the towing of great ships both against wind and tide; and another
for the raising of ballast, which, as unperforming engines, had the
honour of being made, exposed, tried, and laid by before the prince
died.

If thus we introduce it into the world under the conduct of that
prince, when he died it was left a hopeless brat, and had hardly any
hand to own it, till the wreck-voyage before noted, performed so
happily by Captain Phips, afterwards Sir William, whose strange
performance set a great many heads on work to contrive something for
themselves. He was immediately followed by my Lord Mordant, Sir
John Narborough, and others from several parts, whose success made
them soon weary of the work.

The project of the Penny Post, so well known and still practised, I
cannot omit, nor the contriver, Mr. Dockwra, who has had the honour
to have the injury done him in that affair repaired in some measure
by the public justice of the Parliament. And, the experiment
proving it to be a noble and useful design, the author must be
remembered, wherever mention is made of that affair, to his very
great reputation.

It was, no question, a great hardship for a man to be master of so
fine a thought, that had both the essential ends of a project in it
(public good and private want ), and that the public should reap the
benefit and the author be left out; the injustice of which, no
doubt, discouraged many a good design. But since an alteration in
public circumstances has recovered the lost attribute of justice,
the like is not to be feared. And Mr. Dockwra has had the
satisfaction to see the former injury disowned, and an honourable