Another holograph memorandum attacking Oadham as a projector Isaac Newton c. 2,816 words The Newton Project Oxford 2017 Newton Project, University of Oxford

This text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

 c. August 1713, c. 2,816 words.

None of the bullion merchants supporting his claim is of any significance: only six of his backers have ever sent gold to the Mint, and that on a small scale.

Preceded by a draft from the Principia on Kepler's second law.

 MINT 19/1/98-9, National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK UKSurreyKew, RichmondNational Archives MINT 19/1/98-9 c. August 1713 England English Latin Holograph MintPersonnel and Administration Catalogue information compiled by Rob Iliffe, Peter Spargo & John Young Catalogue exported to teiHeader by Michael Hawkins Transcribed by Will Scott Checked by Will Scott
9857

pag 101. Nat centro O, intervallo OA describatur semicirculus AQB rectæ LP so opus est productæ iccureus in Q, jungantur SQ, OQ, quarum OQ producta occurrat arcui EFG in F, et in candem OQ demittatur per pendiculum SR. Area APS Iam area APS est ut area AQS, id est, ut differentia inter sectorem OQA et triangulum OQS, sive ut differentia rectangulorum 12OQ, × AQ et 12OQ × SR, hoc est, ob datam 12OQ, ut differentia inter arcum AQ et rectam SR, adio (ob a qualitatem datarum rationum SR ad sinum areus AQ OS ad OA, OA ad OG, AQ ad GF, et divisim AQ − SR ad GF − sin. arc. AQ) ut GR − sin. arc. AQ.

AQ, 12OQ − 12St, 12OQ = ▯AQS = temp = ∠st, st= AQ − St. qx = ST. qT.qO :: zx. A=qr= Rad − sin SOT − 12qr × SOR.R :: zx. qr accuratius. R − SOR×cosin qA − 12qr. R :: zx . qr. R2SO − cosin qA − 12qr . R2SO :: zx . qr. R. cs: O :: SO.OT. R.STsin: 0 :: SO.ST=qx qz − qx = zx. // qr.zx :: R2SO . R2SO − cosin qA − 12qr. MrMr Oadham The Memorialist represents that the Act of 2 Hen. VI 12 wchwhich saith ytthat the Assaymaster ought to be a person indifferent between the MrMaster &of yethe Mint & yethe Merchant, is for him makes for himOadham is in Oadhams favour & yet at the same time Oadhams aActs like a person very much biassedset against the Officers of the Mint, & the Officers of the Mint under whom he is to act have no opinion of him. 1. He The Memorialist saith that the AQueens Assaymaster is a cheque upon the Officers of yethe Mint, whereas not knowing that on the on the contrary thethe Comptroller is a cheque upon the whole Mint & all the Officers of the Mintthree first three first Officers of the Mint are a cheque upon the Queens Assaymaster. For he preforms his assays by their trial pieces & in their presence & wthwithout their approbation his assays are of no force. Here In overseeing his Assays the Warden & Comptroller act in behalf of the Queen & her people & the Master acts for himself. And the Assaymaster is to act wthwith skill & sincerity to yethe satisfaction of the Officers of both both parties. For its easy for an Assayer to give a turn to yethe assay of a qterquarter of a grain or an halfpenny wtweight or above for or against the Master. And if any such thing be suspected the Assayer must repeat his Assay till the Officers of yethe Mint (espectially the Comptrollers) are satisfied of his candor acting wthwith skill & candor. 2. It was right therefore for the Lord H.High TrearerTreasurer to referr the four Petitioners to a trial before the Officers of the Mint as the proper judges of their qualifications in point of skill. [Amd it was wrong for Mr Oadham after he had the tried to appeale from the Officers of the Mint to other the judgment of other persons.] When he Mr Oadham was tried, some of his assays dtaken from the same piece of gold differed from others a quarter of a grain, & on of them erred two grains which is a Guinea in a pound weight, whereas all Mr Brattles Gold assays agreed wthwith one another perfectly, except one wchwhich differed from the rest butonly about the 12th part of a grain. And almost all the coinage is in gold. Mr Oadham has desired another trial. Had he ack acknowledged the fairness of the former trial & that he had since been learning to assay better & was now grown more skilful then before, I shouldanother triall might have denyed been against another trialgranted him without reflexion upon yethe Mint. But he has reducedreflected upon the Officers of the Mint & pretends to have learnt his skill from his Masterlong ago in his apprenticeship., & appeals from the former trial. to a new one wchwhich iscannot be granted without a reflexion upon the Officers of the Mint. 2 THhe Memorialist saith that the Mr Brattle being under the direction of the Officers of the Mint hath acted partially. whereasWhereasBut this is The Warden & Comptroller act for the Queen in behalf of the Mr Importer & do not wantunder their direction thedo not the assistance of Assayer is wchwhich is to find fault wthwith the very constitution of the Mint. ✝✝ Whereas Mr BrattFor the Master by the Indenture of the Mint he receives the moneyis authorized to receive the bullion by his own assays & for that end is allowed a triall piece & an Assaymaster of his own & all the assays of the bullion receivedimported are the Masters assays & it or & the assayer in making them acts as his Deputy & is under his direction. And as its the Masters duty & interest to coin the money by hisby his own trial piece as exactly as he can so he hath given MrMr Cha Brattel no other directions to the contrary, nor any other directions ynthan theose by wchwhich the money has been coyned being induring the last two years of Mr Daniel Brattels life, & for wchwhich the Master has been acquitted by a Iury, the money coined by those directions being found exactly of the standard & that Trial piece. If any ImportersAnd now after the the trial of the Pix upon entring upon thea new coinage of a new parcel he has ordered the first parcel of money to be assayed by the Trial piece to see if it to see if any thing can be mended. Mr Oadham to cheque the Master. If any Importer hath foundthinks himself agrieved he hath an appear to the Wardens tTrial piece. If And without an Appeal, Mr Oadham would not be able himself tho he were the Queens Assayer would not be able to remedy the pretended grievance. For yethe Queens Assayer by vertue of his office hath nothing to do with the business between the MrMaster & the Merchant unless in cases of appeal. But if after the M the Importer at any time think himself aggrieved by the Masters assays, he hath an Appeal to an Assay by the Wardens triel piece And wthwithout an appeal Mr Oadham himself theif he were the >MrsMasters Deputy Queens AssayrAssayermaster coul would not be able to remedy the pretended grievance. For the Queens Assayer hath nothing to do between the Master & the Merchant makes in cases of Appeal by vertue of his Office unless in cases of appeal. To err within the remedy is no crime but only creates a debtrecconing.. If the money upon the trial be found too coarse it may put the Master in debt to her MatyMajesty & if it be fou afterwards found too fine it may put the Master in her MatyMajesty allowss the excess of fineness back to the Master without & if some part be a little too fine & some part as much too coarse so that it bein discharge of that one part wthwith another it be standard th& if without treating him as a criminal. There is no crime in the case but only a recconing founded upon a contract between the Queen & the Master. [And where the Question is only about me & a recconing the Importer makes no appeal, where the Warden & Controller who are cheques upon the Master in behalf of the Queen & her people find no fault where the Iury has acquitted the Master, for pfor private persons, who have neither Importers nor have anything to do with the Mint. ought not have no right to fto find fault is to make the business of the Mint difficult if not impracticable. If the Mr Oadham thinks that the Importers have been injured, why did he not advise them to appeale? why doth he not now advise them to it [ought not to molest him him & the other Officers of yethe Mint. lest they make the business of the Mint in practicable] have not right to molest him.] If the Master should err by design provided it be within the remedy, the only punishment before the trial of the Pix its that he be at yethe charge of recoining the money before delivery; but if he errs wthwithout design he is not obliged to be at that charge unless the error exceed the remedy. But If he gets by that error he is whether it be hishe is obliged upo yethe triall of the Pix to refund his profit, if he loses by it the Crown retunsreturns his loss. Nor where the Question is only about a recconing, where the Importer b makes no appeal, where the Warden & Comptroller who are cheque upon yethe MrMaster in behalf of the Queen & her people find no fault, where the Iury has acquitted the Master: he ought not to be molested by person at the suggestion by Mr Oadham or his friends who have nothing to do with the Mint. 3 When Mr Oadham had a trial of his skill before the Officers of the Mint, some of his Assays taken from one & the same piece of Gold differed from others a quarter of a grain & one of them erred two grains wchwhich is the of a Guinea in a pound weight, or three times the Remedy. Whereas all Mr Brattles Assays agreed perfectly wthwith one another except one wchwhich differed from the rest only about the twelft part of a grain wchwhich is but the eighth part of of the rRemedy. And almost all the coinage is in gold. 4 Mr Oadham haswas offered a longer trial and& did not then desire it but has since desired another trial. Had he acknowledged the fairness of the first trial, he & that he had since been learning to assay better & was now grown more skilfull then before, there might his Petition his request might have been granted him without a reflexion upon the Mint: but he pretends to have learnt his skill long ago when he was an Apprentice in his Apprenticeship, & has appealed from the former trial to a new one.Report of the Officers of the Mint. upon the trial made before the And now in opposition to that Report produces a99 certificate of his skill. Th skill in all the parts of Assaying signed by Merchants & Goldmsiths.Plate workers & shopkeeping Goldsmiths who trust the Assays of the Hall. He should have brought a certificate of persons noted for skills in assaying & who had seen him make a competent number of successive Assays whereby they could judge of his skill. Importers are not judges notnot of his skill ofin Assaying, butThey are judges only whether they will trust him wthwith their Gold & Silver. For the credit of the Mint for encouraging the coinage is here to be considered. Among those that have signed his Mr Oadhams certicatecertificate there areI meet with only six persons who have within these three years have imported bullion into forreign bullion into the Mint. One of them has imported Gold to yethe value of 10 thten thousand pounds & & he is the only importer of any note. The other five have all together imported only 4000li: whereas the Importers who signed a certificate of Mr Brattels a (as I am credibly informed for I have not seen the certificate) have imported above three quarters of the 1100000lieight or nine hundred thousand pounds within these three within these three years; & all the Importers so far as I can learn trust Mr BattleBrattle wthwithout any wthwith their bullion wthwithout any scruple. But Mr Oadhams credit is not yet established among them. certificate of his skill in assaying signed by Merchants & Goldsmiths but wchwhich if well considered destroys it self. for itfor itit Few of his subscribers have any business wthwith the Mint, & it doth not appear that any of thies subscribers are are men of noted for skill in assaying, or ever met together to see him make a competent number of Assays successive Assays whereby they might be able to judge of his skill. The Importers are not proper judges not of the skill of an Assayer but of his credit or whether they will freely trust him with their bullion. Amongst his subscribers there are only six who have imported gold wthinwithin these three years & the all of them together have imported only to the value of about 14 thousand pounds: whereas the Importers who have signed a cCertificate or Petition for Mr Brattle (as I am credibly informed, for I have not seen it) have imported to yethe value of 8 or 9 hundered thousand pounds within that time. All the Importers trust Mr Brattle freely wthwith their bullion, by but Mr Oadhams credit is not yet established among them. And the credit of the Mint for encouraging the coinage is not yet established among depends in some measure upon the credit ofwhich the Assay mrmaster amonghath with yethe Importers. 5 The Memorialist insinuatessuggests that Mr. Brattle being under the directions of yethe Officers of yethe Mint, hath acted partially, He Oa Mr Oadham is last winter above a year ago was at effortsprojecting to be made supervisor & is still so fond of supervising in the Mint. & checking the Officers & getting the Mint management of the coinage valuation of the bullions & moneys into his power that he is now attempting to throw out yethe present Officers rather then not succeed. But the Officers have the Verdict of a Iury on their side. The assays of yethe money & the trial piece of K. IJames in that triall agreed exactly at yethe ballance. BT What directions have been given by the Officers the Lord H.High Treasurer has been told by the Master.. Those directions were followed by the Queens late AssaymarAssaymaster two years together before his death, & were no other then to coin by the trial piece of King IJames. The Assaymaster The Assaym Queens Assaymaster has no trial piece of his own but by the constitution of the Mint is bound to follow the directions of the Officers in Assaying by their trial pieces. And after the Officers have been aquitted by a Iury To err within the remedy is no crime; it only creates a recconing between the Queen & the Master for whatso far as the Master may have got or lost by the error, & if the error be under a quarter of a grain it uses to be neglected & creates not so much as a recconing. I And after the money hath been found right by a Iury, the Officers have a legal right to be quiet & ought not to be molested by Mr Oadham or his friends. 6 The Memorialist commends Mr Oadham for R being skilled in the Refiners art. Why then did he not set up of his trade? What made him turn projector. Refining & Assaying gave a manual trades. & But th The Memorialist saith further that Mr Oadham is well skilled also in yethe business of the Mint & may be very service able upon the greatest occasions. Which is an insction &makes it suspicious that he designes not to set upbe content wthwith the Assaymasters business but is alredy projecting to make that Post a step to something highter. Assaying & rRefining & assaying are manual trades & such trades are never closely followed by Projectors. At this his uby projecting humour made him leave his Refiners trade so it will never suffer him to stay long in that of an R Assayer. nor to act steadily whilequietly diligently & steadily while he is in it. The The Memorialist saith further that the statute of 2 H. 6, c. 12, wchwhich saith that the Assaymaster ought to be a person indifferent between the Master of the Mint & the Merchant is in Mr Oadham's favour. And yet Mr Oadham hath the approbation of neither part & acts like a per but sets himself against the Officers of yethe Mint & endeavours to get the place by an interest forreign to both parties. By that statute if any question should arise about the valuation of bullion wchwhich cannot be decided wthwithout the Queens AssaymrAssaymaster the business of th coynage must stop till there be an AssaymrAssaymaster. 8. The Officers of the Mint have given their opinion in this matter & leave it entirely to her MatyMajesty to put in what AssaymrAssaymaster she thinks fit.