[I] We meet with the following singular passages recorded by his biographer, as introductory to the Inventions of James Watt, in the second edition of his Life, 1859. At page 145, it is remarked:—
“When we consider the whole of the contrivances invented by Savery, as described by himself in ‘The Miner’s Friend,’ we cannot but accord to him the praise of very great ingenuity, independent of the merit of having made the first working Steam Engine, (if he was not preceded in that by the Marquis of Worcester); but, at all events, of having been the first who introduced it into use.”
We give this passage as printed, and proceed to the next, at page 156, which is not recorded either in the Contents or Index, only distinguishing certain words:—
“We think it right to add that the language used by Savery in his ‘Miner’s Friend,’ in treating of the advantages, whether ascertained or prospective, of his invention, presents a strong contrast, in point of plainness, simplicity, and modesty, to the more high-flown phrases in which the Marquis of Worcester magnifies the performances of his ‘semi-omnipotent’ engine. Savery was evidently a practical man, possessed of great [1] common sense as well as of [2] ingenuity; and although it would probably be wrong to deny to Lord Worcester the possession of a good deal of the second of those qualities, it may well be doubted how far he is entitled to the claim of any very considerable share of the first” [common sense]!
We believe that the author of this strange composition is a Scotch Advocate of some standing; now it is far from being the character of the legal profession, as a body, to commit to paper such reckless reproach of even the dead; but assuredly it does not require the caution induced by a knowledge of common law to point out the propriety of treating with respect the memory of a man of high birth and untainted reputation, such as was the Marquis of Worcester. But this is not all, we are introduced to a “First Engine,” at the risk of a second “first,” as declared by the same pen! And without fear of contradiction we say the last should be first, and the first last in this category.
[J] From the Lansdown MSS. 121. See also Letters Illustrative of Science. Edited by J. O. Halliwell, F.R.S. &c. 8vo. 1841.
[K] Among the Additional Manuscripts in the British Museum occurs No. 6176, a MS. volume, containing at folio 16, b, a “Certificate of the Armory in the Tower,” signed among others by “W. Balfour,” Lieutenant of the Tower, “17th Dec. 1640.”
[L] Almain engineers seem to have been in much repute.
[M] The original drawing is preserved in the archives of the Royal Society, coarsely executed on paper, measuring 24 by 27 inches.