Further holograph draft on the examinations of Oadham and Brattell

Author: Isaac Newton

Source: MINT 19/1/95, National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK

Additional Information
- Notes on the Electronic Edition
  - You are currently reading the diplomatic version of this text. Diplomatic transcriptions offer a detailed representation of the document with minimal editorial intervention. All deletions and additions are rendered in the text and abbreviations have not been expanded. Switching to the normalized view of this text will hide 26 deletions, silently include 18 additions and apply 8 editorial regularizations.
- Revision History
  - 1 January 2001
    - Catalogue information compiled by Rob Iliffe, Peter Spargo & John Young
  - 29 September 2011
    - Catalogue exported to teiHeader by Michael Hawkins
  - 27 October 2016
    - Transcribed by Will Scott
  - 13 January 2017
    - Checked by Will Scott
- Download MINT00086.xml and schema (advanced users only)

<95r>

M^r Oadhams paper of reasons against M^r Brattel is full of mistakes. S^r Isaac Newton was the first man who proposed a trial between the Petitioners & never opposed or discouraged it or affirmed that M^r Brattel could not do the business of an Assaymaster without an Assistant, nor know of any hardships or impositions in the trial between them, nor of any Reference of M^r Oadhams Petition from the King to y^e Treasury, nor is the place of Assaymaster in the Kings gift of the Lords of the Treasury but in that of his Ma^ty who hath given it to M^r Brattel, & in all M^r Brattels paper of reasons there is not one reason for coiding the grant. The Act of 2 H. 6 doth not make it void\void the grant/, nor excludes the \Mint/ Master & Worker from joyning with his fellow Officers in recommending an Assaymaster. The Mint Master \He/ can make no advantage by bad assay & t|T|o recommend a good Assayer\one/ is as much his Duty as any mans & much more his interest \& concern/ because he \{illeg} can make no advantage by bad assays but/ may be ruined by a|th||e|/m\ bad one. And therefore his recommendation is more to be regarded \in point of impartiality/ then that of any other subject whatsoever.

M^r Oadham pretends that M^r Brattels incapacity & unfairness can be proved. But \Whereas/ upon the Trial between them, seven of M^r Brattels eight Assays of Gold agreed w^th one another without any sensible difference & the eighth differed from the rest only the twelft part of a grain: whilst some of M^r Oadham's gold Assays differed a quarter of a grain from on|th|e|rs| another & one of them erred two grains w^ch is three times the Remedy & 24 times \more then/ the greatest error of M^r Brattel: & M^r Brattel was also observed to het {sic} with more dexterity & dispatch then M^r Oadham. And |{illeg}as for the{illeg}|ir| {illeg}dit in point other qualifications it was then thought unadvisable {sic}| it was then thought unadvisable to venture the credit of the Mint upon a person who in his Apprentis-ship had neglected his Masters business to mind projects, & when his time was out, left his Trade to turn Broker, & to reject a person who with his brother had kept up & improved the credit of the Mint upon a person who in his Apprentisship had neglected his Masters business to mind Projects & when his time was out left his trade to buy & sell stocks, & was suspected to have sent a mess to M^r Brattel an Offer of the place for a summ of money, w^ch suspicion has been {inc}|con|firmed by increased by a late report of the same kind his talking lately to the same purpose, not to mention his carriage to the Officers of the Min in such a manner as is not to be born in an Assaymaster.