110
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF THE LATE
Tliis cause was tried before the Lord Justice General Boyle,and occupied the court for the unparalleled length of time of tensuccessive days. An immense mass of evidence was adduced inthe course of the proceedings, by both pursuers and defenders,for and against the claims of Mr. Neilson, as the original inven-tor of the process for smelting by means of the “ Hot Blastand every quirk and quibble which the law admits of, had recourseto, by the defenders, in order to overset the patent. The trial,however, terminated on the 20th of May, in a verdict for thepatentees in all the issues tried; the Jury at the same timeassessing the damages as follows, viz.:—For profits, L.4,86716s.; and for other damages, L.7000.
This decision of the court led to a compromise between thepatentees and their various antagonists, on terms which thelatter must have been sensible were sufficiently lenient, whilstthey, at the same time, were calculated to vindicate the outragedfeelings and insulted honour of the patentees, and to act as awarning to their opponents, one and all, in time coming, toresist the solicitations of any “ demon,” who might “ whisper ”to them the temptation of breaking a patent, whether the lureheld out were the gratification of a degree of avarice scarcelycredible, or the indulgence of a fiendish and unnatural desire towither the hand that had raised them from the dust.*
* On the 30tli of January, 1840, Henry Warburton , Esq., M.P., writes as fol-lows, to Charles Macintosh , Esq., F.R.S. :—
“ * * * I was sorry to learn that the Scotch iron masters, who owe you
so immense a debt of gratitude for having preserved them from total destruction,are about to give you trouble by disputing your patent for the ‘ Hot Air Blast.’This is the expensive tribute that is always paid to the merit of great manufactur-ing discoveries ; they are sure to be disputed, sooner or later.—Believe me, mydear Sir,
“ Your thorough wellwisher and friend,
It was proved in evidence, that the profits realized by the Messrs. Bairds, between1839, and October, 1842, by the use of the “Hot Blast,” at their works, amountedto JJ400,000 ! ! !
The following list may here be thought to be possessed of interest :—
“ HOT BLAST.”
Counsel for the Pursuers.
Andrew Butherfurd, Esq.
Bean of Faculty, (Robertson,) now Lord Robertson.
Solicitor-General, (Anderson).
John Inglis, Esq.
Aoents.
Messrs. G. & G. Dunlop, W.S.; and