[124] Small to Watt, 17th September, 1770. Boulton MSS.
Small again recurred to the subject of Watt’s removal to Birmingham, informing him that he had provided accommodation for him, “having kept a whole house in my power, in hopes you may come to live here.”
Watt’s prospects were, however, brightening. He was then busily occupied in superintending the construction of the Monkland Canal. He wrote Small that he had a hundred men working under him, who had “made a confounded gash in a hill,” at which they had been working for twelve months; that by frugal living he had contrived to save money enough to pay his debts, and that he had plenty of remunerative work before him. He had also become concerned in a pottery, which, he said, “does very well, though we make monstrous bad ware.”[126] He had not, indeed, got rid of his headaches, though he was not so much afflicted by low spirits as he had been. But he confessed that after all he hated the business of engineering, and wished himself well rid of it, for the reasons stated in a preceding chapter.
[125] Watt to Small, 20th October, 1770. Boulton MSS.
[126] He then held an eighth share in the pottery, which brought him in about 70_l._ a year clear.
This comparatively prosperous state of Watt’s affairs did not, however, last long. The commercial panic of 1772 put a sudden stop to most of the canal schemes then on foot. The proprietors of the Monkland Canal could not find the necessary means for carrying on the works, and Watt consequently lost his employment as their engineer. He was thus again thrown upon the world, and where was he to look for help? Naturally enough, he reverted to his engine. But it was in the hands of Dr. Roebuck, who was overwhelmed with debt, and upon the verge of insolvency. It was clear that no help was to be looked for in that quarter. Again he bethought him of Small’s invitations to Birmingham, and of the interest that Boulton had taken in the engine scheme. Could he be induced at last to become a partner? He again broached the subject to Small, telling him how business had failed him; that he was now ready to go to Birmingham and engage in English surveys, or do anything that would bring him in an honest income. But, above all, would Boulton and Small, now that Roebuck had failed, join him as partners in the engine business?