1639.] OF THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER, 25 



ported on two pillars or upright frames. His Lordship 

 has been very precise in describing all the circumstances 

 under which it was shown. There were present Charles 

 the First, accompanied by two extraordinary Ambassa 

 dors, the Duke of Richmond, the Duke of Hamilton, 

 with most of the Court ; and Sir William Balfour was 

 at the time Lord Lieutenant of the Tower. Now the 

 latter circumstance would fix the date as not being later 

 than 1641, while other facts make it reasonable to sup 

 pose the experiment took place at least two or three 

 years earlier. Up to 1638 Charles the First had reigned 

 for ten years in comparative peace and leisure. May 

 it not have been during this lull in the portending 

 storm of public discontent that royalty deigned to in 

 spect a singular piece of mechanism, supposed to move 

 of itself without any aid from external agency ? In 

 1642, Sir John Byron was made Lord Lieutenant of the 

 Tower ; and Sir William Balfour* was in command of 

 the Parliamentary forces at Edge-hill. 



This wheel experiment may have been made in 1638-9, 

 prior to the decease of his lady, and during the most 

 peaceable portion of his Majesty s reign ; and indeed 

 while his Lordship s own domestic affairs were wearing 

 their most cheerful and agreeable aspect. 



His Lordship has been charged with dealing in para 

 doxes, and none greater than the one under considera 

 tion need be sought for. It relates to a problem which 

 for 2000 years has not only perplexed mathematicians, 

 but likewise been a stumbling-block to many ingenious 

 mechanicians during at least five centuries. What 

 mathematicians fail to prove and what mechanicians 

 fail to produce, every modern philosopher demands 



* It is not certain how long Sir William Balfour was Lord Lieutenant of the 

 Tower prior to 1641. 



