[ [111] Franklin to Boulton, March 19, 1766. Boulton MSS.
[ [112] Darwin to Boulton, March 11, 1766. Boulton MSS.
[ [113] The following passage occurs in his letter:—“Suppose one piston up, and the vacuum made under it by the jet d’eau froid. That piston cannot yet descend, because the cock is not yet opened which admits the steam into its antagonist cylinder. Hence the two pistons are in equilibrio, being either of them pressed by the atmosphere. Then, I say, if the cock which admits the steam into the antagonist cylinder be opened gradually and not with a jerk, that the first mentioned [piston in the] cylinder will descend gradually and yet not less forcibly. Hence by the management of the steam cocks the motion may be accelerated, retarded, destroyed, revived, instantly and easily. And if this answers in practice as it does in theory, the machine cannot fail of success! Eureka!”
[ [114] Small wrote Watt from Birmingham, on the 7th January, 1768:—“Our friend Boulton will by this post send letters both to you and Dr. Roebuck. I know not well how to resolve without seeing you. I have not the pleasure of being enough acquainted with Dr. R. to judge whether we should all suit one another. His integrity and generosity everybody agrees are great. You certainly know the proposal he has made to Boulton, who will tell you his determination about it. Before I knew of your connexion with Dr. R. my idea was that you should settle here, and that Boulton and I should assist you as much as we could, which in any case we will most certainly do. I have no kind of doubt of your success, nor of your acquiring fortune, if you proceed upon a proper plan as to the manner of doing business; which, if you do, you will be sole possessor of the affair even after your patent has expired. I had not thoroughly considered this part of the matter when you left me. In a partnership that I liked, I should not hesitate to employ any sum of money I can command on your scheme, and I am certain it may be managed with only a moderate capital. Whether it would be possible to manage the wheel and reciprocating engines by separate partnerships without their interfering I am not certain. If it is, Boulton and I would engage with you in either, provided you will live here.”—Boulton MSS.
[ [115] Watt to Small, January 28, 1769. Boulton MSS.
[ [116] Small to Watt, 18th April, 1769. Boulton MSS.
[ [117] Roebuck was at this time willing to admit Boulton as a partner in the patent, but only as respected the profits of engines sold in the counties of Warwick, Stafford, and Derby. This Boulton declined, saying, “It would not be worth my while to make engines for three counties only; but it might be worth my while to make for all the world.”
[ [118] Watt to Small, 28th April, 1769. Boulton MSS.
[ [119] Watt to Small, 20th September, 1769. Boulton MSS.
[ [120] “I am really very sorry on my own account,” he wrote, “that your engagements hinder you from entering into our scheme, for that ought to be the result of your deliberation. Though there are few things I have wished more for than being connected with you on many accounts, yet I should be very loath to purchase that pleasure at the expense of your quiet, which might be the case if you involved yourself in more business than you could easily manage, or, what is worse, find money for. Besides, this is not a trade, but a project; and no man should risk more money on a project than he can afford to lose.”—Watt to Small, 21st October, 1769. Boulton MSS.