the second inventor, whether
Thomas Highs, Arkwright or John Kay (a clockmaker of Warrington who
assisted Arkwright to construct his machine and is said by some to have
told him of an invention by Highs), did not hit upon the device afresh
in ignorance of the work already done. Even as between Paul and Wyatt it
is not easy to award due measure of praise. Probably the invention, as a
working machine, resulted from real collaboration, each having an
appreciable share in it. Robert Cole, in his paper to the British
Association in 1858 (reprinted as an appendix to the 1st ed. of French's
_Life of Crompton_), championed the claims of Paul, but Mantoux, in his
_La Revolution industrielle au XVIII^e siecle_, after studying the
Wyatt MSS., inclines to attribute to Wyatt a far more important
position, though he dissents from the view of Baines, who ascribes
little or nothing to Paul.

Arkwright's prospects of financial success were much greater than those
of his predecessors, because, first, there was more need in his time of
mechanical aids, and secondly, he was highly talented as a business man.
In 1775 he followed up his patent of 1769 with another relating to
machinery for carding, drawing and roving. The latter patent was widely
infringed, and Arkwright was compelled to institute nine actions in 1781
to defend his rights. An association of Lancashire spinners was formed
to defend them, and by the one that came to trial the patent was set
aside on the ground of obscurity in the specifications. Arkwright again
attempted to recover his patent rights in 1785, after the first patent
had been in abeyance for two years. Before making this further trial of
the courts he had thought of proceeding by petition to parliament, and
had actually drawn up his "case," which he was ultimately dissuaded from
presenting. In it he prayed not only that the decision of 1781 should be
set aside, but that both patents should be continued to him for the
unexpired period of the second patent, i.e. until 1789. In his "case"
(i.e. the petition mentioned above) Arkwright stated that he had sold to
numbers of adventurers residing in the different counties of Derby,
Leicester, Nottingham, Worcester, Stafford, York, Hertford and
Lancaster, many of his patent machines, and continued: "Upon a moderate
computation, the money expended in consequence of such grants (before
1782) amounted to at least L60,000. Mr Arkwright and his partners also
expended in large