1 54 HEROES OF INVENTION AND DISCO VERY 



said to have died in great distress. Some of his workmen 

 made their escape to England, and under one Aston, who had 

 been apprenticed to Lee, established ihe stocking manufacture 

 permanently in England. 



Lee's invention was important It not only enabled our 

 ancestors to discard their former inelegant hose, but it likewise 

 caused the English manufactures to excel all of foreign 

 production, and to be therefore eagerly sought after. Our 

 makers soon exported vast quantities of silk stockings to Italy, 

 and these so long maintained their superiority, that Keyslar, in 

 his " Travels through Europe," as late as the year 1 730, remarks : 

 " At Naples, when a tradesmg,n would highly recommend his 

 silk stockings, he protests they are right English." 



MARQUIS OF WORCESTER. 



Wlien this distinguished nobleman first published his " Cen 

 tury of Inventions," he was regarded by the public as at best 

 a visionary projector, if not an absolute relator of falsehoods. 



The Marquis, who had sacrificed his fortune in scientific pur- 

 suits, wished to obtain the encouragement of the King or of the 

 Parliament, and offered to carry his grand projects into effect 

 gratis. In a dedication to the King, speaking of the list of his 

 inventions, he says : " If it might serve to give aim to your 

 Majesty how to make use of my poor endeavours, it would 

 cro\vn my thoughts, who am neither covetous ,nor ambitious, 

 but of deserving your Majesty's favour, upon my own cost and 

 charges ; yet according to the old English proverb, ' It is a 

 poor dog not worth whistling after.' Let but your Majesty 

 approve, and I will effectually perform to the height of my 

 undertaking ; vouchsafe but to command, and with my life and 

 iortune I shall cheerfully obey, and viaugre envy, ignorance, 



