I had no difficulty in obtaining abundance of skilled workmen in South
Lancashire and Cheshire. I was in the neighbourhood of Manchester,
which forms the centre of a population gifted with mechanical instinct.
From an early period the finest sort of mechanical work has been turned
out in that part of England. Much of the talent is inherited.
It descends from father to son, and develops itself from generation to
generation. I may mention one curious circumstance connected with the
pedigree of Manchester: that much of the mechanical excellence of its
workmen descends from the Norman smiths and armourers introduced into
the neighbourhood at the Norman Conquest by Hugo de Lupus, the chief
armourer of William the Conqueror, after the battle of Hastings, in 1066.
I was first informed of this circumstance by William Stubbs of
Warrington, then maker of the celebrated "Lancashire files."
The "P. S.," or Peter Stubbs's files, were so vastly superior to
other files, both in the superiority of the steel and in the perfection
of the cutting, which long retained its efficiency, that every workman
gloried in the possession and use of such durable tools.
Being naturally interested in everything connected with tools and
mechanics, I was exceedingly anxious to visit the factory where these
admirable files were made. I obtained an introduction to William Stubbs,
then head of the firm, and was received by him with much cordiality
when I asked him if I might be favoured with a sight of his factory,
he replied that he had no factory, as such; and that all he had to do
in supplying his large warehouse was to serve out the requisite quantities
of pure cast steel as rods and bars to the workmen; and that they,
on their part, forged the metal into files of every description at
their own cottage workshops, principally situated in the neighbouring
counties of Cheshire and Lancashire.
This information surprised as well as pleased me. Mr. Stubbs proceeded
to give me an account of the origin of this peculiar system of cottage
manufacture in his neighbourhood. It appears that Hugo de Lupus,
William the Conqueror's Master of Arms, the first Earl of Chester,
settled in North Cheshire shortly after the Conquest. He occupied
Halton Castle, and his workmen resided in Warrington and the adjacent
villages of Appleton, Widnes, Prescot, and Cuerdley.
There they produced coats of steel, mail armour, and steel and
iron weapons, under the direct superintendence of their chief.
The manufacture thus founded continued for many centuries.
Although the use of armour was discontinued, the workers in steel and
iron still continued famous. The skill that had formerly been employed
in forging chain armour and war instruments was devoted to more
peaceful purposes. The cottage workmen made the best of files and
steel tools of other kinds. Their talents became hereditary, and the
manufacture of wire in all its forms is almost peculiar to Warrington
and the neighbourhood. Mr. Stubbs also informed me that most of the
workmen's peculiar names for tools and implements were traceable to old
Norman-French words. He also stated that at Prescot a peculiar class
of workmen has long been established, celebrated for their great skill
in clock and watchmaking; and that, in his opinion, they were the
direct descendants of a swarm of workmen from Hugo de Lupus's original
Norman hive of refined metal-workers, dating from the time of the
Conquest. To return to my narrative. In the midst of such a
habitually industrious population, it will be obvious that there was no
difficulty in finding a sufficient supply of able workmen. It was for
the most part the most steady, respectable, and well-conducted classes
of mechanics who sought my employment--not only for the good wages
they received, but for the sake of their own health and that of their
families; for it will be remembered that the foundry and the workmen's
dwellings were surrounded by the fresh, free, open country.
In the course of a few years the locality became a thriving colony of
skilled mechanics. In order to add to the accommodation of the
increasing numbers, an additional portion of land, amounting to eight
acres, was leased from Squire Trafford on the same terms as before.
On this land suitable houses and cottages for the foremen and workmen
were erected. At the same time substantial brick workshops were built
in accordance with my original general plan, to meet the requirements
of our rapidly expanding business, until at length a large and
commodious factory was erected, as shown in the annexed engraving.
[Image] Bridgewater Foundry Patricroft.
From a painting by Alexander Nasmyth.
The village of Worsley, the headquarters of the Bridgewater Canal,
supplied us with a valuable set of workmen. They were, in the first
place, labourers; but, like all Lancashire men, they were naturally
possessed of a quick aptitude for mechanical occupations connected with
machinery. Our chief employment of these so-called labourers was in
transporting heavy castings and parts of machinery from one place to
another. To do this properly required great care and judgment,
in order that the parts might not be disturbed, and that the mechanics
might proceed towards their completion without any unnecessary delay.
None but those who have had practical acquaintance with the importance
of having skilful labourers to perform these apparently humble,
but in reality very important functions, can form an adequate idea of
the value of such services.
All the requisite qualities we required were found in the Worsley
labourers. They had been accustomed to the heaviest class of work in
connection with the Bridgewater Canal. They had been thoroughly
trained in the handling of all manner of ponderous objects.
They performed their work with energy and willingness. It was quite a
treat to me to look on and observe their rapid and skilful operations
in lifting and transporting ponderous portions of machinery, in which a
vast amount of costly work had been embodied. After the machines or
engines had been finished, it was the business of the same workmen to
remove them from the workshops to the railway-siding alongside the
foundry, or to the boats at the canal wharf. In all these matters the
Worsley men could be thoroughly depended upon.
Where they showed the possession, in any special degree, of a true
mechanical faculty, I was enabled to select from the working labourers
the most effective men to take charge of the largest and most powerful
machine tools--such as planing machines, lathes, and boring machines.
The ease and rapidity with which they caught up all the technical arts
and manipulations connected with the effective working of these
machines was extraordinary. The results were entirely satisfactory to
myself, as well as to the men themselves, by the substantial rise in
their wages which followed their advancement to higher grades of
labour. Thus I had no difficulty in manning my machine tools by
drawing my recruits from this zealous and energetic class of Worsley
labourers. It is by this "selection of the fittest" that the true
source of the prosperity of every large manufacturing establishment
depends. I believe that Free Trade in Ability has a much closer
relation to national prosperity than even Free Trade in Commodities.
But here I came into collision with another class of workmen--those
who are of opinion that employers should select for promotion, not
those who are the fittest and most skilful, but those who have served a
seven years' apprenticeship and are members of a Trades' Union.
It seemed to me that this interference with the free selection and
promotion of the fittest was at variance with free choice of the best
men, and that it was calculated, if carried out, to strike at the root
of the chief source of our prosperity. If every workman of the same
class went in the same rut, and were paid the same uniform rate of
wages, irrespective of his natural or acquired ability, such a system
would destroy the emulative spirit which forms the chief basis of
manipulative efficiency and practical skill, and on which, in my
opinion, the prosperity of our manufacturing establishments mainly
depends. But before I proceed to refer to the strike of Unionists,
which for a time threatened to destroy, or at all events to impede the
spirit of enterprise and the free choice of skilful workmen, in which I
desired to conduct the Bridgewater Foundry, I desire to say a few words
about those excellent helpers, the foremen engineers, who zealously
helped me in my undertaking from beginning to end.
I must place my most worthy, zealous, and faithful Archy Torry at the
top of the list. He rose from being my only workman when I first
started in Manchester, to be my chief general foreman. The energy and
devotion which he brought to bear upon my interests set a high example
to all in my employment. Although he was in some respects deficient in
his knowledge of the higher principles of engineering and mechanical
construction, I was always ready to supply that defect. His hearty
zeal and cheerful temper, and his energetic movement when among the
men, had a sympathetic influence upon all about him. His voice had the
same sort of influence upon them as the drum and fife on a soldier's
march: it quickened their movements. We were often called in by our
neighbour manufacturers to repair a breakdown of their engines.
That was always a sad disaster, as all hands were idle until the repair
was effected. Archy was in his glory on such occasions. By his ready
zeal and energy he soon got over the difficulty, repaired the engines,
and set the people to work again. He became quite famous in these cases
of extreme urgency. He never spared himself, and his example had an
excellent effect upon every workman under him.
Another of my favourite workshop lieutenants was James Hutton.
He had been leading foreman to my worthy friend George Douglass,
of Old Broughton, Edinburgh. He was fully ten years my senior,
and when working at Douglass's I looked up to him as a man of
authority. I had obtained from him many a valuable wrinkle in
mechanical and technical construction. After I left Edinburgh he had
emigrated to the United States for the purpose of bettering his
condition. But he promised me that if disappointed in his hopes of
settling there, he should be glad to come into my service if I was ever
in a position to give him employment. Shortly after my removal to
Patricroft, and when everything had been got into full working order,
I received a letter from him in which he said that he was anxious to
return to England, and asking if there was any vacancy in our
establishment that he might be employed to fill up. It so happened
that the foremanship of turners was then vacant. I informed Hutton of
the post; and on his return to England he was duly enrolled in our
staff.
The situation was a very important one, and Hutton filled it admirably.
He was a sound practical man, and thoroughly knew every department of
engineering mechanism. As I had provided small separate rooms or
offices for every department of the establishment for the use of the
foremen, where they kept their memoranda and special tools, I had often
the pleasure of conferring with Hutton as to some point of interest, or
when I wished to pass my ideas and designs through the ordeal of his
judgment, in order that I might find out any lurking defect in some
proposed mechanical arrangement. Before he gave an opinion, Hutton
always took a pinch of snuff to stimulate his intellect, or rather to
give him a little time for consideration. He would turn the subject
over in his mind. But I knew that I could trust his keenness of
insight. He would give his verdict carefully, shrewdly, and truthfully.
Hutton remained a faithful and valued servant in the concern for nearly
thirty years, and died at a ripe old age. Notwithstanding his
mechanical intelligence, Hutton was of too cautious a temperament to
have acted as a general foreman or manager, otherwise he would have
been elevated to that position. A man may be admirable in details,
but be wanting in width, breadth, and largeness of temperament and
intellect. The man who possesses the latter gifts becomes great in
organisation; he soon ceases to be a "hand," and becomes a "head,"
and such men generally rise from the employed to be the employer.
Another of my excellent assistants was John Clerk. He had been for a
long time in the service of Fairbairn and Lillie; but having had a
serious difference with one of the foremen, he left their service with
excellent recommendations. I soon after engaged him as foreman of the
pattern-making department. He was a most able man in some of the more
important branches of mechanical engineering. He had, besides,
an excellent knowledge of building operations. I found him of great
use in superintending the erection of the additional workshops which
were required in proportion as our business extended. He made out
full-sized chalk-line drawings from my original pencil sketches,
on the large floor of the pattern store, and from these were formed the
working drawings for the new buildings. He had a wonderful power of
rapidity and clearness in apprehending new subjects, and the way in
which he depicted them in large drawings was quite masterly.
John Clerk and I spent many an hour on our knees together on the
pattern store floor, and the result of our deliberations usually was
some substantial addition to the workshops of the foundry, or some
extra large and powerful machine tool. This worthy man left our
service to become a partner in an engineering concern in Ireland;
and though he richly deserved his promotion, he left us to our very
great regret.
The last of our foremen to whom I shall refer was worthy Thomas
Crewdson. He entered our service as a smith, in which pursuit he
displayed great skill. We soon noted the high order of his natural
ability; promoted him from the ranks, and made him foreman of the
smith's and forge-work department. In this he displayed every quality
of excellence, not only in seeing to the turning out of the forge work
in the highest state of perfection, but in managing the men under his
charge with such kind discretion as to maintain the most perfect
harmony in the workshops. This is always a matter of great importance
--that the foreman should inspire the workmen with his own spirit,
and keep up their harmony and activity to the most productive point.
Crewdson was so systematic in his use of time that we found that he was
able also to undertake the foremanship of the boiler-making department,
in addition to that of the smith work; and to this he was afterwards
appointed, with highly satisfactory results to all concerned.
So strongly and clearly impressed is my mind with the recollection of
the valuable assistance which I received during my engineering life
from those vicegerents of practical management at Patricroft,
that I feel that I cannot proceed further in my narrative without thus
placing the merits of these worthy men upon record. It was a source of
great good fortune to me to be associated with them, and I consider
them to have been among the most important elements in the prosperity
of the Bridgewater Foundry. There were many others, in comparatively
humble positions, whom I have also reason to remember with gratitude.
In all well-conducted concerns the law of "selection of the fittest"
sooner or later comes into happy action, when a loyal and attached set
of men work together harmoniously for their own advantage as well as
for that of their employers.
It was not, however, without some difficulty that we were allowed to
carry out our views as to Free Trade in Ability. As the buildings were
increased, more men were taken on--from Manchester, Bolton, Liverpool,
as well as from more distant places. We were soon made to feel that
our idea of promoting workmen according to their merits, and advancing
them to improved positions and higher wages in proportion to their
skill, ability, industry, and natural intelligence, was quite contrary
to the views of many of our new employees. They took advantage of a
large access of orders for machinery, which they knew had come into the
foundry, to wait upon us suddenly, and to lay down their Trade Union
law for our observance.
The men who waited upon us were deputed by the Engineer Mechanics'
Trades' Union to inform us that there were men in our employment who
were not, as they termed it, "legally entitled to the trade;" that is,
they had never served a regular seven years' apprenticeship.
"These men," said the delegates, "are filling up the places,
and keeping out of work, the legal hands." We were accordingly
requested to discharge the workmen whom we had promoted, in order to
make room for members of the Trades' Union.
To have complied with this request would have altered the whole
principles and practice on which we desired to conduct our business.
I wished, and my partner agreed with me, to stimulate men to steadfast
and skilful work by the hope of promotion. It was thus that I had
taken several of the Worsley men from the rank of labourers, and raised
them to the class mechanics with correspondingly higher wages.
We were perfectly satisfied with the conduct of these workmen, and with
the productive results of their labour. We thought it fair to them as
well as to ourselves to resist the order to discharge them, and we
consequently firmly refused to submit to the dictation of the
Unionists.
The delegates left us with a distinct intimation that if we continued
to retain the illegal men in our employment they would call out the
Union men, and strike until "the grievance " was redressed.
The Unionists, no doubt, fixed upon the right time to place their case
before us. We wanted more workmen to execute the advantageous orders
which had come in; and they thought that the strike would put an entire
stop to our operations. On engaging the workmen we had never up to
this time concerned ourselves with the question of whether they
belonged to the Trades' Union or not. The only proof we required of a
man was Ability. If, after a week's experience, he proved himself an
efficient workman, we engaged him.
The strike took place. All the Union men were "called out," and left
the works. Many of them expressed their great regret at leaving us,
as they were perfectly satisfied with their employment as well as with
their remuneration. But they were nevertheless compelled to obey the
mandate of the Council. The result was that more than half of our men
left us. Those who remained were very zealous. Nothing could exceed
their activity and workfulness. We appealed to our employers.
They were most considerate in not pressing us for the speedy execution
of the work we had in hand. We made applications in the neighbourhood
for other mechanics in lieu of those who had left us. But the men on
strike, under orders from the Union, established pickets round the
works, who were only too efficient in preventing those desirous of
obtaining employment from getting access to the foundry.
Our position for a time seemed to be hopeless. We could not find
workmen enough to fill our shops or to execute our orders.
What were we to do under the circumstances? We could not find mechanics
in the neighbourhood; but might they not, be found elsewhere?
Why not bring them from a distance? We determined to try.
Advertisements were inserted in the Scotch newspapers, announcing our
want of mechanics, smiths, and foundrymen. We appointed an agent in
Edinburgh, to whom applications were to be made. We were soon in
receipt of the welcome intelligence that numbers of the best class of
mechanics had applied, and that our agent's principal difficulty
consisted in making the proper selection from amongst them.
A selection was, however, made of over sixty men, who appeared in every
respect likely to suit us. With true Scotch caution they deputed two
of their number to visit our works and satisfy themselves as to the
real state of the case. We had great pleasure in receiving these two
clear-headed cautious pioneers. We showed them over the workshops,
and pointed out the habitations in the neighbourhood with their
attractive surroundings. The men returned to their constituents,
and gave such a glowing account of their mission that we had no
difficulty in obtaining the men we required. Indeed, we might easily
have obtained three times the number of efficient mechanics.
Sixty-four of the most likely men were eventually selected, men in the
zenith of their physical powers. We made arrangements for their
conveyance to Glasgow, from whence they started for Liverpool by
steamer. They landed in a body at the latter port, many of them
accompanied by their wives and children, and eight-day clocks!
A special train was engaged for the conveyance of the whole--men,
women, and children, bag and baggage--from Liverpool to Patricroft,
where suitable accommodation had been provided for them.
The arrival of so powerful a body of men made a great sensation in the
neighbourhood. The men were strong, respectable looking, and well
dressed. The pickets were "dumfoundered." They were brushed to one
side by the fresh arrivals. They felt that their game was up, and they
suddenly departed. The men were taken over the workshops, with which
they appeared quite delighted. They were told to be ready to start
next morning at six, after which they departed to their lodgings.
The morning arrived and the gallant sixty-four were all present.
After allotting to each his special work, they gave three hearty
cheers, and dispersed throughout the workshops.
We had no reason to regret the results which were effected through the
strike ordered by the Trades' Union. The new men worked with a will.
They were energetic, zealous, and skilful. They soon gave evidence of
their general handiness and efficiency in all the departments of work
in which they were engaged. We were thus enabled to carry out our
practice of Free Trade in Ability in our own way, and we were no longer
interfered with in our promotion of workmen who served us best.
In short, we had scotched the strike; we conquered the Union in their
wily attempt to get us under their withering control; and the
Bridgewater Foundry resumed its wonted activity in every department.
It was afterwards a great source of happiness to me to walk through the
various workshops and observe the cheerful and intelligent countenances
of the new men, and to note the energetic skill with which they used
their tools in the advancement of their work. General handiness is one
of the many valuable results that issues from the practice of handling
the variety of materials which are more or less employed in mechanical
structures. At the time that I refer to, the skilful workmen employed
in the engineering establishments of Scotland (which were then
comparatively small in size) were accustomed to use all manner of
mechanical tools. They could handle with equally good effect the saw,
the plane, the file, and the chisel; and, as occasion required, they
could exhibit their skill at the smith's forge with the hammer and the
anvil. This was the kind of workmen with which I had reinforced the
foundry. The men had been bred to various branches of mechanics.
Some had been blacksmiths, others carpenters, stone masons, brass or
iron founders; but all of them were handy men. They merely adopted the
occupation of machine and steam-engine makers because it offered a
wider field for the exercise of their skill and energy.
I may here be allowed to remark that we owe the greatest advances in
mechanical invention to Free Trade in Ability. If we look carefully
into the narratives of the lives of the most remarkable engineers,
we shall find that they owed very little to the seven years' rut in
which they were trained. They owed everything to innate industry,
energy, skill, and opportunity. Thus, Brindley advanced from the
position of a millwright to that of a canal engineer; Smeaton and Watt,
from being mathematical instrument makers, advanced to higher
positions,--the one to be the inventor of the modern lighthouse,
the other to be the inventor of the condensing steam-engine.
Some of the most celebrated mechanical and civil engineers--such as
Rennie, Cubitt, and Fairbairn--were originally millwrights.
All these men were many-handed. They had many sides to their intellect.
They were resourceful men. They afford the best illustrations of the
result of Free Trade in Ability.
The persistent aim at an indolent equality which Union men aim at,
is one of the greatest hindrances to industrial progress.
When the Union Delegates called upon me to insist that none but men who
had served seven years' apprenticeship should be employed in the works,
I told them that I preferred employing a man who had acquired the
requisite mechanical skill in two years rather than another who was so
stupid as to require seven years' teaching. The delegates regarded
this statement as preposterous and heretical. In fact, it was utter
high treason. But in the long run we carried our point.
It is true, we had some indenture-bound apprentices. These were pupils
who paid premiums. In certain cases we could not very well refuse to
take them. Some of them caused a great deal of annoyance and
disturbance. They were irregular in their attendance, consequently
they could not be depended upon for the regular operations of the
foundry. They were careless in their work, and set a bad example to
the others. We endeavoured to check this disturbing element by
stipulating that the premium should be payable in six months' portions,
and that each party should be free to terminate the connection at the
end of each succeeding six months. By this system we secured more care
and regularity on the part of the pupil apprentices; as, while it
checked inattention and irregularity, it offered a direct and
substantial encouragement to zeal and industry.
But the arrangement which we greatly preferred was to employ
intelligent well-conducted young lads, the sons of labourers or
mechanics, and advance them by degrees according to their merits.
They took charge of the smaller machine tools, by which the minor
details of the machines in progress were brought into exact form
without having recourse to the untrustworthy and costly process of
chipping and filing. A spirit of emulation was excited amongst the
lads. They vied with each other in executing their work with
precision. Those who excelled were paid an extra weekly wage.
In course of time they took pride, not only in the quantity but in the
quality of their work; and in the long run they became skilful
mechanics. We were always most prompt to recognise their progress in a
substantial manner. There was the most perfect freedom between
employer and employed. Every one of these lads was at liberty to leave
at the end of each day's work. This arrangement acted as an
ever-present check upon master and apprentice. The only bond of union
between us was mutual interest. The best of the lads remained in our
service because they knew our work and were pleased with the
surroundings; while we on our part were always desirous of retaining
the men we had trained, because we knew we could depend upon them.
Nothing could have been more satisfactory than the manner in which this
system worked.
In May 1835 I had the great happiness of receiving a visit from my dear
father. I was then in Dale Street, Manchester, where my floor was
overloaded with the work in progress. My father continued to take a
great interest in mechanical undertakings, and he was pleased with the
prosperity which had followed my settlement in this great manufacturing
centre. He could still see his own lathe, driven by steam power,
in full operation for the benefit of his son. His fame as an artist
was well known in Manchester, for many of his works were possessed by
the best men of the town. I had the pleasure of introducing him to the
Brothers Grant, John Kennedy, Edward Lloyd, George Murray, James Frazer,
William Fairbairn, and Hugh and Joseph Birley, all of whom gave him a
most cordial welcome, and invited him to enjoy their hospitality.
[Image] Alexander Nasmyth. After a cameo by Samuel Joseph
In 1838 he visited me again. I had removed to Patricroft, and
the Bridgewater Foundry was in full operation. My father was then in
his eightieth year. He was still full of life and intellect.
He was vastly delighted in witnessing the rapid progress which I had
made since his first visit. He took his daily walk through the
workshops, where many processes were going on which greatly interested
him. He was sufficiently acquainted with the technical details of
mechanical work to enjoy the sight, especially when self-acting tools
were employed. It was a great source of pleasure to him to have
"a crack" with the most intelligent foremen and mechanics. These,
on their part, treated him with the most kind and respectful attention.
The Scotch workmen regarded him with special veneration. They knew
that he had been an intimate friend of Robert Burns, their own
best-beloved poet, whose verses shed a charm upon their homes, and were
recited by the fireside, in the fields, or at the workman's bench.
They also knew that he had painted the only authentic portrait of their
national bard. This fact invested my father with additional interest
in their eyes. Their respect for him culminated in a rather
extraordinary demonstration. On the last day of his visit the leading
Scotch workmen procured "on the sly" an arm-chair, which they fastened
to two strong bearing poles. When my father left the works at the
bell-ringing at mid-day, he was approached by the workmen,
and respectfully requested to "take the chair." He refused; but it was
of no use. He was led to the chair, and took it. He was then raised
and carried in triumph to my house. He was carefully set down at the
little garden-gate, where the men affectionately took leave of him,
and ended their cordial good wishes for his safe return home with three
hearty cheers. I need scarcely say that my father was greatly affected
by this kind demonstration on the part of the workmen.
His life was fast drawing to a close. He had borne the heat and burden
of the day; and was about to be taken home like a shock of corn in full
season. After a long and happy life, blessed and cheered by a most
affectionate wife, he laid down his brushes and went to rest.
In his later years he rejoiced in the prosperity of his children,
which was all the more agreeable as it was the result of the example of
industry and perseverance which he had ever set before them.
My father untiringly continued his professional occupations until 1840,
when he had attained the age of eighty-two. His later works may be
found wanting in that degree of minute finish which characterised his
earlier productions; but in regard to their quality there was no
falling off, even to the last picture which he painted. The delicate
finish was amply compensated by the increase in general breadth and
effectiveness, so that his later works were even more esteemed by his
brother-artists. The last picture he painted was finished eight days
before his death. It was a small work. The subject was a landscape
with an autumnal evening effect. There was a picturesque cottage in
the middle distance, a rustic bridge over a brook in the foreground,
and an old labouring man, followed by his dog, wearily passing over it
on his way towards his home. From the chimney of his cottage a thin
streak of blue smoke passed upward through the tranquil evening air.
All these incidents suggested the idea, which no doubt he desired to
convey, of the tranquil conclusion of his own long and active life,
which was then, too evidently, drawing to a close.
The shades of evening had come on when he could no longer see to work,
and he was obliged to lay down his pencil. My mother was at work with
her needle close by him; and when he had finished he asked her what he
should call the picture. Not being ready with an answer, he leant back
in his chair, feeling rather faint, and said, "Well, I think I had
better call it Going Home." And so it was called.
Next morning his strength had so failed him that he could not get up.
He remained there for eight days, and then he painlessly and tranquilly
passed away. While on his deathbed he expressed the desire that his
remains should be placed beside those of a favourite son who had died
in early youth. "Let me lie," he said, "beside my dear Alick."
His desire was gratified. He was buried beside his son in St. Cuthbert's
churchyard, under the grandest portion of the great basaltic rock on
which Edinburgh Castle stands. His grave is marked by a fine Runic Cross,
admirably sculptured by Rhind of Edinburgh.
[Image] Monument to Alexander Nasmyth
One of the kindest letters my mother received after her great loss was
one from Sir David Wilkie. It was dated 18th April 1840. "I hasten,"
he said, "to assure you of my most sincere condolence on your severe
affliction, feeling that I can sympathise in the privation you suffer
from losing one who was my earliest professional friend, whose art I at
all times admired, and whose society and conversation was perhaps the
most agreeable that I ever met with. " He was the founder of the
Landscape Painting School of Scotland, and by his taste and talent has
for many years taken a lead in the patriotic aim of enriching his
native land with the representations of her romantic scenery; and,
as the friend and contemporary of Ramsay, of Gavin Hamilton, and the
Runcimans, may be said to have been the last remaining link that unites
the present with the early dawn of the Scottish School of Art."
I may add that my mother died six years later, in 1846, at the same age
as my father, namely eighty-two.