Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 39.djvu/76

 much credit. Among other statements was one to the effect that Morland boasted that he had 'poisoned Cromwell in a posset, and that Thurloe had a lick of it, which laid him up for a great while' (State Papers, Dom. 1661, p. 232). Pepys originally conceived a low opinion of Morland from the adverse rumours that were circulated about him ; but when he heard his own account of his transactions with Thurloe and Willis 'began to think he was not so much a fool' as he had taken him to be.

The king made him liberal promises of future preferment, but these were for the most part unfulfilled, in consequence, as Morland supposed, of the enmity of Lord-chancellor Hyde. However, he was on 18 July 1660 created a baronet, being described as of Sulhampstead-Bannister, although it does not appear very clearly whether he was in possession of the manor or of any considerable property in the parish (, Extinct Baronetcies, 1844, p. 371). He was also made a gentleman of the privy chamber; but this appointment, he says, was rather expensive than profitable, as he was obliged to spend 450l. in two days on the ceremonies attending the coronation. He obtained, indeed, a pension of 500l. on the post-office (State Papers, Dom. 1661-2, pp. 64, 69), but his embarrassments obliged him to sell it, and, returning to his mathematical studies, he endeavoured by various experiments and the construction of machines to earn a livelihood. In 1666 he obtained, in conjunction with Richard Wigmore, Robert Lindsey, and Thomas Culpeper, a probably remunerative patent 'for making metal fire-hearths' (ib. 1666, pp. 434, 588). From a correspondence between Morland and Dr. Pell it appears that about this same time (1666) the former had intended to publish a work 'On the Quadrature of Curvilinear Spaces,' and had actually proceeded to print part of it, but was happily persuaded by Pell to lay it aside {Birch MS. 4279 ; cf. Lansd. MS. 751, f. 399).

In carrying out his experiments in hydrostatics and hydraulics he encountered many difficulties in consequence of their expense. On 12 Dec. 1672 the king granted to him the sum of 2501. to defray the charges of about five hundred looking-glasses 'to be by him provided and sett up in Ollive wood frames for our special use and service,' as well as an annuity of 300l., 'in considerac'ion of his keepinge and mainteyneing in constant repaire a certain private printing presse. . . which by our Especial Order and Appointment he hath lately erected and sett up' (Gent. Mag. April 1850, p. 394).

In 1677 he took a lease for twenty-one years of a house at Vauxhall, on the site subsequently occupied by Vauxhall Gardens. On the top of this house was a Punchinello holding a dial (, Surrey, i. 12). In 1681 he was appointed 'magister mechanicorum' to the king, who in recognition of his ingenuity presented him with a medallion portrait of himself, set in diamonds, together with a medal as 'an honorable badge of his signal loyalty' (, Numismata, p. 141). In October 1684 the king advanced him 200l., and a year later Morland received a similar sum by way of 'bounty' (, Secret Services of Charles II and James II, Camd. Soc., pp. 91, 112). About 1684 he removed to a house near the waterside at Hammersmith, which was afterwards tenanted by Dr. Bathie, and was known in 1813 as Walbrough House. According to his own account, his mechanical experiments pleased the king's fancy ; but when he had spent 500l. or 1,000l. upon them, he received sometimes only half, and sometimes only a third, of the cost.

In 1682 Charles II sent him to France 'about the king's waterworks,' but there also he seems to have lost more than he gained. On his return James II restored to him his pensions, which had been for some reason withdrawn, and likewise granted him part of the arrears, but Morland was never repaid the expenses of the engine which he had constructed for bringing water from Blackmore Park, near Winkfield, to the top of Windsor Castle. During 1686 Morland was corresponding with Pepys about the new naval gun-carriages. In 1687 his pension was paid down to Ladyday 1689 (ib. p. 178).

In 1689 be addressed a long letter to Archbishop Tenison, giving an account of his life, and concluding with a declaration that his only wish was to retire and spend his life 'in Christian solitude;' and he begs the primate's 'helping hand to have his condition truly represented to his Majesty.' Tenison probably did something for him, as there is a letter of thanks for 'favours and acts of charity,' dated 5 March 1695. The errors of his life were probably considerable, as he speaks of having been at one time excommunicated ; but some of his writings show that he was a sincere penitent, particularly 'The Urim of Conscience,' London, 1695, 8vo, written, as the title says, 'in blindness and retirement.' He lost his sight about three years before his death. Evelyn, in his 'Diary' (25 Oct. 1695), gives an interesting glimpse of him : 'The archbishop and myself went to Hammersmith to visit Sir Samuel Morland, who was entirely blind ; a very mortifying sight. He showed us his invention