Passages from the Life of a Philosopher

to two eminent Engineers, Messrs. Donkin and Field, who, at the request of Government, had undertaken to examine their accuracy. On these gentlemen certifying those bills to be correct, Mr. Babbage trans­mit­ted them to the Treasury; and after the usual forms, a warrant was issued directing the payment of the respective sums to Mr. Babbage. This course, however, required considerable time; and the Engineer having represented that he was unable to pay his workmen without more immediate advances, Mr. Babbage, to prevent delay in {82} completing the Engine, did himself, from time to time, advance from his own funds several sums of money; so that he was, in fact, usually in advance from 500 l. to 1,000 l. Those sums were, of course, repaid when the Treasury warrants were issued. Early in the year 1833, an event of great importance in the history of the Engine occurred. Mr. Babbage had directed a portion of it, consisting of sixteen figures, to be put together. It was capable of calculating Tables having two or three orders of differences; and, to some extent, of forming other Tables. The action of this portion completely justified the expectations raised, and gave a most sat­is­fac­tory assurance of its final success. The fire-proof building and workshops having been completed, arrangements were made for the removal of the Engine. Mr. Babbage finding it no longer convenient to make payments in advance, informed the Engineer that he should in future not pay him until the money was received from the Treasury. Upon receiving this intimation, the Engineer immediately discontinued the construction of the Engine, and dismissed the workmen employed on it; which fact Mr. Babbage immediately communicated to the Treasury. In this state of affairs it appeared, both to the Treasury and to Mr. Babbage, that it would be better to complete the removal of the drawings, and all the parts of the Engine to the fire-proof building; and then make such arrangements between the Treasury and the Engineer, respecting the future payments, as might prevent further discussion on that subject. After much delay and difficulty the whole of the drawings, and parts of the Engine, were at length removed to the fire-proof building in East-street, Manchester-square. Mr. Babbage wrote, on the 16th of July, 1834, to the Treasury, {83} informing their Lordships of the fact;—adding that no advance had been made in its construction for above a year and a quarter; and requesting further in­struc­tions on the subject. Mr. Babbage received a letter from the Treasury, expressing their Lordships’ sat­is­fac­tion at learning that the drawings, and parts of the Calculating Engine were removed to the fire-proof building, and stating that as soon as Mr. Clement’s Accounts should be received and examined, they would “Take into consideration what further proceedings may be requisite with a view to its completion.” A few weeks afterwards Mr. Babbage received a letter from the Treasury, conveying their Lordships’ authority to proceed with the construction of the Engine. During the time which had elapsed since the Engineer had ceased to proceed with the construction of the Engine, Mr. Babbage had been deprived of the use of his own drawings. Having, in the meanwhile, naturally speculated upon the general principles on which machinery for calculation might be constructed, a principle of an entirely new kind occurred to him, the power of which over the most complicated arithmetical operations seemed nearly unbounded. On re-examining his drawings when returned to him by the Engineer, the new principle appeared to be limited only by the extent of the mechanism it might require. The invention of simpler mechanical means for executing the elementary operations of the Engine now derived a far greater importance than it had hitherto possessed; and should such simp­li­fi­ca­tions be discovered, it seemed difficult to anticipate, or even to over-estimate, the vast results which might be attained. In the Engine for calculating by differences, such simp­li­fi­ca­tions affected only about a hundred and twenty {84} similar parts, whilst in the new or Analytical Engine, they would affect a great many thousand. The Difference Engine might be constructed with more or less advantage by employing various mechanical modes for the operation of addition: the Analytical Engine could not exist without inventing for it a method of mechanical addition possessed of the utmost simplicity. In fact, it was not until upwards of twenty different mechanical modes for performing the operation of addition had been designed and drawn, that the necessary degree of simplicity required for the Analytical Engine was ultimately attained. Hence, therefore, the powerful motive for simp­li­fi­ca­tion. These new views acquired additional importance, from their bearings upon the Engine already partly executed for the Government. For, if such simp­li­fi­ca­tions should be discovered, it might happen that the Analytical Engine would execute more rapidly the calculations for which the Difference Engine was intended; or, that the Difference Engine would itself be superseded by a far simpler mode of construction. Though these views might, perhaps, at that period have appeared visionary, both have sub­se­quent­ly been completely realized. To withhold those new views from the Government, and under such circumstances to have allowed the construction of the Engine to be resumed, would have been improper; yet the state of uncertainty in which those views were then necessarily involved rendered any written communication respecting their probable bearing on the Difference Engine a matter of very great difficulty. It appeared to Mr. Babbage that the most straightforward course was to ask for an interview on the subject with the Head of the Government, and to communicate to him the exact state of the case. {85} Had that interview taken place, the First Lord of the Treasury might have ascertained from his inquiries, in a manner quite impracticable by any written communications, the degree of importance which Mr. Babbage attached to his new inventions, and his own opinion of their probable effect, in superseding the whole or any part of the original, or Difference, Engine. The First Lord of the Treasury would then have been in a position to decide, either on the immediate continuation and completion of the original design, or on its temporary suspension, until the character of the new views should be more fully developed by further drawings and examination. There was another, although a far less material point, on which also it was desirable to obtain the opinion of the Government: the serious impediments to the progress of the Engine, arising from the Engineer’s conduct, as well as the consequent great expense, had induced Mr. Babbage to consider, whether it might not be possible to employ some other person as his agent for constructing it. His mind had gradually become convinced of the practicability of that measure; but he was also aware that however advantageous it might prove to the Government, from its greater economy, yet that it would add greatly to his own personal labour, responsibility, and anxiety. On the 26th of September, 1834, Mr. Babbage therefore requested an interview with Lord Melbourne, for the purpose of placing before him these views. Lord Melbourne acceded to the proposed interview, but it was then postponed; and soon after, the Administration of which his Lordship was the Head went out of Office, without the interview having taken place. For the same purpose, Mr. Babbage applied in December, {86} 1834, for an interview with the Duke of Wellington, who, in reply, expressed his wish to receive a written communication on the subject. He accordingly addressed a statement to his Grace, pointing out the only plans which, in his opinion, could be pursued for terminating the questions relative to the Difference Engine; namely, 1st. The Government might desire Mr. Babbage to continue the construction of the Engine, in the hands of the person who has hitherto been employed in making it. 2ndly. The Government might wish to know whether any other person could be substituted for the Engineer at present employed to continue the construction;—a course which was possible. 3rdly. The Government might (although he did not presume that they would) substitute some person to superintend the completion of the Engine instead of Mr. Babbage himself. 4thly. The Government might be disposed to give up the undertaking entirely. He also stated to the Duke of Wellington, the circumstances which had led him to the invention of a new Engine, of far more extensive powers of calculation; which he then observed did not supersede the former one, but added greatly to its utility. At this period, the impediments relating to the Difference Engine had been partially and temporarily removed. The chief difficulty would have been either the formation of new arrangements with the Engineer, or the appointment of some other person to supply his place. This latter alternative, which was of great importance for economy as well as for its speedy completion, Mr. Babbage had carefully examined, and was then prepared to point out means for its accomplishment. {87} The duration of the Duke of Wellington’s Administration was short; and no decision on the subject of the Difference Engine was obtained. On the 15th of May the Difference Engine was alluded to in the House of Commons; when the Chancellor of the Exchequer did Mr. Babbage the justice to state distinctly, that the whole of the money voted had been expended in paying the workmen and for the materials employed in constructing it, and that not one shilling of it had ever gone into his own pocket. About this time several communications took place between the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Mr. Babbage, respecting a reference to the Royal Society for an opinion on the subject of the Engine. A new and serious impediment to the possibility of executing one of the plans which had been suggested to the Duke of Wellington for completing the Difference Engine arose from these delays. The draftsman whom Mr. Babbage had, at his own expense, employed, both on the Difference and on the Analytical Engine, received an offer of a very liberal salary, if he would enter into an engagement abroad, which would occupy many years. His assistance was indispensable, and his services were retained only by Mr. Babbage considerably increasing his salary. On the 14th of January, 1836, Mr. Babbage received a communication from the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Spring Rice19 ), expressing his desire to come to some definite result on the subject of the Calculating Engine, in which he remarked, that the conclusion to be drawn from Mr. Babbage’s statement to the Duke of Wellington was, that he {88} (Mr. Babbage) having invented a new machine, of far greater powers than the former one, wished to be informed if the Government would undertake to defray the expense of this new Engine. The Chancellor of the Exchequer then pointed out reasons why he should feel himself bound to look to the completion of the first machine, before he could propose to Parliament to enter on the consideration of the second: and he proposed to refer to the Royal Society for their opinion, authorizing them, if they thought fit, to employ any practical mechanist or engineer to assist them in their inquiries. The Chancellor of the Exchequer concluded with expressing his readiness to communicate with Mr. Babbage respecting the best mode of attaining that result. From these statements it is evident that Mr. Babbage had failed in making his own views distinctly understood by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. His first anxiety, when applying to Lord Melbourne, had been respecting the question, whether the Discoveries with which he was then advancing might not ultimately supersede the work already executed. His second object had been to point out a possible arrangement, by which great expense might be saved in the mechanical construction of the Difference Engine. So far was Mr. Babbage from having proposed to the Government to defray the expenses of the new or Analytical Engine, that though he expressly pointed out in the statement to the Duke of Wellington20