discountenancing every foreigner who does not come avowedly to have an engine.”[175] [174] M. Perrier, of Paris, ordered an engine early in 1779, and the materials were despatched to Nantes by the end of May in the same year. The engine was erected by M. Jary at a colliery near Nantes, but the fitting was so bad--the steam-case having been forgotten--that it went only four strokes per minute. As Boulton and Watt sought a patent for France, it was necessary in the first place that Commissioners should certify that the new engine was superior to the common engine. This they could not do, and the patent was not secured. Watt feared that there was “a plot” against him; as Perrier immediately proceeded with a manufacture of steam-engines after the alleged invention of M. Betancourt, though this “invention” turned out to be a close copy of the engine M. Betancourt himself had imported from Soho. Their principal reliance, however, was necessarily on home orders, and these came in satisfactorily. Eight more engines were wanted for Cornwall, those already at work continuing to give satisfaction. Inquiries were also made about pumping engines for collieries in different parts of England. But where coals were cheap, and the saving of fuel was of less consequence, the patentees were not solicitous for orders unless the purchasers would fix a fair sum for the patent right, or rate the coals used at a price that would be remunerative in proportion to the savings effected. The orders were, indeed, becoming so numerous, that the firm, beginning to feel their power, themselves fixed the annual royalty, though it was not always so easy to get it paid. [175] Watt to Boulton, 27th January, 1779. Boulton MSS. The working power of Watt himself was but limited. He still continued to suffer from intense headaches; and, as all the drawings of new engines were made by his own hands, it was necessary in some measure to limit the amount of work undertaken. “I beg,” he wrote to his partner in May, 1779, relative to proposals made for two new engines, “that you will not undertake to do anything for them before Christmas. It is, in fact, impossible, at least on my part; I am quite crushed.” But he was not always so dispirited, for in the following month we find him writing Boulton an exultant letter, announcing orders for three new engines from Cornwall.[176] [176] The following is Watt’s letter, written in a very unusual style:--