| Description | (3 pcs.)
Soho Feby 10 1799
Dear Sir
I recvd. in due course your unwelcome favr. of the 7th Int. The joy I felt on the decission of ye K:B: & the flattering hopes I had formd of enjoying a little peace & tranquility before my last farewell, seem to have suddenly vanished; & in lieu thereof, vexation, anxiety, & a thousand painfull & ruinous circumstances left behind.-I sympathise with you most accutely, & if I saw the means of being serviceable to our cause I would come to Town in Spite of Weather, & yet I ought not to stir from home at this juncture as I am surrounded by Rascals of the deepest die I have discovered a new gang of Coiners & have sent the letter of information which I have receivd to the Lords of Council but what is still worse I find I am robd of Copper every week to a considerable amount, & have reason to think that the Soho Watch man, George the Melter, with one of his assistants, & 3 or 4 others are concernd but the circumstances are such as will require great vigilance & constant attention night & day to detect these Villains & therefore you may easily conceive how unpleasant my abscence must be to my self.
As to the point of dry Law which is proposed to be taken before ye K:B: I do not see that it is a proper subject for Parliamt-nor do I see the real grounds of the Chancellors objection. Surely nothing can be rotten in Denmark?
When I was last in London your son made a sketch of a letter for you to write to your friend Sandy. I realy think if any means could be devised for him to read such a Short paper as you (& not Lawyers) could write of the true state of Facts & shew him what passd in your mind, that induced you to take a second & a 3d patent and at the same time shew him the fatal & ruinous effects it would have upon us, if a 2d patent was to make void the first, to the great Joy of a number of ungratefull men whose dead Mines we have restored to Life & Prosperity, & without these inventions the Navy of England must have saild without Copper . . . Yet these very men are now enterd into an unlawfull combination to ruin us
If the double Engine, for wch. a 2d patent was obtained had not been invented, many of the great mines of Cornwall would not now have been workd, as the proprietors would have been deterd by the great expence of Erecting twice the number of Engines, besides the Extra Expence of working a double number. And by the means of this invention, produceing double power, many hundreds of Thousands of pounds worth of Copper have been brought to light & put into circulation to the great emolument of the Nation as well as the Miners.
Let us for a moment suppose that some other person had invented it (& not Mr Wt.). It might with propriety have been argued that this was an Invention of great consequence to all the Miners and Manufacturers of England (for the single Engine is not so applicable to Mills & relative motions) & therefore ought not to be prevented by Mr Wts. first patent from being carried into execution nor the Country deprivd of it on account of its being interwoven with the Principles and Methods of saveing steam & fuel invented by Mr Watt.
If this 2d patent had been taken out 4 Years later it might have been said that it was a trick to prolong the patent for 2 Yrs. more but it cannot have that effect because it now expired & it is evident was meant solely to prevent disputes with others who might have afterwards invented it. Mr Dolland obtaind a patent for correcting certain imperfections in the Glasses of Telescopes & that patent stood the test of 2 or 3 Trials. Now suppose Mr Dolland had, 6 or 7 Years after, invented some new Mechanism about the Stand or the Tube of it, or for the better management of it, or the makeing it into an equatorial telescope, or other optical purposes, surely no person would say that such 2d patent had invalidated the first.-I conceive if a Man invents a new & usefull thing that is legaly patentable, & he afterward takes out a patent for another invention totaly different, but when combined with the first, both are renderd more usefull, surely he ought not to be injured because he has renderd a greater good to the publick.
I think if you was to write a Paper direct to the heart & mind of our judges you might adress it to Sr Jno Scott, or any person who has access to ye Chanclr., & they might as his friend give him a sight of it. surely some such means may be found, for if the errors of this Judgment are to be corrected it is most probable that end may be obtaind better in his Clossit than his Court.
In regard to Mr Wn. I refer you to the latter part of my last letter for my opineon, and if things take the disagreeable turn they seem likely to do our Wings will be cropt too short to rise higher.
I beg you will remember me kindly to both your Sons & tell Mr James that if he suffers his Spirits to sink I shall dispair of saveing the Ship.
If I am not obliged to go to London I think I can seduce the Judges Rook & Laurence to come to Soho towards ye end of March (Staffd assises).
May good health & good Spirits be the lot of Your self & Sons is the fervent wish of
Dear Sir
Yours most affectly
Mattw: Boulton
James Watt Esqr.
London |