Note 190 — Chapter XIV · Financial Difficulties—Boulton in Cornwall—Attack and Defence of the Engine Patent.

On the 18th May, 1780, Watt wrote Boulton, then in London, as follows:—“I am sorry, my dear Sir, to prove in any shape refractory to what you desire, but my quiet, my peace of mind, perhaps my very existence, depend on what I have told you. I am unhappy in not having any person I can advise with on this subject; and my own knowledge of it is insufficient. Therefore, if I appear too rigid, do not blame me, but my ignorance and timidity.” And again, on the 19th, on returning the draft mortgage, he wrote:—“If my executing this deed cannot be dispensed with, I will do it, but will not execute any personal bond for the money. I would rather assign you all Cornwall on proper conditions than execute this.”