BOULTON AND THE STEAM ENGINE--CORRESPONDENCE WITH WATT.
Want of water-power was one of the great defects of Soho as a
manufacturing establishment, and for a long time Boulton struggled with
the difficulty. The severe summer droughts obliged him to connect a
horse-mill with the water-wheel. From six to ten horses were employed as
an auxiliary power, at an expense of from five to eight guineas a week.
But this expedient, though costly, was found very inconvenient. Boulton
next thought of erecting a pumping-engine after Savery or Newcomen’s
construction, for the purpose of raising the water from the mill-stream
and returning it back into the reservoir--thereby maintaining a head of
water sufficient to supply the water-wheel and keep the mill in regular
work. “The enormous expense of the horse-power,” he wrote to a friend,
“put me upon thinking of turning the mill by fire, and I made many
fruitless experiments on the subject.”
In 1766 we find him engaged in a correspondence with the distinguished
Benjamin Franklin as to steam power. Eight years before, Franklin had
visited Boulton at Birmingham and made his acquaintance. They were
mutually pleased with each other, and continued to correspond during
Franklin’s stay in England, exchanging their views on magnetism,
electricity, and other subjects.[110] When Boulton began to study the
fire-engine with a view to its improvement, Franklin was one of the first
whom he consulted. Writing him on the 22nd February, 1766, he said,--
“My engagements since Christmas have not permitted me to make any
further progress with my fire-engine; but, as the thirsty season
is approaching apace, necessity will oblige me to set about it
in good earnest. Query,--Which of the steam-valves do you like
best? Is it better to introduce the jet of cold water at the
bottom of the receiver, or at the top? Each has its advantages
and disadvantages. My thoughts about the secondary or mechanical
contrivances of the engine are too numerous to trouble you with
in this letter, and yet I have not been lucky enough to hit upon
any that are objectionless. I therefore beg, if any thought occurs
to your fertile genius which you think may be useful, or preserve
me from error in the execution of this engine, you’ll be so kind
as to communicate it to me, and you’ll very greatly oblige me.”
[110] On the 22nd May, 1765, Franklin writes Boulton,--“Mr.
Baskerville informs me that you have lately had a considerable
addition to your fortune, on which I sincerely congratulate
you. I beg leave to introduce my friend Doctor Small to your
acquaintance, and to recommend him to your civilities. I would
not take this freedom, if I were not sure it would be agreeable
to you; and that you will thank me for adding to the number of
those who from their knowledge of you must respect you, one who
is both an ingenious philosopher and a most worthy honest man.
If anything new in magnetism or electricity, or any other branch
of natural knowledge, has occurred to your fruitful genius since
I last had the pleasure of seeing you, you will by communicating
it greatly oblige me.”
From a subsequent letter it appears that Boulton, like Watt--who was
about the same time occupied with his invention at Glasgow--had a model
constructed for experimental purposes, and that this model was now with
Franklin in London; for we find Boulton requesting the latter to “order a
porter to nail up the model in the box again and take it to the Birmingham
carrier at the Bell Inn, Smithfield.” After a silence of about a month
Franklin replied,--
“You will, I trust, excuse my so long omitting to answer your kind
letter, when you consider the excessive hurry and anxiety I have
been engaged in with our American affairs.... I know not which of
the valves to give the preference to, nor whether it is best to
introduce your jet of cold water above or below. Experiments will
best decide in such cases. I would only repeat to you the hint I
gave, of fixing your grate in such a manner as to burn all your
smoke. I think a great deal of fuel will then be saved, for two
reasons. One, that smoke is fuel, and is wasted when it escapes
uninflamed. The other, that it forms a sooty crust on the bottom
of the boiler, which crust not being a good conductor of heat,
and preventing flame and hot air coming into immediate contact
with the vessel, lessens their effect in giving heat to the water.
All that is necessary is, to make the smoke of fresh coals pass
descending through those that are already thoroughly ignited. I
sent the model last week, with your papers in it, which I hope
got safe to hand.”[111]
[111] Franklin to Boulton, March 19, 1766. Boulton MSS.
The model duly arrived at Soho, and we find Boulton shortly after occupied
in making experiments with it, the results of which are duly entered in
his note-books. Dr. Erasmus Darwin, with whom he was on very intimate
terms, wrote him from Lichfield, inquiring what Franklin thought of the
model and what suggestions he had made for its improvement. “Your model
of a steam-engine, I am told,” said he, “has gained so much approbation
in London, that I cannot but congratulate you on the mechanical fame you
have acquired by it, which, assure yourself, is as great a pleasure to me
as it could possibly be to yourself.”[112] Another letter of Darwin to
Boulton is preserved, without date, but apparently written earlier than
the preceding, in which the Doctor lays before the mechanical philosopher
the scheme of “a fiery chariot” which he had conceived,--in other words,
of a locomotive steam-carriage. He proposed to apply an engine with a
pair of cylinders working alternately, to drive the proposed vehicle;[113]
and he sent Boulton some rough diagrams illustrative of his views, which
he begged might be kept a profound secret, as it was his intention, if
Boulton approved of his plan and would join him as a partner, to endeavour
to build a model engine, and, if it answered, to take out a joint patent
for it. But Dr. Darwin’s scheme was too crude to be capable of being
embodied in a working model; and nothing more was heard of his fiery
chariot.
[112] Darwin to Boulton, March 11, 1766. Boulton MSS.
[113] The following passage occurs in his letter:--“Suppose one
piston up, and the vacuum made under it by the jet d’eau froid.
That piston cannot yet descend, because the cock is not yet
opened which admits the steam into its antagonist cylinder.
Hence the two pistons are in equilibrio, being either of them
pressed by the atmosphere. Then, I say, if the cock which admits
the steam into the antagonist cylinder be opened gradually
and not with a jerk, that the first mentioned [piston in the]
cylinder will descend gradually and yet not less forcibly.
Hence by the management of the steam cocks the motion may be
accelerated, retarded, destroyed, revived, instantly and easily.
And if this answers in practice as it does in theory, the
machine cannot fail of success! Eureka!”
Another of Boulton’s numerous correspondents about the same time was Dr.
Roebuck, of Kinneil, then occupied with his enterprise at Carron, and
about to engage in working the Boroughstoness coal mines, of the results
of which he was extremely sanguine. He also wished Boulton to join him
as a partner, offering a tenth share in the concern, and to take back the
share if the result did not answer expectations. But Boulton’s hands were
already full of business nearer home, and he declined the venture. Roebuck
then informed him of the invention made by his ingenious friend Watt,
and of the progress of the model engine. This was a subject calculated
to excite the interest of Boulton, himself occupied in studying the
same subject, and he expressed a desire to see Watt, if he could make it
convenient to visit him at Soho.
It so happened that Watt had occasion to be in London in the summer of
1767, on the business connected with the Forth and Clyde Canal Bill, and
he determined to take Soho on his way home. When Watt paid his promised
visit, Boulton was absent; but he was shown over the works by his friend
Dr. Small, who had settled in Birmingham as a physician, and already
secured a high place in Boulton’s esteem. Watt was much struck with
the admirable arrangements of the Soho manufactory, and recognised at a
glance the admirable power of organisation which they displayed. Still
plodding wearily with his model, and contending with the “villanous bad
workmanship” of his Glasgow artisans, he could not but envy the precision
of the Soho tools and the dexterity of the Soho workmen. Some conversation
on the subject must have occurred between him and Small, to whom he
explained the nature of his invention; for we find the latter shortly
after writing Watt, urging him to come to Birmingham and join partnership
with Boulton and himself in the manufacture of steam-engines.[114]
Although nothing came of this proposal at the time, it had probably some
effect, when communicated to Dr. Roebuck, in inducing him to close with
Watt as a partner, and thus anticipate his Birmingham correspondents, of
whose sagacity he had the highest opinion.
[114] Small wrote Watt from Birmingham, on the 7th January,
1768:--“Our friend Boulton will by this post send letters both
to you and Dr. Roebuck. I know not well how to resolve without
seeing you. I have not the pleasure of being enough acquainted
with Dr. R. to judge whether we should all suit one another.
His integrity and generosity everybody agrees are great. You
certainly know the proposal he has made to Boulton, who will
tell you his determination about it. Before I knew of your
connexion with Dr. R. my idea was that you should settle here,
and that Boulton and I should assist you as much as we could,
which in any case we will most certainly do. I have no kind of
doubt of your success, nor of your acquiring fortune, if you
proceed upon a proper plan as to the manner of doing business;
which, if you do, you will be sole possessor of the affair even
after your patent has expired. I had not thoroughly considered
this part of the matter when you left me. In a partnership that
I liked, I should not hesitate to employ any sum of money I can
command on your scheme, and I am certain it may be managed with
only a moderate capital. Whether it would be possible to manage
the wheel and reciprocating engines by separate partnerships
without their interfering I am not certain. If it is, Boulton
and I would engage with you in either, _provided you will live
here_.”--Boulton MSS.
In the following year Watt visited London on the business connected with
the engine patent. Small wrote to him there, saying, “Get your patent
and come to Birmingham, with as much time to spend as you can.” Watt
accordingly again took Birmingham on his way home. There he saw his
future partner for the first time, and they at once conceived a hearty
liking for each other. They had much conversation about the engine, and it
greatly cheered Watt to find that the sagacious and practical Birmingham
manufacturer should augur so favourably of its success as he did. Shortly
after, when Dr. Robison visited Soho, Boulton told him that although
he had begun the construction of his proposed pumping-engine, he had
determined to proceed no further with it until he saw what came of Watt
and Roebuck’s scheme. “In erecting my proposed engine,” said he, “I would
necessarily avail myself of what I learned from Mr. Watt’s conversation;
but this would not now be right without his consent.” Boulton’s conduct in
this proceeding was thoroughly characteristic of him, and merely affords
another illustration of the general fairness and honesty with which he
acted in all his business transactions.
Watt returned to Glasgow to resume his engine experiments and to proceed
with his canal surveys. He kept up a correspondence with Boulton, and
advised him from time to time of the progress made with his model. Towards
the end of the year we find him sending Boulton a package from Glasgow
containing “one dozen German flutes at 5_s._, and a copper digester 1_l._
10_s._” He added, “I have almost finished a most complete model of my
reciprocating-engine: when it is tried, I shall advise the success.” To
Dr. Small he wrote more confidentially, sending him in January, 1769, a
copy of the intended specification of his steam-engine. He also spoke
of his general business: “Our pottery,” said he, “is doing tolerably,
though not as I wish. I am sick of the people I have to do with, though
not of the business, which I expect will turn out a very good one. I
have a fine scheme for doing it all by fire or water mills, but not in
this country nor with the present people.”[115] Later, he wrote: “I have
had another three days of fever, from which I am not quite recovered.
This cursed climate and constitution will undo me.” Watt must have told
Small when at Birmingham of the probability of his being able to apply
his steam-engine to locomotion; for the latter writes him, “I told Dr.
Robison and his pupil that I hoped soon to travel in a fiery chariot of
your invention.” Later, Small wrote: “A linendraper at London, one Moore,
has taken out a patent for moving wheel-carriages by steam. This comes
of thy delays. I dare say he has heard of your inventions.... Do come to
England with all possible speed. At this moment, how I could scold you
for negligence! However, if you will come hither soon, I will promise to
be very civil, and buy a steam-chaise of you and not of Moore. And yet it
vexes me abominably to see a man of your superior genius neglect to avail
himself properly of his great talents. These short fevers will do you
good.”[116] Watt replied: “If linendraper Moore does not use _my_ engines
to drive his chaises, he can’t drive them by steam. If he does, I will
stop them. I suppose by the rapidity of his progress and puffing he is
too volatile to be dangerous.... You talk to me about coming to England,
just as if I was an Indian that had nothing to remove but my person. Why
do we encumber ourselves with anything else? I can’t see you before July
at soonest, unless you come here. If you do I can recommend you to a
fine sweet girl, who will be anything you want her to be if you can make
yourself agreeable to her.” Badinage apart, however, there was one point
on which Watt earnestly solicited the kind services of his friend. He had
become more than ever desirous of securing the powerful co-operation of
Matthew Boulton in introducing his invention to public notice:--
“Seriously,” says he, “you will oblige me if you will negotiate
the following affair:--I find that if the engine succeeds my
whole time will be taken up in planning and erecting Reciprocating
engines, and the Circulator must stand still unless I do what I
have done too often, neglect certainty for hope. Now, Mr. Boulton
wants one or more engines for his own use. If he will make a
model of one of 20 inches diameter at least, I will give him my
advice and as much assistance as I can. He shall have liberty
to erect one of any size for his own use. If he should choose
to have more the terms will be easy, and I shall consider myself
much obliged to him. If it should answer, and he should not think
himself repaid for his trouble by the use of it, he shall make
and use it until he is repaid. If this be agreeable to him let me
know, and I will propose it to the Doctor [Roebuck], and doubt
not of his consent. I wish Mr. Boulton and you had entered into
some negotiation with the Doctor about coming in as partners.
I am afraid it is now too late; for the nearer it approaches to
certainty, he grows the more tenacious of it.[117] For my part, I
shall continue to think as I did, that it would be for our mutual
advantage. His expectations are solely from the Reciprocator.
Possibly he may be tempted to part with the half of the Circulator
to you. This I say of myself. Mr. Boulton asked if the Circulator
was contrived since our agreement. It was; but it is a part of
the scheme, and virtually included in it.”[118]
[115] Watt to Small, January 28, 1769. Boulton MSS.
[116] Small to Watt, 18th April, 1769. Boulton MSS.
[117] Roebuck was at this time willing to admit Boulton as a
partner in the patent, but only as respected the profits of
engines sold in the counties of Warwick, Stafford, and Derby.
This Boulton declined, saying, “It would not be worth my while
to make engines for three counties only; but it might be worth
my while to make for all the world.”
[118] Watt to Small, 28th April, 1769. Boulton MSS.
From this it will be seen how anxious Watt was to engage Boulton in taking
an interest in his invention. But though the fly was artfully cast over
the nose of the fish, still he would not rise. The times were out of
joint, business was stagnant, and Boulton was of necessity cautious about
venturing upon new enterprises. Small doubtless communicated the views
thus confidentially conveyed to him by Watt; and in his next letter he
again pressed him to come to Birmingham and have a personal interview with
Boulton as to the engine, adding, “bring this pretty girl with you when
you come.” But, instead of Watt, Roebuck himself went to see Boulton on
the subject. During the time of this visit, Watt again communicated to
Small his anxiety that Boulton should join in the partnership. “As for
myself,” said he, “I shall say nothing; but if you three can agree among
yourselves, you may appoint me what share you please, and you will find
me willing to do my best to advance the good of the whole; or, if this
[the engine] should not succeed, to do any other thing I can to make you
all amends, only reserving to myself the liberty of grumbling when I am
in an ill humour.”[119]
Small’s reply was discouraging. Both Boulton and he had just engaged in
another scheme, which would require all the ready money at their command.
Possibly the ill-success of the experiment Watt had by this time made with
his new model at Kinneil may have had some influence in deterring them
from engaging in what still looked a very unpromising speculation. Watt
was greatly cast down at this intelligence, though he could not blame his
friend for the caution he displayed in the matter.[120] He nevertheless
again returned to the subject in his letters to Small; and at last Boulton
was persuaded to enter into a conditional arrangement with Roebuck, which
was immediately communicated to Watt, who received the intelligence with
great exultation. “I shake hands,” he wrote to Small, “with you and Mr.
Boulton in our connexion, which I hope will prove agreeable to us all.”
His joy, however, proved premature, as it turned out that the agreement
was only to the effect, that if Boulton thought proper to exercise the
option of becoming a partner in the engine to the extent of one-third,
he was to do so within a period of twelve months, paying Roebuck a sum
of 1000_l._; but this option Boulton never exercised, and the engine
enterprise seemed to be as far from success as ever.
[119] Watt to Small, 20th September, 1769. Boulton MSS.
[120] “I am really very sorry on my own account,” he wrote, “that
your engagements hinder you from entering into our scheme, for
that ought to be the result of your deliberation. Though there
are few things I have wished more for than being connected with
you on many accounts, yet I should be very loath to purchase
that pleasure at the expense of your quiet, which might be the
case if you involved yourself in more business than you could
easily manage, or, what is worse, find money for. Besides, this
is not a trade, but a project; and no man should risk more money
on a project than he can afford to lose.”--Watt to Small, 21st
October, 1769. Boulton MSS.
In the mean time Watt became increasingly anxious about his own position.
He had been spending more money on fruitless experiments, and getting
into more debt. The six months he had been living at Kinneil had brought
him in nothing. He had been neglecting his business, and could not afford
to waste more time in prosecuting an apparently hopeless speculation. He
accordingly returned to his regular work, and proceeded with the survey
of the river Clyde, at the instance of the Glasgow Corporation. “I would
not have meddled with this,” he wrote to Dr. Small, “had I been certain of
being able to bring the engine to bear. But I cannot, on an uncertainty,
refuse every piece of business that offers. I have refused some common
fire-engines, because they must have taken my attention so up as to hinder
my going on with my own. However, if I cannot make it answer soon, I
shall certainly undertake the next that offers, for I cannot afford to
trifle away my whole life, which--God knows--may not be long. Not that I
think myself a proper hand for keeping men to their duty; but I must use
my endeavours to make myself square with the world, though I much fear I
never shall.”[121]
[121] Watt to Small, 20th September, 1769.
Small lamented this apparent abandonment of the engine to its fate.
But though he had failed in inducing Boulton heartily to join Watt in
the enterprise, he did not yet despair. He continued to urge Watt to
complete his engine, as the fourteen years for which the patent lasted
would soon be gone. At all events he might send drawings of his engine
to Soho; and Mr. Boulton and he would undertake to do their best to have
one constructed for the purpose of exhibiting its powers.[122] To this
Watt agreed, and about the beginning of 1770, the necessary drawings were
sent to Soho, and an engine was immediately put in course of execution.
Patterns were made and sent to Coalbrookdale to be cast; but when the
castings were received, they were found exceedingly imperfect, and were
thrown aside as useless. They were then sent to an ironfounder at Bilston
to be executed; but the result was only another failure.
[122] Small informed Watt that it was intended to make an engine
for the purpose of _drawing canal boats_. “What Mr. Boulton and
I,” he wrote, “are very desirous of is, to move canal boats by
this engine; so we have made this model of a size sufficient for
that purpose. We propose first to operate without any condenser,
because coals are here exceedingly cheap, and because you can,
more commodiously than we, make experiments on condensers,
having several already by you. Above 150 boats are now employed
on these new waveless canals, so if we can succeed, the field
is not narrow.” This suggestion of working canal boats by steam
immediately elicited a reply from Watt on the subject. Invention
was so habitual to him that a new method of employing power was
no sooner hinted than his active mind at once set to work to
solve the problem. “Have you ever,” he wrote Small, “considered
_a spiral oar_ for that purpose, or are you for two wheels?” And
to make his meaning clear, he sketched out a rough but graphic
outline of a screw propeller. Small’s reply was unfavourable:
he replied, “I have tried models of spiral oars, and have
found them all inferior to oars of either of the other forms;
I believe because a cylinder of water immersed in water can be
easily turned round its own axis. We propose to try gun-lock
springs with the fixed part longer than the moving. If we cannot
succeed, we will have recourse to what you have so obligingly
and clearly described.” Finally Watt writes a fortnight later,
“concerning spirals, I do not continue fond of them.”
About the beginning of 1770, another unsuccessful experiment was made
by Watt and Roebuck with the engine at Kinneil. The cylinder had been
repaired and made true by beating, but as the metal of which it was
made was soft, it was feared that the working of the piston might throw
it out of form. To prevent this, two firm parallel planes were fixed,
through which the piston worked, in order to prevent its vibration. “If
this should fail,” Roebuck wrote to Boulton, in giving an account of the
intended trial, “then the cylinder must be made of cast-iron. But I have
great confidence that the present engine will work completely, and by this
day se’nnight you may expect to hear the result of our experiments.”[123]
The good news, however, never went to Birmingham; on the contrary, the
trial proved a failure. There was some more tinkering at the engine, but
it would not work satisfactorily; and Watt went back to Glasgow with a
heavy heart.
[123] Roebuck to Boulton, February 12, 1770.
Small again endeavoured to induce Watt to visit Birmingham, to superintend
the erection of the engine, the materials for which were now lying at
Soho. He also held out to Watt the hope of obtaining some employment
for him in the midland counties as a consulting engineer. But Watt could
not afford to lose more time in erecting trial-engines; and he was too
much occupied at Glasgow to leave it for the proposed uncertainty at
Birmingham. He accordingly declined the visit, but invited Small to
continue the correspondence; “for,” said he, “we have abundance of matters
to discuss, though the damned engine sleep in quiet.” Small wrote back,
professing himself satisfied that Watt was so fully employed in his
own profession at Glasgow. “Let nothing,” he said, “divert you from the
business of engineering. You are sensible that both Boulton and I engaged
in the patent scheme much more from inclination to be in some degree
useful to you than from any other principle; so that if you are prosperous
and happy, we do not care whether you find the scheme worth prosecuting or
not.”[124] Replying to Small’s complaint of himself, that he felt _ennuyé_
and stupid, taking pleasure in nothing but sleep, Watt said: “You complain
of physic; I find it sufficiently stupifying to be obliged to think on
any subject but one’s hobby; and I really am become monstrously stupid,
and can seldom think at all. I wish to God I could afford to live without
it; though I don’t admire your sleeping scheme. I must fatigue myself,
otherwise I can neither eat nor sleep. In short, I greatly doubt whether
the silent mansion of the grave be not the happiest abode. I am cured of
most of my youthful desires, and if ambition or avarice do not lay hold
of me, I shall be almost as much _ennuyé_ as you say you are.”[125]
[124] Small to Watt, 17th September, 1770. Boulton MSS.
Small again recurred to the subject of Watt’s removal to Birmingham,
informing him that he had provided accommodation for him, “having kept a
whole house in my power, in hopes you may come to live here.”
Watt’s prospects were, however, brightening. He was then busily occupied
in superintending the construction of the Monkland Canal. He wrote Small
that he had a hundred men working under him, who had “made a confounded
gash in a hill,” at which they had been working for twelve months; that
by frugal living he had contrived to save money enough to pay his debts,
and that he had plenty of remunerative work before him. He had also become
concerned in a pottery, which, he said, “does very well, though we make
monstrous bad ware.”[126] He had not, indeed, got rid of his headaches,
though he was not so much afflicted by low spirits as he had been. But he
confessed that after all he hated the business of engineering, and wished
himself well rid of it, for the reasons stated in a preceding chapter.
[125] Watt to Small, 20th October, 1770. Boulton MSS.
[126] He then held an eighth share in the pottery, which brought
him in about 70_l._ a year clear.
This comparatively prosperous state of Watt’s affairs did not, however,
last long. The commercial panic of 1772 put a sudden stop to most of
the canal schemes then on foot. The proprietors of the Monkland Canal
could not find the necessary means for carrying on the works, and Watt
consequently lost his employment as their engineer. He was thus again
thrown upon the world, and where was he to look for help? Naturally
enough, he reverted to his engine. But it was in the hands of Dr. Roebuck,
who was overwhelmed with debt, and upon the verge of insolvency. It
was clear that no help was to be looked for in that quarter. Again he
bethought him of Small’s invitations to Birmingham, and of the interest
that Boulton had taken in the engine scheme. Could he be induced at last
to become a partner? He again broached the subject to Small, telling him
how business had failed him; that he was now ready to go to Birmingham
and engage in English surveys, or do anything that would bring him in an
honest income. But, above all, would Boulton and Small, now that Roebuck
had failed, join him as partners in the engine business?
By this time Boulton himself had become involved in difficulties arising
out of the commercial pressure of the time, and was more averse than ever
to enter upon such an enterprise. But having lent Roebuck a considerable
sum of money, it occurred to Watt that the amount might be taken as part
of the price of Boulton’s share in the patent, if he would consent to
enter into the proposed partnership. He represented to Small the great
distress of Roebuck’s situation, which he had done all that he could to
relieve. “What little I can do for him,” he said, “is purchased by denying
myself the conveniences of life my station requires, or by remaining in
debt, which it galls me to the bone to owe.” Reverting to the idea of a
partnership with Boulton, he added, “I shall be content to hold a very
small share in it, or none at all, provided I am to be freed from my
pecuniary obligations to Roebuck, and have any kind of recompense for
even a part of the anxiety and ruin it has involved me in.” And again:
“Although I am out of pocket a much greater sum upon these experiments
than my proportion of the profits of the engine, I do not look upon that
money as the price of my share, but as money spent on my education. I
thank God I have now reason to believe that I can never, while I have
health, be at any loss to pay what I owe, and to live at least in a decent
manner; more, I do not violently desire.”[127]
In a subsequent letter Watt promised Small that he would pay an early
visit to Birmingham, and added, “there is nowhere I so much wish to be.”
In replying, Small pointed out a difficulty in the way of the proposed
partnership: “It is impossible,” he wrote, “for Mr. Boulton and me, or any
other honest man, to purchase, especially from two particular friends,
what has no market price, and at a time when they might be inclined
to part with the commodity at an under value.”[128] He added that the
high-pressure wheel-engine constructing at Soho, after Watt’s plans, was
nearly ready, and that Wilkinson, of Bradley, had promised that the boiler
should be sent next week. “Should the experiment succeed, or seem likely
to succeed,” he said, “you ought to come hither immediately upon receiving
the notice, which I will instantly send. In that case we propose to unite
three things under your direction, which would altogether, we hope, prove
tolerably satisfactory to you, at least until your merit shall be better
known.”[129]
[127] Watt to Small, 30th August, 1772. Boulton MSS.
[128] Small to Watt, 16th November, 1772. Boulton MSS.
[129] About this time, in order to bring himself and his engine
into notice, Watt contemplated writing a treatise on steam and
its applications. “I have some thoughts,” he wrote to Small, “of
writing a book on the elements of the theory of steam-engines,
in which, however, I shall only give the enunciation of the
perfect engine. This book might do me and the scheme good.
It would still leave the world in the dark as to the true
construction of the engine. Something of this kind is necessary,
as Smeaton is labouring hard at the subject, and if I can
make no profit, at least I ought not to lose the honour of my
experiments.”--Watt to Small, 17th August, 1773. Boulton MSS.
To this letter Small replied, “The more I consider the propriety
of your publishing about steam, the more I wish you to publish.
Smeaton has only trifled hitherto, though he may perhaps
discover something. He told Boulton some time ago that the
circular engine would not do. He said he had considered it, and
was sure of this. As B. does not much respect his genius, this
had no effect.” Watt’s treatise was, however, never written; his
attention being shortly after fully occupied by other and more
engrossing subjects.
But before the experiment with the wheel-engine could be tried at Soho,
the financial ruin of Dr. Roebuck brought matters to a crisis. He was
now in the hands of his creditors, who found his affairs in inextricable
confusion. He owed some 1200_l._ to Boulton, who, rather than claim
against the estate, offered to take Roebuck’s two-thirds share in the
engine patent in lieu of the debt. The creditors did not value the engine
as worth one farthing, and were but too glad to agree to the proposal.
As Watt himself said, it was only “paying one bad debt with another.”
Boulton wrote to Watt requesting him to act as his attorney in the matter.
He confessed that he was by no means sanguine as to the success of the
engine, but, being an assayer, he was willing “to assay it and try how
much gold it contains.” “The thing,” he added, “is now a shadow; ’tis
merely ideal, and will cost time and money to realise it. We have made
no experiment yet that answers my purpose, and the times are so horrible
throughout the mercantile part of Europe, that I have not had my thoughts
sufficiently disengaged to think of new schemes.”[130]
[130] Boulton to Watt, 29th March, 1773. Boulton MSS.
So soon as the arrangement for the transfer of Roebuck’s share to Boulton
was concluded, Watt ordered the engine in the outhouse at Kinneil to be
taken to pieces, packed up, and sent to Birmingham.[131] Small again
pressed him to come and superintend the work in person. But before he
could leave Scotland it was necessary that he should complete the survey
of the Caledonian Canal, which was still unfinished. This done, he
promised at once to set out for Soho. In any case, he had made up his mind
to leave his own country, of which he declared himself “heart-sick.”[132]
He hated its harsh climate, so trying to his fragile constitution.
Moreover, he disliked the people he had to deal with. He was also badly
paid for his work, a whole year’s surveying having brought him in only
about 200_l._ Out of this he had paid some portion to Dr. Roebuck to help
him in his necessity, “so that,” he said, “I can barely support myself and
keep untouched the small sum I have allotted for my visit to you.”[133]
Watt’s intention was either to try to find employment as a surveyor or
engineer in England, or obtain a situation of some kind abroad. He was,
however, naturally desirous of ascertaining whether it was yet possible to
do anything with the materials which now lay at Soho; and with the object
of visiting his friends there and superintending the erection of the
trial-engine, he at length made his final arrangements to leave Glasgow.
We find him arrived in Birmingham in May, 1774, where he at once entered
on a new and important phase of his professional career.
[131] “As I found the engine at Kinneil perishing, and as it is
from circumstances highly improper that it should continue there
longer, and as I have nowhere else to put it, I have this week
taken it to pieces and packed up the ironwork, cylinder, and
pump, ready to be shipped for London on its way to Birmingham,
as the only place where the experiments can be completed with
propriety. I suppose the whole will not weigh above four tons.
I have left the whole of the woodwork until we see what we are
to do.”--Watt to Small, 20th May, 1773. Boulton MSS.
[132] In a letter to Small, Watt wrote, “I begin now to see
daylight through the affairs that have detained me so long, and
think of setting out for you in a fortnight at furthest. I am
monstrously plagued with my headaches, and not a little with
unprofitable business. I don’t mean my own whims: these I never
work at when I can do any other thing; but I have got too many
acquaintances; and there are too many beggars in this country,
which I am afraid is going to the devil altogether. Provisions
continue excessively dear, and laws are made to keep them so.
But luckily the spirit of emigrating rises high, and the people
seem disposed to show their oppressive masters that they can
live without them. By the time some twenty or thirty thousand
more leave the country, matters will take a turn not much to the
profit of the landholders.”--Watt to Small, 29th April, 1774.
Boulton MSS.
[133] Watt to Small, 25th July, 1773. Boulton MSS.