Thesamerestrictionsalikeaffectedtheoperationsoftheglassmanufacture,which,withtheaidofforeignartisans,hadbeengraduallyestablishedinEngland,andwasbecomingathrivingbranchoftrade。Itwasevenproposedthatthesmeltingofironshouldbeabsolutelyprohibited:”manythink,”saidacontemporarywriter,”thatthereshouldbeNOWORKSANYWHERE——theydosodevourthewoods。”
Theuseofiron,however,couldnotbedispensedwith。Theveryfoundationsofsocietyresteduponanabundantsupplyofit,fortoolsandimplementsofpeace,aswellasforweaponsofwar。Inthedearthofthearticleathome,asupplyofitwasthereforesoughtforabroad;andbothironandsteelcametobeimportedinlargely-increasedquantities。ThisbranchoftradewasprincipallyinthehandsoftheSteelyardCompanyofForeignMerchants,establishedinUpperThamesStreet,alittleaboveLondonBridge;andtheyimportedlargequantitiesofironandsteelfromforeigncountries,principallyfromSweden,Germany,andSpain。ThebestironcamefromSpain,thoughtheSpaniardsontheirpartcovetedourEnglishmadecannons,whichwerebettermanufacturedthantheirs;whilethebeststeelcamefromGermanyandSweden。*
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Aslateas1790,longafterthemonopolyoftheforeignmerchantshadbeenabolished,Pennantsays,”ThepresentSteelyardisthegreatrepositoryofimportediron,whichfurnishesourmetropoliswiththatnecessarymaterial。Thequantityofbarsthatfillstheyardsandwarehousesofthisquarterstrikeswithastonishmentthemostindifferentbeholder。”——PENNANT,AccountofLondon,309。
Underthesecircumstances,itwasnaturalthatpersonsinterestedintheEnglishironmanufactureshouldturntheirattentiontosomeotherdescriptionoffuelwhichshouldserveasasubstitutefortheprohibitedarticle。Therewasknowntobeanabundanceofcoalinthenorthernandmidlandcounties,anditoccurredtosomespeculatorsmorethanusuallydaring,toproposeitasasubstituteforthecharcoalfuelmadefromwood。Butthesamepopularprejudicewhichexistedagainsttheuseofcoalfordomesticpurposes,preventeditsbeingemployedforpurposesofmanufacture;andtheywerethoughtveryfoolishpersonsindeedwhofirstpromulgatedtheideaofsmeltingironbymeansofpit-coal。Theoldmanufacturersheldittobeimpossibletoreducetheoreinanyotherwaythanbymeansofcharcoalofwood。Itwasonlywhenthewoodintheneighbourhoodoftheironworkshadbeenalmostentirelyburntup,thatthemanufacturersweredriventoentertaintheideaofusingcoalasasubstitute;butmorethanahundredyearspassedbeforethepracticeofsmeltingironbyitsmeansbecamegeneral。
ThefirstwhotookoutapatentforthepurposewasoneSimonSturtevant,aGermanskilledinminingoperations;theprofessedobjectofhisinventionbeing”toneale,melt,andworkeallkindofmetaloares,irons,andsteeleswithsea-coale,pit-coale,earth-coale,andbrushfewell。”Theprincipalendofhisinvention,hestatesinhisTreatiseofMetallica,*
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STURTEVANT’SMetallica;brieflycomprehendingtheDoctrineofDiverseNewMetallicalInventions,&c。ReprintedandpublishedattheGreatSealPatentOffice,1858。
istosavetheconsumptionandwasteofthewoodsandtimberofthecountry;and,shouldhisdesignsucceed,heholdsthatit”willprovetobethebestandmostprofitablebusinessandinventionthateverwasknownorinventedinEnglandthesemanyyeares。”Hesayshehasalreadymadetrialoftheprocessonasmallscale,andisconfidentthatitwillproveequallysuccessfulonalargeone。Sturtevantwasnotveryspecificastohisprocess;butitincidentallyappearstohavebeenhispurposetoreducethecoalbyanimperfectcombustiontotheconditionofcoke,therebyriddingitof”thosemalignantproprietieswhichareaversetothenatureofmetalliquesubstances。”
Thesubjectwastreatedbyhim,aswascustomaryinthosedays,asagreatmystery,madestillmoremysteriousbythemultitudeoflearnedwordsunderwhichheundertooktodescribehis”IgnickInvention”Alltheoperationsofindustrywerethentreatedassecrets。Eachtradewasacraft,andthosewhofolloweditwerecalledcraftsmen。Eventhecommoncarpenterwasahandicraftsman;andskilledartisanswere”cunningmen。”Butthehigherbranchesofworkweremysteries,thecommunicationofwhichtootherswascarefullyguardedbytheregulationsofthetradesguilds。Althoughtheearlypatentsarecalledspecifications,theyinrealityspecifynothing。Theyareforthemostpartbutamerehazeofwords,fromwhichverylittledefiniteinformationcanbegleanedastotheprocessespatented。ItmaybethatSturtevanthadnotyetreducedhisideatoanypracticablemethod,andthereforecouldnotdefinitelyexplainit。
Howeverthatmaybe,itiscertainthathisprocessfailedwhentriedonalargescale,andSturtevant’spatentwasaccordinglycancelledattheendofayear。
Theidea,however,hadbeenfairlyborn,andrepeatedpatentsweretakenoutwiththesameobjectfromtimetotime。Thus,immediatelyonSturtevant’sfailurebecomingknown,oneJohnRovenzon,whohadbeenmixedupwiththeother’sadventure,appliedforapatentformakingironbythesameprocess,whichwasgrantedhimin1613。His’TreatiseofMetallica’*
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ReprintedandpublishedattheGreatSealPatentOffice,1858。
showsthatRovenzonhadatrueconceptionofthemethodofmanufacture。Neverthelesshe,too,failedincarryingouttheinventioninpractice,andhispatentwasalsocancelled。Thoughthesefailureswereverydiscouraging,likeexperimentscontinuedtobemadeandpatentstakenout,——principallybyDutchmenandGermans,*
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Amongtheearlypatentees,besidesthenamesofSturtevantandRovenzon,wefindthoseofJordens,Francke,SirPhillibertVernatt,andotherforeignersoftheabovenations——
butnodecidedsuccessseemstohaveattendedtheireffortsuntiltheyear1620,whenLordDudleytookouthispatent”formeltingironore,makingbar-iron,&c。,withcoal,infurnaces,withbellows。”
ThispatentwastakenoutattheinstanceofhissonDudDudley,whosestorywegatherpartlyfromhistreatiseentitled’MetallumMartis,’andpartlyfromvariouspetitionspresentedbyhimtotheking,whicharepreservedintheStatePaperOffice,anditrunsasfollows:——
DudDudleywasbornin1599,thenaturalsonofEdwardLordDudleyofDudleyCastleinthecountyofWorcester。Hewasthefourthofelevenchildrenbythesamemother,whoisdescribedinthepedigreeofthefamilygivenintheHerald’svisitationofthecountyofStaffordintheyear1663,signedbyDudDudleyhimself,as”Elizabeth,daughterofWilliamTomlinsonofDudley,concubineofEdwardLordDudley。”
Dud’seldestbrotherisdescribedinthesamepedigreeasRobertDudley,Squire,ofNethertonHall;andashissistersmostlymarriedwell,severalofthemcountygentlemen,itisobviousthatthefamily,notwithstandingthatthechildrenwerebornoutofwedlock,heldagoodpositionintheirneighbourhood,andwereregardedwithrespect。LordDudley,thoughmarriedandhavinglegitimateheirsatthetime,seemstohaveattendedtotheup-bringingofhisnaturalchildren;educatingthemcarefully,andafterwardsemployingtheminconfidentialofficesconnectedwiththemanagementofhisextensiveproperty。Duddescribeshimselfastakinggreatdelight,whenayouth,inhisfather’siron-worksnearDudley,whereheobtainedconsiderableknowledgeofthevariousprocessesofthemanufacture。
ThetownofDudleywasalreadyacentreoftheironmanufacture,thoughchieflyofsmallwares,suchasnails,horse-shoes,keys,locks,andcommonagriculturaltools;anditwasestimatedthattherewereabout20,000smithsandworkersinironofvariouskindslivingwithinacircuitoftenmilesofDudleyCastle。But,asinthesoutherncounties,theproductionofironhadsufferedgreatdiminutionfromthewantoffuelinthedistrict,”thoughformerlyamightywoodlandcountry;andmanyimportantbranchesofthelocaltradewerebroughtalmosttoastand-still。Yettherewasanextraordinaryabundanceofcoaltobemetwithintheneighbourhood——coalinsomeplaceslyinginseamstenfeetthick——ironstonefourfeetthickimmediatelyunderthecoal,withlimestoneconvenientlyadjacenttoboth。Theconjunctionseemedalmostprovidential——”asif。”observesDud,”Godhaddecreedthetimewhenandhowthesesmithsshouldbesupplied,andthisislandalso,withiron,andmostespeciallythatthiscoleandironstoneshouldgivethefirstandjustoccasionfortheinventionofsmeltingironwithpit-cole;”though,aswehavealreadyseen,allattemptsheretoforemadewiththatobjecthadpracticallyfailed。
DudwasaspecialfavouriteoftheEarlhisfather,whoencouragedhisspeculationswithreferencetotheimprovementoftheironmanufacture,andgavehimaneducationcalculatedtoenablehimtoturnhisexcellentpracticalabilitiestoaccount。HewasstudyingatBaliolCollege,Oxford,intheyear1619,whentheEarlsentforhimtotakechargeofanironfurnaceandtwoforgesinthechaseofPensnetinWorcestershire。Hewasnosoonerinstalledmanageroftheworks,than,feelinghamperedbythewantofwoodforfuel,hisattentionwasdirectedtotheemploymentofpit-coalasasubstitute。
Healteredhisfurnaceaccordingly,soastoadaptittothenewprocess,andtheresultofthefirsttrialwassuchastoinducehimtopersevere。ItisnowherestatedinDudDudley’sTreatisewhatwastheprecisenatureofthemethodadoptedbyhim;butitismostprobablethat,inendeavouringtosubstitutecoalforwoodasfuel,hewouldsubjectthecoaltoaprocesssimilartothatofcharcoal-burning。TheresultwouldbewhatiscalledCoke;andasDudleyinformsusthathefolloweduphisfirstexperimentwithasecondblast,bymeansofwhichhewasenabledtoproducegoodmarketableiron,thepresumptionisthathissuccesswasalsoduetoanimprovementoftheblastwhichhecontrivedforthepurposeofkeepinguptheactivecombustionofthefuel。Thoughthequantityproducedbythenewprocesswascomparativelysmall——notmorethanthreetonsaweekfromeachfurnace——Dudleyanticipatedthatgreaterexperiencewouldenablehimtoincreasethequantity;andatalleventshehadsucceededinprovingthepracticabilityofsmeltingironwithfuelmadefrompit-coal,whichsomanybeforehimhadtriedinvain。
Immediatelyafterthesecondtrialhadbeenmadewithsuchgoodissue,DudwrotetohisfathertheEarl,theninLondon,informinghimwhathehaddone,anddesiringhimatoncetoobtainapatentfortheinventionfromKingJames。Thiswasreadilygranted,andthepatentNo。18,datedthe22ndFebruary,1620,wastakenoutinthenameofLordDudleyhimself。
DudproceededwiththemanufactureofironatPensnet,andalsoatCradleyinStaffordshire,whereheerectedanotherfurnace;andayearafterthepatentwasgrantedhewasenabledtosenduptotheTower,bytheKing’scommand,aconsiderablequantityofthenewironfortrial。Manyexperimentsweremadewithit:itsqualitieswerefairlytested,anditwaspronounced”goodmerchantableiron。”Dudadds,inhisTreatise,thathisbrother-in-law,RichardParkshouse,ofSedgeley,*
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