34 THE OFFICIAL EXTINGUISHER. 



told the inventor that he knew of nothing so powerful and 

 jet so safe. The official encomiums were encouraging, but 

 they were the stereotyped preface to an old, wearying and 

 monotonous story a story of invention crippled, crushed, 

 and driven out of the country by red-tape obstructiveness ! 

 The inventor who depends on such favours 



"Swims with fins of lead 

 And hews down oaks with rushes." 



With a droll inconsistency the select Ordnance Com- 

 mittee informed Robert Boyle that his invention was not 

 suitable for the British service ! The disappointment was 

 probably great. Few inventors can bear with equanimity 

 the cold shade of neglect. Intelligent industry must have 

 scope and purpose, but it has neither the one nor the other 

 when it meets the dead wall of prejudice. The inventor 

 can never be 



"A man that fortune's buffets and rewards 

 Has ta'en with equal thanks." 



Enthusiasm, hope, and faith are the vital principles 

 which direct and sustain his energy in the struggle against 

 stubborn obstacles, in the eager search for the unknown, in 

 the patient determination to pick up a thread that has been 

 recklessly trampled over by hurrying generations through 

 the long line of centuries. To cool enthusiasm by apathetic 

 neglect, to crush hope with official barriers, and to shake 



