| Description | [2pcs.] A Copy of my Letter to Mr. Legge Nov.14 1797 (b).[‘Philosophers have long observ’d, & agreed that Iron is of more consequence in the World than Gold, & that neither Arts or Sciences have ever been, or could be, cultivated in any Country where Iron was unknown to the Inhabitants; for without it we could possess neither the Knife, the Plane, the Saw, the File, the Graver, nor any of those Tools which are necessary for making either Mathematical or Philosophical Instruments, or any of that Machinery which has give Birth to all our Manufactures, & even to the Navy of England its existence. Look round you in whatever House or Room you are in & you will not find a single Object the Work of Mens Hands that could have existed without the previous Knowledge of making iron. Of all the Metals which Providence has given us it is the most generally diffused over the Earth & is the least understood. Bring Gold, Silver or Copper from the opposite extremes of the World, and a skilful Metallurgist will refine them precisely to the same Standard & make them in every respect precisely of the same Quality; but the most experienced Chymist, Metallurgist, or Iron Master, knows not how to make the Iron of England equal in quality to that of Sweden, though I am persuaded it will in time be found practicable, whenever that Metal is better understood….’] |