Richard Roberts, 325 



however, went up the stream as well as down, and whose 

 whole life, like Miller's, was wrecked because some miserable 

 creatures at Mtinden seized it for some money without 

 which it could not pass. Poor Papin says to Leibnitz that 

 he had abandoned thinking of some theories, the reason 

 being *on account of the number of inventions and machines 

 that have multiplied in my head for some time ; and 

 I passionately wish to see all the surprising and useful 

 effects that they would produce if they could be put in 

 motion ; I am getting old and the war prevents me from 

 keeping an artisan near me ; I do all for myself, and my 

 many distractions make the work slow. I see also that 

 notwithstanding my diligence I shall die without doing half 

 my work, and so I have decided to confine my efforts to 

 serve the public by the talent which God has given me, and 

 to leave to great and vast geniuses such as yours, to pene- 

 trate into eternal truths and open to posterity short and easy 

 methods of continually making great progress.' Here we 

 have the idea of progress well shown ; and in the strange 

 character of Papin much more is seen : his study of steam for 

 example, as illustrated in the * Correspondence of Leibnitz 

 and Papin,' by Dr. Ernst Gerland, of Cassel, 1881 ; * Leib- 

 nitzen's und Huygens' Briefwechsel mit Papin nebst der 

 Biographic Papin's,' &c., von Dr. Ernst Gerland, Berlin, 

 1881. 



Richard Roberts, 



The life of Richard Roberts the mechanician is, we 

 understand, to have more attention paid to it than hitherto. 

 Mr. W. H. Bailey has given a preliminary sketch in vol. v. 

 of the publications of the Manchester Literary Club. Froni 



