HIS INVENTIONS--FURTHER PETITIONS--PUBLICATION OF HIS CENTURY--
CHARLES II. VISITS HIS SON AT BADMINTON--WORCESTER HOUSE, STRAND.
The preamble of an Act for awarding £60,000 to poor cavaliers sets
forth, that “Whereas there was a loyal party which through all hazard
and extremities in the defence of the King’s person, crown, and
dignity, the rights and privileges of Parliament, the religion, laws,
and honour of the English nation, did bear arms by command of his
late Majesty of ever blessed memory, according to their duty, and the
known laws of this land, and did with an unwearied courage, faith,
and constancy, with their lives and fortunes, oppose the barbarous
rebellion raised against his most excellent Majesty in the year
1642, &c. &c.”[A] But means so inadequate could really benefit few,
particularly so large a claimant as the Marquis of Worcester, who had
sacrificed more than fifteen times the whole amount of that fund.
And although he received back a large portion of his estates, the very
deeds held by Cromwell being at this day in the family’s possession,
his own debts had accumulated to a most ruinous extent, less from
improvidence on his own part, than from the precarious course of life
his necessities had obliged him to lead, especially during the last ten
or twelve years.
But his indomitable spirit rose superior to every calamity, whether
public or private, and we find him in the midst of all his personal
grievances having a patent sealed on the 15th of November, 1661, for
four several inventions; 1. a watch or clock; 2. guns or pistols; 3. an
engine applicable for giving security to a coach; and 4. a boat to sail
against wind and tide. No description is afforded to guide the mechanic
in constructing such inventions, being a mere statement of their nature
and properties, as detailed probably in the first written copy of the
_Century_ in 1655, and still preserved in the printed edition. There
is not the slightest connection between these inventions, and their
incongruity would rather dishearten than encourage modern enterprise,
variety of employments being contrary to the proverbial recommendation
of all traders. It may be as well, therefore, to remark that this brief
and strange assemblage of inventions in the same inventor, and in his
single patent, was customary long before and after this period; so
that, considered in this respect alone, the circumstance wore no air
of singularity in the 17th century. Nothing occurs to throw the least
light on the effect of this first publication of these inventions, we
are consequently led to suppose that they proved of but little value
to him, as regarded watches or firearms; and in respect to coaches and
paddle-boats we should certainly have heard more about them had the one
perambulated the streets or the other sailed on the Thames.
He appears, previous to his patent, probably immediately after his
release from the Tower, to have circulated a written statement of
such of his inventions as he conceived most likely to attract public
notice. In the Library of the British Museum[B] there is a small
quarto half sheet of paper, closely written on both sides in a clerk’s
hand, bearing the title of “Inventions of ye Earle of Worcestr,”
enumerating eight subjects, viz. improvements in a watch, vessel,
artificial bird, hour ball, coach engine, raising weights, raising
water, and to stay motion.[C]
A matter of slight consequence at the time makes us acquainted with
a small matter passing in reference to the recovered estates. Sir
Robert Mason writing, on the 10th of November, 1661, to Mr. Secretary
Nicholas, states that the person whom he has taken into custody is
Edward Herbert, late of the Grange, near Magor, Monmouth, where he
was Cromwell’s tenant of part of the Marquis of Worcester’s estate;
but since the Marquis had power to recover it, he retired to Bristol.
He further says, that he was Cromwell’s right hand, and is an
Independent.[D]
The Marquis of Worcester must have been very fully occupied at this
time, with the various incidents portending a change in his domestic
affairs, yet he appears never to have forgotten, or considered it any
trouble, to assist and relieve the necessities of others. In this
humane spirit we find him addressing two long letters to the Secretary
of State, the first in respect to Captain William Foster, a prisoner in
the Tower; the other relating to the Captain’s servant. They derive a
further interest from the allusion he makes to his own former captivity
in the same fortress:--[E]
“RIGHT HONOURABLE,
“Though I bear as great a reverence to the Act of Oblivion as any,
yet methinks justice also requires it at my hands to make a great
difference between those who in their then actings carried a respect
and afforded kindness to us their poor prisoners for his Majesty’s
cause; I think myself therefore bound in honour and gratitude to
give such a testimony in Captain William Foster’s behalf to my own
knowledge, and was an eye-witness thereof to the very saving some
prisoners of quality and merit [from?] their greatest hazards, who I
believe (if they were in town, or present with you) would not deny it:
the favour he only begs, and I in his behalf, is, that upon sufficient
bail, he may follow his own calling, and provide for many children of
his wife’s relict, of one once a soldier for his Majesty; and some
little ones of his own, now by her ever a most Lady Cavalier. And if my
intercession may be of stead to him, and of value to you, I shall take
it for a good obligation upon one who am confident his accusations are
of some priest animosities, and will prove so when rightly understood:
for before his Majesty’s happy restoration his commission was upon that
account taken from him to his damage, and that he should now likewise
suffer for his Majesty does seem very hard. But I submit all this to
your Honour’s best judgment towards him, and create an obligation from
you upon me, though not very personally known to you, yet a great
admirer of your great parts and merit; and shall ever approve myself
“Your Honour’s
“most affectionate and most humble servant,
“WORCESTER.
“November 18th, 1662.
“For the Right Honourable Sir Henry Bennett, One of his Majesty’s
principal Secretaries of State, these.”
And the month following he wrote:--
“RIGHT HONOURABLE,
“Had not my indisposition hindered my attendance at Court, I should
in one of the first places waited upon you to give humble thanks
for your extended favour upon my letter, in taking bail for Captain
Foster’s servant; and I hope his Honour is now satisfied so well at
the sessions, as not to detain him any longer, in whose behalf, had I
thought him in the least guilty, I should rather have suffered myself
than have appeared for him; but my six years’ experience of him during
my imprisonment in the Tower, made me confident, and if you please now
to crown your favour to me by his despatch, it shall be, ere long, most
thankfully acknowledged by me, who do not long for any one reason more
to be at Court, and haste thither, than to be an eye-witness of so
bright a star showing there; and that I may have occasion to appear
“Your Honour’s
“most humble and obliged servant,
“WORCESTER.[F]
“December 13th, 1662.
“For the Right Honourable Sir Henry Bennett, One of his Majesty’s
principal Secretaries of State, these.”
We learn from the latter communication that he was in attendance
at Court, though at the time, through indisposition, obliged to
discontinue. His expression--“my six years’ experience of him, during
my imprisonment in the Tower,” will bear two or three constructions,
unless certain particulars are well noted. He may be considered to
have been a state prisoner from July 1652, to May 1660. But he may
have been confined in the Tower only from July 1652, until 5th of
October 1654, when an order passed for his liberation on bail, but yet
virtually a prisoner. As we have for the longest period the term of
nearly eight years, the preceding “six years” acquaintance may have
commenced only shortly before his discharge on bail, which appears
to be the most reasonable construction, as he is not speaking of the
precise term of his own imprisonment but of that of his “experience of
him _during_ my imprisonment.” From the time of his enlargement to the
termination of the Protectorate was five years and seven months, still
leaving five months to accomplish the acquaintance within the precincts
of the prison, and which he might fairly date to the period of Charles
the Second’s accession, as the full term of his “imprisonment,” whether
within or without its precise locality; for he was certainly not at
liberty, like any other subject of the Commonwealth, to leave the
kingdom. It has generally, however, been supposed that he suffered
many years of absolute close confinement, and most romantic fictions
have grown out of the interesting fable of a philosopher incarcerated
in some dungeon-like chambers within the Tower, experimenting on
culinary vessels, led by the explosion of a pot-lid to study the
nature of steam, thereon applying his great discovery to practice, and
forthwith writing a book, a true picture of science struggling under
the most excruciating difficulties. The fable lost nothing of interest
by repetition, being of a nature which left much to the imagination
whether of readers, writers, or artists, all of whom have exercised
almost unlimited indulgence in picturing the Marquis of Worcester,
under circumstances purely mythical and absurdly ingenious.
We now approach the great event of the Marquis of Worcester’s life,
that for which alone, through all time, he will be distinguished, as
pre-eminent among the luminaries who have advanced those branches
of science which have most contributed to promote and extend the
necessaries, conveniences, and comforts of mankind, thereby giving a
decided impulse to civilization.
The new reign was marked by highly favourable circumstances connected
with the advance of science, giving rise to the institution of the
Royal Society, in 1660, for “improving natural knowledge,” which was
incorporated by Royal Charter two years later.
As early as January 1660–61, the Marquis had intimated his intention
to proceed practically to work, so soon, as he expresses himself,--“as
with security and satisfaction, by Act of Parliament, I may put in
practice the greatest gift of invention for profit, that I ever yet
heard of vouchsafed to a man, especially so unworthy and ignorant as I
am (I mean my Water-commanding Engine).[G]
Two years later the House of Peers, and afterwards the House of
Commons, had this subject before them, and therefore, in a matter which
has grown to be one of national importance, we shall proceed to afford
the fullest particulars of what transpired, to obtain for the Marquis
the long contemplated Act.
In the House of Lords, on the 16th of March, 1662–3, the Marquis of
Worcester being present, his Bill was read the first time, for--“An
Act to enable Edward Marquis of Worcester to receive the benefit and
profit of a Water-commanding Engine, by him invented; one tenth part
whereof is appropriated for the benefit of the King’s Majesty, his
heirs and successors.”[H]
It was read a second time, and committed on the 19th following,
his Lordship again attending, when a Committee of 14 members was
appointed.[I]
“His Lordship was again present on the 28th of March, 1663, when the
Bill was reported with amendments and recommitted; and he also attended
on the 30th, when the Report was received with a proviso, which was
read twice, agreed to, and the Bill ordered to be engrossed. And on the
31st of the same month it was read a third time and passed.”[J]
On the 2nd of April[K] the House of Lords sent the Bill, with the
following message, to the House of Commons, by Sir Thomas Bennett and
Sir Justinian Lewyn, Knights:--
“Mr. Speaker, The Lords have sent you down a Bill to enable Edward
Marquis of Worcester to receive the benefit and profit of a
Water-commanding Engine, by him invented; one tenth part whereof is
appropriated for the benefit of the King’s Majesty, his heirs and
successors; to which they desire the concurrence of this House.”
After other business, in the House of Commons,[L] on the 4th of April,
the Bill was read a second time and committed, and it was recommended
to the Committee[M] to provide, “That after the death of the Lord
Marquis, the benefit of the Water-commanding Engine may come to the
Lord Herbert his son.”
“And they are to meet on Tuesday next, in the Exchequer Chamber, at
two of the clock in the afternoon: And to send for persons, papers and
records.”
The Commons’ Committee[N] reported on the 5th of May following, through
Mr. Hungerford, “That the Committee had accordingly prepared a proviso
for the purpose aforesaid: which he read in his place; and after,
delivered the same in at the clerk’s table.
“The said proviso being twice read;
“Resolved, &c. That the words ‘raising and’ be inserted in the proviso,
after the word ‘the,’ and before the word ‘carriage,’ in the fourth
line of the proviso.
“Which was done accordingly.
“The proviso, thus amended, was read the third time.
“Resolved, &c. That the proviso, so amended, be agreed to.
“Resolved, &c. That the Bill, with the amendments and proviso, agreed
to, be returned to the Lords, for their concurrence.
“And the Lord Herbert is to carry the same up to the Lords.”
In the House of Lords,[O] on the 7th of May, “A message was brought
from the House of Commons, by the Lord Herbert and others: To return
a Bill formerly sent down, concerning the Lord Marquis of Worcester’s
Water Engine; wherein they have made some amendments and alterations,
and desire their Lordships’ concurrence therein.”
On the 8th of May, after other business:--“Next, was read the
alterations and proviso brought up from the House of Commons, which
are to be added to the Bill concerning the Marquis of Worcester’s
Water-commanding Engine; and being thrice read over, and considered
of,--
“The question being put, ‘Whether this Bill, with the alterations and
additions now read, shall pass?’
“It was resolved in the affirmative.”
On these three last occasions the Marquis was likewise present.
On the 12th of May[O] their Lordships, in their message,[P] by
Sir William Child and Sir Toby Woolrich, to the House of Commons,
acquainted them that they agreed to their alterations; and, on the 3rd
of June, the royal assent was given to “An Act to enable the Marquis
of Worcester to receive the benefit and profit of a Water-commanding
Engine, by him invented, &c.”--in these words:--
“_Soit fait come il est desiré._”
But the Marquis was not in attendance, as on former occasions, to
watch the proceedings.
We have thus traced the progress of this remarkable Act through
Parliament; from the 16th of March to the day of its receiving the
royal assent on the 3rd of June. It will have been remarked that the
Marquis was in constant attendance, and that it was his son who was
deputed by the Commons, on the 3rd of May, to present the amended
Bill to the Peers. It is impossible to imagine what might have been
the feelings of the Marquis himself throughout the period of these
prolonged proceedings, but he unquestionably had set his mind on this
measure as the palladium of his inventive rights and the forerunner of
brighter prospects.
In a memorandum relating to various grants, among others, occurs one
to the Marquis of Worcester, thus noticed:--“March, 166¾. That by
Act of Parliament his Invention of a Water-commanding Engine, granted
him for ninety-nine years, one tenth reserved to the King. The King
remitted the tenth to the Marquis upon a surrender of a Warrant dated
at Oxford, 5th Jan. 20 Car. I. by which his then Majesty did grant the
Marquis lands to the value of £40,000, in consideration of a debt due
to the Marquis from his Majesty.”[Q][R]
The prospect of better days had now fairly set in; he had at least
succeeded in securing his invention to himself and to his family after
him, as a property in the value of which he felt unbounded confidence,
roundly estimating it at not less than £400,000. Shortly after the
passing of this Act he published his ever memorable and extremely
curious and ingenious little work, entitled “A Century of the names and
scantlings of Inventions.”[S]
It is dedicated to Charles the Second, and also to both Houses of
Parliament; in addressing the latter he expresses himself as being--“by
the Act of the Water-commanding Engine (which so cheerfully you have
passed) sufficiently rewarded;” and as the work bears date on the title
page, 1663, it must have been published after the passing of the Act,
in May, that year. This edition, only duodecimo size, consisting of 98
pages, is now very scarce, but it has been frequently reprinted. This
small volume was most likely only intended for private distribution,
particularly among members of Parliament, and persons whose support
might be solicited; for it is generally believed that a company was
being organised for bringing the invention into public use.
During this state of affairs in London an agreeable episode was being
enacted at Badminton House, Gloucestershire, the seat of his son,
Lord Herbert. In September, 1663, Charles the Second and his Queen
visited Bath, Badminton, Cirencester, and other places, in their
progress to Oxford. Mr. Godolphin, writing from Bath on the 18th of
September, 1663, to his brother, says:--[T]“We were waiting on the
King to Badminton, a house of my Lord Herbert of Raglan, where the
King dined, and was handsomely entertained.” From Oxford, he again
writes to his brother, on the 28th September, 1663, in which he
informs him that, among other matters, he will “receive the account
promised of our progress through Bath, hither.” A news-letter, dated
“Oxford, 28th” [1663,] which is no doubt the one alluded to,
commences:--
“On Tuesday, the 22nd instant,.[?] the King and Queen left Bath, and at
their entrance into Gloucestershire were met by the High Sheriff; and
a little after by the Lord Herbert of Raglan, Lord Lieutenant of that
County, with a brave appearance of the gentry of that County, who all
conducted their Majesties to the Lord Herbert’s house, at Badminton,
where their Majesties were nobly entertained at dinner.”
They went thence to Cirencester, where they supped at Lord Newburgh’s,
and lodged that night.
An obvious discrepancy occurs in the two accounts of the dinner, Mr.
Godolphin on the 18th writes of it as having taken place, whereas the
Oxford news-letter names the 22nd.
From 1660, we find Lord Clarendon making a temporary residence of
Worcester House in the Strand, where, in December, the same year,
Evelyn paid a visit to the Lord Chancellor’s newly married daughter.
And four years later he dined there, being afterwards taken in their
coach by the Chancellor and his Lady, to see their palace, building at
the upper end of St. James’s Street.[37]
The Marquis’s own residence never transpires, but it is more than
probable he would reside near to, or within easy access of Vauxhall,
where we have next to trace his very different, exceedingly arduous,
and most trying undertaking.
Footnotes
[A] Bod. Lib. “Carte Papers. Lord Wharton’s Papers, 81.”
[B] Brit. Mus. Birch MSS. No. 4459.
[C] See Appendix A.
[D] Col. State Papers, 1661–1662; Domestic Series. Edited by
Mrs. M. A. E. Green, page 141. 8vo. 1861.
[E] Col. State Papers, Dom. Series, 1662. [Nos. 28 and 60.
Vols. 63 and 64.]
[F] This and the former letter are holographs.
[G] See page 222.
[H] Jo. H. of Lords. Vol. xi. p. 493, 494.
[I] It was “Ordered, That the consideration of this Bill is
committed to these Lords following; _videlicet_,
Lord Privy Seal.
Marquis of Dorchester.
Comes Bridgwater.
Comes North’on.
Comes Bollingbroke.
Comes St. Albans.
Viscount Say et Seale.
Bp. London.
Bp. Winton.
Bp. Ely.
Bp. Sarum.
Bp. Petriburgh.
Bp. Carlisle.
Ds. Berkeley de B.
Ds. Pagett.
Ds. Chandos.
Ds. Hunsdon.
Ds. Craven.
Ds. Loughborough.
Ds. Byron.
Ds. Colepeper.
“Their Lordships, or any other five, to meet on Saturday next, in
the afternoon at three of the clock, in the Prince’s Lodgings.”
[J] Jo. H. of Lords, Vol. xi. p. 499, 501, 502.
[K] Ibid. p. 504.
[L] Jo. H. of Com. Vol. viii. p. 464.
[M] The following Members were on the Committee:--
Lord St. John,
Sir Geo. Probert,
Sir Robert Atkyns,
Mr. Clifford,
Sir John Goodrick,
Sir Tho. Meres,
Mr. Wm. Sandis,
Mr. Chichley,
Sir Tho. Ingram,
Mr. Crouch,
Mr. Culleford,
Serjeant Charlton,
Lord Herbert,
Lord Bruce,
Mr. Hen. Coventry,
Sir Lanc. Lake,
Mr. Birch,
Sir Tho. Tompkins,
Mr. John Vaughan,
Sir Rich. Braham,
Sir John Birkinhead,
Mr. Wren,
Sir Rowland Berkley,
Colonel Fletchvile,
Sir Geo. Downing,
Mr. Westphaling,
Mr. Waller,
Sir Cha. Harbord,
Mr. Wm. Montague,
Colonel Windham,
Mr. Hungerford,
Mr. Sprye,
Sir Wm. Lewis,
Sir Rich. Onslow,
Mr. Gaudy,
Mr. Prideaux,
Sir Tho. Littleton,
Sir Humphrey Bennet,
Colonel Gilby,
Sir Wm. Fleetwood,
Sir Solomon Swale,
Mr. Geo. Montague,
Mr. Morice,
Sir John Low,
Sir John Holland,
Sir Roger Bradshaigh,
Sir Nich. Steward,
Mr. Whorwood,
Sir John Denham,
Sir John Norton,
Mr. Cornwallis.
[N] Jo. H. of Com. Vol. viii. p. 475, 476.
[O] Jo. H. of Lords, Vol. xi. pages 517 and 519.
[P] Jo. H. of Lords, Vol. xi. p. 522 and 533; and Jo. H. of
Com. Vol. viii. p. 480.
[Q] See Calendar of State Papers, 1663–1664. Domestic Series,
Charles II. edited by Mrs. M. A. E. Green, referring to Vol. 95,
and papers between Nos. 101 and 102. The same memorandum, in
another form, appears also in Domestic Correspondence, Feb. 1664.
Vol. 93, No. 83,--thus:--
“Water Engine Invented. The tenths of the benefit remitted to the
Marquis of Worcester, the Inventor, in lieu of lands to the value
of £40,000, granted by warrant from his Majesty for that sum
disbursed in his service.”
[R] See Appendix F.
[S] Mr. Thomas Baker, a talented engineer, and withal a poet,
has very gracefully epitomized the character of the _Century_ in
his poem on “The Steam Engine; or the Powers of Flame,” published
in 1857. As the work is now extremely scarce, and not likely to
be met with by the general reader, the following extract may prove
acceptable:--
THE VISION OF THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER.
With hopes now high, now with despair oppress’d,
As Phœbus sunk, he also sunk to rest;
When lo! uprose before his mental view
A HUNDRED ENGINES of devices new!
In slow procession he their forms survey’d;
In each recondite fabric were display’d
Rare works of art, and such as far surpass
Ought erst beheld in iron, steel, or brass;
While gems with gold and silver’s polished sheen
Blended their hues in this artistic scene:
* * * * *
Resplendent seals were there in groups arranged,
Which by a touch their rare devices changed,
And secrets in all languages convey’d
From man to man, nor once their trust betray’d.
Such were the seals to Eastern Magi known,
By which of old their wond’rous feats were shown.
Nine engines next in slow succession came,
Explosive from the slightest touch of flame,
Replete with missiles, used in various ways:
* * * * *
A floating garden, gay, with verdant bowers,
And redolent with blooming trees and flowers,
Drew its own moisture, moved its pleasing form,
Spontaneous met the sun, and shunn’d the storm;
Such scenes of fair delight, are wont to smile
From age to age in Hainan’s palmy isle!
Nine splendid founts their varied forms display’d,
Whence cooling streams, abstrusely winding, stray’d;
In one, tall jets bright Iris’ colours show’d;
In one, the waters ever ebb’d and flow’d:
* * * * *
Next there came forth a vast abstruse machine,
Where motions of ten thousand worlds were seen;
Th’ æthereal vault around was wide display’d,
As by bright Phœbus from his car survey’d;
Here scenic splendour and rich art outshone
All Orreries to modern science known!
A new variety, in number vast,
Of ever-changing forms before him pass’d:
Not Proteus’ self could with their antics cope,
Nor modern scenes of gay Kaleidoscope:
Their graceful symmetry and rainbow-hues
A rapt’rous wonder o’er his mind diffuse!
To vary these abstruse artistic scenes,
There pass’d along a group of fresh machines;
Many there were that in these days impart
Essential aid to various schemes of art:
One was a globe buoy’d by a crystal well,
Which night or day the passing hour could tell,
With the elapsing minutes, seconds too;
And, like the dial, to the heaven true;
The famed Clepsydra, in its artifice,
Was but a bauble when compared with this!
Martial designs came next, in size immense,
Adapted for attack, and for defence:
* * * * *
To crown these shows of wonder and delight,
A BEING rose of superhuman might:
* * * * *
At every motion from his nostrils came
A mounting vap’rous breath like subtle flame!
At once it beam’d on Worcester’s mental eye,
That STEAM alone might this great power supply:
And lo! as ’twere this thought to realize,
He saw it, fuming, from vast cauldron rise;
From whence this prodigy his spirit drew,
Achieving thus what met the wondering view!
[T] Cal. State Papers, Dom. Series, 1663–64, edited by Mrs. M. A. E.
Green, 8vo. 1862.
[37] Evelyn.