Part 55 (2/2)
_Extract from Observations on the Patent Laws made by Mr. Brunel at a Meeting of the Society of Arts._
March 28, 1856.
He did not agree at all as to the advantages of patents. He quite agreed as to the desirability of protecting, as far as possible, a man's property, whether it was in the power of invention, or any other good thing that was within him, and still more would he protect in every possible way the property in inventions of those who possessed but little other property--the powers of the inventor and the ingenuity of the workman; but, having had some considerable experience with patentees, manufacturers, and workmen, he was of opinion that any practical benefits derived from the patent laws did not compensate for the injury inflicted. He believed, on the contrary, that both the inventors and the public greatly suffered from the attempt to protect inventions. He had had great experience on this subject, being compelled daily to examine inventions of various kinds, and having himself constantly to invent in the occupations in which he was engaged. Having, then, all his life, been connected with inventors and workmen, he had witnessed the injury, the waste of mind, the waste of time, the excitement of false hopes, the vast waste of money, caused by the patent laws, in fact, all the evils which generally resulted from the attempt to protect that which did not naturally admit of protection. He agreed as to the abstract desirability of protecting inventors in some way, provided it did not foster unhealthy invention, as he thought it desirable to protect every species of property that existed. He was disposed to encourage every step towards facilitating the obtaining patents; he hoped they would be made dirt cheap, as he thought that would be the most effectual way of destroying them altogether. Therefore, whenever he had been consulted on the subject of the patent laws, he had always advocated the rendering of patents as open and free and cheap as possible; in the first place, because he saw no reason for attaching a price to them, and next, because they would sooner arrive where the principle would be fully tested. We were already nearly arrived at that state of things when engineers were almost brought to a dead stand in their attempt to introduce improvements, from the excess of protection.
He found that he could hardly introduce the slightest improvement in his own machinery without being stopped by a patent. He could mention a striking instance, in which, a few months ago, wis.h.i.+ng to introduce an improvement that he thought would have been valuable to the public in a large work on which he was engaged, he had no sooner entered upon it, with a willingness to incur considerable expense in the preliminary requirements and in the trial of it, than he was stopped by a patentee; but he was fortunate enough to find that another patent existed of the same thing, and a week after a third appeared. There was thus, fortunately, a probability that, by the destruction of all value in any of the patents, he might be able to continue the improvements he was desirous of introducing.
CHAPTER XVII.
_PRIVATE LIFE._
REMINISCENCES OF MR. BRUNEL'S PRIVATE LIFE--REMOVAL TO 18 DUKE STREET, WESTMINSTER--HIS MARRIAGE, 1836--SPECIAL CONSTABLE IN 1848--MR. BRUNEL'S LOVE OF ART--HIS JOURNEY TO ITALY, 1842--ACCIDENT WITH THE HALF-SOVEREIGN, 1843--PURCHASE OF PROPERTY IN DEVONs.h.i.+RE, 1847--HIS LIFE AT WATCOMBE--THE LAUNCH OF THE 'GREAT EASTERN,' 1857--MR. BRUNEL'S FAILING HEALTH--JOURNEYS TO SWITZERLAND AND EGYPT, 1858--LETTER FROM PHILae (FEBRUARY 12, 1859)--HIS LAST ILLNESS--HIS DEATH (SEPTEMBER 15, 1859)--FUNERAL--ADDRESS OF JOSEPH LOCKE, ESQ., M.P., AT THE INSt.i.tUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS (NOVEMBER 8, 1859).
Under any circ.u.mstances, and by whomsoever made, the attempt to describe Mr. Brunel's home life must fail to satisfy those who knew him, and who remember him in the midst of his family or among his friends.
But those who did not know him, except as a professional man, or who are only acquainted with his works, will expect to find in these pages some account of his private life, and of the manner in which he spent those brief intervals of relaxation which he permitted himself to enjoy.
Although Mr. Brunel was never an idle man, he was able, until he obtained business on his own account, to enjoy many amus.e.m.e.nts from which in after life he was completely debarred.
This arose partly from his work under his father being near his own home and his friends, and partly from the power he possessed, and which never deserted him, of being able to throw aside cares and anxieties and to join with the utmost zest in pa.s.sing amus.e.m.e.nts.
The following letter, relating to this time, is written by one who was Mr. Brunel's constant companion during the period to which it refers:--
June 28, 1870.
'Dear Isambard Brunel,--I will endeavour to supply you with some reminiscences of your father, before he became a public man, and was engrossed by the very severe labour of his profession.
'The most striking feature in his character as a young man, and one which afterwards produced such great results, was an entire abnegation of self in his intercourse with his friends and a.s.sociates.
'His influence among them was unbounded, but never sought by him; it was the result of his love of fair play, of his uniform kindness and willingness to a.s.sist them, of the confidence he inspired in his judgment, and of the simplicity and high-mindedness of his character.
'From 1824 to 1832 he joined his friends in every manly sport; and when, after his accident at the Tunnel, he was obliged to withdraw from more violent exercise, he was still ready to co-operate in the arrangements required to give effect to whatever was in hand.
'Whether in boating, in pic-nic parties, or in private theatricals, he was always the life and soul of the party; for his skilful arrangements, as well as his never-failing invention and power of adaptation of whatever came to hand, made him the invariable leader in every amus.e.m.e.nt or sport in which he took part.
'To ensure the success of his friends in a rowing match against time, from London to Oxford and back, in 1828, he designed and superintended the building of a four-oared boat, which, in length and in the proportion of its length to its breadth, far exceeded any boat of the kind which had then been seen on the Thames.
'During that portion of the period to which these notes refer, when your father was engaged at the Tunnel works, the freshness and energy with which he joined in the amus.e.m.e.nts of his friends after many consecutive days and nights spent in the Tunnel--for frequently he did not go to bed, I might almost say, for weeks together--surprised them all.
'His power of doing without sleep for long intervals was most remarkable. He also possessed the power, which I have never seen equalled in any other man, of maintaining a calm and even temper, never showing irritation even when he was bearing an amount of mental and bodily fatigue which few could have sustained. His presence of mind and courage never failed him, and it was especially exhibited after the first irruption of water into the Tunnel, when he descended in the diving-bell to examine the extent of the disturbance of the bed of the river, and the injury, if any, which had been done to the brickwork.
'The bell could not be lowered deep enough, and he dropped himself out of the bell, holding on by a rope, and ascertained by careful examination that the brickwork was uninjured.
'He was several minutes in the water; and upon this fact being stated, many persons, and I think the officers of the Royal Humane Society, denied the possibility of his retaining his consciousness so long in the water, forgetting, which he did not, that his lungs were filled with air at two and a half atmospheres' pressure.
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