Should the book sustain any damage while in the 
 borrower's possession, the expense of restoration to be 
 
 borne by him. 
 
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 All fines to be applied to the defraying of the expensee 
 
 of Library. 
 
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 Books marked " reference " are not available for cir- 
 culation. 
 
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HEKOES OF THE LABORATORY 
 
 AND 
 
 THE WORKSHOP. 
 
William Caxton. 
 
 P. 26 
 
HEROES OF ,THE LABORATORY 
 
 AND 
 
 THE WORKSHOP 
 
 BT 
 
 C. L. BEIGHTWELL. 
 
 a 
 
 "Toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing, 
 Onward through life he goes; 
 Each morning sees some task begun, 
 Each evening sees it close : 
 Something attempted, something done, 
 Has earned a night's repose." LONGFELLOW. 
 
 iti0u> fllttsirateb bg fojjn 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 UTLEDGE AND SONS, 
 
 BROADWAY, LTJDGATBj 
 YOEKi 416, BKOOME STREET. 
 
I 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 SOME months ago, as I was walking in the suburbs of 
 the city in which I live, I met an artisan returning 
 from work, to whom, as he passed, I offered a little 
 book. The man courteously thanked me, and ex- 
 tended his hand to receive the gift. As he did so, 
 I was struck with the strange contrast between his 
 broad, labour-stained palm and my own slight fingers, 
 which nearly touched his, and I experienced a feeling 
 of peculiar and deep interest as I looked upon the 
 working-man, with whom I was thus, for a single 
 instant only, brought in contact. 
 
 I would gladly have made him feel that I sym- 
 pathized with him, for I realized, as I had not before 
 done, how many were the hardships of his lot, while, 
 at the same time, I half envied the feelings of honest 
 independence which of right belong to the hard- 
 working and industrious members of the community, 
 who "earn their bread by the sweat of their brow," 
 in obedience to the Divine command. "I wish I could 
 give him something he would be glad to have, and 
 could talk with him 011 some subject that would please 
 and interest him," thought I, as I went on my way 
 
 346939 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 and this wish returned, again and again, to my mind, 
 until at length it resulted in the production of the 
 following pages. 
 
 Surely, the history of a working-man's life cannot 
 be without interest for his fellows, especially if it be a 
 true narrative of victorious struggle, and of laborious 
 effort crowned with success. It is true, that but few 
 of this class have given us the personal record of their 
 experience ; but there are some who have done so, 
 while we possess trustworthy and instructive memo- 
 rials respecting many others. They are not, however, 
 readily to be met with, especially in a form suited for 
 general reading. In this little volume the attempt is 
 made to present a few of the more remarkable ex- 
 amples of the kind, in such a manner as to interest 
 those who may here find the life-histories of men 
 of their own class, many of whom acquired wealth 
 and deserved the respect and gratitude of mankind. 
 
 In offering this book to working-men, I wish to 
 say a few words with reference to it. There are here 
 given a variety of short notices of men, most of whom 
 laboured in the mechanical arts; among them, 
 indeed, are four or five names devoted to science, but 
 they may truly be numbered among " working-men ;" 
 and they all rose to eminence solely by the 'force 
 of their own talent and energy, while many of the 
 fruits of their researches were turned to practical 
 account in the service of the industrial arts. So 
 closely indeed is science linked to the arts, that we 
 cannot think of the steam-engine without recalling to 
 
PREFACE. VU 
 
 mind the philosophic "Watt, nor rejoice in the safety 
 of the poor miner without blessing the memory of the 
 illustrious Davy. 
 
 Varied as were the circumstances and occupations 
 of the men whose lives are here recorded, they possess 
 in common one characteristic, without which it is 
 certain they could not have distinguished themselves. 
 They were all " diligent in business," and worked with 
 persevering and determined purpose; and hence their 
 ultimate success. 
 
 It is indeed true that many, like them, have toiled 
 and striven, who failed to reach the object of their 
 ambition ; but these men have not the less truly con- 
 tributed to the general good, and without their labours 
 the fortunate few who have attained to renown would 
 have been destitute of the means which their skill and 
 diligence have turned to such good account. It is by 
 a series of minute advances by a constant addition to 
 the stores of experience and invention that such 
 great results have been ultimately achieved. There is 
 a saying uttered by the Great Teacher of men, which 
 is applicable here : " Other men laboured, and ye are 
 entered into their labours." 
 
 It is a very instructive fact that, during the time of 
 the great religious struggle in France, the working 
 classes took a prominent part as advocates of the Pro- 
 testant cause ; insomuch that a Catholic historian of 
 the day remarks that "the painters, clockmakers, 
 modellers, jewellers, booksellers, printers, and others, 
 who, although in humble trades, have still some 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 exercise for thought, were the first to adopt these new 
 ideas." What a striking testimony to the fact that 
 diligent occupation in the pursuits of business and of 
 trade is no obstruction, but rather a help, to intellectual 
 and spiritual life ! 
 
 One of the most illustrious of these adherents of 
 religious truth and liberty was Bernard Palissy, a 
 name that deserves to be held dear by working-men 
 in all times. In him we have an illustrious proof 
 that greatness does not depend upon the occupation, 
 but upon the mind. Among the men who have risen 
 from obscurity there is none more admirable and note- 
 worthy than he. As an impressive example of labour, 
 of patience, of perseverance under difficulties, com- 
 bined with true dignity, piety, and virtue, he must 
 ever be a model to workmen of all professions. His 
 whole career was a blending of religion with the work 
 of common life, and proves " that the man who dili- 
 gently discharges the duties of the earthly, may not 
 less sedulously nay, at the same moment, fulfil 
 those of the heavenly sphere, at once ' diligent in 
 business,' and ' fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.' " 
 
 " In all labour there is profit," says the wise man. 
 And experience has set its seal to the truth of this 
 axiom ; yet the most precious result, and highest 
 reward of earthly toil, will not be attained unless a 
 man has respect to the approbation of God, by whose 
 appointment it is that secular work is not only a duty, 
 but, in most cases, a necessity. 
 
 Deeply convinced of this truth, I cannot take leave 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 of my readers without exhorting them earnestly to 
 bethink themselves of the Saviour's exhortation, 
 
 " Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat 
 which endureth unto everlasting life." 
 
 "We know that Jesus Christ did not mean, in these 
 words, to bid us cease from working with our hands 
 in the daily callings of life. He has enjoined that as 
 a necessary duty. But He meant, in the abundance 
 of His love to our souls, to bid us so much more 
 earnestly covet spiritual than temporal blessings, as to 
 labour first and most diligently to obtain them. Do 
 we ask as they of old did " What shall we do that 
 we might work the works of God?" This is His 
 answer, "Believe on Him whom He hath sent. 
 Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on 
 Me hath everlasting life." 
 
 NORWICH, 1859. 
 
Page 
 
 RICHARD ARKWRIGHT THE INVENTOR OP COTTON 
 
 MACHINERY 1 
 
 CLAUDE LOUIS BERTHOLLET CHEMIST 9 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY ORIGINATOR OF CANAL NAVIGA- 
 TION 17 
 
 WILLIAM CAXTON THE FIRST ENGLISH PRINTER... 26 
 
 BENVENUTO CELLINI THE GOLD WORKER 35 
 
 SIR HUMPHRY DAVY CHEMICAL PHILOSOPHER ... 44 
 
 SEBASTIAN ERARD AND CLAUDE MONTAL PIANO- 
 FORTE MAKERS AND TUNERS 55 
 
 GRAHAM AND BREGUET WATCH AND CLOCK 
 
 MAKERS 63 
 
 LORENZO GHIBERTI AND QUINTIN MATSYS 
 
 WORKERS IN METALS 74 
 
 JOSEPH JACQUARD, AND HIS LOOM 80 
 
 RICHARD LENOIR THE FRENCH MANUFACTURER... 88 
 
 OBERKAMPF AND CALICO-PRINTING IN FRANCE 98 
 
 BERNARD PALISSY THE POTTER 106 
 
 JOHN RENNIE THE ARCHITECT . .124 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 JACQUES ROUBO CARPENTER AND BUILDER 133 
 
 ALOIS SENNEFELDER INVENTOR OF LITHOGRAPHY 141 
 
 GEORGE STEPHENSON THE ENGINEER 150 
 
 VAUCANSON AUTOMATA 166 
 
 THE STEAM-ENGINE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER 
 
 SOLOMON DE CAUS NEWCOMEN WATT 172 
 
 JOSIAS WEDGWOOD ENAMELLED STONE-WARE 190 
 
 RENNEQUIN LAURENS HARRISON GOBELIN, AND 
 
 OTHERS 203 
 
 BEZALEEL HIRAM AND PAUL... . 212 
 
HEROES OF 
 THE LABORATORY AND THE WORKSHOP. 
 
 RICHARD ARKWRIGHT, 
 
 THE INVENTOR OF COTTON MACHINERY. 
 Bwn 1732 Died 1792. 
 
 DR. DARWIN, in his " Loves of the Plants," has 
 described poetically the process of cotton-spinning, 
 and in a note to his verse, gives an interesting and 
 graphic account of the machinery employed by the 
 extraordinary man to whose ingenuity this country is 
 so much indebted. " On the river Derwent, near 
 Matlock, in Derbyshire, Sir Richard Arkwright has 
 erected his curious and magnificent machinery for 
 spinning cotton, which had been in vain attempted by 
 many ingenious men before him. The cotton wool is 
 first picked from the pods and seeds by women ; it is 
 then carded by cylindrical cards, which move against 
 each other with different velocities. It is taken from 
 these by an iron hand or comb, which has a motion 
 similar to that of scratching, and takes the wool off 
 the cards longitudinally in respect to the fibres or 
 staple, producing a continued line loosely cohering 
 
2 RICHARD ARKWRICIIT. 
 
 called the rove or roving. This rove, yet very loosely 
 twisted, is then received or drawn into a whirling 
 canister, and is rolled by the centrifugal force in 
 spiral lines within it, being yet too tender for the 
 spindle. It is then passed between two pairs of 
 rollers, the second pair, moving faster than the first, 
 elongate the thread with greater rapidity than can 
 be done by hand, and is then twisted on spoles, or 
 bobbins." To this short but comprehensive account of 
 the process of cotton-spinning, is added the information 
 that the great fertility of the cotton plant in these 
 fine flexible threads (while those from hemp, flax, or 
 the bark of the mulberry tree, require a previous 
 putrefaction of the pithy substance, and much me- 
 chanical labour, and afterwards bleaching), renders 
 this plant of great importance to the world. The poet 
 prognosticates that since this ingenious machine has 
 not only greatly abbreviated and simplified the labour 
 and art of carding and spinning the cotton wool, but 
 performs both these better than can be done by hand, 
 it is probable that the cloth of this small reed may 
 become the principal clothing of mankind. 
 
 " Some are born great some achieve greatness," 
 says Shakespeare ; Richard Arkwright belonged to 
 the latter class. He was born in the year 1732, at 
 Preston, in Lancashire, of parents in a very humble 
 grade of life, and being the youngest of thirteen 
 children, we may readily suppose, owed little to 
 the amount of school learning he received ; but he 
 had a ready wit, and contrived to earn a small pittance, 
 
THE INVENTOR OF COTTON MACHINERY. 3 
 
 with which he hired a cellar and set up a barber's shop, 
 with this sign-board over it " The Subterranean Bar- 
 ber who shaves for Id." This novelty took amazingly; 
 and Dick had a great run. The rival barbers of the 
 town were fain, in consequence, to lower their terms, 
 and then he came down to a halfpenny. It is related 
 of him that, on one occasion, he had a cobbler for his 
 customer, with so stubborn a beard that he complained 
 it would cost him a razor, and that the halfpenny would 
 not pay for the wear and tear. But the cobbler per- 
 sisted he would pay no more than the sign-board 
 charged, and Arkwright good-hurnouredly expressed 
 himself content. This so pleased the cobbler that he 
 became a firm friend to Arkwright, and introduced him 
 to a man who had invented some machinery, from 
 whom he gained his first ideas on the subject. 
 
 It seems beyond doubt that he continued in the 
 trade of a barber till about 1760, when he gave up 
 shaving and commenced business as an itinerant dealer 
 in hair, travelling up and down the country collecting 
 the material, which he afterwards dressed and sold 
 again to the wig-makers, among whom he soon acquired 
 the character of keeping a better article than others in 
 the same line. 
 
 It would appear that his first effort in mechanics 
 was an attempt to discover the perpetual motion. It 
 was when inquiring after a person to make him some 
 wheels for a project of this kind that he met with a 
 clockmaker named Kay, who dissuaded him from pur- 
 suing his idea, by urging that, in applying the inven- 
 
 B2 
 
4 RICHARD ARKWRIGHT, 
 
 tion to cotton-spinning, he would have a better chance 
 of making a profitable concern. Arkwright, who 
 knew that many inventors of spinning machinery had 
 been utterly ruined, was very doubtful about the 
 matter, and unwilling to incur expense. He and Kay, 
 however, made application to a Mr. Atherton for 
 some pecuniary assistance, to enable them to prosecute 
 their plans. So miserable was the appearance of the 
 former barber that this gentleman refused to have 
 anything to do with the adventure. The two associates 
 persevered, and, having made a model of the machine 
 they had projected, went, in 1768, to Preston, where 
 they made and erected a machine in the dwelling- 
 house attached to the grammar-school of the town. 
 At that time Arkwright was almost in rags ; and 
 "being a burgess of Preston" he could not appear to 
 vote during a contested election till the party with 
 whom he sided provided him with a decent suit of 
 clothes. 
 
 No sooner was the election over than he quitted 
 Preston and went to Nottingham, being apprehensive 
 that the people of Lancashire would be hostile to an 
 attempt to introduce spinning by machinery. Up to 
 that time the cloths of English manufacture, called 
 "calicoes," which were made in imitation of Indian 
 goods, and so called from Calicut, the place of their 
 production, were formed by a mixture of linen and 
 cotton : the warp was composed of linen and the weft 
 of cotton, it being found impossible, by any means then 
 known, to spin the fibres of cotton into a thread suffi- 
 
THE INVENTOR OP COTTON MACHINERY. 5 
 
 ciently strong to be used as warp. The cotton was 
 carded and spun by the women in the weavers' families, 
 and when the demand for these cloths increased greatly, 
 they were unable to prepare sufficient weft to keep the 
 looms employed. The limit to which this species of 
 employment could be carried was soon reached, and if 
 some better method than spinning by the one thread- 
 wheel (which was the only machine known) had not 
 been discovered, the progress of the cotton manufacture 
 must have been stopped, or at best would have been 
 insignificant. 
 
 It was natural, this being the state of things, that 
 attempts should be made to contrive some more 
 effective mode ; and, in fact, long before this time, 
 spinning by machinery had been thought of by more 
 than one person. A Mr. Wyatt, of Lichfield, in- 
 vented an apparatus for the purpose so early as 1733 ; 
 but his undertakings were unsuccessful, and the 
 machines were allowed to perish, no model of them 
 being preserved. 
 
 As has been said, Arkwright was apprehensive that 
 his projects would meet with opposition in Lancashire, 
 and he therefore went to Nottingham, where, happily, 
 he took his model to Messrs. Need and Strutt, stocking 
 weavers of that place, the latter of whom was well 
 qualified to judge of the adaptation of the new ma- 
 chinery to its proposed object. He at once was 
 satisfied of its great value, and in 1769 Arkwright 
 obtained his first patent for spinning with rollers, and 
 Need and Strutt became his partners in the manufac- 
 
6 BICHAKD AKKWRIGHT, 
 
 turing concerns which it was proposed to carry on 
 under it. 
 
 The most important improvement in the apparatus 
 was the application of the two pairs of rollers, the one 
 revolving faster than the other, by means of which the 
 thread was reduced to a great degree of fineness a 
 most beautiful and effective contrivance, which appears 
 to have been undoubtedly Arkwright's original idea. 
 
 A spinning-mill was now erected in Nottingham, 
 worked by horse power, and in 1771 another was 
 built at Cromford, in Derbyshire, to which motion 
 was given by water, being the first works of the kind 
 in this country. 
 
 We may now regard our ingenious mechanic as 
 fairly launched on the tide of prosperity, but even 
 after he had succeeded in forming this partnership, a 
 period of five years expired from the first establish- 
 ment of the works at Cromford before any profit was 
 realized, and a capital of more than 12,000 had been 
 expended. But the greatest troubles he had to en- 
 counter were occasioned by the annoying charges 
 brought against him as a plagiarist or pirate of other 
 men's ideas. He was even^ denied altogether the merit 
 of being an original inventor, and a series of expensive 
 and wearisome trials were instituted for the purpose of 
 invalidating his patents. 
 
 There would be little interest in relating the par- 
 ticulars of these charges. Suffice it to say that, while 
 some of them were undoubtedly fallacious, and others 
 doubtfully supported, the several inventions which his 
 
THE INVENTOR OF COTTON MACHINERY. 7 
 
 patents embraced would probably, but for him, have 
 been of no avail. None but himself had the courage 
 and determination to face the fatigues, difficulties, and 
 dangers that lay in the way of achieving such great 
 results and over them all he, at last, completely 
 triumphed. 
 
 To him alone belongs also the merit of having com- 
 bined the various portions of the machinery with admir- 
 able skill and judgment, and of having been the first to 
 turn it to practical use on anything like an extensive 
 scale. 
 
 When he started on his career, he was poor, friend- 
 less, and utterly unknown ; and his example stands 
 out as a most marvellous proof of what a resolute 
 heart, combined with ingenuity and perseverance, may 
 accomplish. This as Mr. Coleridge has well said is 
 the grand lesson which the history of Arkwright's life 
 is fitted to teach us ; to give ourselves wholly to one 
 object, and never to despair of reaching it. It was the 
 character of the man to devote his whole heart and 
 faculties to whatever he engaged in, and this was the 
 cause of his success. 
 
 At length the undertaking, so long a source of 
 anxiety and expense, began to be remunerative, and 
 from that time wealth continued to flow in abundantly 
 to the proprietors. The works were greatly extended, 
 and several new ones formed ; and this tide of pros- 
 perity continued, notwithstanding the adverse deci- 
 sions of the courts in regard to his patents. For 
 several years the market prices of cotton t \vlst were 
 
8 RICHARD ARKWRIGHT. 
 
 fixed by Arkwright, all other spinners conforming to 
 his scale. The increase of the cotton trade was the 
 increase of his property, and in pursuing his own 
 fortune, he became the source of riches to others a 
 public benefactor, and a friend to the poor. He had 
 not the tastes and pursuits of a man of education and 
 refinement ; but with praiseworthy constancy he 
 adhered to business, and found in it his pleasure. 
 Even to the close of his life the management of his 
 different factories was his daily occupation : into every 
 department of these great establishments he at once 
 introduced plans of arrangement and systematic order, 
 which have since been universally adopted, and have 
 remained, after long experience, unaltered and unim- 
 proved to the present time. Surely there could not be 
 given a stronger proof of the originality and compre- 
 hensiveness of mind of this remarkable man. 
 
 Mr. Arkwright served the office of High Sheriff 
 of the county of Derby in 1786, and on occasion of 
 presenting an address, was knighted by the hand of 
 George III. He died in the month of August, 1792, 
 at his house at Cromford, in the sixtieth year of his 
 age, leaving behind him a fortune estimated at little 
 short of half a million sterling. 
 
 Surely his country owes him a debt of gratitude, as 
 one whose skilful industry has exerted a most powerful 
 influence upon the condition of her manufacturing 
 interests. 
 
CLAUDE LOUIS BERTHOLLET, 
 
 THE CHEMIST. 
 Earn 1748 Died 1822. 
 
 AMONG the illustrious men renowned for their de-- 
 votedness to the cause of science, and its application 
 to the practical purposes of civil and social advantage, 
 M. Berthollet holds a high and honourable place. His 
 name has long been known in every part of Europe, 
 and will ever rank among those of the distinguished 
 chemists of the nineteenth century. He was born at 
 Taloire, in Savoy, in 1748, and was connected, on his 
 mother's side, with one of the noble families of that 
 country. Although far from being wealthy, his pa- 
 rents bestowed on him an excellent education. Yield- 
 ing to his early predilection for science, he studied 
 medicine; and after taking his degree as M.D. at the 
 University of Turin, he went to Paris, where he 
 devoted himself with great diligence to the study of 
 chemistry. But his researches, however important to 
 his subsequent career, were not at first remunerative, 
 in the sense of procuring him money ; and he must 
 have been compelled to quit Paris for want of means, 
 had he not found in Tronchin, a pupil of the great 
 Boerhaave, who was then high in popularity as a phy- 
 sician, a kind and generous friend. Both were Savoy- 
 ards, descended from families originally banished from 
 
10 CLAUDE LOUIS BERTHOLLET, 
 
 France by the great wars of religion. Here was a 
 bond of union ; and Tronchin was struck at first sight 
 with the appearance and address of young Berthollet, 
 and before long he became fondly attached to him ; 
 and so efficacious was his patronage, that he succeeded 
 in getting him nominated one of the physicians of the 
 Duke of Orleans, the uncle of the reigning sovereign. 
 
 He soon became known for his chemical knowledge 
 and skill, and for the original and independent mind 
 which he brought to bear upon the science to which 
 he devoted all his powers, and in whose interests he 
 expended his whole existence. Prior to the outbreak 
 of the French Revolution, the improvements which 
 Berthollet introduced, by his scientific discoveries and 
 indefatigable researches, into the arts of bleaching and 
 dyeing, secured for him universal gratitude and 
 applause. One of his most important discoveries was 
 that of the application of oxy-muriatic acid to the 
 purposes of bleaching. Cloth, when first taken from 
 the loom, bears a faint colour, which must be made to 
 disappear entirely before the material can be dyed. 
 This was formerly effected by bleaching on the grass 
 and repeated washings a very long and inconvenient 
 process, and one requiring great extent of ground. 
 Berthollet substituted the chemical process now in 
 general use (and which has also been applied to the 
 preparation of paper), which is now brought to a 
 degree of perfection never attained under the old 
 methods. 
 
 Great saving of labour, time, and expense, immense 
 
THE CHEMIST. 11 
 
 tracts of waste land restored to cultivation, the pre- 
 servation of the cloth from the injury by friction, and 
 the purity of the whiteness in the bleach, were the 
 results of this valuable discovery. The only personal 
 advantage Berthollet ever derived from it was a pre- 
 sent of a bale of cotton-stuffs bleached by his process, 
 which was sent to him by an English manufacturer. 
 It is not improbable that this was the celebrated 
 Mr. Watt, who immediately saw the importance of 
 the discovery, and actually applied it in whitening 
 five hundred pieces of cloth. With noble disinte- 
 restedness, Berthollet refused to sell or monopolize 
 his invention, which would infallibly, in the course of 
 a few years, have enormously enriched him. His 
 desire was that the benefit should be diffused as 
 widely as possible ; and without loss of time he com- 
 municated his experiments, and subsequently pub- 
 lished them in his work entitled " Description of the 
 Bleaching of Cloths." Berthollet united great energy 
 of character to his remarkable scientific capacity. M. 
 Pariset, in his eulogium on this great chemist, relates 
 an anecdote which deserves to be perpetuated. During 
 the bloody period of the Revolution, when the self- 
 constituted tyrants of France demanded an im- 
 plicit obedience, under penalty of death, Berthollet 
 was commanded to examine some casks of brandy 
 suspected of being poisoned. Finding in them 
 no injurious substance, he sent in a favourable re- 
 port j but this did not satisfy the accusers, who were 
 probably desirous of ruining the unfortunate mer- 
 
12 CLAUDE LOUIS BERTHOLLET, 
 
 chant, that they might confiscate his goods. Accord- 
 ingly, Berthollet was sent for and interrogated. " Are 
 you sure of what you tell us ?" they asked in ferocious 
 accents. "Perfectly sure," was the calm reply. "Would 
 you be willing to make the experiment upon your- 
 self?" He unhesitatingly filled a glass and drank it 
 off. " You are very bold," exclaimed one. " Less so 
 now than when I sent in my report," was the intrepid 
 reply. 
 
 Subsequently to the Revolution, when France was 
 cut off from the usual resources of foreign supply, he 
 came forward with other eminent men to remedy the 
 deficiency by the appliances of skill and science. In 
 the organization of the celebrated Institute of France, 
 which comprehended all the men of talent in the capital, 
 Berthollet took the lead, and long laboured, with the 
 most active assiduity, to promote its interests. 
 
 After the subjugation of Italy by the French arms, 
 Berthollet and Monge, the celebrated geometrician, 
 were appointed deputies by the Directory, to select 
 those objects of the arts and sciences, which ought to 
 be transferred to Paris. In the execution of this task 
 Berthollet came under the notice of Napoleon, who, 
 struck with his genius and practical talent, formed a 
 high opinion of him, and when he subsequently trans- 
 ported a French army to Egypt, which it was hoped 
 would prove a valuable colony to France, he induced 
 Berthollet, with a band of savants, to accompany him. 
 During this campaign he rendered himself remarkable 
 by his personal intrepidity, his humanity, his scientific 
 
THE CHEMIST. 13 
 
 investigations, and by the respect which the Com- 
 mander-in-chief paid to his merits and usefulness. 
 Many traits, illustrative of the courage and energy 
 of this remarkable man, are preserved with reference 
 to this expedition. In the desert, and among the 
 wild Mamelukes, he was ever foremost in acts of 
 daring, and by his example, he animated the courage 
 and gaiety of the soldiers. After the disastrous 
 retreat from St. Jean d'Acre, he gave up his carriage 
 to the wounded generals, and traversed on foot 
 twenty leagues of desert, as though it had been a mere 
 excursion. In the pursuit of his scientific researches 
 he did not hesitate to encounter all sorts of dangers. 
 It would have been well if his courage had sprung 
 from a higher source than mere animal spirits ; but, 
 like so many of his companions and the men of his 
 age, he regarded not God, and practically set aside 
 His authority. On one occasion, when fired on by 
 some Mamelukes, as he passed in an open boat along 
 the Nile, he was observed to fill his pockets with 
 stones ; and being asked what he was about, he 
 replied : " Making ready to sink ; so that I may not 
 be mutilated by these rascals ! " 
 
 On his return to France, in 1799, he was nominated 
 a senator, and received the distinction of grand officer 
 of the Legion of Honour. He was afterwards pro- 
 vided with the rich senatorie of Montpellier. All this 
 liberality on the part of his Imperial master did not, 
 however, suffice to meet the multiplied demands upon 
 His numerous experiments, made on such a 
 
14 CLAUDE LOUIS BERTHOLLET, 
 
 large scale, his constant labours for the improvement 
 of the arts, and the maintenance of a vast laboratory, 
 which he kept always open to his friends and to 
 strangers, and above all, to the numerous pupils whom 
 he delighted to see studying under his auspices the 
 most delicate processes of chemical science, all this 
 exhausted his means, and he was obliged to reduce his 
 personal expenses, to sell his horses, and to withdraw 
 from court. But Napoleon, who entertained for him 
 a high regard, and called him his chemist, summoned 
 him to the Tuileries, and after reproaching him for 
 not making known his circumstances, gave him a 
 munificent present, which he repaid by fresh discoveries 
 and new services rendered to science. Not long after 
 he returned from Egypt, M. Berthollet took up his 
 residence at Arcueil, a village about three miles from 
 Paris, where he pursued, in peaceful seclusion, those 
 fine researches which adorned the close of his career. 
 There he established a society for the advancement of 
 the sciences he loved, and surrounded by men of 
 like pursuits and kindred talent, reaped the best 
 rewards which earth can give, in the friendship and 
 esteem of his compeers. 
 
 Alas ! this tranquillity was abruptly and for ever 
 destroyed, in consequence of the dreadful event we are 
 about to relate. He had an only son of the most 
 promising talents, who had already co-operated with 
 his father in scientific researches and publications, and 
 whose abilities and character had excited the most 
 sanguine expectations of his friends. This unhappy 
 
THE CHEMIST. 15 
 
 youth was seized with despondency, which produced 
 fearful results. Notwithstanding the celebrity of his 
 father, the affection of his mother, and the honours 
 which appeared to await him, existence became a 
 burden too insupportable for him to endure. Desti- 
 tute of the consolations of religious hope, and without 
 holy principle, he had recourse to self-destruction, and 
 the horrible crime was perpetrated with almost un- 
 paralleled coolness and desperate deliberation. He 
 retired to a small room, fastened the door, closed up 
 every aperture which could admit the external air, 
 and placing his writing materials and a stop watch 
 upon his table, lighted a brazier of charcoal before him. 
 As the process of suffocation went on, he continued to 
 note down the sensations he experienced, and perse- 
 vered in describing the increase of his suffering until 
 his hand-writing became illegible, and he ceased to 
 breathe ! Such a fearful catastrophe recalls to our 
 mind those solemn words, " "Without God and without 
 hope, in the world." 
 
 The most prosperous career, the most brilliant 
 talents, even the exercise of the most amiable and 
 beneficent virtues, cannot shield a man from suffering 
 in his own person and in those he loves, the conse- 
 quences of forgetting the paramount claims of Him by 
 whom all his powers have been imparted, and to whom 
 his life is due. Although M. Berthollet survived some 
 years this overwhelming stroke, he never recovered 
 his equanimity. A profound melancholy and disquiet 
 were written indelibly in his countenance, yet still, 
 
16 CLAUDE LOUIS BERTHOLLET. 
 
 with characteristic fortitude, and in the spirit of that 
 philosophy which was all the consolation he knew, he 
 continued to discharge the duties that claimed his 
 attention, and bore, without complaint, a long and 
 suffering illness. At length he expired, in 1822, at 
 the advanced age of 74. Oh ! that he had been a 
 Christian ; then would he indeed have been of " the 
 highest style of man." 
 
JAMES BBINDLEY, 
 
 THE ORIGINATOR OP CANAL NAVIGATION. 
 Born 1716 Died 1772. 
 
 "He is as plain a looking man as one of the boors of tie 
 Peak, or one of his own carters; but, when he speaks, all ears 
 listen, and every mind is filled with wonder at the things he 
 pronounces to be practicable." 
 
 SUCH is the account given of this remarkable man, a 
 person of extraordinary genius for mechanical inven- 
 tion, and who attained distinction by his skill in plan- 
 ning and conducting inland navigation. His history 
 is a most instructive one, and well calculated to 
 encourage those who find themselves under the great- 
 est disadvantages in early life. 
 
 He was born at Tunstead, in the county of Derby, 
 in the year 1716, of parents who possessed a small 
 freehold, the income of which was unhappily dissipated 
 by his father, who utterly neglected the care of his 
 son, so that he was deprived of the advantages of even 
 a common education. This disgraceful conduct re- 
 duced the family to want, and James, until he was 
 seventeen years old, was employed as a farmer's lad, 
 and had no better chance than the children of the 
 poor cottagers around him. 
 
 At that age the lad bound himself apprentice to a 
 wheelwright named Bennet, who lived near Maccles- 
 field, in Cheshire. This man, being generally occu- 
 c 
 
18 JAMES BRINDLEY, 
 
 pied in distant parts of the country, bestowed but 
 little instruction upon young Brindley, who was left 
 much to his own resources ; and these circumstances, 
 so far from being adverse to his improvement, seem 
 only to have called forth more strongly the peculiar 
 qualities of his mind. He was gifted naturally with 
 great inventive faculties, and even in the early part of 
 his apprenticeship frequently astonished his master 
 by the clever improvements which he suggested; and 
 when left to manage the business without any in- 
 structions, he gave so much satisfaction to the millers 
 who employed him, that before long he was consulted 
 in preference to Bennet, or any other workman. 
 
 Faithful in his situation as servant (would that all 
 apprentices had the same high principle to rule their 
 conduct !) he was anxious to uphold the credit of his 
 employer. On one occasion, he had an excellent op- 
 portunity for exerting himself on this behalf. It 
 chanced that Bennet was employed in preparing some 
 machinery of a new description in a certain paper-mill, 
 but a rumour was circulated that he did not know 
 what he was about, and would be unable to execute 
 his contract. This report coming to the ear of Brind- 
 ley, as soon as he had finished his week's work, and 
 without saying anything of his intention, he set oft' 
 for the mill, and took a careful survey of the works. 
 After a walk of fifty miles, the energetic youth reached 
 home in time to recommence work on Monday morn- 
 ing : he had marked with discerning eye the points in 
 which his master's work was defective, and enabled 
 
THE ORIGINATOR OF CANAL NAVIGATION. 19 
 
 him to correct them. The result was that Bennet's 
 engagement was satisfactorily fulfilled. Before his 
 apprenticeship had expired, when, through age and 
 infirmities, his master became unable to work, this 
 admirable young man carried on the business for him 
 with reputation, and provided a comfortable subsist- 
 ence for the old man and his family. 
 
 Brindley afterwards engaged in the millwright 
 business on his own account ; but he did not confine 
 himself to the making of mill-machinery. In 1752, 
 he contrived an improved engine for draining some 
 coal-pits at Clifton, in Lancashire, which was set in 
 motion by a wheel 30 feet below the surface, and the 
 water for turning which was conveyed from the Irwell 
 by a subterraneous tunnel 600 yards long. In a short 
 time the fame of his inventions spread far beyond his 
 own neighbourhood; and, in 1755, a gentleman of 
 London engaged him to execute a portion of the 
 machinery for a silk-mill at Congleton. The con- 
 struction of the more complex parts was at first in- 
 trusted to another individual, who, assuming airs of 
 superiority, treated Brindley as a common mechanic, 
 and refused to show him his general designs, until, as 
 he was found incapable of performing his portion of 
 the work, it became necessary to take the advice of 
 Brindley, who offered to complete the whole of the 
 machinery in his own way ; and the proprietors, con- 
 vinced of his integrity and talents, allowed him to do 
 so. The ability with which he accomplished this 
 undertaking raised his reputation still higher. 
 c2 
 
20 JAMES BRINDLEY, 
 
 Shortly after this time he was consulted by the 
 Duke of Bridgewater, on the practicability of con- 
 structing a canal from Worsley to Manchester. His 
 introduction to that nobleman was the turning inci- 
 dent of his life, and led to the application of his talents 
 to the promotion of artificial navigation, in which his 
 mechanical genius found ample scope for exercise, and 
 which proved the commencement of a sort of era in 
 the industrial history of our country. 
 
 The duke possessed an estate at Worsley, about 
 seven miles from Manchester, which contained a rich 
 bed of coal, but it was comparatively of little value, 
 in consequence of the heavy expense of land carriage. 
 A great variety of expedients were suggested for 
 overcoming this difficulty, and at length the idea of 
 constructing a navigable canal was adopted by the 
 duke, who, with considerable difficulty, obtained an 
 Act of Parliament for the purpose. He was most 
 fortunate in selecting Brindley as his engineer, for he 
 found in him a man whose genius was unfettered by 
 commonplace rules, and one exactly fitted to carry 
 into execution a project, not only perfectly novel at 
 that time, but which, even in the present day, would 
 demand the highest practical science. Nor was the 
 engineer less happy in his noble patron, who firmly 
 supported him in his bold and original views, and was 
 not deterred by the difficulty and magnitude of the 
 plans he offered. 
 
 Having completed the canal as far as Barton, where 
 the Irwell is navigable for large vessels, he proposed 
 
THE ORIGINATOR OF CANAL NAVIGATION. 21 
 
 to carry it over that river to an aqueduct thirty-nine 
 feet above the surface of the water. An eminent 
 engineer, who was consulted on the occasion, ridiculed 
 the attempt. "I have often heard," said he, "of 
 castles in the air, but never before was shown where 
 one was to be erected." The duke, however, was not 
 discouraged, but, confiding in the judgment of Brindley, 
 empowered him to prosecute the work, and in about 
 ten months the aqueduct was completed. 
 
 The canal from Worsley to Manchester being 
 finished, the scheme was then extended to Liverpool, 
 and the whole grand undertaking was accomplished. 
 All the ingenuity and resources of our engineer were 
 called into action in the course of this enterprise, and 
 he proved equal to every emergency j so that where 
 the greatest difficulties stood in the way, his talent 
 was displayed with the greatest effect. Nor was it 
 only in expedients for overcoming obstacles that his 
 skill was shown ; he made use of many new and in- 
 genious contrivances for conducting the work with the 
 utmost economy. 
 
 The success of this undertaking was the means of 
 fully awakening public attention to the advantages of 
 canals. It is highly probable that, had a man of 
 inferior ability engaged in the work, it would have 
 proved a failure, and the improvement of our inland 
 navigation would most likely have been delayed till 
 some years later. The Duke of Bridgewater's canal 
 was referred to at that time by the projectors of 
 similar undertakings, in the same way as the Man- 
 
22 JAMES BRINDLEY, 
 
 Chester and Liverpool railway has been recently quoted 
 in prospect of any new railroad. It is a striking fact 
 that, within forty-two years after the duke's canal was 
 opened, application had been made to Parliament for 
 165 Acts for cutting canals in Great Britain, at an 
 expense of 13,000,000. 
 
 In 1766 the Trent and Mersey Canal was com- 
 menced under Brindley's superintendence. It was 
 called by him " The Grand Trunk Navigation," owing 
 to the probability, from its great importance, of many 
 other canals being made to join it. It was carried on 
 as long as he lived, and after his death successfully 
 completed by his brother-in-law. 
 
 He next designed a canal for the purpose of con- 
 necting the Grand Trunk with the Severn, and also 
 planned that of Coventry, but did not superintend its 
 execution. Some short time before his death he 
 began the Oxford canal, which connects the Thames 
 with the Grand Trunk through the Coventry canal. 
 These works opened an internal water communication 
 between the Thames, the Humber, the Severn, and 
 the Mersey, and united the great ports of London, 
 Liverpool, Bristol, and Hull, by canals which passed 
 through the richest and most industrious districts of 
 England. 
 
 Mr. Brindley's last public undertaking was the 
 canal from Chesterfield to the river Trent at Stock 
 with. He surveyed and planned the whole, and 
 executed some miles of the navigation, which was 
 finished by his brother-in-law in 1777. Such was the 
 
THE ORIGINATOR OF CANAL NAVIGATION. 23 
 
 established reputation to which he had now attained, 
 that few similar works were executed without consult- 
 ing him. 
 
 Of the numerous and truly astonishing works ac- 
 complished by this remarkable man, we have only 
 been able to mention some of the principal. Many 
 ingenious schemes and inventions were originated by 
 him, of which Phillips, in his " History of Inland 
 Navigation," gives some particulars ; and he was well 
 qualified to do this, since he states he had himself 
 been in the "employ of the great Brindley." 
 
 "We are assured that his designs were drawn from 
 the resources of his own mind alone. When difficul- 
 ties occurred in the execution of any of his works, 
 he had no recourse to books or the labours of other 
 persons. On such occasions he generally retired to 
 bed,* where he would remain, one, two, or three days, 
 when he would get up and proceed to execute the 
 designs he had made, without any drawing or model, 
 which he never used, except for the satisfaction of 
 his employers. He read little, and wrote less, his 
 want of education compelling him to cultivate, in an 
 extraordinary degree, the powers of memory ; and so 
 tenacious did that faculty become, that he could 
 remember and execute all the parts of the most com- 
 plex machine, provided he had time, in his previous 
 survey, to settle in his mind the several departments 
 
 * Dr. Wallis, who was eminently distinguished for the tena- 
 ciousness of his memory, so that he could extract the cube-root 
 of any number to one hundred places of figures in his mind, used 
 frequently to avail himself, for this purpose, of the same seclusion. 
 
24 JAMES BRINDLEY, 
 
 and their relations to each other. In his calculations 
 of the powers of any machine, he performed the 
 requisite operation by a mental process, in a manner 
 which none knew but himself, and which, perhaps, he 
 was not able to communicate to others ; and after 
 certain intervals of consideration, he noted down the 
 result in figures, and then proceeded to operate upon 
 that result, until at length the complete solution was 
 obtained, which was generally right. 
 
 It was said by those who knew him best, that his 
 conversation on occasions of importance, and among 
 his intimate friends, was highly instructive and enter- 
 taining, being enlivened by his own peculiar genius. 
 It is certain no man was more entirely free from 
 jealous feelings. His incessant attention to important 
 and absorbing objects made him indifferent to any of 
 the usual amusements and pastimes commonly had 
 recourse to for recreation. It is said that he was once 
 prevailed on, when in London, to see a play, but he 
 found his ideas so much disturbed, and his mind ren- 
 dered unfit for business, that he would, on no account, 
 go to another. All his powers were devoted to busi- 
 ness matters, and such was the enthusiasm with which 
 he engaged in his schemes of inland navigation, that 
 he is reported, when asked, before a Committee of the 
 House of Commons, for what purpose he supposed 
 rivers were created, to have replied, after some deli- 
 beration, " to feed navigable canals." 
 
 In his private character he was much respected ; 
 and being most benevolent and patriotic in spirit, this 
 
THE ORIGINATOR OF CANAL NAVIGATION. 25 
 
 disposition gave energy to all his pursuits. Such a 
 man could not but reflect with satisfaction that his 
 labour had done incalculable service in the promotion 
 of the public prosperity. He must have thought with 
 exquisite satisfaction of the thousands of poor people 
 who enjoyed the results of that great work which had 
 brought to them the blessing of cheap fuel ; for before 
 the construction of the Duke of Bridgewater's canal, 
 coals were retailed to the poor at Manchester at 7d. 
 per cwt., while after its completion they were reduced 
 to ST|C?., and six score were given to the cwt. 
 
 The multiplicity of his engagements, and the con- 
 stant and close attention which he bestowed on them, 
 were very prejudicial to his health and shortened his 
 life ; for some years he suffered occasionally from 
 attacks of low fever, which at length terminated his 
 useful and honourable career. He died at Turnhurst, 
 in Staffordshire, in the month of September, 1772, 
 ' being in the fifty -sixth year of his age. 
 
 The principal events in the life of this truly original 
 man were primarily gathered from materials furnished 
 by his brother-in-law and other friends, who spoke 
 highly of " the integrity of his character, his devotion 
 to the public interests, and the vast compass of his 
 understanding, which seemed to have an affinity for 
 all great objects, and likewise for many noble and 
 beneficent designs, which the multiplicity of his en- 
 gagements and, the shortness of his life prevented him 
 from bringing to maturity." 
 
WILLIAM CAXTON, 
 
 THE FIRST ENGLISH PRINTER. 
 
 Born Ul2~Died 1491. 
 
 WHAT does not England owe to the glorious art of 
 printing? All honour, then, to the man who first 
 introduced it into our country, and firmly established it 
 there. It was the zeal, perseverance, and patriotic spirit 
 of William Caxton that effected this ; and although we 
 know but few of the events of his life, yet what we do 
 know serves to confirm the lesson which all experience 
 teaches that close attention, and unwearied industry 
 and labour, are necessary to success in the achieve- 
 ment of anything worthy the doing, and by which we 
 may benefit our fellowmen and deserve their gratitude.* 
 
 We have asked, what does England owe to this 
 inestimable art ? But, in truth, we can little realize 
 the condition of our country prior to its invention. 
 How vague and imperfect is the idea we can form of 
 what the state and amount of knowledge must have 
 been when all the books in the world were written out 
 by hand ! 
 
 Of books and booksellers in the early part of "the 
 
 * " To this art," 8ays Dr. Knox, " we owe the Reformation." 
 The monks were its inveterate opposers, and the Vicar of Croy- 
 don, as if he had foreseen the Reformation which it subsequently 
 effected, truly enough exclaimed, in a sermon preached by him 
 at St. Paul's Cross: "We must root out printing, or printing 
 will root us out!" 
 
WILLIAM CAXTON. 27 
 
 dark ages" but little is known. It is probable that, 
 during many centuries, there was no mode of procur- 
 ing a book but by borrowing it, and employing a writer 
 to transcribe it. We are told, however, that books, 
 as well as other articles, were occasionally sold in the 
 porches of the churches where law-meetings were 
 held and money paid, that its payment might be 
 attested, if needful, by some of the persons there as- 
 sembled. We may suppose that, for the same reason, 
 books were sold there. 
 
 We learn from history that many individuals, even 
 in the dark ages, spent much of their time and money 
 in endeavouring to discover and procure MSS. The 
 labours of these lovers of literature were doubtless 
 instrumental in producing such a state of inquiry as 
 prepared men's minds for the invention of printing ; 
 and, in the course of ages, the great mass of the people 
 began to be more awake to the importance of know- 
 ledge. Above all, the great events which took place 
 in the moral and religious world of Europe, at the 
 period when this discovery was made, prepared the 
 way for a due appreciation of the vast blessing Divine 
 Providence was about to bestow. As early as the 
 commencement of the fourteenth century playing-cards 
 were known and used in Germany : at first they were 
 painted, but towards the close of the century a method 
 was discovered of printing them by blocks. This was 
 the first step towards printing. There were two or 
 three other preliminary steps, but it was not till about 
 the year 1438 that John Guttemberg, of Mayence, first 
 
28 WILLIAM CAXTON, 
 
 discovered and practised the art of printing with move- 
 able types. After long and vexatious difficulties, he 
 succeeded in entering into partnership with John Fust ; 
 and by them was published the celebrated first edition 
 of the Bible from metal types, remarkable for the tex- 
 ture of the paper, the excellence of the execution, and 
 the blackness and lustre of the ink. It is supposed to 
 have been printed in 1455. The expense of printing 
 it gave rise to a lawsuit between Guttemberg and Fust. 
 The very first book with a certain date was an almanack, 
 published by Guttemberg, in 1456. In the year 1462, 
 the city of Mayence was assailed and taken by the 
 Elector Adolphus, and in the troubles that followed, 
 the partners suffered much, and their workmen dis- 
 persing themselves, the art of printing was by their 
 means spread over Europe. 
 
 We proceed to give a short account of the life of 
 William Caxton. He was born, as he himself tells us, 
 in the Weald of Kent. Of the origin, rank and em- 
 ployment of his parents we are ignorant ; but that they 
 performed their duty to their son, we are thus in- 
 formed : " I am bounden," he says, " to pray for my 
 father and mother's souls, that in my youth sent me to 
 school, by which, by the sufferance of God, I get my 
 living, I hope truly." This was no small praise, for 
 in those days, when learning was at a much lower ebb 
 in England than in most of the continental states of 
 Europe, the simplest and most common education was 
 too often neglected. At the age of fifteen or sixteen, 
 young Caxton was apprenticed to William Large, a 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH PRINTER. 29 
 
 considerable mercer of the city of London, who was 
 afterwards sheriff and mayor.* Having served his 
 apprenticeship, Caxton took up his freedom in the 
 Mercers' Company, and became " a citizen of London 
 town." 
 
 That he had conducted himself during the time of 
 his service to the satisfaction of his master is proved 
 from the circumstance that in his will, in 1441, he left 
 to William Caxton a legacy of 20 marks (131. 6s. 8d.), 
 a considerable sum in those days, when the usual price 
 of wheat was 5s. 4c?. a quarter, malt 4s. a quarter, and 
 a pair of plough-oxen could be purchased for about 23s. 
 In the year after he received this legacy he went into 
 the Low Countries. How he had been employed in 
 the interim, from the expiration of his apprenticeship 
 till this period, we know not, but probably in the 
 management of mercantile affairs ; and it is conjectured 
 that he left England either as an agent for some other 
 merchant, or on his own account. He continued for 
 some considerable time in the Low Countries, which 
 were then the great mart of Europe, where was carried 
 on the trade of the produce and manufactures of most 
 parts of the world. Hence their friendship and alliance 
 were eagerly sought by the neighbouring powers, and 
 treaties of commerce between them and England were 
 frequently made and broken. It required considerable 
 knowledge in mercantile affairs to conduct these 
 alliances, and consequently merchants were not un- 
 
 * At that time the term mercer had an extensive application, 
 being given to general merchants trading in all sorts of goods. 
 
30 WILLIAM CAXTON, 
 
 commonly employed on such occasions. The character 
 and experience of Caxton as a man of business, and his 
 long residence abroad, seem to have pointed him out 
 as a fit person for this embassy j and we accordingly 
 find him appointed, in 1464, as an ambassador, "to 
 continue and confirm a treaty of commerce with Philip 
 duke of Burgundy." This prince was one of the most 
 powerful rulers in that part of Europe, and his court 
 one of the most polished. His taste for literature and 
 chivalry made him a patron of the liberal arts j and it 
 was natural that Caxton should acquire in such a 
 school much information, which he afterwards turned 
 to excellent account ; in fact, he seems to have mas- 
 tered the French language, and gained some acquaint- 
 ance with the Flemish or Dutch : above all, he imbibed 
 his passion for learning and romance, and made himself 
 master of the art of printing " at great charge and dis- 
 pense," as he tells us. His intimacy with Raoul le Fevre, 
 chaplain to the duke, and with another ecclesiastic of 
 the court, probably much influenced the course of his 
 studies. The former was the author of two works 
 which were afterwards translated and printed by Cax- 
 ton, who became a permanent resident at the Dutch 
 court, on occasion of the marriage of Charles, son and 
 successor of the Duke of Burgundy, with the Princess 
 Margaret, sister of our Edward IV. This event took 
 place in June, 1468, and Caxton was appointed to a 
 situation in the household of the duchess soon after 
 her arrival in the Netherlands. 
 
 We have no means of ascertaining what ^his duties 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH PRINTER. 31 
 
 were in this new capacity, but it is evident they were 
 not urgent, and left him plenty of time on his hands. 
 He says, with much naivete, "I had now no great 
 charge or occupation, and wishing to eschew sloth and 
 idleness which is mother and nourisher of vices 
 having good leisure, being at Cologne, I set about 
 finishing the translation of the ' Histories of Troy ' 
 (written by R. le Fevre). When, however, I remem- 
 bered my simpleness and my imperfection in French- 
 and English, I fell into despair, and for two years 
 after laboured no more in this work." The translation, 
 however, was eventually resumed, by command of the 
 duchess, who, learning from the author the history of 
 the attempt and its renunciation, desired him "to 
 continue and make an end of the residue," which com- 
 mand he " durst not disobey." He mentions, in his pre- 
 face to the volume, that " his eyes were dimmed with 
 over-much looking on the white paper, that his courage 
 was not so ready to labour as it had been, and that ago 
 was creeping on him daily, and enfeebling all his body ; 
 and finally, that he had learnt and practised at great 
 charge and dispense to ordain the said book in print, 
 and not written with pen and ink, as other books be." 
 It thus appears that he had acquired the art of 
 printing ; but by what means he became acquainted 
 with it, cannot be discovered. It is evident, from his 
 types, that he learned it in the Low Countries; nor 
 does he appear to have seen any of the superior pro- 
 ductions of the Roman, Venetian, and Parisian presses, 
 before he caused his own fount of letters to be cut. 
 
32 WILLIAM CAXTON, 
 
 No precise information has been obtained as to thfe 
 time when Caxton returned to England. In 1477 he 
 had undoubtedly quitted the Continent, and taken up 
 his residence in the neighbourhood of Westminster 
 Abbey, under the patronage of Thomas Milling, Bishop 
 of Hereford and Abbot of Westminster, a man of 
 superior abilities and learning for the times in which 
 he lived. We learn, from a curious placard, a copy of 
 which is still in existence, that Caxton printed in the 
 Almonry. 
 
 The commonly-received opinion is that " The Game 
 of Chess " was the first book he printed in England ; it 
 was dedicated to George, Duke of Clarence. Caxton 
 enjoyed the royal patronage, and some of the nobility 
 also encouraged him. Whether their favours were of 
 a profitable and substantial nature, does not appear ; 
 but (to their honour) it is mentioned that the mercers 
 of London showed themselves great promoters of 
 literature. He was himself indefatigable in cultivating 
 and perfecting this new art, and although, as we have 
 seen, already in the autumn of his days, he laboured 
 with unwearied diligence, and printed, in all, sixty-four 
 works; and, besides the labour necessarily attendant on 
 the superintendence of his press,* he translated most 
 
 * "When the impression was finished, Caxton revised a single 
 copy, and corrected the faults with red ink ; the copy thus cor- 
 rected was given to an assistant, to correct the whole impres- 
 sion ; and as he was extremely exact, this operation occasioned 
 him much troublesome and minute labour." His printing is in- 
 ferior in many respects to the printing executed on the Continent 
 during the same period. Mr. Dibdin, however, says that when- 
 ever good copies of his books are met with, his type has a bold 
 
THE FIRST ENGLISH PRINTER. 33 
 
 of these books into English from the French. In the 
 performance of this task he found no small trouble in his 
 choice of words, for, in those days, the inhabitants ot 
 one county hardly understood those of another ; " the 
 common English that is spoken in one shyre varying 
 from another, and certainly," he adds, "the language now 
 used varieth far from that which was used and spoken 
 when I was born." No wonder Caxton was a great 
 deal puzzled and perplexed about the language he 
 should employ in making his translations. 
 
 In his selection of works for the press, he was 
 necessarily guided by the public taste, and limited by 
 the difficulty of finding suitable materials, and by the 
 probability of being repaid for his labour and expense. 
 " The Father of Printing," says the historian Gibbon, 
 " expressed a laudable desire to elucidate the history 
 of his country, but, instead of translating the Latin 
 chronicle of Ralph Higden, he could only venture on 
 the English version by John de Trevisa. In the choice 
 of his authors he was reduced to comply with the vicious 
 taste of his readers ; to gratify the nobles with treatises 
 of heraldry, hawking, and the game of chess ; and to 
 amuse the popular credulity with romances of fabu- 
 lous knights, and legends of more fabulous saints." 
 
 Yet, on the whole as has been well remarked 
 
 and rich effect, which renders their perusal less painful than 
 that of many foreign productions, where the angular sharpness 
 of the letters somewhat dazzles the eye. All his works were 
 printed in what is called " black letter." Dibdin has givei 
 fac similes of his sets or founts of letters. His ink was inferior 
 but his paper fine and good, resembling thin vellum. 
 
 D 
 
34 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 when we reflect on the troubled, wasted, and dis- 
 tracted state of the country at that period (he carried 
 on his works during the reigns of Edward V. and 
 Richard III.), we cannot but 'feel amazed that he did 
 so much, and persisted, amid troubles and confusion, 
 and at such disadvantage, in prosecuting his labours, 
 so as to succeed in establishing the art of printing in 
 his native land. 
 
 His last book, "The Lives of the Fathers," he 
 translated from the French, and his admirable assist- 
 ant and successor, Wynkyn de Worde, says that he 
 finished that work " at the last day of his life." 
 
 He died in 1491, and was buried in St. Margaret's 
 Church, Westminster. The date of his birth is gene- 
 rally supposed to have been about 1412. 
 
 To him belong the high praise and merit of having, 
 at his own charge and on his sole responsibility, under- 
 taken so great an enterprise, in which, despite all 
 difficulties, he succeeded thus conferring on his fellow- 
 countrymen an incalculable benefit. 
 
 All honour to the " Father of Printing 1 " 
 
BENVENUTO CELLINI. 
 
 Born 1500 Died 1570. 
 
 "Lo! Welcome* born, I proudly raise my head, 
 Fair Florence' son bright flower of Tuscany." 
 
 OF the numerous great and celebrated men who have 
 worked in metal, one of the most renowned is Ben- 
 venuto Cellini. The distinguished eminence of this 
 artist in the times of the " old masters," his intimacy 
 with Michael Angelo, Titian, and all the great Italian 
 sculptors and painters of the age, his intercourse with 
 Francis I., Pope Clement VII., the illustrious Duke 
 of Florence, as well as with so many others of the 
 princes, statesmen, and commanders of that turbulent 
 period in which he lived all these combine to make 
 his history a most remarkable and interesting one. 
 And he has himself given the record of his life, in a 
 very curious piece of autobiography, betokening the 
 genius, eccentricity, and powerful imagination of the 
 man. 
 
 He was born in Florence, in 1500, of a family 
 
 reduced in circumstances, whose ancestors had been 
 
 territorial lords, trained to the profession of arms. 
 
 His grandfather, Andrea Cellini, was an architect, and 
 
 his father, who followed the same calling, was desirous 
 
 that his son should be brought up to the profession of 
 
 music; but the lad showed so decided a preference for 
 
 * In allusion to his name Benvenuto* 
 
 D 2 
 
36 BENVENUTO CELLINI. 
 
 the art of design, that it was impossible to keep him 
 from his favourite pursuit ; and at fifteen years of age, 
 without his father's consent, he placed himself with a 
 jeweller and goldsmith. 
 
 His first essays were made as a chaser and worker 
 in gold ; and applying diligently to his business, he 
 soon attained considerable skill, and made so much 
 money that he was able to assist his father and rela- 
 tions, who were poor enough to need his help. He 
 tells us that he " did his utmost to learn the exquisite 
 manner of Michael Angelo Buonarotti, and never once 
 lost sight of it ;" and thus describes his first successful 
 performance : " At this time I produced a piece of 
 basso-relievo in silver, about as big as the hand of a 
 little child ; it served for the clasp of a man's belt, 
 clasps of that size being then in use. Upon it was 
 carved a group of foliage, made in the antique taste, 
 with several figures of youths, and other beautiful 
 grotesques. This piece of work I made in the shop 
 of one of my employers ; and upon its coming under 
 the inspection of the Goldsmiths' Company, I acquired 
 the reputation of the most expert young man in the 
 trade. 1 ' 
 
 When he was nineteen years old, Benvenuto went 
 to Rome, where he met with great encouragement. 
 His first production was a fine piece of work in silver, 
 to hold a saltcellar, which fce adorned with such 
 exquisite figures, that his master made it his boast 
 that his shop had produced such an admirable piece of 
 art. " This was the first money I earned in Rome," 
 
BENVENUTO CELLINI. 37 
 
 . 
 
 he says ; " part of it I sent to the relief of ijj^gpod ^ 
 father, and the remainder I kept to support me while 
 I studied the antiquities of that city." At the end of 
 two years he returned to Florence, where he had 
 every prospect of success in his profession \ but his 
 turbulent and irascible temper, which had already 
 involved him in serious difficulty, led him into a 
 quarrel, in which he so severely wounded his adver- 
 sary, that he was obliged to escape, in the disguise of a 
 friar, to Rome. Here he engaged himself to work at 
 a goldsmith's shop, and was employed by the wife of a 
 wealthy merchant to reset some exceedingly valuable 
 jewellery, for which he received a handsome reward. 
 Afterwards he received a commission from the Bishop 
 of Salamanca to make some chandeliers and silver 
 vases ; and before long, chancing to take part in a 
 concert at the Pope's feast, he so much pleased his 
 Holiness, Clement VII., that he took him into his 
 employ in the double capacity of musician and artificer. 
 In the service of this pontiff he executed many of his 
 most beautiful smaller works ; and being appointed 
 engraver to the Roman mint, he struck such fine coins 
 and medals as have never been surpassed. 
 
 If we should inquire in what way he attained to 
 such perfection in the various branches of his art, we 
 learn, by his own statement, that he with the greatest 
 diligence sought to practise himself first in seal- 
 eugraving, afterwards in engraving medals on steel, 
 then in the " most elegant art of enamelling," which 
 he found exceedingly difficult, but took such pleasure 
 
 
^O BENVEXUTO CELLIXI. 
 
 in learning that the greatest difficulties appeared to 
 him delightful. Whatever he undertook he pursued 
 with the utmost ardour; and he adds, with great 
 naivete, that all this was " through the peculiar indul- 
 gence of the Author of Nature, who had gifted him 
 with so happy a genius that he could with perfect ease 
 learn anything he gave himself to." 
 
 As we have said, a very profitable branch of Cellini's 
 labour was that of jewellery. " He set jewels, and 
 adorned them with admirable collets and diminutive 
 figures, so exquisitely formed, and some of them so 
 curious and fanciful, that nothing finer or more 
 beautiful could be conceived." One of his most cele- 
 brated productions of this description was a button he 
 made for Pope Clement VII., to be worn upon his 
 pontifical habit, into which he fixed a diamond, with 
 the most exquisite art, having around it figures of 
 children represented on plates of gold, and a central 
 figure admirably engraved. 
 
 It would be impossible to give even a slight sketch 
 of the numerous and heart-stirring adventures re- 
 corded by this extraordinary man in the history of 
 his life. Europe was at that time involved in the 
 wars between Francis I. and Charles V., in which 
 Italy took an active share. When the Constable 
 Bourbon laid siege to Rome, Cellini took up arms and 
 performed, according to his own account, wonderful 
 acts of valour ; and afterwards he distinguished him- 
 self in the defence of the Castle of St. Angelo. 
 
 In 1534 his great patron, Pope Clement VII. died. 
 
BENVENUTO CELLINI. 39 
 
 The new pope, Paul III., engaged him in his service ; 
 but he had the misfortune to incur the enmity of 
 Pier Luigi, the pontiff's natural son, who persecuted 
 him with relentless animosity. He was accused of 
 having, during the pillage of Borne, stolen the pon- 
 tifical jewels and other treasures; and although he 
 was able fully to exonerate himself from these charges, 
 he was committed to the Castle of St. Angelo, and 
 treated with the utmost severity. His description of 
 the misery he endured is most fearful; and there 
 seems little doubt that his intellect was affected 
 in consequence of the long confinement he underwent 
 in a dark and damp chamber, where for many months 
 he dragged on a wretched existence. Always ad- 
 dicted to the imaginative, and fond of the marvel- 
 lous, he ascribed his preservation to supernatural 
 intervention, and believed that he saw a vision 
 which announced his deliverance. 
 
 At length his liberation was effected, through the 
 interposition of the French monarch, who was very 
 desirous to secure the services of this great genius 
 Arrived at Fontainebleau, he was received with dis- 
 tinction, and loaded with benefits. The king settled 
 a handsome salary on him, and gave him an order to 
 make several large statues for him in silver. 
 
 By the desire of the monarch, he next undertook 
 to ornament the fountains at Fontainebleau, but, 
 failing to pay the necessary court to the Duchess 
 d'Estampes, he incurred her displeasure. His chief 
 offence was, that he had shown the model for one of 
 
40 BENVENUTO CELLINI. 
 
 his statues to the king, without first presenting it for 
 her approval. In consequence, this regal favourite 
 determined to mar the fortune of the uncourteous 
 artist ; nor did she rest till he was driven from the 
 kingdom. On one occasion a curious scene occurred. 
 The beautiful statue of Jupiter, having been com- 
 pleted by Cellini, the king was to inspect it on a 
 certain day, but the duchess prevented his going 
 till night. Through her management she had con- 
 trived also that some of the finest bronze statues from 
 the antique should be placed in the gallery where the 
 Jupiter was to be shown. " When I saw these won- 
 ders of art," said Benvenuto, " I thought within myself, 
 this is like passing through the pikes of the enemy. 
 Heaven protect me from danger ! " He, however, 
 managed, with consummate skill, to light his statue 
 from above, in such a manner, that it was seen to 
 much greater advantage than it could have been under 
 any other circumstances. 
 
 The king at length arrived, accompanied by some of 
 the principal nobles and ladies of his court. " When 
 I saw his majesty enter," says the artist, " I ordered 
 my boy, Ascanio, to push the statue of Jupiter before 
 him; and this motion being made with admirable 
 contrivance, caused it to appear alive ; so that the 
 other figures were left somewhat behind, and the eyes 
 of all the beholders were first struck with my per- 
 formance. The king immediately cried out, ' This is 
 one of the finest productions of art that ever was 
 beheld; I, who take pleasure in such things, and 
 
BENVENUTO CELLINI. 41 
 
 understand them, could never have conceived a piece 
 of work the hundredth part so beautiful.' " 
 
 This success enraged the favourite, and quickened 
 her desire to be rid of the man who had thus defied 
 her. She was so successful, that Cellini implored, and 
 eventually obtained, the permission of the king to 
 leave the country. Of all his fine works, there now 
 remains in France only the bronze figure of a nymph 
 in bas-relief, to be seen in the museum of the Louvre. 
 
 Returning to his native country, our artist entered 
 into the service of the Grand Duke, Cosmo de Medici, 
 who first employed him as a goldsmith, and afterwards 
 in the execution of some fine pieces of sculpture. 
 One of the greatest of these works was the bronze 
 group of Perseus, with the head of Medusa, which 
 was placed in the piazza, near the gate of the ducal 
 palace. This work cost the artist no small labour and 
 difficulty, from various causes. He says, " When it was 
 first seen, the populace set up a loud shout of applause, 
 and there were sonnets in my praise every day upon 
 the gate. At its completion, when it was exposed, 
 just before the break of day, so great a crowd gathered 
 about it, that it is almost impossible to give the reader 
 an idea of their numbers. I behaved as modestly as 
 it was possible for me on the occasion, but the people 
 crowded around me to stare at me more than at my 
 statue." But what crowned the satisfaction of the 
 artist was that those of his own profession emulated 
 each other in commending him ; and, indeed, it was 
 surprising that Cellini, having been accustomed to 
 
42 EEXVESUTO CELLINI. 
 
 make small figures so many years, should thus happily 
 succeed in bringing so large a work to perfection. 
 
 The great Michael Angelo thus wrote to him : "My 
 dear Benvenuto, I have many years known you for 
 one of the ablest jewellers in the world, and I now 
 find that you have equal abilities as a sculptor." 
 Shortly after, Cellini, being in Rome, went to visit 
 Michael Angelo, and endeavoured to persuade him to 
 enter the service of the duke at Florence ; but he 
 replied that he was now employed in building St. Peter's 
 church, on which account he could not leave Rome. 
 " You have determined on the model of the structure ; 
 leave your pupil, Urbino, to work at it in your 
 absence." Finding himself so hardly pressed, the 
 sculptor turned suddenly to his apprentice, as though 
 to ask his opinion on the matter. With rustic gestures 
 and rough- voice, the youth exclaimed, " I will never 
 quit Michael Angelo till I have laid him out, or he me." 
 There is something most striking in this anecdote, 
 showing, as it does, how that man of surpassing genius 
 could enchain the affections of his humble assistant. 
 
 After the completion of his Perseus, Cellini executed 
 other valuable works, especially a Christ, of life-size, 
 in white marble, on a black crucifix, which has been 
 celebrated as a most exquisite and extraordinary per- 
 formance. 
 
 At the age of sixty, our artist married ; and from 
 that time his narrative contains little of general in- 
 terest. He had several children, and it is evident 
 he was often involved in litigation and embarrass- 
 
BENVEXUTO CELLINI. 43 
 
 merits. On the 16th March, 1563, he had the melan- 
 choly honour of being deputed to attend the obsequies 
 of his great master and friend, Michael Angelo 
 Buonarotti. He survived that event seven years, and 
 on the 15th February, 1570, this most extraordinary 
 man and great artist departed this life, and was buried 
 with much pomp in the church of the Annunziata, at 
 Florence. 
 
SIR HUMPHRY DAYY. 
 
 orn 1778 Died 1829. 
 
 " I have neither. riches nor birth to recommend me, yet, if I 
 live, I trust I shall not be of less service to mankind and to my 
 friends, than if I had been born with these advantages." 
 
 THESE memorable words were written by Humphry 
 Davy, that illustrious man who had the honour of 
 raising himself to the highest place among the chemical 
 philosophers of his age, emerging from an obscure con- 
 dition solely by his singular merit. At the time they 
 were penned he was an apothecary's apprentice, to all 
 appearance little likely to make a noise in the world. 
 His father was a carver in wood, at Penzance, in 
 Cornwall, and possessed a small landed property in 
 a village near Penzance, where Davy was born in 
 1778. 
 
 He was early sent to the Grammar School at Truro, 
 kept by a Mr. Coryton, who seems to have been but 
 ill-fitted for his office. He was severe, and punished 
 his pupils for slight offences. One of his favourite in- 
 flictions was pulling the boys' ears, and, as Humphry 
 was not disposed to be studious overmuch, he fre- 
 quently suffered from this propensity, till, in order to 
 save himself, he had recourse to an ingenious artifice. 
 One day he made his appearance before the master 
 with a large plaister on each ear, and being asked what 
 
SIR HUMPHRY DAVY. 45 
 
 ailed his ears, he replied, with a very grave face, that 
 he had put on the plaisters to prevent a mortification ! 
 
 Writing, in after years, to his mother, he said, " I 
 consider it fortunate that I was left much to myself as 
 a child, and put upon no particular plan of study, and 
 that I enjoyed much idleness at Mr. Cory ton's school. 
 I perhaps owe to these circumstances the little talents 
 that I have, and their peculiar application. What I 
 am, I have made myself. I say this without vanity, 
 and in pure simplicity of heart." 
 
 Out of school he was very popular ; one great cause 
 of which was his powers of diverting his comrades by 
 telling them stories commonly of wonder and terror, 
 which were so attractive that he was sure to have a 
 numerous audience. His brother relates, that the 
 earliest indication he gave of his fondness for experi- 
 menting was in making fireworks, his eldest sister 
 being his assistant in compounding the ingredients of 
 the squibs and crackers. To one of his compositions 
 he gave the name of "thunder powder," which he 
 used to explode on a stone, to the great delight of his 
 playfellows. 
 
 When he was sixteen years of age he lost his father, 
 who left a young widow with five children, of whom 
 Humphry was the eldest. This event seemed to have 
 had a powerful effect on him ; he relinquished all his 
 boyish habits, and, with steady resolution, set himself 
 to work. Seeing his mother one day in great afflic- 
 tion, he, in a most affectionate manner, begged her not 
 to grieve, saying that " he would do all he could for his 
 
46 SIK II UMP1H.IY DAVY. 
 
 brother and sisters." And faithfully did he redeem 
 his promise. 
 
 To his mother he appears to have been fondly 
 attached, and, indeed, she was a woman of excellent 
 qualities, placid in temper, kind and benevolent, of 
 sound understanding, and perfect integrity. His 
 boyish home had been a happy one, though humble. 
 
 He was now apprenticed to an apothecary at Pen- 
 zance, but, disliking the business, he occupied himself 
 with chemical experiments, ingeniously contriving to 
 make the utensils of the shop and the kitchen serve 
 for apparatus ; and not unfrequently he alarmed the 
 household by his explosions. No wonder the apothe- 
 cary voted him " a troublesome fellow," of whom he 
 was glad to be rid.. Endowed with an original, inde- 
 pendent, and somewhat eccentric mind, the apprentice 
 had studied after a fashion of his own, to good purpose. 
 His note-books, written during that time, showed the 
 ardour with which he entered on his pursuits, and the 
 various branches of knowledge he proposed to follow. 
 One of them, bearing date 1795, contained a plan of 
 study, with essays, metaphysical, moral, and religious. 
 Curiously enough, outside one of the covers there was 
 the figure of an ancient lyre, drawn by his pen, and on 
 the other an olive -leaf, encircling a lamp. Could it be 
 that, already, at the age of 17, he had formed a latent 
 idea of his great discovery ? 
 
 It happened fortunately, at this time, that Mr. G. 
 Watt, son of the great engineer, came to reside in the 
 house of Davy's mother at Penzance, being ordered to 
 
SIR HUMPHRY DAVY. 47 
 
 pass the winter there for his health. The conversa- 
 tion and advice of one so skilled in science and letters, 
 was a great advantage to the embryo philosopher, of 
 which he gladly availed himself. Another accident 
 brought him acquainted with Mr. Davies Gilbert, by 
 whom he was assisted in various ways, and introduced 
 to Dr. Beddoes, who had then recently opened a 
 Pneumatic Institution at Bristol, for the medical 
 uses of gases, and for investigating their properties. 
 The result was the appointment of young Davy to the 
 post of superintendent of this institution ; and thus 
 he found himself at once enabled to pursue his scientific 
 vocation as a profession. 
 
 It was not long before the young philosopher pub- 
 lished the result of various curious experiments he had 
 made in medical and physical science, which gained 
 him considerable repute as an experimental chemist ; 
 and in 1802 he was chosen Chemical Professor, by the 
 Royal Institution of London. 
 
 " He had now invaluable helps to his pursuits, an 
 ample command of books, assistants under him. 
 above all, an unlimited power of collecting and making 
 apparatus. His income was secure, and his time was 
 at his own disposal." Nor did he fail diligently to 
 avail himself of these great advantages. During the 
 five following years he continued his experiments, and 
 at the end of that time communicated to the Royal 
 Society some discoveries relative to the laws of 
 electrical and chemical action, which excited the 
 deepest interest in the philosophical world. 
 
48 SIR HUMPHRY DAVY. 
 
 " It thus appeared certain," says Lord Brougham, 
 u that an indissoluble connection exists between 
 chemical and electric action, if, indeed, it was not even 
 proved that chemical affinity and electricity are 
 identical. The science of electro-chemistry, at all 
 events, now arose out of Davy's discoveries, and he is 
 entitled to be regarded as its founder. It may easily 
 be conceived that these important truths excited 
 generally the anxious attention of philosophers. The 
 French National Institute, greatly to their honour, 
 though the war between the two countries never raged 
 more fiercely than now, crowned Davy with the first 
 honour founded by Napoleon for^ scientific desert." 
 
 At this time he was twenty-eight years old ; and 
 his appearance is thus described by Lady Brown rigg 
 in writing to Dr. John Davy : " We had been in- 
 vited by Dr. Eichardson to go to his cottage at Port- 
 rush, to meet the famous Mr. Davy. We arrived a 
 short time before dinner, and in passing through a 
 room saw a youth as he appeared who had come in 
 from fishing, and who, with a little note-book, was 
 seated in a window- seat, having left bag, rod, &c., on 
 the ground. He was very intent on this little book, 
 and we passed unnoticed. When I went into the 
 drawing-room I felt some little awe at this great 
 philosopher, annexing to such a character at least the 
 idea of an elderly grave gentleman ; certainly, I never 
 calculated on being introduced to the identical youth, 
 with a little brown head like a boy, at the window- 
 seat, and who, when I came into the drawing-room 
 
SIR HUMPHRY DAVY. 49 
 
 was in the most animated manner recounting an 
 adventure which had entertained him on the cause- 
 way ; and from his mode of telling it was causing loud 
 laughing in the whole room. The evening passed 
 very agreeably. After supper a most interesting 
 occurrence took place. A gentleman of the company, 
 when the ladies had retired, thought proper to com- 
 mence an attack upon revealed religion, and avowed 
 himself a professed sceptic. There were two clergy- 
 men present, whom he hoped to silence by gaining 
 over to his side the great philosopher ; and he con- 
 tinued for some time to utter his infidel opinions, 
 encouraged by the silent and deep attention with 
 which Davy listened to him. At length he paused, 
 full of triumphant expectation, when, to the delight 
 of some of the company, the man of genius, with deep 
 earnestness, and in eloquent language, defended the 
 truth of Christianity. So striking and impressive 
 was his manner, that one of the clergymen (the Bishop 
 of Raphoe) stood up from an involuntary impulse, like 
 that which has sometimes called a whole audience to 
 their feet at some burst of religious fervour from an 
 eloquent preacher. The discomfited infidel retired in 
 dismay, nor did he venture again to show his face in 
 that company." 
 
 This illustrious chemist having thus arrived at the 
 laws of electrical action, applied his great principle to 
 the analyses of the vegetable alkalies, and in the follow- 
 ing year discovered the two metals to which he gave 
 the names of potassium and sodium. " The glory of 
 
 E 
 
/)0 SIR HUMPHRY DAVY. 
 
 having now made the greatest discovery of the age 
 was plainly Davy's," continues Lord Brougham, 
 " and it was not the result of happy accident, but of 
 laborious investigation, conducted with a skill and a 
 patience equally admirable, and according to the strict 
 rules of the soundest philosophy."* 
 
 But the most valuable discovery which this great 
 man offered to humanity was his Safety Lamp. Had 
 he invented nothing else, he would deservedly enjoy 
 the lasting gratitude of all true friends of man. The 
 terrible ravages made on human life by the fire-damp 
 explosions that is, the burning of hydrogen gas in 
 mines had often attracted the attention of the mine- 
 owner and the philanthropist. In his boyhood Davy 
 had doubtless often listened to disastrous tales of 
 these fearful accidents. In 1812 a most terrible explo- 
 sion occurred in a colliery near Sunderland, accom- 
 panied by an awful sacrifice of life. This catastrophe 
 led to the formation of the Society for the Prevention 
 of Accidents in Coal-mines ; and it was at the request 
 of the members of that body that the attention of 
 Davy was directed to the subject. After fully ascer- 
 taining the cause of the fire-damp, he made a series of 
 experiments, which resulted in the discovery that 
 " gauze of wire, whose meshes were only one twenty- 
 
 * The delight which he experienced when he first saw the 
 minute globules of potassium (the new metal) burst through the 
 crust of potash, and take fire as they entered the atmosphere, 
 was witnessed by his relative (Mr. E. Davy), who says : " He 
 actually danced about the room with ecstatic delight, and some 
 little time was required for him to compose himself sufficiently 
 to continue the experiment." 
 
SIR HUMPHRY DAVY. 51 
 
 second of an inch diameter, stopped the flame, and 
 prevented the explosion. The candle or lamp being 
 wrapped in such gauze, and all access to the external air 
 prevented, except through the meshes, the lamp may 
 be safely introduced into a gallery filled with fire- 
 damp ; a feeble blue flame will take place inside the 
 gauze, but no explosion, even if the wire be heated 
 nearly red." 
 
 One of his friends, who had assisted him in his 
 experiments, says : "Sir H. Davy accompanied me 
 into some of our fiery mines, to prove the efficacy of 
 his lamp. Nothing could be more gratifying than the 
 result of the trial, as it inspired everybody with 
 perfect confidence in the security which his invention 
 had afforded. He was himself delighted, and I was 
 overpowered with feelings of gratitude to the great 
 genius who had produced it." 
 
 This lamp, more marvellous than the magical one of 
 Aladdin, has saved the lives of thousands of miners. 
 The illustrious inventor generously gave to the public 
 the whole benefit of the invention, and thus sacrificed 
 the rich profit which he might have secured to him- 
 self by a patent. " My sole object," said he, " was to 
 serve the cause of humanity ; and I am amply rewarded 
 by the reflection that I have been enabled to do so." * 
 
 * The value of this great invention was everywhere recog- 
 nized. The Royal Society honoured it with their medals ; some 
 of the great proprietors of the collieries voted to Sir Humphry 
 Davy a splendid service of silver plate, of the value of 1,200 ; 
 and the Emperor Alexander of Russia presented him with a 
 beautiful silver-gilt vase, accompanied by a letter from himself 
 expressing his admiration of the important discovery. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 SIR HUMPHRY DAVY. 
 
 So early as 1806 he had been chosen a foreign 
 associate of the French Institute. In 1816 he was 
 created a baronet ; and on the death of Sir Joseph 
 Banks, in 1820, Sir Humphry Davy was unanimously 
 chosen to succeed him as President of the Royal 
 Society, and continued to fill that distinguished office 
 until, his health having failed, he resigned it in 1827. 
 Already he had suffered from a serious illness in 1807, 
 in consequence of the prolonged labour and excite- 
 ment attending his grand discoveries, and was for 
 many months incapable of carrying on his work. 
 During that sickness, his heart turned with fond 
 longing to the home of his boyhood. "No Swiss 
 peasant," says one of his biographers, "ever sighed 
 more deeply for his native mountains than did he for 
 the scenes of his early years. He entreated his nurse 
 to convey to his friends his ardent wish to have some 
 apples from a particular tree which he had planted 
 when a boy ; and he remained in a state of restless- 
 ness and impatience till their arrival." There is some- 
 thing very touching in this little incident. It adds 
 one more to the numerous examples which show that 
 whatever our destiny, and however fortune may have 
 changed our condition, the deep affections of our 
 nature cling fondly to the simplicities of our child- 
 hood, and the heart is cheered and warmed by the 
 remembrance of early joys. 
 
 This illustrious man was not spoiled by the marvel- 
 lous success which crowned his efforts, nor did the 
 flattery of an applauding world render him deaf to 
 
SIR HUMPHRY DAVY. 53 
 
 the fond pleas of dutiful love. No sooner was he in a 
 situation that secured him the necessaries of life, than 
 he remembered his mother and sisters, and generously 
 supplied his brother with the means of prosecuting 
 his studies. To one and another of "the old pen- 
 sioners," that knew him in early life, he sent tokens of 
 remembrance, and bade his sisters " buy some ribbons 
 or little articles of dress " for the maid-servants of the 
 family and some friends. Nor can we omit to mention 
 that he left at his death a paper of directions, in 
 which he desired that the interest from 100 stock 
 might be annually paid to the master of the Penzance 
 Grammar-school, on condition that the boys should 
 have a holiday on his birthday. Surely this simple 
 trait reveals the workings of an affectionate heart. 
 The great philosopher was a man to be loved as much 
 as admired. 
 
 A singular proof of the admiration in which his 
 name was held by his countrymen, and how well it 
 became known, even among the common people, is 
 thus related : " Returning home one evening, he 
 observed an ordinary man showing the moon and a 
 planet through a telescope placed upon the pavement. 
 He went up and paid his pence for a look ; but no 
 such thing would they permit. 'That's Sir Humphry 
 Davy,' ran among the people ; and the exhibitor, 
 returning the money, said, with an important air, 
 which exceedingly delighted him, ' that he could not 
 think of taking anything from a brother philosopher.' " 
 
 The principal relaxations in which Sir H. Davy 
 
54 SIR HUMPHRY DAYY. 
 
 had indulged during the intervals of his laborious 
 exertions were shooting, and especially fishing, of 
 which he was, from his earliest years, passionately 
 fond. When, at the end of 1826, he returned from 
 his foreign tour, he published a book called "Salrnonia," 
 on this favourite pursuit. His latest work "The last 
 Days of a Philosopher " was written in the following 
 year, when he again went to the Continent, in search 
 of health. He passed the winter at Rome, and in the 
 spring of 1829 travelled to Geneva, where, on the 29th 
 May, he expired suddenly of an apoplectic attack. 
 He had barely attained his fifty-first year. 
 
SEBASTIAN EEARD & CLAUDE MONTAL. 
 
 PIANOFORTE-MAKING AND TUNING. 
 ERAKD, born 1752 died 1831. 
 
 How much are the lovers of chamber music indebted 
 to those skilful mechanics whose talent has been de- 
 voted to the invention and perfection of the harp and 
 the pianoforte. In former times the spinet and harp- 
 sichord, with their harsh and discordant sounds, were 
 much in vogue ; they are now happily consigned to 
 oblivion, and have been succeeded by that fine musical 
 instrument the piano, originally invented by a Floren- 
 tine in the service of the Duke of Tuscany. The first 
 instruments of this kind were very imperfect in touch 
 and mechanism, and but slow progress was made in 
 their improvement for a considerable period. 
 
 One of the celebrated names in this department of 
 mechanical science and skill is Sebastian Erard, whose 
 pianos deservedly attained such great repute both in 
 this country and in France. He was born in Strasburg 
 in 1752, and was the fourth child of a cabinet maker 
 of that city. When a mere lad he showed a bold and 
 aspiring disposition, one of his feats being to mount 
 to the summit of Strasburg cathedral, and perch him- 
 self upon its cross.* It was first intended that he 
 
 * The tower of this celebrated c.itherlral, one of the finest 
 
56 SEBASTIAN ERARD AND CLAUDE MONTAL. 
 
 should be brought up as an architect ; and from the 
 age of eight years he studied perspective and linear 
 drawing, to which he added a course of practical geo- 
 metry. This first education proved very useful to him 
 in his after-career, and facilitated the discoveries which 
 afterwards rendered him celebrated. He acquired, 
 above all, a great aptitude in expressing his ideas by 
 drawing, which spared him a good deal of useless 
 expense. 
 
 His father having died, the young man was left to 
 pursue his own course, and at the age of eighteen he 
 went to Paris and apprenticed himself to a harpsichord- 
 maker, in whose service he soon became a skilful work- 
 man. His great talent was quickly displayed in an 
 extraordinary degree, so much so as to excite the 
 jealousy of his employer. 
 
 He had not long come out of his apprenticeship 
 before he was employed by another maker, who, aware 
 of his skill in invention, proposed to Erard to execute 
 an instrument of a novel description, differing from 
 the common harpsichord ; by a private engagement, 
 however, it was settled that the name of the employer 
 should appear upon it. When it was completed, the 
 amateur who purchased it, delighted with its excellence, 
 returned to make inquiries of the harpsichord-maker as 
 to the nature of the improvements, and asked him a 
 host of questions about the internal mechanism, which 
 the man, taken by surprise, was wholly unable to 
 
 specimens of Gothic architecture in existence, is 470 feet high, 
 and is said to be the loftiest building in the world, with the ex- 
 ception of the highest of the pyramids of Egypt. 
 
PIANOFORTE-MAKING AND TUNING. 57 
 
 answer ; at length, he was forced to confess that it was 
 the work of young Erard. 
 
 Of this invention, which he called the clavecin 
 meJianique, a detailed account appeared in the Musical 
 Almanac of 1776. It was pronounced a chef-d'oeuvre 
 of invention and execution, and at once made the 
 reputation of the young artisan. 
 
 The Duchess de Villeroi, a great patroness of the 
 arts, took him under her protection, and it was in the 
 Hotel de Villeroi that his first piano was constructed. 
 This instrument was then almost unknown in France, 
 and had only recently been introduced in Germany. 
 The duchess was desirous to have one, and she wished 
 that, if possible, it should be made by a Frenchman : 
 at her instigation, Erard determined to try his powers; 
 and after having examined one of German construction, 
 belonging to the inhabitants of a neighbouring house, 
 he commenced the task, which he accomplished in a 
 short time ; and a scientific comparison being made 
 between the two instruments, Erard's was pronounced 
 superior. 
 
 Listened to in Madame de Villeroi's saloons, in which 
 the most distinguished musical amateurs and professors 
 were accustomed to assemble, it made a great sensation, 
 and the fortune of the skilful artist was secured. 
 
 He soon established himself in business, and was 
 joined by his brother John Baptiste. At first they 
 encountered much opposition from the jealousy and 
 ill-will of some of the manufacturers, but success in 
 the end crowned their meritorious efforts, and the sale 
 
58 SEBASTIAN ERARD. 
 
 of their pianofortes steadily increased. These instru- 
 ments found their way throughout France, the Nether- 
 lands, and some parts of Germany; and in the year 
 1799 a commission in Hamburg sold one hundred of 
 Erard's pianos. 
 
 Among the numerous improvements introduced by 
 this maker, was that of adapting the instrument to 
 voices of moderate power. For this purpose he con- 
 ceived the idea of rendering the key of the piano 
 moveable in either direction to the extent of half a 
 note, a whole note, or a note and a half. This in- 
 genious contrivance was first tried in a piano which he 
 made for the queen, Marie Antoinette, whose voice was 
 of small compass. It was also on this instrument he 
 made the first trial of the orgue expressif, in which, by 
 the prolonged pressure of a finger, the sound was dimin- 
 ished or increased at pleasure, like the inflexions of the 
 voice. The harp was at that time a very fashionable 
 instrument, and Erard's attention was consequently 
 directed toward it, with the design to obviate some of 
 the great inconveniences of its construction, as it was 
 then made. His projects were interrupted by the 
 outbreak of the French revolution in 1789, and he 
 hastened to quit France for England, where he re- 
 mained several years. He formed a flourishing estab- 
 lishment in London, his reputation there being very 
 considerable, and the sale of his instruments propor- 
 tion ably large. 
 
 Returning to Paris in 1796, he produced his im- 
 proved grand pianoforte, which increased his scientific 
 
PIANOFORTE-MAKING AND TUNING. 59 
 
 repute, and completed the numerous improvements 
 and additions lie had introduced into pianoforte-making. 
 Returning to England, Erard, in 1811, crowned his 
 successes by the beautiful and difficult invention of 
 the harp with two pedals. Its success was immense : 
 not only was the form of the instrument improved, 
 giving it more elegance, but the richness of the sound 
 was tripled by means of pedals and levers, skilfully 
 combined to correspond to the same sounds of the 
 octave on different strings. In 1815, Erard, being at 
 Paris, presented it for examination at the Institute, 
 when M. de Prony, in the name of the Academy of 
 Sciences and of the Fine Arts united, made a highly- 
 flattering report on its merits. 
 
 So many important contributions to the advance- 
 ment of his art had deservedly procured for M. Erard 
 the suffrages of learned men, artists and amateurs. 
 He had received the gold medal at every examination 
 of the products of French industry, and was the first 
 musical-instrument-maker who obtained the cross of 
 the Legion of Honour j rewards deservedly conferred 
 on one whose life had been spent in unremitting 
 labour for the advancement of an art which imparts 
 so great a charm to the domestic and social circle. 
 Happily, the personal character of M. Erard was such 
 as to command respect and esteem. "He possessed," 
 says M. Foucaud, "the rare quality of making himself 
 beloved by all those employed in his service, sharing 
 their labours, and rejoicing in their improvement- 
 He always spoke to them in tones of encouragement, 
 
60 SEBASTIAN ERARI. 
 
 and assisted them when in difficulties, not only by 
 advice, but with his purse, which was always open to 
 them. He gave pensions to aged mechanics, or such 
 HS were in extreme poverty, and carried his generosity 
 to such a degree, that he would aid those of his own 
 trade in founding establishments on as large a scale as 
 his own. 
 
 " Apprentices are considered an ungrateful class, but 
 good masters make good workmen ; and if such a man 
 as Erard were at the head of every manufactory, we 
 should probably hear fewer of these complaints." 
 
 This worthy man suffered, during the closing years 
 of his life, from a most painful malady. His last work 
 was the grand organ which he built for the chapel of 
 the Tuileries an admirable production, worthy the 
 reputation of its maker. 
 
 On occasion of his death, which took place in 
 August, 1831, his workmen paid a pleasing tribute to 
 his memory. They raised a subscription among them- 
 selves, with the proceeds of which a bust of Erard was 
 executed ; and the day devoted to the inauguration of 
 this monument of their affection and regret was one 
 which deeply affected them. 
 
 Since the time of Sebastian Erard, great improve- 
 ments have been made in the pianoforte, and the 
 English manufacturers especially maintained for a long 
 time a marked superiority in this branch of the trade. 
 "We cannot refrain, in connection with this subject, 
 from mentioning an individual whose remarkable 
 efforts excite both astonishment and admiration, and 
 
PIANOFORTE-MAKING AND TUNING. 61 
 
 who affords a new and striking example of the " pur- 
 suit of knowledge under difficulties." To M. Foucaud 
 we are indebted for the following account of Claude 
 Montal, who, blind from a very early age, owes to his 
 own energy and talent the high reputation he has 
 gained in the musical world. Some years ago, he 
 filled, with great credit to himself, the office of tutor 
 in the Institution for the Blind, founded by M. Hauy. 
 Here it was that he passed his childhood and youth, 
 and expected to spend his future life in instructing his 
 companions in affliction. 
 
 An accidental circumstance excited his attention to 
 an entirely different and new mode of gaining his 
 subsistence. He heard that much money might be 
 earned by tuning pianos ; and the idea took possession 
 of his mind. After thinking much upon the subject, 
 he resolved to study the mechanism of those instru- 
 ments. With his small savings he purchased a piano 
 and, little by little, gained a perfect acquaintance with 
 all its parts, till he was completely master of the 
 details of its construction. 
 
 He paid some young men to read such works to 
 him as might assist him in his researches, and in 
 this manner he soon attained great skill in tuning 
 pianos. By degrees the fame of his talent spread; 
 the most celebrated professors took a pleasure in 
 encouraging him, and before long he was esteemed to 
 rank at the head of his art. He became, in fact, the 
 only professor of tuning in France ; and, still further, 
 he published a valuable treatise on the theory of his 
 
62 CLAUDE MONTAL. 
 
 art, entitled, The Art of Tuning one's own Piano. 
 His next step was to become himself a piano-maker, 
 in which he succeeded so completely as to be honoured 
 with the approbation of connoisseurs, and to attain 
 an honourable place among his compeers. 
 
 Such remarkable efforts must appear truly astonish- 
 ing, when we consider the difficulties with which this 
 remarkable man has had to struggle. Blind, without 
 fortune or master, he has acquired a distinguished 
 rank in his art one which requires long and perse- 
 vering study. 
 
GRAHAM AND BREGUET. 
 
 CLOCK AND WATCH MAKING. 
 
 GRAHAM, Iornl675died 1751. BREGUET, 6orwl747 died 1823. 
 
 " My watch, the solitary kind companion 
 Of my imprisonment my faithful watch 
 Hangs by." 
 
 THE science of mechanics applied to watchmaking, 
 reveals a world of wonders j and hosts of ingenious 
 artisans have distinguished themselves in the different 
 branches of nautical, astronomical, and domestic 
 horology. It would be impossible to mention the 
 names alone of those who excelled in these various 
 departments. We are compelled to confine ourselves 
 to two only of the most illustrious. One, a country- 
 man of our own, named George Graham, was, without 
 competition, the most eminent of his profession at 
 the time when he lived, not only in the particular 
 department of his calling as a clock and watch maker, 
 but as a general mechanician. This admirable man 
 was born of Quaker parentage at Horsgills, in the 
 county of Cumberland, in the year 1675, and when 
 only thirteen years old was apprenticed to a watch- 
 maker in London. His intelligence and good conduct 
 were so satisfactory that, after he had remained some 
 time with his master, he was taken, purely on account 
 
C4 GEOftGE GRAHAM. 
 
 of his good conduct, into the family of the celebrated 
 Mr. Tompion, an English watchmaker of deserved 
 renown. This gentleman perceiving in his young 
 protege indications of remarkable talent, united with 
 great excellence of character and high principle, be- 
 came much interested in his progress, arid treated him 
 with an almost parental affection throughout his life. 
 It was not long before his abilities were strikingly 
 displayed ; gifted with inventive sagacity, he, at the 
 same time, took the most scrupulous care in the 
 execution of his work. In process of time he became 
 not only a first-rate watchmaker, but the best general 
 mechanic of his day. He also obtained a complete 
 knowledge of practical astronomy, and was thus 
 enabled to give to various movements for measuring 
 time a degree of perfection which had never before 
 been attained j and also invented several astronomical 
 instruments by which the science was greatly advanced. 
 We are told that by a wonderful manual dexterity 
 " he was enabled to construct them with greater pre- 
 cision and accuracy than any other person in the 
 world." That this high praise was not unmerited 
 will be perceived by a glance at what he effected. 
 Among other valuable works of his was a grand mural 
 arch in the observatory at Greenwich, made for 
 Dr. Halley, under Mr. Graham's immediate inspec- 
 tion, and divided by his own hand j from this incom- 
 parable original the best foreign instruments have 
 been copied. It was by the aid of a sector of his 
 invention, that Dr. Bradley first discovered two new 
 
CLOCK AND WATCH MAKING. 65 
 
 motions in the fixed stars. By his skill he comprised 
 the whole planetary system within the compass of a 
 small cabinet, which invention served as a model for 
 the orreries of the eighteenth century ; and when the 
 French academicians were projecting their voyage to 
 the north pole, for the purpose of ascertaining the 
 figure of the earth, Mr. Graham was judged to be the 
 fittest person in Europe to supply them with instru- 
 ments. How well he justified the choice was seen, 
 when, aided by his works, those operations were 
 completed in one year; whereas, those members of 
 the expedition who went to the south, not being so 
 well furnished, were greatly embarrassed and retarded 
 in their progress. For several years this distinguished 
 man was a member of the Royal Society of London, 
 to which he imparted several ingenious arid important 
 discoveries, chiefly on astronomical and philosophical 
 subjects ; and he continued to make experiments in 
 his favourite sciences till almost the period of his 
 death, which took place at his house in Fleet Street, 
 Nov. 20, 1751, in his 76th year. He was buried 
 in "Westminster Abbey, in the same grave with his 
 friend and predecessor the celebrated Tompion. Of 
 his personal character the most pleasing accounts have 
 been preserved. He seems to have delighted in acts 
 of generosity, and to have had for his main object the 
 advancement of science, and the benefit of his fellow- 
 men. Actuated by the strictest integrity, he was 
 above suspicion, and his liberality in communicating 
 to others the results of his experiments won him the 
 F 
 
66 GEORGE GEAHAM. 
 
 esteem of his compeers. It is said he frequently lent 
 money, but he could never be prevailed on to take 
 any interest ; nor did he ever place out any money on 
 Government securities. He had bank-notes which 
 were thirty years old in his possession at the time of 
 his death; and his whole property, with the exception 
 of his stock in trade, was found in a strong box. Had 
 he been an avaricious man, the contents of that 
 treasury would have been a hundredfold greater ; but 
 he had saved enough to supply his wants, and to 
 enable him to relieve the necessities <of others. There 
 is a characteristic story of him which shows what a 
 degree of exactness he attained in his workmanship, 
 and how high was his estimate of it. 
 
 A person who had ordered a watch of him, when 
 he took it out of his hands, said that he was going 
 abroad, to reside nearly five years in India, and that 
 he wished to know to what point he might reckon 
 upon the regularity of its movements. " Friend," 
 replied the worthy Quaker, "it is a watch I have 
 made and regulated myself; carry it where thou wilt; 
 if, at the end of five years thou come back to me, and 
 canst say it has varied five minutes, I will return thy 
 money." The purchaser, after an absence of rather 
 more than five years, made his appearance at the 
 watchmaker's, and, affecting a serious manner, said, 
 " I bring you back your watch, sir." " I remember 
 my promise," said Graham; "show me the watch.** 
 " Well (after examining it), what dost thou complain 
 of?" "What do I complain of? why, that it has 
 
CLOCK AND WATCH MAKING. 67 
 
 varied more than five minutes during the five years I 
 have had it." " In that case I return thy money," said 
 the other, suiting the action to the words. " What do 
 you mean ?" "I mean that I fulfil my engagement" 
 (pocketing the watch). " I would not give up the 
 watch, Mr. Graham, for ten times the amount I paid 
 you for it." " And I, on my part, will on no account 
 withdraw from my engagement. A promise with me 
 is a sacred thing. I promised thee, on certain con- 
 ditions, to receive back the watch ; in consequence of 
 that promise, thou hast returned it to me, and no 
 power on earth shall compel me to relinquish my 
 treaty." He kept his word ; and to the day of his 
 death, that watch served him as a regulator. It is 
 said, he was fond of entertaining his customers with 
 this anecdote, though usually not disposed to be 
 facetious. 
 
 That Graham's watches were held in the highest 
 estimation by the noble as well as the scientific? 
 appears from the following anecdote : The French 
 mathematician Maupertius, who did much to encou- 
 rage horology, and was considered an admirable judge 
 of the art, was made prisoner at the battle of Molnitz, 
 and taken to Vienna. The grand-duke of Tuscany, 
 afterwards emperor, delighted at seeing a man of such 
 great reputation, treated him with much kindness, and 
 asked whether there were any particular part of his 
 property which the hussars had taken from him that 
 he especially valued. 
 
 Being much pressed, the philosopher acknowledged 
 F 2 
 
68 GEORGE GRAHAM. 
 
 that he wished to have saved a watch of Graham's, of 
 which he made use in his astronomical observations. 
 The duke had also one by the same maker, but 
 adorned with diamonds. "See," said he, taking it 
 from his pocket, "it was but a joke; they have 
 brought it to me, and I now return it." 
 
 This eminent man's mercurial pendulum is still used 
 in the best regulators, his dead escapement is gene- 
 rally used in astronomical timekeepers, while his 
 horizontal or cylinder escapement is used, with few 
 exceptions, in all the best watches made in France 
 and Switzerland. 
 
 As has been said, he was buried in the nave of 
 "Westminster Abbey, in the same grave with his 
 friend and master, Thomas Tompion. The slab bore 
 the following inscription : " Here lies the body of 
 Thos. Tompion, who died Nov. 20, 1713, aged 75. 
 Also Geo. Graham, watchmaker, and F.R.S., whose 
 curious inventions do honour to the British genius, 
 whose accurate performances are the standard of 
 mechanic skill. He died the 16th November, 1751, 
 in the 78th year of his age." 
 
 "Watchmakers, we are assured,* were (until pre- 
 vented by recent restrictions) in the habit of making 
 frequent pilgrimages to this spot, feeling, as they 
 gazed upon this tribute, proud of their occupation, 
 while many a secret wish to excel arose as they con- 
 templated the resting-place of two men they so much 
 
 * See a little vol. entitled "Time and Timekeepers," by 
 Adam Thompson. 
 
CLOCK AND WATCH MAKING. 69 
 
 revered. Their memory may last, but the slab, alas ! 
 is gone, having been removed by the authorities in 
 1838, and in, its place there remains only a small 
 lozenge-shaped bit of marble bearing their names and 
 the dates of their death. 
 
 The name of Breguet has attained a European 
 renown j and the particulars of his history are full 
 of interest. He was born at Neufchatel, in Switzer- 
 land, in 1747, of one of the numerous French families 
 driven into exile by the revocation of the Edict of 
 Nantes. His family were in reduced circumstances, 
 and his father having died when he was still a child, 
 his mother married a clockmaker, who endeavoured to 
 teach the boy his trade. At school he had appeared 
 hopelessly stupid, and his master pronounced him 
 deficient in intellect. Nor did he at first show any 
 inclination to take to the sedentary occupation of his 
 father-in-law. But by degrees he became interested 
 in mechanical experiments ; and his intelligence, being 
 thus called into play, was not long in developing itself. 
 It was soon joined to a studious perseverance, certain 
 in the end to reap its deserved reward. 
 
 When he was fifteen years old he was taken by his 
 parents to Paris, and placed with a watchmaker at 
 Versailles. The time of his apprenticeship being 
 expired, and his master expressing the satisfaction his 
 industry and good conduct had given him, the lad 
 made him the following reply : 
 
 " I have a favour, sir, to ask of you. I am conscious 
 that I have not employed all my time to the best of my 
 
70 BRKGUET. 
 
 ability while in your service; and I wish to be allowed 
 to work three months longer under you, without 
 salary." 
 
 This request originated a friendship between the 
 master and his conscientious apprentice, who a short- 
 time after found himself, by the death of both his 
 parents, left an orphan, and charged with the support 
 of his little sister. His resolution and industry 
 triumphed over all difficulties ; and feeling an ardent 
 desire to complete his education, he determined to 
 acquire a knowledge of mathematics, perceiving that 
 this was indispensable to the perfection of his art. 
 By working over-hours, the high-spirited youth found 
 time to listen to a course of lectures on this subject, 
 delivered by the Abbe Marie, who, observing his 
 punctual attendance and earnest looks, noticed and 
 befriended him. 
 
 From that period the course of the young artist 
 was a progressive one. In surmounting the difficulties 
 of his position, his ideas had advanced, and he had 
 gained skill in his art, and soon his works acquired a 
 name. It chanced one day that the duke of Orleans, 
 being in London, showed a watch of Breguet's to the 
 celebrated watchmaker Arnold, who, at that time, was 
 reckoned the first of his art in Europe.* The beautiful 
 machinery, and the completeness of the parts in this 
 
 * Arnold introduced several improvements in the mechanism 
 of timekeepers, and was the inventor of the expansion-balance, 
 &c. Before him the celebrated John Harrison had invented his 
 famous chronometer for taking the longitude at sea, which gained 
 Queen Anne's premium of 20,000. 
 
CLOCK AND WATCH MAKING. 71 
 
 work, filled him with admiration, and so much was he 
 delighted that, eager to make acquaintance with 
 Breguet, he immediately set off for Paris. The result 
 was a strong mutual regard between the two men, 
 which was so great that the English watchmaker left 
 his son for two years with Breguet, in order that he 
 might be instructed by so great a master in the prin- 
 ciples of their art. This is a truly pleasing and in- 
 structive example of mutual confidence and good will, 
 worthy of the imitation of men of genuine talent, who 
 are too often kept apart by a spirit of jealous rivalry. 
 Before the revolution broke out in France, Breguet 
 had already founded the establishment which after- 
 wards produced so many masterpieces of mechanism 
 and clockmaking, and his reputation was rapidly in- 
 creasing. Although quite indifferent to politics, hf 
 fell under the suspicion of the dominant party, and 
 owed his safety only to the interposition of some 
 friends, at whose solicitation he was permitted to 
 leave France. He repaired to England, where he 
 lived two years, and, by the generous assistance of a 
 kind friend, was enabled to continue, without embar- 
 rassment, his mechanical researches, together with his 
 son, who had accompanied him in his exile. 
 
 On his return to France, he found his establishment 
 had been destroyed, but he opened a new one, and 
 eventually it became more prosperous and successful 
 than the former. 
 
 M. Bre*guet died in 1823, leaving behind him a 
 personal character not less remarkable than his pro- 
 
72 BREGUET. 
 
 fessional talent. So great were the attractions of his 
 manners and conversation that the best society of 
 Paris welcomed him to their circles, and among them 
 he found some of his most intimate friends. It is said 
 that he retained the naivete of youth and even of 
 childhood, and found something to admire everywhere, 
 save in his own productions. He was simple, con- 
 sistent, and equable in temper. Timid, without losing 
 self-possession ; and, in some respects, he was thought 
 to resemble the excellent La Fontaine. Modest and 
 retiring, he would never quit the humble abode in 
 which fortune had crowned his industry and skill : 
 there he delighted to welcome the promising young 
 men of his own trade, to whom he was always a firm 
 friend, and many of whom he was able to assist, from 
 the deep interest he took in their welfare. He made 
 all around him happy, and was himself the happiest of 
 the whole. Even the infirmities of increasing age did 
 not diminish his zest for social intercourse ; and when 
 death overtook him, he was busily engaged in a work 
 upon horology. 
 
 For a just appreciation of Breguet's labours, we 
 cannot do better than refer to the statement of the 
 judicious critic M. Charles Dupin. He tells us that 
 this celebrated clockmaker brought all parts of his art 
 to such perfection that nothing can be more delicate 
 and ingenious than his mechanism. He particularizes 
 his detached escapement and also that called natural, 
 where no oil is required, and in the mechanism of 
 which there is no spring. Another, and still finer 
 
CLOCK AND WATCH MAKING. 73 
 
 work, is that of the duplex escapement. Breguet also 
 contrived a plan for preserving the mechanism of 
 portable marine watches or chronometers from the 
 injury caused by the rolling and pitching of vessels, 
 and, still further, discovered a method to prevent 
 their movements being deranged even by a blow or a 
 fall to the ground. 
 
 An English officer, General Brisbane, had one of 
 these chronometers, which he subjected to the greatest 
 trials, by constantly wearing it on horseback, and 
 during several long voyages. In sixteen months, its 
 greatest variation was only a second and a half. 
 
 At the time when Breguet accomplished this ad- 
 mirable result, the English Parliament had offered a 
 reward of 250,000 francs* to the artist who would make 
 a chronometer for ships which should not exceed two 
 seconds. No one had gained this prize when he ex- 
 ceeded the limit as above stated. 
 
 The renown of Breguet's name has been maintained 
 by the skill of his nephew, who carries on his uncle's 
 studies with great success, and retains the gold medal 
 in the family. 
 
 * Upwards of 10, 000. 
 
LORENZO GHIBERTI & QTJINTIN MATSYS. 
 
 . GHIBERTI, 6. 1380 d. 1456. MATSYS, 6. 1466 d. 1529. 
 
 THE art of working in metal has ever been highly 
 esteemed, and many artisans of the middle ages have 
 left masterpieces of beauty in this department, testi- 
 fying the taste and industry with which they wrought ; 
 but the annals of those times are very sparing of the 
 names of the men whose works now excite the ad- 
 miration of connoisseurs, as they gaze on models of 
 finish both in design and. execution. 
 
 At the end of the thirteenth century, a goldsmith 
 named Raoul, renowned for his talents in this line, was 
 ennobled under the reign of Philip the Bold. This 
 was the first instance of honourable distinction con- 
 ferred on one belonging to the working classes in 
 France. 
 
 At a somewhat later period flourished the two dis- 
 tinguished artists Lorenzo Ghiberti and Quintin Matsys. 
 The first of these will ever be remembered by his 
 celebrated work, the bronze gates of the Baptistery of 
 Florence, of which copies in miniature, executed by 
 M. Barbidienne of Paris, were shown at the great 
 exhibition of 1851. 
 
 Ghiberti was born in Florence, towards the close of 
 the fourteenth century. He received his first instruc- 
 
WORKING IN METALS. 75 
 
 tions from his stepfather, who practised the art of the 
 goldsmith, at that time much in repute (especially 
 with the Florentines), and which extended to the 
 designing of all kinds of ornamental work in metals. 
 The youth learned drawing, the art of modelling and 
 casting metals, and he also acquired some knowledge 
 of painting ; so that, when obliged, in consequence of 
 a pestilence which desolated his native city, and the 
 distressed state of affairs consequent thereupon, to fly 
 thence to Rimini, he found employment in painting a 
 fresco in one of the princely palaces there. 
 
 He tells us how, with great diligence and ardour, 
 he applied to his task, his mind being quite turned 
 toward the study of painting ; but, scarcely had he 
 completed his fresco, when a circumstance occurred 
 which afforded him the opportunity of signalizing 
 himself, not only as the greatest artist of his own 
 time, but as one whose works have commanded the 
 admiration of after-ages. This was the competition 
 for a second pair of brazen doors for the Baptistery at 
 Florence, worthy to accompany those of Andrea Pisano. 
 executed about 1340. This memorable competition 
 attracted all the artists of the highest eminence, and 
 from among them seven were selected to make trial of 
 their skill, including Donatello, Brunelleschi, and 
 Ghiberti. The first of these, a youthful artist, 
 scarcely eighteen years of age, had already attracted 
 public notice. A year was given them to produce a 
 model in bas-relief for one of the panels the subject 
 being the sacrifice of Isaac. At the end of that time, 
 
76 LORENZO GHIBERTI. 
 
 thirty-four of the most skilful sculptors, painters and 
 goldsmiths of the day were chosen as umpires, and the 
 judgment was to be pronounced in public, in presence 
 of a large assembly gathered together for the occasion. 
 
 There is something very interesting in the account 
 of what tra.nspired. The works of the three artists 
 whom we have named were immediately selected as 
 superior to the rest. It remained to decide between 
 these. While judgment was still in suspense, Brunel- 
 leschi and Donatello retired together apart, and, 
 confessing to each other that Ghiberti's work was 
 superior to theirs, they magnanimously came forward, 
 and publicly announced their conviction that such 
 was the case. This opinion was confirmed by the 
 umpires, amid the general applause of the assembly. 
 
 The victorious competitor was desired to spare 
 neither time nor expense to produce a work worthy 
 of himself and of the republic, and the result was 
 the execution of those beautiful gates which the great 
 Michael Angelo pronounced, in an ecstasy of delight, 
 worthy to be the gates of Paradise ! The first, on 
 which Ghiberti was engaged for twenty-one years, is 
 divided into twenty panels, adorned with bas-reliefs, 
 representing various subjects from the New Testament. 
 He afterwards executed for the same building another 
 pair of bronze doors, containing ten reliefs, on a larger 
 scale, from Old Testament subjects. This work, which 
 far exceeded the other in perfection of design, occupied 
 the artist almost as long a time. 
 
 Among various other beautiful works by Ghiberti 
 
WORKING IN METALS. 77 
 
 were his bronze statues of St. John the Baptist, 
 St. Matthew, and St. Stephen, for the church of 
 St. Michael in Florence, and an admirable bronze 
 relief in the Duomo at Florence, representing a saint 
 raising a dead child to life. 
 
 This great artist exerted a vast influence on the 
 progress of taste, and from him dates a new epoch in 
 the history of Italian and modern art generally. He 
 was consulted by artists and their patrons about all 
 important undertakings, and the pupils formed under 
 his instructions were many of them celebrated as the 
 leading designers and artists of their time. 
 
 The exact period of his death is imknown ; but it 
 is supposed to have happened shortly after he made 
 his will, which was dated November, 1455, when he 
 was about seventy-seven years old. 
 
 QUINTIN MATSYS, known under the name of " The 
 Blacksmith of Antwerp," received that title from the 
 fact that, during his earlier years, he followed that 
 trade, or rather that of a locksmith. He was born in 
 1466, and his history is a pathetic one. When very 
 young he lost his father, and was left, with no other 
 dependence for his own subsistence, and that of his 
 mother, but his toil. In addition to poverty, he had 
 to struggle with feeble health, and in his twentieth 
 year a dreadful sickness brought him to the point of 
 death. By this affliction he was greatly reduced, and 
 not feeling equal to the more laborious parts of his 
 business, he turned his attention to the decorative 
 
78 QUIXTIN MATSYS. 
 
 style, in which he soon gave evidence of great 
 ability. 
 
 He first undertook to cover and surround, with a 
 net of iron work, a well near the great church of 
 Antwerp. This work was remarkable for the delicacy 
 of the execution, and the good taste of the ornaments 
 with which it was decorated. Shortly after, he made, 
 for the College of Louvain, an iron balustrade, equally 
 admirable in design. But even this kind of work was 
 too laborious for his strength, and again his health 
 threatened to give way. A friend of Matsys, who 
 *new his taste in drawing, now advised him to attempt 
 a different description of work. It was then the 
 custom, on occasion of the solemn annual processions 
 of the Roman Catholic Church, to distribute among 
 the people small images of saints, which were executed 
 for this purpose. Much skill and taste were employed 
 in the production of such works, and Matsys soon 
 excelled in them. 
 
 We have seen Ghiberti, at one period of his life, on 
 the point of relinquishing that branch of art in which 
 he afterwards obtained such renown, for the painter's 
 easel, and well it was that chance turned him. from his 
 purpose. 
 
 A romantic incident induced Matsys to lay aside his 
 first calling, and to become a painter. He fell in love, 
 and the object of his attachment was the fair daughter 
 of a painter of Antwerp, who designed her for one of 
 his pupils. It appears that his mistress returned his 
 affection, but there was an insuperable barrier opposed 
 
WORKING IN METALS. 79 
 
 to the accomplishment of their happiness. The damsel 
 would by no means demean herself to marry a black- 
 smith ; she was determined to have a painter for her 
 husband, and if he wished for her hand, he must out- 
 paint the suitor whom her father favoured ! 
 
 Thus, incited by love and ambition combined, 
 Quentin shut himself up, and studied the art of 
 painting with the utmost diligence. At length, 
 thinking himself a match for his rival, he carried one 
 of his performances to her father, who, surprised and 
 delighted with the production, consented to receive 
 him for a son-in-law. On the tomb which was erected 
 to Matsys 100 years after his death in the cathedral 
 of Antwerp, there is engraven in letters of gold, this 
 line : 
 
 " Oonnubialis amor de Mulcibre fecit Apellem"* 
 
 As an artist, we have nothing to say about him, 
 save that he arrived at great perfection in the dry 
 style of the school of his time. The picture of the 
 " Two Misers," in Windsor Castle, is the best specimen 
 of his work in this country. He died in 1529. 
 
 * " Connubial love made him an Apelles." 
 
JOSEPH JACQUARD, 
 
 AND HIS LOOM. 
 Born 1752 Died 1834. 
 
 ON the 16th August, 1840, the ancient and renowned 
 manufacturing city of Lyons paid a debt of gratitude 
 to one of her citizens, by whose skilful industry and 
 well-applied talent she had been largely enriched and 
 benefited. The scene was one of much stirring interest ; 
 an immense concourse of people from the neighbour- 
 hood and all the manufacturing population of the 
 town had assembled to witness the ceremony of the 
 inauguration of the statue of Jacquard, the humble 
 weaver, whose career was well known to them all, and 
 who, by general consent, deserved that his fellow-citi- 
 zens should thus delight to honour his memory. The 
 civil and military authorities assisted on the occasion, 
 and an eloge, or discourse in his praise, was pronounced 
 by the mayor of Lyons, to the effect that the name of 
 Jacquard was already famous in both worlds, as the 
 inventor of a machine so simple and inexpensive that 
 it is within reach of the poorest class of workmen, and 
 has introduced a new era in the art of weaving. 
 
 The history of this skilful mechanic and worthy 
 man is well adapted to inspire us with respectful 
 admiration for modest, persevering, disinterested labour. 
 
JOSEPH JACQUAED, AND HIS LOOM. 81 
 
 There is something about it of the really heroic, in the 
 best sense ; and it shows too, that, in the long run, true 
 merit is discerned, acknowledged, and rewarded. 
 
 Born at Lyons, in 1752, Joseph Jacquard was the 
 son of a hand-weaver of brocaded stuffs, whose rela- 
 tives were poor labourers at the little village of Couson, 
 situated on the right bank of the Soane, some two 
 leagues from Lyons. His father, intending to bring 
 up the boy to his own business, gave him no school 
 instruction of any sort, and little Joseph was his own 
 schoolmaster, and managed by some means to teach 
 himself to read and write. From his childhood he 
 showed a surprising turn for mechanics, and was con- 
 stantly amusing himself by making little models in 
 wood. He built small houses, towers of churches, and 
 carved miniature furniture; and it was observed that 
 in whatever he made, the proportions were always 
 kept with great exactness. When he was twelve 
 years old, his father placed him in the workshop of a 
 bookbinder, and afterwards with one of the best type- 
 founders of Lyons. Employed in casting type for 
 printing, he showed considerable skill, and, always 
 influenced by his natural turn, made several cutler's 
 tools. 
 
 His mother dying, his father soon after took him 
 home, and employed him in his own business, but did 
 not survive many years. Jacquard was thus left an 
 orphan with a very small sum at command, part of 
 which he employed in furnishing a workshop for the 
 fabrication of stuffs. He was not successful in this 
 o 
 
82 JOSEPH JACQUAED, 
 
 undertaking, and soon found himself obliged to part 
 with his looms to pay off his debts. In the mean time 
 he had formed an attachment to the daughter of a 
 gunsmith in the town, whom he married not long 
 after. The young couple were tenderly attached to 
 each other, and amidst all the sorrows of poverty and 
 domestic trouble they had to pass through, their mutual 
 affection appears to have remained pure and constant. 
 
 The wife is said to have been " a model of patience, 
 of sweet temper, and of industry;" and much need had 
 ihe for the exercise of all those precious virtues j for 
 her husband, good man, was content if he had but 
 daily bread, and dreamed of nothing but inventions 
 and plans for the improvement of various machinery 
 in the arts of weaving, cutlery, and printing. Unhap- 
 pily his models and designs did not bring him in a 
 farthing, and it was necessary to live. He sold the 
 cottage which had been his father's, and, little by 
 little, parted with all he possessed. At length he was 
 reduced to such necessity that he was glad to engage 
 himself to work at a limekiln in a neighbouring village, 
 while his wife remained at Lyons, and supported her- 
 self by straw-hat-making. 
 
 For some years Jacquard lived in obscure penury, 
 nameless, and unknown. "When he afterwards emerged 
 into honourable notice, his modesty and natural timi- 
 dity rendered him slow to speak of his own previous 
 career, and but little is known of his history, or even 
 of the circumstances connected with his great inven- 
 tion. It is certain that, previous to the year 1790, he 
 
AND HIS LOOM. 83 
 
 had conceived the idea of superseding the use of the 
 draw-boy by a moveable pedal, for which invention he 
 obtained a patent in 1801. 
 
 Stormy days were those in which Jacquard had to 
 toil and struggle, hard driven as he was, to procure 
 the necessaries of life. His mechanical ideas were 
 interrupted by the sounds of civil strife and deadly 
 warfare. The revolution broke out in Lyons in 1789, 
 and two parties were speedily formed the one attached 
 to the old regime, the other espousing the Jacobin 
 cause. Jacquard eagerly entered into the contest, 
 and, returning to Lyons in 1793, was one of those 
 who defended the city during the memorable siege it 
 sustained against the army of the Convention, when a 
 handful of Lyonese, young and inexperienced in arms, 
 resisted for sixty-six days the combined attacks of 
 famine and a large army of regular troops. The city, 
 being at length compelled to surrender, became the 
 scene of the most lamentable atrocities. The machineiy 
 of the principal manufacturers was destroyed, their 
 houses rased to the ground, and themselves led out to 
 execution. Jacquard, who had been one of the fore- 
 most in the struggle, was denounced and pursued. 
 He fled, accompanied by his only child, a youth of 
 seventeen. Having effected their escape, they enrolled 
 themselves in the first battalion of the voluntary corps 
 for the department of the Ehone et Loire, and set off 
 to join the army of the Khine. In a short time, the 
 son fell mortally wounded on the battle-field, and 
 expired in the arms of his father. Overwhelmed by 
 
 G2 
 
84 JOSEPH JACQUARD, 
 
 this terrible blow, the unhappy man found his way 
 back to Lyons, where he in vain looked for his poor 
 house it had been burned to the ground. He knew 
 not what had become of his wife, whom he had not 
 been able to forewarn of his flight, nor to give any 
 subsequent tidings of his movements. At length he 
 found this patient, laborious creature in a garret, still 
 occupied at her old task of platting straw for hats, 
 and he had no better resource than to help her in 
 this manner to earn a scanty pittance. 
 
 A considerable time elapsed before Lyons began to 
 recover from the dreadful shock it had sustained ; at 
 length, several of its manufacturers, who had taken 
 refuge in Switzerland, Germany, and England, ven- 
 tured by degrees to return and to resume their occu- 
 pations. Jacquard, again recurring to his favourite 
 ideas of mechanical improvements, perfected the inven- 
 tion before mentioned, and at the exhibition in 1801, 
 a bronze medal was awarded him for it. 
 
 The following year, on occasion of a meeting of the 
 commissioners for the election of a president, atten- 
 tion was directed to the subject of the machinery 
 completed by Jacquard ; and some of the members 
 went, accompanied by Carnot, Minister of the Interior, 
 to examine it at the humble dwelling of the inventor. 
 Carnot, who could not comprehend the mechanism, in- 
 terrogated Jacquard very brusquely; but, unabashed, 
 and with quiet self-possession, he answered the minister 
 in his simple language, and gave such satisfactory 
 replies as fully convinced him of the value of the 
 invention. 
 
AND HIS LOOM. 85 
 
 In 1804 the large gold medal was awarded him for 
 a machine to make fishing-nets, for which a prize had 
 been offered by the Society of Arts in Paris and in 
 London. So great was his disinterestedness that he 
 did not attempt to secure to himself the monopoly of 
 this invention ; and when told of some who were 
 enriching themselves by its means, he would simply 
 reply, " I don't complain : it is enough for me to have 
 been useful to my fellow-citizens, and to deserve their 
 regard." 
 
 The merits of Jacquard being now recognized, he 
 was employed at the Conservatory of Arts and Trades, 
 to repair and arrange the machines and models ; and 
 subsequently he was placed at an establishment in 
 Lyons for the improvement of various fabrics in 
 manufactures. He now was very desirous to procure 
 the introduction of his two principal inventions into 
 the manufactures of his native city the machinery 
 for making nets and his famous loom. He was power- 
 fully supported by the influence of a rich manufacturer, 
 who advocated his cause with the municipal council 
 and chamber of commerce of Lyons ; and eventually 
 the government authorized them to purchase the 
 patent of the invention, which by this means became 
 public property. Jacquard stipulated, in addition, 
 that he should receive a premium of fifty francs on 
 every machine of his invention. Napoleon, as he 
 signed the necessary order which secured this right to 
 the modest petitioner, exclaimed, " Here, at least, is 
 one who is satisfied with little !" 
 
86 JOSEPH JACQUAKD, 
 
 But Jacquard had now to run the gauntlet with the 
 ignorant prejudice and selfishness of his fellow- work- 
 men, who regarded the new invention with suspicion, 
 thinking it would prove injurious to their interests. 
 They accordingly banded together to prevent its intro- 
 duction, spoiled the stuffs in order to procure its rejec- 
 tion, and even burned it in the public squares : Jacquard 
 himself was threatened and insulted, and on one occa- 
 sion narrowly escaped being thrown into the Rhone, 
 and was with difficulty -rescued from the hands of a 
 furious rabble bent on his destruction. 
 
 Terrified and discouraged, he almost despaired of 
 being able to overcome their prejudices ; but, happily, 
 some sensible manufacturers persisted in adopting a 
 method by which so many advantages were secured ; 
 and before long the results were so obvious that all 
 hastened to follow this example. In the course of a 
 year or two there were 18,000 Jacquard looms going, 
 and their numbers went on increasing. At present 
 this machinery is in use at Lyons, not only for silk but 
 for all varieties of woven stuffs. It was soon intro- 
 duced into various countries of Europe and America, 
 and the Chinese, overcoming their ancient prejudices, 
 have begun to adopt it.* The successful inventor now 
 
 * How great were the benefits resulting from Jacquard's 
 improvements, we are made to realize, when told that the 
 machines formerly in use were inconvenient and complicated 
 in their movements, requiring the labour of numerous hands 
 to keep them in motion. Those employed in this wearisome 
 occupation were principally young women and children, who 
 during the whole day were obliged to remain in painful attitudes, 
 by which their limbs often became deformed indeed, some con- 
 tracted mortal diseases. 
 
AND HIS LOOM. 87 
 
 saw himself loaded with honours. The manufacturers 
 of numerous towns were eager to secure his services 
 for the supervision of the various departments of 
 mechanical trade. The town of Manchester offered 
 him a considerable sum and handsome emoluments 
 to establish himself there ; but, refusing all these 
 advantageous and flattering offers, Jacquard preferred 
 to remain in his native city. 
 
 There he passed the evening of his days, enjoying, 
 after so many years of toil, struggle, and disappoint- 
 ment, a quiet and honourable repose. 
 
 His faithful wife, who had shared his griefs, for 
 a while partook his prosperity, and then sank to the 
 grave. After her loss, Jacquard retired to a small 
 and pretty village a league distant from Lyons, and 
 lived in a small house which had been given him for 
 life. He found occupation and solace during a pro- 
 longed old age in cultivating a small garden, and in 
 the humble and devout exercise of his religious duties, 
 and peacefully expired in the month of August, 1834. 
 
 The inhabitants of the district testified their respect 
 for his memory in a simple epitaph placed in their 
 church ; and his full-length portrait, an admirable 
 likeness, was painted for the corporation of Lyons, 
 and placed in the museum of that city. 
 
RICHARD LENOIR, 
 
 THE FRENCH MANUFACTURER. 
 Born 1762 Died 1840. 
 
 AMONG the names which rank high as having greatly 
 contributed to the commercial prosperity of France, is 
 that of Richard Lenoir, which will always be remem- 
 bered with respect and gratitude in all the workshops 
 of the Faubourg St. Antoine. 
 
 There is much, both instructive and entertaining, in 
 the early history of this great manufacturer, as well as 
 in the subsequent events of his career. He was not 
 one of " Fortune's favourites " in the world's esteem, 
 and seemed destined by the meanness of his origin 
 to pass a life of labour and obscurity. Born in a 
 small village of Calvados (a department of France in 
 Lower Normandy), he belonged to a family of humble 
 farmers. Like the generality of the children of the 
 peasantry of that district, Richard was sent to school 
 and taught to read and cipher ; but his education 
 went no further, and his earliest years were passed in 
 the fields, doing such rough tasks as rustic lads are 
 made to do. .Naturally of an active and inventive 
 turn, the lad soon showed symptoms of a decided taste 
 for trade. When he was only twelve years old, he 
 undertook the care of a number of pigeons, and gained 
 
THE FRENCH MANUFACTURER. 89 
 
 a small sum of money by the sale of them. The 
 lord of the manor peremptorily put a stop to that 
 species of traffic, but not before Eichard had sold 
 all his pigeons, and, with the forty-two francs they 
 fetched, had procured himself a pair of hobnailed 
 shoes, which he joyfully exchanged for the wooden 
 sabots he had hitherto worn in common with his 
 playfellows. 
 
 The trade in pigeons was succeeded by one in a 
 handsome breed of dogs, and again he made money. 
 His gains were evident, in the striking difference 
 between his costume and that of the clodhoppers his 
 companions. His next scheme was to go every Wed- 
 nesday to the weekly market at Villiers le Bocage, the 
 nearest town, where he was intrusted with the keep- 
 ing of the register of the cattle-market. 
 
 At length, when he had attained the age of seven- 
 teen, Richard left the home of his boyhood, and directed 
 his steps towards the city of Bouen, with no more 
 than ten francs in his pocket. His first occupation 
 was in the employ of a dealer in printed cottons, 
 named Hermel, who, seeing in him nothing more than 
 a lad deficient in smartness and poorly educated, 
 obliged him to perform various servile offices, and 
 when he remonstrated against such usuage, indig- 
 nantly dismissed him without a character. 
 
 His prospects were now sufficiently dismal, and he 
 was fain to take up with the business of a lemonade- 
 seller, in the hope of earning a sum sufficient to take 
 him to the metropolis. He succeeded in his purpose, 
 
90 RICHARD LENOIR, 
 
 and a year afterwards we find this man, who only ten 
 years later was destined to employ thousands of hands 
 and to put in circulation millions of francs, actually a 
 waiter in a coffee-room at Paris, in the Rue St. Denis. 
 He remained in this situation one year, and having 
 realized a capital of 1,000 francs, resolved to go into 
 trade. Throwing aside his white apron, and hiring a 
 room in the sixth story in the Rue St. Honore, in the 
 neighbourhood of the Piazza, he purchased several 
 pieces of English dimity at that time a contraband 
 article, and consequently much valued, and in order 
 to insure a sale, he hawked them about from house to 
 house. Scarcely had six months passed before Richard 
 was in possession of the sum of 6,000 francs. 
 
 He thought himself now in a fair way to make his 
 fortune ; but, unhappily, he trusted his gains in the 
 hands of an unskilful or faithless agent, and the conse- 
 quence was, that he speedily lost every farthing, and, 
 still worse, was put in prison for debt. 
 
 At length he was set at large, and by the timely 
 assistance of a few friends, who pitied his misfortunes, 
 he obtained a small sum, with which he again entered 
 into business. In the course of two years he had com- 
 pletely re-established his affairs, and realized a small 
 property. 
 
 His good fortune encouraged him now to venture 
 on the important step of matrimony ; and with honest 
 independence he chose for his wife a young girl of 
 attractive manners and appearance, with unblemished 
 character, but portionless. 
 
THE FRENCH MANUFACTURER. 91 
 
 He next determined to open a commodious shop in 
 the Rue Francaise, and was so successful in his specu- 
 lations that before long he was able to purchase the 
 fine estate of Fayt, near Nemours. 
 
 But the evil days of France were close at hand, 
 and already the first intimations of that period so 
 justly called " The Reign of Terror" made the hearts 
 of men tremble. The overthrow of the monarchy, the 
 massacres of the 2nd of September, and the triumph 
 of the anarchists, succeeded each other with fearful 
 rapidity. It was no longer possible for Richard to 
 continue in the capital, and he had the prudence to 
 suspend his commercial operations, which would have 
 tended to endanger rather than to enrich him. 
 
 Hastily quitting Paris with his wife, he determined 
 to take refuge in Calvados, and pay a visit to his rela- 
 tives. His arrival at home seemed a truly providential 
 circumstance. Hardly had he crossed his father's 
 threshold, when bailiffs presented themselves to arrest 
 the old man. He had gone bail for a tax-gatherer, 
 who had absconded, carrying away the funds with him. 
 Richard and his wife had come on foot from Caen, 
 and their appearance gave no indication of their 
 prosperous circumstances. Great, therefore, was the 
 surprise when, drawing out a purse of gold, he 
 hastened to satisfy the demands of these unwelcome 
 intruders, and flung his arms around his mother's 
 neck. Yerily, the ten francs, with which he had 
 taken his departure ten years before, had yielded 
 an. abundant increase ! 
 
92 RICHARD LENOIR, 
 
 At the end of a few months Robespierre and his 
 accomplices had reaped the due reward of their horrid 
 deeds, and their fall had restored hope and confidence 
 to trade. The young couple were now at liberty to 
 return to Paris, where Richard soon added to his 
 former trade that of lapidary, which he found exceed- 
 ingly profitable. 
 
 It. was about 1797 that chance threw him into con- 
 tact with a young merchant named Lenoir Dufresne. 
 Both had resolved to buy the same bale of English 
 goods. Pleased with each other, they agreed to share 
 the purchase together, and soon after entered into a 
 partnership, which lasted till the death of Lenoir. 
 The two men were admirably suited. Lenoir was 
 intelligent, patient, and circumspect. Richard, more 
 enterprising, was bold in his projects, and resolute in 
 carrying them out. Their united energies proved, 
 eminently successful. Their establishment attracted 
 crowds of purchasers, and when, after fourteen months, 
 they made their inventory, they found the 6,000 francs 
 they had invested in the business had produced a 
 return of 112,000 francs. Their great profit was upon 
 English goods. 
 
 " The time had now come," says one of Richard's 
 biographers, " for him to become himself the manu- 
 facturer of cotton stuffs, in which he had so long spe- 
 culated with so much success." 
 
 It is said his resolution was finally decided by this 
 chance : One day, during his partner's absence, he 
 amused himself with ravelling the threads of some 
 
THE FRENCH MANUFA 
 
 English goods. He weighed these 
 
 tained that a piece of eight yards in length, a 
 
 eighty francs, only weighed eight pounds 
 
 only have been valued at twelve francs in its original 
 
 state consequently sixty-eight francs remained for 
 
 the working up. This was a new light on the 
 
 subject. 
 
 There were many difficulties to encounter; but 
 commercial enterprise sufficed to overcome them. He 
 set himself to the task. His first two looms were set 
 up in a public-house in the Rue Bellefon , and dimity 
 similar to the English was woven. An English pri- 
 soner named Brown gave the necessary instructions to 
 some French workmen, and Lenoir found out the 
 method of figuring it. A spinning-factory was now 
 requisite to the perfection of the new art. Richard, 
 by the assistance of another Englishman (Brown well), 
 had twenty-two mule-jennies constructed, with carding- 
 machines and trundles. These he established in a 
 large house in the Rue de Thorigny. The stuffs sold 
 well and rapidly, for they were believed to be of 
 English manufacture. 
 
 In want of space for his rapidly -increasing machi- 
 nery, and under the daily necessity of procuring more 
 workmen, Richard, confiding in the protection of the 
 first consul, Bonaparte, by a bold stroke ventured to 
 take possession of the deserted buildings known as the 
 Convent of Bon Secours. Causing the vast apart- 
 ments to be repaired with the speed of enchantment, 
 he filled them with his workmen ; and when one of 
 
94 RICHARD LENOIR, 
 
 the government commissioners was on the point of 
 ejecting these busy workers, Napoleon, being informed 
 of the facts, personally visited the establishment, and 
 expressed his approbation of the activity visible in 
 every department. Unable, at first, to appreciate the 
 merits of Richard's enterprise, he asked why he imder- 
 took to manufacture the goods, when he could make 
 a certain profit by the sale of the English goods. 
 "The interest of my country is my main object," was 
 the reply ; " the desire to get rid of a burdensome 
 impost paid to England, and of giving employment 
 and bread to some thousands of families." The first 
 consul testified his satisfaction by giving the two 
 partners permission to occupy the former convent of 
 Trenelle, situated opposite to that of Bon Secours. 
 
 Thus patronized, this new branch of trade flourished 
 to a surprising extent, and enormous profits were 
 reaped, amounting, it was said, to 40,000 francs a 
 month. Encouraged by this unparalleled success, our 
 manufacturers redoubled their activity in extending 
 their labours. Before long 300 looms were established 
 in various villages of Picardy j forty in Alengon, 100 
 mule-jennies, and more than 200 weavers' looms in the 
 abbey of St. Martin, near Luzarches. An arrange- 
 ment was made by them for giving employment to all 
 the women who were in gaol at Alengon. 
 
 After the death of Lenoir, in 1806, which was an 
 occasion of great sorrow to all the poor of the 
 Faubourg St. Antoine, Richard (now universally 
 known by the name of Lenoir, which he assumed in 
 
THE FRENCH MANUFACTURER. 95 
 
 compliance with the desire of his dying partner) con- 
 tinued his business with undiminished energy. He 
 introduced spinning-factories at Caen and 1'Aigle, and 
 a cotton-printing establishment at Chantilly, and 
 undertook the cultivation of cotton, which he com- 
 menced successfully at Naples. He was now at the 
 summit of his prosperity. In 1810 the new tax laid 
 upon cotton struck a heavy blow at his establishments, 
 and he was involved in great difficulties. Napoleon 
 came to his assistance, and obliged the government to 
 advance him the sum of 1,500,000 francs, and he ex- 
 changed his cotton mills for woollen ones. Had this 
 great manufacturer solely consulted his own interests, 
 he might now have withdrawn with safety to himself, 
 in possession of a sufficient income ; but he looked on 
 his workmen as his children, and could not leave them 
 without work, a prey to want and misery. . He 
 struggled on against an adverse legislation for a while j 
 but difficulties increased upon him, and the union of 
 France with Holland, which all at once overstocked 
 the French markets with English produce, and, finally, 
 the law of the 25th of April, which entirely suppressed 
 the former taxes upon foreign produce, were the pre- 
 cursors of heavy calamities to the French manufac- 
 turers. This active and enterprising man, who, at a 
 time by no means prosperous, had employed 20,000 
 workmen, was now completely ruined. 
 
 Richard Lenoir had received the Cross of Honour 
 from the hands of the emperor himself. During his 
 disasters of 1813, Napoleon, appreciating his influence 
 
96 RICHARD LENOIR, 
 
 in the Faubourg St. Antoine, made him colonel of the 
 8th legion of the national guard of Paris. Each of his 
 workmen became a soldier j he clothed and exercised 
 them, and inspired them with that blind devotion he 
 himself felt for Napoleon. On the 8th of January, 1814, 
 he distinguished himself in the defence of the capital, 
 no less by his courage than by the generous humanity 
 he evinced in succouring the wounded, often at his own 
 expense, always to the injury of his neglected manu- 
 factures. 
 
 On the restoration of the Bourbons, in 1815, the 
 name of this honourable citizen was on the list of pro- 
 scription and exile ; but he applied personally to the 
 Russian emperor, Alexander, by whom he was affably 
 received, and through whose influence the sentence 
 against him was rescinded. 
 
 He remained, therefore, in his native land; but 
 reduced to poverty, forgotten, and almost unknown, he 
 died in Paris, on the 12th of October, 1840, at the age 
 of seventy-eight. His funeral was without pomp, but 
 not without honour. The procession, leaving the 
 house of death in the Faubourg Montmartre, con- 
 sisted of an immense concourse of mechanics, and 
 received new additions at every step. Arrived at the 
 the manufactory of Bon Secours, they paused, in 
 accordance with the wishes of Lenoir himself, who 
 had expressed a desire to be carried thither after his 
 death, and to be, for the last time, surrounded; by 
 those to whom he had been so fond a master. In 
 the centre of the magnificent building, the workmen 
 
THE FRENCH MANUFACTURER. 
 
 97 
 
 had raised a monument combining simplicity with 
 grandeur. Above the bust of Richard Lenoir stood 
 the statue of Napoleon ; on the front of the pedestal 
 were inscribed these words : " The Emperor lends 
 1,500,000 francs to Richard Lenoir" On the other 
 side " Richard Lenoir marches to the defence of Paris 
 at the head of 20,000 united workmen" 
 
OBERKAMPF, 
 
 AND CALICO-PRINTING IN FRANCE. 
 om 1738 Died 1815. 
 
 FEW persons have any idea of the variety of operations 
 which cotton has to undergo before it is fit for use, 
 nor think that, in order to produce the dress of a poor 
 peasant-girl, the resources of chemistry, taste, and 
 mechanical skill are all laid under contribution. 
 Most multifarious and delicate are the processes requi- 
 site in calico-printing, which has been styled "the 
 most interesting, curious, and refined of all the 
 chemical arts." 
 
 So intricate and difficult a process would seem to 
 be characteristic of the scientific refinement of these 
 later days, and yet it was known to the ancient 
 Hindus and Egyptians. The celebrated Roman natu- 
 ralist, Pliny, describes it with much precision. He 
 says, " Robes and white veils are painted in Egypt in 
 a wonderful way, being first imbued, not with dyes, 
 but with dye-absorbing drugs, by which they appear 
 to be unaltered ; but when plunged for a little in a 
 cauldron of the boiling stuff, they are found to be 
 painted. Since there is only one colour in the caul- 
 dron, it is marvellous to see many colours imparted to 
 the robe, in consequence of the modifying agency of 
 
CALICO-PRINTING IN FKANCE. 99 
 
 the drug.* Nor can the dye be washed out. Thus 
 the cauldron, which would of itself undoubtedly con- 
 fuse the colours of cloths previously dyed, is made to 
 impart several dyes from a single one, painting while 
 it boils." 
 
 In India, where manufacturing processes have pro- 
 bably suffered little changes in the course of three 
 thousand years, not only is the art of using these 
 drugs well known, but that of applying resist-pastes, 
 in order to preserve the cloth from the action of the 
 dye-bath in any desired figures or spots. In the 
 Industrial Society of Miihlhausen (a town of great 
 celebrity in calico-printing) may be seen specimens, 
 not only of modern Indian calicoes in the preparation 
 state, covered with wax in places, to serve as a resist 
 to the indigo dye, but of ancient styles of pencilled 
 cloths, which had been the work of princesses, covered 
 with figures of such complexity as could not be made 
 without a very tedious and costly education, beyond 
 the reach of ordinary artisans. Among other curiosi- 
 ties, the counterpane of a state bed is shown, six 
 yards long and three broad, which must have taken a 
 lifetime to execute, on their plan of applying the 
 melted wax with a pencil. 
 
 English calicoes and muslins, now among the most 
 important of our textile products, are the fruit of 
 
 * Thus, if white calico be impressed with the drug of acetate 
 of alumina in one set of lines, with that of acetate of iron in a 
 second, and with a mixture of the two in a third, on being 
 exposed to the madder-bath for a proper time, it will become 
 permanently printed in red, black, and chocolate stripes. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 OBERKAMPF. 
 
 mechanical improvements, and quite of modern date. 
 The art was not introduced into this country until 
 the latter end of the seventeeth century, and encoun- 
 tered at the outset the keenest hostility from the silk 
 and woollen manufacturers j nor were the restrictions 
 upon it wholly removed till the year 1831, when they 
 were finally repealed, and the business left to its 
 natural development. In France the same restric- 
 tions were long enforced, and a severe prohibition 
 forbade the importation of printed calicoes and 
 chintzes from other countries. There, as here, the 
 interests of hemp, flax, and silk manufactures were 
 alleged against it. But at length a man of indomi- 
 table perseverance and first-rate artistic skill tri- 
 umphed over all obstacles, and introduced this branch 
 of industry, which soon spread over all France, and 
 was attended with great prosperity. 
 
 This man was Christopher Oberkampf, who was born 
 at "Weissenburg, in Franconia, in 1738. The lad 
 served an apprenticeship to his father, in the manu- 
 facture of printed calicoes ; the latter, an ingenious, 
 worthy, and industrious man, after having tried with- 
 out success to settle in various towns of Germany, 
 had finally established a manufactory at Arau, in 
 Switzerland, where he was rewarded with the rights 
 of citizenship, in return for his energetic efforts in 
 favour of his valuable art. Under so skilful a master 
 the young man acquired much valuable information, 
 which afterwards gained him both fortune and fame. 
 
 At that time, as we have said, printed calicoes and 
 
CALICO-PRINTING IN FRANCE. 101 
 
 chintzes were prohibited in France, and were sold at 
 very high prices. 
 
 It was reserved for Oberkampf, a stranger youth, 
 poor and unbefriended, hardly able to speak in French, 
 an adherent of a faith prohibited by the laws of 
 France (he was a Lutheran), to establish the first 
 manufactory of these fabrics, and thus to render such 
 services to his adopted country as secured to him 
 universal admiration and gratitude. 
 
 Ambitious to emulate his father's successful career, 
 he conceived the project of founding a manufactory in 
 France j and for that purpose left his home, and set 
 out for Paris, carrying with him all his savings, which 
 amounted to no more than 600 francs. He was then 
 only nineteen years of age. After many and urgent 
 solicitations, he, at length, obtained permission to 
 form an establishment, and he lost no time in setting 
 to work. 
 
 He remarked, in the neighbourhood of Versailles, 
 a waste tract of land, situated in the valley of Jouy ; 
 a wide-spreading marsh made this spot extremely un- 
 wholesome, but he knew that well-directed labour 
 would soon avail to drain and fertilize it, and render 
 it agreeable and salubrious. He fixed on this as the 
 ground for his experiment. At first, entirely depend- 
 ent on his own resources, Oberkampf lived alone, in a 
 small cottage belonging to one of the peasants. Step 
 by step he took his measures, and proceeded to carry 
 out his designs. He had to combat the prejudices of 
 the neighbouring proprietors, the ill-directed zeal of 
 
103 OBERKAMPF. 
 
 some of the authorities, and the suspicions of govern- 
 ment ; but an indomitable perseverance and prodigious 
 activity, combined with resolute will, overcame all 
 obstacles. By degrees he obtained assistants, and in- 
 spired them with confidence in his own views, and 
 they carried into execution the measures he devised. 
 He was himself designer, printer, and painter all 
 in one ; but, by-and-by, his solitary residence was 
 peopled in a surprising manner. He undertook the 
 instruction of apprentices and pupils ; he produced 
 articles of unprecedented elegance and beauty, and no 
 sooner did they make their appearance in the market 
 than the ingenious fabricator found himself the object 
 of interest and curiosity. The inhabitants of the 
 capital and the court hastened to purchase these un- 
 equalled productions ; and the fair ladies eagerly 
 adopted the graceful robes de matin which the taste 
 and skill of the young manufacturer offered them. 
 In short, his goods became " the rage," and their fame 
 spread far and wide, so that, before long, they found 
 ready sale in London as well as in Paris. 
 
 In the course of time the establishment at Jouy 
 became a large and flourishing manufacture, where 
 upwards of a thousand men were employed. 
 
 Oberkampf was not the man to rest satisfied because 
 success had crowned his efforts j he lost no opportunity 
 for introducing new improvements, and for extending 
 his knowledge. His agents were sent into England 
 and Germany, and even into the East, whence they 
 procured him varied information relative to the secrets 
 
CALICO-FEINTING IN FRANCE. 103 
 
 of his art, and more especially in dyeing those rich 
 colours for which the manufactures of India and Persia 
 are so renowned. He succeeded by these means in 
 gaining great perfection, and combined beauty of 
 design with brilliant hues. His window-blinds, 
 coloured and drawn after the style of the old- 
 fashioned church windows, were greatly admired ; 
 and, by admitting the light with the effect of a tran- 
 sparency, were very effective. 
 
 From year to year his establishment went on in- 
 creasing in prosperity, and its founder triumphed 
 completely over the various obstacles which prejudice 
 and self-interest had opposed to his progress. By the 
 exhibition of his manufactures, he eventually succeeded 
 in releasing France from the heavy imposts paid to 
 foreign countries j and the great manufacturing cities 
 of the land, Rouen, Lyons, Le Beaujolois, &c., were 
 at length convinced that the man who, by his labours, 
 had opened for their products a vast and growing 
 market, could not be inimical to their interests. 
 
 Before the breaking out of the French Revolution, 
 Oberkampf was in the enjoyment of considerable 
 renown. Louis XVI., anxious to recompense the 
 man who created for his countrymen so important a 
 branch of industry, gave him letters of nobility, 
 couched in the most flattering terms ; but he had the 
 modesty and good sense to refuse an honour which 
 would have rendered him the object of so much envy. 
 During the Reign of Terror, which followed shortly 
 after, he narrowly escaped banishment ; it was even a 
 
104 OBERKAMPF. 
 
 question whether he should not be put to death ! 
 Napoleon, who neglected nothing which tended to 
 promote the prosperity of his empire, did not over- 
 4ook this remarkable man. When he visited the 
 Jouy manufactory, he took the cross from his own 
 breast, and placed it upon that of Oberkampf, whom 
 he addressed in the most eulogistic terms : " You," 
 said he, " Seigneur de Jouy, carry on, as I do, a spirited 
 warfare against England ; you oppose her by your 
 industry ; I, by force of arms. I must, however, con- 
 fess," he added, " that your mode of warfare is prefer- 
 able to mine." 
 
 At that very time Oberkampf was endeavouring to 
 learn the English method of spinning and weaving 
 cotton, in which he was successful ; for he established 
 the spinning-mill at Essone, which was the first of the 
 kind introduced into France. 
 
 In 1790 the council-general of the department of 
 Oise, in consideration of Oberkampf 's services, wished 
 to erect a statue in honour of him ; but he, with the 
 same modesty which caused him to decline Louis 
 XYI.'s offer of nobility, would not consent to it. 
 Under the empire he also refused the dignity of 
 senator offered him by Napoleon. 
 
 The last days of Oberkampf were embittered by 
 grief. This was in 1815 ; the ravages of war, which 
 then overran France, did not spare the peaceful valley 
 of Jouy. It was laid waste by the tread of the 
 foreign invader, and its venerable patriarch mourned 
 as he witnessed the desolation and suffering around 
 
CALICO-PRINTING IN FRANCE. 105 
 
 him. Now, instead of the hum of busy voices and 
 the scenes of prosperous industry, he heard only 
 the mournful silence of poverty and despair, exchanged 
 for the life and abundance which his own exertions 
 had introduced into that much-loved spot. His work- 
 shops were closed, and the workmen who had served 
 him for sixty-one years now asked in vain for employ- 
 ment and for bread. " This spectacle kills me," 
 exclaimed the venerable old man ; nor did he long 
 endure it. He expired in the month of October, 
 1815, leaving behind him (says one of his biographers) 
 " an almost pious veneration cherished in the hearts of 
 all who had known him." 
 
 The branch of industry which Oberkampf originated 
 prospered greatly in France. " Numerous establish- 
 ments/' says M. Foucaud, " have been formed upon 
 the plan of that at Jouy. The workmen employed in 
 them are estimated at from 200,000 to 300,000. 
 From a raw material of the value of 60,000,000 francs 
 is gained a profit of 240,000,000 francs. At present 
 the richest and most beautiful designs are printed on 
 cotton ; three or four colours are combined, present- 
 ing a beautifully shaded appearance. The exportation 
 of printed calicoes has been an important part of 
 French commerce, this material being used for bed 
 and window curtains, coverings for divans, sofas, arm- 
 chairs, &c. &c. ; and all is due to Oberkampf 
 
BERNARD PALISSY. 
 
 JBorn UWDied 1589. 
 
 "Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold! he 
 wrought a work on the wheels." 
 
 WORKING in earth, or the art of the potter, is of 
 the greatest antiquity, and its history is full of in- 
 terest. Were we to go back to the days of the old 
 Egyptians, we might recall the sorrows of the Israelites 
 in the house of their bondage, and the remembrances 
 connected with their labours in the field, when they 
 toiled to make bricks for their cruel task-masters ; 
 and as we dwelt on this record of the remote past, how 
 would our hearts burn within us ! Or if, glancing 
 over the history of mankind, we examined the 
 memorials of bygone generations, our attention would 
 often be called to " the art of the potter" that art 
 " without which how many others would be useless, if 
 not altogether lost." The uses of clay are numerous 
 and great j but we are not about to speak of them. 
 Our purpose is to give the reader a short sketch of 
 the life of Palissy, who has been called in these modern 
 times " the prince of potters." He is indeed a worthy 
 model to be offered to the sympathy and imitation of 
 working men ; and, happily, we have, from his own 
 pen, the record of his struggles in the acquisition of 
 that art upon which his reputation is founded. 
 
Bernard Palissy. 
 
 F.106 
 
THE ART OF THE POTTER. 107 
 
 Of his early days, no more is known than the little 
 which can be gathered from his occasional allusions to 
 them in a treatise which he wrote on the art of pot- 
 tery. It appears he was born at the beginning of the 
 sixteenth century, in the diocese of Agen ; his parents 
 were poor, and he received in his childhood no more 
 than a peasant's education, except that he learned to 
 draw and paint on glass his father being, probably, a 
 glass-worker. " I have had no other books," said he, 
 ''than heaven and earth, which are open to all." 
 Bernard, however, learned to read and write, and the 
 business of a glass-painter requiring that he should 
 copy plans and drawings, he acquired some knowledge 
 of drawing and surveying, which he afterwards turned 
 to excellent account. About the age of eighteen, he 
 quitted his native hamlet, and went to make his way 
 in the world as best he might. 
 
 Some years passed before he finally settled in the 
 town of Saintes, it is supposed about 1538. During 
 the intervening time he had wandered about the prin- 
 cipal provinces of France, occasionally remaining for 
 months, or even years, in a town where he found em- 
 ployment. He had seen with an observing eye the 
 ways of men, and studied with care the works of art 
 and monuments of antiquity that fell under his notice, 
 cultivating the talents which nature had given him. 
 Above all, his great love for natural history had made 
 him a keen and intelligent student of that marvellous 
 book which God has "spread open to show forth His 
 praises, and declare His gbry to the children of men. 
 
108 BERNARD PALISSY. 
 
 The attention of Palissy was particularly directed to 
 the study of minerals and earths ; and he had acquired 
 some knowledge of chemistry a science then but in 
 its infancy ; in short, he had learned many things, and 
 his mind was stored with knowledge, gathered up as 
 material for future use; but his working-days were yet 
 to come. 
 
 Having become "a family man," Palissy was no 
 longer free to wander about, living as he could, " from 
 hand to mouth," to use an old saying of some signifi- 
 cance. He settled himself in a cottage at Saintes, a 
 small and ancient town in the south-west of France, and 
 here, for a year or two, he gained a decent living for 
 himself, his wife, and babes, by glass-painting and 
 surveying. 
 
 And now an incident occurred which he thus tells 
 in the treatise already spoken of. " There was shown 
 me an earthen cup, turned and enamelled with so 
 much beauty that, from that time, I began to think if 
 I could discover how to make enamels, I might make 
 earthen vessels and other things very prettily, because 
 God had gifted me with some knowledge of drawing." 
 At that time Palissy knew nothing of the art of pot- 
 tery, and there was no man in Prance who could do 
 enamelling ; but, " regardless of the fact that I had no 
 knowledge of clays," he continues, " I began to seek for 
 the enamels as a man gropes in the dark." Accord- 
 ingly, he set to work and pounded all the substances 
 he supposed likely to serve his purpose ; he purchased 
 drugs, bought earthen pots, and built a furnace, all to 
 
THE ART OF THE POTTER. 109 
 
 the neglect of his ordinary business, and at consider- 
 able expense. He foresaw the task would prove a 
 difficult one, and that sacrifices must be made ; but he 
 heeded not poverty and pain in searching, provided he 
 might at length succeed. What occasioned him most 
 anxiety, and proved the greatest obstacle to his pro- 
 gress, was the fact that " he was intrusted with a wife 
 and children," which rendered it impossible for him 
 to go and learn the rudiments of the art in some shop 
 or pottery, and he had no means for engaging servants 
 to help him. 
 
 The first experiment proved a total failure ; for 
 want of experience he committed the grossest blunders, 
 and reaped only disappointment as the fruit of much 
 time, labour, and money. 
 
 Month after month he persevered, " every day 
 pounding and grinding new materials, and consuming 
 wood and time." It was ruinous work, and he assures 
 us that he " fooled away in this manner several years 
 with sorrow and sighs." The time was not, in reality, 
 wasted ; for, as has been truly said, " when men grope 
 in the dark, it is by touching on all sides upon what 
 they do not seek that they at length find what they 
 desire." His narrow means, however, would not suffer 
 him continually to go on with this profitless labcur, 
 and he determined to try a new plan, and to send the 
 chemicals he was testing to the kiln of some potter to 
 be burnt, thus avoiding the most expensive part of 
 the process the building of furnaces, and the watch- 
 ing and feeding them with fuel. He describes most 
 
110 BERNARD PALISSY. 
 
 minutely his proceedings, and tells how his " trial- 
 pieces" all came from the baking " good for nothing," 
 and procured him "nothing but shame and loss." 
 Great was his disappointment, and, as he was totally 
 ignorant of the cause of the failure, he blamed the 
 materials, while, in reality, the fire used by the potters 
 was not hot enough to melt the glaze. And so . 
 What must he do? There was to his earnest and 
 intent spirit no choice but " to begin afresh," which he 
 accordingly did "and so continued to do several 
 times, always with great cost, loss of time, confusion, 
 and sorrow." 
 
 Meantime the family of this poor man kept pace in 
 increase with his difficulties. His home wants had 
 multiplied, and there were wan cheeks and hungry 
 mouths around his board. It was evident there must 
 be a truce for the time to this profitless work, and 
 accordingly he tells us, in the simplicity of his heart, 
 that, " seeing he could not in this way come at his 
 intention, he took relaxation for a time, occupying 
 himself in his art of painting and glass- working, and 
 behaved as though he were not zealous any more to 
 dive into the secret of enamels." 
 
 A prosperous time ensued for the little household. 
 In May, 1543, Palissy received a very profitable com- 
 mission "to map the salt-marshes in the district of 
 Saintonge." From the account he has given of the 
 marsh district, it is evident that no slight labour was 
 required accurately to survey it. Hard at work 
 during the dry season of summer, he was busily 
 
THE ART OF THE POTTER. Ill 
 
 occupied in mapping the towns and villages in the 
 winter-time, when the marshes were all under water. 
 He brought his work to a close some time in the suc- 
 ceeding year, and then, " when the commission was 
 ended, and I found myself supplied with a little 
 money," says our enthusiast, " I resumed my affection 
 for pursuing the search of the enamels." 
 
 The first act he mentions as commencing this second 
 crusade of discovery was apparently so unreasonable as 
 to alarm any one. " I broke about three dozen earthen 
 pots, all of them new." His home-made furnaces had 
 failed, and the potters' furnaces had also failed, not 
 being hot enough ; he therefore resolved to try the 
 furnaces used by glass- workers, and returned to his old 
 method of strewing his broken bits of pottery with 
 different chemical mixtures; for, by covering three 
 separate fragments with each compound he thought 
 likely to melt into a white enamel, Palissy hoped to 
 give himself a fair chance of success in hitting upon 
 the discovery. He sent this batch of trial-pieces to the 
 glass-house, and for the first time he perceived that 
 some of his compounds had begun to melt. " This little 
 symptom (how small a ray of hope !) caused me to 
 work on two years longer, during all which time I did 
 nothing but come and go between my house and the 
 adjacent glass-houses, aiming to succeed in my object." 
 
 Think of these two additional years of zealous, 
 toilsome labour, without any visible result, and shall 
 we not marvel at the persevering, indomitable -energy 
 of this man ? 
 
112 BERNARD PALISSY. 
 
 Again the urgent cares of home compelled him to 
 desist ; and he therefore determined, with a heavy 
 heart, on sending one last batch to the furnace, and if 
 that should prove a failure, he would yield to stern 
 necessity, and devote himself wholly to his early trade. 
 
 This closing effort he would have to be a strenuous 
 one, so he broke more pots than ever, purchased a 
 great variety of drugs, and made no fewer than 
 300 different chemical mixtures, each of which might 
 possibly be found to contain the long-desired substance. 
 
 It was a turning-point in his history when, his 
 trial-pieces being all put into the furnace, he sat down 
 there, beside the furnace-mouth, to wait the result, 
 anxious and intent. During four hours he waited 
 at length the furnace was opened, and his pieces drawn 
 out ; on one of them the material was melted, and 
 that piece, when cool, " turned out white and polished 
 a white enamel, singularly beautiful, which caused 
 him such joy as made him think he had become a new 
 creature." 
 
 He now believed that his troubles were over ; but, 
 in truth, they were only begun, for he had yet to turn 
 the knowledge he had acquired with so much toil and 
 pain to practical advantage. The success of this trial 
 made him at once give up his intention of returning 
 to his old business, and he set himself without delay 
 to work. He had found that a furnace like that of 
 the glass-makers would serve his purpose ; he must, 
 therefore, build such a one for himself ; and, as he 
 could not afford to pay for help, he had to be his own 
 
. 
 
 THE ART OF THE POTTEJl. 
 * 
 
 mason and bricklayer. Then came the -fa-bour of grind- 
 ing the materials for the enamel, and of 
 furnace, and, when all was done, it proved vain, for the 
 enamel would not melt, and he was "like a man in 
 desperation." Although " quite stupefied with labour," 
 he still persisted, however, and began his work afresh ; 
 lie knew how much depended on perseverance now, 
 and very touchingly does he relate the position into 
 which he had been brought. Having for more than 
 three weeks been imprisoned in an outhouse with his 
 furnace, which he was obliged to watch night and day, 
 he was overtaken by a new misfortune. His supply 
 of fuel ran short, and he had none at hand. " Thus 
 the wood having failed me," he says, " I was forced to 
 burn the palings which surrounded my garden, and 
 when they were burnt, I was forced to burn also the 
 tables and flooring of my house, to cause the melting 
 of the composition. I suffered an anguish I cannot 
 speak ; for I was quite exhausted, and dried up by the 
 heat of the furnace ; it was more than a month since 
 my shirt had been dry upon me ; and, further to dis- 
 tress me, I was the object of mockery, and even those 
 from whom solace was due, ran crying through the 
 town that I was burning my floors, so that I was re- 
 garded as a madman." 
 
 We cannot be surprised that such a verdict should 
 be pronounced by those who saw only the melancholy 
 results of so many years' labour and suffering ; and if 
 his poor wife and hungry children became impatient, 
 and complained with loud outcry, who among us can. 
 i 
 
114 BERNARD PALISSY. 
 
 cast a stone at them, if we do but place ourselves, in 
 imagination, in similar circumstances 'I 
 
 Yet, plunged as he was in disaster, Bernard Palissy 
 had reason to be sure that he had discovered the pro- 
 fitable art, of which for six or seven years he had 
 been in search. Family and friends pronounced him 
 mad ; but he had gained the knowledge he desired, 
 and now the difficulty that remained was to make a 
 profitable use of it. Overwhelmed with poverty, he 
 struggled on through several more long years before 
 he attained superior skill. He must have had great 
 strength of body to endure, in addition to privation 
 and distress, the intense toil to which he submitted 
 himself in the prosecution of his struggles. Even his 
 powerful frame bore at length strong marks of the 
 contest ; for he tells us, " I was for the space of ten 
 years so wasted in my person, that there was no form 
 
 nor prominence of muscle on my arms or legs 
 
 Often I walked about the fields of Saintes, considering 
 my miseries and weariness, and above all things, that 
 in my own house I could have no repose, and was 
 despised and mocked by all. Still I blundered on ; 
 and when -I had learned to guard against one diffi- 
 culty, then came another of which I had not thought. 
 At last I found means to make several vessels of 
 different enamels, intermixed in the manner of jasper. 
 That fed me for several years. When afterwards I 
 had discovered how to make my rustic pieces, I was 
 in greater trouble and vexation even than before ; for 
 my enamels turned out some beautiful, others ill- 
 
THE ART OF THE POTTER. 115 
 
 melted, others burnt, because they were composed of 
 different materials that were fusible in different de- 
 grees the green of the lizards was burnt before the 
 colour of the serpents was melted, and the colours of 
 the serpents, lobsters, tortoises, and crabs were melted 
 before the white had attained any beauty. All these 
 defects caused me so much labour and heaviness of 
 spirit, that before I could render my enamels fusible 
 at the same degree of heat, I thought I should be at 
 the door of my sepulchre." 
 
 Palissy founded his reputation on the manufacture 
 of what he called " rustic pieces ;" and the title which 
 he took for himself was that of "Worker in Earth, and 
 Inventor of Rustic Figulines " (or small modellings). 
 These were, in fact, accurate models from life of wild 
 animals, reptiles, plants, and othe? objects, tastefully com- 
 bined as ornaments, and inwrought with the texture of 
 the vessel. As much a naturalist as a potter, he de- 
 lighted to imitate upon his ware the bright colours and 
 elegant forms of leaves, flowers, and living creatures ; 
 and Mr. Marry at t, a connoisseur in porcelain and 
 fancy pottery > says of the Palissy ware : " The 
 natural objects which are placed upon this faience are 
 very true in. form and colour j for, with the excep- 
 tion of certain leaves, they were all moulded from 
 nature. The choice he has made shows that this 
 potter was a skilful naturalist ; for the fossil shells 
 with which he has ornamented his different pieces are 
 the tertiary shells of the Paris basin, and their species 
 can be clearly recognised. The fish are those of the 
 i2 
 
11G BERNARD PALISSY. 
 
 Seine ; the reptiles and plants, of the environs of Paris. 
 There is no foreign natural production to be seen on 
 his ware."* 
 
 And now, having seen our illustrious potter thus 
 toiling and suffering to acquire the skill which was to 
 make him immortal in fche history of art, we must 
 pause for awhile to consider him in another aspect. 
 How diligently he wrought, how lovingly he studied, 
 how indomitably he persevered, we have seen. What 
 was the secret source of so much activity and such 
 surprising self-denial 1 Let him speak for himself : 
 " I have found nothing better," he says (in the preface 
 to one of his treatises) " than to observe the counsel 
 of God, His edicts, statutes, and ordinances ; and in 
 regard to His will, I have seen that He has com- 
 manded His followers to eat bread by the labour of 
 their bodies, and to multiply the talents which He 
 has committed to them." 
 
 In these few words we have the clue to his life's 
 history. The idea which he solemnly and repeatedly 
 recurred to in all his daily life, the " mainspring of his 
 intellectual machinery," was the parable of the ta- 
 lents the duty of every man placed in the world to 
 see how he may best turn his powers to account, and 
 do the utmost good of which his mind is capable. 
 
 It was religious principle which, aiding and 
 strengthening his natural activity of spirit, forced 
 him to pursue with unwearying energy the upward 
 
 * The celebrated Buffon pronounced Palissy to be " so great 
 a naturalist as Nature only can produce." 
 
THE ART OF THE POTTER. 117 
 
 path. He laboured with the conviction that the eye 
 of God was upon him ; and when he desired rest and 
 refreshment he walked abroad and communed with 
 the earth and sky ; for he said, "It is a. thing just 
 before God, and a great recreation to those who will 
 contemplate admiringly the wondrous works of Nature, 
 glorifying God, and recognising Him in His marvels." 
 Everywhere in his writings Palissy shows a close and 
 reverent acquaintance with the Bible. His quaint 
 and cheerful temper, his artless and vivacious spirit, 
 are united to a solemn religious feeling. 
 
 The times in which he lived were stormy and evil ; 
 and Palissy, who had embraced the religious views 
 of the Huguenots (or Protestants of France) knew 
 well that at any time he might be called upon to 
 suffer and to die for his faith. But, as he hesitated 
 not to face poverty and reproach in the pursuit of 
 his calling, so he was willing to hazard his life for 
 the cause of Christ Jesus his Lord. In the days 
 of his deepest trouble, when he was struggling, as 
 we have seen, he found consolation in studying the 
 Scripture daily with one poor companion; and these 
 two, having taken counsel together, found out some 
 four or five " simple and unlearned men " like them- 
 selves, who assembled " one Sunday, in the morning," 
 for the purpose of holding religious worship. Palissy 
 took the lead, and " propounded to them the parable 
 of the talents, and many other such texts," and 
 then exhorted them that it was the duty of all 
 people to speak of God's ordinances and statutes, 
 
118 BERNARD PALISSY. 
 
 and that his auditors should do as he was doing.* 1 
 They accordingly agreed to meet and make exhor- 
 tations weekly, on Sabbath-days ; and " that was the 
 beginning of the reformed Church of the town of 
 Saintes." Of the commencement, prosperity, and 
 sufferings of this Christian community, Palissy has 
 given a short narrative, full of deep and earnest 
 feeling and worthy to form a chapter in a new Book 
 of Martyrs. His heart overflowed as he penned the 
 record ; and well it might, for he was a sharer in 
 the joys and sorrows, and partook of the deep trials 
 he described. 
 
 As we pursue our narrative, we shall have melan- 
 choly proof that in France, during the sixteenth 
 century, men could not follow the dictates of their own 
 consciences without incurring peril of the most fearful 
 penalties. 
 
 In the meanwhile, Palissy was prospering in his art. 
 His beautiful designs in pottery, completed with much 
 labour, sold at a price which only the wealthy could 
 afford to pay; and men of rank and influence becoming 
 acquainted with his skill, readily supplied him with 
 commissions. 
 
 The celebrated Constable Montrnorenci who, during 
 a considerable part of his life, stood first in court 
 favour, and possessed immense wealth, was at that 
 time occupied in the adornment of his famous Chateau 
 d'Ecouen, about four leagues from Paris ; and being 
 made acquainted with the unique skill of Palissy, 
 employed him in some of the encaustic decorations of 
 
THE ART OF THE POTTER. 119 
 
 that mansion, and constituted himself the head patron 
 of the man who had thus succeeded in stamping his 
 genius on clay. Undoubtedly this lofty patronage 
 sufficed to establish our artist's worldly prospects. A 
 man who had been entrusted to assist in the embellish- 
 ment of one of the most famous architectural works of 
 his time would be sure to have plenty of commissions 
 from a host of gentry who had castles to build or 
 improve. 
 
 Happily engaged in such work, and far removed 
 from the old days of solitary toil, he had now two 
 sons assisting in the labours of the well-appointed 
 workshop. All was prosperous in worldly matters ; 
 but the troubles that were now beginning to over- 
 whelm the land soon were felt at Saintes. Indeed 
 every town in France was filled with the riot of con- 
 tending factions, and before long the capital of 
 Saintonge was assailed and taken by a hostile leader, 
 who treated with savage cruelty all the adherents of 
 the reformed party. A terrible scene followed, and 
 the workshop of Palissy was broken into by a rude 
 rabble, himself compelled to hide in a corner, and at 
 length, when discovered, dragged, under the shadow of 
 night, to a dungeon at Bordeaux. 
 
 Had he not acquired his secret as a potter, had not 
 his death involved the extinction of a valuable and 
 unique ornamental art, beyond doubt he would in that 
 year 1562 have perished upon the gallows. He 
 was only saved by the prompt interference of the 
 King's lieutenant in Saintes, who immediately bestirred 
 
120 BERNARD PALISSY. 
 
 himself, and communicated to Montmorenci the im- 
 minent peril that threatened his ingenious workman. 
 The Constable applied to the Queen-Mother, Catherine 
 de Medicis, then regent, to protect a clever artist, 
 whose skill might be turned to good account in her 
 service. An edict was accordingly issued in the 
 king's name, appointing Palissy inventor of rustic 
 figulines to the Queen and the Constable, and thus, 
 saved from the threatened death, he was free to return 
 to his home, where he quietly resumed his occupation 
 in the half-depopulated town of Saintes. He did not 
 long continue there, as his position in a remote pro- 
 vince became very inconvenient, when his chief em- 
 ployers were the great men of the court. He 
 therefore removed to Paris, and established his work- 
 shop in the neighbourhood of the Tuileries. During 
 the ten years that followed his removal to the French 
 capital, Palissy familiarly called " Bernard of the 
 Tuileries" continued to labour at his vocation ; and, 
 his taste being now assisted by the study of the best 
 works of art collected in the metropolis, he was able 
 far to surpass his former efforts in the production of 
 elegant and rich designs. 
 
 Very few traces of his larger works, designed 
 for garden architecture, now remain ; but his smaller 
 productions, consisting of statuettes, elegant groups 
 vases, cups, plates, dishes, rustic basins, and many 
 others moulded into beautiful forms, enamelled and 
 painted, still remain, and fetch high prices as works 
 of taste in our day. Some are covered with 
 
THE ART OF THE POTTER. 121 
 
 modellings, exquisitely coloured, of fruit, shells, 
 fishes, and reptiles. Others are adorned with 
 coloured pictures, in delicate bas-relief, of subjects 
 taken from Holy Writ or from mythology. The colours 
 used by Palissy were, commonly, bright tints of yellow, 
 blue, or grey j he used also, though less frequently, 
 green, violet, and brown. 
 
 Mr. Marryat, in his " History of Pottery and Porce- 
 lain," says that the most extensive and complete 
 collection of Palissy ware is in the Royal Museum of 
 the Louvre and in the Hotel de Cluny. " These 
 magnificent specimens were eagerly bought up by the 
 French government, from a just appreciation of the 
 merits of their talented and much-persecuted country- 
 man." 
 
 At the same time that he exercised his skill as an 
 artist, Palissy was actively pursuing his studies as a 
 naturalist and philosopher among the men of taste 
 and learning with whom he was now able to live in 
 constant intercourse. 
 
 Unmolested amid the outbreaks of civil war, and 
 unharmed even amid the terrors of the massacre of St. 
 Bartholomew, he continued, year after year, quietly 
 pursuing his way, no man interrupting him. He 
 became known, in the latter period of his life, as a 
 man of science and a collector of natural curiosities, 
 and formed a cabinet of natural history, the first ever 
 seen in Paris. There he opened a course of lectures, 
 which were attended by the first men of the day, who 
 listened with interest while the vigorous old man 
 
122 BERNARD PALISST. 
 
 poured out the lessons he had learned by the road 
 sides, on the sea shore, and among the mountains. 
 
 In our own times, such men as Buffon, Haller, and 
 Jussieu, have spoken with admiration of the wisdom 
 and surprising sagacity evinced in his works, which, 
 undoubtedly, entitle him to a very high rank among 
 the philosophers of the sixteenth century. 
 
 The last scene in the history of Palissy cannot fail 
 to call forth our warmest emotions of admiration and 
 painful sympathy. He had reached an age consider- 
 ably beyond the usual span of mortal life, when, during 
 the fifth civil war under Henry III., he was committed 
 to the terrible prison of the Bastille, in consequence of 
 a decree prohibiting the future exercise of the reformed 
 religion, on pain of death. He was well known to be 
 a Huguenot ; and no royal edict could alter his con- 
 victions, nor induce him to deny the faith which he 
 held dearer than life. 
 
 As an ancient servant of his mother, the king was 
 unwilling to see this good and venerable man perish 
 at the stake, and he went one day to the place in 
 which Palissy was incarcerated, and tried to shake his 
 resolution. " I have been compelled, my good ma n," 
 he said, " in spite of myself, to imprison you, pressed 
 as I am by the Guise party and my own people ; nor 
 can I prevent them putting you to death, unless you 
 will be converted." " Sire," replied the noble-hearted 
 old man, " you tell me you pity me ; it is for me to 
 pity you who have said, ' I am compelled.' Those are 
 not the words of a king. The Guises, joined to all 
 
THE ART OF THE POTTER. 123 
 
 your people, shall never compel me. I know how to 
 die." 
 
 Palissy remained four years enclosed within those 
 prison walls, his life being spared through the inter- 
 position of some of his exalted patrons and friends. 
 The wretched monarch, Henry III., perished by the 
 hand of an assassin, in the year 1589. That same 
 year Palissy the Potter died in the Bastille. 
 
JOHN KENNIE. 
 
 Born 1761 Died 1821. 
 
 WHO, that stands on Waterloo bridge and admires 
 that fine structure, which foreigners admit has no pa- 
 rallel in Europe for its magnitude, beauty, and solidity, 
 does not reverence the genius of its great architect, 
 John Rennie 1 
 
 This distinguished mechanician, architect, and civil 
 engineer for he excelled in these three kindred 
 branches of art was born on the 7th June, 1761, at 
 Phantassie, in the parish of Prestonkirk, East Lothian. 
 His father was a respectable farmer there, and died in 
 1766, leaving a widow and nine children, of whom 
 John was the youngest. The little fellow was sent to 
 the village-school, and, as it not unfrequently happens, 
 that some trivial circumstance in early life gives a 
 bent to the pursuits, and thus influences the future 
 career of the man, so it was in his case. 
 
 In order to go from his mother's house to the school, 
 it was necessary to cross a brook, over which the usual 
 passage was by a rustic bridge of stepping-stones ; 
 but, in the winter season, when the waters were 
 swollen, the stream became impassable, except by 
 means of a boat, which was kept at the workshop of 
 Mr. Andrew Meikle, an ingenious mechanic, well 
 
JOHN EENNIE, THE ARCHITECT. 125 
 
 known in Scotland as the inventor of the threshing 
 machine and many improvements in agricultural im- 
 plements. In this way it chanced that the young 
 Rennie had frequent opportunities for passing through 
 the workshop and watching the proceedings of the 
 men as they pursued their avocation. So greatly was 
 he interested in these things, that every spare hour 
 and all his holidays were sure to find him at his post, 
 examining the various operations in progress. The 
 delight he thus evinced drew the attention of the 
 master and workmen, who were in the habit of indulg- 
 ing the boy with their tools, and showing him their 
 various uses. His evenings were chiefly employed in 
 imitating those models which had particularly at- 
 tracted his attention in the workshop ; and it is said, 
 that when little more than ten years old, he had con- 
 structed the model of a windmill, a pile-engine, and a 
 steam-engine. Thus " the boy was father to the man." 
 At the age of twelve years, he entreated permission to 
 leave the school, as he deemed the master incompetent 
 to give him any further instructions. His request was 
 granted, and in compliance with his desire he was 
 placed with his friend, Mr. Meikle, and remained for 
 about two years in his employ. At the end of that 
 time, his mind expanding with his growth, he became 
 desirous of further mental education, and therefore, 
 determined to place himself under the tuition of Mr. 
 Gibson, teacher of mathematics at D unbar. His pro- 
 gress, at the end of two or three years' application, was 
 such, that it was prophesied he would, at no distant 
 
126 JOHN RENNIE, 
 
 period, prove an honour to Ms country, and Mr. Gib- 
 son being promoted to the academy at Perth, earnestly 
 recommended him as his successor. The bent of his 
 genius, however, lay in a different direction, and after 
 a very short essay at school-keeping, he returned to 
 his family, occasionally visiting and assisting his old 
 friend and master, Mr. Meikle, but mostly applying 
 himself to the study of elementary mechanics, and 
 practising himself in the art of drawing machinery, 
 and the different objects which belong to practical 
 architecture. 
 
 His first essay in practical mechanics was the repair- 
 ing of a corn-mill in his native village ; after which, 
 before he was eighteen years old, he erected two or 
 three other mills. Determined, however, not to suffer 
 these manual occupations to prevent his pursuing his 
 studies further, he took occasion sometimes to visit 
 Edinburgh, where he attended the courses of lectures 
 on mechanical philosophy and chemistry, by Professors 
 E-obison and Black. With the former of these gen- 
 tlemen he contracted a friendship which had important 
 results on his future course, since, from the professor 
 he received letters of introduction to Messrs. Bolton 
 and Watt, then established at Soho, near Birmingham. 
 Conscious of his powers, the young man now desired a 
 wider sphere for the exercise of his talents than could 
 be found in his own country, and, accordingly, leaving 
 Scotland, he set out -for London. On his way, he 
 visited Liverpool, Manchester, and other towns, for 
 the purpose of examining the different mills and 
 
THE ARCHITECT. 127 
 
 public works in those great commercial emporiums. 
 Thence he proceeded to Birmingham, where he spent 
 some months with Messrs. Bolton and Watt, and con- 
 structed there several machines which gave proof of 
 his ability. His new friends would willingly have 
 retained him at Soho, but he persisted in his purpose 
 to repair, in the first instance, to London. During his 
 progress he again made a tour through the manufac- 
 turing districts of Leeds, Sheffield, and Newcastle. 
 Soon after his settlement in London, he was engaged 
 by Messrs. Bolton and Watt to superintend the works 
 of the Albion Mills. Mr. Watt afterwards gave this 
 testimony to the skill of the young artisan : " In the 
 construction of the mill-work and machinery, most 
 valuable assistance was derived from that able mecha- 
 nician and engineer Mr. J. Rennie, then just entering 
 into business, who assisted in placing them, and under 
 whose directions they were executed." He adds that 
 the machinery which used to be made of wood was 
 here made of cast-iron, in improved forms ; and he 
 thinks that this was the commencement of that system 
 of mill-work which has been so beneficial in this 
 country. 
 
 His biographer in the ".Encyclopaedia Britannica," 
 adds : " In fact, Rennie' s mills are the most perfect 
 specimens of mechanism in that way that exist, dis- 
 tinguished by a precision of movement, and a harmony 
 and proportion of parts that now serve as models 
 throughout the empire." This undertaking seems to 
 have first led Mr. Rennie to the study of that branch 
 
123 JOHN RENXIE, 
 
 of civi] engineering connected with hydraulics, in which 
 he subsequently obtained such high celebrity. It also 
 at once secured for him such reputation in the par- 
 ticular department of mill-work, that he found himself 
 soon in a very extensive line of business. He was 
 applied to by the planters of Jamaica and the other 
 West India islands for their sugar-mills, which he con- 
 structed in so satisfactory a manner as to obtain almost 
 a monopoly of those expensive works. 
 
 To give an enumeration of all his great productions 
 is beyond the object of this sketch. There are three 
 which will, above all the rest, immortalize his name. 
 The principal, already mentioned, is the "Waterloo 
 bridge, the cost of which was more than a million 
 sterling. In a great public work of this description, 
 durability is a primary consideration, and the material 
 employed in this bridge is granite the most costly 
 and enduring species of building-stone. The piers also 
 were built in coffer-dams. "That a fabric so immense, 
 presenting a straight horizontal line, stretching over 
 nine large arches, should not have altered more than a 
 few inches (not five in any one part) from the 
 straight line, is an instance of firmness and solidity 
 utterly unknown, and almost incredible." It cannot 
 be doubted that to Mr. Rennie's skilful distribution of 
 the pressures, and the just proportions which he gave 
 to the several parts, these results are owing. It was 
 always a rule with our architect to make nothing 
 slight ; nor would he engage in an undertaking where 
 his requirements as to funds could not be fully met. 
 
THE ARCHITECT. 129 
 
 His works were all constructed for posterity. It 
 must be added here, that of the five bridges which 
 connect the two banks of the Thames, three have been 
 built from the designs of one man a fact, as has 
 been well observed, which must throw a lustre on the 
 name of Rennie, and be regarded with feelings of pride 
 by the most distant connection of his family. 
 
 The great Canova, when he visited England, and 
 first beheld Waterloo Bridge, said it alone was worth 
 a journey from Rome to see. 
 
 As a bold and ingenious piece of mechanism, which 
 may be considered as distinct from positive architec- 
 ture, there is nothing (says the writer in " Rees' Ency- 
 clopedia") in Europe that can bear a comparison with 
 the Southwark bridge. The three immense arches 
 consist entirely of masses of cast-iron, of various 
 forms and dimensions, put together on the same 
 principle as a similar fabric of hewn stone a method 
 of employing iron which may be considered to form a 
 new epoch in the history of bridge-building. It was 
 apprehended by many that this light and beautiful 
 fabric would suffer materially from the variations of 
 the temperature ; but it has stood the test of many 
 winters and summers without appearing to feel either. 
 Mr. Rennie himself, in a letter to M. Ponce on this 
 subject, says: " It is a great pleasure to me to tell you 
 that all the parts of this work have fully answered my 
 expectations ; I have not at present discovered any 
 alteration from its original form, nor the least fracture 
 in any of the pieces which compose it. My son, who 
 K 
 
130 JOHN RENNIE, 
 
 had noted with scrupulous attention the effects of the 
 expansion and contraction caused by the heat and the 
 cold, purposes publishing one day the result of his 
 observations." 
 
 The Breakwater in Plymouth Sound is the third 
 splendid achievement of Mr. Rennie' s genius we shall 
 notice. " It can scarcely be called an architectural 
 work, but is constructed on true hydrodynamical prin- 
 ciples, and so gigantic in its dimensions and cyclopean 
 in its structure, as to defy equally the force of the waves 
 and the ravages of time." 
 
 As a civil engineer, Mr. Rennie before long estab- 
 lished his reputation by the survey and execution of 
 the Crinal and Lancaster Canals, and his talents in this 
 department were speedily called into full play, " the 
 rage for canals," at that time pervading every part of the 
 kingdom, giving ample scope for his energies. In fact, 
 the surveys he was called to make were so numerous, 
 that, in a few years, he knew the surface of England, 
 as it were, by heart, and could tell immediately when 
 a canal was projected, what course it should take. 
 
 The resources of his mind were also displayed, in all 
 their vigour, in the plans and construction of those 
 magnificent docks which are such an ornament to the 
 metropolis, and of the utmost utility to commerce and 
 navigation. The London Docks, and the East and 
 West India Docks at Blackwall, were executed from 
 his plans and under his direction. 
 
 After mentioning several of the principal under- 
 takings in which Mr. Rennie was engaged during the 
 
THE ARCHITECT. 131 
 
 last thirty years of his life, and which, on a rough 
 estimate collected from his reports, did not fall short 
 of forty millions sterling (about twenty of which were 
 expended under his own immediate supervision), his 
 biographer adds, "Indeed, few great works were 
 carried on, either by the public or individuals, on 
 which he was not either employed or consulted. Hia 
 industry was very extraordinary. Fond of the society 
 of his select friends, and of rational conversation, he 
 never suffered amusement of any kind to interfere 
 with his business, which seldom engaged him less than 
 twelve hours, and frequently fifteen, in the day. His 
 conversation was always amusing and instructive. He 
 possessed a rich fund of anecdote, and, like his old 
 friend James Watt, told a Scotch story admirably. 
 
 As a travelling-companion he was highly enter- 
 taining. He knew everybody on the road, and every- 
 body knew John Rennie. Of an ardent and anxious 
 mind, and naturally impetuous, he was gifted with the 
 most perfect self-control, and the irritation of the mo- 
 ment was seen but as a light summer's cloud passing 
 across his finely-marked features, which were on so 
 large a scale, though blended with much mildness as 
 well as dignity, as to obtain for his noble bust by 
 Chantrey, when exhibited in Somerset House, the 
 name of " Jupiter Tonans." 
 
 After instituting a comparison between Kennie and 
 Mr. Ramsden, the writer, thus concludes : " They were 
 both equally clear in their mode of communicating 
 information to others, and it is sufficiently remarkable 
 
 K2 
 
132 JOHN RENNIE, THE ARCHITECT. 
 
 that, in their illustrations, both of them had rarely 
 recourse to any other instrument than a two-foot rule, 
 which each always carried in his pocket. Many a 
 time has the writer derived instruction from the two- 
 foot rules of John Eennie and Jesse Eamsden. They 
 were both equally communicative when they saw that 
 information was desired ; and nothing like professional 
 jealousy or selfish feelings actuated either of these in- 
 genious men, who, on the contrary, were always kind 
 and condescending to the more humble artists of their 
 respective professions." 
 
 Mr. Rennie married in 1789, and had six children, 
 of whom the two eldest, Messrs. George and John 
 (now Sir John) Rennie, successfully followed the pro- 
 fession of their eminent father, who survived his wife, 
 and, till within a few years of his death, enjoyed 
 excellent health. He died October 16, 1821, and was 
 buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, close to the grave of 
 Sir Christopher Wren. 
 
JACQUES KOUBO, 
 
 CARPENTER AND BUILDER. 
 
 Bom l7B9Died 1791. 
 
 CARPENTRY is the well-known art of employing timber 
 in the construction of edifices. It is of most general 
 and most important use, and of the highest antiquity, 
 and possesses much interest in relation to the fine arts. 
 It is divided into two branches carpentry and 
 joinery. The first includes the larger and rougher 
 kind of work, which has to do with the construction 
 and stability of an edifice ; joinery (called by the 
 French menuiserie, from the menus bois, or small woods 
 employed in that art) includes all the interior finishing 
 and ornamental woodwork. To excellence in either 
 of these arts a knowledge of geometry is requisite ; 
 and hence the celebrated geometrician Monge thought 
 it necessary to describe the art of carpentry in his 
 " Treatise of Descriptive Geometry," and said that if 
 circumstances had made it desirable for him to devote 
 himself to any trade, he would have chosen that of a 
 carpenter. 
 
 This art has made great advances in modern times : 
 and there are numerous admirable examples of con- 
 struction by various skilful artisans. In accuracy of 
 execution and celerity and minuteness of finish, our 
 
134 JACQUES KOUEO, 
 
 workmen are unsurpassed. Some also of the French 
 have greatly excelled in works of ingenious carpentry, 
 among whom is Philibert De Lorme, a celebrated 
 architect in the time of Henry II., who was specially 
 renowned for his method of constructing wooden 
 domes. He invented a new plan of building, which 
 consists in substituting for large pieces of timber deal 
 boards, placed horizontally, in roofs of all dimensions. 
 This idea he first carried out in the erection of the 
 Chateau de la Muette. 
 
 The celebrated cupola of the Halle aux Bles afc 
 Paris, unhappily consumed by fire in 1802, was built 
 upon this method, which possesses great advantages, 
 especially in lightness of construction and economy of 
 wood ; for in this manner a very large roof may be 
 raised with small logs. 
 
 This cupola was a masterpiece of art. " It was orna- 
 mented by twenty-five rays of panes of glass, producing 
 a fine effect. The eye beheld with astonishment this 
 immense vault of 198 feet in height, 377 in circum- 
 ference, and 100 feet from the floor of the pavement 
 to its summit. It was impossible to conceive how the 
 dome was sustained, divided thus between wood and 
 glass, and apparently less than one foot in thickness." 
 
 Of the origin and construction of this work we have 
 an account given by M. Boileau. The grain-trade 
 had for a long time been confined to the circular galle- 
 ries of the building, whilst the central open space 
 remained unemployed. At the time of the fetes 
 given in honour of the birth of the Dauphin, son of 
 
CARPENTER AND BUILDER. 135 
 
 Louis XI V., this space was covered by an immense 
 awning, presenting by the light of the illumination a 
 beautiful appearance, which made a strong impression 
 on the imagination of two young architects, Legrand 
 and Molinos, who had then recently returned from 
 Rome. The subject was brought under discussion, 
 and the project conceived of substituting for the 
 awning a permanent roof of wood. But how to effect 
 this? By general consent the difficulties were for- 
 midable, for " the roof must not be too heavy for the 
 old foundations." How was it possible to find a 
 builder capable of executing so difficult a task? Some 
 one present at the deliberation of the authorities 
 expressed his opinion that there was but one person in 
 Paris able successfully to undertake such a project. 
 This was Roubo, author of a skilful treatise on the art 
 of building. The result was that a deputation was 
 sent to M. Roubo, with the request that he would 
 engage to do the work. He delayed giving an answer 
 until the next day, when, after due consideration, 
 he consented to undertake the construction of the 
 cupola, but on the sole condition of freedom to follow 
 out his own plans. This being agreed to, he imme- 
 diately commenced the work, adopting, as we have 
 said, the plan employed by Philibert De Lorme in 
 building the Chateau de la Muette. 
 
 After struggling with difficulties of various kinds, 
 and assisting with his own hands in the preparation 
 of every piece of wood in the cupola, aided byAlbourg, 
 a carpenter, and Raguin, worker in iron, who exe- 
 
136 JACQUES ttOUBO, 
 
 cuted the iron lantern on the top, Roubo, at the end 
 of five months' labour so well directed as not to 
 endanger a single life, saw his great work completed 
 on the 31st of January, 1783. We are told that 
 when the supports were taken down, Roubo, full of 
 confidence in the system he had adopted, insisted 
 upon standing under a cornice of the platform, in 
 order to examine the roof closely, and observe if it 
 shook when left to its own resources. No one was 
 willing to share with him what everybody considered 
 a great danger. The props were removed amid the 
 acclamations of the people, and the intrepid Roubo 
 was assured of the complete success of his undertaking. 
 He was borne in triumph on the shoulders of the 
 admiring citizens ; the crowd pressing on all sides, to 
 gain a sight of the man to whom they owed a con- 
 struction so novel and useful. 
 
 Roubo on this occasion, as well as on all others, 
 proved himself as disinterested as he was enterprising 
 and skilful j and far from enforcing his claims as the 
 originator of such an admirable work, he would only 
 accept the sum agreed upon as a remuneration for 
 superintending the building of the cupola. Ragein, 
 on one occasion, began praising his own lantern to 
 him : " Say nothing about it," replied Roubo ; " had I 
 been in your line, I would have built the whole cupola 
 of iron." This idea was actually carried out twenty- 
 five years later. We have selected Roubo from among 
 so many others who have excelled in the same branch 
 of industry principally because he presents a somewhat 
 
CARPENTER AND BUILDER. 137 
 
 singular example (especially in a Frenchman) of an 
 artisan who attained distinction in his own line, and 
 who, satisfied to remain a simple operative, never 
 abandoned his business for a higher department of 
 labour. His success and reputation were the result of 
 long and patient industry. He was born in Paris, in 
 1739, and was the son of a journeyman builder. At 
 an early age he showed remarkable powers of applica- 
 tion, and anxious to raise himself above the disad- 
 vantages of his circumstances, he diligently applied to 
 study, although there were many discouragements and 
 hardships in his way. One of his biographers says, 
 that when he first began to work at his father's trade, 
 his poverty was so great, that, while he was engaged 
 during the long winter nights in study, he could not 
 afford to pay for a lamp or candle, and was obliged to 
 pick up pieces of tallow and fat thrown out by the 
 neighbours, and burn them. 
 
 Such ardour in the pursuit of his object was sure to 
 overcome all obstacles. The little money he could 
 procure was almost all laid out in the purchase of 
 books and models for drawing; and before long he 
 had acquired some knowledge in mathematics, in 
 mechanics, and in designing. 
 
 Happily, he soon attracted the attention of Pro- 
 fessor Blondel, a nephew of the celebrated architect 
 of that name, who, devoted to the advancement of 
 science, had opened in Paris a public school of archi- 
 tecture, which, during thirty years, he carried on with 
 unwearying zeal. The importance and utility of these 
 
138 JACQUES ROUBO, 
 
 labours were sufficiently proved by the celebrity which 
 several of his pupils attained, and by the great 
 advancement of the art consequent on these efforts. 
 He was not long in discovering the merits of Roubo, 
 who found in him a generous friend and supporter. 
 After giving him gratuitous lessons for five years, and 
 in various ways encouraging and assisting him, M. 
 Blondel had, indeed, great reason to be proud of his 
 pupil. 
 
 Encouraged by the fostering aid he thus enjoyed, 
 Roubo soon proved himself as skilful in the theoretic 
 as in the manual department of the art he had studied. 
 At the age of thirty, he presented, for the approbation 
 of the Academy of Sciences, a treatise he had written 
 on the " Art of Building," of which the commissioners 
 appointed to hold the examinations reported so favour- 
 ably, that the academy decided it should at once be 
 admitted into the authorized collection of works on 
 arts and sciences. This favour was accompanied by 
 one of a marked distinction. In consideration of the 
 talent he had displayed, Roubo was admitted into the 
 freedom of the society, and the academy, by a special 
 decree, accorded him permission to dispense with the 
 customary requisitions. 
 
 The work which had been thus honourably received 
 was preceded by the elements of geometry, simplified 
 for the use of the workmen for whom it was designed. 
 The first part treated of the different woods suitable 
 for joinery, and their preservation, with various de- 
 tails relative to the tools, &c. ; in short, the subject 
 
CARPENTER AND BUILDER. 139 
 
 generally, in its different branches. Then followed 
 the decorative parts of the art ; and, in the third 
 division, carriages, furniture, and cabinet-making were 
 treated of; and, in conclusion, the art of trellis-work, 
 or the joinery of the garden. The numerous engrav- 
 ings in the work were all from drawings made by the 
 author himself. 
 
 The reputation which Roubo had thus established 
 did not fail to bring him plenty of business, and na 
 turally obtained for him the preference on occasion of 
 any difficult and important undertaking in his line. 
 Thus, as we have already seen, it was to him the 
 authorities had recourse for the cupola of the Corn- 
 hall which, unfortunately, no longer exists. Other 
 monuments, however, remain to evince his skill ; such 
 as the massive staircase of mahogany in the hotel 
 Marboeuf, the vault over the Halle aux Draps ; and, 
 above all, his " Art of Building." 
 
 As a man of business, Roubo seems deservedly to 
 have enjoyed the respect and regard of all. Active, 
 enterprising, and diligent, he satisfied and exceeded 
 the expectations of his employers ; content with his 
 .situation, he desired only to excel in his own depart- 
 ment, and his time was divided between business and 
 the cares and duties of his family. Unhappily, the 
 whirlpool of the French revolution now swept with 
 desolating effect over the whole country and the 
 metropolis, agitating the minds of the people, and 
 interrupting all the usual avocations and pursuits of 
 men. Roubo, participating in the general excitement, 
 
140 JACQUES ROUBO, CARPENTER, ETC. 
 
 eagerly entered into the contest, and was nominated a 
 director of the National Guard. In this capacity he 
 went, when suffering under the pressure of severe 
 illness, to assist, with his company, at the fete of 
 the confederation, and the fatigues he underwent on 
 that occasion produced an access of his disorder, from 
 which he died early in 1791, at the age of fifty-two. 
 
 In him we see a favourable example of the simple 
 workman attaining, by sheer industry and unflinching 
 effort, the information necessary to qualify him for 
 practical superiority in the art to which he had devoted 
 his powers. 
 
ALOIS SENNEFELDEH, 
 
 THE INVENTOR OF LITHOGRAPHY. 
 
 Born 1771 Died 1834. 
 
 A SIMPLE and circumstantial record of the experiments 
 and difficulties attending the invention of a highly 
 important art cannot fail to be interesting, and such a 
 one has been given us by Sennefelder, who wrote an 
 account of his inventions and discoveries, of which an 
 English translation was published in 1819. The his- 
 tory of this persevering inventor, and the trials he 
 encountered, and the obstacles against which he had 
 to struggle in bringing the art of lithography into 
 successful and profitable operation, affords a remarka- 
 ble illustration of the power of genius to overcome 
 the most adverse circumstances. 
 
 He was born at Prague in 1771, and was the son of 
 a comedian at the Theatre Royal, Munich. When 
 very young he showed an inclination to follow the 
 profession of his father, who refused to yield to this 
 predilection in the boy, and sent him to study the law 
 at Ingolstadt ; but he does not seem to have shown 
 any turn for legal pursuits, and indulged his favourite 
 inclination by performing occasionally at private thea- 
 tres, and employing his leisure hours in dramatic com- 
 position. He wrote a comedy, which was published, 
 
142 ALOIS SENNEFELDER, 
 
 but does not seem to have made any sensation. At 
 the age of twenty he lost his father, and was compelled, 
 from want of pecuniary resources, to discontinue his 
 studies, and he next attempted again to devote him- 
 self to the stage. Finding, however, that the inferior 
 parts only were assigned to him, he resolved to try 
 his fortune a second time as an author, and wrote 
 another play, which did not pay his expenses. While 
 this composition was passing through the press, .Senne- 
 felder, annoyed at the extreme slowness of the printers, 
 made himself acquainted with the process of printing, 
 and became desirous of securing the necessary appara- 
 tus. Being too poor to gratify this wish, he tried to 
 discover some mode of stereotyping, by which he might 
 be able to print his own works with a very small 
 stock of type. He formed a composition of clay, fine 
 sand, flour, and pulverized charcoal, mixed with a little 
 water and kneaded as stiff as possible, and with this 
 paste he made a mould from a page of types, which 
 became in a quarter of an hour so hard that he could 
 take a very perfect cast from it in melted sealing-wax 
 by means of a hard press. He states that by mixing 
 a little pulverized plaster of Paris with the sealing-wax 
 the stereotype plates thus produced were much harder 
 than the common type metal of lead and antimony. 
 The want of means for carrying on this project led 
 him to abandon it. 
 
 He then tried etching on copper, but found difficul- 
 ties arising from his want of practical knowledge, and 
 still more from the expense of the copper-plates, which 
 
THE INVENTOR OF LITHOGRAPHY. 143 
 
 he ground and polished after using, to make them 
 available for more than one operation. In order to ' 
 lessen this difficulty, he used a piece of fine stone for 
 his exercises in writing backwards, and afterwards 
 tried printing from it instead of copper, but in this he 
 was not very successful. 
 
 The next step towards his discovery was occasioned 
 by a simple incident which strikingly displays the 
 necessitous circumstances in which Sennefelder then 
 found himself. Not being acquainted with the com- 
 position used by engravers for covering their etching- 
 ground in defective places, he had invented a kind of 
 chemical ink for the purpose, consisting of wax, soap, 
 and lamp-black. It chanced one day, just as he had 
 polished a stone plate for etching, his mother came to 
 him, requesting that he would immediately write a bill 
 of his linen, which the washerwoman was waiting to 
 take away. Looking around him for a slip of paper 
 he found that he had not even a scrap at hand, having 
 used all he had in taking off proof-impressions, and, in 
 addition, that his inkstand was dry. The matter being 
 urgent, he hastily wrote out the list upon the prepared 
 stone with his chemical ink, intending to copy it out 
 at leisure. Not long after, when about to clean off 
 this writing, the idea occurred to him that by the 
 application of aqua-fortis and water he might etch the 
 stone so as to leave the writing in sufficient relief for 
 printing from. The experiment proved completely 
 successful, and as soon as he had perfectly satisfied 
 himself as to the importance and practicability of this 
 
144 ALOIS SENNEFELDER, 
 
 new method, he at once set about turning it to account 
 so as to gain a livelihood by it. 
 
 Again his indigent circumstances stood in the way 
 of his progress. He knew not how to raise the neces- 
 sary money for the construction of a press, the purchase 
 of stones, paper, and so on nor did any better resource 
 present itself than that he should enlist as a private 
 in the artillery, and serve as a substitute for a friend, 
 who promised him a premium of 200 florins, which 
 sum he hoped would procure him the means of carry- 
 ing on his operations in his leisure hours, until he could 
 succeed in procuring his discharge. With this inten- 
 tion he went to Ingoldstadt with a party of recruits, 
 but his purpose was thwarted on its being discovered 
 that he was not a native of Bavaria, and therefore 
 could not serve without a special license. While at 
 Ingoldstadt, he made various inquiries bearing on the 
 subject of his discovery, which led him to conceive 
 that this new process would be peculiarly well adapted 
 for printing music, and he went so far as to suggest it 
 to a musician of the elector's band named Glaissman, 
 who was then preparing some music for publication. 
 In connection with this individual he published a few 
 works, which sufficiently proved tlie capabilities of the 
 art ; and the elector, Charles Theodore, was so well 
 pleased with the efforts of these ingenious printers, 
 that he sent them a present of 100 florins, and pro- 
 mised them an exclusive privilege for the exercise of 
 their art. 
 
 Unhappily, the electoral Academy of Sciences, before 
 
THE INVENTOR OP LITHOGRAPHY. 145 
 
 which Sennefelder laid a copy of the first work, with an 
 account of the process, acted in a very different man- 
 ner. As an illustration of the economy of his inven- 
 tion, he had mentioned the small cost of the press ; 
 and we may imagine how grievously he was disap- 
 pointed when, instead of an honourable mention in 
 the "Transactions" of the society, he received a 
 present of twelve florins, accompanied with an inti- 
 mation from the president that his memoir had been 
 favourably received, and that since, according to his 
 own statement, the expense of the press did not 
 exceed six florins, it was hoped that a compensation 
 of double that amount would satisfy his expectations. 
 
 The hopeful prospect which seemed opening before 
 Sennefelder at this time (about 1796) was clouded by 
 the difficulty of constructing a more efficient press 
 than had been used in the first operations. A rolling 
 press had been tried, but owing to some circumstance 
 which had escaped his observation, he failed in his 
 attempts to make a new one. He afterwards con- 
 structed a machine, in which the pressure was obtained. 
 by a stone of 300 Ib. weight falling from a height of 
 ten feet a plan which produced good prints, but 
 broke the stones after a few impressions. 
 
 Having very narrowly escaped being killed by a 
 falling sbone in this press, the indefatigable man saw 
 himself obliged to abandon it, and immediately set 
 about constructing another, 011 a different principle. 
 
 So many failures, and the difficulty of obtaining 
 suitable workmen to employ about the new process* 
 L 
 
146 ALOIS SENNEFELDER, 
 
 after a time brought the concern into discredit, and 
 the partners were disappointed in their hope of obtain- 
 ing their expected exclusive privilege during the life 
 of the Elector Charles Theodore. 
 
 The lithographic printing he had hitherto attempted 
 seems to have been mechanical, as Sennefelder informs 
 us that he discovered chemical printing, or lithograph}^ 
 the beautiful art which has since attained so high a 
 degree of excellence and utility in 1798. Some of 
 the earliest specimens of the art, as applied to pictorial 
 subjects, were vignettes, which he executed to illustrate 
 a catechism, under the superintendence of the Rev. M. 
 Steiner, director of the royal school establishments. 
 In the following year, Sennefelder obtained an exclu- 
 sive privilege for Bavaria for fifteen years, and soon 
 established a considerable business, in which he em- 
 ployed his two brothers and two apprentices. The 
 process was no longer kept a secret, and many persons 
 visited the office, among whom was the editor, M. Andre, 
 of Offenbach. With this gentleman Sennefelder entered 
 into partnership, and after a time made arrangements 
 for obtaining patents and setting up presses in Vienna, 
 London, Paris, arid Berlin. While engaged in these 
 projects he visited London, but he did not succeed in 
 his purpose there. He had hoped great results from 
 the application of his invention to cotton-printing; 
 but his prospects were blighted by the suspension of 
 commercial intercourse between England and the Con- 
 tinent, under the rule of Bonaparte. He also suffered 
 from the treachery of a person he employed, who 
 
THE INVENTOR OF LITHOGRAPHY. 147 
 
 divulged some improvements which he had introduced 
 into calico-printing before a patent was secured for 
 them. 
 
 On his return to Munich, where his brothers had 
 continued to prosecute the business, he greatly enlarged 
 his establishment, in connection with Baron Arctin 
 and others, This partnership continued some years, 
 during which a great variety of works were executed, 
 some of them for the government, not only in music 
 and ornamental printing, but in art-illustration, as in 
 the " Book of Prayers," by Albert Durer. 
 
 Several other lithographic establishments were in 
 successful operation in 1809, when Sennefelder at 
 length obtained an engagement which rewarded him 
 for the toils and vicissitudes of the early period of his 
 career, enabled him to marry, and placed him in com- 
 fortable circumstances for the rest of his life. At that 
 time a lithographic office was formed for printing the 
 plans of a new survey of the kingdom, of which a 
 large number were required, and Sennefelder was 
 appointed to the office of inspector of the royal litho- 
 graphic establishment, with a salary of 1,500 florins 
 per annum, and with permission to carry on his pri- 
 vate business as well. The subsequent improvements 
 effected by Sennefelder were attributed by himself to 
 the ease and independence which this honourable 
 engagement afforded him. In earlier days, want of 
 means had crippled his energies, and forced him to 
 lose, in solicitations and struggles to obtain help, the 
 time which more ample resources and proper means 
 
 L2 
 
148 ALOIS SENNEFELDER, 
 
 would have enabled him to turn to good account. 
 Yet, far from complaining of these adverse circum- 
 stances, this worthy man rejoiced in the success which 
 had eventually crowned his meritorious efforts, and 
 thus expressed himself upon the subject : " I esteem 
 myself happy in seeing during my own lifetime the 
 value of my invention so universally appreciated, 
 and in having myself been able to attain in it a degree 
 of perfection, which in a thousand other instances has 
 not been reached till long after the death of the first 
 inventor." 
 
 Sennef elder had early commenced making a collec- 
 tion of specimens to illustrate an account of his new 
 art, but circumstances had impeded its completion, 
 until at length, being urged to publish a work which 
 should perpetuate the memory of the discovery, and 
 set at rest the erroneous reports prevalent on the 
 subject, he complied; and in 1819 published a quarto 
 volume, entitled " A complete Course of Lithography," 
 with a portrait, and twenty plates. The illustrations 
 of various styles some of which are curious add to the 
 value of the work, which was very shortly translated 
 both into French and English, the latter translation 
 being published by Messrs. Ackermann. Those who 
 wish to study or practise the art in its full extent 
 will do well to consult this book. It has no preten- 
 sion to literary merit, but is interesting as an original 
 record of the experiments and difficulties connected 
 with the discovery, and contains much valuable infor- 
 mation for the practice of the different branches of 
 the art. 
 
THE INVENTOR OF LITHOGRAPHY. 149 
 
 Iii 1819 the Society for the Encouragement of Arts 
 in London spontaneously voted their gold medal to 
 Sennefelder, as the inventor of lithography. 
 
 Since that time we have seen almost every year 
 new improvements in this art, so useful in its applica- 
 tion to many branches of industry ; by its means 
 not only are transcripts of writings produced with 
 perfect imitation of the handwriting, and faithful 
 copies of pictures executed at a small price, but in 
 manufactures, for ornamenting pottery, china, and 
 porcelain, it has been much in request, as also for 
 printing goods of all kinds cottons, leather, wood, 
 varnished metals, &c. 
 
 Surely the man who thus, by his own ingenuity 
 and well-directed efforts, originated a branch of indus- 
 try which maintains at the present time many thou- 
 sands of families, deserves a place among our Heroes 
 of the Workshop ! 
 
 Sennefelder died at Munich, October 26, 1834, in 
 his sixty-third year. 
 
GEORGE STEPHENSON. 
 
 Bvrn 1781 Died 1848. 
 
 "I have risen from a lower level than the meanest pe/son 
 here ; and all I have been enabled to accomplish in the course of 
 my life has been done by PERSEVERANCE ! " 
 
 GEORGE STEPHENSON is emphatically THE ENGINEER to 
 whose intelligence and perseverance we owe the intro- 
 duction of railways into England, and who set the first 
 example, in this country, of works which others have 
 successfully carried into execution throughout the 
 world. 
 
 Not only is this great man a surprising example of 
 a labourer raising himself to wealth and eminence 
 without a single advantage, except what he derived 
 from his own genius, but the direction which that 
 genius took has stamped his name upon the most 
 wonderful achievement of our age. It is as the 
 originator of railway locomotion that he founds his 
 highest claim to the gratitude of the world, though 
 his powers were shown on many other subjects. 
 
 He was born in the colliery village of Wylam, a few 
 miles from Newcastle-on-Tyne, on the 9th June, 1781. 
 His parents were in the lowest ranks of their occu- 
 pation, but they were industrious, respectable, and 
 amiable. His father is described as an exceedingly 
 kind-hearted man, who encouraged the robins to feed 
 
George Stephenson. 
 
 P. 150 
 
GEORGE STEPHENSON, THE ENGINEER. 151 
 
 around his engine-fire, and delighted the boys and 
 girls by his stories of Robinson Crusoe and Sinbad 
 the Sailor. So poor were they, that father, mother, 
 four sons and two daughters, all lived together in a 
 one-roouied cottage, and none of the family were sent 
 to school, which was too expensive a matter for their 
 poor means. 
 
 George's first employment, at the age of eight years, 
 was crow-keeping, his wages being 2d. a day. In the 
 intervals of this employment, he found time for 
 making whistles out of reeds, and other occupations 
 more akin to his genius. His favourite amusement 
 was erecting clay-engines, with the help of a chosen 
 companion. They found the clay for the engines in 
 the adjoining bogs, and the hemlock which grew about 
 supplied them with imaginary steam-pipes. At the 
 age of fourteen he was taken to assist his father as a 
 fireman of the colliery, a promotion he had earnestly 
 desired. From that time, he devoted himself so 
 assiduously and successfully to the study of the en- 
 gine he was appointed to work, that he soon acquired 
 a practical knowledge of its construction and motions ; 
 in fact, " it became a sort of pet to him, and he was 
 never weary of watching it." He was thus gradually 
 attaining the character of a clever and improving 
 workman ; what he was set to do he tried to do well 
 and thoroughly, never neglecting small matters, but 
 aiming to be a complete workman, at all points. 
 
 At this time he was wholly uneducated. There was, 
 however, a night-school in the village, kept by a poor 
 
152 GEORGE STEPI1ENSON, 
 
 teacher, and this he determined to attend ; by which 
 means, at -the age of nineteen, he had learned to read 
 correctly, and " was proud to be able to write his own 
 name." He afterwards began to learn arithmetic, in 
 company with one of his comrades, who soon found 
 himself outstripped, "for George took to figures wonder- 
 ful." The secret of this success was perseverance. He 
 worked out the sums in his by-hours, improving every 
 minute ot his spare time by the engine-fire, there 
 solving the sums set for him on his slate by his 
 master ; and thus his progress was rapid, and, with a 
 ready heart and mind, he soon became well advanced 
 in arithmetic. 
 
 He had inherited his father's love of animals, and, 
 like him, used to tempt the robins to hop and fly 
 about the engine-fire with bread crumbs saved from 
 his dinner. He kept blackbirds, too, and he tamed 
 them so successfully, that they would fly about his 
 cottage, unconfined. But his favourite pet was his 
 dog, so sagacious that he performed the office of a 
 servant, almost daily carrying his dinner to him at the 
 pit, the tin can containing the meal being suspended 
 from the dog's neck ; and thus laden, he walked 
 proudly on his road quite through the village, turning 
 neither to right nor left, heedless of the attacks of 
 other curs. 
 
 In the year 1801 Stephenson was appointed 
 " brakesman " of a pit in the neighbourhood, with 
 wages of about 1 a week ; and he contrived to in- 
 crease his earnings by mending and making the shoes 
 
THE ENGINEER. 153 
 
 of his less dexterous fellow-workmen. One of his 
 choicest productions in this line was a pair, of shoes 
 for Fanny Henderson, a young servant-girl in a neigh- 
 bouring farmhouse, whom, at the age of twenty, he 
 married. 
 
 He now furnished a small cottage near Wallsend, 
 and settled down as a regular, steady workman, so 
 habitually sober and industrious, that he was quite a 
 standing example of character to his fellows. Never 
 was he known to be " the worse for drink " in his life ; 
 and by the manner in which he spent his spare hours 
 he was surely and silently paving the way to be some- 
 thing more than a mere workman. He set himself to 
 study the principles of mechanics, and to master the 
 laws by which his engine worked ; and while sitting 
 in the winter evenings beside his sweet young wife, 
 he was industriously employed in making mechanical 
 experiments or in modelling experimental machines. 
 Among his various speculations he occupied himself a 
 good deal in endeavouring to discover that ignis fatuus 
 of experimentalists perpetual motion. 
 
 In the year 1803 his only son, Robert, was born 
 one of the few examples of a son inheriting the genius 
 as well as the peculiar tastes of his father. The child 
 was, from his earliest years accustomed to the habits 
 of steady industry he saw so diligently observed by 
 those around him, and soon became a great delight to 
 his father, whose evening hours were made happier by 
 his presence. But within a twelvemonth after the birth 
 of her little boy, Mrs. Stephenson died, to the great grief 
 
154 GEORGE STEPHENSON, 
 
 of her husband, who never ceased tenderly to cherish 
 her memory. 
 
 At this time troubles multiplied upon him. His 
 father met with a distressing accident, and lost his 
 eyesight ; the condition of the working classes was 
 very discouraging, in consequence of high prices and 
 heavy taxation ; and he was himself drawn for the 
 militia, and had to pay a large sum to provide a sub- 
 stitute. Almost in despair, he entertained the idea 
 of emigrating to America ; " but his poverty pre- 
 vented him from effecting his purpose, and rooted 
 him to the place where he afterwards worked out his 
 career." An interesting feature in Stephenson's cha- 
 racter was the strength of his filial attachment. As 
 soon as he had procured sufficient money from his 
 savings, his first step was to pay off his father's debts ; 
 and from that time to the old man's death he entirely 
 supported him. Another admirable trait was the 
 care he took to educate his son. Feeling his own 
 great deficiency in this respect, he determined to give 
 the lad a liberal training. " I was, however, a poor 
 man," he said ; " and how do you think I managed ? 
 I betook myself to mending my neighbours' clocks 
 and watches at night, after my daily labour was done ; 
 and thus I procured the means of educating my son." 
 
 The time was at hand when his fortunes were about 
 to take a turn. In 1810, an opportunity was afforded 
 him to turn the practical knowledge he had been 
 so long carefully acquiring to account. An engine 
 had been erected at Killingworth colliery of a very 
 
THE ENGINEER. 
 
 imperfect description. Nobody could make it work 
 until George Stephenson applied his powers to it, and 
 he effectually accomplished the object. Though a 
 mere colliery brakesman he had beaten the engineers 
 of the neighbourhood, and he was forthwith appointed 
 engineman to the Killingworth engine, at good wages. 
 His skill as an engine doctor was now noised abroad, 
 and he was called on to cure all the old, wheezy, and 
 ineffective pumping-machines in the district. " At 
 this time he lived in a cottage near Westmoor Pit, to 
 which he added several rooms, an oven, and a garden, 
 in which latter he contrived to raise by far the best 
 vegetables in the neighbourhood. In the garden he 
 placed a new sort of u fleycraw," to frighten the birds, 
 which was a subject of great admiration to the neigh- 
 bourhood. He won the women's gratitude by con- 
 necting their cradles with the smoke-jack, and thus 
 making them self-acting. He also attached an alarum 
 to the clock of the watchman, whose duty it was to 
 call him in the morning. In a short time his cottage 
 was a sort of curiosity-shop of models, engines, self- 
 acting cranes, and of perpetual, or what he hoped 
 would become perpetual motion machines. He also 
 contrived a lamp to burn under water, with which he 
 used to go into the ponds at night, lamp in hand, and 
 thus attract and catch the fish, which rushed wildly 
 towards the flame. At this time, also, he endeavoured, 
 by a sort of lecture, to give some of his fellow-work- 
 men the fruits of his scientific reading, and his acquire- 
 ments were matter of the greatest wonder to them. 
 
156 GEORGE STEPHENSON, 
 
 On one of these occasions, he tried to convince the 
 pitmen that the earth was round, and kept turning 
 round ; but his auditors flatly declared the thing to be 
 impossible, as it was clear that " at the bottom-side 
 they must fall off ! " " Ah ! " said George, " you don't 
 quite understand it yet." 
 
 In 1812, the engine-wright having been accidentally 
 killed, Stephenson was appointed to be his successor, 
 at a salary of 100 a year, with the use of a horse. 
 In this new position he had far greater opportunities 
 for improving himself than he had hitherto possessed. 
 The subject of the locomotive-engine began to occupy 
 his attention, and he soon obtained a just conception 
 of its extraordinary powers. His son, for whose edu- 
 cation he had made such sacrifices, had proved a most 
 apt scholar, and was now able to give him much assist- 
 ance, and father and son worked diligently together. 
 The idea of applying steam-power to the propulsion of 
 wheel-carriages, had occupied the attention of many 
 inventors since the time of Watt. Wooden rails had 
 long been in use, and afterwards iron began to be sub- 
 stituted for wood. At length, in 1813, a locomotive 
 was tried on one of the roads, but it was unsuccessful. 
 George Stephenson now resolved to try his hand at 
 the construction of a superior machine, and he gave 
 much time and labour to the object, for his whole 
 thoughts were directed to it; and when all others had 
 abandoned the idea of the locomotive in despair, he 
 continued to entertain the most confident expectation 
 of its eventual success, and even went so far as to say, 
 
THE ENGINEER. 157 
 
 that it would yet supersede every other tractive 
 power. 
 
 His first attempt at constructing a "travelling 
 engine," as he then called it, was in 1813. It was at 
 Killingworth Colliery, and with Lord Eavensworth's 
 money. " Yes," said he, many years afterwards, 
 " Lord Ravensworth and his partners were the first to 
 intrust me with money to make a locomotive engine. 
 That was made thirty-two years ago, and we called it 
 ' My Lord.' I said to my friends that there was no 
 limit to the speed of such an engine, if the works 
 could be made to stand it." 
 
 Although a considerable advance on others, this 
 machine was somewhat cumbrous and clumsy, and 
 Stephenson was not content till he had undertaken to 
 make a second, into which he might introduce the 
 improvements he saw necessary. Accordingly, in 
 1815, he had succeeded in manufacturing a machine 
 superior to all others, and " containing the germ of all 
 that has since been effected." 
 
 Some years passed away before any further step was 
 taken in reference to this great achievement ; so slowly 
 do men receive and act upon new ideas. During that 
 time, his locomotive-engine was in daily use on the 
 Killingworth railway, without exciting much atten- 
 tion. He had no means of bringing his important 
 invention into public notice. He himself well knew 
 its value, and already anticipated its general adoption ; 
 but he was an unlettered man, and could not give 
 utterance to the thoughts he cherished on the subject; 
 
158 GEORGE STEPHENSON, 
 
 and Killingworth Colliery was remote from London, 
 and unvisited by men of science and intelligence, who 
 might have succeeded in drawing attention to the 
 wonderful machine made by George Stephenson. As 
 it was, no notice was attracted towards it, and the 
 " puffing Billy" went on doing its daily quota of hard 
 work, having long ceased to be an object of curiosity 
 in the neighbourhood. 
 
 But a grand epoch in the history of our engineer 
 was now at hand. In the year 1821 Mr. Pease, of 
 Darlington, obtained an Act of Parliament for making 
 a railway from Stockton to Wilton, and Mr. Stephen- 
 son, hearing of this project, went over to Darlington 
 and introduced himself to Mr. Pease, who, with ready 
 discernment, soon perceived that this was the man he 
 needed.* In consequence of this interview, Stephen- 
 son was directed to make a survey of the line, which, 
 he immediately proceeded to do. The first rail was 
 laid in May, 1822 ; and on the 27th September, 1825, 
 the Stockton and Darlington railway was opened for 
 traffic. It was the earliest public highway of the 
 kind, and the most intense curiosity was naturally felt 
 as to the result. Mr. Stephenson himself drove the 
 first engine. The train consisted of six waggons, 
 loaded with corn and flour, then the passengers' coach, 
 
 * He liked the appearance of the man. " There was," he 
 afterwards remarked, " such an honest, sensible look about him, 
 and he seemed so modest and unpretending. He spoke in the 
 strong Northumbrian dialect of his district, and described him- 
 self as ' only the engine wright at Killingworth, that's what he 
 was."* 
 
TIIE ENGINEER. 159 
 
 with directors and friends, followed by twenty-seven 
 waggons in all a train of thirty-eight carriages. The 
 signal being given, the train started, and it accom- 
 plished the transit in perfect safety " the arrival at 
 Stockton exciting deep interest and admiration." The 
 success of the undertaking was complete.* With 
 pleasure we learn that Mr. Stephenson, when a pros- 
 perous man, did not forget the friend who had taken 
 him by the hand in his early days ; and Mr. Pease 
 used to show, with much satisfaction, a handsome gold 
 watch, with this inscription, " Esteem and gratitude : 
 from George Stephenson to Edward Pease." 
 
 The next important event in the career of this now 
 rising man was his appointment to survey a railway 
 from Liverpool to Manchester. Every possible ob- 
 stacle was thrown in the way of this project by the 
 landowners and civil engineers, and almost every one 
 interested. The great difficulty in connection with it 
 was the passage across Chat Moss, a bog about four 
 
 * The following lines will serve well to depict this first trip 
 of the wondrous engine : 
 
 " Let Greece not boast her Daedalus, 
 
 Nor Araby her horses ; 
 A higher wit invents for us 
 Machines of swifter courses. 
 
 Its iron way athwart the plain, 
 O'er brooks and rivers steering, 
 
 Through mountains piercing, and again 
 From tunnell'd gorge appearing. 
 
 Lo ! onwards speeds the flying car, 
 
 A steaming, puffing wonder; 
 How folks do stare and smile, as far 
 
 They distance thus the thunder J " 
 
160 GEORGE STEPHENSON, 
 
 miles broad and more than thirty feet deep. It was 
 pronounced "perfect madness" to entertain the idea 
 of carrying a railroad across this swampy district. 
 But the Liverpool merchants were determined to have 
 the line, and they eventually obtained an Act of Par- 
 liament, and Mr. Stephen son " at once made arrange- 
 ments to commence the works, and to do that which 
 the most distinguished engineers of the day had de- 
 clared no man in his senses would undertake to do." 
 
 The draining of the Moss was indeed a most for- 
 midable undertaking. At first the obstacles seemed 
 insurmountable ; and for weeks the efforts made to 
 form an embankment were unsuccessful. The ques- 
 tion was then brought before the board, whether the 
 work should be abandoned? " We must persevere !" 
 was the intrepid answer of Mr. Stephenson. Deter- 
 mined to persist, he carried on his labours still more 
 vigorously, and in six months after the meeting for 
 discussion was held, a locomotive engine and carriage 
 passed over the very spot, carrying a party of the 
 directors' friends to dine at Liverpool. 
 
 The idea that bore him up in the face of so many 
 adverse opinions, was that a ship floated in water, and 
 that the Moss was certainly more capable of supporting 
 such a weight than water was; and he knew that if he 
 could once get the material to float, he must succeed. 
 
 The railway between these two vast commercial 
 towns being completed, it was determined to set to 
 work locomotive engines upon it, and a competition 
 ensued to produce the best engine for the purpose. 
 
THE ENGINEER. 1G1 
 
 In this struggle Mr. Stephenson came off conqueror. 
 His engine, " the Rocket," carried away the prize ; 
 and from that date the railway system may be said to 
 have been established. A double triumph was thus 
 secured, both of his road and his locomotive. What 
 had been ridiculed as an impossibility was now 
 acknowledged as a fact. This engine showed that " a 
 new power had been born into the world, full of 
 vigorous life and strength, with boundless capability 
 of work j" and it is not, perhaps, too much to say 
 that, in establishing the locomotive system, Stephen- 
 son, an unlettered, uneducated man, possessing none 
 of the advantages of scientific culture, opposed by the 
 wealth and intellect of the day, did more to advance 
 the civilization of the world than any individual of 
 his age. 
 
 The Liverpool and Manchester line was succeeded 
 by a host of railways on all sides. Projectors of 
 every class hastened into the field, and the iron net- 
 work was spread over the country. As might have 
 been expected, there were very few important under- 
 takings about which Mr. Stephenson was not con- 
 sulted. In fact (as he said in 1841) there was hardly 
 a railroad in England which he had not to do with. 
 
 This was the busiest period of his life ; what with 
 the management of his colliery, his locomotive manu- 
 factory, and the various railways of which he was the 
 principal engineer, he had scarcely a moment he could 
 call his own. Happily he possessed a vigorous consti- 
 tution, and had been trained in a hard school ; so that 
 
 M 
 
162 GEOKGE STEPHENSON, 
 
 he was enabled to pass through an immense amount 
 of fatigue without injury to his health. Many, many 
 nights he snatched his sleep while travelling in his 
 chaise, and at break of day was hard at work, survey- 
 ing until dark, and this for weeks in succession. 
 
 It is well known what extravagance followed the 
 first outbreak of railway speculation, and what follies, 
 crimes, and losses were connected with that wild 
 mania. The most discreditable trickery was prac- 
 tised; but it is greatly to the honour of the man who 
 more than any other was concerned in the construc- 
 tion and working of railroads, that he unswervingly 
 kept the path of integrity and honour. His engines 
 were thoroughly well made j his roads had none but 
 good materials and good workmanship, and he always 
 protested against jobbery, speculation, and all dis- 
 honest proceedings. Having thus, in conjunction with 
 his distinguished son, successfully inaugurated our 
 most important railway systems, George Stephenson 
 retired from the labours and anxieties of public life. 
 He had seen his projects carried out to an extent far 
 beyond his most sanguine anticipations, and he wisely 
 resolved to enjoy the sweets of domestic repose for 
 the remainder of his days. His latter years were 
 spent on an estate in Derbyshire, adjacent to the Mid- 
 land railway, where, engaged in horticulture and in 
 farming, he took delight in rearing and feeding his 
 rabbits, dogs, and birds, and, in short, cultivated the 
 habits and tastes of a plain country gentleman. 
 
 He died on the 12th of August, 1848, at the age of 
 
THE ENGINEER. 163 
 
 sixty-seven, leaving behind him the highest character 
 for simplicity and kindness of heart, and absolute 
 freedom from all sordidness of disposition. Averse to 
 ostentation, he steadily refused the offers of rank and 
 title which were made him, feeling they would have 
 been but a shadow, adding no real lustre to his name. 
 For some time previous to his death he had devoted 
 much effort and attention to the education of the 
 young, especially in the colliery works. 
 f His remains were followed to the grave by a large 
 body of his work-people, by whom he was greatly 
 admired and beloved ; for they had found him to be a 
 kind and considerate master, ever ready actively to 
 promote all that was calculated to secure their good, 
 and they obeyed him willingly, confiding in his good 
 sense and practical benevolence. The truth was, he 
 had long since learned the art of ruling others, when 
 amid the dangers and difficulties of his early career, 
 he had learned to rule himself. His energy and ready 
 tact secured their thorough confidence, and as strong 
 characters always do he influenced and quickened 
 those whom he governed. When passing through his 
 own workshops, he would frequently point out to his 
 men how to save labour, and to get through their 
 work skilfully and with ease. 
 
 He was the zealous friend of mechanics' institutes, 
 and often addressed them, in homely but entertaining 
 style ; cheering young men on by relating his own 
 difficulties, which he had overcome by perseverance. 
 
 It is impossible here to dwell on the particular 
 M 2 
 
164 GEORGE STEPHENSON, 
 
 traits of character displayed in the life of this remark- 
 able man. His whole history is a striking lesson, 
 teaching what energy, perseverance, and enthusiasm 
 in the pursuit of a fixed purpose may effect ; and we 
 learn from the success which crowned his efforts, that 
 a man may become the master instead of the slave of 
 the circumstances in which he is placed. While we 
 admire the unerring sagacity displayed throughout all 
 his proceedings, and praise the extraordinary energy 
 and unconquerable determination evinced in every 
 step of his career, we cannot fail to love and admire 
 his pure disinterestedness and high integrity. 
 
 Of his humanity and amazing intrepidity, the 
 following is a most striking example. One day, in 
 the year 1814, a workman hurried into Mr. Stephen- 
 son's cottage, with the startling intelligence that 
 the deepest main of the colliery was on fire. He 
 immediately hastened to the pit's mouth, whither 
 the women and children were fast rushing, with wild- 
 ness and terror in their faces. Stephenson at once 
 ordered the men to lower him down the shaft in 
 the corve. There was danger it might be death 
 before him ; but he must go. As those about the 
 mouth of the pit saw him rapidly pass out of sight, 
 and heard from the depths of the shaft the mingled 
 cries of despair and agony, they gazed on the heroic 
 man with breathless astonishment. He was soon at 
 the bottom, and in the midst of the workmen. Leap- 
 ing from the corve, on its touching the ground, he 
 called out, " Stand back ! Are there six men who have 
 
TilE ENGINEER. 1G<T> 
 
 the courage to follow me ? If so, come, and we will 
 put the fire out." And so they did, by rapidly throw- 
 ing up a sort of wall around the flames ; the atmo- 
 spheric air was shut out, and the fire extinguished ; 
 the people were saved from death, and the mine was 
 preserved. 
 
 It has been impossible, within these narrow limits, 
 even to touch on many deeply interesting parts of 
 Mr. Stephenson's history. We can but desire that all 
 our readers should, if possible, peruse his life, and 
 judge for themselves of the true merits of the man of 
 whom all must think with gratitude for the benefits 
 he has conferred, and with admiration for the triumphs 
 his genius has effected. 
 
VATJCANSON. 
 
 AUTOMATA. 
 Born 1709 Died 1782. 
 
 AMONG automata (or self-moving machines) are pro- 
 perly reckoned all mechanical engines which go by 
 springs and weights, such as clocks, watches, &c. The 
 term, however, is generally applied to mechanism of 
 another description, in which the ingenuity of ma- 
 chinists has performed such marvels as almost surpass 
 the limits of belief. 
 
 Historians have, doubtless, exaggerated in their 
 accounts of the wonders of certain of these artificial 
 machines ; yet, what we have seen effected in modern 
 times of this description, tends much to diminish our 
 incredulity. For example, King Theodoric, when 
 writing to one of these skilful constructors, says, " By 
 means of your art, metals emit sounds, birds sing, 
 serpents hiss, and you can give to animals a harmony 
 which they have not received from nature." How 
 near an approach has been made to the accomplishment 
 of all this, we shall perceive while speaking of Jacques 
 Vaucanson and his wonderful automata. 
 
 This skilful artisan, when he was yet a boy, showed 
 a surprising turn for mechanical invention. He was 
 born at Grenoble, in the year 1709. Of his father 
 
VAUCANSON AUTOMATA. 167 
 
 nothing is known ; but his mother, who had the care 
 of his education, made him her constant companion, 
 and the boy accompanied her in the visits she paid to 
 her female friends, especially on Sundays and/ete days. 
 On these occasions little Jack was left to his own 
 resources for amusement, while the good dames con- 
 versed together ; and it so chanced that, in one house 
 he was occasionally taken to, there was a crack in a 
 partition- wall, which the urchin espying, began to 
 peep through. He found, as he did so, that he could 
 see part of the mechanism of a clock, which hung on 
 the adjoining wall. With curious eyes he watched its 
 movements, of which a portion only was visible to 
 him. It was the first time he had ever thought about 
 the subject ; but now his attention was attracted, and 
 he resolved he would make himself master of the whole 
 contrivance and ordering of the clockwork. The next 
 time he went there, he took with him a pencil, and 
 occupied himself in drawing as much as he could see 
 of the springs ; and in this manner he succeeded in 
 understanding their plan. At length, all at once, he 
 caught the idea of the escapement movement, and 
 before loog he contrived, with some pieces of wood 
 and some rough tools, to make a clock, which kept 
 time pretty correctly. His natural genius had thus 
 discovered itself, and he was thenceforward a mecha- 
 nician, heart and soul devoted to the study of that 
 which he resolved should be his calling in life. 
 
 His childish efforts were employed in constructing 
 a baby-house chapel, for which he made little angels 
 
168 VAUCANSON AUTOMATA. 
 
 that flapped their wings, and some figures dressed as 
 priests, which moved slowly. 
 
 He was still but a youth when, chancing to go to 
 Lyons, he heard that a meeting was about to be 
 held for the discussion of a plan for supplying the 
 whole town with water by means of a hydraulic 
 machine. The idea attracted his attention, and he 
 instantly set to work to construct such a machine, and 
 actually succeeded in his purpose, but timidity pre- 
 vented him from presenting it for approval. Being at 
 Paris some time after, he was filled with surprise and 
 delight to find that the plan of the machine called 
 there the Samaritaine was precisely the same as that 
 he had invented at Lyons. This convinced him of his 
 powers, and inspired him with the courage in which 
 he was naturally deficient. He now gave himself up 
 with great diligence to the study of anatomy, music, 
 and mechanics, and for some years occupied himself in 
 this manner. 
 
 The flute-player of the Tuileries gave him the 
 idea of constructing a similar work ; but he was pre- 
 vented from undertaking it in consequence of the 
 reproaches of his uncle, who thought it a waste of 
 time; and it was not accomplished until, being laid 
 aside by a long illness, he employed the weary hours 
 of his convalescence in that manner. He succeeded 
 to admiration, and made a small figure, which played 
 the flute with astonishing precision. Some time after 
 he exhibited a tambourine-player ; two geese, which 
 dabbled on the ground, looked for corn, and picking it 
 
VAUCANSON AUTOMATA. 1 C D 
 
 out of a trough, swallowed it. Vaucanson also dis- 
 covered a means of imitating the animal digestion in a 
 remarkable manner. 
 
 In 1740 the King of Prussia, who endeavoured to 
 attach remarkable men to his court, made offers to 
 Vaucanson, who, however, preferred remaining in his 
 own country. 
 
 Not long after, Cardinal Fleury engaged his services, 
 intrusting to him the inspection of silk manufactures. 
 He had now a field for the useful employment of his 
 great skill in mechanics in this situation, which he had 
 not sought, but which he owed entirely to the superiority 
 of his talents, perfected by self-culture and long per- 
 severing study. His efforts in this department were 
 crowned with success. He brought to perfection an 
 improved method of preparing silk, and constructed 
 various machines, remarkable for the uniformity and 
 precision of their movements, and the consequent 
 regularity of their operation. Of this machinery he 
 gave, in the Record of the Academy of Sciences, of 
 which he was a member, ample and excellent accounts. 
 He possessed in a very rare degree the talent of de- 
 scribing machinery with clearness and precision. He 
 had the gift of perspicacity, and could see with a 
 glance, and describe with equal readiness. 
 
 So much importance was attached to these labours, 
 that the jealousy of the ignorant operatives was 
 awakened ; and on one occasion, during a journey to 
 Lyons, Yaucanson was pursued and pelted with stones 
 by an angry mob, who threatened to kill him for dimi- 
 
170 VAUCANSON AUTOMATA. 
 
 nishing the value of their work by means of his ma- 
 chinery. He took a curious mode of revenging himself, 
 in constructing a machine with which an ass executed 
 a piece of flowered stuff ! 
 
 Another of his remarkable productions was an asp 
 which he made for the representation of Marmontel's 
 Cleopatra. It imitated all the movements of the 
 living reptile, and hissed to the life. This gave rise to 
 a Ion-mot : some one, being asked his opinion of the 
 merits of the tragedy, replied, " I am of the opinion 
 of the asp!" Yaucanson also made a mechanism to 
 imitate the circulation of the blood, in which Louis XV. 
 took much interest ; but he abandoned it, on account 
 of the extreme slowness of the progress made by the 
 royal workmen. Probably he was anxious to confine 
 his attention to more profitable matters. 
 
 He had now justly obtained for himself great 
 renown ; and the celebrated Voltaire, sharing in the 
 general feelings of admiration entertained for this 
 really remarkable man, wrote some lines in his honour, 
 in which he was compared to Prometheus, who snatched 
 fire from heaven to animate the work of his hands. 
 
 In the latter years of Vaucanson's life, he was 
 severely afflicted by long and painful disease; never- 
 theless, he preserved all his energy and spirit unim- 
 paired. To the very last he employed himself dili- 
 gently about the construction of a machine he had 
 invented for making an interminable chain "Lose 
 no time," he cried to his workmen ; " perhaps I shall 
 not live long enough to explain perfectly all my idea.'** 
 
VAUCANSON AUTOMATA. 171 
 
 He expired in November, 1782. His valuable collec- 
 tion of machines at the Hotel de Montagne, he be- 
 queathed to the sovereign. It was at first proposed 
 that this gift should be presented to the Academy of 
 Sciences ; but other claims were urged, disputes and 
 difficulties arose, and the result was that the collection 
 was dispersed. 
 
 We cannot help regretting that the great skill dis- 
 played by Yaucanson was not more usefully directed ; 
 for, however curious and ingenious the construction of 
 such works as his automata, this species of labour 
 turns to no serious account, and will never suffice to 
 perpetuate a man's name in the grateful remembrance 
 of his species ; whereas, on the other hand, the inventor 
 of a safety-lamp, or of a Jacquard-loom, will never be 
 forgotten. 
 
THE STEAM-ENGINE. 
 
 THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER SOLOMON DE CAUS- 
 NEWCOMEN WATT. 
 
 " Whirled by the steam's impetuous breath, 
 I mark'd yon engine's mighty wheel 
 How fast it forged the arms of death, 
 And moulded adamantine steel ! 
 
 But soon that lifelike scene to stop, 
 The steam's impetuous breath to chill, 
 
 It needed but one single drop 
 Of water cold, and all was still ! " 
 
 " The engine of Watt has proved the very Hercules of modern 
 mythology, the united steam-power of Great Britain being equal, 
 it is estimated, to the manual labour of upwards of 400 millions 
 of men, or more than double the number of males supposed to 
 inhabit the globe." QUARTERLY REVIEW. 
 
 How startling are such statistics ! It is scarcely 
 possible to overrate the value of an invention by 
 which distance is annihilated, trade rendered prosper- 
 ous, and human labour saved, and which, within the 
 course of a century, has wholly changed the condition of 
 the mechanical arts in both worlds. To trace the pro- 
 gress of the discovery which, at the present day, works 
 such marvels, is both a curious and interesting task. 
 
 There lived, in the time of the emperor Justinian, 
 an architect and engineer named Anthemius, mention 
 
THE STEAM-ENGINE. 173 
 
 of whom is made by Agathius, in the third book of his 
 history. This man having lost a lawsuit, which he had 
 instituted against one of his neighbours, called Tenon, 
 conceived a most singular species of revenge. He filled 
 several large vessels with water, and closed them very 
 tight j several pipes were attached to the covers, which 
 decreased in size as they reached upwards. Fire being 
 placed underneath, the steam escaped through the 
 pipes in the covers ; and not finding a free vent above, 
 shook the ceiling and the rafters of his own house, and 
 that of Tenon, to such a degree, that the latter left it, 
 from fright. 
 
 The power of steam was clearly known at that early 
 period, but the application of it, for want of means, 
 was never directed to useful purposes. We read, how- 
 ever, in an article by M. Arago, in the " Annuaire des 
 Bureaux des Longitudes" for the year 1829, that 120 
 years before Christ, Hero, of Alexandria, called " the 
 Old," invented an apparatus presenting the first appli- 
 cation ever made of steam. It bore the name of 
 spiritalia, seu pneumatica, and is called a reaction- 
 machine. 
 
 It was reserved to recent times to conceive the pro- 
 ject of making use of steam as a motive power on an 
 extended scale. The idea was first published in Eng- 
 land, by the Marquis of Worcester, in a remarkable 
 volume, entitled "A Century of Inventions." He 
 there says : " This admirable method which I propose 
 for driving up water by fire, possesses illimitable 
 power, if the vessel be strong enough ; for I have 
 
174 MARQUIS OF WORCESTER SOLOMON DE CAUS. 
 
 taken a cannon, which I sealed hermetically, after 
 having filled the interior three-quarters full of water, 
 and then submitted it to the action of fire for twenty- 
 four hours, at the end of which time it blew up with a 
 violent explosion. I subsequently obtained a constant 
 jet of water more than 40 ft. high." 
 
 We are assured that the Marquis was indebted for 
 this idea to an unhappy man of genius whom he found 
 incarcerated in the Bicetre at Paris. This man was a 
 distinguished engineer and architect, born in Normandy, 
 about the close of the sixteenth century. He was for 
 some time in England, where he was attached to the 
 service of the Prince of Wales, and published a work 
 on Perspective ; afterwards he went into Germany, 
 and was engaged as engineer by the Elector of 
 Bavaria, who intrusted him with the management of 
 his buildings and gardens. At length he went to 
 France, where he was desirous of obtaining the 
 patronage of Cardinal Richelieu. 
 
 We have a glimpse of Solomon de Caus (for that 
 was his name) in the following letter, which was ad- 
 dressed by a lady to Cinq Mars, the celebrated con- 
 spirator, who suffered death for his futile attempt to 
 overthrow the power of the great Cardinal Minister : 
 
 "MY DEAR D'EFFIAT, Whilst you are forgetting 
 me at Marbonne, absorbed in the pleasures of the 
 court and of opposing M. le Cardinal, I, according to 
 your expressed wishes, am doing the honours of Paris 
 to your English lord, the Marquis of Worcester. I 
 
THE STEAM-ENGINE. 175 
 
 take him about, or rather he takes me about, from one 
 curiosity to another. Choosing always the most sad 
 and serious words, speaking but little, listening with 
 great attention, and fixing his large blue eyes upon 
 every one of whom he asks a question, as if he 
 could see into the depths of their souls, he is never 
 satisfied with the explanations he receives, and does 
 not look upon things exactly as they are shown to him. 
 For instance, when we visited the Bicetre, he pre- 
 tended to see marks of great genius in a crazy man, 
 whom, if he were not raving, I am sure your English- 
 man would have taken to London, if possible, and 
 listened to his nonsense from morning till night. As 
 we crossed the yard filled with these creatures, I was 
 half dead with fright, and leaned against my com- 
 panion. Suddenly an ugly face appeared behind the 
 bars, and a hoarse voice exclaimed, ' I am not crazy. 
 I have made a discovery which will enrich the country 
 that so violently opposes it.' 'What is his discovery ?' 
 I asked the man who showed us over the place. 'Ah!' 
 exclaimed he, shrugging his shoulders, ' something very 
 simple, which you would never guess ; it is the use of 
 steam.' I burst out laughing. 
 
 " ' His name,' continued the keeper, ' is Solomon de 
 Caus. He came from Normandy, four years ago, to 
 present a memoir to the king on the subject of the 
 marvellous effects to be obtained by his invention. 
 According to him, machinery could be moved by it, 
 carriages propelled, and numerous other wonders 
 effected. . . . The Cardinal sent away the fool 
 
176 MARQUIS OF WORCESTER SOLOMON DE CAUS. 
 
 without listening to him. But De Cans, undiscouraged, 
 followed him from place to place, until Richelieu, weary 
 of his importunities, had him shut up in this place, 
 where he has now been three years and a half. He 
 tells every stranger he sees, as he tells you, that he is 
 not crazy, but has made a grand discovery. He has 
 even written a book upon the subject.' And so 
 saying, he handed us a book. My Lord Worcester 
 took it, and, after reading some pages, said, 'This 
 man seems by no means insane ; and were he in my 
 country, instead of being shut up, he would have made 
 his fortune. Bring him hither. I wish to question 
 him.' He returned from this conversation with a 
 sorrowful countenance. ' Alas ! he is indeed crazy 
 now/ said he ; ' misfortune and captivity have for 
 ever destroyed his reason ; this cruel usage has made 
 him mad. But, when you put him in this prison, 
 you incarcerated the greatest genius of his day.' 
 
 "Hereupon we took our leave, and since then he has 
 done nothing but talk of Solomon de Caus. Adieu, 
 my dear Henry ; come back soon, and meantime 
 forget not MARION DELORME." 
 
 The book shown by the keeper to the Marquis of 
 Worcester was, in all probability, that published by 
 this unfortunate De Caus at Frankfort, in 1615, en- 
 titled, " Baisons des Forces Motives," &c. (Considera- 
 tions of Motive Forces). 
 
 Brancas, a philosopher of Rome, was the first ^jrho 
 employed the force of steam to produce motion. He 
 
THE STEAM-ENGINE. 177 
 
 contrived a number of different kinds of mills, to be 
 worked by the steam coming from a*.- large seolipile 
 and blowing against the floats or vanes Of .a wheel. 
 This ingenious invention, with several others, he 
 published at Rome, in 1628, in a work called "La 
 Machine," in which was given a representation of his 
 "fire-engine." But the force he could thus have 
 obtained from the vapour would have been found alto- 
 gether inconsiderable if he had ever put it in practice. 
 Thirty years after the publication of the Marquis of 
 Worcester's "Century of Inventions," his discovery 
 was reproduced, almost simultaneously, by an English- 
 man, named Captain Thomas Savery, and a French 
 physician, named Papin ; but the former alone turned 
 it to practical use, and in the year 1698 obtained a 
 patent for a new invention "for raising water and 
 occasioning motion to all sorts of mill-work, by the 
 impellant force of fire." This engine displayed much 
 ingenuity, and was almost as perfect in its contrivance 
 as the same kind of engine has been made ever since 
 that time. It made much noise, and became a general 
 subject of conversation with the engineers and me- 
 chanics in the neighbourhood, among whom was one 
 Thomas Newcomen, an ironmonger of Dartmouth, in 
 Devonshire, who was in the habit of visiting the mines 
 of tin and copper in Cornwall, where Captain Savery 
 was well known, from his attempts to introduce his 
 engine for the draining of mines, which, at that period, 
 were nearly all of them at a stand, for want of some 
 more powerful and cheap machines than hand-pumps 
 or horse-machines. 
 
 N 
 
178 NEWCOMEN WATT. 
 
 To Newcomen we owe the application of a piston 
 with machinery, by which the action of the atmosphere 
 upon the piston is made to operate, with safety and 
 effect, against the most severe pressures. It would 
 seem Savery claimed for himself the whole merit of the 
 discovery; but posterity has assigned the palm of 
 honour to the modest discoverer of the principle of 
 condensation ; for this invention has always been 
 known as " Newcomen's, or, the Atmospheric Steam- 
 Engine." 
 
 To Mr. JAMES WATT is due the honour of perfecting, 
 or one might almost say reinventing, the steam-engine. 
 His natne is too celebrated, and his discoveries too 
 well known, to need more than a general reference to 
 them here. He was born in 1736, at Greenock, where 
 his father was a merchant and magistrate, and he early 
 showed a marked taste for those pursuits by which he 
 subsequently attained his great and well-earned fame. 
 His grandfather and uncle were both teachers of the 
 mathematics, and the boy's natural turn for mechanics 
 was fostered by those around him. It is related of 
 him, that a friend of his father's one day found the child 
 stretched on the floor, drawing with chalk numerous 
 lines that intersected each other. He advised sending 
 the young idler, as he thought him, to school ; but his 
 father bade him first examine what the little fellow 
 was about. On doing so, they found he was trying, at 
 six years old, to solve a problem in geometry. He 
 soon constructed a small electrical machine and other 
 things; and a curious anecdote, related by one of his 
 
THE STEAM-ENGINE. 179 
 
 family, seems to show that already the boy's mind was 
 directed with curiosity towards the marvellous attri- 
 butes of steam. His aunt, Mrs. Muirhead, not sharing 
 in the general opinion of her nephew's superior abilities, 
 rebuked him one evening for his listless idleness. He 
 would do nothing, she said, but take off the lid of 
 the kettle and put it on again, holding sometimes 
 a cup and sometimes a silver spoon over the steam, 
 watching the vapour as it came out of the spout, 
 and counting the drops of water into which it became 
 condensed ! 
 
 Chemistry was a favourite subject with him when 
 he was confined by ill-health to his father's dwelling ; 
 and, though his naturally feeble constitution prevented 
 him from benefiting much by school instruction, the 
 ardour of his mind was unquenchable, and he devoured 
 every kind of learning. 
 
 At the age of sixteen the young philosopher was 
 articled as an apprentice, to learn the business of " an 
 instrument-maker," which included " the making and 
 repairing of the instruments used in mechanics and 
 natural philosophy, and the manufacture, in a rough 
 way, of all kinds of musical instruments, and all the 
 various instruments necessary for the practice of land- 
 surveying." 
 
 It was while in Glasgow, on a visit to one of his 
 aunts, that he became interested in the operations of 
 the individual to whom he was apprenticed, a me- 
 chanic who is described as " eking out a scanty sub- 
 sistence by making and repairing fishing-tackle, and 
 
180 JAMES WATT. 
 
 the simple instruments used in mechanical drawing." 
 He w&s, we are told, " a useful man at almost every- 
 thing" just the very man after Watt's own heart, 
 and from whom he learned the rudiments of instru- 
 ment-making, and, probably, many other useful things 
 which he afterwards turned to account. 
 
 After about a year spent in this kind of apprentice- 
 ship, Watt went to London, desirous to obtain better 
 instruction in an art then little practised in Scotland. 
 For this purpose he placed himself with a mathe- 
 matical and nautical instrument maker, under whom 
 he acquired ready and orderly methods of despatching 
 business ; but, by sitting too near the door of the 
 workshop in winter, he caught a severe cold, the 
 effects of which he continued to feel to an advanced 
 period of life. In consequence of this illness he was 
 soon compelled to return to Glasgow, where he in- 
 tended to establish himself in business ; but not being 
 a burgess, he was looked upon by the corporations of 
 arts and trades as an intruder upon their privileges, 
 and they refused to allow him to set up even the 
 humblest workshop. 
 
 The University of Glasgow came to his assistance 
 at this juncture, and gave him permission to establish 
 himself within their precincts, and also honoured him 
 with the appointment of their mathematical instru- 
 ment maker. This happened about 1757, when he 
 had scarcely attained his twenty-first year. He was 
 now placed in a congenial sphere, and in the course of 
 a few years was employed and befriended by men of 
 
THE STEAM-ENGINE. 181 
 
 great names, his reputation daily increasing as a dili- 
 gent arid successful cultivator of science. In his pro- 
 fession he showed much ingenuity and skill, and his 
 superior intelligence soon enabled him to form habits 
 of intimacy with the first-rate men of talent at that 
 time in Glasgow. His workshop became a favourite 
 resort of all zealous students and enlightened inquirers 
 into physical science, and was particularly frequented 
 by the pupils of the University. One of these young 
 men (afterwards Professor Robison) expressed the 
 surprise he felt when, on being introduced to Watt, 
 whom he expected to find merely an intelligent 
 workman, he found a philosopher as young as 
 himself, yet willing and able to instruct him or any 
 of the students who might fall into difficulties. 
 In fact, he needed but a sufficient spur to take up 
 and conquer any subject. Without neglecting his 
 business in the daytime, he devoted his nights to 
 various and often profound studies ; and however great 
 the difficulties of a subject, provided it were worthy 
 of pursuit, he would follow it out with all the energy 
 of his indefatigable character. 
 
 His attention was first specially directed to the 
 subject of the steam-engine in 1763, when he under- 
 took to repair a working model of Kewcomen's engine, 
 belonging to the University. During the course or 
 this employment he perceived great deficiencies in tno 
 machine itself, which he set himself to remedy, and in 
 the course of his numerous experiments he effected 
 such marvellous results as produced an entire revolu- 
 
182 JAMES WATT 
 
 tion in the working of these machines, the operation 
 of which was speedily felt in every branch of manu- 
 facturing industry, and gave a new impulse to universal 
 trade. Professor Robison has given some interesting 
 details with reference to this subject. He says the 
 model was at first a plaything to Mr. Watt and him- 
 self (who was at that time a constant visitor to his 
 workshop), but, like everything else which came into 
 the hands of this acute observer, it soon became a 
 most serious study. Being an exact copy of a real 
 engine, it offered a fair opportunity for experiments, 
 and Mr. Watt made many very curious ones. He 
 early perceived that an enormous quantity of steam 
 was wasted, and that the chief improvements the 
 engine was susceptible of must consist in contrivances 
 for increasing its production and diminishing its waste. 
 Professor Robison feeling his mind "fired with the 
 inexhaustible fund of instruction and entertainment" 
 which he beheld opening before him, assiduously at- 
 tended to the investigations carried on by Mr. Watt, 
 and marked with deep interest his progress. He has 
 given a graphic and amusing sketch of what passed on 
 one occasion : "About a fortnight after this (in 1765) 
 I came to town, and went to have a chat with Mr. 
 Watt, and to communicate to him some observations 
 I had made. I came into his parlour without cere- 
 mony, and found him sitting before the fire, having, 
 lying upon his knee, a little tin cistern, wjaich he was 
 looking at. I entered into conversation on what we 
 had been speaking of at our last meeting something 
 
James Watt. 
 
 P. 182 
 
THE STEAM-ENGINE. 183 
 
 about steam. All the while, Mr. "VVatt kept looking 
 at the fire, and laid down the cistern at the foot of his 
 chair. At last he looked at me, and said briskly, 
 'You need not fash yourself any more about that, 
 man ; I have now made an engine that shall not waste 
 a particle of steam. It shall all be boiling hot, ay, 
 and hot water injected, if I please.' So saying, Mr. 
 Watt looked with complacency at the little thing at 
 his feet, and seeing that I observed him, he shoved it 
 away under a table with his foot. I put a question to 
 him about the nature of his contrivance j he answered 
 me rather drily. I did not press him to a further 
 explanation at that time, knowing that I had offended 
 him a few days before, by blabbing a pretty contri- 
 vance which he had hit on for turning the cocks of 
 the engine." 
 
 The next day Professor Kobison met Mr. A. Brown, 
 a very intimate acquaintance of Mr. Watt's, who 
 immediately said, " Well, have you seen Jamie Watt 
 yet ? He'll be in high spirits now with his engine, isn't 
 he ?" " Yes," said I, " very fine spirits !" " Gad," says 
 Mr. Brown, " the condenser is the thing ; keep it but 
 cold enough, and you may have a perfect vacuum, what- 
 ever be the heat of the cylinder !" The instant he 
 heard this, the Professor says the whole flashed on his 
 mind at once, and he felt no doubt that Watt had 
 invented a perfect machine. 
 
 Some months later he again saw Mr. Watt, who 
 frankly told him all his contrivance, informed him of 
 many curious properties of steam, relative to its heat 
 
184 JAMES WATT. 
 
 and elasticity ; explained his methods of condensation, 
 and mentioned a number of remarkable facts relative 
 to this subject. 
 
 Long afterwards Professor Robison discovered that 
 the little apparatus he had seen on his friend's knee, 
 and which he had shoved under the table with his 
 foot, was the condenser, in his first experiment. "I can 
 say with great confidence," he adds, " that nothing ever 
 occurred to Mr. Watt, either by reading or informa- 
 tion, of his leading principle of a steam-vessel per- 
 petually and universally hot. All the other contri- 
 vances, of separate condenser, air and water-pumps, 
 amalgam, or rosins, or fats, for keeping the piston air- 
 tight, are but so many emanations from this first 
 thought ; and I must say further, that the thought 
 was all his own." 
 
 In the summer of 1764 Mr. Watt married his 
 cousin, Miss Miller, and, leaving the college, took up 
 his abode in the town, and opened a shop in the Salt 
 Market, where his increasing business made him soon 
 require the labours of an assistant. During the whole 
 of his residence in Glasgow he practised housekeeping 
 on a very humble scale ; but his home was rendered 
 happy by the presence of an excellent woman whom 
 he tenderly loved. Her influence was always exerted 
 to cheer and animate her husband, whose powerful 
 mind was often overshadowed with gloom under the 
 depressing circumstances ot indifferent health (for 
 he suffered from the pressure of long-continued ner- 
 vous headaches), narrow means, and spirits prone to 
 
THE STEAM-ENGINE. 185 
 
 despond. She ever encouraged his hopes, and when 
 for a time these seemed to be quite overthrown, her 
 buoyant spirits did not sink, nor did her cheerful faith 
 fail ; but with true fortitude she went hoping on, and 
 wrote to him, "Do not make yourself unhappy, though 
 things should not succeed to your wish. If it (the 
 new steam-engine) will not do, something else toill. 
 Never despair." 
 
 The success of his first experiments on the engine 
 had induced him to determine on constructing a larger 
 model than could be conveniently made at his usual 
 place of business, and he therefore set up this machine, 
 with the aid of his ingenious apprentice, in one of 
 the rooms of a pottery which he had assisted in esta- 
 blishing near Glasgow. An accident put an end to his 
 experiments with this engine; and for want of leisure 
 and means, his project was, at the time, laid aside. 
 
 In addition to his employment as a mathematical 
 instrument maker, Watt devoted now much of his 
 time to land-surveying, and this led to the employ- 
 ment of his superior talents in the more important 
 department of civil engineering. In his surveys he 
 used an improved micrometer, and a machine for 
 drawing in perspective, both which he had himself 
 invented. 
 
 In the year 1773, having lost his admirable wife, 
 he was induced to settle in England, and enter into 
 partnership with the well-known Mr. Boulton, of 
 Birmingham, a man of wealth, position, and energy, 
 eminently qualified to bring into practical operation 
 
186 JAMES WATT. 
 
 the great invention of the improved steara-engino, 
 Nothing could have been more happy than this con- 
 nection, which lasted more than a quarter of a century, 
 and issued in the successful completion of the arduous 
 undertaking. Assisted by the expert artisans now 
 placed at his command, Watt completed, by the latter 
 end of 1774, his fourth model engine, which, after 
 careful examination, was deemed highly satisfactory. 
 Yet the patentees well knew that much still remained 
 to be done before it could be brought into extensive 
 operation j that costly machinery must be constructed, 
 to aid in the production of new engines ; and that a 
 protracted struggle with ignorance and prejudice must 
 be expected before any remuneration could be hoped 
 for. Of the spirited manner in which the mercantile 
 part of the affair was conducted, some idea may be 
 formed from the fact that more than 47,000 were 
 spent before any profits were realized ; but at length 
 they began to pour in, and in no scanty measure. 
 
 Of the private character of this extraordinary man, 
 a most pleasing account is given by Lord Jeffrey, who 
 observes that perhaps no individual in his age pos- 
 sessed so much and such varied information ; he had 
 read so much, and remembered what he had read 
 so accurately and well. His stores of general know- 
 ledge were immense, and still more astonishing was 
 the command he always had over them. It seemed 
 as if every subject casually started in conversation 
 was that which he was best acquainted with. In 
 social discourse he made everything so clear, plain, 
 
THE STEAM-ENGINE. 187 
 
 and intelligible, that all were instructed and pleased; 
 and being of a generous and affectionate disposition, 
 he was always ready to impart information, and to 
 assist and encourage those who applied to him for 
 advice or help. An interesting picture is drawn of 
 his personal appearance and manner, by a lady* who 
 knew him when she was a child, and who thus de- 
 scribes the impression he made in society : " His eye 
 and countenance were calm, as if patiently investigat- 
 ing or quietly contemplating his object. His utter- 
 ance was slow and unimpassioned, deep and low in tone, 
 with a broad Scottish accent ; his manners gentle, 
 modest, and unassuming. In a company where he was 
 not known, unless spoken to, he might have tran- 
 quilly passed the whole time in pursuing his own 
 meditations. But this could not well happen ; for, 
 in point of fact, everybody practically knew the infi- 
 nite variety of his talents and stores of knowledge. 
 "When Mr. Watt entered a room, men of science, men 
 of letters, nay, military men, artists, ladies, even little 
 children, thronged round him. I remember a cele- 
 brated Swedish artist having been instructed by him 
 that rats' whiskers make the most pliant and elastic 
 painting-brush. Ladies would appeal to him on the 
 best means of devising grates, curing smoky chimneys, 
 warming their houses, and obtaining fast colours. I 
 can speak from experience of his teaching me how to 
 make a dulcimer and improve a Jew's-harp. On one 
 occasion Mr. Watt visited Paris. It so happened that 
 * Mrs. Schimmelpenninck. 
 
188 JAMES WATT. 
 
 while going through one of the palaces, I believe the 
 Tuileries, a French housemaid appeared much per- 
 plexed concerning some bright English stoves which 
 had just been received, and which she knew not how 
 to clean. An English gentleman was standing by, to 
 whom she appealed for information. This was the 
 great statesman Charles James Fox ; he could give 
 no help. ' But,' said he, t here is a countryman of 
 mine who will tell you all about it.' This was Mr. 
 Watt, to whom he was at the moment talking, and 
 who accordingly gave full instructions as to the best 
 mode of cleaning a bright grate." This anecdote Mrs. 
 Watt used to tell with great diversion. 
 
 This illustrious man, and great public benefactor, 
 attained the advanced age of eighty-four. As his 
 death approached, he was perfectly conscious of his 
 situation, and calm in the prospect of approaching 
 eternity, expressing his thankfulness for the length of 
 days he had been permitted to enjoy, and for the 
 quiet and cheerful evening of life granted him after 
 the prolonged labours of life had terminated. 
 
 His useful and honourable course had secured him 
 the admiration of all the great and good men of his 
 day, and when he sank to the grave, the whole nation 
 hastened to pay to his memory the tribute which all 
 acknowledged was his due. " The civilized world,'" 
 says his distinguished biographer (Lord Brougham), 
 " is filled with imperishable records of his genius, 
 and the grateful recollection of the whole species 
 embalms his memory." In Westminster Abbej? is 
 
THE STEAM-ENGINE. 189 
 
 the noble monument raised to him by the genius of 
 Chantrey it is his greatest work ; and the inscrip- 
 tion it bears, written by the pen of Lord Brougham, 
 is so beautiful that we transcribe it here : 
 
 "Not to perpetuate a Name 
 Which must endure while the peaceful arts flourish, 
 
 But to shew 
 
 That mankind have learned to honour 
 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 
 
 A^iong the most illustrious followers of Science 
 
 And the real benefactors of the world. 
 
 Born at Greenock, 1736. 
 Died at Heathfield, in Staffordshire, 1819. 
 
 Surely such a tribute must make the heart of every 
 Englishman and every philanthropist rejoice ! 
 
JOSIAS WEDGWOOD 
 
 Bom mo Died 1795. 
 
 " They have embodied classical models in a domestic manu- 
 facture, like the Wedgwood china." QUAETEELY REVIEW. 
 
 DUKING the reign of Queen Elizabeth attempts were 
 made to establish factories of pottery in England ; 
 and in the following century a species of enamelled 
 stone-ware was produced in Staffordshire j but little 
 of importance was accomplished till a second Palissy 
 arose in England, in the person of Josias Wedgwood. 
 The career of this remarkable man ranged from 1760 
 to 1795. Under him the ceramic art in our own 
 country was raised to a high standard of excellence, 
 and from him the admirable productions of more 
 recent periods must be considered to have been 
 derived. 
 
 He was the younger son of a Staffordshire potter, 
 and was born on the 12th July, 1730, at Burslem, the 
 principal seat of the potteries. In order fully to appre- 
 ciate the surprising improvements made by him in 
 this branch of industrial art, it will be necessary to 
 take a glance at the state of the manufacture before 
 his time. 
 
 Earthenware is made in several parts of this country, 
 but is so extensively produced in the north-west of 
 
JOSIAS WEDGWOOD. 191 
 
 Staffordshire as to have obtained for that district the 
 distinguishing name of " Potteries." This locality 
 extends about ten miles in one direction and two or 
 three in another, and contains some nine or ten towns 
 and hamlets closely contiguous; or actually connected. 
 The aspect of the region is far from ornamental or 
 picturesque in character. " Rows of brick-built houses, 
 interrupted by pottery- works, whose object is indicated 
 by huge cones of bricks, kilns, or baking-ovens, tall 
 chimneys, clouds of smoke, dust in summer and mud 
 in winter, with workmen wearing small closely-fitting 
 skull-caps of drab felt," such are the prominent 
 features of the scene. Tlie soil presents almost every- 
 where a rich variety of clays of various textures and 
 hues, with coal in such abundance that formerly it 
 was to be obtained at one shilling per ton. 
 
 To these advantages, joined to the inaptitude of the 
 soil for the purposes of husbandry, is doubtless owing 
 its selection as the site of its present staple manufac- 
 tures. "We are told that some species of earthenware 
 has existed here " for centuries past ; " and the fact 
 that many vessels of Roman manufacture, stamped 
 with the Roman name " Attilianus," as well as bricks 
 cemented together, have been found in the neigh- 
 bourhood, has led to the belief that it was in former 
 ages the site of a pottery. At Burslem, pots to hold 
 butter were made early in the fifteenth century (for 
 which Parliament legislated in the year 1670, requir- 
 ing the pots to hold just 6 Ib. and no more). Iii the 
 course of time the articles of the manufactory became 
 
192 JOSIAS WEDGWOOD. 
 
 more various, but the productions were coarse and 
 clumsy, made from clays found in the immediate 
 neighbourhood, painted and moulded in a rude way, 
 and glazed with lead ore finely powdered and sprin- 
 kled upon the pieces of ware before firing. 
 
 The first improvements in the art must be ascribed 
 to two Dutchmen, the brothers Elers, who came from 
 Holland, and settled at Burslem about the year 1700. 
 They introduced a new kind of glaze, made by casting 
 salt into the kiln when at its greatest heat, which 
 produced a vitrification of the clay on the surface. 
 This was followed by other improvements. A species 
 of red unglazed china was carried by them to such a 
 degree of excellence that some of their teapots sold at 
 a guinea each. They also produced a black variety, 
 obtained by the introduction of manganese into their 
 clays ; and their skill in the art is sufficiently attested 
 by the specimens of their labours which still exist. 
 
 The next step in advance was the introduction of 
 flint as an element in the composition of the ware 
 itself. It is said this discovery was accidentally made 
 about the year 1720, when a potter named Astbury, 
 being on his way to London, happened to notice the 
 pure white of some burnt flint stone when mixed with 
 water which had been prepared by the ostler of the 
 inn, as a remedy for some disease in his horse's eye. 
 He was struck with the idea that his ware might be 
 improved by an addition of this material, and the 
 experiment succeeded beyond his expectations. Thus 
 originated the white stone-ware, which soon super- 
 
ENAMELLED STONE-WARE. 193 
 
 seded the coloured ones. At first the flints were 
 pulverized, to the terrible injury of the health of the 
 workmen, till the famous Brindley, at an early period 
 of his life, constructed the mills afterwards used for 
 grinding them in a moist state.* 
 
 A great improvement was manifest upon the intro- 
 duction of flint in combination with the clays ; and a 
 number of persons engaged in the trade, and largely 
 extended its operations. For a time the art continued 
 to progress, and considerable quantities of the Staf- 
 fordshire wares found their way into the foreign 
 markets, notwithstanding the increased demands for 
 home consumption. Unhappily, as the potters in- 
 creased in prosperity they relaxed in care, and, 
 furiously competing with each other in the cheap- 
 ness of production, inundated the markets with vast 
 quantities of inferior goods. The French speedily 
 took advantage of this state of things ; and having 
 succeeded in manufacturing a white ware better glazed 
 and more elegant in form than ours, shipped it in 
 
 * A work written in the strange local dialect, and published 
 by a native resident in the district, records this fact in the fol- 
 lowing manner : Two old men are sitting together in a public- 
 house at Burslem, talking over early days, and one says, 
 "Rafy, oi rek'n thee remembers th' oud schemer Brindley, 
 working atth'milln-reet's shop i'th'yard?" His fellow answers, 
 " Ya, that oi doo, varry weel. It wur at th' teyme 'ut he wur 
 bildin the woindy mill i' th' top o' th' Jenkins, for t' groind 
 flint, ur. That's no mych more nor fifty year sin. It wur thout 
 a famous job t' think o' groindin' flint loike fleawr." The " old 
 schemer Brindley" did indeed do "a famous job" for the poor 
 workmen, to whom the dry grinding of flint was so fatal an 
 operation that they are said rarely to have survived the second 
 year of their engagement 
 
194 JOSIAS WEDGWOOD. 
 
 large quantities to this country, where it speedily 
 superseded the native productions. Such was the 
 luckless position of the English potters, threatening 
 the speedy overthrow and final ruin of their trade, 
 when the object of this sketch commenced his career. 
 
 It may well be believed that but little school learn- 
 ing fell to the lot of the boy, when we are told that 
 " scarcely any person in Burslem learned more than 
 mere reading and writing, until about 1750, when a 
 free-school was endowed, for teaching youth to read 
 the Bible, write a fair hand, and know the primary 
 rules of arithmetic." So low was the social position of 
 the class to which he belonged, and the little oppor- 
 tunity he had for self-improvement is only too evident 
 from the fact that, at the age of eleven years, Josias 
 worked in his elder brother's pottery as a thrower, 
 their father being already dead. The small-pox, which 
 left an incurable lameness in his right leg, so as after- 
 wards to necessitate amputation, compelled him to 
 relinquish the potter's wheel. Confined by this afflic- 
 tion for some time within doors, he occupied himself 
 in studying clays and mineral substances, and trying 
 various small experiments in his art. 
 
 Nothing is recorded of his further progress till after 
 he had attained the age of twenty-one, when he left 
 Burslem, and connected himself with a man named 
 Harrison, at Stoke (one of the neighbouring villages). 
 During this engagement, which was dissolved at the 
 end of two years, he is said to have first evinced his 
 talent for the invention of ornamental pottery. 
 
ENAMELLED STONE-WAKE. 195 
 
 He then (in 1754) went into partnership with 
 Mr. J. Whieldon, and manufactured spoons, knife- 
 handles, table and other plates, and various "small 
 crocks;" some of which articles were made in imitation 
 of agate, tortoiseshell, jasper, and porpyhry. 
 
 His associate, however, being unwilling to embark 
 in these new branches of invention, for which he had 
 so decided a predilection, he left him at the end of 
 five years, and returned to Burslem, where he first 
 went into business on his own sole account, and set 
 up a pot-work in a small thatched manufactory, upon 
 the spot at present occupied by the new market-house. 
 There he continued to make similar ornamental works, 
 and throve well, at the same time continually experi- 
 menting, with a view to further improvements. 
 
 His business increasing, he before long took a second 
 manufactory, where he fabricated a white stone-ware ; 
 and afterwards a third, at which he produced the 
 cream-coloured ware, which established his reputation 
 in the market, and which was not only handsome in 
 design, but durable, covered with a beautiful glaze, 
 and proof against sudden alternations of heat 
 and cold. Of this exquisite production Wedgwood 
 presented some specimens to Queen Charlotte, who 
 immediately ordered a complete table-service, directing 
 it to be called the " Queen's ware " and Wedgwood 
 received the appointment of " Potter to the Queen." 
 This illustrious patronage rendered the beautiful 
 novelty so popular, that orders flowed in upon its 
 successful inventor faster than he could execute them. 
 o 2 
 
196 JOSIAS WEDGWOOD. 
 
 It should not be forgotten that "Wedgwood's success 
 was not the result of any fortunate discovery acci- 
 dentally made, but that it was due to patient investi- 
 gation and unremitting efforts. In prosecuting his 
 investigations, he was guided by sound scientific prin- 
 ciples, while, with ardent and indefatigable energy, he 
 devoted himself entirely to the object. At the same 
 time, he sought a higher class of workmen than had 
 formerly been employed, to assist him in his labours, 
 and was well seconded by their industrious ingenuity. 
 By varying and repeating his experiments, he suc- 
 ceeded in discovering the mode of manufacturing 
 many other descriptions of earthenware and porcelain, 
 adapted to various purposes of use and ornament. 
 While thus carrying on his improvements, he applied 
 himself to the study of chemistry ; and for his further 
 assistance engaged Mr. Chisholme (who had been em- 
 ployed in a similar department by the celebrated 
 Dr. Lewis, author of the " Commercium Philosophico- 
 Technicum"), for whom he not only built a comfort- 
 able habitation near the manufactory, but, with gene- 
 rous liberality, when the infirmities of age had disabled 
 him, allowed him an annuity for his support, which 
 was continued till his death. 
 
 At the period when Wedgwood commenced his 
 career, the means of intercourse were miserably insuf- 
 ficient. Pottery wares were conveyed in small crates, 
 by pack-horses, or carts, along the wretched roads, 
 while materials for the manufacture travelled after the 
 same fashion. No sooner was the idea of the canal 
 
ENAMELLED STONE-WARE. 11)7 
 
 system started than Wedgwood, immediately per- 
 ceiving its immense advantages, not only to himself 
 but to all engaged in the pottery trade, eagerly co- 
 operated with Brindley, who was then projecting the 
 " Grand Trunk," and actually turned up the first clod 
 of earth for it, in his own neighbourhood. Imme- 
 diately on the passing of the Act, he bought the land 
 on which the village of Etruria now stands (and which 
 is intersected by the canal), and commenced the erec- 
 tion of his manufactory while the canal was digging. 
 There, in the summer of 1769, he set to work and 
 built a large mansion for himself, at a convenient dis- 
 tance from the works, and suitable dwellings for his 
 workpeople. This is now a neat village, presenting a 
 scene of industrious and profitable labour, the sight of 
 which cannot fail to recall most pleasantly the memory 
 of its celebrated originator. 
 
 Finally, leaving Burslem, he removed thither in 
 1771. About this period, the antique specimens of 
 terra-cotta collected by Sir W. Hamilton at Naples, 
 awakened much interest. They were called Etruscan 
 vases, and exhibited fine specimens of an art the 
 secret of which had been lost for ages. Mr. Wedg- 
 wood immediately set about imitating them, and soon, 
 by the aid of encaustic colours of his own composition, 
 produced a series of the most accurate and beautiful 
 copies, which sold at a high price and met with a 
 large demand. It was from this new branch of his 
 art that he called his mansion Etruria, which classical 
 appellation is abbreviated among the population 
 
198 JOSIAS WEDGWOOD. 
 
 of the district into the familiar-sounding name of 
 Trury." 
 
 In the mean time Mr. "Wedgwood had opened a 
 warehouse in London, where the productions of his 
 skill were offered to inspection, and in his partner, Mr. 
 Richard Bentley (son of the Archdeacon Bentley, of 
 Ely), he found a valuable coadjutor, whose extensive 
 knowledge in many departments of literature and 
 science, and acquaintance with many eminent patrons 
 of art, greatly assisted him in the higher branches of his 
 manufacture, and especially in obtaining the loan of 
 specimens of sculpture, vases, cameos, intaglios, medal- 
 lions, and seals, suitable for imitation by some of the 
 processes he had discovered. 
 
 We learn from Dr. Bancroft, that almost all the 
 finely diversified colours which were applied by our 
 artist in his pottery were produced only by the oxides 
 of iron. In the manufacture of the beautiful jasper 
 ware, which rivalled the productions of antiquity, and 
 which found its way into the collections of the curious 
 in all parts of Europe, he employed the native sulphate 
 of barytes, and from this use of it derived great profit, 
 till, by the treachery of a servant, the secret was dis- 
 closed and sold, when others employed inferior work- 
 men at a reduced salary, and thus prevented him from 
 employing his exquisite modellers on that branch of 
 the manufacture. 
 
 Six other distinct inventions in earthenware and 
 porcelain are ascribed to Wedgwood, besides the Queen's 
 ware, all of which continue to be produced. 1. A 
 
ENAMELLED STONE- WARE. 199 
 
 terra-cotta, resembling porphyry and granite ; 2. The 
 basalt, or black ware, which strikes fire with steel, 
 receives a high polish, serves as a touchstone for 
 metals, resists all acids, and bears the strongest fire 
 without injury; 3. The white biscuit-porcelain, of a 
 smooth, wax-like surface, and of similar properties to 
 the basalt; 4. The jasper ware, so much admired, 
 with its beautiful blue body and pure white raised 
 figures ; 5. The bamboo or cane-coloured biscuit por- 
 celain ; 6. A porcelain admirably adapted for mortars 
 and other vessels used by chemists. 
 
 The most remarkable of all his productions, and the 
 one which has been considered his masterpiece, was 
 his perfect imitation of the Barberini or Portland 
 vase, which was discovered in the tomb of Alexander 
 Severus. On its being offered for sale in London, he 
 wished to purchase it, and bid high against the Duchess 
 of Portland, until, his object being ascertained, he was 
 offered the loan of the treasure for an indefinite period. 
 It was then knocked down to the duchess for the sum 
 of 1,800 guineas. Fifty copies of it were executed, 
 and sold at the price of 50 each ; but so great was 
 the expense of its production, that it exceeded the 
 amount thus obtained. Mr. Webber is said to have 
 received 500 guineas merely for modelling it. 
 
 The prosperity attained by Mr. Wedgwood at this 
 period of his career was quite unprecedented, both as 
 to the interest excited by his extraordinary talents 
 and the consequent remuneration he obtained; but the 
 results of his skill and energy were far from being 
 
200 JOS1AS WEDGWOOD. 
 
 confined to his private advantage. They were, in a 
 high degree, valuable to the commercial interests of 
 the country. 
 
 In 1785 he was examined before a parliamentary 
 committee, and from the evidence he gave, the im- 
 portance of the Staffordshire manufactures to the 
 national interests became apparent. He stated in 
 evidence, that from 15,000 to 20,000 people were then 
 employed in the district called the Potteries, and 
 much greater numbers in digging coals for them, and 
 in preparing flints and clays for the manufacture. He 
 showed the immense amount of inland carriage they 
 created, and the employment they afforded to coasting 
 vessels, even then amounting to 20,000 tons annually. 
 From various other particulars, he illustrated the 
 prosperous state of the manufacture, which he further 
 proved by the statement that, notwithstanding the 
 intolerable duties laid on British ware by foreign 
 states, at least five-sixths of the quantity made were 
 exported. His modesty led him to state that he con- 
 sidered the art of pottery but then in its infancy a 
 conjecture which has not been verified by subsequent 
 experience. 
 
 In the year 1783 he was elected a member of the 
 Royal Society, and in 1786 of the Society of Anti- 
 quaries. He carried on an extensive correspondence 
 with the most eminent scientific men, both at home 
 and abroad, and published various pamphlets on the 
 subject of his business, particularly an address to the 
 workmen in the Potteries, dissuading them from 
 
ENAMELLED STONE-WARE. -01 
 
 entering into the service of foreign manufacturers, 
 which is said to have had the best results. In May, 
 1782, he addressed to the Royal Society a communi- 
 cation on an instrument he had invented for mea- 
 suring intense degrees of heat, called a pyrometer. 
 This paper was printed in the 72nd volume of the 
 Society's Transactions. He also planned and carried 
 into execution a turnpike-road, ten miles in length, 
 through the Potteries. He was, besides, the founder 
 and one of the principal leaders of the association 
 called " The General Chamber of the Manufacturers 
 of Great Britain." 
 
 It is delightful to know that this admirable man 
 was endeared among his intimates by his social virtues 
 and genuine benevolence. The large fortune which 
 he realized by his unwearied labours enabled him to 
 indulge these amiable dispositions ; and it is said of 
 him, that he was never known to neglect the claims of 
 any institution he thought likely to promote the good 
 of his fellow-creatures. Especially we rejoice to learn 
 that he consecrated the efforts of his inventive skill to 
 the service of humanity, and rendered them promotive 
 of the cause of freedom and progress. In this connec- 
 tion we may be allowed to notice two cameos of his 
 manufacture, one of a slave in chains, of which he 
 distributed many hundreds, with a view of exciting 
 the humane to assist in the abolition of the slave- 
 trade ; and the other a cameo of Hope, attended by 
 Peace, Art, and Labour, which was made of argilla- 
 ceous earth brought from Botany Bay, to which place 
 
202 JOSIAS WEDGWOOD. 
 
 he sent many of them, in order to show what the 
 native materials were capable of, and to encourage 
 the industry of the inhabitants. Such graceful and 
 lovely acts well merit the tribute paid to our great 
 potter in the following lines : 
 
 " Whether, Friend of Art ! the gem you mould, 
 Rich with new taste, with ancient virtue bold, 
 Form the poor fetter'd slave on bended knee, 
 From Britain's sons imploring to be free ; 
 Or, with fair Hope the bright'ning scenes improve, 
 And cheer the dreary wastes of Sydney Cove ; 
 Or, bid Mortality rejoice and mourn, 
 O'er the fine forms ou Portland's mystic urn ; 
 Whether, Friend of Art! your gems derive 
 Fine forms from Greece, and fabled gods revive ; 
 Or bid from modern life the portrait breathe, 
 And bind round Honour's brow the laurel wreath 
 Buoyant shall sail, with Fame's historic page, 
 Each fair medallion o'er the wrecks of age ; 
 Nor time shall mar, nor steel, nor fire, nor rust, 
 Touch the hard polish of the immortal bust." 
 
 Mr. Wedgwood lived long enough to see the 
 Staffordshire Potteries in his boyhood a series of 
 thinly-populated villages in a fair way to become, 
 what they now are, a chain of towns and manufac- 
 tures, in which tens of thousands are constantly 
 employed and supported. He died, universally re- 
 gretted, in January, 1795, in the sixty -fifth year of 
 his age, and was buried in the parish church of Stoke. 
 A monument is erected there to his memory ; but his 
 best memorial is the character which he left behind 
 him, and for which he is still revered in the district. 
 
RENNEQUIN, LATJRENS, HARRISON, 
 GOBELIN, GED, AND OTHERS. 
 
 In this chapter are given a few short notices of men whose 
 labours deserve mention, and most of whom were only deterred 
 from producing greater results by the want oi those aids which 
 are now communicated to workmen of every grade, down to the 
 most humble. 
 
 ONE of the greatest mechanical inventions of the 
 time of Louis XIY. was the celebrated Marly machine, 
 constructed for the purpose of raising the waters of 
 the river Seine to the top of the Marly Mountain, 
 and thence conveying them to Versailles. This ad- 
 mirable work was designed by a humble carpenter of 
 Liege, named Swalm Rennequin, born in 1644. He 
 followed the trade of his father, and was so entirely 
 uneducated that he could not even read. He pos- 
 sessed, however, a truly wonderful genius for me- 
 chanics, and early showed skill in the invention of 
 machinery ; his attention being particularly directed 
 to the subject of under-drainage, so important for the 
 working of the mines and pits which abound in the 
 Liegois territory. 
 
 When Louis XIY. had built the Chateau de Ver- 
 sailles, it was found necessary to devise some means 
 for the supply of water, of which there was a defi- 
 ciency. The royal minister, Colbert, by the command 
 
204: RENNEQUIN. 
 
 of the monarch, turned his attention to the matter, and 
 in the course of his inquiries applied to the Chevalier 
 Deville, who was a landed proprietor, and owner of a 
 chateau where Rennequin had been employed by him 
 to construct a machine for raising water, which was of 
 a similar description to that of Marly, and of which, it 
 is said, some vestiges still remain. Deville went to 
 Paris, accompanied by Rennequin, who formed his 
 project and made some preliminary experiments, 
 which proved sufficiently satisfactory to the Court, 
 and the vast undertaking was commenced in 1675, 
 and brought to a close in 1682. It is said to have 
 cost above four millions of pounds sterling, and by its 
 complicated machinery and many excellent contri- 
 vances, excited general surprise and admiration. It 
 did not, however, raise all the water it might have 
 done, because the maker was unacquainted with cer- 
 tain principles of mathematical science by which his 
 inventive skill would have been seconded and rendered 
 far more successful. 
 
 It awakens one's interest to learn that Rennequin's 
 merit as the original inventor of this great work was 
 disputed. M. Prony, his biographer, says that a por- 
 trait of Deville was engraved, bearing an inscription 
 which ascribed the honour to him ; but it is beyond 
 question that he was merely the negotiator of the 
 enterprise with the Minister and the Court. Pro- 
 fessor Weidler, who was contemporary with Renne- 
 quin, and who visited and described his machine, says 
 positively that he learned, on strict investigation, the 
 
LAURENS GOBELIN. 205 
 
 humble and modest mechanic was the sole originator 
 and maker of it. 
 
 " Let him who earned it, bear the palm ! " 
 
 What far greater works would this man have effected 
 had he enjoyed those helps which his successors have 
 had! 
 
 Another mechanician deservedly celebrated for the 
 skilful application of his art to the science of hydrau- 
 lics, was Laurens, the son of a sluice-keeper of Bou- 
 chain, whose success was the more remarkable because 
 he also was almost entirely without education. He 
 drained marshes in Flanders and Hainault which had 
 been abandoned as impracticable, facilitated the navi- 
 gation of the Scarpe, and constructed sluices in other 
 rivers. The junction of the Escaut and the Somme 
 presented seemingly insurmountable difficulties, but 
 Laurens determined to master them, and he suc- 
 ceeded ; effecting his purpose by means of a subter- 
 ranean canal, three leagues in length, which united 
 with the Escaut forty-five feet above its source, and 
 with the Somme fifteen feet below its level. 
 
 "Who has not heard of the celebrated Gobelin tapes- 
 try? Perhaps few are aware of the origin of the 
 name, or have heard of the brothers Gobelin, who, in 
 the reign of Francis I., introduced from Venice into 
 France the art of dyeing scarlet, and established, for 
 that purpose, extensive workshops upon the small 
 river Bievre, which bathes the southern extremity of 
 the faubourg St. Marceau, in Paris. In the fourteenth 
 
206 GOBELIN. 
 
 century the waters of this brook were considered 
 excellent for dyeing. Numerous drapers and dyers 
 established themselves upon its banks, their houses 
 and bleach-grounds presenting a pleasant and pic- 
 turesque aspect, whilst the waters ran of every colour of 
 the rainbow, resembling various strata of differently- 
 coloured minerals. Here, in 1450, Jean Gobelin 
 erected a modest dwelling, and commenced his opera- 
 tions. His project was considered at the time, by the 
 rival dyers of the metropolis, so hazardous that it was 
 called " Gobelin's Folly ;" but, undismayed by their 
 ridicule, the Venetian continued to dye his scarlet, 
 and by the brilliancy and permanence of the colours 
 he produced, he soon commanded the admiration of 
 his fellow-mechanics, and the Parisians were astonished 
 to such a degree that they said Gobelin had made a 
 compact with the devil ! 
 
 Fashion soon smiled propitiously upon the labours of 
 his skill and industry ; and he who had once knelt on 
 the ground and washed the cloth in the waters of the 
 Bievre with his own hands, now grew rich apace. 
 His sales were rapid, orders poured in upon him from 
 distant places, and he became the master of numerous 
 workmen, whom, to his honour it is said, he treated 
 with so much consideration and liberality that they 
 looked upon him as their friend. After his death the 
 business was carried on successfully by his family; 
 and in the year 1677, Colbert, the great minister of 
 Louis XIY., purchased the dyehouses from the then 
 proprietors, and established on the ground a great 
 
JOHN HARRISON. 207 
 
 manufactory of tapestry, similar to that of Flanders. 
 The celebrated Lebrun was appointed director-in-chief 
 of the establishment ; and under his administration 
 were fabricated those splendid tapestries which have 
 since been the admiration of the world, comprising 
 Alexander's battles, the Four Seasons, the Elements, 
 and the principal events in the reign of Louis XIV. 
 
 Allusion has already been made* to the celebrated 
 John Harrison, who may fairly be regarded as the 
 parent of modern chronometry. This remarkable 
 man was one of those who had to struggle against the 
 disadvantages of an inadequate knowledge on the sub- 
 jects connected with his favourite pursuits ; and so 
 many were the difficulties in his way, that more than 
 forty years were spent in perfecting his admirable 
 improvements in the construction of timekeepers, and 
 bringing them into use. 
 
 He was the son of a carpenter, and was born at 
 Foulby, in Yorkshire, in the year 1693. His father, 
 who could not afford to give him a good education, 
 employed him, as soon as he was able to work, in 
 his own business, and occasionally, as was usual with 
 country mechanics, in land-surveying and repairing 
 clocks and watches. A touching incident is related 
 of his childhood. When he was only six years old he 
 suffered from that terrible malady the small-pox, and 
 his parents found that the most efficacious mode of 
 diverting his thoughts from the tedium and pain he 
 endured was to allow him to examine the movements 
 * See p. 70, note. 
 
208 JOHN HARRISON. 
 
 of a watch, which was placed for that purpose, open, 
 upon his pillow. 
 
 The family removed, in 1700, to Barrow, in Lin- 
 colnshire, where the clergyman of the place, noticing 
 the boy's genius for mechanical pursuits, lent him a 
 MS. copy of Professor Saunderson's lectures, which 
 he carefully and neatly transcribed. It may be readily 
 imagined how valuable such scientific aid proved to 
 the young student, and how diligently he turned it to 
 account. 
 
 It was not before 1725 that he had so far sur- 
 mounted the difficulties of his situation as to have 
 constructed two clocks, chiefly of wood, to which he 
 had applied the escapement and compound-pendulum 
 of his own invention, the excellence of which de- 
 pended upon the different degrees in which metals are 
 expanded or contracted by variations of temperature. 
 This important principle is now employed in the con- 
 struction of the balance-wheels of chronometers, and 
 is that on which the accuracy of these timekeepers 
 mainly depends. These pieces of workmar.ship sur- 
 passed everything of the kind previously made, 
 scarcely varying a second in a month. Encouraged 
 by his success, Harrison took his clocks to London, 
 and showed them to Halley, Graham, and others, who 
 gave him certificates of their merit, and advised him 
 to perfect his inventions. He accordingly returned 
 home and completed his timekeeper, which fully 
 answered his expectations in a long trial, during 
 much bad weather, and subject to the motions of a 
 vessel, on the river Humber 
 
STEREOTYPING. 209 
 
 In the year 1736 he again went to the metropolis, 
 and was sent by the Board of Longitude to Lisbon, to 
 make trial of its properties. In this voyage he suc- 
 ceeded in correcting the dead reckoning nearly a 
 degree and a half. From that time he went on im- 
 proving his invention, until at length he received the 
 whole of the promised reward 20,000. He died 
 in the year 1776, having nearly completed his eighty- 
 third year. It is said that he could converse with 
 precision and great clearness on mechanics and topics 
 connected with that science ; but his want of educa- 
 tion rendered it very difficult for him to explain his 
 meaning in writing ; he was, in fact, says Mr. Watt, 
 " utterly unqualified to explain by his publications his 
 own notions or inventions." 
 
 The art of stereotype-printing has of late years 
 come very much into use, and is a remarkable illus- 
 tration of the tendency of some inventions to return, 
 after a long course of improvement, very nearly to 
 their original simplicity. The first attempts at 
 printing were, in fact, stereotypes, made with solid 
 plates, on which all the characters in a page were 
 impressed in relief. At the present day the term is 
 only applied to impressions made with plates of fixed 
 type metal, upon pages composed of ordinary cha- 
 racters, or those engraved upon copper in intaglio. 
 
 The history of the modern stereotype is some- 
 what obscure j and different accounts are given of 
 the various projects which bear an affinity to the 
 art. One of the earliest schemes was invented by a 
 Dutchman named Vander Mey, who lived at Leydeii, 
 p 
 
210 WILLIAM GED. 
 
 about the end of the sixteenth century. With the 
 assistance of Miiller, the clergyman of the German 
 congregation there, he prepared and cast the plates 
 for a quarto Bible, which, after being set up in the 
 usual way, wei-e converted into a solid mass by 
 soldering them together at the back. This method of 
 preparing solid blocks fell into disuse after the death 
 of the inventor, being very expensive, and only appli- 
 cable to rare cases. 
 
 One of the first, if not absolutely the first, to practise 
 stereotyping, according to the common acceptation of 
 the word, was William Ged, a goldsmith of Edin- 
 burgh. His claim to this honour is recorded in a 
 rare pamphlet, published by Nichols, in 1781, entitled 
 " Biographical Memoirs of W. Ged, including a par- 
 ticular account of his progress in the art of block- 
 printing." From this work we learn that about the 
 year 1725 Ged invented a process for casting whole 
 pages, and that a few years later he and others asso- 
 ciated with him in partnership endeavoured to apply his 
 invention to the printing of Bibles and Prayer-books, 
 for which a privilege was obtained from the University 
 of Cambridge. It is much to be lamented that these 
 ingenious and meritorious efforts were thwarted by 
 the prejudice and opposition of the compositors. One 
 of the people intrusted with the secret avowed that 
 all the books printed in stereotype had been made 
 incorrect, purposely to bring them into discredit. In 
 consequence of this nefarious conduct they were sup- 
 pressed at the University, and most of the plates 
 
STEREOTYPING. 211 
 
 destroyed. " After much ill usage," says Mr. Tilloch, 
 " Ged, who appears to have been a person of great 
 honesty and simplicity, returned to Edinburgh. Hia 
 friends were anxious that a specimen of his art should 
 be published, which was done by subscription. His 
 son James, who had been apprenticed to a printer, 
 with the consent of his master, set up the forms in 
 the night-time, when the other compositors were gone 
 home, for his father to cast the plates from; by which 
 means his edition of Sallust was finished in 1739., 
 This is the first known essay in stereotype-printing. 
 Another work was also printed from plates manu- 
 factured by Ged. This was the well-known book 
 entitled " The Life of God in the Soul of Man," which 
 has the following imprint : " Newcastle : printed 
 and sold by J. White, from plates made by Win. Ged, 
 goldsmith in Edinburgh, 1742." 
 
 Ged's knowledge of the art may be said to have 
 died with his son, whose proposals for reviving it 
 (published in 1751) not having met with encourage- 
 ment, he went to Jamaica, where he died. 
 
 Surely the man who, though unsuccessful in his 
 career, invented the art which has since been carried 
 on with so much success both in Britain and France, 
 deserves to be ranked among the worthies of his class, 
 and should not be forgotten, nor the merit of his 
 invention ascribed to others. How many more ex- 
 amples of genius struggling against difficulties and 
 unbefriended by patronage might be added ; but for 
 the present these must suffice. 
 p 2 
 
212 WILLIAM GED. 
 
 It has already been said that diligent occupation in 
 the pursuit of business and trade is no obstruction to 
 the development of intellectual life, as is apparent 
 from the fact that many who have attained to high 
 distinction in physical and literary science have sprung 
 from the class of working men. The history of these 
 men does not properly come within the compass of this 
 little book, yet it is hardly to be doubted that the 
 incidents of their lives would offer much of interest 
 to the reader. 
 
BEZALEEL HIRAM PAUL. 
 
 IT seems to me that I cannot more appropriately close 
 this little book than by devoting a few pages to the 
 three illustrious workmen of the Bible whose names 
 you read above. The first was the principal artisan 
 employed about the furniture of the Tabernacle ; the 
 second King Solomon's chosen superintendent for the 
 work of the Temple, and the third the great proto- 
 type of all Christian workmen. 
 
 If we would know the true excellence of labour 
 and the high value which God sets upon it, we must 
 search the pages of Scripture, which are indeed a 
 record, from their commencement to their close, of 
 work, divine and human, spiritual, moral, and manual. 
 
 "Who that reads the " Book of the Law " but must 
 at once be struck with the precise details given of the 
 workmanship of the Ark and furniture of the Taber- 
 nacle. When God saw fit to have "ordinances of 
 divine things and a worldly sanctuary," He made 
 known to His servant Moses His will respecting all 
 things, down to the minutest particular, and the work 
 was to be done after a given pattern, which was shown 
 him in the Mount. 
 
 Then Moses brought his message to the Israelites, 
 and said, " This is the thing which the Lord hath 
 
214 BEZALEEL. 
 
 commanded." There was work to be done, and it 
 must be wrought " with a willing heart." And the 
 people were favourably disposed, and contributed 
 materials for the construction of the Tabernacle and 
 its furniture. The men brought abundance of stores, 
 nor were the women behind with their gifts. Such 
 of them as were " wise-hearted " spun with their 
 hands, and all things were soon ready. Then Moses 
 came forward and said, " See, the Lord hath called by 
 name Bezaleel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the 
 tribe of Judah, and He hath filled him with the spirit 
 of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in know- 
 ledge, and in all manner of workmanship." 
 
 The skilful artificer thus divinely indicated was 
 immediately constituted superintendent of the work, 
 and he was endowed with wisdom to teach others ; 
 beside which, an assistant was appointed to him, 
 named Aholiab. 
 
 Bezaleel means "in the shadow of God;" and this 
 appellation seems to indicate piety in his parents. 
 He was probably the son of a devout Jew, whose 
 name, as well as that of his father, has been preserved 
 to us in consequence of the superior skill and high 
 distinction attained by his illustrious offspring. 
 
 What an eventful life must Bezaleel have led from 
 his youth upwards ! He probably had practised his 
 craft in Egypt ; and may, perchance, have had a hand 
 in carving some of these marvellous monuments of art 
 that yet survive, in ruins, there. One can fancy his 
 chisel working upon the capitals of a grand temple or 
 
BEZALEEL. 215 
 
 tomb, whose vestiges lie buried now beneath the sands 
 of that wonderful land. But he was not always to 
 work in Egypt ; the summons came for the Israelites 
 to leave the house of bondage, and Uri and Bezaleel, 
 and all their household, fled before the wrath of 
 Pharaoh ; their eyes saw the wonders wrought at the 
 Red Sea, and their feet trod the mysterious pathway 
 opened by the waves. But a few months had elapsed 
 since that glorious Exodus, and now, in the wilderness 
 of Sinai, the chosen people awaited the commands of 
 Heaven. 
 
 How must Bezaleel have felt when he heard his 
 name uttered by the great leader of his nation ! 
 How, conscious of a power hitherto unknown, the in- 
 spiration of the Holy Spirit, he stood erect, and ad- 
 vancing at the summons, waited to receive from Moses 
 the requisite instructions for the work he had to do. 
 
 In the 36th, 37th, 38th, and 39th chapters of 
 Exodus the details are given of the making of the 
 Tabernacle and its furniture, and at the close it is 
 said, " Bezaleel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, 
 of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord com- 
 manded Moses, and with him Aholiab, son of Ahi- 
 samach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and a cunning 
 workman ; an embroiderer in blue, purple, scarlet, and 
 fine linen." 
 
 Bezaleel then rested from his work, and we hear no 
 more of him ; but of the things he wrought much more 
 is recorded, both in sacred and secular history. The 
 candlestick, the table, the golden censer, and the ark 
 
216 HIRAM. 
 
 of the covenant, with the cherubims of glory over- 
 shadowing the mercy-seat ; these works of beauty, of 
 mystery, and of immortal fame, who has not heard of 
 them 1 who has not longed to see them ? They were, 
 indeed, the shadows and the types of heavenly things. 
 Wondrous works these, wrought by Bezaleel ; illus- 
 trious workman he, and all honour his, throughout 
 the generations of Israel ! 
 
 Of Hiram we find mention made in 1st Kings, 7th 
 chapter. King Solomon, "in all his glory," was 
 seated on the throne of Israel ; his heart within him 
 devising great things, and his zeal burning for the 
 glory of the God of his fathers. He was about to 
 build the temple, which his father David had purposed 
 to erect, but was commanded to abstain, and to depute 
 the work to his son. With his dying breath he had 
 said to Solomon, " Build thou the sanctuary of the 
 Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the 
 Lord and the holy vessels of God into the house that 
 is to be built to the name of the Lord." And now the 
 time was come for the youthful and brilliant monarch 
 to execute the task. The design or pattern of the 
 sacred edifice was with him ; David had given it him ; 
 and all the stores of precious metals necessary, with 
 the stone and timber, the iron and brass which the 
 great servant of God had prepared, as he so touchingly 
 said, "in his trouble," for the house of his God, were 
 ready to hand. There were also workmen in abun- 
 dance, " hewers and workers of stone, and timber, and 
 all manner of cunning men for every manner of work. 5 * 
 
HIRAM. 217 
 
 Nothing was wanting save a master mind a man of 
 consummate skill and energy, to take the superintend- 
 ence and direct the whole. It appears that none such 
 was to be found in Jerusalem or in Israel ; for Solomon 
 applied to the king of Tyre, who, in addition to timber 
 from the forests of Lebanon, and provisions of various 
 kinds, furnished him with the man he needed, a first- 
 rate workman of his late father's. In a letter, which 
 is quite a model of courtesy and generous feeling, he 
 expressed his sympathy in the great undertaking his 
 brother monarch was about to accomplish, and said 
 that he had found for him a "cunning man, endued 
 with prudence and understanding." 
 
 This man was Hiram, the son of a Tyrian father 
 and a Jewish mother, who was an admirable artificer 
 in brass or copper. Not that his skill was confined to 
 this branch of art, for he wrought also in gold and 
 silver, and in iron, stone, and timber, and could grave 
 any manner of graving ; beside which he was an adept 
 in the curious embroidery which was so much in 
 request for the hangings and curtains of the holy 
 places of the Israelites, and also for the vestments of 
 the priesthood, " for glory and for beauty." 
 
 Gladly did Solomon send and fetch this renowned 
 artisan out of Tyre ; and he, with willing mind, came 
 to the king, and engaged to do all his work, according 
 to the directions given to him. In the 1st Kings, 
 chap, vii., and in 2nd Chron., chaps, iii. and iv., parti- 
 cular mention is made of all he wrought, and at the 
 close it is said, " So Hiram made an end of doing all 
 
218 HIRAM. 
 
 the work that he made for King Solomon, for the 
 house of the Lord." . 
 
 His principal works, the masterpieces of his skill, 
 were the two pillars for the porch of the Temple, with 
 their elaborate and exquisite ornaments; and the huge 
 molten sea of brass, supported upon twelve oxen, with 
 its curiously-edged brim, " wrought like the brim of a 
 cup, with flowers of lilies." Numerous other of his 
 minor productions are also specified. 
 
 Undoubtedly Hiram, as a skilful and accomplished 
 artisan among the Jews, has no equal save Bezaleel. 
 His name and the memorial of his works have attained 
 immortal renown ; nor should it be forgotten that to 
 have ranked first among the workmen of Tyre was to 
 be as a king among princes ; as we may learn from, 
 the eloquent apostrophe to that great merchant city, 
 in the 27th chapter of the prophet Ezekiel. 
 
 We have now to consider the great exemplar of the 
 Christian workman ; the man who, in a pre-eminent 
 degree, presents a model worthy the imitation of all 
 who aspire to render the work of their hands a service of 
 the heart. This man, the great Apostle of the Gentiles, 
 was called, before his conversion to Christianity, Saul. 
 
 He was a Jew, born in Tarsus, then the chief city 
 of Cilicia, and was lineally descended from the patriarch 
 Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. The place of his 
 birth was celebrated for polite learning, and, in all 
 probability, he was educated in Greek literature, as 
 we find him subsequently giving proof of his acquaint- 
 ance with several of the Greek poets. He himself has 
 
SAUL OF TARSUS. 219 
 
 told us that he was brought up in Jerusalem, " at the 
 feet of Gamaliel," that is to . say, he received the 
 instructions of that celebrated Jewish Rabbi, under 
 whom he made great proficiency in the study of the 
 law and the traditions so much esteemed by the 
 Hebrews. This did not, however, prevent him from 
 learning a useful trade. It appears to have been cus- 
 tomary among the Jews, even in the case of such as 
 had a better education than ordinary, to acquire some 
 business by which they might be enabled, in case of 
 need, to support themselves by honest industry. And 
 thus did Saul of Tarsus. The learned and zealous 
 student of the law was also a skilful and industrious 
 mechanic. While his natural abilities qualified him 
 to aspire to excellence in all departments of know- 
 ledge, his laudable independence, which would not 
 suffer him to be chargeable to any man, made it 
 desirable that he should be a good workman. And 
 none can doubt that whatever this man did was well 
 done, and that whatsoever his hand found to do, he did 
 it with his might. 
 
 As we have seen, Bezaleel and Hiram put forth the 
 highest efforts of their skill for a glorious service. To 
 prepare a shelter for the Ark of God, and a sanctuary 
 for Divine worship during the wanderings of the 
 favoured nation ; to raise a Temple on Mount Zion 
 for the Holy One, which He might delight to honour 
 with the tokens of His presence ; these were high and 
 lofty aims for the devout workmen of the Old Dis- 
 pensation. 
 
220 SAUL OF TARSUS. 
 
 But the Christian Church made no such require- 
 ments : instead of a temple made with hands, it 
 pointed the eye of faith to one, eternal in the skies, 
 and in place of the gorgeous services of the Israelitish 
 ritual, it substituted the sacrifices of a broken and a 
 contrite heart. No vestments embroidered with gold 
 and scarlet were required to adorn " the great High 
 Priest" of the Gospel. He had "passed into the 
 heavens," having, once for all, made atonement by 
 His own blood, for the sins of the world. 
 
 How, then, might the servant of Christ best conse- 
 crate his manual labour, as well as all the efforts of 
 his mind and heart to the service of his God and 
 Saviour? Hear his own touching language, when 
 taking his leave of the elders of the Ephesian church. 
 After appealing to them as witnesses of his trials, his 
 labours, and his fervent love toward them, he con- 
 cludes by saying, " I have coveted no man's silver, or 
 gold, or apparel ; yea, ye yourselves know that these 
 hands have ministered to my necessities, and to them 
 that were with me. I have showed you all things ; 
 how that, so labouring, ye ought to support the weak, 
 and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how 
 He said, ' It is more blessed to give than to receive.' " 
 
 This was the high, disinterested, and noble end of 
 the apostle's labour. He would not even exact his 
 righteous claims from those to whom he ministered in 
 spiritual things, but worked " with labour and travail, 
 night and day," at his occupation, which was that of 
 a tent-maker, that he might procure the means of 
 
SAUL OP TARSUS. 221 
 
 relieving the wants of his poorer brethren, his com- 
 panions in the faith and patience of the Gospel. The 
 Christain workman had attained his high aim when 
 the labour of his hands had thus been consecrated. 
 
 " This is indeed admirable and heroic conduct," 
 some young man who reads this page may say j " to 
 labour thus for other people, and to deny himself 
 both rest and recreation in order to do so, was noble ; 
 but, I confess, I don't feel that I have it in me to 
 go and do the like." No ! my ingenuous reader, it 
 is not in you, by nature ; nor was it in Saul of Tarsus, 
 till it pleased God to call him by His grace. So far 
 from labouring night and day to support the necessi- 
 tous, he employed his leisure hours in persecuting, with 
 blind zeal, the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. But 
 no sooner had the heavenly vision appeared to him, 
 when on his way to Damascus, and arrested him in 
 his career, than Saul the persecutor was transformed 
 into Paul the apostle. Then a new principle was born 
 within him ; the power of Divine Love was felt in his 
 soul, and from that time forward his life was spent in 
 doing God and man service. 
 
 According to the Saviour's own words " Except 
 a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of 
 God." But, when once this great transition is wrought 
 within him, he asks, " Lord, what wilt Thou have me 
 to do?" for he feels that he must live no longer unto 
 himself, but unto Him that so loved him as to die for 
 him. 
 
 What honour have all they that serve Christ ! 
 
222 PAUL, THE APOSTLE. 
 
 Amid the toils of their daily labour they have com- 
 munion with God ; and, when prosperous in all the 
 works of their hands, they joyfully present to Him the 
 sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving which are accept- 
 able through Jesus Christ. "Diligent in business, 
 fervent in spirit, serving the Lord," is their motto ; 
 and He Himself is their exceeding great reward. 
 Header ! this shall be your happiness if the Lord be 
 your God. Render to Him the service of your life, 
 then will He bless you, " in all that you set your 
 hands to," and, in the great Day of final account, will 
 pronounce you 
 
 44 % Workman ttwbinjj not t0 h asjjamttr," 
 
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 MR. RUTHERFORD'S CHILDREN. By ditto. 
 
 and Series. By ditto. 
 
 EMILY HERBERT. By Miss M'lntosh. 
 ROSE AND LILLIE STANHOPE. By ditto. 
 CASPAR. By ditto. 
 
 THE BRAVE BOY ; or, Christian Heroism. 
 MAGDALENE AND RAPHAEL. 
 PLEASANT TALES. By Mrs. Sedgwic-k. 
 
 
^ 
 
 London and New York. 1 1 
 
 u. JUVENILES (continued). 
 
 s. d. 
 
 i o UNCLE FRANK'S HOME STORIES. 
 THE GATES AJAR. 
 
 THE STORY OF A MOUSE. By Mrs. Perring. 
 OUR CHARLIE. By Mrs. Stowe. 
 VILLAGE SCHOOL FEAST. By Mrs. Pcrring. 
 NELLY THE GIPSY GIRL. 
 THE BIRIHDAY VISIT. By Miss IVetherell. 
 STORIES FOR WEEK DAYS AND SUNDAYS. 
 MAGGIE AND EMMA. By Miss M'/nfosh. 
 CHARLEY AND GEORGY ; or, The Children at Gibraltar. 
 THK STORY OF A FENNY. By Mrs. Pcrring. 
 AUNT MADDY'S DIAMONDS. By Harriet Myrtle. 
 Two SCHOOL GIRLS. By Miss \Vethcrcll. 
 THE WIDOW AND HER 'DAUGHTER. By ditto. 
 GERTRUDE AND HER BIBLE. By ditto. 
 ROSE IN THE DESERT. By ditto. 
 THE LITTLE BLACK HEN. By ditto. 
 MARTHA AND RACHEL. By ditto. 
 THE CARPENTER'S DAUGHIER. By ditto. 
 THE PRINCE IN DISGUISE. By ditto. 
 THE STORY OF A CAT. By Mrs. Pen-ing. 
 EASY POETRY FOR CHILDRE'N. With Coloured Plates. 
 THE BASKET OF FLOWERS. With ditto. 
 ASHGROVE FARM. By Mrs. Myrtle. 
 THE STORY OF A DOG. By Mrs. Perrhig. 
 THE ANGEL OF THE ICEBERG. By the l\ev. John Tcdd. 
 RILLS FROM THE FOUNTAIN. A Lesson for the Young. 
 TODD'S LECTURES TO CHILDREN. (First Series.) 
 
 (Second Series.) 
 
 LITTLE POKMS FOR LITTLE READERS. 
 MINNIE'S LEGACY. 
 NEIGHBOURLY LOVE. 
 KITTY'S VICTORY. 
 ELISE AND HER RABBITS. 
 HAPPY CHARLIE. 
 ANNIE PRICE. 
 
 THE LITTLE OXLEYS. By Mrs. W. Densey Burton. 
 BOOK OF ONE SYLLABLE. With Coloured Plates. 
 LITTLE HELPS. With Coloured Plates. 
 UNCLE TOM'S CABIN, for Children. 
 AUNT MARGARET'S VISIT. 
 KEEPER'S TRAVELS IN SEARCH OF HIS MASTER. 
 RICHMOND'S ANNALS OF THE POOR. 
 CHILD'S ILLUSTRATED POETRY BOOK. 
 THE NEW BOOK OF ONE SYLLABLE. 
 BLANCHE AND AGNES. 
 THE LOST CHAMOIS-HUNTER. 
 
 trr> ^jjttqga^g^gcaU^^g^^ ^K^^f^fcaaaU^^Qm.^ 
 
r \ 1 2 George Routledge & Sons' Juvenile Books. 
 
 \ 
 Jorutlthge'f gfefo Jmies of JSIjillhm on Books. 
 
 ^ > 
 
 With Large Illustrations by W.. S. MARKS, J. D. WATSON, \ 
 H. WEIR, fl#a? KEYL, Printed in Colours by Kronheim ! 
 
 and Others. Demy 4/V>, stiff wrapper ; or mounted on < 
 
 v j l.incn, ss. 
 
 
 i o ALPHABET OF TRADES. 
 
 1 OLD MOTHER HUBBARD. ' 
 
 CINDERELLA.* 
 
 1 PICTURES FROM ENGLISH c 
 
 ALPHABET OF PRETTY 
 
 HISTOKY. ist Period. 
 
 i) NAMES. 
 
 i Ditto, 2nd Period. 
 
 OLD TESTAMENT ALPHA- 
 
 Ditto, 3rd Period. 
 
 f > BET. 
 
 Ditto, 4th Period. 
 
 THREE LITTLE KITTENS. 
 
 Puss IN BOOTS. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF FIVE 
 
 TOM THUMB. t 
 
 LITTLE PIGS.* 
 
 BABES IN THE WOOD. ( 
 
 TOM THUMB'S ALPHABET. 
 1 NEW TESTAMENT ALPHA- 
 
 JACK ANDTHE BEAN-STALK , 
 THE LAUGHABLE A B C. 
 
 BET. 
 THE CATS' TEA PARTY.* 
 OURFARM-YARDALPHABET. 
 THE HISTORY OF MOSES. 
 THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. 
 
 , THEALPHABETofFLOWERS. 
 
 NURSERY RHYMES, 2nd 
 
 I WILD ANIMALS, ist Series. 
 Ditto, 2nd Series. ' 
 Ditto, 3rd Series. 
 Ditto. 4th Series. ( 
 j TAME ANIMALS, ist Series. 
 Ditto, 2nd Series. ' 
 Ditto, 3rd Series. '; 
 
 Scries. 
 
 NURSERY GAMES. 
 > THE HOUSE THAT TACK 
 BUILT. 
 
 Ditto, 4th Series. v 
 MY MOTHER. t 
 THE DOGS' DINNER PARTY. 
 
 THE LIFE OF OUR LORD. 
 
 LITTLE DOG TRUSTY. \ 
 
 THE THREE BEARS. 
 RED RIDING-HOOD. 
 NEW TALE OF A TUB.* 
 
 THE WHITE CAT. 
 THE UGLY DUCKLING. 
 LITTLE SNOW-WHITE. \ 
 
 NURSERY TALES. 
 
 DASH ANDTHE DUCKLINGS. I 
 
 * Those marked with an asterisk are NOT kept on linen. 
 
 Umt pafcor 
 
 t 0% gooks. 
 
 Large Coloured Sixpenny Books for Children, with greatly .; 
 
 improi'cd Illustrations, super-royal 8vo, in wrappers. . 
 
 ' o 6 HISTORY OF OUR PETS. 
 
 DOROTHY FRUMP AND HER 
 
 HISTORY OF BLUE BEARD. 
 
 Six Docs. 
 
 SlNDBAD THE SAILOR. 
 
 SINGING BIRDS. 
 
 A, APPLE PIE. 
 
 PARROTS & TALKING BIRDS 
 
 TOM THUMB'S ALPHABET. 
 
 DOGS. 
 
 BARON MUNCHAUSEN. 
 
 NURSERY RHYMES. 
 
 PICTURE ALPHABET. 
 
 BIRDS. 
 
 ARTHUR'S ALPHABET. 
 
 RAILROAD ALPHABET. 
 
 j 
 
London and New York. 
 
 AUNT MAYOR'S TOY BOOKS (continued). 
 
 GRAMMAR IN RHYME. 
 BABY'S BIRTHDAY.* 
 PICTURES FROM THE 
 
 STREETS.* - 
 
 LOST ON THE SEA-SHORE.* 
 ANIMALS AND BIRDS.* 
 A CHILD'S FANCY DRESS 
 
 BALL. 
 
 A CHILD'S EVENING PARTY. 
 
 6 ALPHABET FOR GOOD BOYS 
 
 AND GIRLS. 
 
 THE SEA-SIDE ALPHABET. 
 FARM-YARD ALPHABET. 
 GREEDY JEM AND HIS 
 
 LITTLE BROTHERS.* 
 OUR Puss AND HER KIT- 
 HOP O' MY THUMB. [TENS.* 
 JACK THK GIANT KILLER. 
 
 'LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD. | ANNIE AND JACK IN LON- ( 
 
 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 
 
 HAPPY DAYS OF CHILD- 
 HOOD.* 
 
 LITTLE DOG TRUSTY. 
 
 THE CATS' TEA PARTY. 
 
 THE BABES IN THE WOOD. 
 
 WILD ANIMALS. 
 
 BRITISH ANIMALS. 
 
 THE FROG WHO WOULD A- 
 WOOING Go.* 
 
 THE FAITHLESS PARROT.* 
 
 THE FARM-YARD.* 
 
 HORSES. 
 
 OLD DAME TROT. 
 
 MULTIPLICATION TABLE. 
 
 CHATTERING JACK. 
 
 KING COLE. 
 
 PRINCE LONG NOSE. 
 
 THE ENRAGED MILLER. 
 
 THE HUNCHBACK. 
 
 DON. [SHOE. 
 
 ONE, Two, BUCKLE MY 
 MARY'S NEW DOLL.* 
 WHEN THE CAT'S AWAY.* 
 NAUGHTY PUPPY.* 
 CHILDREN'S FAVOURITES.* 
 NAUGHTY BOYS AND GIRLS. 
 LITTLE MINXES. 
 STRUWELPETER. [LIFE. 
 LITTLE MINNIE'S CHILD 
 KING NUTCRACKER. 
 LAZY BONES. 
 BRITISH SOLDIERS. 
 BRITISH SAILORS. 
 BRITISH VOLUNTEERS. 
 LAUGHTER BOOK FOR 
 
 CHILDREN. 
 GRISLY BEARD. 
 
 RUMPELSTILTSKIN. 
 
 DOG PUFFY. 
 THE FAIRY SHIP. 
 
 How JESSIE WAS LOST. 
 
 The above, except those marked with an asterisk, i;u-y be fiad 
 strongly mounted on cloth, price One Slutting each. 
 
 Sjjm pcnujr @Ton 
 
 \Vith Coloured Pictures. 
 
 o 3 CINDERELLA. 
 
 * RED RIDING-HOOD. 
 
 JACK AND THE BEANSTALK. \ 
 Puss IN BOOTS. 
 
 Jjtattil edge's ^isptjing $ubnriles. 
 
 Royal j2mo, with Illustrations, gilt edges. 
 
 JESSIE GRAHAM. 
 FLORENCE AKNOTT. 
 BLIND ALICE. 
 
 o 6 HISTORY OF MY PETS. 
 HUBERT LEE. 
 ELLEN LESLIE. 
 
1 4 George Roullcdge 6 Sons' Juvenile Books. 
 
 MY 
 
 ROUTLEDGE'S 6d. JUVENILES ( 'continued). 
 
 ARTHUR'SCHRISTMASSTORY 
 
 THE LOST LAMB. 
 ARTHUR'S STORIES FOR LIT- 
 
 TI.H: BOYS. 
 
 ARTHUR'S ORGAN BOY. 
 MARGARET JONES. 
 THE Two SCHOOL GIRLS. 
 THE WIDOW AND HER 
 
 DAUGHTER. 
 
 THE ROSE IN THE DESERT. 
 THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT 
 
 and THE BASKET WOMAN. 
 
 SIMPLE SUSAN. 
 
 s.d. 
 
 o 6 GRACE AND CLARA. 
 RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 CHILDHOOD. 
 
 EGEKION KOSCOE. 
 FLORA MORTIMER. 
 CHARLES HAMILTON. 
 STORY OF A DROP OF WATER 
 LEARNING BETTER THAN 
 
 HOUSED AND LAND. 
 MAUD'S FIRST VISITTO HER 
 
 AUNT. In Words of One Syl- 
 lable. 
 
 EASY POEMS. 
 
 THE BOY CAPTIVE. By Peter 
 
 Parley. 
 
 STORIES OF CHILD LIFE. 
 DAIRYMAN'S DAUGHTER. 
 ARTHUR'S TALES FOR THE 
 YOUNG. 
 
 HAWTHORNE'SGENTLEBOY. 
 PLEASANT AND PROFITABLE 
 THE FALSE KEY. 
 THE BRACELETS. 
 WASTE NOT, WANT NOT. 
 TARLETON.andFoRGiVEand 
 
 FOKGET. 
 LAZY LAWRENCE AND THE 
 
 WHITE PIGEON. 
 
 THE BARRING OUT. 
 THE ORPHANS AND OLD Poz. 
 THE MIMIC. 
 
 THE PURPLE JAR, and other 
 Tales. 
 
 PARLEY'S POETRY & PROSE. 
 ARTHUR'S STORIES FOR 
 
 LITTLE GIRLS. 
 THE YOUNG COTTAGER. 
 PARLEY'S Tuos. TITMOUSE. 
 
 THE LITTLE MERCHANTS. 
 TALE OF THE UNIVERSE. 
 ROBERT DAWSON. 
 KATE CAMPBELL. 
 BASKET OF FLOWERS. 
 BABES IN THE BASKET. 
 THE JEWISH TWINS. 
 CHILDREN ON THE PLAINS. 
 LITTLE HENRY AND HIS 
 
 BEAKER. 
 
 THE LITTLE BLACK HEN. 
 MARTHA AND RACHEL. 
 CARPENTER'S DAUGHTER. 
 THE PRINCE IN DISGUISE. 
 i GERTKUDK AND HER BIBLE. 
 THE CONTRAST. Miss Ldge- 
 
 wortli. 
 
 THE GRATEFUL NEGRO. Do. 
 JANE HUDSON. 
 A Kiss FOR A BLOW. 
 YOUNG NEGRO SERVANT. 
 LlNA AND HER COUSINS. 
 ARTHUR'S LAST PENNY. 
 BRIGHT-EYED BESSIE. 
 THE GATES AJAR. 
 
 JT |ufailrs. 
 
 Royal yzmo, fancy covers. 
 
 4 THE BASKET OF FLOWERS. 
 THE BAKES IN THE BASKET. 
 EASY POEMS FOR CHILDREN. 
 JESSIE GRAHAM. 
 HISTORY OF MY PETS. 
 
 FLORENCE ARNOTT. 
 ROBERT DAWSON. 
 RECOLLECTIONS OF MY 
 CHILDHOOD. 
 
 BROOKE AND BROOKE FARM. 
 
 -=*-! 
 
London and New York. 1 5 
 
 ROUTLEDGE'S 4^. JUVENILES (continued)* 
 
 s.d. 
 
 > o 4 LIFE IN THE WILDS. 
 
 HILL AND THE VALLEY. 
 TUB WIDOW AND HER 
 
 DAUGHTER. 
 
 THE Two SCHOOL GIRLS. 
 THE JANE HUDSON. 
 A Kiss FOR A BLOW. 
 
 A DROP OF WATER. 
 THE FALSE KEY. 
 THE BRACELETS. 
 THE PURPLE JAR. 
 SIMPLE SUSAN. 
 KATE CAMPBELL. 
 LITTLE HENKY AND 
 
 HUBERT LEE. BEARER. 
 
 FLORA MORTIMER. I THE GATES AJAR. 
 
 Jloutlcbgc's ^fifa-JSIjillwg |)otts. 
 
 Edited ly Rev. R. A. WiLLMOTT. Illustrated by FOSTER, 
 GILBERT, CORBOULD, FRANKLIN, and HARVEY Ele- 
 gantly printed on good paper, post 3vo t gilt edges, bevelled 
 boards. 
 
 5 o SPENSER'S FAERIE QUEENE. Illus'rated by Corbould. 
 CHAUCER'S CANTERBURY TALES. Illustrated by ditto. 
 KIRKE WHITE. By Southey. Illustrated by Hiket tester. 
 SOUTHEY'S JOAN OF ARC, AND MINOR POEMS. Illus- 
 trated by Gilbert. 
 
 POPE'S POETICAL WORKS. Edited by Carey. 
 MILTON'S POETICAL WORKS. Illustrated by Harvey. 
 THOMSON, BEATTIE. AND WEST. Illust. by Biiket Foster. 
 HERBERT. With Life and Notes by A'cv. A*. A. \Villinott. 
 COWPER. Illu-t. bv Biiket Foster. Edited by Willmott. 
 LONGFELLOW'S COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS. Illustrated. 
 
 - PROSE WORKS. 
 
 BURNS' POETICAL WORKS. Illustrated by John Gilbert. 
 FAIRFAX'S TASSO'S JERUSALEM DELIVERED. Illustrated 
 
 by Corbould. 
 
 PERCY'S RKLIQUES OF ANCIENT POETRY. Illust. by ditto, c 
 SCOTT'S POETICAL WORKS. Illustrated by ditto. ( 
 
 ~\IACK/VY'S BALLADS AND LYRICS. Illust. by John Gilbert. 
 WORDSWORTH. Illustrated by Birket Foster. 
 CRARBR. Illustrated by ditto. 
 
 MACK AY'S SONGS. Complete Edition. Illu?t. by Gilbert. 
 ELIZA COOK'S POEMS. With Illustrations and Portrait. 
 MOORE'S POEMS. Illustrated by Corbould. &c. < 
 BYRON'S POEMS. Illustrated by Gilbert, Wolf, Foster. / 
 BENNETT'S POETICAL WORKS. Portrait and Illustrations. 
 CAMPBELL'S POETICAL WORKS. Illustrated by W. Harvey. 
 LOVER'S P. 'ETiCAL WORKS. Portrait and Illustrations. l 
 ROGERS' POETICAL WORKS. With Portrait, &c. 
 LORD LYTTON'S POETICAL WORKS, js. 6d. t 
 DRAMATIC WORKS. 6v. 
 
 DRYDEN'S POETICAL WORKS. With Portrait, &c. 
 
 
, s .. f> -r\ . -_ 
 
 1 6 George Routledge 6 Sons' Poets. 
 
 Printed on tinted paper, fcap. 8vo, gilt edges, \Vith 
 s. d. Illustrations. 
 
 3 6 LOVGFELLOW'S COMPLETE POETICAL WCRKS. Illust. 
 
 COWPER. lilust. by Birket Foster. Edited by Willmott. 
 
 MILTON'S POETICAL WORKS. Illustrated by Harvey. 
 
 WORDSWORTH'S POETICAL WORKS. Illust. by B. Foster. 
 
 SOUTHEY'S JOAN OF ARC, AND MINOR POEMS. Illust. 
 
 by Gilbert. 
 
 GOLDSMITH, JOHNSON, SHENSTONE, AND SMOLLETT. Do. 
 
 KIRKE WHITE. By So-uthey. Illustrated by Birket Foster. 
 
 BURNS. Illustrated by Gilbert. 
 
 THOMAS MOORE'S POEMS. Illustrated by Corbould. 
 
 BYRON s POEMS. Illustrated by Gilbert, Wolf, &c. 
 
 POPE'S POETICAL WORKS. Illustrated by Gilbert. 
 
 SCOTT'S POETICAL WORKS. With Illustrations. 
 
 HERBERT'S WORKS. With Illustrations. 
 
 THOMAS CAMPBELL'S POETICAL WORKS. Illust. by Gilbert. 
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S COMPLETE WORKS. 
 
 CHAUCER'S POETICAL WORKS. 
 
 WILLIS'S POETICAL WORKS. 
 
 GOLDEN GLEANINGS. 
 
 CHOICE POEMS AND LYRICS. 
 
 SHAKESPEARE GEMS. 
 
 BOOK OK WIT AND HUMOUR. 
 
 WISE SAYINGS OF THE GREAT AND GOOD. 
 
 MONTGOMERY'S POEMS. 
 
 |)aets. 
 
 Fcap, 8vo, wii ft. Illust rations, in cloth. 
 2 6 LONGFELLOW'S COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS. 
 
 SCOTT s POEMS. 
 BYRON'S POEMS. 
 COWPER'S POEMS. 
 WORDSWORTH'S POEMS. 
 
 BURNS' POEMS. 
 MOORE'S POEMS. 
 MILTON'S POEMS. 
 POPE'S POEMS. 
 
 Or bound in a new style, 8 vols., cloth, 1. 
 
 goutlcbgc's |1o:kt |1ods. 
 
 i8mo, with Portrait, 
 o LONGFELLOW'S COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS. Paper, 
 
 u. ; cloth, is. 6d. 
 
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 SCOTT'S POETICAL WORKS. Cloth, is. (is. 6d. 
 
 London: THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL. 
 New York: 416, BROOME STREET. 
 
 J. OGDEN AND CO., PRINTERS, 173, ST. JOHN S1KKI-.T h.C. 
 
U1BRARY USE ONLY 
 
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