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409] of success had brought upon him. In another letter he says: "My anxieties are heartbreaking. My services in Ireland have never been recognized or rewarded. Some accuse me of madness; others call me fanciful." Invited by a friend to embark in a commercial enterprise for colonizing Tobago, he refused, because he feared that those in power might accuse him of being a malcontent. He strongly resented the criticism excited by his works. It was a matter of much annoyance to him that some of his writings were printed against his wish, and others he was not allowed to publish by those in authority.

19 Petty is characterized by Pepys and Evelyn in the following way:

Pepys' "Diary," vol. ii, 88. "William Petty, who in discourse is, methinks, one of the most rational men that ever I heard speak with a tongue."

Evelyn, ii, p. 96. "There is not a better Latin poet living when he gives himself that diversion; nor is his excellence less in council and prudent matters of state; but he is so exceeding nice in sifting and examining all possible contingencies, that he adventures at nothing which is not demonstration. There was not in the whole world his equal for a superintendent of manufacture, and improvement of trade, or to govern a plantation. If I were a Prince, I should make him my second Counsellor at least. There is nothing difficult to him."

20 A story current in Petty's family and communicated to Ward, the author of the "Lives of the Gresham Professors," is preserved in some