18 LIFE, TIMES, AND SCIENTIFIC LABOURS [1628. 



mentioned two instances which we consider may fairly 

 be referred to his earliest continental tour, accompanied 

 by his tutor. Speaking of a certain contrivance for a 

 fountain, he explicitly declares : u This I confess, I 

 have seen and learned of the great mathematician 

 Claudius his studies at Rome, he having made a present 

 thereof unto a Cardinal.&quot; And when, alluding to a 

 peculiar kind of lever, he pointedly remarks : &quot; This I 

 saw in the arsenal at Venice;&quot;* thus showing how 

 early his mind was impressed with those studies which 

 became the distinguishing feature of his writings ; 

 and all the more surprising in him, considering his 

 birth, his times, and the originality and fruitfulness of 

 his inventive talent, which might have found ample 

 scope in some branch of literature, in agriculture, or 

 in military works. 



His employment of a foreign mechanic was quite in 

 accordance with the spirit of the age. National and 

 private undertakings, as well as manufacturing and other 

 matters requiring engineering skill, were ordinarily 

 superintended by eminent Italian, Dutch, German, 

 French, Swiss, or other continental engineers. 



During a period of seven years, from the time of his 

 marriage, his life appears to have borne an entirely 

 studious and domestic character, spent, most likely, 

 principally at Eaglan. To the ample leisure and quiet 

 thus afforded him we may attribute all his lesser inven 

 tions, such as the numerous schemes for effecting and 

 conveying secret correspondence, which in early and 

 troubled times were esteemed as highly useful ; some of 

 his automata, amusive toys, drawing and other instru 

 ments and mechanical devices. He appears to have 

 taken considerable interest in multiplying these compa 

 ratively minor inventions almost to exhaustion, as it 



* &quot; The Century,&quot; articles Nos. 21 and 26. 



