Part 20

Meantime his employer became so advanced in years, that he was incapable of working with effect. Brindley wisely seized the opportunity of applying his skill and ingenuity to the business, proved quite equal to the occasion, and exerted himself with so much success, that he not only kept it up against all competitors, but rendered it so flourishing a concern, that the old man and his family were enabled to live in comfortable circumstances. Indeed the apprentice was now the more skillful mechanic of the two, and he about this time gave proof of such being the case.

The aged worthy happened to be engaged in the construction of a paper-mill at some distance from his own workshop, and had proceeded to a considerable extent with the operation, when some one skilled in such matters observed that he was merely throwing his employer’s money away. This remark reached the ears of Brindley, who, though perhaps by no means so zealous for his master’s fame as the last minstrel was for that of the jovial harper who had taught him when a youth, resolved that it should be redeemed from such a reproach. He therefore determined to go and inspect the work in question; though that was not in any respect convenient, his time being otherwise occupied. But “where there’s a will there’s a way;” and one Saturday evening he set off on foot, without apprizing any one of his intended excursion, and, having obtained a sight of the object of his journey, returned on Monday morning in time for his work, after having walked a distance of fifty miles. He was altogether without the advantage of having seen a mill of the same kind before; but, nevertheless, was by this brief and cursory survey enabled to comprehend every thing necessary to its being properly completed. Taking the work under his superintendence, he brought it to a termination that gave the proprietor perfect satisfaction.

Brindley’s reputation after the success of this undertaking rose high in the neighborhood, and he was induced to commence business on his own account. His abilities soon became widely known and appreciated, and he was extensively employed. He reaped much credit from the erection of an engine intended to drain a coal-mine at Clifton, in that bustling Lancashire where the cries are ever “Onward!” and “Haste!” which was afterward the sphere of his scientific triumphs, and with the history of which his name is so honorably linked. Under his auspices this piece of work proceeded with unexpected and amazing rapidity, notwithstanding the difficulties by which it was encompassed.

About this period a silk mill was being erected at Congleton, in Cheshire. The more intricate machinery was intrusted to a more experienced person, and Brindley was engaged merely to furnish the larger wheels and coarser apparatus. It soon appeared, that in this division of labor the Derbyshire aspirant had been treated with less than justice. He was constantly compelled to point out and rectify the errors and blunders; and at length, tiring of the irksome and invidious task, he resolutely refused to remain in a subordinate capacity to a person whose inferiority, in all that related to the matter in hand, was proved incontestably by the experience of each succeeding day. Then his employers, seeing how the case really stood, and prudently considering that their own interests were concerned in Brindley’s services being retained, appointed him sole manager of the work; which he not only brought to a satisfactory conclusion, but added several improvements of no inconsiderable value or importance.

While his name was rising and his reputation increasing, he had the good fortune of becoming known to the Duke of Bridgewater. The latter was no ordinary man. The youngest of five children, who successively died off, he was, in boyhood, regarded as so sickly that his life was despaired of and his intellect doubted. On this account his education was for a time neglected. However, he was sent on a Continental tour, under the guidance of a traveling tutor, and no doubt used his eyes to better purpose than had been anticipated by his guardians, or than his immediate pursuits would have led them to suppose. On returning to England, he set about enjoying himself after the fashion of the day. He appeared as the owner of race-horses, as a gentleman-rider, as the frequenter of aristocratic assemblies, and as the successful suitor of a celebrated beauty. It was on the last point that his fate turned. Circumstances of a peculiar nature interfered with the matrimonial project, and prevented the union. The young duke vowed perpetual celibacy, declared he would never address another female in accents of gallantry, and abandoning fashionable society, with all its pains, and pleasures, and excitements, retired, with honor, to his estates in the county of Lancaster.

Fortunately this representative of Lord Chancellor Ellesmere was gifted with an ardent diligence which his illustrious progenitor might have envied, and he forthwith began to develop the resources which lay dormant in his hereditary possessions. Mr. Gilbert, a person who had been much engaged in mining operations, became his assistant, and exhibited a spirit of energy and perseverance kindred with that of his employer. Brindley’s provincial fame was now not inconsiderable, and he soon became acquainted with the young patrician, who had fled from the wiles of noble matrons, and the fascinations of their fairer daughters, to bleak coal-fields and barren moors.

The man who was now introduced to the then thin and slender duke, who had escaped from race-courses, ball-rooms, and gaming-tables, to earn for himself the proud and honorable title of the “Father of British Inland Navigation,” was plain in appearance and boorish in manners. But whenever he spoke bystanders listened with pleased surprise at the enterprising courage which his words betokened; and his conversation was in no small degree indicative of one of the strong, rough, resolute, master minds, whose workings――stern and independent――frequently benefit largely the human species, and minister to the civilization of the wide world. He was just such a man as the duke stood in need of for the carrying out of his plans of improvement, and he readily consented to take service with that view.

The first undertaking on which Brindley entered in his new position was the Bridgewater Canal. Having surveyed the ground, and reported that it presented no insuperable difficulties, an Act of Parliament was obtained, and the enterprise proceeded with under his superintendence. The self-taught engineer was branded by turns as an enthusiast, a madman, and a person unworthy of trust; but his intellectual courage and unshrinking confidence in the expedients of his own bold, powerful, and original mind defied all such assaults; and he remained unmoved by the sneers, scorn, and ridicule directed against his projects. His heart and soul were in the enterprise, and obstacles disappeared before his determined will. Strangers came from afar to view the gigantic operations, and marveled at the facility with which the plain, hard-headed, illiterate man, found means to handle huge rocks, and remove them at his pleasure. This pursuit completely monopolized his thoughts and occupied his attention; he cared not for recreation or amusement. Unceasing industry seemed the law of his being. When in London he was once persuaded to go to the theatre, but declared that the whole scene so confused his ideas, and unfitted him for business, that he would, on no consideration, repeat his visit.

He appears to have had no idea of the beauties of nature, nor any perception of the objects which make up fine scenery. When under examination by a committee of the House of Commons, he was asked for what purpose he conceived rivers to have been created? and, after a slight pause, replied,

“Undoubtedly to feed canals.”

To the end of his extraordinary career, this wonderful man was occupied in his favorite pursuits, and his application to the subject was intense throughout. While the Grand Trunk Navigation Canal, to which he devoted so much thought and energy, was progressing toward completion under his auspices, and he was feeding his mind with visions of the great things it was to accomplish, his death, hastened by mental exertion, took place at Turnhurst, in Staffordshire, on the 27th of September, 1772.

WATT.

Among “famous men,” Watt occupies a most distinguished position as a real benefactor of the world. Though he stated that he knew only two pleasures――idleness and sleep, study and business might not improperly have been added. His industry and perseverance eminently qualified him for a career of invention and enterprise, and he pursued it with almost unparalleled success. His intellectual faculties were exercised without ceasing to the end of his long and momentous life; he practiced constant meditation; and he was thus enabled to minister more than any of his contemporaries to the progress of material civilization.

James Watt was born on the 19th of January, 1736, at Greenock, where his father was a merchant. He was first instructed in reading by his mother, and then placed at a day-school; but being exceedingly delicate, his attendance was somewhat irregular. When absent from school, he was far from suspending the exercise of those faculties which afterward accomplished so much; for his mind was of so inquiring a nature, that he began almost in childhood to manifest a strong and ardent taste for geometry and mechanics. This was probably, in some measure, inspired by the example of his grandfather and uncle, both of whom had excelled as teachers of mathematics.

It is related that a person one day calling on his father, and observing the little boy busily occupied in drawing numerous lines on the hearthstone with a piece of chalk, remarked that the child ought to be sent to school, and not allowed to idle away his time in such a manner.

“But,” said his father, “look what he is about before you condemn him.”

The gentleman then looked, and in no small degree was he surprised to see that he was studiously attempting to solve a geometrical problem. His natural bent thus becoming evident, his father encouraged it by providing him with a set of tools; and he showed his comprehension of the uses to which they might be put by forming several childish toys, and among others, an electrical machine.

His mother’s relations resided in Glasgow, and there he frequently went on a visit, when his ardent love of knowledge and his faculty of learning were matters of considerable astonishment. Doubtless, his rich and enthusiastic conversation enlivened some of the extraordinary supper-parties, where the guests of the wealthy but frugal traders, who altogether eschewed the idea of earlier or more extensive entertainments, partook of the evening fare, and indulged in the cold punch, just in such measure as the means or inclination of the host permitted or prompted. At all events, it appears that he had no objection to steal a few hours from the night when he could find listeners to his various and interesting stories and enlivening discourse.

On one occasion he was chidden by his aunt for continuing to take off and put on the lid of a tea-kettle, holding by turns a cup and a silver spoon over the steam, watching its rise from the spout, and catching and counting the drops of water formed by condensation. So early was his active mind engaged in investigating the “condensation of steam.”

Though he had given considerable attention to several other subjects, mechanics was his favorite study; and in conformity with his own wish he was, at the age of eighteen, indentured to an instrument-maker in Cornhill, London, who employed him chiefly in preparing and adjusting sextants, and other nautical instruments. His apprenticeship was brought to a premature termination by a relapse of bad health, which obliged him to return to the banks of the Clyde.

Some time after this a visit to Glasgow suggested to his mind the scheme of commencing business there, with the little instruction he had received. But not being qualified by the requisite freedom of craft or guild, he had the mortification of finding that his plan was incapable of being carried into execution. It was vain to plead or remonstrate. The members of the corporate body, principally concerned, were deaf to entreaty. They strenuously adhered to

“The good old rule, the simple plan, That they should take who have the power, And they should keep who can;”

and sternly refused him permission to open even the very humblest workshop.

From this rather tantalizing difficulty, the University rescued the man destined to increase the resources of his country, and add immeasurably to the power of his species, by granting him a room within the building, and appointing him mathematical instrument-maker to the college. While in this position he executed some small instruments, which still exist, and exhibit most skillful and dexterous workmanship. His earliest drawings of steam-engines are likewise preserved, and are described as being distinguished by neatness, strength, and accuracy of outline. He enjoyed the favor and intimacy of several celebrated men, who were then professors in the University; among whom were Adam Smith, Professor Simson, and Dr. Black, whose discoveries in heat aided him much in his inventions. Moreover, his workshop was the resort of all such students as interested themselves in scientific matters. Indeed, they are said to have consulted him as an authority almost conclusive, when any difficulty presented itself which baffled their knowledge; and Watt never allowed his course to be barred by any obstacle that could possibly be overcome by resolute efforts of intellect, and a determined application of industry. He studied anatomy, chemistry, and natural philosophy, and occupied many a leisure hour with inquiries into the nature of steam. Though unacquainted with the mysteries of music, he undertook the construction of an organ, and, by dint of perseverance, furnished an instrument exhibiting many improvements, and capable of delighting the most fastidious performers. And all this time his daily devotion to his business was most exemplary, and quite uninterrupted by his reading or speculations, which were pursued in hours not taken up with the labors of his craft. The principle upon which he then acted in this respect guided him throughout life.

Before he reached the age of twenty-four, Watt’s attention had been attracted to the employment of steam as a mechanical agent. His friend, Mr. Robison――afterward Professor at Glasgow and Edinburgh――had suggested its application to wheeled carriages, and they made experiments together. Watt doubtless thought much, and submitted the question to close, earnest, and vigilant study. But it was not till 1763 that his abilities were practically applied to the discovery, which has associated his name inseparably with the progress of the world. At that period the model of an engine was sent to him to be repaired by the Professor of the Natural Philosophy class; and on his examining it with care and attention, all the impressions which he had conceived as to the imperfections of the atmospheric machine were at once renewed in his mind. He therefore devoted himself to its improvement with diligence and determination. He soon perceived that the rapidity with which water evaporates depends simply on the degree of heat that is imbibed, and that the latter circumstance is in proportion to the vessel’s surface containing the water. He likewise arrived by experiment at a knowledge as to the coals requisite for the evaporation of any given quantity of water, the heat at which it boils under various pressures, and several other points never before ascertained with accuracy. Bringing his genius to bear on the matter, he proceeded to attempt remedies for the two chief defects of Newcomen’s engine――the necessity of cooling the cylinder before each stroke of the piston by the injection of water, and the non-employment of the engine as a moving power of the expansive force of the steam.

Having overcome the first defects by a process which saved three fourths of the fuel required to feed the engine, and at the same time added considerably to its power, Watt was gradually conducted to an improvement which effectually removed the second imperfection; and thus he effected the fundamental amendments in the engine, that, as has been remarked, it appears a thing almost endowed with intelligence.

Having progressed thus far in his object, Watt had a difficulty of a very formidable character to surmount; namely, that of bringing his discoveries into public notice, without any considerable means of his own at command. Moreover, he had to contend with the opposition of such persons as conceived their interests to be at stake. However, he had just provided himself with a witty, cheerful, and accomplished wife, and thus furnished an additional spur to exertion. In this emergency he applied to an early friend, Dr. Roebuck, who had just founded the Carron Iron Works, to advance the requisite capital, which was agreed to on condition of the profits being shared. A patent was accordingly obtained, and an engine erected; but Roebuck soon after meeting with reverses in his daring speculations, the sagacious inventor was under the necessity of establishing himself in Glasgow as a civil engineer, and as such obtained high reputation in furnishing surveys and estimates for canals, and other public operations, of which Scotland was then the scene.

At length, in the year 1774, he accepted the proposal of Mr. Boulton, a celebrated hardware manufacturer in Birmingham, that he should remove thither, and enter into partnership on equitable terms. An extension of the patent was forthwith obtained for twenty-five years from that date; and Watt’s genius having now a field, entered on its career of public triumph. Though he shared the fate of most inventors in being perpetually involved in lawsuits, he succeeded in realizing an ample fortune. His scientific achievements were duly appreciated by those who were qualified to judge of their merits; and in 1785 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, being subsequently chosen one of the eight Foreign Associates of the French Institute. The University of Glasgow, which had first befriended him, conferred the honorary degree of LL.D. in 1806.

Near the end of his life he engaged in the construction of a machine for copying pieces of statuary and sculpture. His friends claim for him the distinction of having discovered the composition of water.

This illustrious mechanist passed the last years of his long and memorable life in the society of his family and friends. He died August 25, 1819, in his eighty-fourth year, and was buried in the church of Handsworth, near Heathfield, his residence in Staffordshire.

A monument to his memory, graven by the hand of Chantrey, was erected in Westminster Abbey, and on it was placed this inscription by Lord Brougham:

Not to perpetuate a name Which must endure while the peaceful arts flourish, But to show That mankind have learned to honor those Who best deserved 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 philosophical research, to the improvement of the Steam-engine. Enlarged the resources of his country, Increased the power of man, And rose to an eminent place among the illustrious followers of Science, And the real benefactors of the world.

ADAM SMITH.

If there are “suppressed characters” in literary and scientific, as well as in parliamentary history, the great apostle of political economy is certainly not of the number. Indeed, the posthumous glory he has derived from his most celebrated work, goes far to justify Southey’s enthusiastic preference of the fame arising from authorship over all others. After the lapse of a century, his name is still familiar in the mouths of men, and still continues to gather fresh fame as it flies along the stream of time. The maxims of policy which he taught are now inseparably associated with the recollection of a long controversy, a memorable struggle, and a triumph under extraordinary circumstances. But without venturing to expatiate on the latter somewhat exciting topics, it may be possible to furnish a sketch of the learned Doctor’s earthly career, not altogether uninteresting to youths accustomed to “mark, learn, and inwardly digest.”

The father of this famous professor of political science had originally practiced in Edinburgh as a writer to the signet; for so an attorney is there styled. He had afterward become private secretary to the Earl of Loudon, who held the now abolished office of Secretary of State for Scotland; and when his lordship’s career in that capacity terminated, the elder Smith was appointed Comptroller of the Customs at Kirkaldy, a small Fifeshire town, situated on the Firth of Forth. Removing thither to fulfill the duties of the office, and perhaps finding himself more solitary in his new sphere than he had been in the capital, he married a very amiable and affectionate woman, bearing the “conquering name” of Douglas. He was not, however, spared to see the son whose achievements have saved his memory from oblivion, for, somewhere about the beginning of 1723, he departed this life; and a few months later, on the 5th of June, the birth of Adam Smith took place.

The future economist had not, in infancy, the advantage of such strong health as enables children to frisk, and riot, and tumble about without danger. It required all the care and attention which a widowed and disconsolate mother generally bestows upon an only son, to sustain his weakly and delicate constitution against the perils which beset beings in that immature season of earthly existence; and she executed her task with so much real tenderness and solicitude, as to have been charged with the venial fault of too readily gratifying his whims and humors. Unbounded indulgence toward a child is certainly highly imprudent; but it does not appear that it either spoiled Smith, or produced in his case any other evil consequences.