274 M. Arago's Biographical Memoir of James Watt. 



gine, can it be supposed that Watt consented with satisfaction, 

 or without even testifying his displeasure, to see himself de- 

 spoiled of the honour which it would for ever have conferred on 

 his name ? The only defect of this reasoning is, that it has not 

 the shadow of foundation. Watt never renounced the part which 

 legitimately belonged to him in the discovery of the composi- 

 tion of water. He caused his paper to be printed with scrupu- 

 lous accuracy in the Philosophical Transactions. A detailed 

 note determined authoritatively the dates when the several 

 parts of this paper were presented. What more could, or 

 ought, a philosopher of Mr Watt's character to have done, ex- 

 cept to wait patiently for the time when justice would be 

 awarded. Besides, the imprudence of Deluc had almost forced 

 our associate from his usual equanimity. The Genevese phi- 

 losopher, after having advertised the celebrated engineer of 

 the inexplicable omission of his name in the first impression of 

 Cavendish's memoir ; and, after having characterized this ne- 

 glect in terms which the celebrity of the parties does not per- 

 mit me to repeat, wi'ites to his friend : " I would almost coun- 

 sel you, in your circumstances, to extract from your discoveries, 

 practical results which will improve your fortune. You must 

 avoid causing people to be jealous.'' These words wounded 

 Watt's noble mind. " As to what you say, " he replies," about 

 making for myself des jaloux, that would weigh little with me, 

 for were I convinced I had had foul play, if I did not assert my 

 right, it would be from a contempt for the modicum of reputa- 

 tion which would result from such a theory, from a conviction of 

 my own mind I was their superior, or from an indolence that 

 makes it more easy for me to suffer wrongs, than to seek re- 

 dress. In point of interest, so far as connected with money, 

 that would be no bar, for though I am dependent on the fa- 

 vour of the public, I am not on Mr Cavendish or his friends." 

 Few, I apprehend, will consider that I have attached too 

 much importance to the theory which Watt suggested in ex- 

 planation of Priestley's experiments. Those who refuse to 

 pay a just tribute to this theory, because it now appears to be 

 nothing more than the inevitable consequence of the facts, forget 

 that the most beautiful discoveries of the human intellect have 

 been the most distinguished for their simplicity. What did 



