338 LIFE. TIMES, AND SCIENTIFIC LABOURS 



be judged by his gladly giving up for the promised 

 tithe of it to the King, his claim on Charles the First 

 equal to 40,000, in lieu thereof.* 



His Lordship s invention was never offered by him 

 as a merely amusing trifle ; it was not a curious model 

 which might or might not possess some practical ad 

 vantage ; and it was not of a nature of which he was 

 but partially aware, and which it was left to others to 

 apply. It is even possible that as early as 1628 he had 

 set up his Engine in its most simple form of applica 

 tion ; and that, improved upon through thirty -five years 

 of study and experimenting, the Engine of 1663 was 

 a master-piece of workmanship and contrivance for 

 that age. His invention was no longer a secret, he 

 had done all that any inventor could possibly be 

 required to perform to establish his claim to be con 

 sidered as a true and first inventor. His right did 

 not depend on the vague notice first put forth in his 

 Century, but on the actual Engine made, and, for not 

 less than seven years, constantly worked for public 

 inspection at Vauxhall. Any one so disposed could 

 have obtained the same examination of it that was 

 conceded to Sorbiere and to Cosmo de Medici. Dr. 

 Hook does not condescend to state what he saw of 

 it ; he set out for Lambeth with the intention of 

 going to Vauxhall, but the laughing philosopher may 

 have settled the problem in his own mind, to his own 

 entire satisfaction, without taking any trouble on a 

 supposed foolish errand. We speculate in vain whether 

 among the visitors stimulated by curiosity, or invited 

 by intending shareholders, there were such men as 

 Sir Samuel Morland, the King s Master of Mechanics ; 

 Eupert, Duke of Cumberland ; Dr. Sprat, the historian 

 of the Eoyal Society ; Bishop Wilkins, the author of 



* See page 257, and Appendix F. 



