[15] Parliamentary Paper, No. 370, printed 22nd May, 1823.
[16] Afterwards Lord Goderich, now Earl of Ripon.
From the conversation which took place on that occasion, Mr. Babbage apprehended that such was the wish of the Government. The Chancellor of the Exchequer remarked that the Government were in general unwilling to make grants of money for any inventions, however meritorious; because, if they really possessed the merit claimed for them, the sale of the article produced would be the best, as well as largest reward of the inventor: but that the present case was an exception; it being apparent that the construction of such a Machine could not be undertaken with a view to profit from the sale of its produce; and that, as mathematical Tables were peculiarly valuable for nautical purposes, it was deemed a fit object of encouragement by the Government.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer mentioned two modes of advancing money for the construction:—either through the recommendation of a Committee of the House of Commons, or by taking a sum from the Civil Contingencies: and he observed that, as the Session of Parliament was near its termination, the latter course might, perhaps, be the most convenient.
Mr. Babbage thinks the Chancellor of the Exchequer also made some observation, indicating that the amount of money taken from the Civil Contingencies would be smaller than that which might be had by means of a Committee of the House of Commons: and he then proposed to take 1,000 l. as a commencement from the Civil Contingencies Fund. To this Mr. Babbage replied, in words which he distinctly remembers, “Would it be too much, in the first instance, to take 1,500 l.?” The Chancellor of the Exchequer immediately answered, that 1,500 l. should be advanced.
Mr. Babbage’s opinion at that time was, that the Engine would be completed in two, or at the most in three years; and that by having 1,500 l. in the first instance, he would be {71} enabled to advance, from his own private funds, the residue of the 3,000 l., or even 5,000 l., which he then imagined the Engine might possibly cost; so that he would not again have occasion to apply to Government until it was completed. Some observations were made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer about the mode of accounting for the money received, as well as about its expenditure; but it seemed to be admitted that it was not possible to prescribe any very definite system, and that much must be left to Mr. Babbage’s own judgment.
Very unfortunately, no Minute of that conversation was made at the time, nor was any sufficiently distinct understanding between the parties arrived at. Mr. Babbage’s conviction was, that whatever might be the labour and difficulty of the undertaking, the Engine itself would, of course, become the property of the Government, which had paid for its construction.
Soon after this interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, a letter was sent from the Treasury to the Royal Society, informing that body that the Lords of the Treasury
“Had directed the issue of 1,500 l. to Mr. Babbage, to enable him to bring his invention to perfection, in the manner recommended.”
These latter words, “in the manner recommended,” can only refer to the previous recommendation of the Royal Society; but it does not appear, from the Report of the Royal Society, that any plan, terms, or conditions had been pointed out by that body.