General, to exhibit my petition to the King, to grant me 1804. a patent for this novel introduction. Sir Vicary, after passing many compliments on the invention, said, that, in a moral point of view, he could not advise his Majesty to grant his royal letters patent for this beautiful invention. He thought it might get into improper hands, and encourage the unlawful practice of gambling; but, he observed, that in the hands of the well-disposed, and in private society, it would be very acceptable with the back-gammon table. He should be obliged to me, if I manufactured them for this class of persons, to let him have two of them. I presented Mr. Watt with the first. "Dear Sir, "Heathfield, Jan. 5, 1804. "I received your kind note on Saturday, accompanied with your very ingenious dice-box, and feel myself very much obliged by your kind offer of it as a present; which, however, I hope you will excuse me from accepting in that light, not being conscious of having merited it, and that you will allow me to settle for it when we meet, which I hope will be soon. "Mrs. W. and myself should have done ourselves the honour of calling upon you and Mrs. Thomason before now, but have been hindered by bad weather and indifferent health, which at present confines Mrs. Watt to her room; she, however, desires to join me in wishing to you and Mrs. Thomason many happy years, and that success which your ingenuity so well merits. "I remain, dear Sir, "Your obliged servant, James Walt 1804. At this period, his Royal Highness the Prince Regent visited Cheltenham, and some one of the noble guests who passed through my manufactory was shewn the novelty, and imparted the same to the Prince. The consequence was that Colonel M'Mahon wrote to me, by the command of his Royal Highness, for six of them, which I was enabled to forward by the same evening's coach. This flattering order gave me the gratification of first placing his Royal Highness's name in my ledger ; a circumstance I did not omit, on proper opportunities, to notice. It gave, however, eclat to the invention in the proper society, and I withheld, for years, sending any of them to my agent in London, but kept them solely at my own establishment. Although the invention was left open, no one, to my surprise, followed me in making them. I kept two persons almost constantly at work at them, and they were sold as fast as they were made. In July, 1804, Joseph Robley, Esquire, the then Governor of Tobago, brought me a letter of recommendation. It was of that description that I gave up two days to introduce him to many of the principal manufacturers, whose establishments he visited, and with whom he had much conversation respecting the amount of wages, &c. Mr. Robley said, "I am directed to visit your manufactories in Birmingham, and to note down the average wages of each class or kind of manufacture paid the operatives, their mode of living, their moral and religious acquirements, their hours of work, and apparent state of happiness." It was at this period that Mr. Wilberforce was addressing the Parliament, night after night, in a strain of unequalled eloquence for the abolition of the slave trade. I was, in common, I believe, with my towns men, a strong advocate and great admirer of the prin- 1804. ciples which actuated Mr. Wilberforce's philanthropy, and I was aware that the Governor entertained a different opinion. On his quitting his hotel, on the 24th of July, he addressed to me the following letter, which may exhibit the opinions, perhaps, entertained by the Governors of the West India Islands, and the obstacles Mr. Wilberforce and his friends in Parliament had to contend with : "Dear Sir, "Birmingham, "Swan Inn, Tuesday, 24th July, 1804. "I hope Mrs. Thomason and yourself did not take cold at the Theatre last night, and that the young gentleman is well, and in a singing humour this morning. "As the Slave Trade is not only of very great importance to the inhabitants of the West India Islands, but also to the commerce of Great Britain, even so much so as, in my opinion, the loss of the trade of those islands would absolutely affect the revenue of Great Britain, as well as its naval power, it has always astonished me that the question on that subject should have been brought forward now, with the dreadful example of the effects of similar principles at Saint Domingo before the eyes of the House of Commons, and with almost an avowal of these canting abolitionists not to stop at abolishing the trade to Africa, but to proceed on to emancipation. I think the pamphlet which I have now the honour to send you is well written, and completely answers the most favourite arguments of these misguided abolitionists. At your leisure, will you do me the favour to read it? And, if you approve it, let such of your friends as you may think proper peruse it 1804. also, for I am convinced that every effort which can be made ought to be tried to thwart the diabolical views of these canting hypocrites in the House of Commons, as I am certain they intend to bring in the bill again the next session. "I now send Mrs. Thomason the Yorkshire Concert, which has much humour when sung by Emery. "My niece unites in compliments to Mrs. Thomason; and I remain, "Dear Sir, "Your very obliged and obedient humble servant, Joseph Robley "Mr. Thomason." Governor of Tobago. 1805. During this year, Elfi Bey, the chief of the Mamelukes, visited my works, and, amongst his jewellery, he had a piece of amber with a fly in its claw, and for which I exchanged with him some pieces of jewellery. During the years 1804 and 1805, I was one of the captains of the Birmingham Volunteers, accepted by me in a spirit of loyalty to my sovereign; and, like numerous others, in November, 1805, finding that it interfered with the attendance essential to my manufactory, I resigned, when I received the following letter: 66 66 Sandwell, Nov. 1, 1805. Sir, I beg to express my regret that your other avocations will not allow you to retain your commission in the L. B. V. "I am, Sir, your obedient servant, Dartmouth "To Edward Thomason, Esq., Every young mechanician has, probably, turned his 1805. thoughts to that desideratum of inventions-"the perpetual motion," by the large premiums offered by our Government and others, and the merit there would be in obtaining that motion, which was by older heads deemed impracticable. I entered the arena, and, after many experiments, had reason to hope that I should be successful. I went to some expense in erecting the machinery, which, upon trial, proved abortive. This invention, and putting up of the mechanism on a proper scale for trial, took many months, and the trial was not made until May, 1806. In December, 1806, the Count Lorentz, the Danish 1806. Chargé des Affaires in London, came to Birmingham, to offer a partnership with him in the new patent, which he had just taken out, of the instantaneous light, which was effected by the decomposition of zinc with muriatic acid, placed in a small bottle, and the gas generated was carried by a small tube under a water bath, which water bath compressed the gas, and forced it to escape through the same mouth by the turning of the handle, and coming in contact with an electric wire, while the very action of the turning of the same handle moved two metallic plates. I informed the Count that I did not choose to become a partner with any one, but I had no objection to purchase it, if I approved of the price. He was to inform me of his ultimate determination in a few weeks. There was much merit in the invention, but, like all others, unless such a machine can be managed by a servant, it will operate against its sale. On the 4th of April, 1807, the Count wrote me the following letter respecting his patent, and, like most other inventors, (commonly called by the operatives, schemers) furnished |