62 THE REWARDS OF GENIUS. 



noble president of the Company) the prize he had so well 

 won, in the form of a cheque for 50, accompanied by a 

 diploma. Lady Manners congratulated him upon having so 

 successfully solved a problem which had baffled other in- 

 ventors, and on the benefits it would confer, thanking him in 

 the name of the Worshipful Company, the community, and 

 herself, who were all deeply indebted to him for his valuable 

 invention. The inventor replied with characteristic brevity, 

 ' I hope to live to see it effect all the good I wish," and, 

 thanking her ladyship, returned to his seat amidst the 

 cordial applause of the brilliant company present. . We are 

 pleased to put on record this little episode, because such 

 encouragements are few and far between in the career 

 of inventors. The reception usually accorded to them 

 by the public is not, as a rule, of a cheering character. 

 Poverty, old age, and death, under the cold shade of apathetic 

 neglect, are their usual fate. Mr. Boyle, as with other 

 inventions, has been very fortunate with his system of 

 ventilating ships. He has been awarded a number of gold 

 medals and first prizes at different international exhibitions 

 and competitions, and in every instance where it has been 

 exhibited or put in competition it has carried the first prize 

 in the majority of cases the only prize offered for competition. 

 Within a short period of his death Robert Boyle, sen., 

 laid another important invention connected with war weapons 



