444 Memoir of James Watt, Esq. F.R.S. 



A gentleman of some property and considerable knowledge, 

 Dr. Roebuck, who was capable ot appreciating the merit both of 

 the inventor and of the invention, at last united himself with Mr. 

 Watt in the enterprise of bringing the matter to perfection; but 

 his means were unequal to the purpose; and after expending all 

 he could afford, the affair was on the point of being abandoned, 

 when Mr. Boulton, the great Birmingliam manufacturer, heard 

 of the invention. 



Few men were more capable than Matthew Boulton of appre- 

 ciating the value of Mr. Watt's discovery, and none more disposed 

 to engage in a liberal manner in the enterprise. 



To a generous and an ardent mind, Mr. Boulton added an un- 

 common spirit for undertaking what was great and difficult. Per- 

 haps if Mr. Watt had searched all Europe he could not have found 

 another person so fitted in every way to assist in bringing the in- 

 vention to bear. Mr. Boulton had money at command ; he was 

 .1 man of address and influence, and advantageously known to 

 the world : in short, he was just l!ie person who was wanted; and 

 after reimbursing Dr. Roebuck for liis expenditure and loss, he 

 became partner with Mr. Watt, who removed to Birmingham. 



The difficulties to be overcome were, however, immense. The 

 expensive engines then in use could not be altered, ft was ne- 

 cessary to erect others entirely new, if the proprietors of mines 

 would turn the new invention to their profit. 



Messrs. Boulton and Watt, for such was the firm, began by 

 ejecting an engine at Soho, near Birmingham, and exhibiting it 

 to all those concerned in mining. They even went so far as to 

 erect, at their own expense, engines on several mines, to be paid 

 provided they answered the expectations they entertained. 



A set of experiments was made under the eyes of several per- 

 sons of well known honour and skill, to ascertain the saving made 

 on trial by the employment of the improved engine ; and it was 

 ■found to be fully e(|ual to what Mr. Watt had calculated. 



The difficulties then began to diminish, and the proprietors of 

 mines in Cornwall, where coals are very dear, were induced to 

 make erections of the newly -constructed engines in place of the 

 old, engaging to pay one-third of the advantage or saving in coals, 

 for the liiierty of working Mr. Watt's engine, for which he had 

 obtained a patent, prolonged by an .ict of parliament. 



The mine of Chace- Water was one of the first which had three 

 of the largest-sized engines erected, for each of which the pro- 

 prietors engaged to pay 800/. a-year, being one-third of the sav- 

 ing calcidated by the price of coals. 



Mr. Watt was not only an inventor in mechanism, but his spirit 

 of order as a man of business was uncommonly great. The man- 

 ner of settling the sums to be paid was highly ingenious. 



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