Life of M. Le Roij. 5 



almost incredible : so much so, that he very soon left all 

 his masters far behind him. 



It is well known that the English, on account of their 

 numerous discoveries in this art, had enjoyed sucli a repu- 

 tation fur the excellence of their clocks and watches, that 

 they universally found a market in preference to any others - 

 ia all parts of the known world ; and that the French them- 

 selves were obliged to purchase theirs in England. Juliein 

 Le Roy had the honour of removing part of this pre-emi- 

 nence, and of transferrina; it to the French artists. We 

 must refer to the account itself given of him for the various 

 means which he employed to efi'ect this, as they would be 

 superfluous here ; and it will be sufficient to mention in a 

 few words the principal discoveries which he made : — His 

 repeating clocks and watches : his improved seconds and 

 horizontal clocks : his universal conipass card with a sight j 

 an extremely useful and simple contrivance for drawing a 

 meridian line, and finding the declination of the needle: 

 his clocks and watches of three parts, and his new universal 

 horizontal dial. It is to him also that watch-makers are 

 indebted for the method of compensating for the effects 

 of heat and cold in the balances of chronometers, by the 

 unequal expansion of different metals; a discovery of the 

 greatest importance, which has been brought by our En- 

 glish artists to a state of perfection hardly credible, although 

 it had been condemned and thrown aside by the inventor's 

 son, M. Pierre Le Roy. See vol. xxvi. p. 200, of the Phil. 

 Magazme. 



Such a number of things so happily invented, and exe- 

 cuted, procured him the reputation of the first artist in his 

 profession. The celebrated Graham once paid him the fol- 

 lowing compliment before several persons, when a repeater 

 of Le Roy's was shown him by lord Hamilton. After having 

 examined it for some time, he said, " I could wish I were 

 younger, that I might work from this model." Which 

 justice done to his merit by the first watch-maker in Europe 

 at that time, was afterwards universally rendered him by all 

 artista who had arrived to any degree of excellence in the art, 

 A 3 Ti>^ 



