Page:A Letter on the Subject of the Cause (1797).djvu/62

 frequently heard on an occaſion I have before mentioned: viz. fool, blockhead, ſhoemaker, water-cloſet maker, &c. Thus, I ſay again, my Lord, I am kicked out of their premiſes loaded with all this; and what is ſtill worſe, the loſs of all that former reputation I might perhaps have very juſtly merited from my undertakings. Was this my real, inſtead of imaginary ſituation, I am confident none would be more ready, or more able to give me every aſſiſtance under the misfortune than your Lordſhip.

What I have above related cannot be denied or diſproved; yet, your Lordſhip’s underſtanding, and that of many eminent and practical Engineers have been again and again inſulted, by being told that no proportion either in the pump or condenſer is abſolutely neceſſary; when the very perſons who venture to make this aſſertion muſt be conſcious, that the diſproportion I have ſtated was the very rock on which they always ſplit, and which occaſioned a conſtant and fatal failure in all their firſt attempts. Many years ſubſequent to the commencement of this buſineſs, every Engine they erected was more or leſs defective from this very blunder; and I have myſelf ſeen the beſt Engines made by them, until within theſe ſeven years, obliged to ſtop every