CLOSING YEARS OF JAMES WATT--HIS DEATH--CONCLUSION.
The fragile and sickly Watt outlived the most robust of his
contemporaries. He was residing at Glenarbach, near Dumbarton, with
relatives, when the intelligence reached him of the death of his partner.
To his son James he wrote at once, expressing his deep sorrow at the
loss of his “very worthy and beloved friend.”[413] To Mr. Boulton’s son
and successor he wrote,--“However we may lament our own loss, we must
consider, on the other side, the torturing pain he has so long endured,
and console ourselves with the remembrance of his virtues and eminent
qualifications. Few men have possessed his abilities, and still fewer
have exerted them as he has done; and if to these we add his urbanity, his
generosity, and his affection to his friends, we shall make up a character
rarely to be equalled. Such was the friend we have lost, and of whose
affection we have reason to be proud, as you have to be the son of such
a father.”[414]
[413] “Though I was in some measure prepared,” he wrote, “yet I
had hoped that he might have recovered from this fit, as he has
done from other severe ones. Such wishes, however, were selfish;
for in respect to himself, none of his friends could rationally
have desired the prolongation of a life which has long been
passed in torture, without hope of relief. May he therefore rest
in peace; and when our end approaches, may we have as little to
reproach us and as much to console us as he had.”--Mr. Watt to
his son, 22nd August, 1809. Boulton MSS.
[414] Watt to M. Robinson Boulton, 23rd August, 1809.
The deaths of his friends, one by one, reminded Watt of his own mortality,
and frequent references to the subject occur in his letters about this
time. He felt as if he were in danger of being left in the world alone.
But he did not give himself up to melancholy, as he had been prone to do
at the earlier periods of his life. Shortly after his son Gregory died, he
wrote to a relative,--“I know that all men must die, and I submit to the
decrees of Nature, I hope with due reverence to the Disposer of events.
Yet one stimulus to exertion is taken away, and, somehow or other, I have
lost my relish for my usual occupations. Perhaps time may remedy that in
some measure; meanwhile I do not neglect the means of amusement which are
in my power.”
Watt was at no loss for occupation to relieve the tedium of old age.
He possessed ample resources in himself, and found pleasure alike in
quiet meditation and in active work. His thirst for knowledge was still
unslaked, and he sought to allay it by reading. His love of investigation
was as keen as ever, and he gratified it by proceeding with experiments
on air, on light, and on electricity. His inventive faculty was still
potent, and he occasionally varied his occupation by labouring to produce
a new machine or to improve an old one. At other times, when the weather
allowed, he would take a turn at planting in his grounds and gardens; and
occasionally vary his pleasure by a visit to Scotland, to London, or to
his estate in Wales. Strange to say, his health improved with advancing
age, and though occasionally dyspeptic, he was now comparatively free from
the racking headaches which had been the torment of his earlier years.
Unlike Boulton, who found pleasure in the active pursuit of business,
Watt had always regarded it as a worry, and he was now glad to have cast
it altogether behind him. His mind was free from harassing cares; his
ambition in life was satisfied; he was no more distressed by fears of
Cornish pirates; and he was content to enjoy at last the fruits of his
labour in peace. And thus it was that Watt’s later years may be pronounced
to have been the happiest of his life.
He had, indeed, lost nearly all his old friends, and often thought of
them with a melancholy regret, not, however, unmingled with pleasure. But
other young friends gathered about him, sat at his feet, and looked up to
him with an almost reverential admiration. Among these we find Rennie and
Telford the engineers, Campbell the poet, Humphry Davy, Henry Brougham,
Francis Horner, and other rising men of the new generation. Lord Brougham
bears testimony to Watt’s habitual cheerfulness, and his enjoyment of the
pleasures of society during the later years of his life. “I can speak on
the point,” he says, “with absolute certainty, for my own acquaintance
with him commenced after my friend Gregory’s decease. A few months after
that event, he calmly and with his wonted acuteness discussed with me the
composition of an epitaph to be inscribed on his son’s tomb. In the autumn
and winter of 1805 he was a constant attendant at our Friday Club, and in
all our private circles, and was the life of them all.”[415]
[415] Lord Brougham’s ‘Lives of Philosophers of the Time of George
III.’ The Friday Club of Edinburgh was so called because of the
evening of the week on which it met and supped. It numbered
amongst its members Professor Playfair, Walter Scott, Henry
Brougham, Francis Jeffrey, Leonard Horner, Lord Corehouse,
Sir W. Drummond, and others known to fame. Watt was a regular
attender of the Club during his Edinburgh visits.
To the close of his life Watt continued to take great pleasure in
inventing. It had been the pursuit of his life, and in old age it became
his hobby. “Without a hobby-horse,” said he, “what is life?” He proceeded
to verify his old experiments, and to live over again the history of his
inventions. When Mr. Kennedy of Manchester asked him, at one of his last
visits to Heathfield, if he had been able, since his retirement from
business, to discover anything new in the steam-engine, he replied, “No;
I am devoting the remainder of my life to perfect its details, and to
ascertain whether in any respect I have been wrong.”
But he did not merely confine himself to verifying his old inventions. He
also contrived new ones. One of the machines that occupied his leisure
hours for many years, was his machine for copying statuary. We find him
busy with it in 1810, and he was still working upon it in the year of his
death, nearly ten years later. The principle of the machine was to make a
cutting tool or drill travel over the work to be executed, in like ratio
with the motion of a guide-point placed upon the bust to be copied. It
worked, as it were, with two hands; the one feeling the pattern, the other
cutting the material into the required form. The object could be copied
either of the full size, or reduced with the most perfect accuracy to any
less size that might be required.[416] In preparing the necessary tools,
Watt had the able assistance of his friend Murdock, who was always ready
with his kindly suggestions and criticisms. In January, 1813, Watt wrote
him,--“I have done a little figure of a boy lying down and holding out one
arm, very successfully; and another boy, about six inches high, naked, and
holding out both his hands, his legs also being separate. But I have been
principally employed in making drawings for a complete machine, all in
iron, which has been a very serious job, as invention goes on very slowly
with me now. When you come home, I shall thank you for your criticisms
and assistance.”[417]
[416] In March, 1811, he wrote Dr. P. Wilson as follows:--“For
want of other news I must now say a little upon my late
invention, with which Dr. Herschel seemed much pleased. It
continues to succeed, and I have realised some more of my
ideas on the subject. I have executed several small busts in
alabaster, not being strong enough to work in marble. I had
a difficulty in getting the several segments which form the
surface of the bust to meet, but have now accomplished it. It
requires a very accurate construction of the machine, and a
very accurate adjustment of the tools, so that their axes may
be always equally distant from each other, as the axes of the
pattern and that of the stone to be cut are. I have also made
some improvements in the tools for cutting marble and other
hard stones. The things you saw were done by the tool and the
guide-point, moving in parallel lines, straight or circular, and
very near one another; (an illustration of Euclid’s position,
that the motion of a point generates a line, and the motion of
a line generates a surface). I have now contrived, though not
executed, that the two points, the guide and the cutting point,
may move in any line, whether straight or crooked, square or
diagonal, so that an inscription might be cut in stone from a
drawing on paper.”--Cited in Muirhead’s ‘Mechanical Inventions
of James Watt,’ ii. 329–30.
[417] Cited in Muirhead’s ‘Mechanical Inventions,’ &c., ii. 340–1.
These drawings must be in existence, and of great interest,
as showing the vigour of Watt’s inventive faculty at this late
period of his life.
The material in which Watt executed his copies of statuary were
various,--marble, jet, alabaster, ivory, plaster of Paris, and mahogany.
Some of the specimens we have seen at Heathfield are of exquisite accuracy
and finish, and show that he must have brought his copying-machine to a
remarkable degree of perfection before he died. There are numerous copies
of medallions of his friends,--of Dr. Black, De Luc, and Dr. Priestley;
but the finest of all is a reduced bust of himself, being an exact copy
of Chantrey’s original plaster-cast. The head and neck are beautifully
finished, but there the work has stopped, for the upper part of the chest
is still in the rough. Another exquisite work, than which Watt never
executed a finer, is a medallion of Locke in ivory, marked “January,
1812.” There are numerous other busts, statuettes, medallions,--some
finished, others half executed, and apparently thrown aside, as if the
workman had been dissatisfied with his work, and waited, perhaps, until
he had introduced some new improvement in his machine.
Watt took out no patent for the invention, which he pursued, as he said,
merely as “a mental and bodily exercise.” Neither did he publish it,--but
went on working at it for several years before his intentions to construct
such a machine had become known. When he had made considerable progress
with it, he learned, to his surprise, that a Mr. Hawkins, an ingenious
person in his neighbourhood, had been long occupied in the same pursuit.
The proposal was then made to him that the two inventors should combine
their talents and secure the invention by taking out a joint patent. But
Watt had already been too much worried by patents to venture on taking out
another at his advanced age. He preferred prosecuting the invention at his
leisure merely as an amusement; and the project of taking out a patent
for it was accordingly abandoned. It may not be generally known that
this ingenious invention of Watt has since been revived and applied with
sundry modifications by our cousins across the Atlantic, in fashioning
wood and iron in various forms; and powerful copying-machines are now in
regular use in the Government works at Enfield, where they are employed
in rapidly, accurately, and cheaply manufacturing gun-stocks!
Watt carried on the operations connected with this invention for the most
part in his Garret, a room immediately under the roof at the kitchen end
of the house at Heathfield, and approached by a narrow staircase. It is a
small room, low in the ceiling, and lighted by a low broad window, looking
into the shrubbery. The ceiling, though low, inclines with the slope of
the roof on three sides of the room, and, being close to the slates, the
place must necessarily have been very hot in summer, and very cold in
winter. A stove was placed close to the door, for the purpose of warming
the apartment, as well as enabling the occupant to pursue his experiments,
being fitted with a sand-bath and other conveniences. But the stove must
have been insufficient for heating the garret in very cold weather, and
hence we find him occasionally informing his correspondents that he could
not proceed further with his machine until the weather had become milder.
[Illustration: WATT’S GARRET AT HEATHFIELD.
[By Percival Skelton.]]
His foot-lathe was fixed close to the window, fitted with all the
appliances for turning in wood and metal fifty years since; while a case
of drawers fitted into the recess on the left-hand side of the room,
contained a large assortment of screws, punches, cutters, taps, and
dies. Here were neatly arranged and stowed away many of the tools with
which he worked in the early part of his life, one of the drawers being
devoted to his old “flute tools.” In other divisions were placed his
compasses, dividers, scales, decimal weights, quadrant glasses, and a
large assortment of instrument-making tools. A ladle for melting lead,
and a soldering-iron were hung ready for use near the stove.
Crucibles of metal and stone were ranged on the shelves along the opposite
side of the room, which also contained a large assortment of bottles
filled with chemicals, boxes of fossils and minerals, jars, gallipots,
blowpipes, retorts, and the various articles used in chemical analysis. In
one corner of the room was a potter’s lathe. A writing-desk was placed as
close to the window, for the sake of the light, as the turning-lathe would
allow; and in the corner was the letter-copying machine, conveniently at
hand.
In this garret Watt spent much of his time during the later period of
his life, only retiring from it when it was too hot in summer, or too
cold in winter to enable him to prosecute his work. For days together he
would confine himself here, without even descending to his meals. He had
accordingly provided himself, in addition to his various other tools,
with sundry kitchen utensils,--amongst others, with a frying-pan and
Dutch oven--with which he cooked his meals. For it must be explained that
Mrs. Watt was a thorough martinet in household affairs, and, above all
things, detested “dirt.” Mrs. Schimmelpenninck says she taught her two
pug-dogs never to cross the hall without first wiping their feet on the
mat. She hated the sight of her husband’s leather apron and soiled hands
while he was engaged in his garret-work, so he kept himself out of her
sight at such times as much as possible. Some notion of the rigidity of
her rule may be inferred from the fact of her having had a window made in
the kitchen wall, through which she could watch the servants, and observe
how they were getting on with their work. Her passion for cleanliness was
carried to a pitch which often fretted those about her by the restraints
it imposed; but her husband, like a wise man, gently submitted to her
rule. He was fond of a pinch of snuff, which Mrs. Watt detested, regarding
it only as so much “dirt;” and Mr. Muirhead says she would seize and lock
up the offending snuff-box whenever she could lay hands upon it. He adds
that at night, when she retired from the dining-room, if Mr. Watt did
not follow at the time fixed by her, a servant would enter and put out
the lights, even when a friend was present, on which he would slowly rise
and meekly say, “We must go.” One can easily understand how, under such
circumstances, Watt would enjoy the perfect liberty of his garret, where
he was king, and could enjoy his pinch of snuff in peace, and make as much
“dirt” with his turning-lathe, his crucibles, and his chemicals, as he
chose, without dread of interruption.
One of the fears which haunted Watt as old age advanced upon him was, that
his mental faculties, in the exercise of which he took so much pleasure,
were deserting him. To Dr. Darwin he said, many years before,--“Of all
the evils of age, the loss of the few mental faculties one possessed in
youth is most grievous.” To test his memory, he again began the study of
German, which he had allowed himself to forget; and he speedily acquired
such proficiency as enabled him to read the language with comparative
ease. But he gave still stronger evidence of the integrity of his powers.
When in his seventy-fifth year, he was consulted by the Glasgow Waterworks
Company as to the best mode of conveying water from a peninsula across
the Clyde to the Company’s engines at Dalmarnock,--a difficulty which
appeared to them almost insurmountable; for it was necessary to fit the
pipes, through which the water passed, to the uneven and shifting bed of
the river. Watt, on turning over the subject in his mind, shortly hit upon
a plan, which showed that his inventive powers were unimpaired by age.
Taking the tail of the lobster for his model, he devised a tube of iron
similarly articulated, of which he forwarded a drawing to the Waterworks
Company; and, acting upon his recommendation, they had the tube forthwith
executed and laid down with complete success. Watt declined to be paid for
the essential service he had thus rendered to the Waterworks Company; but
the directors made handsome acknowledgment of it by presenting him with
a piece of plate of the value of a hundred guineas, accompanied by the
cordial expression of their thanks and esteem.
[Illustration: WATER-PIPE IN THE BED OF THE CLYDE.]
Watt did not, however, confine himself to mechanical recreations at home.
In summer-time he would proceed to Cheltenham, the air of which agreed
with him, and make a short stay there; or he would visit his friends
in London, Glasgow, or Edinburgh. While in London, his great delight
was in looking in at the shop-windows,--the best of all industrial
exhibitions,--for there he saw the progress of manufacture in all articles
in common use amongst the people. To a country person, the sight of the
streets and shop-windows of London alone, with their display of objects
of art and articles of utility, is always worth a visit. To Watt it was
more interesting than passing along the finest gallery of pictures.
At Glasgow, where he stayed with his relatives the Macgregors, he
took pleasure in revisiting his old haunts, dined with the College
Professors,[418] and noted with lively interest the industrial progress
of the place. The growth of Glasgow in the course of his lifetime had,
indeed, been extraordinary, and it was in no small degree the result
of his own industrial labours. The steam-engine was everywhere at work;
factories had sprung up in all directions; the Broomielaw was silent no
longer; the Clyde was navigable from thence to the sea, and its waters
were plashed by the paddles of a thousand steamers. The old city of the
tobacco lords had become a great centre of manufacturing industry; it
was rich, busy, and prosperous; and the main source of its prosperity
was the steam-engine. A long time had passed since Watt had first taken
in hand the repair of the little Newcomen engine in Glasgow College, and
afterwards laboured in the throes of his invention in his shop in the back
court in King Street. There were no skilled mechanics in Glasgow then, and
the death of the “old white-iron man” who helped him had been one of his
sorest vexations. Things were entirely changed now. Glasgow had already
become famous for its engine-work, and its factories contained among the
most skilled mechanics in the kingdom. Watt’s early notion that Scotchmen
were incapable of becoming first-rate mechanics, like Englishmen, was
confuted by the experience of hundreds of workshops; and to none did
the practical contradiction of his theory give greater pleasure than to
himself. He delighted to visit the artisans at their work, and to see with
his own eyes the improvements that were going forward; and when he heard
of any new and ingenious arrangement of engine-power, he would hasten to
call upon the mechanic who had contrived it, and make his acquaintance.
[418] In 1808 Mr. Watt made over 300_l._ to the College by Deed
of Gift, for the purpose of founding a prize for students in
Natural Science, as some acknowledgment of “the many favours”
which the College had conferred upon him.--In 1816 he gave to
the Town of Greenock 100_l._ for the purpose of purchasing books
for the Mathematical School. “My intention in this donation,” he
observed in his letter to Mr. Anderson of Greenock, “is to form
the beginning of a scientific library, for the instruction of
the youth of Greenock; and I hope it will prompt others to add
to it, and to render my townsmen as eminent for their knowledge
as they are for their spirit of enterprise.” Watt’s idea has
since been carried out by his townsmen, and the Watt Library
is now one of the most valuable institutions of Greenock. It
ought to be added, that the erection of the building was mainly
due to the munificence of Mr. Watt’s son, the late James Watt,
Esq., of Aston Hall, near Birmingham. A marble statue of Watt,
by Chantrey, is placed in the Library, with an inscription from
the pen of Lord Jeffrey.
One of such calls, which Watt made during a visit to Glasgow, in 1814, has
been pleasantly related by Mr. Robert Hart, who, with his brother, then
carried on a small steam-engine factory in the town. “One forenoon,” he
says, “while we were at work, Miss Macgregor and a tall elderly gentleman
came into the shop. She, without saying who he was, asked if we would
show the gentleman our small engine. It was not going at the time, and
was covered up. My brother uncovered it. The gentleman examined it very
minutely, and put a few pointed questions, asking the reason for making
her in that form. My brother, seeing he understood the subject, said
that she had been so made to try what we thought was an improvement;
and for this experiment we required another cistern and air-pump. He was
beginning to show what was properly Mr. Watt’s engine, and what was not;
when, at this observation, Miss Macgregor stopped him, saying,--‘Oh, he
understands it; _this is Mr. Watt_.’ I never at any time saw my brother
so much excited as he was at that moment. He called on me to join them,
saying,--‘This is Mr. Watt!’ Up to this time I had continued to work at
what I was doing when they came; and, although I had heard all that was
said, I had not joined the party till I learned who he was. Our supposed
improvement was to save condensing water, and was on the principle
introduced by Sir John Leslie, to produce cold by evaporation in a vacuum.
Mr. Watt took much interest in this experiment, and said he had tried the
same thing on a larger scale, but without the vacuum, as that invention
of Professor Leslie’s was not known at the time. He tried it exposed to
the air, and also kept wet; and at one of the large porter-breweries
in London he had fitted up an apparatus of the same nature. The pipes
forming his condenser were laid in the water of the Thames, but he
could not keep them tight, from the expansion and contraction of the
metal, as they were exposed to various temperatures.” The conversation
then diverged to the subject of his early experiments with the Newcomen
engine, the difficulties he had encountered in finding a proper material
for steam-pipes, the best method of making steam-joints, and the various
means of overcoming obstacles which occur in the prosecution of mechanical
experiments, in the course of which he reverted to the many temporary
expedients which he had himself adopted in his early days.
Watt was so much pleased with the intelligence of the brothers Hart, that
he invited them to call upon him that evening at Miss Macgregor’s, where
they found him alone with the ladies. “In the course of conversation,”
continues Mr. Hart, “which embraced all that was new at the time, the
expansion and the slow contraction of metals were touched on. This led
to a discussion on iron in engine-making,” in which Watt explained
the practice which experience had led him to adopt as the best. The
conversation then turned upon the early scene of his inventions, the room
in the College, the shop in King Street, the place on Glasgow Green near
the Herd’s house where the first idea of a separate condenser flashed upon
his mind, and the various steps by which he had worked out his invention.
He went on to speak of his experience at Kinneil and Boroughstoness,
of the Newcomen engine he had erected and worked there for the purpose
of gaining experience, and incidentally referred to many of the other
interesting events in his past career. At a late hour the brothers took
their leave, delighted, as they well might be, with the affability and
conversableness of “the great Mr. Watt.”
But it was not mechanics alone that Watt fascinated by his powers of
conversation and his stores of knowledge relating to the special business
of his life: he was equally at home amongst philosophers, women, and
children. When close upon his eighty-second year, he formed one of a
distinguished party assembled in Edinburgh, at which Sir Walter Scott,
Francis Jeffrey, and others were present. He delighted the northern
literati with his kindly cheerfulness, not less than he astonished them
by the extent and profundity of his information. “This potent commander
of the elements,” says Scott,--“this abridger of time and space, this
magician, whose cloudy machinery has produced a change in the world,
the effects of which, extraordinary as they are, are perhaps only now
beginning to be felt,--was not only the most profound man of science,
the most successful combiner of powers, and combiner of numbers, as
adapted to practical purposes,--was not only one of the most generally
well-informed, but one of the best and kindest of human beings. There he
stood, surrounded by the little band of Northern literati, men not less
tenacious, generally speaking, of their own opinions, than the national
regiments are supposed to be jealous of the high character they have
won upon service. Methinks I yet see and hear what I shall never see or
hear again. The alert, kind, benevolent old man had his attention alive
to every one’s question, his information at every one’s command. His
talents and fancy overflowed on every subject. One gentleman was a deep
philologist, he talked with him on the origin of the alphabet as if he
had been coeval with Cadmus; another, a celebrated critic, you would have
said the old man had studied political economy and belles-lettres all his
life; of science it is unnecessary to speak, it was his own distinguished
walk.”[419]
[419] Answer by the author of ‘Waverley’ to the Epistle Dedicatory
of ‘The Monastery.’
Indeed, the extent of his knowledge was the wonder of all who came in
contact with him. “It seemed,” said Jeffrey, “as if every subject that was
casually started had been that which he had been occupied in studying.”
Yet, though no man was more ready to communicate knowledge, none could be
less ambitious of displaying it. In company, when not spoken to, he sat as
if tranquilly pursuing his own meditations, with his head bent forward or
leaning on his hand. But as he could not fail to be a prominent feature in
any society that he entered, it was seldom that he was left outside the
circle of social talk. Men of letters, men of science, artists, ladies
and children, thronged about him. Once when on a visit to his friend
Rennie in London, he accompanied him to an evening party at Sir George
Warrender’s. At first he sat by himself, quiet and abstracted, until some
young ladies engaged him in conversation, which gradually turned upon
the mystery of the fabrics they wore, the insignificant materials out
of which they were formed, and the beauty and value given to them by the
industry and ingenuity of man; and, other auditors being attracted by his
descriptions, he shortly found himself the centre of a group of fair and
admiring listeners.
He seemed to be alike at home on all subjects, the most recondite
and the most common, the most special and the most general. Mrs.
Schimmelpenninck[420] relates how he took her upon his knee when a little
girl, and explained to her the principles of the hurdy-gurdy, the piano,
the Pan’s-pipe, and the organ; teaching her how to make a dulcimer and
improve a Jew’s-harp. To a Swedish artist he communicated the information
that the most pliant and elastic painting-brush was to be made out of
rats’ whiskers. He advised ladies how to cure smoky chimneys, how to
warm and ventilate dwellings, and how to obtain fast colours, while he
would willingly instruct a maid-servant as to the best way of cleaning a
grate.[421] A lady still living, who remembers Watt, informs us that he
used to carry a carpenter’s foot-rule in the side pocket of his breeches,
and would occasionally bring it out in after-dinner conversation or
elsewhere, to illustrate the subject under discussion.
[420] ‘Autobiography of Mrs. Schimmelpenninck,’ 3rd ed. 35.
[421] The following anecdote is told by Mrs.
Schimmelpenninck:--“During the peace of Amiens, Mr. Watt visited
Paris. It so happened that while going through one of the
palaces, I believe the Tuileries, a French housemaid appeared
much perplexed concerning some bright English stoves which had
just been received, and which she did not know how to clean.
An English gentleman was standing by, to whom she appealed for
information. This was Charles James Fox. He could give no help;
“But,” said he, “here is a fellow-countryman of mine who will
tell you all about it.” This was Mr. Watt, to whom he was at
the moment talking; and who proceeded to give the housemaid
full instructions as to the best mode of cleaning her grate.
This anecdote I have often heard Mrs. Watt tell with great
diversion.”
He was full of anecdotes relating to all manner of subjects, which he
was accustomed to tell in a very effective way.[422] He spoke in a low
grave tone, with a broad Scottish accent. The late Mr. Murdock mentioned
to us one of his favourite stories relating to two smugglers pursued by
excisemen. The two smugglers had reached the mouth of a coal-pit and got
into the corve-cage with their apparatus, the excisemen only coming up in
time to see them descending the shaft, where they were soon out of sight.
On the ascending corves coming up to the settle-board, the excisemen asked
to be sent down after the smugglers, and they were sent down accordingly.
Halfway down the shaft they met the smugglers in the other cage _coming
up_! And so the relator kept them ascending and descending, passing and
repassing each other,--his auditors being in convulsions of laughter,
while he himself seemed wholly unmoved. Campbell, the poet, who paid Watt
a visit in February, 1819, only six months before his death, describes him
as so full of anecdote that he spent one of the most amusing days he had
ever enjoyed with a man of science and a stranger to his own pursuits. To
the last he was a great reader of novels; and Mrs. Watt and he had many
a hearty cry over the imaginary woes of love-lorn heroes and heroines.
Scott says no novel of the least celebrity escaped his perusal, and that
this gifted man of science was as much addicted to productions of this
sort as if he had been a very milliner’s apprentice of eighteen. A lady,
still living,[423] informs us that she remembers the admiration which Watt
expressed for the Waverley novels, then making their appearance in rapid
succession, and used to quote his opinion as a great authority for her own
devotion to such works,--forgetting that, as the old frame requires the
arm-chair after the heat and burden of the day, so the taxed mind needs
rest and recreation after long years of study, anxiety, and labour.
[422] Lord Brougham says, “His voice was deep and low, and if
somewhat monotonous, it yet seemed in harmony with the weight
and the beauty of his discourse, through which, however, there
also ran a current of a lighter kind; for he was mirthful,
temperately jocular, nor could anything to more advantage set
off the living anecdotes of men and things, with which the
grave texture of his talk was interwoven, than his sly and quiet
humour, both of mind and look, in recounting them.”--‘Lives of
Philosophers of the Time of George III.’
[423] “I remember, as a young girl,” she says, “the pleasant
dinners and people I have seen at Soho. I remember being present
one day when Bertrand de Moleville, the exiled minister of Louis
XVI., left the dinner-table to make an omelette, which was, of
course, pronounced ‘excellent.’ That man then gave me a lifelong
lesson,--of the power of enjoyment and of giving pleasure by
his cheerful bright manner and conversation, under such sad
circumstances as exile and poverty. I looked at him with great
admiration, and I have his face distinct before me now, though
I saw him only that once.”
Mr. Stockdale, of Carke, gives the following account of a visit which his
sister, a cousin of Mr. Boulton’s, paid to Heathfield in 1818, shortly
before Mr. Watt’s death:--“When tea was announced to Mr. Watt, he came
from his ‘garret,’ and on being told who my sister was, he asked after
her relations in the kindest way, and then sat down in his arm-chair. A
cup of tea was handed to him, and alongside of it was placed a small cup
containing a yellow powder, of which he took a spoonful and put it into
his tea, observing that he had long been plagued with a stomach complaint,
for which he had found this powder of mastich a sovereign remedy. He
talked more than my sister expected. Sometimes he fell into a reverie,
appearing absorbed in thought, his eyes fixed on space, and his head
leaning over his chest. After a while, he retired to his study, and my
sister returned to Soho.” Mr. Hollins, of Birmingham, sculptor, supplies
the following further reminiscence. When a youth in a local architect’s
office, he was sent out to Heathfield one afternoon, to submit to Mr.
Watt the plans of certain proposed alterations in the parish church of
Handsworth. The church stood a few fields off, and its spire rose above
the trees within sight of the drawing-room windows. It was his parish
church, in which his friend Boulton had been buried, and where he himself
was to lie. When the young man mentioned his errand, Mr. Watt said he was
just about to take his afternoon’s nap. “But you can sit down there and
read that newspaper, and when I have got my nap I will look at the plans.”
So saying he composed himself to rest in his arm-chair; the youth scarce
daring to turn the page for fear of disturbing him. At length, after a
short sleep, he woke full up and said, “Now let me see them.” He looked
over the plans, examined them in detail, and criticised them keenly. He
thought the proposed alterations of a paltry character, unworthy of the
wealth and importance of the parish; “Why,” said he, “if these plans be
carried out, preaching at Handsworth will be like pitching the word of God
out of a keyhole!” When Mr. Watt’s decided views as to the insufficiency
of the design was reported to the committee, steps were taken greatly to
enlarge it, and Handsworth Church was thus indebted to his suggestions
for much of its present beauty.
He proceeded with the completion of his sculpture-copying machine until
nearly the close of his life. When the weather was suitable, he would go
up stairs to his garret, don his woollen surtout and leather apron, and
proceed with his work. He was as fastidious as ever, and was constantly
introducing new improvements. It was a hobby and a pursuit, and served
him as well as any other. To M. Berthollet he wrote,--“Whatever may be
its success, it has at least had the good effect of making me avoid many
hours of ennui, by employing my hands when I could not employ my head, and
given me some exercise when I could not go out.” It also pleased him to
see the invention growing under his hands as of old, though it is possible
that during his later years he added but little to the machine. Indeed,
it seems to have been as nearly as possible complete by the year 1817, if
we may judge by the numerous exquisitely-finished specimens of reduced
sculpture--busts, medallions, and statuary--laid away in the drawers of
the garret at Heathfield. He took pleasure in presenting copies to his
more intimate friends, jocularly describing them as “the productions of
a young artist just entering his eighty-third year.” Shortly after, the
hand of the cunning workman was stopped by death. The machine remained
unfinished, according to its author’s intentions; and it is a singular
testimony to the skill and perseverance of a man who had accomplished so
much, that it is almost his only unfinished work.
In the autumn of 1819 he was seized by his last illness. It could scarcely
be called a seizure, for he suffered little, and continued calm and
tranquil, in the full possession of his faculties, almost to the last. He
was conscious of his approaching end, and expressed from time to time his
sincere gratitude to Divine Providence for the worldly blessings he had
been permitted to enjoy, for his length of days, and his exemption from
the infirmities of age. “I am very sensible,” said he to the mourning
friends who assembled round his deathbed, “of the attachment you show
me, and I hasten to thank you for it, as I feel that I am now come to my
last illness.” He parted with life quietly and peacefully, on the 19th of
August, 1819, in the eighty-third year of his age. He was buried near his
deceased friend and partner Mr. Boulton, in Handsworth Church. Over his
remains, which lie in a side aisle, was placed a monument by Chantrey,
perhaps his finest work, justifying the compliment paid to the sculptor
that he “cut breath;” for when first uncovered before the old servants
assembled round it at Soho, it so powerfully reminded them of their old
master, that they “lifted up their voices and wept.”
Watt has been fortunate in his monumental honours. The colossal statue of
him in Westminster Abbey, also from the chisel of Chantrey, bears upon it
an epitaph from the pen of Lord Brougham, which is beyond comparison the
finest lapidary inscription in the English language; and among its other
signal merits, it has one which appertains rather to its subject than
its author, that, lofty as is the eulogy, every word of it is true.[424]
The monument was raised by public subscriptions, initiated at a meeting
in London presided over by the Prime Minister, and attended by the most
illustrious statesmen, men of science, men of letters, and men of art,
of the time, who met for the purpose of commemorating in some suitable
manner the genius of Watt. “It has ever been reckoned one of the chief
honours of my life,” says Lord Brougham, “that I was called upon to pen
the inscription upon the noble monument thus nobly reared.”
[424] The following is the inscription:--
NOT TO PERPETUATE A NAME
WHICH MUST ENDURE WHILE THE PEACEFUL ARTS FLOURISH,
BUT TO SHOW
THAT MANKIND HAVE LEARNED TO HONOUR THOSE
WHO BEST DESERVE THEIR GRATITUDE,
THE KING,
HIS MINISTERS, AND MANY OF THE NOBLES
AND COMMONERS OF THE REALM,
RAISED THIS MONUMENT TO
JAMES WATT,
WHO DIRECTING THE FORCE OF AN ORIGINAL GENIUS
EARLY EXERCISED IN PHILOSOPHIC RESEARCH
TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF
THE STEAM-ENGINE,
ENLARGED THE RESOURCES OF HIS COUNTRY,
INCREASED THE POWER OF MAN,
AND ROSE TO AN EMINENT PLACE
AMONG THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS FOLLOWERS OF SCIENCE,
AND THE REAL BENEFACTORS OF THE WORLD.
BORN AT GREENOCK, 1736.
DIED AT HEATHFIELD, IN STAFFORDSHIRE, 1819.
[Illustration: WATT’S STATUE IN HANDSWORTH CHURCH.]
Watt was also honoured during his lifetime. Learned Societies were
proud to enrol him amongst their members. He was a Fellow of the Royal
Societies of London and Edinburgh, a Foreign Associate of the Institute of
France, and a Member of the Batavian Society. The University of Glasgow
conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Law. Lord Liverpool offered him
a baronetcy; but, consistent with the simplicity of his character, he
declined the honour. He was invited to serve as Sheriff on two occasions,
for Staffordshire and for Radnorshire; but he strongly pleaded to be
excused undertaking the office. He was “a timid old man,” and hoped that
he “should not have a duty imposed upon him that he was totally unfit for,
nor have his grey hairs weighed down with a load of vexatious cares. My
inventions,” he said, “are giving employment to the best part of a million
of people, and having added many millions to the national riches, I have
a natural right to rest in my extreme age.” His pleas were in both cases
regarded as sufficient, and he was excused the office.
* * * * *
It is altogether unnecessary to pronounce a panegyric on the character
and achievements of James Watt. This has already been done by Lord Jeffrey
in language that cannot be surpassed. Sir James Macintosh placed him “at
the head of all inventors in all ages and nations;” and Wordsworth the
poet, twenty years after his death, said, “I look upon him, considering
both the magnitude and the universality of his genius, as perhaps the
most extraordinary man that this country ever produced: he never sought
display, but was content to work in that quietness and humility, both
of spirit and of outward circumstances, in which alone all that is truly
great and good was ever done.”
Watt was himself accustomed to speak of his inventions with the modesty
of true genius. To a nobleman who expressed to him his wonder at the
greatness of his achievements, he said, “the public only look at my
success, and not on the intermediate failures and uncouth constructions
which have served as steps to enable me to climb to the top of the
ladder.” Watt looked back upon his twenty long years of anxiety and labour
before the engine succeeded, and heaved a sigh. “Without affecting any
maidenly coyness,” he wrote to Dr. Darwin, who proposed to eulogise him
in his ‘Botanic Garden,’ “you really make me appear contemptible in my
own eyes by considering how far short my pretensions, or those of the
invention, were of the climax of human intellect,--I that know myself to
be inferior to the greatest part of enlightened men in most things. If I
have excelled, I think now it has been by chance, and by the neglects of
others. Preserve the dignity of a philosopher and historian; relate the
facts, and leave posterity to judge. If I merit it, some of my countrymen,
inspired by the _amor patriæ_, may say, ‘Hoc a Scoto factum fuit.’”
Although the true inventor, like the true poet, is born, not made,--and
although Watt pursued his inventions because he found his highest
pleasure in inventing,--yet his greatest achievements were accomplished
by unremitting application and industry. He was a keen observer and
an incessant experimenter. “Observare” was the motto he deliberately
adopted; and it expresses the principle and success of his life. He was
always on the watch for facts, noting and comparing them. He took nothing
for granted; and accepted no conclusions save on experimental evidence.
“Nature can be conquered,” he said, “if we can but find out her weak
side.” His patience was inexhaustible. He was never baffled by failure,
from which he declared that he learnt more than from success. “It is a
great thing,” he once observed to Murdock, “to find out what will _not_
do: it leads to one finding out what _will_ do.”
“Give me facts,” he once said to Boulton, “I am sick of theory: give me
actual facts.” Yet, indispensable though facts are, theory is scarcely
less so in invention; and it was probably because Watt was a great
theorist, that he was a great inventor. His invention of the separate
condenser was itself the result of a theory, the soundness of which he
proved by experiment. So with the composition of water, the theory of
which he at once divined from the experiments of Priestley. He continued
theorising during the whole progress of his invention of the steam-engine.
New facts suggested new arrangements and the application of entirely
new principles, until in course of time the engine of Newcomen became
completely transformed.
Watt’s engine was not an invention merely--it might almost be called a
creation. “The part which he played,” says M. Bataille, “in the mechanical
application of the force of steam, can only be compared to that of Newton
in astronomy, and of Shakspeare in poetry. And is not invention the poetry
of science? It is only when we compare Watt with other mechanicians
that we are struck by his immense superiority,--when we compare him,
for example, with Smeaton, who was, perhaps, after him, the man who had
advanced the farthest in industrial mechanism. Smeaton began, about the
same time as Watt, his inquiries as to the best means of improving the
steam-engine. He worked long and patiently, but in an entirely technical
spirit. While he was working out his improvements, Watt had drawn forth
from his fertile imagination all those brilliant inventions to which we
owe the effective working steam-engine. In a word, Smeaton knew how to
improve, but Watt knew how to create.”[425]
[425] E. M. Bataille, ‘Traité des Machines à Vapeur.’ Paris,
1847–9.
As for the uses of the steam-engine, they are too widely known to stand in
need of illustration. Had Watt, at the outset of his career, announced to
mankind that he would invent a power that should drain their mines, blow
their furnaces, roll and hammer their metals, thrash and grind their corn,
saw their timber, drive their looms and spindles, print their books, impel
ships across the ocean, and perform the thousand offices in which steam
is now regularly employed, he would have been regarded as an enthusiast,
if not as a madman. Yet all this the steam-engine has done and is now
doing. It has widely extended the dominion of man over inanimate nature,
and given him an almost unbounded supremacy over the materials which
enter into his daily use. It has increased his power, his resources, and
his enjoyments. It is the most universal and untiring of labourers,--the
steam-power of Great Britain alone being estimated as equal to the manual
labour of upwards of four hundred millions of men, or more than double
the number of males supposed to inhabit the globe.[426] It is, indeed, no
exaggeration to say that the steam-engine of Watt is, without exception,
the greatest invention of modern times; and that it has been instrumental
in effecting the most remarkable revolution in all departments of industry
that the world has ever seen.
[426] What the steam-engine has done for the West is well known.
What is yet expected from it in the East may be gathered from
the few pregnant words lately uttered by Hassan Ali Khan,
Persian Ambassador at the Court of France, at the recent
celebration in Paris of a national festival instituted nineteen
centuries before the birth of Christ. Having recalled the minds
of his hearers to the early fire worship of his country, which
sprang from the primeval idolatry, he proceeded to say that it
was still to Fire that he fondly looked for the regeneration
of Persia. Fire had changed the face of Europe. In the
steam-engine, the railroad, the electric spark, the screw or
paddle ship, far more than in gunpowder or rifled cannon, fire
was the great benefactor that would bless one day the land of
his forefathers, who had instinctively worshipped that element
in secret anticipation of what was to come.
* * * * *
Some months since, we visited the little garret at Heathfield in which
Watt pursued the investigations of his later years. The room had been
carefully locked up since his death, and had only once been swept out.
Everything lay very much as he left it. The piece of iron he was last
employed in turning lay on the lathe. The ashes of the last fire were
in the grate, the last bit of coal was in the scuttle. The Dutch oven
was in its place over the stove, and the frying-pan in which he cooked
his meal was hanging by its accustomed nail. Many objects lay about
or in the drawers, indicating the pursuits which had been interrupted
by death,--busts, medallions, and figures, waiting to be copied by
the sculpture-machine,--many medallion moulds, a store of plaster of
Paris, and a box of plaster casts from London, the contents of which
do not seem to have been disturbed. Here are Watt’s ladles for melting
lead, his foot-rule, his glue-pot, his hammer. Reflecting mirrors, an
extemporised camera with the lenses mounted on pasteboard, and many
camera-glasses laid about, indicate interrupted experiments in optics.
There are quadrant-glasses, compasses, scales, weights, and sundry boxes
of mathematical instruments, once doubtless highly prized. In one place a
model of the governor, in another of the parallel motion, and in a little
box, fitted with wooden cylinders mounted with paper and covered with
figures, is what we suppose to be a model of his proposed calculating
machine. On the shelves are minerals and chemicals in pots and jars, on
which the dust of nearly half a century has settled. The moist substances
have long since dried up, the putty has been turned to stone, and the
paste to dust. On one shelf we come upon a dish in which lies a withered
bunch of grapes. On the floor, in a corner, near to where Watt sat and
worked, is a hair-trunk--a touching memorial of a long past love and a
long dead sorrow. It contains all poor Gregory’s school-books,--his first
attempts at writing, his boy’s drawings of battles, his first school
exercises down to his College themes, his delectuses, his grammars,
his dictionaries, and his class books,--brought into this retired
room, where the father’s eye could rest upon them. Near at hand is the
sculpture-machine, on which he continued working to the last. Its wooden
framing is worm-eaten and dropping into dust, like the hands which made
it. But though the great workman has gone to rest, with all his griefs
and cares, and his handiwork is fast crumbling to decay, the spirit of
his work, the thought which he put into his inventions, still survives,
and will probably continue to influence the destinies of his race for all
time to come.
[Illustration: HANDSWORTH CHURCH.
THE BURIAL-PLACE OF BOULTON, WATT, AND MURDOCK.
[By Percival Skelton.]]
INDEX.
A.
ÆOLIPILE, the Greek, 6.
ADVENTURERS, the Cornish meetings of, 258–60, 273–4, 332.
ALBION Mill scheme, 353–7;
the mill burnt by incendiaries, 358–9.
ANDERSON, Professor, Glasgow, 113, 119.
ARKWRIGHT’S patent trial, 302, 347.
AUSTHORPE ENGINE, Leeds, 61.
B.
BACON, ROGER, his prophecy of steam power, 4.
BANKS, Sir JOSEPH, and BOULTON and WATT, 267, 286, 369.
‘BEELZEBUB’ ENGINE, Soho, 241, 326.
BEIGHTON, HENRY, improvements on Newcomen’s engine, 67.
BELL, ANDREW, and Symington’s steamboat, 449.
BELL, HENRY,--his ‘Comet,’ 453.
BERTHOLLET, M., on chlorine, 381.
BIRMINGHAM, its ancient industry, 161–3;
Copper Company formed, 281–2;
illegal coining, 386–7;
riots at, 410–13.
BLACK, Dr., intercourse with and friendship for Watt, 110–14, 123,
132, 464;
lends Watt money, 150;
Boulton’s intercourse with, 329;
discovers carbonic acid gas, 372;
his death, 464;
his character, 465.
BOATS, first constructed of iron, 213.
BOATS, paddle and steam, _see_ Steam and Paddle boats.
BONZE, Cornish engineer, 233–4, 236;
his atmospheric engine, 245, 296, 313.
BOULTON, MATTHEW, F.R.S., Birmingham,--his family, 163;
birth and education, joins his father in business, 164;
his early trade correspondence, 165;
his marriage, 166;
his business enterprise, 167;
removes from Snow-hill to Soho, 168;
his aims at excellence, 170;
his distinguished and Royal patrons, 171, 174, 176, 180–1;
his artistic taste, 172;
surpasses French art manufacturers, 173;
makes clocks and timepieces, 174;
employs first-rate artists, 175;
corresponds with Benjamin Franklin concerning his model
fire-engine, 182–4;
first meeting with Watt, 186;
takes Roebuck’s share in Watt’s engine, 197;
Boulton’s qualities, 199, 200;
his friends, 201;
his views as to engine business, 202–3;
his grief at the death of Dr. Small, 208;
puts Watt’s son to school, is visited by the Empress of
Russia, 216;
goes to London on financial affairs, 217;
terms of partnership, 219;
advice to Watt on his marriage, 219–20;
pressure of work, 221;
his tubular boilers, 222, 283;
difficulties, financial, and with his partners, 240, 247;
raises extra capital, 242;
his visits to Cornwall, raises capital, and combats the
adventurers, 247, 261, 270, 273, 317, 320, 331;
his property and financial affairs, 262, 277–8, 320, 363–4;
pushes the letter-copying machine in London, 266–7;
has erysipelas, 270;
his courageous perseverance, patience, and business tact, 241,
249, 252, 271, 273, 276–7, 294;
his tender regard for Watt, and encouraging treatment, 272,
301;
organises mining business in Cornwall, 273–4;
suggests a tooth-cutting machine, 284;
his mechanical drawings, 283;
suggests horizontal-axled elliptical rotary engines for
general uses, 307, 324, 327;
life in Cornwall, his scientific tastes, 323, 340–41;
ill health, and visit to Scotland, 328–9, 365;
his paternal affection and domestic enjoyments, 340–1;
a commercial politician, 342;
connection with the Copper Company, 349–50;
hostility towards him in Cornwall, 351–2;
his sympathy with the Quakers, 352;
starts the Albion Mill scheme, 353;
his depressed spirits, 366;
his friendships, 367–71;
turns coiner by steam power, his Soho mint, 389–99;
his success in medalling, 395;
contract with Government for a new coinage, fits up the Royal
mint and others, 398–9;
Watt on Boulton’s merits in coining, 399;
his affectionate nature and generosity, 366, 401, 405, 487;
paternal care for young Watt, 406;
continued activity, his water-raising machine, 457, 474;
his reception of burglars at Soho, 458;
correspondence with Sir W. Scott, 459;
failing health, 462, 475;
counsel of friends to give up business, 475–6;
his death and funeral, 477;
monumental inscription, his qualities and character, 477, 478,
486, 487;
his workmen’s assurance society, 480;
his powers for organization and business qualities, 481–4;
Watt’s estimate of Boulton, 485, 486.
BOULTON AND WATT commence partnership, 197;
prospects of engine business, 207;
manufacture of engines commenced, 213–15;
terms of partnership, 218–23;
orders from Scotland, 219;
Gainsborough’s attack on the patent, 222–3;
difficulties with workmen and engine men, 227–8;
Cornish business, 231, 237;
terms on which engines were erected, 243–4;
resistance of engine dues, 246, 262;
orders from abroad, 249;
their altercations with the Cornish miners, 257–60, 315–16,
331–2;
engines sold, 262;
engine patent threatened, they share in mining adventures,
273, 278, 295–304;
their voluminous correspondence, 307–8;
adverse circumstances, 315;
dues from pumping-engines, 317;
Hornblowers’ opposition, 320;
miscellaneous engine orders, 333;
profits commence, 363;
their personal friends, 367;
their sons join the firm, 417–21;
partnership dissolved, 456.
BOULTON, M. ROBINSON, his education and attainments, 433–4;
in Paris, 405;
returns, 1788, 408;
his reception by the Lunar Society, 408–9;
settles to business, 417;
his business ability, 418–21.
BOULTON, M. P. W., on alleged photographic discoveries of Boulton
and Watt, 383.
BRANCA’S steam machine, 7.
BROUGHAM, LORD, opinion of Watt, 490, 503, 507.
BURKE, EDMUND, opposes Watt’s patent-right, 210;
denounces Dr. Priestley, 410;
also young Watt, 415.
C.
CALEDONIAN CANAL surveyed by Watt, 157, 197.
CALLEY, JOHN, Dartmouth, 63.
CAMPBELL, THOMAS, opinion of Gregory Watt, 468.
CARRON IRON WORKS, 138–9, 329, 443.
CARTSDYKE, Greenock, 80–2.
CARTWRIGHT, Dr., and steam navigation, 450.
CAUS, SOLOMON DE, his steam apparatus, 8, 9, 20, 21.
‘CENTURY of Inventions,’ Marquis of Worcester’s, 10–16.
CHARLES II. and mechanical inventors, 15, 28.
‘CHARLOTTE DUNDAS,’ steamboat, of Symington, 447.
CHACEWATER MINE and engine, 231;
engine finished, 235;
its working, 242–3.
CHLORINE, bleaching by, 381.
‘CLERMONT,’ the steamboat, 453.
CLYDE, survey of, by Watt, 155, 191.
COINAGE improved by Boulton, 387–99.
COINING, illegal, 386;
punishments for, 387.
COINS struck at Soho Mint, 394.
‘COMET,’ the steamboat, 453–4.
COOPER, of Manchester, political friend of young Watt, 408;
they are delegates to Paris, 414.
COPPER COMPANY organized, 281–2, 349–50.
CORNISH pumping engines, 46, 52, 55, 65, 75, 230–31;
Chacewater, 235, 239, 242–3;
Dalcoath, 246, 270, 306–7;
Hallamanin, 253;
Huel Vor, 55;
United Mines, 237, 275;
Poldice, Polgooth, Tingtang, Wheal Chance, W. Crenver, W.
Busy, W. Maid, W. Treasury, W. Union, W. Virgin, and
others, see _passim_, 235–327, 339.
CORNWALL, early mining in, 45–48;
Savery’s engines employed, 55;
Newcomen’s, 69;
Watt’s engines introduced, 230;
life in Cornwall, 235;
appearance of mining districts, 237;
character of miners, 257–60;
rain in, 260;
postal service, roads, and weather, 321–3;
wasteful mining, 349;
riots, 351.
CORN-MILL first worked by steam, 325.
COSGARNE HOUSE, Cornwall, 275.
COSMO, Grand Duke of Tuscany, visit to Marquis of Worcester’s water
engine, 19.
COUNTER for steam engine, 245.
CRAIG, JOHN, Watt’s partner, 125.
CRANK motion invention stolen, 289.
CROMWELL and the MARQUIS OF WORCESTER, 14.
D.
DALRYMPLE, Sir JOHN, and steam navigation, 440.
DARWIN, Dr. ERASMUS--correspondence with Boulton, 184, 201;
a Member of the Lunar Society, 369, 465.
DAVY, Sir HUMPHRY, on gas-lighting, 429;
and Gregory Watt, 468–9;
Davy on Gregory’s death, 472.
DAY, THOS., author of ‘Sandford and Merton,’ 201, 263.
DICK, Dr., Glasgow, 101, 106, 113–14.
DIGESTER, PAPIN’S, 32, 120.
DIRCKS, Mr., on Marquis of Worcester’s inventions, 11, 22.
DUNDAS, Lord, and steamboats, 448.
DUNDONALD, Lord, and BOULTON, 329.
E.
EDGEWORTH, R. L., and BOULTON, 201;
and the locomotive, 336;
and the Lunar Society, 369–70.
ENGINE DUES--contests with miners, 243–5, 271, 311, 315, 317, 320,
331–2, 339, 418–21.
EGINTON, FR., at Soho, 171;
partnership with Boulton in picture business, 264.
EWART, PETER,--his opinion of Boulton, 486.
EXPANSIVE WORKING, 146–7, 228–9, 304, 307, 310–11.
F.
FAIRBAIRN, WILLIAM, opinion of Murdock, 431–2.
FIRE AND STEAM ENGINES. _See_ Steam engines.
FOND, M. ST., describes interviews with Watt and Priestley, 383–5.
FOTHERGILL, JOHN, a Soho partner, 169;
travels on the Continent for the firm, 172, 204;
his despondency, 240, 247, 263;
his tenacity, his death, 275;
his embarrassments, 314.
FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN,--correspondence with Boulton on steam-engine,
182–4.
FULTON inspects Symington’s steamboat, 449;
makes a model steamboat in Paris, 450;
applies to James Watt, jun., for an engine, 451;
his ‘Nautilus’ infernal-machine, 452;
he fits up the ‘Clermont’ steamer, 452.
G.
GAINSBOROUGH, HUMPHREY, attacks Watt’s patent, 222.
GARAY, BLASCO, and paddle-boats, 36.
GAS-LIGHTING invented by Wm. Murdock, 424–7;
Wintzer’s wonderful project, 428.
GEORGE III. and BOULTON, 3, 174;
Watt’s interview with the King, 403, 476.
GLASGOW in 1754, 96–100;
the tobacco lords, 98;
the clubs, 99;
drinking habits, 100;
the University and Professors, 106–8, 113–15;
the Green, 127.
GOVERNOR, The, invented by Watt, 335.
GREENOCK at end of last century, 80–4;
improvements, 85;
at the rebellion of 1745, 93.
GUNPOWDER AND STEAM as powers, 5.
H.
HAMILTON BRIDGE--James Watt architect, 156.
HANDSWORTH CHURCH, near Birmingham, 477–8, 505, 507, 514.
HARPER’S HILL, Birmingham, 214.
HART, ROBERT,--Reminiscences of Watt, 147, 229, 424, 499, 500.
HEATHFIELD, Birmingham, 460, 493–5, 512–13.
HERO OF ALEXANDRIA, his writings on steam, 5–7.
HOLLINS, Mr., Birmingham,--Reminiscence of Watt, 505.
HOOKE, Dr., on the Vauxhall hydraulic-machine, 19;
correspondence with Newcomen, 62.
HORNBLOWER, JABEZ, and his brothers, 296–7, 332.
HORNBLOWER, JONATHAN,--Watt’s first meeting with, 232–3;
with his sons, erects engine to supersede Watt’s, 296–304,
320–24, 331.
HORNBLOWER, JOSEPH, erects Newcomen engines in Cornwall, 71.
HULLS, JONATHAN, of Campden, 72;
his steamboat, 73;
unsatisfactory trial, his publications, 74.
HUNTSMAN, BENJAMIN, Sheffield, and Boulton, 165.
HUTTON, WILLIAM, Birmingham, 153, 162;
house destroyed by the rioters, 412.
J.
JOINT STOCK MINING in Cornwall, 47–8.
K.
KALTOFF, CASPAR, assistant to the Marquis of Worcester, 10, 13, 18,
19.
KEIR, JAS., friend of Boulton, 170, 201;
his partner, 265, 409.
KINNEIL HOUSE, 142;
Watt’s workshop, 148.
L.
LATENT HEAT, 122–3.
LAWSON, JAMES, on Boulton’s Mints, 391.
LEMON, WILLIAM, Penzance, 69.
LETTER-COPYING MACHINES invented by Watt,--partnership, 265.
LOCOMOTION BY STEAM, 187;
patent by Watt, 333, 337;
Edgeworth, 336;
Murdock’s model, 336–7;
Symington, 435–6.
LUC, M. DE, friend of Boulton and Watt, 351, 369, 376, 381–2, 395,
476.
LUNAR SOCIETY OF BIRMINGHAM, 367–70;
its discussions, 375;
alleged photographic discovery, 382–3;
demise of the Society, its influence, 385;
dissolution by deaths, 465.
M.
MEASON, Mr., Wanlockhead, 435–6.
MEDALS struck at Soho Mint, 395–7.
MICROMETER, prismatic, 152.
MILLER, Mr., of Dalswinton, propels boats by paddle-wheels, 437;
employs Symington to make an engine for steamboat, 439;
its trial, 442;
orders a second engine, 443;
another trial, applies to Boulton and Watt, 444;
their reply, 445.
MINES, UNITED DISTRICT, Cornwall, 231.
MINT, Soho, 390, 396, 400.
MINT, Tower Hill, fitted up by Boulton, 398–9.
MINTS, foreign, fitted up by Boulton, 389.
MONKLAND CANAL,--Watt, engineer, 153–4, 194.
MORLAND, Sir SAMUEL,--his fire-engine, 29;
his poverty and blindness, his death, 30.
MURDOCK, WILLIAM, employed by Boulton and Watt, 253;
his character, early days, and antecedents, 254;
his interview with Boulton, the wooden hat, and his
engagement, 255;
sent to Cornwall, interest in his work, 256;
how he dealt with the bullies, fights a duel with Captain
Trevithick, 257;
invents sun-and-planet motion, 309;
his value and merits, 311–12, 337–8, 361;
presented with an acknowledgment, 312;
his popularity in Cornwall, 313;
testimony of Boulton to his worth, 321;
makes a model locomotive, 336–435;
puts Albion Mill engine to rights, 356;
at Soho, 400;
his loyalty and usefulness to the firm, 422;
his inventions, 423, 430–32;
the D slide valve, lighting by gas, 424–28;
his steam-gun, engine cement, 431;
obtains the Rumford gold medal, 425;
Mr. Fairbairn’s opinion of him, 431–3;
his death, 433.
N.
‘NAUTILUS,’ the infernal machine, by Fulton, 452.
NEWCOMEN, THOS., of Dartmouth, 59;
his house, 60;
his family and character, 61;
his improvements on the fire-engine, 62–70;
correspondence with Dr. Hooke, 62;
Newcomen engine described, 63–68;
he erects colliery engines, 68;
supplies pumping-engines for Cornwall, 69, 71, 74–5;
his obscure end, 72.
NEWCOMEN ENGINES, increased use of for pumping, 74–75;
they are superseded, 275.
NEWCOMEN MODEL at Glasgow University, 119–21.
O.
“OLD BESS” engine, Soho, 250, 326.
P.
PAPIN, Dr. D.,--preference for gunpowder to steam, 5;
a French refugee, 31;
Curator Royal Society, his digester, inventor of the
safety-valve, 32;
proceeds to Germany, his experiments on water and steam,
33–35;
his steam-boat, 37;
his misfortunes and death, 38.
PARALLEL MOTION patented by Watt, 333–4.
PATENT-RIGHT, attacks and defence, Watt on patent-right, 280–1, 295,
303;
combination against, 347;
Watt, junr., vindicates rights, 418.
PICKARD, JAMES, steals Watt’s crank motion, 289.
PITT, WILLIAM,--BOULTON, and his commercial policy, 342–6;
coinage projects, 388, 393.
PORT GLASGOW piers, by Watt, 156.
POTTER, HUMPHREY,--his invention of the “Scoggan,” 66.
PRIESTLEY, Dr., of Birmingham and the Lunar Society, 369;
his gifts, 370–72;
Boulton’s association with him, 373;
meeting of the Lunar Society, 409;
his sympathy with its French revolutionists, 410;
the new meeting-house and his house at Fairhill burnt by a
mob, 411;
grievous loss of his books, MSS., and apparatus, 412;
his death, 466.
PUMPING-ENGINES. _See_ Cornish Pumping-engines.
Q.
QUEEN CHARLOTTE and BOULTON, 174–5.
R.
RADSTOKE, Bristol, Hornblowers’ Engine, 322–3.
RAGLAN CASTLE, 10–12, 26.
REDRUTH, Cornwall, 237–8.
RENNIE, JOHN, engineer, Albion Mill, 354.
REYNOLDS, Mr., of Ketley, has Watt’s first rotary engine, 327.
ROBINSON FAMILY, The, 166.
ROBISON, Professor,--his intercourse with Watt, 113–14;
his voyagings, his estimate of Watt, 115–16, 118, 121, 130–31;
idea of a locomotive, 336;
incident in class on his return from Watt’s patent trial,
463–4;
his death, 472–3.
ROEBUCK, Dr.,--Carron Works and coal mining adventures, 138;
correspondence with Watt, 139;
terms of partnership with Watt, 141;
his house at Kinneil, 142;
his embarrassments, 150;
his patent for alkali manufacture, 152;
his ruin, 158;
correspondence with Boulton, 185, 189, 192;
arrangement to transfer his share in Watt’s engine to Boulton,
190;
his share transferred, 195–7, 204.
ROTARY MOTION, 286;
Watt employs the crank, 287;
the invention stolen, 289, 293, 299–301, 309–10, 319, 325–7.
RUSSIA, Empress of, visit to Boulton, 216.
S.
SAVERY, CAPTAIN THOMAS, his family, 40;
early life, study of mechanics, 41;
his clocks, machine for polishing plate glass, his paddle
boat, 42, 43;
opposed by the Navy Board, 43;
his “Navigation Improved,” 42, 44;
his paddle yacht on the Thames, 44;
his fire-engine, 48–54;
his ‘Miner’s Friend,’ 50, 52;
his engines used in Cornwall, 55;
failures of engines, 56, 57;
his later years, death, and will, 58.
SCHIMMELPENNINCK, Mrs., descriptions of meetings of Lunar Society,
&c., 408–9;
on Watt’s character, 503.
SCOTT, Sir W., on gas-lighting, 429, 431;
opinion of Boulton, 459;
of Watt, 501–4.
SCREW-PROPELLER suggested by Watt, 192.
SHELBURNE, LORD, opinion of Boulton, 171.
SIMSON, PROFESSOR, Glasgow, 112–15.
SMALL, Dr., birth and parentage, 145;
correspondence with Watt, 146–7, 150–51;
correspondence, 186–198;
his attainments, 201;
his death, 208.
SMEATON, JAMES, engineer, attracted by the atmospheric engine, 68;
improvements on Newcomen’s engine, 76;
adverse opinion of Watt’s engine, 202;
improves York buildings engine, 217, 226, 292, 511.
SOHO, Birmingham, its situation and cost of building, 167–70;
its varied manufactures, 176;
its distinguished visitors, 176, 180–1;
extent of capital and trade, 177, 180;
persons employed and machinery, 179–80;
Watt’s first visit, 185; brisk engine trade, 348, 361;
workmen tempted to leave, 227;
training of workmen, 228;
Prussian spies, 250;
loss by painting business, 264;
letter-copying machine business, 265–8, 349;
steam corn-mill at, 325;
the mint at, 390, 396–99;
illuminated with gas, 427.
SOHO pictures, the, 264.
SORBIÈRE, M., on Marquis of Worcester’s inventions, 18–20.
SPEAKING-TRUMPET invented by Sir S. Morland, 29.
STEAM and paddle boats. _See_ Bell, Henry, 453;
Fulton, 449–52;
Garay, 35, 36;
Hulls, 72–74;
Miller, 437–45;
Papin, 37;
Savery, 37, 42–44;
Symington, 435–49.
STEAM and fire engines, improvers of, and alleged inventors, 75–76;
_see also_ pp. 6;
Branca, 7;
Caus de, and Worcester, Marquis of, 9–26;
Morland, 29;
Savery, 49–54, 59;
Newcomen, 63;
_also index entries_, Boulton, Matthew, and Watt, James;
possible defects, 224;
Watt’s single acting pumping engine, 236.
STEAM FLOUR-MILLS, 291, 325–6, 327.
STEAM-GUN suggested by Murdock, 431.
STEAM HAMMER, Watt’s, 300.
STEAM, its employment by the ancients, its enormous power, 5.
STOCKDALE, Mr., of Carke, visited by Boulton and Watt, 419;
describes a visit to Watt, 505.
STRATFORD-LE-BOW ENGINE, 217, 223–6, 369.
STRATHMORE CANAL surveyed by Watt, 155.
“SUN AND PLANET” motion, 309.
SYCAMORE HILL, Handsworth, Murdock’s residence, 254.
SYMINGTON, WILLIAM, of Wanlockhead,--his model locomotive, 435–6;
matriculates at Edinburgh University, projects steamboat for
canals, 436–7;
joins Mr. Miller in constructing a steamboat, 439;
his first steamboat engine, 441;
its trial, 442;
makes a second engine for Mr. Miller, 443;
another trial, 444;
fits up the ‘Charlotte Dundas,’ his adversity and death, 449.
T.
TELESCOPE FOR MEASURING DISTANCES, invention of Watt, 151.
TILT-HAMMER worked by steam, patent by Watt, 301, 325, 333.
TOBACCO TRADE, Glasgow, 98–9.
TREVITHICK, Captain, Watt’s altercation with, 257;
Murdock fights a duel with, 257, 259, 296.
TUBULAR BOILERS made by Boulton, 282–3.
U.
UNITED MINES, Cornwall, map, 231, 261, 275.
V.
VAUXHALL WATER ENGINE, &c., 18, 25, 29.
W.
“WAGGON AND HORSES,” Birmingham, 288.
WALKER, ZACCHEUS, manager at Soho, 169, 400.
WARLTIRE, Mr., Birmingham, lecturer, 377.
WASHBOROUGH, MATTHEW, of Bristol, 289;
Watt’s opinion of him, 291–293.
WATER, composition of,--Watt, Cavendish, Lavoisier, and Priestley,
377–81.
WATER-RAISING ENGINES, 20–25, 29, 52–5, 63–9.
_See_ also Cornish pumping-engines.
WATT, GREGORY,--his personal beauty and brilliant talents, 467–8;
his infirm health, is lodged at Penzance, friendship with
Humphry Davy, 468–9;
his travels, continued illness and death, 470–71;
Davy’s appreciation of Gregory Watt, 472.
WATT, JAMES,--the engineer’s father, 83;
his varied occupations and trade, 85–6;
he fills important public offices, 86.
WATT, JAMES, engineer, F.R.S., &c.,--his ancestry, 80;
his birth, feeble constitution, home education, 87;
his early exhibition of mechanical taste and dexterity, his
precocity, 88;
sent to school, 89;
continual ailments, taken to Glasgow, gift of storytelling,
90;
sent to Greenock Grammar School, 91;
love of reading, 92;
recollections of the rebellion, 93;
rambles, scientific pursuits and studies, 94;
his single sport, 95;
goes to Glasgow to learn a trade, difficulty in finding a
master, 100;
proceeds to London, 101;
has again difficulty in finding a master, serves a
watch-maker, cuts letters in metal, finds a master, 102;
his rapid progress as mathematical-instrument-maker, his life
in London, 103;
danger from pressgangs, 104;
returns to Scotland, refused permission to commence business
in Glasgow, 105;
finds asylum in the college, 106;
his shop there, 107;
his unprofitable business, sells maps and quadrants, 109;
makes musical instruments, 110;
builds organs, 111;
his studies, his club, his intercourse with the professors
and students, 112;
his principal associates, 113;
Dr. Robison and others, 114;
Watt’s scientific attainments, 115;
studies chemistry, 118;
the Newcomen model, studies steam, 119–121;
his inquiries and experiments, 122–124;
business improves, takes a partner, 125;
marries his cousin, 126;
his continued brooding over the steam-engine, 127;
walk on Glasgow Green, a discovery, 127–8;
the separate condenser, experimental apparatus, 129–31;
Robison and Watt, anecdote, 131;
friendship with Dr. Black, 132;
Watt’s air-tight cover, 133;
his model engine, 134;
working engine, 135;
mechanical and financial difficulties, 136–37;
Watt’s connexion with Roebuck, 138–9;
begins business as surveyor, 139;
surveys canals, 140;
proceeds with the engine, 141;
visit to Roebuck at Kinneil House, 142;
a patent determined on, 143;
strives after improvements, 144;
his perseverance, 145;
his foresight, 146;
erects Newcomen engines, 147;
trial engine erected at Kinneil, 148–9;
dreary prospects, Roebuck embarrassed, 150;
Watt’s minor inventions, 151;
multifarious pursuits, superintends canal works, 152–3;
surveys Strathmore Canal, 155;
designs Hamilton Bridge and other engineering works, 156;
death of Mrs. Watt, 157;
Watt visits Soho, 185;
first meeting with Boulton, and correspondence with him and
Dr. Small, 186, 190;
Watt resumes surveying, 191;
more unsuccessful engine experiments, 192;
Monkland Canal works stopped, and Watt loses employment, 194;
resumed overtures, Roebuck’s share transferred to Boulton,
and commencement of Boulton and Watt’s partnership, Watt’s
arrival in Birmingham, 195–8;
contrast between Boulton and Watt, 199–200;
the engine re-erected at Soho, 202–4;
works successfully, 205;
inquiries for engines, extension of patent, Watt’s arguments,
Act obtained, 206–12;
invited to Russia, 209;
visits to London, 206–7;
Bow engine, 224–26;
goes to Cornwall, his life there, describes the adventurers,
231–34;
unable to wrestle for engine-dues, 244–46, 257;
fears as to financial obligations, 249, 263, 268, 273, 293–4,
314, 315, 317;
Watt’s imperfections, 258;
his infirm health and intolerance of inefficient workmen, 251,
269, 270, 272, 276–7, 308–9, 311–12, 316, 348;
invents letter-copying machine, 265;
opinion on patent right, 280–281;
rotary motion, 286, 293, 299–301, 311, 318, 325, 327, 359;
Washborough and Pickard’s piracy, 288–93;
invents contrivance for stopping engine, 306;
equalising beam, 307;
experiments on nutgalls, 307;
new patent, 300, 309–310;
visits Radstoke about Hornblowers’ engine, 322–3;
steam applied to the tilt-hammer, 333;
parallel motion, 334;
the governor, 335;
opinions of free commerce, 345;
financial caution, 364–5;
theory on the composition of water, 377–81;
connexion with the Lunar Society, 367;
experiments on bleaching by chlorine, 381;
takes pleasure tours, 402;
interview with the king, 403;
fears for his son’s safety, 415–417;
letter on steam-navigation, 445;
his garret-workshop, 460, 493, 495, 513–14;
search after investments, 460–61;
his bereavements, 466–74;
enjoys retirement, 460, 475;
studies medical chemistry, 467;
sorrow at the death of Boulton, 488;
cheerful occupation of declining years, 489–90;
statuary-copying machine, 491;
medallions of his friends, 492;
consulted by the Glasgow Waterworks Company, his tours and
visits, 497–8;
Sir W. Scott, Jeffrey, Mrs. Schimmelpenninck, on Watt’s
character and attainments, 501–3;
caustic criticism by Watt, 506;
last illness and death, monumental honours, 507–8;
honours conferred upon and offered to him, 509;
modest estimate of himself, traits of character, 510–12;
concluding reflections, 513.
WATT, Mrs. JAMES, 218;
letters to Boulton about life in Cornwall, 235;
Watt’s distresses, 276–7, 308, 475;
is very particular in domestic affairs, 496.
WATT, JAMES, junr.,--his education and attainments, 403–4, 406;
Manchester life and training, his confidence in Boulton,
405–7;
his political proclivities, 408, 417;
a delegate to the Jacobin Club, 414;
scene with Robespierre, flees Paris, is denounced by Burke in
the House of Commons, 415;
his liberty endangered, 416;
settles to business, 417;
his business ability, 418.
WATT, THOMAS, the engineer’s grandfather, 79–82.
WEDGWOOD, JOSIAH, and BOULTON, 172–3, 201;
a mining adventurer, 273;
commercial politics, 343;
a member of the Lunar Society, his delicate and generous
conduct towards Priestley, 374–5, 465.
WILKINSON, JOHN, of Broseley, constructs the first iron boats,
212–13;
orders first engine from Boulton and Watt, 215;
casts cylinders for Boulton and Watt, 216–224;
a mining adventurer, 273;
orders rotary engine, 318.
WILLIAM III. and SAVERY, 50.
WITHERING, Dr., and the Lunar Society, 201, 369, 383, 409, 413, 465.
WOODCROFT, B., on Hero of Alexandria, 7;
Marquis of Worcester’s inventions, 23;
steam navigation, 448, 452.
WORCESTER, EDW., Marquis of,--birth and family, early life
and studies, water-commanding steam-engine, ‘Century of
Inventions,’ 10–13, 16–23;
his escutcheon lock, 17;
a Royalist in the civil war, advances money to the king, 12;
his exile and return, imprisonment in the Tower, College of
Artisans at Vauxhall, 13;
his poverty, 14;
revived hopes, 15;
patented inventions, 16;
descriptions of his engine, 19;
seeks access to the king, 24;
his embarrassments, 25;
his death, 25.
WORCESTER, Marchioness of,--zeal for her deceased husband’s honour,
25, 27, 28.
Y.
YORK BUILDINGS ENGINE, 206;
improved by Smeaton, 217, 227.
THE END.
LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, AND
CHARING CROSS.
Lately published. By the same Author.
Vols. I. and II., 8vo., 42_s._, with 5 Steel Portraits and 200
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LIVES OF THE ENGINEERS;
WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR PRINCIPAL WORKS, AND A HISTORY OF INLAND
COMMUNICATION IN BRITAIN.
_FIRST SERIES._
Opinions of the Press, &c.
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“Happy alike in the choice of his subject and in the treatment he has
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_SECOND SERIES._
“Mr. Smiles’s third volume of _The Engineers_ contains the biographies
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history of George’s son and lifelong colleague is interwoven with his own.
It is impossible fully to comprehend either without the other. Father
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understood either of them. Their ambition was alike, and they perfectly
coincided as to the means by which its objects were to be accomplished.
They were equally kindly and generous, and there never was a shadow of
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and perfect confidence, the laborious paths of discovery which they trod
together, and the brilliant combinations of their genius hallowed by
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author justly observes, ‘British engineers have displayed their highest
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“Mr. Smiles is not only a skilful workman, but he has chosen a new field
of work. Hitherto the great biographies have been written of soldiers
and sailors, statesmen, poets, artists, and philosophers. It would
seem as if these only were the great men of the world, as if these only
were the benefactors of mankind, whose deeds are worthy of memory. The
suspicion has arisen that, after all, there may be other heroes than
those of the pen, the sceptre, and the sword. There are, indeed, men
in various walks of life whose footsteps are worthy of being traced;
but surely, considering what England is, and to what we owe most of our
material greatness, the lives of our engineers are peculiarly worthy of
being written. ‘The true Epic of our time,’ says Mr. Carlyle, ‘is not
Arms and the man, but Tools and the man--an infinitely wider kind of
Epic.’ Our machinery has been the making of us; our ironworks have, in
spite of the progress of other nations, still kept the balance in our
hands. Smith-work in all its branches of engine-making, machine-making,
tool-making, cutlery, iron ship-building, and iron-working generally, is
our chief glory. England is the mistress of manufactures and the queen of
the world, because it is the land of Smith; and Mr. Smiles’s biographies
are a history of the great family of Smith.... Many of the facts which
he places before us are wholly new, and are derived from the most likely
sources. Thus, Maudslay’s partner, Mr. Joshua Field, and his pupil, Mr.
Nasmyth, supplied the materials for his biography. Mr. John Penn supplied
the chief material for the memoir of Clement. And so of the other memoirs;
though they necessarily go over much well-trodden ground, they contain
also much original information, expressed with great clearness, and with a
practised skill which renders the reader secure of entertainment in every
page.”--_Times._
“Mr. Smiles has become the biographer of our profession. Only the other
day the world knew little or nothing of the _Lives of the Engineers_,
whether of this century or the last. There were none who, as authors,
attempted to blend with general biographical portraiture that popular
reference to constructive and mechanical details, without which the
life of an engineer or an inventor would be either a chapter of naked
facts or of indiscriminate eulogy. In his _Life of George Stephenson_,
Mr. Smiles showed that practical appreciation of the strong points of
engineering life which, with his skill and industry as a biographer,
has given us a new department of literature. The great success of that
book proved that there were many thousands who were not only willing
but desirous to know something of our railway-makers and mechanicians.
Mr. Smiles has since done much in this branch of biography, and in
his present book he has grouped together the leading incidents of the
professional lives of Dud Dudley, Andrew Yarranton, Abraham Darby,
Richard Reynolds, Benjamin Huntsman, Henry Cort, Dr. Roebuck, David
Mushet, J. B. Neilson, Joseph Bramah, Henry Maudslay, Joseph Clement,
Fox of Derby, Matthew Murray, Richard Roberts, Joseph Whitworth, James
Nasmyth, and William Fairbairn. A few of the subjects of these memoirs
are still living, but this, certainly, does not render the more important
part of their history--already accomplished as we may believe--the less
interesting.”--_Engineer._
“This is not a very large book, but it is astonishing how much individual,
conscientious, and thoroughly original research, has been required for its
composition, and how much interesting matter it contains which we possess
in no other form. Mr. Smiles rescues no name, but many histories, from
oblivion. His heroes are known and gratefully remembered for the benefits
they have conferred on mankind, but our knowledge of our benefactors has
hitherto been mostly confined to our knowledge of the benefit. It was
reserved for Mr. Smiles to discover in the workshop heroes as true as
ever hurled their battalions across a battle-field, and to present us
with much-enduring, much-endeavouring, and brave men, where hitherto we
had been content with disembodied, almost meaningless names. The present
work is further distinguished, not indeed from its predecessors, but from
much of the current literature, by the exquisitely pellucid English, the
vigorous but unobtrusive style, in which the narratives are conveyed. The
value of the work before us is doubled, and the time required for perusing
and especially for consulting it halved, by the full and minute index in
which its contents are tabulated.”--_Edinburgh Daily Review._
Lately published. By the same Author. Post 8vo. 5_s._
“SELF-HELP,”
OU CARACTÈRE, CONDUITE, ET PERSÉVÉRANCE,
ILLUSTRÉS À L’AIDE DE BIOGRAPHIES.
TRADUIT DE L’ANGLAIS PAR ALFRED TALANDIER,
SUR LE TEXTE REVU ET CORRIGÉ PAR L’AUTEUR.
“Le succès de cet ouvrage, qui s’est répandu comme par enchantement
dans les mains de la jeunesse, dans les bibliothèques des villes et
des villages, dans les cottages des ouvriers, est un remarquable indice
des tendances du génie anglo-saxon. Le titre à lui seul est à peu près
intraduisible: _Self-Help_ (aide-toi toi-même).... Une grande sagesse
qu’on pourrait appeler la splendeur du bon sens, comme Platon définissait
le beau la splendeur du vrai, tel est le caractère qui distingue surtout
_Self-Help_.... La traduction de M. Talandier est à la fois fidèle,
nerveuse et élégante; elle contribuera à propager en France les saines
idées de M. Smiles.”--_Revue des Deux Mondes._
“Les Français, nés malins, mais très-ignorants en ce qui touche leurs
voisins, viennent de découvrir, après dix ans d’existence, un livre
anglais classique, destiné à l’éducation des enfants. C’est une espèce de
morale en action, écrite par un homme de haute valeur, qui a dû faire de
grands efforts pour se mettre à la portée de jeunes intelligences.... Le
_Self-Help, ou caractère, conduite et persévérance_, est un livre honnête
et sérieux qu’on lit à petits coups, en le savourant; il est écrit pour
les enfants avec une simplicité voulue; il vous dit que la pauvreté est
sainte, que l’homme ne doit se soucier que de sa conscience; il honore
l’industrie, enseigne le courage, relève les faibles, humilie les forts,
vous dicte des maximes pour toutes les circonstances de la vie, et appuie
tous ses conseils d’une anecdote qui sert d’exemple.... Voici une anecdote
à écrire en lettres d’or:--Le vrai courage.--‘_Un officier français, au
combat de cavalerie d’El-Bodon, en Espagne, s’avance, l’épée nue, sur Sir
Fulton Harvey; il va le frapper, quand il s’aperçoit que son ennemi n’a
qu’un bras; il s’arrête aussitôt, abaisse son épée devant Sir Fulton et,
faisant avec courtoisie le salut militaire, part au galop._’ Vous voyez
que c’est un livre qui élève plus l’âme que les _Mémoires d’une femme de
chambre_!”--_Le Monde Illustré._
“Le livre de M. Smiles est une nouvelle _Morale en action_, mais elle a
l’avantage d’être complète, méthodique, raisonnée, et surtout appropriée
aux goûts et aux tendances modernes. L’origine de cet ouvrage mérite
d’être rapportée, car c’est le meilleur moyen d’en faire connaître le
caractère.... Si nous voulions donner une idée du livre, il nous suffirait
de citer la table des matières où se trouvent réunis les noms des hommes
qui, fils de leurs œuvres, ont le plus servi la science, le plus honoré
l’humanité. Nous nous contentons donc de recommander ce volume à tous ceux
qui aiment les beaux et bons livres, mais nous tenons toutefois à ajouter
un dernier mot. La plupart des ouvrages de morale (cela est triste à
dire, mais vrai), sont ennuyeux; les auteurs semblent trop compter sur le
mérite de leur sujet, et ils ne se donnent pas la peine d’ajouter quelques
ornements à la vérité. Il en résulte que la sévérité de la forme nuit aux
sérieuses qualités du fond, et que plus d’un bon livre reste lettre close
pour ceux qui auraient le plus d’intérêt à le connaître. _Self-Help_ est
écrit dans un genre tout différent: c’est la morale la plus pure et la
plus saine présentée sous la forme la plus attrayante: c’est un ouvrage
dont la lecture offre, plus que toute autre, plaisir et profit.”--_Revue
de l’Instruction Publique._
“‘Ne t’attends qu’à toi seul, c’est un commun proverbe,’ a dit notre
immortel Lafontaine. Cette utile vérité vient d’être mise en lumière,
ou pour mieux dire, développée, dans un bon livre anglais dont je veux
vous parler. _Self-Help, S’aider soi-même_, c’est ne pas hésiter devant
le travail du jour, c’est résister à sa paresse, à son égoïsme, à la
pente de ses vices de toute sorte, et en un mot, se vaincre soi-même.
Quelle victoire! Rappelez-vous ce mot d’un ancien: ‘Si tu parviens à te
vaincre toi-même, tu vaincras le monde.’ ... Bref, le _Self-Help_, qui
vient d’être traduit en français, est un plaidoyer éloquent en faveur
de la confiance en soi-même, sans orgueil toutefois et sans mépris des
autres, et de l’aristocratie humaine et sociale du travail dans toutes
ses applications. _A cœur vaillant rien d’impossible!_ comme s’exprime
la devise de Jacques Cœur, citée aussi par M. Smiles. C’est pourquoi un
président americain, à qui on demandait quelles étaient ses armoiries, se
souvenant qu’il avait été bûcheron dans sa jeunesse, répondit: ‘_Une paire
de manches de chemise retroussées_.’ Je ne sache rien de plus beau que
cette mâle et fortifiante devise. Vous qui voulez apprendre à quelle école
se forment les hommes,--j’entends de ces êtres rarissimes que cherchait
Diogène à la lueur de sa lanterne,--lisez et méditez le _Self-Help_.”--_La
Sentinelle du Jura._
“Je veux vous parler ici d’un bon livre. Les livres abondent; mais, dans
ce fatras de papiers imprimés et réunis en faisceaux de toutes formes et
de toutes dimensions, à quels signes particuliers reconnaîtrons-nous les
bons livres?... M. Ampère definissait ainsi un grand nombre d’ouvrages
parus en ce temps:--‘Ce sont des œuvres qui intéressent et souvent même
qui attachent; mais, quand on a fini de lire, on éprouve une singulière
impression: il semble qu’on ait besoin de brosser son habit et de se
laver les mains.’ Les bons livres sont une nourriture plus ou moins
délicate, mais saine et fortifiante, qui procure la santé de l’âme et de
la conscience. On se sent meilleur, plus heureux même, à mesure qu’on
en suit les douces pages, et, plus tard, c’est avec un esprit content
qu’on s’en souvient. Il en coule, en effet, de l’espérance et de la
foi, tout ce qu’il nous faut pour être satisfaits du présent, et pour
affronter paisiblement l’avenir. _Self-Help_ est un livre précieux à tous
ces titres, et je ne saurais trop vous le recommander.... Le livre de
M. Smiles, traduit en français par M. Alfred Talandier, obtiendra tout
le succès qu’il mérite, le succès d’une bonne et vertueuse action....
Le moraliste anglais qui nous occupe a donc présenté au public une
suite de biographies, très-écourtées, mais très-substantielles, des
grands hommes qui se sont honorés par leur travail et qui ont ensuite
glorifié l’humanité par leur génie et leurs découvertes.... Quelle
notice attachante que celle que M. Smiles a consacrée à ces deux hommes
illustres qui se sont unis dans une œuvre commune et dont la gloire
est inséparable aussi, Richard et Lenoir! Leur double nom a été donné,
à Paris, au boulevard _Richard-Lenoir_! Mais tout serait à citer de ce
curieux assemblage de salutaires leçons et de profitables anecdotes, où
sont invoqués, tour à tour, Vauquelin, Dupuytren, Ramus, Buffon, Béranger,
Watt, Jacquart, Papin, Robert Peel, Michel-Ange, Nicolas Poussin,
Ambroise Paré, Shakspeare, Saint François Xavier et Saint Vincent de
Paul, Franklin, Walter Scott, Meyerbeer, etc. Chacun d’eux apporte son
témoignage et vient affirmer à sa façon que le travail seul est grand, que
la patience honnête est seule féconde, que la persévérance et l’esprit de
conduite sont la véritable alchimie que doivent pratiquer et étudier tous
les chercheurs d’or.”--_Le Moniteur Universel du Soir._
“Le _Self-Help_ ou _Aide-toi toi-même_, comme on est obligé de dire pour
traduire littéralement ces deux mots anglais, c’est le secret de trouver
en nous-mêmes, si une volonté ferme et un cœur vaillant nous en rendent
dignes, des ressources et des secours infiniment supérieurs à tous ceux
qui pourraient nous venir du dehors.... M. Samuel Smiles, s’adressant
d’abord à ses compatriotes, leur citait à l’appui de ses théories la vie
et les œuvres des hommes qui, en Angleterre, ont porté le plus haut la
dignite humaine et poussé le plus loin la force de caractère. Aujourd
hui que son livre passe en France, il a changé pour nous la plupart de
ces exemples, et ce sont des noms tels que ceux de Palissy, de Papin,
de Jacquart, d’Ambroise Paré, de Nicolas Poussin, et de Richard-Lenoir,
qui lui servent à nous convaincre de la vérité de sa doctrine, en même
temps qu’ils font plus fortement vibrer en nous le sentiment de l’honneur
et de l’amour-propre national. L’amour-propre national, en France comme
en Angleterre, n’a pas cessé d’agir à sa manière sur l’esprit et sur
le courage des hommes laborieux qui, voulant honorer avant tout leur
patrie, ont honoré l’humanité entière. Nous ne saurions recommander avec
trop d’instances ce recueil intéressant, instructif et curieux, moral
au plus haut degré, gros d’anecdotes et d’histoires plus émouvantes que
celles des romans, où l’émotion est le mieux conduite et le mieux amenée,
plein d’enseignements utiles appuyés sur des biographies on ne peut plus
concluantes et laissant après sa lecture une impression saine et durable.
Ce livre s’adresse aux travailleurs de tous ordres; sa place est dans
le cabinet de l’homme d’étude et dans l’atelier de l’ouvrier; sa place
est surtout dans ces bibliothèques communales, dont nous apprenons la
création avec tant de plaisir, et qui font naître en nous tant d’espoir.
_Self-Help_ est du nombre des livres utiles qu’une commune doit acquérir,
de façon que ceux qui n’ont pas les moyens d’avoir une bibliothèque
puissent cependant le lire. On a dit de certains ouvrages littéraires
qu’ils sont une _bonne action_. _Self-Help_ a tous les droits à être ainsi
qualifié et désigné au public.”--_Le Pays, Journal de l’Empire._
Lately published. By the same Author. Post 8vo. 6_s._ each.
JAMES BRINDLEY
AND
THE EARLY ENGINEERS.
[ABRIDGED FROM ‘LIVES OF THE ENGINEERS.’]
STORY
OF
THE LIFE OF GEORGE STEPHENSON,
CONTAINING ALSO A MEMOIR OF HIS SON, ROBERT STEPHENSON.
[ABRIDGED FROM ‘LIVES OF THE ENGINEERS.’]
“We have taken the facts in this account of Brindley from a delightful
popular edition of that part of Mr. Smiles’s ‘Lives of the Engineers’
which tells of him and of the earlier water engineers. Of Mr. Smiles’s
‘Lives of George and Robert Stephenson’ there is a popular edition as a
companion volume, and therein all may read, worthily told, the tale of
the foundation and of the chief triumphs of that new form of engineering
which dealt with water, not by the river-full but by the bucket-full, and
made a few buckets of water strong as a river to sweep men and their goods
and their cattle in a mighty torrent from one corner of the country to
another.”--_All the Year Round._
“It would be impossible to have selected two more valuable works for
general circulation in a cheap form, or to have given the working classes
a better incentive, not to ‘rest and be thankful’ with their present
position and attainments, but to become convinced that the path of success
is always open to those who, by patience and perseverance, are determined
to pursue it. No one knows better than Mr. Smiles how to promote this
important object; and no one is a greater benefactor to his fellow men
than himself, since by his talent and discrimination he incontestably
proves how ‘Heaven helps those who help themselves.’”--_Bell’s Weekly
Messenger._
“The _Story of the Life of George Stephenson_ (including a memoir of
his son Robert Stephenson), is a cheaper and more compact form of a work
which, on its first appearance, was received with universal approbation.
Now we have it cheaper and handier--and better than ever. Is it not
enough to say this much? Could we say more? _James Brindley and the Early
Engineers_ was originally published in ‘The Lives of the Engineers.’
Besides the biography of the man who made canals do the great carrying
work of the country before railways were extended over the length and
breadth of the country, the volume contains memoirs of Sir Cornelius
Vermuyden, who drained the Fens; of Sir Hugh Myddelton, who brought the
New River water into London; of Captain Perry, who stopped a breach in
the Thames embankment at Dagenham: and in an appendix we have the life of
Pierre Paul Riquet, who constructed the Grand Canal of Languedoc, and who
has been fitly called ‘the French Brindley.’ Two volumes like these cannot
fail to be as widely circulated as is the reputation of those whom they
commemorate. They will go through the length and breadth, and into the
nooks and corners of the land; and they deserve to go wherever the English
language prevails, for they are models of their kind.”--_Standard._
“The _Life of James Brindley_ is partly a reproduction of the Life of
Brindley, originally published in the _Lives of the Engineers_, and now
forms a companion volume to the _Life of Stephenson_--the two men having
so much in common, that having read the life of one, we look to the
other with increased interest; what one achieved for railways, the other
achieved for canals, each being great in his particular branch. There
are several other lives of engineers given--such as Sir Hugh Myddelton,
Vermuyden, and Captain Perry; and a very curious memoir of Pierre Riquet,
the French Brindley, whose life is incorporated in the French edition
of _Self-Help_ published in Paris. As in the Lives of the Stephensons,
the liberality of the publisher is evinced in making the work, though
adapted for the general public, perfect in every respect; it teems with
illustrations of the most curious nature, which evidently, from their
character, must have been collected with infinite labour. No one will
read the lives of Brindley and his brother engineers without that glow
of satisfaction that rises within us from feeling that these men were
thoroughly English in every respect, and that the works illustrating their
lives are models also of English literature.”--_News of the World._
Transcriber’s Notes
Minor inconsistencies in punctuation have been standardised. All
other original errors and inconsistencies have been retained, except
as follows:
Page 33: changed 1790 to 1690
(Leipsic, in 1690. “I felt)
Page 38: changed befel to befell
(this calamity befell Papin’s machine)
Page 44: changed Savory to Savery
(By Tho. Savery, Gent. London,)
Page 52: removed duplicate ‘A,’
(a large, A, and a)
Page 111: changed sucessfully to successfully
(he had successfully repaired an)
Page 120: added missing caption
(PAPIN’S DIGESTER.)
Page 128: added “
(it had been “by chance and)
Page 176: changed acromatic to achromatic
(exceeding good achromatic telescopes)
Page 304: changed 1791 to 1781
(19th November, 1781.)
Page 315: changed fortitute to fortitude
(up your fortitude and try to)
Page 404: changed pains to pain
(Every pain was taken to)
Page 432: changed isinglas to isinglass
(substitute for isinglass, he occupied)
Page 438: changed ‘ to “
Symington was, “Why don’t you
Page 447: changed ratched to ratchet
(chains and ratchet-wheels, as in)
Page 447: changed elate to elated
(proportionately elated at the)
Page 497: added missing caption
(WATER-PIPE IN THE BED OF THE CLYDE.)
Page 516: changed Chasewater to Chacewater
(Chacewater Mine and engine, 231;)
Page 516: changed Chasewater to Chacewater
(Chacewater, 235, 239, 242–3;)
Page 517: changed Leman to Lemon
(Lemon, William, Penzance, 69.)
Page 518: changed 525 to 425
(Rumford gold medal, 425;)
Page 519: changed Sorbiere to Sorbière
(Sorbière, M., on Marquis of)
Page 519: changed 67 to 37
(Papin, 37;)
Page 519: changed 5 to 6
(Steam flour-mills, 291, 325–6, 327.)
Page 520: changed Sotland to Scotland
(returns to Scotland, refused permission)
Page 520: changed imperfecfections to imperfections
(Watt's imperfections, 258;)
Page 521: changed Brosely to Broseley
(Wilkinson, John, of Broseley, constructs)
Page 521: changed Savary to Savery
(William III. and Savery, 50.)
End of Project Gutenberg's Lives of Boulton and Watt, by Samuel Smiles