336 MEMOIR OF DANIEL TREADWELL. 



fort is the common boast. That which excited mj admiration most was the numerous old 

 edifices I met at every few miles of my journey, — not, indeed, castles of armed barons, but 

 churches and abbeys, which boast an antiquity beyond the Xorinan Conquest. At Litchfield 

 I stopped a day, and went over the Cathedral, which was built about the year 670. It is an 

 immense Gothic pile, and eveti /felt something like religious awe in wandering amongst its dark 

 and half-decayed statues and monuments. At Stratford I employed tlie five minutes allowed for 

 changing horses in getting a sight at the house where Shakespeare was born. (I had walked 

 two or three miles in Litchfield to see the house famous for the birth of Dr. Johnson, and 

 a great willow tree said to have been planted by his own critical hand.) In this, however 

 silly I might be, I followed my feelings, and, remembering how strong they were, no longer 

 wonder at the religionist for worshipping the relics of his saint. . . . For a subject which I know 

 will interest you — my prospects of success in my pursuits — I can only say, that I have not 

 been crossed by any invention here resembling mine, that, after attending to many troublesome 

 and expensive formalities, I have obtained the signature of George the Prince to my patent, 

 and that it will in all probability pass the Great Seal in a few days. . . . 



Mr. Jacob Perkins, who you know came some months ago to London for the purpose of 

 introducing into the Bank of England his improvements in making bank-notes, is, in his pro- 

 fession, far behind Jackson or Gorham in theirs. His knowledge in practical mechanics is 

 not so clear, perhaps, nor so voluminous as theirs respectively in medicine and chemistry, but 

 he is pushed forward by both philosophers and simple mechanics. Some one said of Lord 

 Chesterfield that " he was a wit among lords and a lord among wits " ; this, by substituting 

 other terms, might be made applicable to Perkins. He enjoys a high reputation amongst 

 mechanics and artists, and from the present state of my knowledge of the English inventive 

 mechanic he deserves to rank with the highest of them. I have received much attention 

 from him since my arrival in London ; he is a man of considerable merit, and has shown his 

 wit hy admiring my press. 



Truly yours, 



D. Treadwell, 



Virginia Coffce-House, Xewman's Court, 



Combill, London. 



To Dr. John Ware. 



London, May 3, 1820. 

 Dear Sir, — Your very welcome letter reached me yesterday. You promise me another 

 soon. There is no vessel up now for Boston, but I thought I might as well commence writing 

 now, and by having a letter prepared I shall not miss the first conveyance. . . . Now this is 

 on the supposition that I remain here, — which is, by the by, very doubtful, for I have but 

 small encouragement. My press will at most make its way but slowly, as it will have to 

 conquer the prejudices of stubborn men, whose old habits of working are not to be altered in 

 a day, if ever. Should I not meet with such success as to encourage me to stay, (and this I 

 shall now be able to determine soon after I have a press in operation,) you will hear of it before 

 you have a chance of answering this. Indeed, you must not be surprised should you see me in 

 Boston in a few months ; for as I would not think of spending my life in Europe under any 

 circumstances, so I shall leave it soon unless I can remain to some purpose. I passed part 

 of February and most of March in France ; I could pass a year in that country very well, but 

 after all America, with her simple institutions, is the country for me. In this old and rotten 

 world kings and lords strut about in bombastic pomp, as though it was made for them alone. 



