THE

MINER’S FRIEND;

OR,

TO

RAISE WATER BY FIRE,

DESCRIBED.

AND OF THE MANNER OF FIXING IT IN MINES;

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE SEVERAL OTHER USES IT
IS APPLICABLE UNTO; AND AN

ANSWER TO THE OBJECTIONS MADE AGAINST IT.

BY

THOMAS SAVERY, Gent.

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—————

LONDON: PRINTED FOR S. CROUCH, AT THE CORNER
OF POPE’S HEAD-ALLEY IN CORNHILL. 1702.
——
Reprinted, 1827.

LONDON:
Printed by W. Clowes.
Stanford-street

TO THE KING.

—————

SIR,
Your Majesty having been graciously pleased to permit an experiment before you at Hampton-court, of a small model of my engine described in the following treatise, and at that time to show a seeming satisfaction of the power and use of it; and having most graciously enabled me, by your royal assent to a patent and act of parliament, to pursue and perfect the same. By which your royal encouragement, it being now fully completed, and put in practice in your dominions with that repeated success and applause, that it is not to be doubted but it will be of universal benefit and use to all your Majesty’s subjects. Of whom, your Majesty being the universal patron and father, all arts and inventions that may promote their good and advantage, seem to lay a just and natural claim to your Majesty’s sacred protection.

It is upon this consideration I am encouraged, with a profound respect, to throw this performance of mine, with the author, at your Majesty’s royal feet, most humbly beseeching your Majesty, that, as it had birth in your Majesty’s auspicious reign, you will vouchsafe to perpetuate it to future ages by the sanction of your royal approbation, which is the utmost ambition of,

TO THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

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At the request of some of your members, at the weekly meeting, at Gresham-college, June the 14th, 1699, I had the honour to work a small model of my engine before you, and you were pleased to approve of it. Since which I have met with great difficulties and expense, to instruct handicraft artificers to form my engine according to my design; but my workmen, after so much experience, are become such masters of the thing, that they oblige themselves to deliver what engines they make me exactly tight and fit for service, and as such I dare warrant them to any body that has occasion for them.

Your kindness in countenancing this invention in its first appearance in the world, gives me hopes the usefulness of it will make it more acceptable to your honourable Society, as they are the most proper judges of what advantage it may be to mankind. And it would be ungrateful in me not to make use of this opportunity to return you my most humble and hearty thanks for the honour and favour you did me in approving my design, and publishing it to the world,* which shall be always acknowledged by

TO THE

GENTLEMEN ADVENTURERS

IN THE

MINES OF ENGLAND.

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I am very sensible a great many among you do as yet look on my invention of raising water by the impellent force of fire, a useless sort of a project, that never can answer my designs or pretensions; and that it is altogether impossible that such an engine as this can be wrought under ground, and succeed in the raising of water, and draining your mines, so as to deserve any encouragement from you. I am not very fond of lying under the scandal of a bare projector; and, therefore, present you here with a draught of my machine, and lay before you the uses of it, and leave it to your consideration whether it be worth your while to make use of it or no. I can easily give grains of allowance for your suspicions, because I know very well what miscarriages there have been by people ignorant of what they pretend to. These I know have been so frequent, so fair and promising at first, but so short of performing what they pretended to, that your prudence and discretion will not now suffer you to believe any thing without a demonstration, your appetites to new inventions of this nature having been balked too often; yet, after all, I must beg you not to condemn me, before you have read what I have to say for myself; and let not the failures of others prejudice me, or be placed to my account. I have often lamented the want of understanding the true powers of nature, which misfortune has, of late, put some on making such vast engines and machines, both troublesome and expensive, yet of no manner of use, inasmuch as the old engines, used many ages past, far exceeded them; and I fear, whoever, by the old causes of motion, pretends to improvements within this last century, does betray his knowledge and judgment; for more than an hundred years since, men and horses would raise by engines, then made, as much water as they have ever since done, or I believe ever will, or according to the law of nature ever can do; and though my thoughts have been long employed about water-works, I should never have pretended to any invention of that kind, had I not happily found out this new, but yet a much stronger and