Lives of Boulton and Watt by Samuel Smiles: Chapter 11

CHAPTER XI. BOULTON AND WATT - THEIR PARTNERSHIP.

Watt had now been occupied for about nine years in working out the details of his invention. These had passed since he had taken out his patent, and he was still struggling with difficulty. Several thousand pounds had been expended on the engine, besides much study, labour, and ingenuity yet it was still, as Boulton expressed it, "a shadow, as regarded its practical utility and value." So long as Watt's connexion with Roebuck continued, there was indeed very little chance of getting it favourably introduced to public notice. What it was yet to become as a working power depended in no small degree upon the business ability, the strength of purpose, and the length of purse of his new partner.

Had Watt searched Europe through, probably he could not have found a man better fitted than Matthew Boulton for bringing his invention fairly before the world. Many would have thought it rash on the part of the latter, burdened as he was with heavy liabilities, to engage in a new undertaking of so speculative a character. Feasible though the scheme might be, it was an admitted fact that nearly all the experiments with the models heretofore made had proved failures. It is true Watt firmly believed that he had hit upon the right principle, and he was as sanguine as ever of the eventual success of his engine. But though inventors are usually sanguine, men of capital do not take up their schemes on that account. Capitalists are rather disposed to regard sanguine inventors as visionaries, full of theories of what is possible rather than of well-defined plans of what is practicable and useful.

Boulton, however, amongst his many other gifts possessed an admirable knowledge of character. His judgment of men was almost unerring. In Watt he had recognised at his first visit to Soho, not only a man of original inventive genius, but a plodding, earnest, intent, and withal an exceedingly modest man; not given to puff, but on the contrary rather disposed to underrate the merit of his inventions. Different though their characters were in most respects, Boulton at once conceived a hearty liking for him. The one displayed in perfection precisely those qualities which the other wanted. Boulton was a man of ardent and generous temperament, bold and enterprising, undaunted by difficulty, and possessing an almost boundless capacity for work. He was a man of great tact, clear perception, and sound judgment. Moreover, he possessed that indispensable quality of perseverance, without which the best talents are of comparatively little avail in the conduct of important affairs. While Watt hated business, Boulton loved it. He had, indeed, a genius for business, a gift almost as rare as that for poetry, for art, or for war. He possessed a marvellous power of organisation. With a keen eye for details he combined a comprehensive grasp of intellect. While his senses were so acute, that when sitting in his office at Soho he could detect the slightest stoppage or derangement in the machinery - of that vast establishment, and send his message direct to the spot where it had occurred, his power of imagination was such as enabled him to look clearly along extensive lines of possible action in Europe, America, and the East. For there is a poetic as well as a commonplace side to business; and the man of business genius lights up the humdrum routine of daily life by exploring the boundless region of possibility wherever it may lie open before him.

Boulton had already won his way to the very front rank in his calling, honestly and honourably; and he was proud of it. He had created many new branches of industry, which gave regular employment to hundreds of families. He had erected and organised a manufactory which was looked upon as one of the most complete of its kind in England, and was resorted to by visitors from all parts of the world. But Boulton was more than a man of business: he was a man of culture, and the friend of cultivated men. His hospitable mansion at Soho was the resort of persons eminent in art, in literature, and in science and the love and admiration with which he inspired such men affords one of the best proofs of his own elevation of character. Among the most intimate of his friends and associates were Richard Lovell Edgeworth, a gentleman of fortune, enthusiastically devoted to his long-conceived design of moving land carriages by steam; Captain Keir, an excellent practical chemist, a wit and a man of learning; Dr. Small, the accomplished physician, chemist, and mechanist; Josiah Wedgwood, the practical philosopher and manufacturer, founder of a new and important branch of skilled industry; Thomas Day, the ingenious author of ‘Sandford and Merton’; Dr. Darwin, the poet-physician; Dr. Withering, the botanist; besides others who afterwards joined the Soho circle, — not the least distinguished of whom were Joseph Priestley and James Watt.

Boulton could not have been very sanguine at first as to the success of Watt's engine. There were a thousand difficulties in the way of getting it introduced to general use. The principal one was the difficulty of finding workmen capable of making it. Watt had been constantly worried by "villainous bad workmen," who failed to make any model that would go properly. It mattered not that the principle of the engine was right if its construction was beyond the skill of ordinary handicraftsmen, the invention was practically worthless. The great Smeaton was of this opinion. When he saw the first model working at Soho, he admitted the excellence of the contrivance, but predicted its failure, on the ground that it was too complicated, and that workmen were not to be found capable of manufacturing it on any large scale for general uses.

Watt himself felt that, if the engine was ever to have a fair chance, it was now and that if Boulton, with his staff of skilled workmen at command, could not make it go, the scheme must be abandoned henceforward as impracticable. Boulton must, however, have seen the elements of success in the invention, otherwise he would not have taken up with it. He knew the difficulties Watt had encountered in designing it, and he could well appreciate the skill with which he bad overcome them for Boulton himself, as we have seen, had for some time been occupied with the study of the subject. But the views of Boulton on entering into his new branch of business, cannot be better expressed than in his own words, as stated in a letter written by him to Watt in 1769, when then invited to join the Roebuck partnership:—

"The plan proposed to me," said he, "is so very different from that which I had conceived at the time I talked with you upon the subject, that I cannot think it a proper one for me to meddle with, as I do not intend turning engineer. I was excited by two motives to offer you my assistance - which were, love of you, and love of a money-getting ingenious project. I presumed that your engine would require money, very accurate workmanship, and extensive correspondence, to make it turn out to the best advantage; and that the best means of keeping up our reputation and doing the invention justice, would be to keep the executive part out of the hands of the multitude of empirical engineers, who, from ignorance, want of experience, and want of necessary convenience, would be very liable to produce bad and inaccurate workmanship all which deficiencies would affect the reputation of the invention. To remedy which, and to produce the most profit, my idea was to settle a manufactory near my own, by the side of our canal, where I would erect all the conveniences necessary for the completion of engines, and from which manufactory we would serve the world with engines of all sizes. By these means and your assistance we could engage and instruct some excellent workmen, who (with more excellent tools than would be worth any man's while to procure for one single engine) could execute the invention 20 per cent. cheaper than it would be otherwise executed, and with as great a difference of accuracy as there is between the blacksmith and the mathematical instrument maker."

He went on to state that he was willing to enter upon the speculation with these views, considering it well worth his while "to make engines for all the world," though it would not be worth his while "to make for three counties only;" besides, he declared himself averse to embark in any trade that he had not the inspection of himself. He concluded by saying, "Although there seem to be some obstructions to our partnership in the engine trade, yet I live in hopes that you or I may hit upon some scheme or other that may associate us in this part of the world, which would render it still more agreeable to me than it is, by the acquisition of such a neighbour."

Five years had passed since this letter was written, during which the engine had made no way in the world. The partnership of Roebuck and Watt had yielded nothing but vexation and debt until at last, fortunately for Watt - though at the time he regarded it as a terrible calamity — Roebuck broke down, and the obstruction was removed which had prevented Watt and Boulton from coming together. The latter at once reverted to the plan of action which he had with so much sagacity laid down in 1769; and he invited Watt to take up his abode at Soho until the necessary preliminary arrangements could be made. He thought it desirable, in the first place, to erect the engine, of which the several parts had been sent to Soho from Kinneil, in order, if possible, to exhibit a specimen of the invention in actual work. Boulton undertook to defray all the necessary expenses, and to find competent workmen to carry out the instructions of Watt, whom Boulton was also to maintain until the engine business had become productive.

The materials brought from Kinneil were accordingly put together with as little delay as possible; and, thanks to the greater skill of the workmen who assisted in its erection, the engine, when finished, worked in a more satisfactory manner than it had ever done before. In November, 1774, Watt wrote Dr. Roebuck, informing him of the success of his trials; on which the Dr, expressed his surprise that the engine should have worked at all, "considering the slightness of the materials and its long exposure to the injuries of the weather." Watt also wrote to his father at Greenock. "The business I am here about has turned out rather successful that is to say, the fire-engine I have invented is now going, and answers much better than any other that has yet been made and I expect that the invention will be very beneficial to me." Such was Watt's modest announcement of the successful working of the engine on which such great results depended.

Much, however, remained to be done before either Watt or Boulton could reap any benefit from the invention. Six years out of the fourteen for which the patent was originally taken had already expired and all that had been accomplished was the erection of this experimental engine at Soho. What further period might elapse before capitalists could be brought to recognise the practical uses of the invention could only be guessed at but the probability was that the patent right would expire long before such a demand for the engines arose as should remunerate Boulton and Watt for their investment of time, labour, and capital. And the patent once expired, the world at large would be free to make the engines, though Watt himself had not recovered one farthing towards repaying him for the long years of experiment, study, and ingenuity bestowed by him in bringing his invention to perfection. These considerations made Boulton hesitate before launching out the money necessary to provide the tools, machinery, and buildings, for carrying on the intended manufacture on a large scale and in the best style.

When it became known that Boulton had taken an interest in a new engine for pumping water, he bad many inquiries about it from the mining districts. The need of a more effective engine than any then in use was every year becoming more urgent. The powers of Newcomen's engine had been tried to the utmost. So long as the surface-lodes were worked, its power was sufficient to clear the mines of water but as they were carried deeper, it was found totally inadequate for the work, and many mines were consequently becoming gradually drowned out and abandoned. The excessive consumption of coals by the Newcomen engines was another serious objection to their use, especially in districts such as Cornwall, where coal was very dear. When Small was urging Watt to come to Birmingham and make engines, he wrote: "A friend of Boulton's, in Cornwall, sent us word a few days ago that four or five copper-mines are just going to be abandoned because of the high price of coals, and begs us to apply to them instantly. The York Buildings Company delay rebuilding their engine, with great inconvenience to themselves, waiting for ours. Yesterday application was made to me by a Mining Company in Derbyshire to know when you are to be in England about the engines, because they must quit their mine if you cannot relieve them." The necessity for an improved pumping power had set many inventors to work besides Watt, and some of the less scrupulous of them were already trying to adopt his principle in such a way as to evade his patent. Moore, the London linen draper, and Hatley, one of Watt's Carron workmen, had brought out and were pushing engines similar to Watt's the latter having stolen and sold for a considerable sum working drawings of the Kinneil engine.

From these signs Boulton saw that, in the event of the engine proving successful, he and his partner would have to defend the invention against a host of pirates; and he became persuaded that he would not he justified in risking his capital in the establishment of a steam-engine manufactory unless a considerable extension of the patent-right could be secured. To ascertain whether this was practicable, Watt proceeded to London in the beginning of 1775, to confer with his patent agent and take the opinion of counsel on the subject. Mr. Wedderburn, who was advised with, recommended that the existing patent should be surrendered, and in that use he did not doubt that a new one would be granted. While in London, Watt looked out for possible orders for his engine: "I have," he wrote Boulton, "a prospect of two orders for fire-engines here, one to water Piccadilly, and the other to serve the south end of Blackfriars Bridge with water. I have taken advice of several people whom I could trust about the patent. They all agree that an Act would be much better and cheaper, a patent being now £130, the Act, if obtainable, £110. The present patent has eight years still to rim, bearing date January, 1769. I understand there will be an almost unlimited sale for wheel-engines to the West Indies, at the rate of £100 for each horse's power."

Watt also occupied some of his time in London in superintending the adjustment of weights manufactured by Boulton and Fothergill, then sold in considerable quantities through their London agent. That he continued to take an interest in his old business of mathematical instrument making is apparent from the visits which he made to several well-known shops. One of the articles which he examined with most interest was Short's Gregorian telescope. At other times, by Boulton's request, he went to see the few steam-engines then at work in London and the neighbourhood, and make inquiries as to their performances. With that object he examined the engines at the New River, Hungerford, and Chelsea. At the latter place, he said, "it was impossible to try the quantity of injection, and the fellow told me lies about the height of the column of water." But Watt soon grew tired of London, "running from street to street all day about gilding," inquiring after metal-rollers, silver-platers, and button-makers. He did his best, however, to execute the commissions which Boulton from time to time sent him and when these were executed, he returned to Birmingham to confer with his friends as to the steps to be taken with respect to the patent. The result of his conferences with Boulton and Small was, that it was determined to take steps to apply for an Act for its extension in the ensuing session of Parliament.

Watt went up to London a second time for the purpose of having the Bill drawn. He had scarcely arrived there when the sad intelligence reached him of the death of Dr. Small. He had long been ailing, yet the event was a shock alike to himself and Boulton. The latter wrote Watt in the bitterness of his grief, "If there were not a few other objects yet remaining for me to settle my affections upon, I should wish also to take up my abode in the mansions of the dead." Watt replied, reminding him of the sentiments of their departed friend, as to the impropriety of indulging in unavailing sorrow, the best refuge from which was the more sedulous performance of duty. "Come, my dear sir," said he, "and immerse yourself in this sea of business as soon as possible. Pay a proper respect to your friend by obeying his precepts. I wait for you with impatience, and assure yourself no endeavour of mine shall be wanting to render life agreeable to you."

It had been intended to include Small in the steam-engine partnership on the renewal of the patent. He had been consulted in all the stages of the proceedings, and one of the last things he did was to draw up Watt's petition for the Bill. No settled arrangement had yet been made — not even between Boulton and Watt. Everything depended upon the success of the application for the extension of the patent.

Meanwhile, through the recommendation of his old friend Dr. Robison, then in Russia officiating as Mathematical Professor at the Government Naval School at Cronstadt, Watt was offered an appointment under the Russian Government, at a salary of about £1,000 a year. He was thus presented with a means of escape from his dependence upon Boulton, and for the first time in his life had the prospect before him of an income that to him would have been affluence. But he entertained strong objections to settling in Russia: objected to its climate, its comparative barbarism, and, notwithstanding the society of his friend Robison, to the limited social resources of St. Petersburg. Besides, Boulton's favours were so gracefully conferred, that the dependence on him was not felt for he made the recipient of his favours feel as if the obligation were entirely on the side of the giver. "Your going, to Russia staggers me," he wrote to Watt "the precariousness of your health, the dangers of so long a journey or voyage, and my own deprivation of consolation, render me a little uncomfortable; but I wish to assist and advise you for the best, without regard to self." The result was, that Watt determined to wait the issue of the application for the extension of his patent.

The Bill was introduced to Parliament on the 28th of February, 1775, and it was obvious from the first that, it would have considerable opposition to encounter. The mining interest had looked forward to Watt's invention as a means of helping them out of their difficulties and giving a new value to their property by clearing the drowned mines of water. They therefore desired to have the free use of the engine at the earliest possible period and when it was proposed to extend the patent by Act of Parliament, they set up with one accord the cry of "No monopoly." Up to the present time, as we have seen, the invention had been productive to Watt of nothing but loss, labour, anxiety, and headaches and it was only just that a reasonable period should be allowed to enable him to derive some advantage from the results of his application and ingenuity. But the mining interest took a different view of the matter. They did not see the necessity of recognising the rights of the inventor beyond the term of his existing patent, and they held that the public interests would suffer if the proposed "monopoly" were granted. Nor were they without supporters in Parliament, for among the most strenuous we find the name of Edmund Burke, — influenced, it is supposed, by certain mining interests in the neighbourhood of Bristol, which city he then represented.

There is no doubt that the public would have benefited by Watt's invention having been made free to all. But it was not for the public merely that Watt had been working at his engine for fifteen long years. He was a man of comparatively small means, and had been buoyed up and stimulated to renewed exertion during that time by the hope of ultimate reward in the event of its success. If labour could give a man a title to property in his invention, Watt's claim was clear. The condensing-engine had been the product of his own skill, contrivance, and brain-work. But there has always been a difficulty in getting the claims of mere brain-work recognised. Had he expended his labour in building a house instead of in contriving a machine, his right of property would at once have been acknowledged. As it was he had to contend for justice and persuade the legislature of the reasonableness of granting his application for an extension of the patent. In the "Case" which he drew up for distribution amongst the members of the Lower House, on the motion being carried for the recommittal of the Bill, he set forth that having, after great labour and expense extending over many years, succeeded in completing working engines of each of the two kinds he had invented. he found that they could not be carried into profitable execution without the further expenditure of large sums of money in erecting mills, and purchasing the various materials and utensils necessary for making them; and from the reluctance with which the public generally adopt new inventions, he was afraid that the whole term granted by his patent would expire before the engines should have cone into general use and any portion of his expenses be repaid:—

"The inventor of these new engines," said he, "is sorry that gentlemen of knowledge, and avowed admirers of his invention, should oppose the Bill by putting it in the light of a monopoly. He never had any intention of circumscribing or claiming the inventions of others; and the Bill is now drawn up in such a manner as sufficiently guards those rights, and must oblige him to prove his own right to every part of his invention which may at any time be disputed. . . . If the invention be valuable, it has been made so by his industry, and at his expense: he has struggled with bad health, and many other inconveniences, to bring it to perfection, and all he wishes is to be secured in the profits which he may reasonably expect from it, profits which he cannot obtain without an exertion of his abilities to bring it into practice, by which the public must be the greatest gainers, and which are limited by the performance of the common engines; for he cannot expect that any person will make use of his contrivance, unless he can prove to them that savings will take place, and that his demand for the privilege of using the invention will amount only to a reasonable part of them. _No man will lay aside a known engine, and stop his work to erect one of a new contrivance, unless he is certain to be a very great gainer by the exchange; and if any contrivance shall so far excel others as to enforce the use of it, it is reasonable that the author of such a contrivance should be rewarded."

These weighty arguments could not fail to produce an impression on the minds of all reasonable men, and the result was, that Parliament passed an Act extending. Watt's patent right for the further term of twenty-four years. Watt wrote Boulton on the 27th May,- "I hope to be clear to come away by Wednesday or Thursday. I am heartily sick of this town and fort ennuyee since you left it. Dr. Roebuck is likely to get an order, out of Smeaton's hands, for an engine in Yorkshire that, according to Smeaton's calculation, will burn £1,200 per annum in coals. But this has had one bad effect. It has made the Doctor repent of his bargain and wish again to be upon the 1-10th [profits]; but we must see to keep him right if possible, so don't vex yourself about it." Dr. Roebuck had been finally settled with before the passing of the Act. It had been arranged that Boulton should pay him £1,000 out of the first profits arising from his share in the engine, making about £2,200 in all paid by Boulton to Roebuck for his two- thirds of the patent.

Watt returned to Birmingham to set about the making of the engines for which orders had already been received. Boulton had been busily occupied during his absence in experimenting on the Soho engine. A new 18-inch cylinder had been cast for it at Bersham by John Wilkinson, the great ironfounder, who had contrived a machine for boring it with accuracy. This cylinder was substituted for the tin one brought from Kinneil, and other improvements having been introduced, the engine was again set to work with very satisfactory results. Watt found his partner in good spirits; not less elated by the performances of the model than by the passing of the Act; and arrangements were at once set on foot for carrying on the manufacture of engines upon an extensive scale. Applications for terms, followed by orders, shortly came in from the mining districts; and before long the works at Soho were resounding with the clang of hammers and machinery employed in manufacturing steam-engines for all parts of the civilised world.

See Also

• Lives of Boulton and Watt by Samuel Smiles
• Lives of Boulton and Watt by Samuel Smiles: Chapter 10
• Lives of Boulton and Watt by Samuel Smiles: Chapter 12