132 On Thra/hing Machines, May 



The firfl machine ere£ted by Mr Melkle was on account of Mr 

 Stein of Kilbeggie •, and, as a proof that fuch machines were then 

 altogether unknown, it was ftipulated in the agreement, that Mr 

 Stein fliould furnlfh the wood, and that, if tlie machine did not 

 anfwer the intended purpofe, no payment fhould be given to Mr 

 Mfcikle for the work performed. Another was ftiortly thereafter 

 ere6bed for Mr Selby at Middleton, Northumberland, which was 

 immediately copied and imitated by feveral mill-wrights of that 

 county ; one of whom afterurirds had the fmgular modefty to 

 claim the invention, and, what was of more importance, at leaft 

 to him, had the good luck of getting many people to credit the 

 alTertions which he offered. 



After the utility of the machine was completely afcertained, a 

 patent was applied for and obtained by Mr Meikle, fecuring the 

 benefits of the invention to him and his heirs for the period of 

 fourteen years. It is a fingular circumftance, that, after obtain- 

 ing this patent at a confiderable expence, it Ihould not have been 

 immediately a6led upon, which would have been an eafy bufmefs 

 at the outfet ; though afteiw^ards, when attempts were' made to 

 carry the patent into execution, the immenfe number of inter- 

 lopers to be combated rendered the talk too Herculean to be ac- 

 comphfhed. Mr Meikle's filence, in facl, enabled every man 

 that imitated the machine to claim the invention as his own, and 

 occafioned the public at large to believe that the patent was ob- 

 tained under falfe pretences. It is not my bufmefs to unriddle 

 the caufes of Mr Meikle's inadion, but I believe they are pretty 

 generally known ; and though they do not exalt his character as a 

 man of bufmefs, yet they are not difcreditable to him in any o- 

 ther refpe£l. Indolence and inattention are dcfe61:s which have 

 clung to the greateft geniufcs, and ferve to Ihow us that the 

 bounties of nature are more equally diilributed than is generally 

 imagined. 



At a future period, viz. when ten years of the patent were ex- 

 pired, fome ot Mr Meikle's friends flood forward, and endea- 

 voured to eftablifli its validity •, but, after feveral ilcps were taken 

 to procure redrefs, it was found that the bufmefs was fo compli- 

 cated and confufed, and the body of interlopers fo numerous, 

 that the full period of the patent might have been wafted away 

 before matters could have been finally adjufted. Guided, there- 

 lore, by prudential motives, and laying the queftion of right en- 

 tirely afide, it was judged expedient to withdraw the a6lions 

 which had been entered, and relinquifh the benefits which the 

 patent conferred. Thus, the worthy inventor, partly owing to 

 indolence at the outfet, has been deprived of the reward he juflly 

 merited, though his cafe v/ell dcferves the application of national 

 munificence. 



Having 



