. . "wherefore I am contented that I have assisted all
my poor relations, and put many into a way of getting their own
bread; have laboured in public works; and by inventions have sought
out real objects of charity; and I do hereby conjure all who
partake of my estate, from time to time, to do the same at their
peril. Nevertheless to answer custom, and to take the surer side,
I give 20l. to the most wanting of the parish wherein I die." He
was interred in the fine old Norman church of Romsey--the town
wherein he was born a poor man's son--and on the south side of the
choir is still to be seen a plain slab, with the inscription, cut
by an illiterate workman, "Here Layes Sir William Petty."
Another family, ennobled by invention and trade in our own day, is
that of Strutt of Belper. Their patent of nobility was virtually
secured by Jedediah Strutt in 1758, when he invented his machine
for making ribbed stockings, and thereby laid the foundations of a
fortune which the subsequent bearers of the name have largely
increased and nobly employed. The father of Jedediah was a farmer
and malster, who did but little for the education of his children;
yet they all prospered. Jedediah was the second son, and when a
boy assisted his father in the work of the farm.
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