life agreeable to you." "We have lost a most valuable friend," writes Dr. Roebuck on the same occasion, "a gentleman of extensive knowledge "and learning." 66 Of Dr. William Small, whose family name is, perhaps, best known in the annals of science by his brother Dr. Robert Small's learned Account of the Astronomical Discoveries of 'Kepler,' we have few particulars to record beyond those which his correspondence with Mr. Watt supplies. But his early death has been commemorated and lamented by the pens of Keir, of Day, and of Darwin; and all the scattered notices that we have been able to collect attest the greatness of his talents and his worth. A native of Scotland, he was born in 1734 at Carmylie in the county of Angus, of which parish his father was minister; one of his ancestors being Mr. Thomas Small of Corrihall, whose armorial bearings were registered in the Lyon Office about 1680. Having been appointed Professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in the college of Williamsburgh in Virginia, he settled there for some years, and practised with great success as a physician; but coming home on account of his health and some business, he 66 "preferred settling at home to returning to Virginia, as he "never kept his health there." He was introduced to Mr. Boulton in 1765,—(the year, we need scarcely repeat, in which Mr. Watt made his memorable discovery of the separate condenser),—by a letter from no less eminent a person than Benjamin Franklin; in which he is described as "one who " is both an ingenious philosopher, and a most worthy, honest man ;" and Lord Brougham has mentioned that he was the instructor in mathematics of the celebrated Thomas Jefferson.* "He is," adds another of his friends in writing from London to Mr. Boulton, to announce his arrival in England, "a gentleman of great worth, integrity, and honour; and in "the way of his profession he has the best recommendations "of our most eminent physicians here." Edgeworth speaks of his "exemplary morality," his "knowledge of the world, "experience, true philosophy, and suavity of manners."+ To the same effect is Mr. Keir's account of him, as "a gentleman "of very uncommon merit," possessed of singular accuracy of ideas, and great acquaintance with men and things; "who, to the most extensive, various, and accurate knowledge "in the sciences, in literature, and in life, joined engaging "manners, a most exact conduct, a liberality of sentiment, "and an enlightened humanity; being a great master in the "exact sciences, and seeming to carry their regularity and precision into his reasonings and opinions on all other subjects." And in a MS. note on our copy of the work from which our last quotation is taken, and which was presented by its author to Mr. Seward, its former possessor has added:-" He had, I think, the greatest variety, as well as "the greatest accuracy of knowledge, that I have ever met "with in any one man." 66 56 It does not exactly appear whether Mr. Watt had ever met him previous to their acquaintance at Birmingham and Soho in 1767; but in age they were nearly coevals, and their Lord Brougham's 'Lives of 'Statesmen,' vol. ii. Series III., p. 53, ed. 1845. Memoirs of R. L. Edgeworth,' ed. 1844, p. 216. Keirs Account of the Life and Writings of Thomas Day, Esq.,' 1791, p. 111, note. correspondence shows how entire was their community of sentiment, and how similar the course of their favourite pursuits. 66 The happy companionship of which Mr. Watt's new association opened up a prospect to those congenial spirits, was, alas! but too evanescent. In many of Dr. Small's letters he complains of feelings of languor and melancholy, which betokened an undue failure of vigorous health: "nil admirari,” says Mr. Keir, "was his favourite motto; which, however, he afterwards, as his health and spirits declined, changed to "one of a darker cast, un Quvai, the two first words of a line "of Euripides,* expressing that it would have been better "not to have been born." "The ennui mortel," says Dr. S. in 1773, "has totally ruined me for an experimental philo"sopher. I flatter myself that I shall soon be 'pulvis. "et umbra,' and fold my arms to sleep. Who will call me projector now?" "I am exceedingly happy to find you "talk of coming hither. I shall be preserved one year longer "at least from this lethargy, which must at last compose me "for ever." "In my whole life I have never experienced so "long a fit of languor as I am now in," &c. &c. And the same spring which was to witness the triumphant passing of the Act of Parliament extending the duration of the patent of 1769, beheld the languishing illness and premature death of that able, zealous, and amiable friend, whose exertions had so greatly contributed to the establishment of the Soho steam-engine partnership. Early in 1775 he was seized with the symptoms of an ague to which he had previously been subject, and which did not at first appear to threaten an illness of more than common severity; but the disease proved to be a continued fever, which, notwithstanding every aid of medical skill, terminated fatally. He died The words occur in one of the fragments of the Bellerophon“ Ἐγὼ τὸ μὲν δὴ πανταχοῦ θρυλλούμενον “ Κράτιστον εἶναι φημι, μὴ φύναι βροτῷ." although Mr. Keir, when he placed them first in the line, appears to have done so without referring to his author; or perhaps had in his mind “ Μὴ φῦναι τὸν ἅπαντα νια |