Page:Passages from the Life of a Philosopher.djvu/91

Rh Wellington intended to see the portion of the Engine which had been then made.

In November, 1829, the Duke of Wellington, accompanied by the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Goulburn) and Lord Ashley, saw the Model of the Engine, the drawings, and the parts in progress. On the 23rd of that month Mr. Babbage received a note from Mr. Goulburn, dated on the 20th, informing him that the Duke of Wellington and himself had recommended the Treasury to make a further payment towards the completion of the Machine; and that their Lordships had in consequence directed a payment of 3,000l. to be made to him. This letter also contained a suggestion about separating the Calculating from the Printing part of the Machine, which was repeated in the letter from the Treasury of the 3rd of December, 1829, communicating officially the information contained in Mr. Goulburn's private note, and stating that directions had been given—

"To pay to you the further sum of 3,000l., to enable you to complete the Machine which you have invented for the calculation of various tables; but I have to intimate to you that, in making this additional payment, my Lords think it extremely desirable that the Machine should be so constructed, that, if any failure should take place in the attempt to print by it, the calculating part of the Machine may nevertheless be perfect and available for that object."

Mr. Babbage inferred from this further grant, that Government had adopted his view of the arrangement entered into with the Chancellor of the Exchequer in July, 1823; but, to prevent the recurrence of difficulty from any remaining indistinctness, he wrote to Mr. Goulburn, stating that, before he received the 3,000l., he wished to propose some general arrangements for expediting the completion of the Engine, further notes of which he would shortly submit to him. On the 25th of November, 1829, he addressed a letter to Lord