490 THE CENTUIiY, 



ing all his information from the Marquis of Worcester s 

 invention, and destroying all he could procure re 

 lating to the Marquis, rests solely on the authority 

 of Desaguliers, to whom it was related by one of 

 Savery s friends! In 1699, the Marquis s Act had 

 yet 63 years unexpired, had the Duke of Beaufort 

 felt disposed to investigate how far Savery s engine 

 interfered with his father s invention ; but no such 

 interest was excited, nor had Savery at any time 

 so much success as to induce such an inquiry. But, 

 in 1699, the Marquis had only been dead 32 years, 

 and we have proof that his engine was in existence 

 in 1670, reducing the space of time to 29 years ; by 

 no means an unlikely period for Savery to find parts 

 of the large engine, or models of a small one, or 

 drawings, or MS. descriptions, or verbal details from 

 eye-witnesses, from among some of the many visitants 

 to Vauxhall, if, indeed, not directly from descendants 

 of the u incomparable workman,&quot; Kaltoff. 



Savery s connection with the mining interests of the 

 country would appear to have first drawn his attention 

 to the value of a scheme, proposing to raise vast bodies 

 of water by the aid of a most stupendous power. He 

 might, when a mere youth, have heard enough of the 

 Marquis s invention, however vaguely communicated, 

 to excite his curiosity, and decide him on a course of 

 action whenever an opportunity should occur. 



After a lapse of more than a century and a half, 

 Savery s claim is not likely to be materially disturbed ; 

 but it will always be a matter of interest to observe 

 the close similarity there is between the simple model 

 he exhibited before the Koyal Society, and the Marquis 

 of Worcester s brief summary of the parts and nature 

 of his own engine. And it is not very favourable to 

 a belief in Savery s independence of the Marquis s 



