They further stated, that the progress which Mr Babbage had then made, considering the very great difficulties to be overcome in an undertaking of so novel a kind, fully equalled any expectations that could reasonably have been formed; and that although several years had elapsed since the commencement of the undertaking, yet when the necessity of constructing plans, sections, elevations, and working drawings of every part; of constructing, and in many cases inventing, tools and machinery of great expense and complexity, necessary to form with the requisite precision parts of the apparatus differing from any which had previously been introduced in ordinary mechanical works; of making many trials to ascertain the value of each proposed contrivance; of altering, improving, and simplifying the drawings;--that, considering all these matters, the Committee, instead of feeling surprise at the time which the work has occupied, felt more disposed to wonder at the possibility of accomplishing so much. The Committee expressed their confident opinion of the adequacy of the machinery to work under all the friction and strain to which it can be exposed; of its durability, strength, solidity, and equilibrium; of the prevention of, or compensation for, wear by friction; of the accuracy of the various adjustments; and of the judgment and discretion displayed by the inventor, in his determination to admit into the mechanism nothing but the very best and most finished workmanship; as a contrary course would have been false economy, and might have led to the loss of the whole capital expended on it. Finally, considering all that had come before them, and relying on the talent and skill displayed by Mr Babbage as a mechanist in the progress of this arduous undertaking, not less for what remained, than on the matured and digested plan and admirable execution of what is completed, the Committee did not hesitate to express their opinion, that in the then state of the engine, they regarded it as likely to fulfil the expectations entertained of it by its inventor. This report was printed in the commencement of the year 1829. From that time until the beginning of the year 1833, the progress of the work has been slow and interrupted. Meanwhile many unfounded rumours have obtained circulation as to the course adopted by Government in this undertaking; and as to the position in which Mr Babbage stands with respect to it. We shall here state, upon authority on which the most perfect reliance may be placed, what have been the actual circumstances of the arrangement which has been made, and of the steps which have been already taken.