Oeuvres complètes. Tome IV. Correspondance 1662-1663

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N^o 1095.
A. Bruce à Christiaan Huygens.
26 janvier 1663.

La lettre se trouve à Leiden, coll. Huygens.

London 16/26 Januar 1663.

Sir

Jf J hade bethought my self (last tyme J did write¹⁾) that yow understand so perfectly the English language J hade neither put yow nor my self to the trouble we were at, yow to unterstand my ill french & J to write it. Henceforth J am resolved to intertaine yow in this language but if yow thinke the french more easy for yow to write then the English yow may chuse what yow thinke best for J am indifferent to both as to the understanding of either. J am glade to find yow no more discouraged then my self at the tryell J made of the watches in comeing hither for J will assure yow, that no storme lett it be never so violent can so schake a great shippe as the packetboat was in the little wind we hade in comeing over. for yow can hardly imagin that any vessell can have so suift a motion as that hade so that the watch which did not fall did schake from syde to syde lyke a pendule it self & with that violence that J wonder it did not fall doune lyke wise. J have not yet gott hither all the peeces belonging to them but J expect them to morow and then J shall show them to Sir Robert Moray & lett yow know their opinions of them. J thinke the best preventive yow can use that others do not gett the preference of the invention will be to acquaint your acquaintances of the thing & to desyre that it may not be graunted to any other till the thing be put to a tryell, for to aske any thing till it be perfected J do not so well approve, but J shall submitte to your better judgement & the knowlege yow may have of things & persones in that place.

there is one here²⁾ who pretends to find the Longitude by the moone³⁾ but that J suppose will be of so difficult observatione that it will not be usefull. to tell yow stories of all that passes at our meetings were to write a volume, some experiment they do trye evry day but they are not allwayes of great consequence & sometymes not perfected. J shall acquaint them with what yow so civily speake of them. They desyrd of me an accompt⁴⁾ of what is performed by mills in Holland either wind mills or water mills and so farre as J could remember J

1) Consultez la Lettre N^o. 1090.

2) Probablement Thomas Streete (voir la Lettre N^o. 851, note 14).

3) Une proposition de Th. Streete sur les longitudes fut lue dans la séance de la Société Royale du 12 novembre 1662 (Vieux style).

4) A. Bruce lut un rapport sur les moulins à vent de la Hollande dans la séance de la Société Royale du 7 janvier 166⅔ (Vieux style).

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gave them a list of all the sorts that J hade seen but wold not undertake to give any descriptione of them. Yet they prayed me to strive to get one for them so that if yow could persuade Monsieur Bleau to write a description of them & print it with the figurs (a project yow know we were upon when J was in Hollad), it wold be a very noble worke & worthy of yow & very acceptable to the Royale Society. J am

Sir

Your most humble & faithfull servant A. Bruce.

A Monsieur

Monsieur Christian Hugens de Zulichem

a la Hay

Hollande.

jβ

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