460 JAMES WATT. 



ties of political opinions, from the most violent radicals 

 to the most obstinate conservatives. The answer was 

 always the same ; every one placed the services of our 

 academician above all comparison ; each man quoted, 

 besides, the discourses pronounced at the meeting in 

 which the Westminster statue was voted, as the faithful 

 and unanimous expression of the sentiments of the Eng 

 lish nation. What did these discourses say ? 



Lord Liverpool, Prime Minister of the Crown, calls 

 Watt, &quot; one of the most extraordinary men that England 

 ever produced, one of the greatest benefactors to the 

 human race.&quot; He declared that &quot; his inventions have 

 augmented the resources of his country and of the whole 

 world, to an incalculable degree.&quot; Then, considering 

 the question in a political point of view, he added, &quot; I 

 have lived at a time, when the success of a war depended 

 on the possibility of pushing our fleets out of port with 

 out loss of time ; contrary winds prevailed during whole 

 months, and would have entirely upset the intentions of 

 government. Thanks to the steam-engine, such difficul 

 ties have disappeared for ever.&quot; * 



&quot; Direct your attention,&quot; Sir Humphry Davy ex 

 claimed, &quot; to the metropolis of this powerful empire, to 

 our towns, to our villages, to our arsenals, to our manu 

 factories ; examine our subterranean cavities, and the 

 works accomplished on the surface of the globe ; con 

 template our rivers, our canals, the seas which bathe our 

 shores ; you will everywhere find proofs of the eternal 

 benefits conferred by that great man.&quot; 



The illustrious President of the Royal Society also 



* It should be observed that during the wars of which Lord Liver 

 pool had any cognizance, steam had not been applied to this purpose. 

 Translator. 



