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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/725-h.zip b/725-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cf0ca37 --- /dev/null +++ b/725-h.zip diff --git a/725-h/725-h.htm b/725-h/725-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..872fdff --- /dev/null +++ b/725-h/725-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13970 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Men of Invention and Industry, by Samuel Smiles +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +PRE.TOC { font-size: small; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.intro {font-size: smaller ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: smaller ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 5% } + +P.finis { text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Men of Invention and Industry, by Samuel Smiles + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Men of Invention and Industry + +Author: Samuel Smiles + +Posting Date: August 16, 2008 [EBook #725] +Release Date: November, 1996 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEN OF INVENTION AND INDUSTRY *** + + + + +Produced by Eric Hutton. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +MEN OF INVENTION AND INDUSTRY +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +by +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Samuel Smiles +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +"Men there have been, ignorant of letters; without art, without +eloquence; who yet had the wisdom to devise and the courage to perform +that which they lacked language to explain. Such men have worked the +deliverance of nations and their own greatness. Their hearts are their +books; events are their tutors; great actions are their +eloquence."—MACAULAY. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Contents. +</H2> + +<PRE CLASS="TOC"> +<A HREF="#preface">Preface</A> + +CHAPTER I <A HREF="#chap01">Phineas Pett:</A> + Beginnings of English Shipbuilding + +CHAPTER II <A HREF="#chap02">Francis Pettit Smith:</A> + Practical Introducer of the Screw Propeller + +CHAPTER III <A HREF="#chap03">John Harrison:</A> + Inventor of the Marine Chronometer + +CHAPTER IV <A HREF="#chap04">John Lombe:</A> + Introducer of the Silk Industry into England + +CHAPTER V <A HREF="#chap05">William Murdock:</A> + His Life and Inventions + +CHAPTER VI <A HREF="#chap06">Frederick Koenig:</A> + Inventor of the Steam-printing Machine + +CHAPTER VII <A HREF="#chap07">The Walters of 'The Times':</A> + Inventor of the Walter Press + +CHAPTER VIII <A HREF="#chap08">William Clowes:</A> + Book-printing by Steam + +CHAPTER IX <A HREF="#chap09">Charles Bianconi:</A> + A Lesson of Self-Help in Ireland + +CHAPTER X <A HREF="#chap10">Industry in Ireland:</A> + Through Connaught and Ulster to Belfast + +CHAPTER XI <A HREF="#chap11">Shipbuilding in Belfast:</A> + By Sir E. J. Harland, Engineer and Shipbuilder + +CHAPTER XII <A HREF="#chap12">Astronomers and students in humble life:</A> + A new Chapter in the 'Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties' +</PRE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="preface"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PREFACE +</H3> + +<P> +I offer this book as a continuation of the memoirs of men of invention +and industry published some years ago in the 'Lives of Engineers,' +'Industrial Biography,' and 'Self-Help.' +</P> + +<P> +The early chapters relate to the history of a very important branch of +British industry—that of Shipbuilding. A later chapter, kindly +prepared by Sir Edward J. Harland, of Belfast, relates to the origin +and progress of shipbuilding in Ireland. +</P> + +<P> +Many of the facts set forth in the Life and Inventions of William +Murdock have already been published in my 'Lives of Boulton and Watt;' +but these are now placed in a continuous narrative, and supplemented by +other information, more particularly the correspondence between Watt +and Murdock, communicated to me by the present representative of the +family, Mr. Murdock, C.E., of Gilwern, near Abergavenny. +</P> + +<P> +I have also endeavoured to give as accurate an account as possible of +the Invention of the Steam-printing Press, and its application to the +production of Newspapers and Books,—an invention certainly of great +importance to the spread of knowledge, science, and literature, +throughout the world. +</P> + +<P> +The chapter on the "Industry of Ireland" will speak for itself. It +occurred to me, on passing through Ireland last year, that much +remained to be said on that subject; and, looking to the increasing +means of the country, and the well-known industry of its people, it +seems reasonable to expect, that with peace, security, energy, and +diligent labour of head and hand, there is really a great future before +Ireland. +</P> + +<P> +The last chapter, on "Astronomers in Humble Life," consists for the +most part of a series of Autobiographies. It may seem, at first sight, +to have little to do with the leading object of the book; but it serves +to show what a number of active, earnest, and able men are +comparatively hidden throughout society, ready to turn their hands and +heads to the improvement of their own characters, if not to the +advancement of the general community of which they form a part. +</P> + +<P> +In conclusion, I say to the reader, as Quarles said in the preface to +his 'Emblems,' "I wish thee as much pleasure in the reading as I had in +the writing." In fact, the last three chapters were in some measure +the cause of the book being published in its present form. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +London, November, 1884. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PHINEAS PETT: BEGINNINGS OF ENGLISH SHIP-BUILDING. +</H3> + +<P> +"A speck in the Northern Ocean, with a rocky coast, an ungenial +climate, and a soil scarcely fruitful,—this was the material patrimony +which descended to the English race—an inheritance that would have +been little worth but for the inestimable moral gift that accompanied +it. Yes; from Celts, Saxons, Danes, Normans—from some or all of +them—have come down with English nationality a talisman that could +command sunshine, and plenty, and empire, and fame. The 'go' which +they transmitted to us—the national vis—this it is which made the old +Angle-land a glorious heritage. Of this we have had a portion above +our brethren—good measure, running over. Through this our +island-mother has stretched out her arms till they enriched the globe +of the earth....Britain, without her energy and enterprise, what would +she be in Europe?"—Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (1870). +</P> + +<P> +In one of the few records of Sir Isaac Newton's life which he left for +the benefit of others, the following comprehensive thought occurs: +</P> + +<P> +"It is certainly apparent that the inhabitants of this world are of a +short date, seeing that all arts, as letters, ships, printing, the +needle, &c., were discovered within the memory of history." +</P> + +<P> +If this were true in Newton's time, how much truer is it now. Most of +the inventions which are so greatly influencing, as well as advancing, +the civilization of the world at the present time, have been discovered +within the last hundred or hundred and fifty years. We do not say that +man has become so much wiser during that period; for, though he has +grown in Knowledge, the most fruitful of all things were said by "the +heirs of all the ages" thousands of years ago. +</P> + +<P> +But as regards Physical Science, the progress made during the last +hundred years has been very great. Its most recent triumphs have been +in connection with the discovery of electric power and electric light. +Perhaps the most important invention, however, was that of the working +steam engine, made by Watt only about a hundred years ago. The most +recent application of this form of energy has been in the propulsion of +ships, which has already produced so great an effect upon commerce, +navigation, and the spread of population over the world. +</P> + +<P> +Equally important has been the influence of the Railway—now the +principal means of communication in all civilized countries. This +invention has started into full life within our own time. The +locomotive engine had for some years been employed in the haulage of +coals; but it was not until the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester +Railway in 1830, that the importance of the invention came to be +acknowledged. The locomotive railway has since been everywhere adopted +throughout Europe. In America, Canada, and the Colonies, it has opened +up the boundless resources of the soil, bringing the country nearer to +the towns, and the towns to the country. It has enhanced the celerity +of time, and imparted a new series of conditions to every rank of life. +</P> + +<P> +The importance of steam navigation has been still more recently +ascertained. When it was first proposed, Sir Joseph Banks, President +of the Royal Society, said: "It is a pretty plan, but there is just +one point overlooked: that the steam-engine requires a firm basis on +which to work." Symington, the practical mechanic, put this theory to +the test by his successful experiments, first on Dalswinton Lake, and +then on the Forth and Clyde Canal. Fulton and Bell afterwards showed +the power of steamboats in navigating the rivers of America and Britain. +</P> + +<P> +After various experiments, it was proposed to unite England and America +by steam. Dr. Lardner, however, delivered a lecture before the Royal +Institution in 1838, "proving" that steamers could never cross the +Atlantic, because they could not carry sufficient coal to raise steam +enough during the voyage. But this theory was also tested by +experience in the same year, when the Sirius, of London, left Cork for +New York, and made the passage in nineteen days. Four days after the +departure of the Sirius, the Great Western left Bristol for New York, +and made the passage in thirteen days five hours.[1] The problem was +solved; and great ocean steamers have ever since passed in continuous +streams between the shores of England and America. +</P> + +<P> +In an age of progress, one invention merely paves the way for another. +The first steamers were impelled by means of paddle wheels; but these +are now almost entirely superseded by the screw. And this, too, is an +invention almost of yesterday. It was only in 1840 that the Archimedes +was fitted as a screw yacht. +</P> + +<P> +A few years later, in 1845, the Great Britain, propelled by the screw, +left Liverpool for New York, and made the voyage in fourteen days. The +screw is now invariably adopted in all long ocean voyages. +</P> + +<P> +It is curious to look back, and observe the small beginnings of +maritime navigation. As regards this country, though its institutions +are old, modern England is still young. As respects its mechanical and +scientific achievements, it is the youngest of all countries. Watt's +steam engine was the beginning of our manufacturing supremacy; and +since its adoption, inventions and discoveries in Art and Science, +within the last hundred years, have succeeded each other with +extraordinary rapidity. In 1814 there was only one steam vessel in +Scotland; while England possessed none at all. Now, the British +mercantile steam-ships number about 5000, with about 4 millions of +aggregate tonnage.[2] +</P> + +<P> +In olden times this country possessed the materials for great things, +as well as the men fitted to develope them into great results. But the +nation was slow to awake and take advantage of its opportunities. +There was no enterprise, no commerce—no "go" in the people. The roads +were frightfully bad; and there was little communication between one +part of the country and another. +</P> + +<P> +If anything important had to be done, we used to send for foreigners to +come and teach us how to do it. We sent for them to drain our fens, to +build our piers and harbours, and even to pump our water at London +Bridge. Though a seafaring population lived round our coasts, we did +not fish our own seas, but left it to the industrious Dutchmen to catch +the fish, and supply our markets. It was not until the year 1787 that +the Yarmouth people began the deep-sea herring fishery; and yet these +were the most enterprising amongst the English fishermen. +</P> + +<P> +English commerce also had very slender beginnings. At the commencement +of the fifteenth century, England was of very little account in the +affairs of Europe. Indeed, the history of modern England is nearly +coincident with the accession of the Tudors to the throne. With the +exception of Calais and Dunkirk, her dominions on the Continent had +been wrested from her by the French. The country at home had been made +desolate by the Wars of the Roses. The population was very small, and +had been kept down by war, pestilence, and famine.[3] The chief staple +was wool, which was exported to Flanders in foreign ships, there to be +manufactured into cloth. Nearly every article of importance was +brought from abroad; and the little commerce which existed was in the +hands of foreigners. The seas were swept by privateers, little better +than pirates, who plundered without scruple every vessel, whether +friend or foe, which fell in their way. +</P> + +<P> +The British navy has risen from very low beginnings. The English fleet +had fallen from its high estate since the reign of Edward III., who won +a battle from the French and Flemings in 1340, with 260 ships; but his +vessels were all of moderate size, being boats, yachts, and caravels, +of very small tonnage. According to the contemporary chronicles, +Weymouth, Fowey, Sandwich, and Bristol, were then of nearly almost as +much importance as London;[4] which latter city only furnished +twenty-five vessels, with 662 mariners. +</P> + +<P> +The Royal Fleet began in the reign of Henry VII. Only six or seven +vessels then belonged to the King, the largest being the Grace de Dieu, +of comparatively small tonnage. The custom then was, to hire ships +from the Venetians, the Genoese, the Hanse towns, and other trading +people; and as soon as the service for which the vessels so hired was +performed, they were dismissed. +</P> + +<P> +When Henry VIII. ascended the throne in 1509, he directed his attention +to the state of the navy. Although the insular position of England was +calculated to stimulate the art of shipbuilding more than in most +continental countries, our best ships long continued to be built by +foreigners. Henry invited from abroad, especially from Italy, where +the art of shipbuilding had made the greatest progress, as many skilful +artists and workmen as he could procure, either by the hope of gain, or +the high honours and distinguished countenance which he paid them. "By +incorporating," says Charnock, "these useful persons among his own +subjects, he soon formed a corps sufficient to rival those states which +had rendered themselves most distinguished by their knowledge in this +art; so that the fame of Genoa and Venice, which had long excited the +envy of the greater part of Europe, became suddenly transferred to the +shores of Britain."[5] +</P> + +<P> +In fitting out his fleet, we find Henry disbursing large sums to +foreigners for shipbuilding, for "harness" or armour, and for munitions +of all sorts. The State Papers[6] particularize the amounts paid to +Lewez de la Fava for "harness;" to William Gurre, "bregandy-maker;" and +to Leonard Friscobald for "almayn ryvetts." +</P> + +<P> +Francis de Errona, a Spaniard, supplied the gunpowder. Among the +foreign mechanics and artizans employed were Hans Popenruyter, +gunfounder of Mechlin; Robert Sakfeld, Robert Skorer, Fortuno de +Catalenago, and John Cavelcant. On one occasion 2,797L. 19s. 4 1/2d. +was disbursed for guns and grindstones. This sum must be multiplied by +about four, to give the proper present value. Popenruyter seems to have +been the great gunfounder of the age; he supplied the principal guns +and gun stores for the English navy, and his name occurs in every +Ordnance account of the series, generally for sums of the largest +amounts. +</P> + +<P> +Henry VIII. was the first to establish Royal dockyards, first at +Woolwich, then at Portsmouth, and thirdly at Deptford, for the erection +and repair of ships. Before then, England had been principally +dependent upon Dutchmen and Venetians, both for ships of war and +merchantmen. The sovereign had neither naval arsenals nor dockyards, +nor any regular establishment of civil or naval affairs to provide +ships of war. Sir Edward Howard, Lord High Admiral of England, at the +accession of Henry VIII., actually entered into a "contract" with that +monarch to fight his enemies. +</P> + +<P> +This singular document is still preserved in the State Paper office. +Even after the establishment of royal dockyards, the sovereign—as late +as the reign of Elizabeth—entered into formal contracts with +shipwrights for the repair and maintenance of ships, as well as for +additions to the fleet. +</P> + +<P> +The King, having made his first effort at establishing a royal navy, +sent the fleet to sea against the ships of France. The Regent was the +ship royal, with Sir Thomas Knivet, Master of the Horse, and Sir John +Crew of Devonshire, as Captains. The fleet amounted to twenty-five +well furnished ships. The French fleet were thirty-nine in number. +They met in Brittany Bay, and had a fierce fight. The Regent grappled +with a great carack of Brest; the French, on the English boarding their +ship, set fire to the gunpowder, and both ships were blown up, with all +their men. The French fleet fled, and the English kept the seas. The +King, hearing of the loss of the Regent, caused a great ship to be +built, the like of which had never before been seen in England, and +called it Harry Grace de Dieu. +</P> + +<P> +This ship was constructed by foreign artizans, principally by Italians, +and was launched in 1515. She was said to be of a thousand tons +portage—the largest ship in England. The vessel was four-masted, with +two round tops on each mast, except the shortest mizen. She had a high +forecastle and poop, from which the crew could shoot down upon the deck +or waist of another vessel. The object was to have a sort of castle at +each end of the ship. This style of shipbuilding was doubtless +borrowed from the Venetians, then the greatest naval power in Europe. +The length of the masts, the height of the ship above the water's edge, +and the ornaments and decorations, were better adapted for the +stillness of the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas, than for the +boisterous ocean of the northern parts of Europe.[7] The story long +prevailed that "the Great Harry swept a dozen flocks of sheep off the +Isle of Man with her bob-stay." An American gentleman (N.B. Anderson, +LL.D., Boston) informed the present author that this saying is still +proverbial amongst the United States sailors. +</P> + +<P> +The same features were reproduced in merchant ships. Most of them were +suited for defence, to prevent the attacks of pirates, which swarmed +the seas round the coast at that time. Shipbuilding by the natives in +private shipyards was in a miserable condition. Mr. Willet, in his +memoir relative to the navy, observes: "It is said, and I believe with +truth, that at this time (the middle of the sixteenth century) there +was not a private builder between London Bridge and Gravesend, who +could lay down a ship in the mould left from a Navy Board's draught, +without applying to a tinker who lived in Knave's Acre."[8] +</P> + +<P> +Another ship of some note built at the instance of Henry VIII. was the +Mary Rose, of the portage of 500 tons. We find her in the "pond at +Deptford" in 1515. Seven years later, in the thirtieth year of Henry +VIII.'s reign, she was sent to sea, with five other English ships of +war, to protect such commerce as then existed from the depredations of +the French and Scotch pirates. The Mary Rose was sent many years later +(in 1544) with the English fleet to the coast of France, but returned +with the rest of the fleet to Portsmouth without entering into any +engagement. While laid at anchor, not far from the place where the +Royal George afterwards went down, and the ship was under repair, her +gun-ports being very low when she was laid over, "the shipp turned, the +water entered, and sodainly she sanke." +</P> + +<P> +What was to be done? There were no English engineers or workmen who +could raise the ship. Accordingly, Henry VIII. sent to Venice for +assistance, and when the men arrived, Pietro de Andreas was dispatched +with the Venetian marines and carpenters to raise the Mary Rose. Sixty +English mariners were appointed to attend upon them. The Venetians +were then the skilled "heads," the English were only the "hands." +Nevertheless they failed with all their efforts; and it was not until +the year 1836 that Mr. Dean, the engineer, succeeded in raising not +only the Royal George, but the Mary Rose, and cleared the roadstead at +Portsmouth of the remains of the sunken ships. +</P> + +<P> +When Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1558, the commerce and navigation +of England were still of very small amount. The population of the +kingdom amounted to only about five millions—not much more than the +population of London is now. The country had little commerce, and what +it had was still mostly in the hands of foreigners. The Hanse towns +had their large entrepot for merchandise in Cannon Street, on the site +of the present Cannon Street Station. The wool was still sent abroad +to Flanders to be fashioned into cloth, and even garden produce was +principally imported from Holland. Dutch, Germans, Flemings, French, +and Venetians continued to be our principal workmen. Our iron was +mostly obtained from Spain and Germany. The best arms and armour came +from France and Italy. Linen was imported from Flanders and Holland, +though the best came from Rheims. Even the coarsest dowlas, or +sailcloth, was imported from the Low Countries. +</P> + +<P> +The royal ships continued to be of very small burthen, and the +mercantile ships were still smaller. The Queen, however, did what she +could to improve the number and burthen of our ships. "Foreigners," +says Camden, "stiled her the restorer of naval glory and Queen of the +Northern Seas." In imitation of the Queen, opulent subjects built +ships of force; and in course of time England no longer depended upon +Hamburg, Dantzic, Genoa, and Venice, for her fleet in time of war. +</P> + +<P> +Spain was then the most potent power in Europe, and the Netherlands, +which formed part of the dominions of Spain, was the centre of +commercial prosperity. Holland possessed above 800 good ships, of from +200 to 700 tons burthen, and above 600 busses for fishing, of from 100 +to 200 tons. Amsterdam and Antwerp were in the heyday of their +prosperity. Sometimes 500 great ships were to be seen lying together +before Amsterdam;[9] whereas England at that time had not four merchant +ships of 400 tons each! Antwerp, however, was the most important city +in the Low Countries. It was no uncommon thing to see as many as 2500 +ships in the Scheldt, laden with merchandize. Sometimes 500 ships +would come and go from Antwerp in one day, bound to or returning from +the distant parts of the world. The place was immensely rich, and was +frequented by Spaniards, Germans, Danes, English, Italians, and +Portuguese the Spaniards being the most numerous. Camden, in his +history of Queen Elizabeth, relates that our general trade with the +Netherlands in 1564 amounted to twelve millions of ducats, five +millions of which was for English cloth alone. +</P> + +<P> +The religious persecutions of Philip II. of Spain and of Charles IX. of +France shortly supplied England with the population of which she stood +in need—active, industrious, intelligent artizans. Philip set up the +Inquisition in Flanders, and in a few years more than 50,000 persons +were deliberately murdered. The Duchess of Parma, writing to Philip II. +in 1567, informed him that in a few days above 100,000 men had already +left the country with their money and goods, and that more were +following every day. They fled to Germany, to Holland, and above all +to England, which they hailed as Asylum Christi. The emigrants settled +in the decayed cities and towns of Canterbury, Norwich, Sandwich, +Colchester, Maidstone, Southampton, and many other places, where they +carried on their manufactures of woollen, linen, and silk, and +established many new branches of industry.[10] +</P> + +<P> +Five years later, in 1572, the massacre of St. Bartholomew took place +in France, during which the Roman Catholic Bishop Perefixe alleges that +100,000 persons were put to death because of their religions opinions. +All this persecution, carried on so near the English shores, rapidly +increased the number of foreign fugitives into England, which was +followed by the rapid advancement of the industrial arts in this +country. +</P> + +<P> +The asylum which Queen Elizabeth gave to the persecuted foreigners +brought down upon her the hatred of Philip II. and Charles IX. When +they found that they could not prevent her furnishing them with an +asylum, they proceeded to compass her death. She was excommunicated by +the Pope, and Vitelli was hired to assassinate her. Philip also +proceeded to prepare the Sacred Armada for the subjugation of the +English nation, and he was master of the most powerful army and navy in +the world. +</P> + +<P> +Modern England was then in the throes of her birth. She had not yet +reached the vigour of her youth, though she was full of life and +energy. She was about to become the England of free thought, commerce, +and manufactures; to plough the ocean with her navies, and to plant her +colonies over the earth. Up to the accession of Elizabeth, she had +done little, but now she was about to do much. +</P> + +<P> +It was a period of sudden emancipation of thought, and of immense +fertility and originality. The poets and prose writers of the time +united the freshness of youth with the vigour of manhood. Among these +were Spenser, Shakespeare, Sir Philip Sidney, the Fletchers, Marlowe, +and Ben Jonson. Among the statesmen of Elizabeth were Burleigh, +Leicester, Walsingham, Howard, and Sir Nicholas Bacon. But perhaps +greatest of all were the sailors, who, as Clarendon said, "were a +nation by themselves;" and their leaders—Drake, Frobisher, Cavendish, +Hawkins, Howard, Raleigh, Davis, and many more distinguished seamen. +</P> + +<P> +They were the representative men of their time, the creation in a great +measure of the national spirit. They were the offspring of long +generations of seamen and lovers of the sea. They could not have been +great but for the nation which gave them birth, and imbued them with +their worth and spirit. The great sailors, for instance, could not +have originated in a nation of mere landsmen. +</P> + +<P> +They simply took the lead in a country whose coasts were fringed with +sailors. Their greatness was but the result of an excellence in +seamanship which prevailed widely around them. +</P> + +<P> +The age of English maritime adventure only began in the reign of +Elizabeth. England had then no colonies—no foreign possessions +whatever. The first of her extensive colonial possessions was +established in this reign. "Ships, colonies, and commerce" began to be +the national motto—not that colonies make ships and commerce, but that +ships and commerce make colonies. Yet what cockle-shells of ships our +pioneer navigators first sailed in! +</P> + +<P> +Although John Cabot or Gabota, of Bristol, originally a citizen of +Venice, had discovered the continent of North America in 1496, in the +reign of Henry VII., he made no settlement there, but returned to +Bristol with his four small ships. Columbus did not see the continent +of America until two years later, in 1498, his first discoveries being +the islands of the West Indies. +</P> + +<P> +It was not until the year 1553 that an attempt was made to discover a +North-west passage to Cathaya or China. Sir Hugh Willonghby was put in +command of the expedition, which consisted of three ships,—the Bona +Esperanza, the Bona Ventura (Captain Chancellor), and the Bona +Confidentia (Captain Durforth),—most probably ships built by +Venetians. Sir Hugh reached 72 degrees of north latitude, and was +compelled by the buffeting of the winds to take refuge with Captain +Durforth's vessel at Arcina Keca, in Russian Lapland, where the two +captains and the crews of these ships, seventy in number, were frozen +to death. In the following year some Russian fishermen found Sir John +Willonghby sitting dead in his cabin, with his diary and other papers +beside him. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Chancellor was more fortunate. He reached Archangel in the +White Sea, where no ship had ever been seen before. He pointed out to +the English the way to the whale fishery at Spitzbergen, and opened up +a trade with the northern parts of Russia. Two years later, in 1556, +Stephen Burroughs sailed with one small ship, which entered the Kara +Sea; but he was compelled by frost and ice to return to England. The +strait which he entered is still called "Burrough's Strait." +</P> + +<P> +It was not, however, until the reign of Elizabeth that great maritime +adventures began to be made. Navigators were not so venturous as they +afterwards became. Without proper methods of navigation, they were apt +to be carried away to the south, across an ocean without limit. In +1565 a young captain, Martin Frobisher, came into notice. At the age +of twenty-five he captured in the South Seas the Flying Spirit, a +Spanish ship laden with a rich cargo of cochineal. Four years later, +in 1569, he made his first attempt to discover the north-west passage +to the Indies, being assisted by Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick. The +ships of Frobisher were three in number, the Gabriel, of from 15 to 20 +tons; the Michael, of from 20 to 25 tons, or half the size of a modern +fishing-boat; and a pinnace, of from 7 to 10 tons! The aggregate of +the crews of the three ships was only thirty-five, men and boys. Think +of the daring of these early navigators in attempting to pass by the +North Pole to Cathay through snow, and storm, and ice, in such +miserable little cockboats! The pinnace was lost; the Michael, under +Owen Griffith, a Welsh-man, deserted; and Martin Frobisher in the +Gabriel went alone into the north-western sea! +</P> + +<P> +He entered the great bay, since called Hudson's Bay, by Frobisher's +Strait. He returned to England without making the discovery of the +Passage, which long remained the problem of arctic voyagers. Yet ten +years later, in 1577, he made another voyage, and though he made his +second attempt with one of Queen Elizabeth's own ships, and two barks, +with 140 persons in all, he was as unsuccessful as before. He brought +home some supposed gold ore; and on the strength of the stones +containing gold, a third expedition went out in the following year. +After losing one of the ships, consuming the provisions, and suffering +greatly from ice and storms, the fleet returned home one by one. The +supposed gold ore proved to be only glittering sand. +</P> + +<P> +While Frobisher was seeking El-Dorado in the North, Francis Drake was +finding it in the South. He was a sailor, every inch of him. +</P> + +<P> +"Pains, with patience in his youth," says Fuller, "knit the joints of +his soul, and made them more solid and compact." At an early age, when +carrying on a coasting trade, his imagination was inflamed by the +exploits of his protector Hawkins in the New World, and he joined him +in his last unfortunate adventure on the Spanish Main. He was not, +however, discouraged by his first misfortune, but having assembled +about him a number of seamen who believed in him, he made other +adventures to the West Indies, and learnt the navigation of that part +of the ocean. In 1570, he obtained a regular commission from Queen +Elizabeth, though he sailed his own ships, and made his own ventures. +Every Englishman, who had the means, was at liberty to fit out his own +ships; and with tolerable vouchers, he was able to procure a commission +from the Court, and proceed to sea at his own risk and cost. Thus, the +naval enterprise and pioneering of new countries under Elizabeth, was +almost altogether a matter of private enterprise and adventure. +</P> + +<P> +In 1572, the butchery of the Hugnenots took place at Paris and +throughout France; while at the same time the murderous power of Philip +II. reigned supreme in the Netherlands. The sailors knew what they had +to expect from the Spanish king in the event of his obtaining his +threatened revenge upon England; and under their chosen chiefs they +proceeded to make war upon him. In the year of the massacre of St. +Bartholomew, Drake set sail for the Spanish Main in the Pasha, of +seventy tons, accompanied by the Swan, of twenty-five tons; the united +crews of the vessels amounting to seventy-three men and boys. With +this insignificant force, Drake made great havoc amongst the Spanish +shipping at Nombre de Dios. He partially crossed the Isthmus of +Darien, and obtained his first sight of the great Pacific Ocean. He +returned to England in August 1573, with his frail barks crammed with +treasure. +</P> + +<P> +A few years later, in 1577, he made his ever-memorable expedition. +Charnock says it was "an attempt in its nature so bold and +unprecedented, that we should scarcely know whether to applaud it as a +brave, or condemn it as a rash one, but for its success." The squadron +with which he sailed for South America consisted of five vessels, the +largest of which, the Pelican, was only of 100 tons burthen; the next, +the Elizabeth, was of 80; the third, the Swan, a fly-boat, was of 50; +the Marygold bark, of 30; and the Christopher, a pinnace, of 15 tons. +The united crews of these vessels amounted to only 164, gentlemen and +sailors. +</P> + +<P> +The gentlemen went with Drake "to learn the art of navigation." After +various adventures along the South American coast, the little fleet +passed through the Straits of Magellan, and entered the Pacific Ocean. +Drake took an immense amount of booty from the Spanish towns along the +coast, and captured the royal galleon, the Cacafuego, laden with +treasure. After trying in vain to discover a passage home by the +North-eastern ocean, though what is now known as Behring Straits, he +took shelter in Port San Francisco, which he took possession of in the +name of the Queen of England, and called New Albion. He eventually +crossed the Pacific for the Moluccas and Java, from which he sailed +right across the Indian Ocean, and by the Cape of Good Hope to England, +thus making the circumnavigation of the world. He was absent with his +little fleet for about two years and ten months. +</P> + +<P> +Not less extraordinary was the voyage of Captain Cavendish, who made +the circumnavigation of the globe at his own expense. He set out from +Plymouth in three small vessels on the 21st July, 1586. One vessel was +of 120 tons, the second of 60 tons, and the third of 40 tons—not much +bigger than a Thames yacht. The united crews, of officers, men, and +boys, did not exceed 123! Cavendish sailed along the South American +continent, and made through the Straits of Magellan, reaching the +Pacific Ocean. He burnt and plundered the Spanish settlements along +the coast, captured some Spanish ships, and took by boarding the +galleon St. Anna, with 122,000 Spanish dollars on board. He then +sailed across the Pacific to the Ladrone Islands, and returned home +through the Straits of Java and the Indian Archipelago by the Cape of +Good Hope, and reached England after an absence of two years and a +month. +</P> + +<P> +The sacred and invincible Armada was now ready, Philip II. was +determined to put down those English adventurers who had swept the +coasts of Spain and plundered his galleons on the high seas. The +English sailors knew that the sword of Philip was forged in the gold +mines of South America, and that the only way to defend their country +was to intercept the plunder on its voyage home to Spain. But the +sailors and their captains—Drake, Hawkins, Frobisher, Howard, +Grenville, Raleigh, and the rest—could not altogether interrupt the +enterprise of the King of Spain. The Armada sailed, and came in sight +of the English coast on the 20th of July, 1588. +</P> + +<P> +The struggle was of an extraordinary character. On the one side was +the most powerful naval armament that had ever put to sea. It consisted +of six squadrons of sixty fine large ships, the smallest being of 700 +tons. Besides these were four gigantic galleasses, each carrying fifty +guns, four large armed galleys, fifty-six armed merchant ships, and +twenty caravels—in all, 149 vessels. On board were 8000 sailors, +20,000 soldiers, and a large number of galley-slaves. The ships +carried provisions enough for six months' consumption; and the supply +of ammunition was enormous. +</P> + +<P> +On the other side was the small English fleet under Hawkins and Drake. +The Royal ships were only thirteen in number. The rest were +contributed by private enterprize, there being only thirty-eight +vessels of all sorts and sizes, including cutters and pinnaces, +carrying the Queen's flag. The principal armed merchant ships were +provided by London, Southampton, Bristol, and the other southern ports. +Drake was followed by some privateers; Hawkins had four or five ships, +and Howard of Effingham two. The fleet was, however, very badly found +in provisions and ammunition. There was only a week's provisions on +board, and scarcely enough ammunition for one day's hard fighting. But +the ships, small though they were, were in good condition. They could +sail, whether in pursuit or in flight, for the men who navigated them +were thorough sailors. +</P> + +<P> +The success of the defence was due to tact, courage, and seamanship. +At the first contact of the fleets, the Spanish towering galleons +wished to close, to grapple with their contemptuous enemies, and crush +them to death. "Come on!" said Medina Sidonia. Lord Howard came on +with the Ark and three other ships, and fired with immense rapidity +into the great floating castles. The Sam Mateo luffed, and wanted them +to board. "No! not yet!" The English tacked, returned, fired again, +riddled the Spaniards, and shot away in the eye of the wind. To the +astonishment of the Spanish Admiral, the English ships approached him +or left him just as they chose. "The enemy pursue me," wrote the +Spanish Admiral to the Prince of Parma; "they fire upon me most days +from morning till nightfall, but they will not close and grapple, +though I have given them every opportunity." The Capitana, a galleon +of 1200 tons, dropped behind, struck her flag to Drake, and increased +the store of the English fleet by some tons of gunpowder. Another +Spanish ship surrendered, and another store of powder and shot was +rescued for the destruction of the Armada. And so it happened +throughout, until the Spanish fleet was driven to wreck and ruin, and +the remaining ships were scattered by the tempests of the north. After +all, Philip proved to be, what the sailors called him, only "a Colossus +stuffed with clouts." +</P> + +<P> +The English sailors followed up their advantage. They went on +"singeing the Ring of Spain's beard." Private adventurers fitted up a +fleet under the command of Drake, and invaded the mainland of Spain. +They took the lower part of the town of Corunna; sailed to the Tagus, +and captured a fleet of ships laden with wheat and warlike stores for a +new Armada. They next sacked Vigo, and returned to England with 150 +pieces of cannon and a rich booty. The Earl of Cumberland sailed to +the West Indies on a private adventure, and captured more Spanish +prizes. In 1590, ten English merchantmen, returning from the Levant, +attacked twelve Spanish galleons, and after six hours' contest, put +them to flight with great loss. In the following year, three merchant +ships set sail for the East Indies, and in the course of their voyage +took several Portuguese vessels. +</P> + +<P> +A powerful Spanish fleet still kept the seas, and in 1591 they +conquered the noble Sir Richard Grenville at the Azores—fifteen great +Spanish galleons against one Queen's ship, the Revenge. In 1593, two +of the Queen's ships, accompanied by a number of merchant ships, sailed +for the West Indies, under Burroughs, Frobisher, and Cross, and amongst +their other captures they took the greatest of all the East India +caracks, a vessel of 1600 tons, 700 men, and 36 brass cannon, laden +with a magnificent cargo. She was taken to Dartmouth, and surprised +all who saw her, being the largest ship that had ever been seen in +England. In 1594, Captain James Lancaster set sail with three ships +upon a voyage of adventure. He was joined by some Dutch and French +privateers. The result was, that they captured thirty-nine of the +Spanish ships. Sir Amias Preston, Sir John Hawkins, and Sir Francis +Drake, also continued their action upon the seas. Lord Admiral Howard +and the Earl of Essex made their famous attack upon Cadiz for the +purpose of destroying the new Armada; they demolished all the forts; +sank eleven of the King of Spain's best ships, forty-four merchant +ships, and brought home much booty. +</P> + +<P> +Nor was maritime discovery neglected. The planting of new colonies +began, for the English people had already begun to swarm. In 1578, Sir +Humphrey Gilbert planted Newfoundland for the Queen. In 1584, Sir +Waiter Raleigh planted the first settlement in Virginia. Nor was the +North-west passage neglected; for in 1580, Captain Pett (a name famous +on the Thames) set sail from Harwich in the George, accompanied by +Captain Jackman in the William. They reached the ice in the North Sea, +but were compelled to return without effecting their purpose! Will it +be believed that the George was only of 40 tons, and that its crew +consisted of nine men and a boy; and that the William was of 20 tons, +with five men and a boy? The wonder is that these little vessels could +resist the terrible icefields, and return to England again with their +hardy crews. +</P> + +<P> +Then in 1585, another of our adventurous sailors, John Davis, of +Sandridge on the Dart, set sail with two barks, the Sunshine and the +Moonshine, of 50 and 35 tons respectively, and discovered in the far +North-west the Strait which now bears his name. He was driven back by +the ice; but, undeterred by his failure, he set out on a second, and +then on a third voyage of discovery in the two following years. But he +never succeeded in discovering the North-west passage. It all reads +like a mystery—these repeated, determined, and energetic attempts to +discover a new way of reaching the fabled region of Cathay. +</P> + +<P> +In these early times the Dutch were not unworthy rivals of the English. +After they had succeeded in throwing off the Spanish yoke and achieved +their independence, they became one of the most formidable of maritime +powers. In the course of another century Holland possessed more +colonies, and had a larger share of the carrying trade of the world +than Britain. It was natural therefore that the Dutch republic should +take an interest in the North-west passage; and the Dutch sailors, by +their enterprise and bravery, were among the first to point the way to +Arctic discovery. Barents and Behring, above all others, proved the +courage and determination of their heroic ancestors. +</P> + +<P> +The romance of the East India Company begins with an advertisement in +the London Gazette of 1599, towards the end of the reign of Queen +Elizabeth. As with all other enterprises of the nation, it was +established by private means. The Company was started with a capital +of 72,000L. in 50L. shares. The adventurers bought four vessels of an +average burthen of 350 tons. These were stocked with provisions, +"Norwich stuffs," and other merchandise. The tiny fleet sailed from +Billingsgate on the 13th February, 1601. It went by the Cape of Good +Hope to the East Indies, under the command of Captain James Lancaster. +It took no less than sixteen months to reach the Indian Archipelago. +</P> + +<P> +The little fleet reached Acheen in June, 1602. The king of the +territory received the visitors with courtesy, and exchanged spices +with them freely. The four vessels sailed homeward, taking possession +of the island of St. Helena on their way back; having been absent +exactly thirty-one months. The profits of the first voyage proved to +be about one hundred per cent. Such was the origin of the great East +India Company—now expanded into an empire, and containing about two +hundred millions of people. +</P> + +<P> +To return to the shipping and the mercantile marine of the time of +Queen Elizabeth. The number of Royal ships was only thirteen, the rest +of the navy consisting of merchant ships, which were hired and +discharged when their purpose was served.[11] According to Wheeler, at +the accession of the Queen, there were not more than four ships +belonging to the river Thames, excepting those of the Royal Navy, which +were over 120 tons in burthen;[12] and after forty years, the whole of +the merchant ships of England, over 100 tons, amounted to 135; only a +few of these being of 500 tons. In 1588, the number had increased to +150, "of about 150 tons one with another, employed in trading voyages +to all parts and countries." The principal shipping which frequented +the English ports still continued to be foreign—Italian, Flemish, and +German. +</P> + +<P> +Liverpool, now possessing the largest shipping tonnage in the world, +had not yet come into existence. It was little better than a fishing +village. The people of the place presented a petition to the Queen, +praying her to remit a subsidy which had been imposed upon them, and +speaking of their native place as "Her Majesty's poor decayed town of +Liverpool." In 1565, seven years after Queen Elizabeth began to reign, +the number of vessels belonging to Liverpool was only twelve. The +largest was of forty tons burthen, with twelve men; and the smallest +was a boat of six tons, with three men.[13] +</P> + +<P> +James I., on his accession to the throne of England in 1603, called in +all the ships of war, as well as the numerous privateers which had been +employed during the previous reign in waging war against the commerce +of Spain, and declared himself to be at peace with all the world. +James was as peaceful as a Quaker. He was not a fighting King;—and, +partly on this account, he was not popular. He encouraged manufactures +in wool, silk, and tapestry. He gave every encouragement to the +mercantile and colonizing adventurers to plant and improve the rising +settlements of Virginia, New England, and Newfoundland. He also +promoted the trade to the East Indies. Attempts continued to be made, +by Hudson, Poole, Button, Hall, Baffin, and other courageous seamen, to +discover the North-West passage, but always without effect. +</P> + +<P> +The shores of England being still much infested by Algerine and other +pirates,[14] King James found it necessary to maintain the ships of war +in order to protect navigation and commerce. He nearly doubled the +ships of the Royal Navy, and increased the number from thirteen to +twenty-four. Their size, however, continued small, both Royal and +merchant ships. Sir William Monson says, that at the accession of +James I. there were not above four merchant ships in England of 400 +tons burthen.[15] The East Indian merchants were the first to increase +the size. In 1609, encouraged by their Charter, they built the Trade's +Increase, of 1100 tons burthen, the largest merchant ship that had ever +been built in England. As it was necessary that, the crew of the ship +should be able to beat off the pirates, she was fully armed. The +additional ships of war were also of heavier burthen. In the same +year, the Prince, of 1400 tons burthen, was launched; she carried +sixty-four cannon, and was superior to any ship of the kind hitherto +seen in England. +</P> + +<P> +And now we arrive at the subject of this memoir. The Petts were the +principal ship-builders of the time. They had long been known upon the +Thames, and had held posts in the Royal Dockyards since the reign of +Henry VII. They were gallant sailors, too; one of them, as already +mentioned, having made an adventurous voyage to the Arctic Ocean in his +little bark, the George, of only 40 tons burthen. Phineas Pett was the +first of the great ship-builders. His father, Peter Pett, was one of +the Queen's master shipwrights. Besides being a ship-builder, he was +also a poet, being the author of a poetical piece entitled, "Time's +Journey to seek his daughter Truth,"[16] a very respectable +performance. Indeed, poetry is by no means incompatible with +ship-building—the late Chief Constructor of the Navy being, perhaps, +as proud of his poetry as of his ships. Pett's poem was dedicated to +the Lord High Admiral, Howard, Earl of Nottingham; and this may +possibly have been the reason of the singular interest which he +afterwards took in Phineas Pett, the poet shipwright's son. +</P> + +<P> +Phineas Pett was the second son of his father. He was born at +Deptford, or "Deptford Strond," as the place used to be called, on the +1st of November, 1570. At nine years old, he was sent to the +free-school at Rochester, and remained there for four years. Not +profiting much by his education there, his father removed him to a +private school at Greenwich, kept by a Mr. Adams. Here he made so much +progress, that in three years time he was ready for Cambridge. He was +accordingly sent to that University at Shrovetide, 1586, and was +entered at Emmanuel College, under charge of Mr. Charles Chadwick, the +president. His father allowed him 20L. per annum, besides books, +apparel, and other necessaries. +</P> + +<P> +Phineas remained at Cambridge for three years. He was obliged to quit +the University by the death of his "reverend, ever-loving father," +whose loss, he says, "proved afterwards my utter undoing almost, had +not God been more merciful to me." His mother married again, "a most +wicked husband," says Pett in his autobiography,[17] "one, Mr. Thomas +Nunn, a minister," but of what denomination he does not state. His +mother's imprudence wholly deprived him of his maintenance, and having +no hopes of preferment from his friends, he necessarily abandoned his +University career, "presently after Christmas, 1590." +</P> + +<P> +Early in the following year, he was persuaded by his mother to +apprentice himself to Mr. Richard Chapman, of Deptford Strond, one of +the Queen's Master shipwrights, whom his late father had "bred up from +a child to that profession." He was allowed 2L. 6s. 8d. per annum, +with which he had to provide himself with tools and apparel. Pett +spent two years in this man's service to very little purpose; Chapman +then died, and the apprentice was dismissed. Pett applied to his elder +brother Joseph, who would not help him, although he had succeeded to +his father's post in the Royal Dockyard. He was accordingly +"constrained to ship himself to sea upon a desperate voyage in a +man-of-war." He accepted the humble place of carpenter's mate on board +the galleon Constance, of London. Pett's younger brother, Peter, then +living at Wapping, gave him lodging, meat, and drink, until the ship +was ready to sail. But he had no money to buy clothes. Fortunately one +William King, a yoeman in Essex, taking pity upon the unfortunate young +man, lent him 3L. for that purpose; which Pett afterwards repaid. +</P> + +<P> +The Constance was of only 200 tons burden. She set sail for the South +a few days before Christmas, 1592. There is no doubt that she was +bound upon a piratical adventure. Piracy was not thought dishonourable +in those days. Four years had elapsed since the Armada had approached +the English coast; and now the English and Dutch ships were scouring +the seas in search of Spanish galleons. +</P> + +<P> +Whoever had the means of furnishing a ship, and could find a plucky +captain to command her, sent her out as a privateer. Even the +Companies of the City of London clubbed their means together for the +purpose of sending out Sir Waiter Raleigh to capture Spanish ships, and +afterwards to divide the plunder; as any one may see on referring to +the documents of the London Corporation.[18] +</P> + +<P> +The adventure in which Pett was concerned did not prove very fortunate. +He was absent for about twenty months on the coasts of Spain and +Barbary, and in the Levant, enduring much misery for want of victuals +and apparel, and "without taking any purchase of any value." The +Constance returned to the Irish coast, "extreme poorly." The vessel +entered Cork harbour, and then Pett, thoroughly disgusted with +privateering life, took leave of both ship and voyage. With much +difficulty, he made his way across the country to Waterford, from +whence he took ship for London. He arrived there three days before +Christmas, 1594, in a beggarly condition, and made his way to his +brother Peter's house at Wapping, who again kindly entertained him. +The elder brother Joseph received him more coldly, though he lent him +forty shillings to find himself in clothes. At that time, the fleet +was ordered to be got ready for the last expedition of Drake and +Hawkins to the West Indies. The Defiance was sent into Woolwich dock +to be sheathed; and as Joseph Pett was in charge of the job, he allowed +his brother to be employed as a carpenter. +</P> + +<P> +In the following year, Phineas succeeded in attracting the notice of +Matthew Baker, who was commissioned to rebuild Her Majesty's Triumph. +Baker employed Pett as an ordinary workman; but he had scarcely begun +the job before Baker was ordered to proceed with the building of a +great new ship at Deptford, called the Repulse. +</P> + +<P> +Phineas wished to follow the progress of the Triumph, but finding his +brother Joseph unwilling to retain him in his employment, he followed +Baker to Deptford, and continued to work at the Repulse until she was +finished, launched, and set sail on her voyage, at the end of April, +1596. This was the leading ship of the squadron which set sail for +Cadiz, under the command of the Earl of Essex and the Lord Admiral +Howard, and which did so much damage to the forts and shipping of +Philip II. of Spain. +</P> + +<P> +During the winter months, while the work was in progress, Pett spent +the leisure of his evenings in perfecting himself in learning, +especially in drawing, cyphering, and mathematics, for the purpose, as +he says, of attaining the knowledge of his profession. His master, Mr. +Baker, gave him every encouragement, and from his assistance, he adds, +"I must acknowledge I received my greatest lights." The Lord Admiral +was often present at Baker's house. Pett was importuned to set sail +with the ship when finished, but he preferred remaining at home. The +principal reason, no doubt, that restrained him at this moment from +seeking the patronage of the great, was the care of his two +sisters,[19] who, having fled from the house of their barbarous +stepfather, could find no refuge but in that of their brother Phineas. +Joseph refused to receive them, and Peter of Wapping was perhaps less +able than willing to do so. +</P> + +<P> +In April, 1597, Pett had the advantage of being introduced to Howard, +Earl of Nottingham, then Lord High Admiral of England. This, he says, +was the first beginning of his rising. Two years later, Howard +recommended him for employment in purveying plank and timber in Norfolk +and Suffolk for shipbuilding purposes. Pett accomplished his business +satisfactorily, though he had some malicious enemies to contend +against. In his leisure, he began to prepare models of ships, which he +rigged and finished complete. He also proceeded with the study of +mathematics. The beginning of the year 1600 found Pett once more out +of employment; and during his enforced idleness, which continued for +six months, he seriously contemplated abandoning his profession and +attempting to gain "an honest and convenient maintenance" by joining a +friend in purchasing a caravel (a small vessel), and navigating it +himself. +</P> + +<P> +He was, however, prevented from undertaking this enterprise by a +message which he received from the Court, then stationed at Greenwich. +The Lord High Admiral desired to see him; and after many civil +compliments, he offered him the post of keeper of the plankyard at +Chatham. Pett was only too glad to accept this offer, though the +salary was small. He shipped his furniture on board a hoy of Rainham, +and accompanied it down the Thames to the junction with the Medway. +There he escaped a great danger—one of the sea perils of the time. +The mouths of navigable rivers were still infested with pirates; and as +the hoy containing Pett approached the Nore about three o'clock in the +morning, and while still dark, she came upon a Dunkirk picaroon, full +of men. Fortunately the pirate was at anchor; she weighed and gave +chase, and had not the hoy set full sail, and been impelled up the +Swale by a fresh wind, Pett would have been taken prisoner, with all +his furniture.[20] +</P> + +<P> +Arrived at Chatham, Pett met his brother Joseph, became reconciled to +him, and ever after they lived together as loving brethren. At his +brother's suggestion, Pett took a lease of the Manor House, and settled +there with his sisters. He was now in the direct way to preferment. +Early in the following year (March, 1601) he succeeded to the place of +assistant to the principal master shipwright at Chatham, and undertook +the repairs of Her Majesty's ship The Lion's Whelp, and in the next +year he new-built the Moon enlarging her both in length and breadth. +</P> + +<P> +At the accession of James I. in 1603, Pett was commanded by the Lord +High Admiral with all possible speed to build a little vessel for the +young Prince Henry, eldest son of His Majesty. It was to be a sort of +copy of the Ark Royal, which was the flagship of the Lord High Admiral +when he defeated the Spanish Armada. Pett proceeded to accomplish the +order with all dispatch. The little ship was in length by the keel 28 +feet, in breadth 12 feet, and very curiously garnished within and +without with painting and carving. After working by torch and candle +light, night and day, the ship was launched, and set sail for the +Thames, with the noise of drums, trumpets, and cannon, at the beginning +of March, 1604. After passing through a great storm at the Nore, the +vessel reached the Tower, where the King and the young Prince inspected +her with delight. She was christened Disdain by the Lord High Admiral, +and Pett was appointed captain of the ship. +</P> + +<P> +After his return to Chatham, Pett, at his own charge, built a small +ship at Gillingham, of 300 tons, which he launched in the same year, +and named the Resistance. The ship was scarcely out of hand, when Pett +was ordered to Woolwich, to prepare the Bear and other vessels for +conveying his patron, the Lord High Admiral, as an Ambassador +Extraordinary to Spain, for the purpose of concluding peace, after a +strife of more than forty years. The Resistance was hired by the +Government as a transport, and Pett was put in command. He seems to +have been married at this time, as he mentions in his memoir that he +parted with his wife and children at Chatham on the 24th of March, +1605, and that he sailed from Queenborough on Easter Sunday. +</P> + +<P> +During the voyage to Lisbon the Resistance became separated from the +Ambassador's squadron, and took refuge in Corunna. She then set sail +for Lisbon, which she reached on the 24th of April; and afterwards for +St. Lucar, on the Guadalquiver, near Seville, which she reached on the +11th of May following. After revisiting Corunna, "according to +instructions," on the homeward voyage, Pett directed his course for +England, and reached Rye on the 26th of June, "amidst much rain, +thunder, and lightning." In the course of the same year, his brother +Joseph died, and Phineas succeeded to his post as master shipbuilder at +Chatham. He was permitted, in conjunction with one Henry Farvey and +three others, to receive the usual reward of 5s. per ton for building +five new merchant ships,[21] most probably for East Indian commerce, +now assuming large dimensions. He was despatched by the Government to +Bearwood, in Hampshire, to make a selection of timber from the estate +of the Earl of Worcester for the use of the navy, and on presenting his +report 3000 tons were purchased. What with his building of ships, his +attendance on the Lord Admiral to Spain, and his selection of timber +for the Government, his hands seem to have been kept very full during +the whole of 1605. +</P> + +<P> +In July, 1606, Pett received private instructions from the Lord High +Admiral to have all the King's ships "put into comely readiness" for +the reception of the King of Denmark, who was expected on a Royal +visit. "Wherein," he says, "I strove extraordinarily to express my +service for the honour of the kingdom; but by reason the time limited +was short, and the business great, we laboured night and day to effect +it, which accordingly was done, to the great honour of our sovereign +king and master, and no less admiration of all strangers that were +eye-witnesses to the same." The reception took place on the 10th of +August, 1606. +</P> + +<P> +Shortly after the departure of His Majesty of Denmark, four of the +Royal ships—the Ark, Victory, Golden Lion, and Swiftsure—were ordered +to be dry-docked; the two last mentioned at Deptford, under charge of +Matthew Baker; and the two former at Woolwich, under that of Pett. For +greater convenience, Pett removed his family to Woolwich. After being +elected and sworn Master of the Company of Shipwrights, he refers in +his manuscript, for the first time, to his magnificent and original +design of the Prince Royal.[22] +</P> + +<P> +"After settling at Woolwich," he says, "I began a curious model for the +prince my master, most part whereof I wrought with my own hands." +After finishing the model, he exhibited it to the Lord High Admiral, +and, after receiving his approval and commands, he presented it to the +young prince at Richmond. "His Majesty (who was present) was +exceedingly delighted with the sight of the model, and passed some time +in questioning the divers material things concerning it, and demanded +whether I could build the great ship in all parts like the same; for I +will, says His Majesty, compare them together when she shall be +finished. Then the Lord Admiral commanded me to tell His Majesty the +story of the Three Ravens[23] I had seen at Lisbon, in St. Vincent's +Church; which I did as well as I could, with my best expressions, +though somewhat daunted at first at His Majesty's presence, having +never before spoken before any King." +</P> + +<P> +Before, however, he could accomplish his purpose, Pett was overtaken by +misfortunes. His enemies, very likely seeing with spite the favour +with which he had been received by men in high position, stirred up an +agitation against him. There may, and there very probably was, a great +deal of jobbery going on in the dockyards. It was difficult, under the +system which prevailed, to have any proper check upon the expenditure +for the repair and construction of ships. At all events, a commission +was appointed for the purpose of inquiring into the abuses and +misdemeanors of those in office; and Pett's enemies took care that his +past proceedings should be thoroughly overhauled,—together with those +of Sir Robert Mansell, then Treasurer to the Navy; Sir John Trevor, +surveyor; Sir Henry Palmer, controller; Sir Thomas Bluther, victualler; +and many others. +</P> + +<P> +While the commission was still sitting and holding what Pett calls +their "malicious proceedings," he was able to lay the keel of his new +great ship upon the stocks in the dock at Woolwich on the 20th of +October, 1608. He had a clear conscience, for his hands were clean. +He went on vigorously with his work, though he knew that the +inquisition against him was at its full height. His enemies reported +that he was "no artist, and that he was altogether insufficient to +perform such a service" as that of building his great ship. +Nevertheless, he persevered, believing in the goodness of his cause. +Eventually, he was enabled to turn the tables upon his accusers, and to +completely justify himself in all his transactions with the king, the +Lord Admiral, and the public officers, who were privy to all his +transactions. Indeed, the result of the enquiry was not only to cause +a great trouble and expense to all the persons accused, but, as Pett +says in his Memoir, "the Government itself of that royal office was so +shaken and disjoined as brought almost ruin upon the whole Navy, and a +far greater charge to his Majesty in his yearly expense than ever was +known before."[24] +</P> + +<P> +In the midst of his troubles and anxieties, Pett was unexpectedly +cheered with the presence of his "Master" Prince Henry, who specially +travelled out of his way from Essex to visit him at Woolwich, to see +with his own eyes what progress he was making with the great ship. +After viewing the dry dock, which had been constructed by Pett, and was +one of the first, if not the very first in England,—his Highness +partook of a banquet which the shipbuilder had hastily prepared for him +in his temporary lodgings. +</P> + +<P> +One of the circumstances which troubled Pett so much at this time, was +the strenuous opposition of the other shipbuilders to his plans of the +great ship. There never had been such a frightful innovation. The +model was all wrong. The lines were detestable. The man who planned +the whole thing was a fool, a "cozener" of the king, and the ship, +suppose it to be made, was "unfit for any other use but a dung-boat!" +This attack upon his professional character weighed very heavily upon +his mind. +</P> + +<P> +He determined to put his case in a staightforward manner before the +Lord High Admiral. He set down in writing in the briefest manner +everything that he had done, and the plots that had been hatched +against him; and beseeched his lordship, for the honour of the State, +and the reputation of his office, to cause the entire matter to be +thoroughly investigated "by judicious and impartial persons." After a +conference with Pett, and an interview with his Majesty, the Lord High +Admiral was authorised by the latter to invite the Earls of Worcester +and Suffolk to attend with him at Woolwich, and bring all the accusers +of Pett's design of the great ship before them for the purpose of +examination, and to report to him as to the actual state of affairs. +Meanwhile Pett's enemies had been equally busy. They obtained a +private warrant from the Earl of Northampton[25] to survey the work; +"which being done," says Pett, "upon return of the insufficiency of the +same under their hands, and confirmation by oath, it was resolved +amongst them I should be turned out, and for ever disgraced." +</P> + +<P> +But the lords appointed by the King now interfered between Pett and his +adversaries. They first inspected the ship, and made a diligent survey +of the form and manner of the work and the goodness of the materials, +and then called all the accusers before them to hear their allegations. +They were examined separately. First, Baker the master shipbuilder was +called. He objected to the size of the ship, to the length, breadth, +depth, draught of water, height of jack, rake before and aft, breadth +of the floor, scantling of the timber, and so on. Then another of the +objectors was called; and his evidence was so clearly in contradiction +to that which had already been given, that either one or both must be +wrong. The principal objector, Captain Waymouth, next gave his +evidence; but he was able to say nothing to any purpose, except giving +their lordships "a long, tedious discourse of proportions, measures, +lines, and an infinite rabble of idle and unprofitable speeches, clean +from the matter." +</P> + +<P> +The result was that their lordships reported favourably of the design +of the ship, and the progress which had already been made. +</P> + +<P> +The Earl of Nottingham interposed his influence; and the King himself, +accompanied by the young Prince, went down to Woolwich, and made a +personal examination.[26] A great many witnesses were again examined, +twenty-four on one side, and twenty-seven on the other. The King then +carefully examined the ship himself: "the planks, the tree-nails, the +workmanship, and the cross-grained timber." "The cross-grain," he +concluded, "was in the men and not in the timber." After all the +measurements had been made and found correct, "his Majesty," says Pett, +"with a loud voice commanded the measurers to declare publicly the very +truth; which when they had delivered clearly on our side, all the whole +multitude heaved up their hats, and gave a great and loud shout and +acclamation. And then the Prince, his Highness, called with a high +voice in these words: 'Where be now these perjured fellows that dare +thus abuse his Majesty with these false accusations? Do they not +worthily deserve hanging?"' +</P> + +<P> +Thus Pett triumphed over all his enemies, and was allowed to finish the +great ship in his own way. By the middle of September 1610, the vessel +was ready to be "strucken down upon her ways"; and a dozen of the +choice master carpenters of his Majesty's navy came from Chatham to +assist in launching her. The ship was decorated, gilded, draped, and +garlanded; and on the 24th the King, the Queen, and the Royal family +came from the palace at Theobald's to witness the great sight. +Unfortunately, the day proved very rough; and it was little better than +a neap tide. The ship started very well, but the wind "overblew the +tide"; she caught in the dock-gates, and settled hard upon the ground, +so that there was no possibility of launching her that day. +</P> + +<P> +This was a great disappointment. The King retired to the palace at +Greenwich, though the Prince lingered behind. When he left, he +promised to return by midnight, after which it was proposed to make +another effort to set the ship afloat. When the time arrived, the +Prince again made his appearance, and joined the Lord High Admiral, and +the principal naval officials. It was bright moonshine. After +midnight the rain began to fall, and the wind to blow from the +southwest. But about two o'clock, an hour before high water, the word +was given to set all taut, and the ship went away without any straining +of screws and tackles, till she came clear afloat into the midst of the +Thames. The Prince was aboard, and amidst the blast of trumpets and +expressions of joy, he performed the ceremony of drinking from the +great standing cup, and throwing the rest of the wine towards the +half-deck, and christening the ship by the name of the Prince Royal.[27] +</P> + +<P> +The dimensions of the ship may be briefly described. Her keel was 114 +feet long, and her cross-beam 44 feet. She was of 1400 tons burthen, +and carried 64 pieces of great ordnance. She was the largest ship that +had yet been constructed in England. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince Royal was, at the time she was built, considered one of the +most wonderful efforts of human genius. Mr. Charnock, in his 'Treatise +on Marine Architecture,' speaks of her as abounding in striking +peculiarities. Previous to the construction of this ship, vessels were +built in the style of the Venetian galley, which although well adapted +for the quiet Mediterranean, were not suited for the stormy northern +ocean. The fighting ships also of the time of Henry VIII. and +Elizabeth were too full of "top-hamper" for modern navigation. They +were oppressed by high forecastles and poops. Pett struck out entirely +new ideas in the build and lines of his new ship; and the course which +he adopted had its effect upon all future marine structures. The ship +was more handy, more wieldy, and more convenient. She was +unquestionably the first effort of English ingenuity in the direction +of manageableness and simplicity. "The vessel in question," says +Charnock, "may be considered the parent of the class of shipping which +continues in practice even to the present moment." +</P> + +<P> +It is scarcely necessary to pursue in detail the further history of +Phineas Pett. We may briefly mention the principal points. In 1612, +the Prince Royal was appointed to convey the Princess Elizabeth and her +husband, The Palsgrave, to the Continent. Pett was on board the ship, +and found that "it wrought exceedingly well, and was so yare of conduct +that a foot of helm would steer her." While at Flushing, "such a +multitude of people, men, women, and children, came from all places in +Holland to see the ship, that we could scarce have room to go up and +down till very night." +</P> + +<P> +About the 27th of March, 1616, Pett bargained with Sir Waiter Raleigh +to build a vessel of 500 tons,[28] and received 500L. from him on +account. The King, through the interposition of the Lord Admiral, +allowed Pett to lay her keel on the galley dock at Woolwich. In the +same year he was commissioned by the Lord Zouche, now Lord Warden of +the Cinque Ports, to construct a pinnace of 40 tons, in respect of +which Pett remarks, "towards the whole of the hull of the pinnace, and +all her rigging, I received only 100L. from the Lord Zouche, the rest +Sir Henry Mainwaring (half-brother to Raleigh) cunningly received on my +behalf, without my knowledge, which I never got from him but by +piecemeal, so that by the bargain I was loser 100L. at least." +</P> + +<P> +Pett fared much worse at the hands of Raleigh himself. His great ship, +the Destiny, was finished and launched in December, 1616. "I delivered +her to him," says Pett, "on float, in good order and fashion; by which +business I lost 700L., and could never get any recompense at all for +it; Sir Walter going to sea and leaving me unsatisfied."[29] Nor was +this the only loss that Pett met with this year. The King, he states, +"bestowed upon me for the supply of my present relief the making of a +knight-baronet," which authority Pett passed to a recusant, one Francis +Ratcliffe, for 700L.; but that worthy defrauded him, so that he lost +30L. by the bargain. +</P> + +<P> +Next year, Pett was despatched by the Government to the New Forest in +Hampshire, "where," he says, "one Sir Giles Mompesson[30] had made a +vast waste in the spoil of his Majesty's timber, to redress which I was +employed thither, to make choice out of the number of trees he had +felled of all such timber as was useful for shipping, in which business +I spent a great deal of time, and brought myself into a great deal of +trouble." About this period, poor Pett's wife and two of his children +lay for some time at death's door. Then more enquiries took place into +the abuses of the dockyards, in which it was sought to implicate Pett. +During the next three years (1618-20) he worked under the immediate +orders of the Commissioners in the New Dock at Chatham. +</P> + +<P> +In 1620, Pett's friend Sir Robert Mansell was appointed General of the +Fleet destined to chastise the Algerine pirates, who still continued +their depredations on the shipping in the Channel, and the King +thereupon commissioned Pett to build with all dispatch two pinnaces, of +120 and 80 tons respectively. "I was myself," he says, "to serve as +Captain in the voyage"—being glad, no doubt, to escape from his +tormentors. The two pinnaces were built at Ratcliffe, and were +launched on the 16th and 18th of October, 1620. On the 30th, Pett +sailed with the fleet, and after driving the pirates out of the +Channel, he returned to port after an absence of eleven months. +</P> + +<P> +His enemies had taken advantage of his absence from England to get an +order for the survey of the Prince Royal, his masterpiece; the result +of which was, he says, that "they maliciously certified the ship to be +unserviceable, and not fit to continue—that what charges should be +bestowed upon her would be lost." Nevertheless, the Prince Royal was +docked, and fitted for a voyage to Spain. She was sent thither with +Charles Prince of Wales and the Duke of Buckingham, the former going in +search of a Spanish wife. Pett, the builder of the ship, was commanded +to accompany the young Prince and the Duke. +</P> + +<P> +The expedition sailed on the 24th of August, 1623, and returned on the +14th of October. Pett was entertained on board the Prince Royal, and +rendered occasional services to the officers in command, though nothing +of importance occurred during the voyage. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince of Wales presented him with a valuable gold chain as a +reward for his attendance. In 1625, Pett, after rendering many +important services to the Admiralty, was ordered again to prepare the +Prince Royal for sea. She was to bring over the Prince of Wales's +bride from France. While the preparations were making for the voyage, +news reached Chatham of the death of King James. Pett was afterwards +commanded to go forward with the work of preparing the Prince Royal, as +well as the whole fleet, which was intended to escort the French +Princess, or rather the Queen, to England. The expedition took place +in May, and the young Queen landed at Dover on the 12th of that month. +</P> + +<P> +Pett continued to be employed in building and repairing ships, as well +as in preparing new designs, which he submitted to the King and the +Commissioners of the Navy. In 1626, he was appointed a joint +commissioner, with the Lord High Admiral, the Lord Treasurer +Marlborough, and others, "to enquire into certain alleged abuses of the +Navy, and to view the state thereof, and also the stores thereof," +clearly showing that he was regaining his old position. He was also +engaged in determining the best mode of measuring the tonnage of +ships.[31] Four years later he was again appointed a commissioner for +making "a general survey of the whole navy at Chatham." For this and +his other services the King promoted Pett to be a principal officer of +the Navy, with a fee of 200L. per annum. His patent was sealed on the +16th of January, 1631. In the same year the King visited Woolwich to +witness the launching of the Vanguard, which Pett had built; and his +Majesty honoured the shipwright by participating in a banquet at his +lodgings. +</P> + +<P> +From this period to the year 1637, Pett records nothing of particular +importance in his autobiography. He was chiefly occupied in aiding his +son Peter—who was rapidly increasing his fame as a shipwright—in +repairing and building first-class ships of war. As Pett had, on an +early occasion in his life, prepared a miniature ship for Prince Henry, +eldest son of James I., he now proceeded to prepare a similar model for +the Prince of Wales, the King's eldest son, afterwards Charles II. +This model was presented to the Prince at St. James's, "who entertained +it with great joy, being purposely made to disport himself withal." On +the next visit of his Majesty to Woolwich, he inspected the progress +made with the Leopard, a sloop-of-war built by Peter Pett. While in +the hold of the vessel, the King called Phineas to one side, and told +him of his resolution to have a great new ship built, and that Phineas +must be the builder. This great new ship was The Sovereign of the +Seas, afterwards built by Phineas and Peter Pett. Some say that the +model was prepared by the latter; but Phineas says that it was prepared +by himself, and finished by the 29th of October, 1634. As a +compensation for his services, his Majesty renewed his pension of 40L. +(which had been previously stopped), with orders for all the arrears +due upon it to be paid. +</P> + +<P> +To provide the necessary timber for the new ship, Phineas and his son +went down into the North to survey the forests. They went first by +water to Whitby; from thence they proceeded on horseback to Gisborough +and baited; then to Stockton, where they found but poor entertainment, +though they lodged with the Mayor, whose house "was only a mean +thatched cottage!" Middlesborough and the great iron district of the +North had not yet come into existence. +</P> + +<P> +Newcastle, already of some importance, was the principal scene of their +labours. The timber for the new ship was found in Chapley Wood and +Bracepeth Park. The gentry did all they could to facilitate the object +of Pett. On his journey homewards (July, 1635), he took Cambridge on +his way, where, says he, "I lodged at the Falcon, and visited Emmanuel +College, where I had been a scholar in my youth." +</P> + +<P> +The Sovereign of the Seas was launched on the 12th of October, 1637, +having been about two years in building. Evelyn in his diary says of +the ship (19th July, 1641):—"We rode to Rochester and Chatham to see +the Soveraigne, a monstrous vessel so called, being for burthen, +defence, and ornament, the richest that ever spread cloth before the +wind. She carried 100 brass cannon, and was 1600 tons, a rare sailer, +the work of the famous Phineas Pett." Rear-Admiral Sir William Symonds +says that she was afterwards cut down, and was a safe and fast ship.[32] +</P> + +<P> +The Sovereign continued for nearly sixty years to be the finest ship in +the English service. Though frequently engaged in the most injurious +occupations, she continued fit for any services which the exigencies of +the State might require. She fought all through the wars of the +Commonwealth; she was the leading ship of Admiral Blake, and was in all +the great naval engagements with France and Holland. The Dutch gave +her the name of The Golden Devil. In the last fight between the +English and French, she encountered the Wonder of the World, and so +warmly plied the French Admiral, that she forced him out of his +three-decked wooden castle, and chasing the Royal Sun, before her, +forced her to fly for shelter among the rocks, where she became a prey +to lesser vessels, and was reduced to ashes. At last, in the reign of +William III., the Sovereign became leaky and defective with age; she +was laid up at Chatham, and being set on fire by negligence or +accident, she burnt to the water's edge. +</P> + +<P> +To return to the history of Phineas Pett. As years approached, he +retired from office, and "his loving son," as he always affectionately +designates Peter, succeeded him as principal shipwright, Charles I. +conferring upon him the honour of knighthood. Phineas lived for ten +years after the Sovereign of the Seas was launched. In the burial +register of the parish of Chatham it is recorded, "Phineas Pett, Esqe. +and Capt., was buried 21st August, 1647."[33] +</P> + +<P> +Sir Peter Pett was almost as distinguished as his father. He was the +builder of the first frigate, The Constant Warwick. Sir William +Symonds says of this vessel:—"She was an incomparable sailer, +remarkable for her sharpness and the fineness of her lines; and many +were built like her." Pett "introduced convex lines on the immersed +part of the hull, with the studding and sprit sails; and, in short, he +appears to have fully deserved his character of being the best ship +architect of his time."[34] Sir Peter Pett's monument in Deptford Old +Church fully records his services to England's naval power. +</P> + +<P> +The Petts are said to have been connected with shipbuilding in the +Thames for not less than 200 years. Fuller, in his 'Worthies of +England,' says of them—"I am credibly informed that that mystery of +shipwrights for some descents hath been preserved faithfully in +families, of whom the Petts about Chatham are of singular regard. Good +success have they with their skill, and carefully keep so precious a +pearl, lest otherwise amongst many friends some foes attain unto it." +</P> + +<P> +The late Peter Bolt, member for Greenwich, took pride in being +descended from the Petts; but so far as we know, the name itself has +died out. In 1801, when Charnock's 'History of Marine Architecture' +was published, Mr. Pett, of Tovil, near Maidstone, was the sole +representative of the family. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Footnotes for Chapter I. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] This was not the first voyage of a steamer between England and +America. The Savannah made the passage from New York to Liverpool as +early as 1819; but steam was only used occasionally during the voyage, +In 1825, the Enterprise, with engines by Maudslay, made the voyage from +Falmouth to Calcutta in 113 days; and in 1828, the Curacoa made the +voyage between Holland and the Dutch West Indies. But in all these +cases, steam was used as an auxiliary, and not as the one essential +means of propulsion, as in the case of the Sirius and the Great +Western, which were steam voyages only. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[2] "In 1862 the steam tonnage of the country was 537,000 tons; in +1872, it was 1,537,000 tons; and in 1882, it had reached 3,835,000 +tons."—Mr. Chamberlain's speech, House of Commons, 19th May, 1884. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[3] The last visit of the plague was in 1665. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[4] Roll of Edward the Third's Fleet. Cotton's Library, British Museum. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[5] Charnock's History Of Marine Architecture, ii. 89. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[6] State Papers. Henry VIII. Nos. 3496, 3616, 4633. The principal +kinds of ordnance at that time were these:—The "Apostles," so called +from the head of an Apostle which they bore; "Curtows," or "Courtaulx"; +"Culverins" and "Serpents"; "Minions," and "Potguns"; "Nurembergers," +and "Bombards" or mortars. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[7] The sum of all costs of the Harry Grace de Dieu and three small +galleys, was 7708L. 5s. 3d. (S.P.O. No. 5228, Henry VIII.) +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[8] Charnock, ii. 47 (note). +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[9] Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, ii. 126. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[10] The Huguenots: their Settlements, Churches, and Industries, in +England and Ireland, ch. iv. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[11] Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, ii. 156. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[12] Ibid. ii. 85. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[13] Picton's Selections from the Municipal Archives and Records of +Liverpool, p. 90. About a hundred years later, in 1757, the gross +customs receipts of Liverpool had increased to 198,946L.; whilst those +of Bristol were as much as 351,211L. In 1883, the amount of tonnage of +Liverpool, inwards and outwards, was 8,527,531 tons, and the total dock +revenue for the year was 1,273,752L.! +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[14] There were not only Algerine but English pirates scouring the +seas. Keutzner, the German, who wrote in Elizabeth's reign, said, "The +English are good sailors and famous pirates (sunt boni nautae et +insignis pyratae)." Roberts, in his Social History of the Southern +Counties (p. 93), observes, "Elizabeth had employed many English as +privateers against the Spaniard. After the war, many were loth to lead +an inactive life. They had their commissions revoked, and were +proclaimed pirates. The public looked upon them as gallant fellows; +the merchants gave them underhand support; and even the authorities in +maritime towns connived at the sale of their plunder. In spite of +proclamations, during the first five years after the accession of James +I., there were continual complaints. This lawless way of life even +became popular. Many Englishmen furnished themselves with good ships +and scoured the seas, but little careful whom they might plunder." It +was found very difficult to put down piracy. According to Oliver's +History of the city of Exeter, not less than "fifteen sail of Turks" +held the English Channel, snapping up merchantmen, in the middle of the +seventeenth century! The harbours in the south-west were infested by +Moslem pirates, who attacked and plundered the ships, and carried their +crews into captivity. The loss, even to an inland port like Exeter, in +ships, money, and men, was enormous. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[15] Naval Tracts, p. 294. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[16] This poem is now very rare. It is not in the British Museum. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[17] There are three copies extant of the autobiography, all of which +are in the British Museum. In the main, they differ but slightly from +each other. Not one of them has been published in extenso. In +December, 1795, and in February, 1796, Dr. Samuel Denne communicated to +the Society of Antiquaries particulars of two of these MSS., and +subsequently published copious extracts from them in their transactions +(Archae. xii. anno 1796), in a very irregular and careless manner. It +is probable that Dr. Denne never saw the original manuscript, but only +a garbled copy of it. The above narrative has been taken from the +original, and collated with the documents in the State Paper Office. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[18] See, for instance, the Index to the Journals of Records of the +Corporation of the City of London (No. 2, p. 346, 15901694) under the +head of "Sir Walter Raleigh." There is a document dated the 15th +November, 1593, in the 35th of Elizabeth, which runs as +follows:—"Committee appointed on behalf of such of the City Companies +as have ventured in the late Fleet set forward by Sir Walter Raleigh, +Knight, and others, to join with such honourable personages as the +Queen hath appointed, to take a perfect view of all such goods, prizes, +spices, jewels, pearls, treasures, &c., lately taken in the Carrack, +and to make sale and division (Jor. 23, p. 156). Suit to be made to +the Queen and Privy Council for the buying of the goods, &c., lately +taken at sea in the Carrack; a committee appointed to take order +accordingly; the benefit or loss arising thereon to be divided and +borne between the Chamber [of the Corporation of the City] and the +Companies that adventured (157). The several Companies that adventured +at sea with Sir Waiter Raleigh to accept so much of the goods taken in +the Carrack to the value of 12,000L. according to the Queen's offer. A +committee appointed to acquaint the Lords of the Council with the +City's acceptance thereof (167). Committee for sale of the Carrack +goods appointed (174). Bonds for sale to be sealed (196).... +Committee to audit accounts of a former adventure (224 b.)." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[19] There were three sisters in all, the eldest of whom (Abigail) fell +a victim to the cruelty of Nunn, who struck her across the head with +the fire-tongs, from the effects of which she died in three days. Nunn +was tried and convicted of manslaughter. He died shortly after. Mrs. +Nunn, Phineas's mother, was already dead. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[20] It would seem, from a paper hereafter to be more particularly +referred to, that the government encouraged the owners of ships and +others to clear the seas of these pirates, agreeing to pay them for +their labours. In 1622, Pett fitted out an expedition against these +pests of navigation, but experienced some difficulty in getting his +expenses repaid. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[21] See grant S.P.O., 29th May, 1605. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[22] An engraving of this remarkable ship is given in Charnock's +History of Marine Architecture, ii. p. 199. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[23] The story of the Three, or rather Two Ravens, is as follows:—The +body of St. Vincent was originally deposited at the Cape, which still +bears his name, on the Portuguese coast; and his tomb, says the legend, +was zealously guarded by a couple of ravens. When it was determined, +in the 12th century, to transport the relics of the Saint to the +Cathedral of Lisbon, the two ravens accompanied the ship which +contained them, one at its stem and the other at its stern. The relics +were deposited in the Chapel of St. Vincent, within the Cathedral, and +there the two ravens have ever since remained. The monks continued to +support two such birds in the cloisters, and till very lately the +officials gravely informed the visitor to the Cathedral that they were +the identical ravens which accompanied the Saint's relics to their +city. The birds figure in the arms of Lisbon. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[24] The evidence taken by the Commissioners is embodied in a +voluminous report. State Paper Office, Dom. James I., vol. xli. 1608. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[25] The Earl of Northampton, Privy Seal, was Lord Warden of the Cinque +Ports; hence his moving in the matter. Pett says he was his "most +implacable enemy." It is probable that the earl was jealous of Pett, +because he had received his commission to build the great ship directly +from the sovereign, without the intervention of his lordship. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[26] This Royal investigation took place at Woolwich on the 8th May, +1609. The State Paper Office contains a report of the same date, most +probably the one presented to the King, signed by six ship-builders and +Captain Waymouth, and counter signed by Northampton and four others. +The Report is headed "The Prince Royal: imperfections found upon view +of the new work begun at Woolwich." It would occupy too much space to +give the results here. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[27] Alas! for the uncertainties of life! This noble young prince—the +hope of England and the joy of his parents, from whom such great things +were anticipated—for he was graceful, frank, brave, active, and a +lover of the sea,—was seized with a serious illness, and died in his +eighteenth year, on the 16th November, 1612. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[28] Pett says she was to be 500 tons, but when he turned her out her +burthen was rated at 700 tons. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[29] This conduct of Raleigh's was the more inexcusable, as there is in +the State Paper Office a warrant dated 16th Nov., 1617, for the payment +to Pett of 700 crowns "for building the new ship, the Destiny of +London, of 700 tons burthen." The least he could have done was to have +handed over to the builder his royal and usual reward. In the above +warrant, by the way, the title "our well-beloved subject," the ordinary +prefix to such grants, has either been left blank or erased (it is +difficult to say which), but was very significant of the slippery +footing of Raleigh at Court. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[30] Sir Giles Overreach, in the play of "A new way to pay old debts," +by Philip Massinger. It was difficult for the poet, or any other +person, to libel such a personage as Mompesson. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[31] Pett's method is described in a paper contained in the S.P.O., +dated 21st Oct., 1626. The Trinity Corporation adopted his method. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[32] Memoirs of the Life and Services of Rear-Admiral Sir William +Symonds, Kt., p. 94. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[33] Pett's dwelling-house at Rochester is thus described in an +anonymous history of that town (p. 337, ed. 1817):—"Beyond the +Victualling Office, on the same side of the High Street, at Rochester, +is an old mansion, now occupied by a Mr. Morson, an attorney, which +formerly belonged to the Petts, the celebrated ship-builders. The +chimney-piece in the principal room is of wood, curiously carved, the +upper part being divided into compartments by caryatydes. The central +compartment contains the family arms, viz., Or, on a fesse, gu., +between three pellets, a lion passant gardant of the field. On the +back of the grate is a cast of Neptune, standing erect in his car, with +Triton blowing conches, &c., and the date 1650." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[34] Symonds, Memoirs of Life and Services, 94. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FRANCIS PETTIT SMITH: PRACTICAL INTRODUCER OF THE SCREW PROPELLER. +</H3> + +<P> +"The spirit of Paley's maxim that 'he alone discovers who proves,' is +applicable to the history of inventions and discoveries; for certainly +he alone invents to any good purpose, who satisfies the world that the +means he may have devised have been found competent to the end +proposed."—Dr. Samuel Brown. +</P> + +<P> +"Too often the real worker and discoverer remains unknown, and an +invention, beautiful but useless in one age or country, can be applied +only in a remote generation, or in a distant land. Mankind hangs +together from generation to generation; easy labour is but inherited +skill; great discoveries and inventions are worked up to by the efforts +of myriads ere the goal is reached."—H. M. Hyndman. +</P> + +<P> +Though a long period elapsed between the times of Phineas Pett and +"Screw" Smith, comparatively little improvement had been effected in +the art of shipbuilding. The Sovereign of the Seas had not been +excelled by any ship of war built down to the end of last century.[1] +At a comparatively recent date, ships continued to be built of timber +and plank, and impelled by sails and oars, as they had been for +thousands of years before. +</P> + +<P> +But this century has witnessed many marvellous changes. A new material +of construction has been introduced into shipbuilding, with entirely +new methods of propulsion. Old things have been displaced by new; and +the magnitude of the results has been extraordinary. The most +important changes have been in the use of iron and steel instead of +wood, and in the employment of the steam-engine in impelling ships by +the paddle or the screw. +</P> + +<P> +So long as timber was used for the construction of ships, the number of +vessels built annually, especially in so small an island as Britain, +must necessarily have continued very limited. Indeed, so little had the +cultivation of oak in Great Britain been attended to, that all the +royal forests could not have supplied sufficient timber to build one +line-of-battle ship annually; while for the mercantile marine, the +world had to be ransacked for wood, often of a very inferior quality. +</P> + +<P> +Take, for instance, the seventy-eight gun ship, the Hindostan, launched +a few years ago. It would have required 4200 loads of timber to build +a ship of that description, and the growth of the timber would have +occupied seventy acres of ground during eighty years.[2] It would have +needed something like 800,000 acres of land on which to grow the timber +for the ships annually built in this country for commercial purposes. +And timber ships are by no means lasting. The average durability of +ships of war employed in active service, has been calculated to be +about thirteen years, even when built of British oak. +</P> + +<P> +Indeed, years ago, the building of shipping in this country was much +hindered by the want of materials. +</P> + +<P> +The trade was being rapidly transferred to Canada and the United +States. Some years since, an American captain said to an Englishman, +Captain Hall, when in China, "You will soon have to come to our country +for your ships: your little island cannot grow wood enough for a large +marine." "Oh!" said the Englishman, "we can build ships of iron!" +"Iron?" replied the American in surprise, "why, iron sinks; only wood +can float!" "Well! you will find I am right." The prophecy was +correct. The Englishman in question has now a fleet of splendid iron +steamers at sea. +</P> + +<P> +The use of iron in shipbuilding had small beginnings, like everything +else. The established prejudice—that iron must necessarily sink in +water—long continued to prevail against its employment. The first +iron vessel was built and launched about a hundred years since by John +Wilkinson, of Bradley Forge, in Staffordshire. In a letter of his, +dated the 14th July, 1787, the original of which we have seen, he +writes: "Yesterday week my iron boat was launched. It answers all my +expectations, and has convinced the unbelievers, who were 999 in 1000. +It will be only a nine days' wonder, and afterwards a Columbus's egg." +It was, however, more than a nine days' wonder; for wood long continued +to be thought the only material capable of floating. +</P> + +<P> +Although Wilkinson's iron vessels continued to ply upon the Severn, +more than twenty years elapsed before another shipbuilder ventured to +follow his example. But in 1810, Onions and Son, of Brosely, built +several iron vessels, also for use upon the Severn. Then, in 1815, Mr. +Jervons, of Liverpool, built a small iron boat for use on the Mersey. +Six years later, in 1821, Mr. Aaron Manby designed an iron steam +vessel, which was built at the Horsley Company's Works, in +Staffordshire. She sailed from London to Havre a few years later, +under the command of Captain (afterwards Sir Charles) Napier, RN. She +was freighted with a cargo of linseed and iron castings, and went up +the Seine to Paris. It was some time, however, before iron came into +general use. Ten years later, in 1832, Maudslay and Field built four +iron vessels for the East India Company. In the course of about twenty +years, the use of iron became general, not only for ships of war, but +for merchant ships plying to all parts of the world. +</P> + +<P> +When ships began to be built of iron, it was found that they could be +increased without limit, so long as coal, iron, machinery, and strong +men full of skill and industry, were procurable. The trade in +shipbuilding returned to Britain, where iron ships are now made and +exported in large numbers; the mercantile marine of this country +exceeding in amount and tonnage that of all the other countries of the +world put together. The "wooden walls"[3] of England exist no more, +for iron has superseded wood. Instead of constructing vessels from the +forest, we are now digging new navies out of the bowels of the earth, +and our "walls," instead of wood, are now of iron and steel. +</P> + +<P> +The attempt to propel ships by other means than sails and oars went on +from century to century, and did not succeed until almost within our +own time. It is said that the Roman army under Claudius Codex was +transported into Sicily in boats propelled by wheels moved by oxen. +Galleys, propelled by wheels in paddles, were afterwards attempted. +The Harleian MS. contains an Italian book of sketches, attributed to +the 15th century, in which there appears a drawing of a paddle-boat, +evidently intended to be worked by men. Paddle-boats, worked by +horse-power, were also tried. Blasco Garay made a supreme effort at +Barcelona in 1543. His vessel was propelled by a paddle-wheel on each +side, worked by forty men. But nothing came of the experiment. +</P> + +<P> +Many other efforts of a similar kind were made,—by Savery among +others,[4]—until we come down to Patrick Miller, of Dalswinton, who, +in 1787, invented a double-hulled boat, which he caused to be propelled +on the Firth of Forth by men working a capstan which drove the paddles +on each side. The men soon became exhausted, and on Miller mentioning +the subject to William Symington, who was then exhibiting his road +locomotive in Edinburgh, Symington at once said, "Why don't you employ +steam-power?" +</P> + +<P> +There were many speculations in early times as to the application of +steam-power for propelling vessels through the water. David Ramsay in +1618, Dr. Grant in 1632, the Marquis of Worcester in 1661, were among +the first in England to publish their views upon the subject. But it +is probable that Denis Papin, the banished Hugnenot physician, for some +time Curator of the Royal Society, was the first who made a model +steam-boat. Daring his residence in England, he was elected Professor +of Mathematics in the University of Marburg. It was while at that city +that he constructed, in 1707, a small steam-engine, which he fitted in +a boat—une petite machine d'un, vaisseau a roues—and despatched it to +England for the purpose of being tried upon the Thames. The little +vessel never reached England. At Munden, the boatmen on the River +Weser, thinking that, if successful, it would destroy their occupation, +seized the boat, with its machine, and barbarously destroyed it. Papin +did not repeat his experiment, and died a few years later. +</P> + +<P> +The next inventor was Jonathan Hulls, of Campden, in Gloucestershire. +He patented a steamboat in 1736, and worked the paddle-wheel placed at +the stern of the vessel by means of a Newcomen engine. He tried his +boat on the River Avon, at Evesham, but it did not succeed, and the +engine was taken on shore again. A local poet commemorated his failure +in the following lines, which were remembered long after his steamboat +experiment had been forgotten:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Jonathan Hull,<BR> + With his paper skull,<BR> + Tried hard to make a machine<BR> + That should go against wind and tide;<BR> + But he, like an ass,<BR> + Couldn't bring it to pass,<BR> + So at last was ashamed to be seen."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +Nothing of importance was done in the direction of a steam-engine able +to drive paddles, until the invention by James Watt, in 1769, of his +double-acting engine—the first step by which steam was rendered +capable of being successfully used to impel a vessel. But Watt was +indifferent to taking up the subject of steam navigation, as well as of +steam locomotion. He refused many invitations to make steam-engines +for the propulsion of ships, preferring to confine himself to his +"regular established trade and manufacture," that of making condensing +steam-engines, which had become of great importance towards the close +of his life. +</P> + +<P> +Two records exist of paddle-wheel steamboats having been early tried in +France—one by the Comte d'Auxiron and M. Perrier in 1774, the other by +the Comte de Jouffroy in 1783—but the notices of their experiments are +very vague, and rest on somewhat doubtful authority. +</P> + +<P> +The idea, however, had been born, and was not allowed to die. When Mr. +Miller of Dalswinton had revived the notion of propelling vessels by +means of paddle-wheels, worked, as Savery had before worked them, by +means of a capstan placed in the centre of the vessel, and when he +complained to Symington of the fatigue caused to the men by working the +capstan, and Symington had suggested the use of steam, Mr. Miller was +impressed by the idea, and proceeded to order a steam-engine for the +purpose of trying the experiment. The boat was built at Edinburgh, and +removed to Dalswinton Lake. It was there fitted with Symington's +steam-engine, and first tried with success on the 14th of October, +1788, as has been related at length in Mr. Nasmyth's 'Autobiography.' +The experiment was repeated with even greater success in the charlotte +Dundas in 1801, which was used to tow vessels along the Forth and Clyde +Canal, and to bring ships up the Firth of Forth to the canal entrance +at Grangemouth. +</P> + +<P> +The progress of steam navigation was nevertheless very slow. +Symington's experiments were not renewed. The Charlotte Dundas was +withdrawn from use, because of the supposed injury to the banks of the +Canal, caused by the swell from the wheel. The steamboat was laid up +in a creek at Bainsford, where it went to ruin, and the inventor +himself died in poverty. Among those who inspected the vessel while at +work were Fulton, the American artist, and Henry Bell, the Glasgow +engineer. The former had already occupied himself with model +steamboats, both at Paris and in London; and in 1805 he obtained from +Boulton and Watt, of Birmingham, the steam-engine required for +propelling his paddle steamboat on the Hudson. The Clermont was first +started in August, 1807, and attained a speed of nearly five miles an +hour. Five years later, Henry Bell constructed and tried his first +steamer on the Clyde. +</P> + +<P> +It was not until 1815 that the first steamboat was seen on the Thames. +This was the Richmond packet, which plied between London and Richmond. +The vessel was fitted with the first marine engine Henry Maudslay ever +made. During the same year, the Margery, formerly employed on the +Firth of Forth, began plying between Gravesend and London; and the +Thames, formerly the Argyll, came round from the Clyde, encountering +rough seas, and making the voyage of 758 miles in five days and two +hours. This was thought extraordinarily rapid—though the voyage of +about 3000 miles, from Liverpool to New York, can now be made in only +about two days' more time. +</P> + +<P> +In nearly all seagoing vessels, the Paddle has now almost entirely +given place to the Screw. It was long before this invention was +perfected and brought into general use. It was not the production of +one man, but of several generations of mechanical inventors. A +perfected invention does not burst forth from the brain like a poetic +thought or a fine resolve. It has to be initiated, laboured over, and +pursued in the face of disappointments, difficulties, and +discouragements. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes the idea is born in one generation, followed out in the next, +and perhaps perfected in the third. In an age of progress, one +invention merely paves the way for another. What was the wonder of +yesterday, becomes the common and unnoticed thing of to-day. +</P> + +<P> +The first idea of the screw was thrown out by James Watt more than a +century ago. Matthew Boulton, of Birmingham, had proposed to move +canal boats by means of the steam-engine; and Dr. Small, his friend, +was in communication with James Watt, then residing at Glasgow, on the +subject. In a letter from Watt to Small, dated the 30th September, +1770, the former, after speaking of the condenser, and saying that it +cannot be dispensed with, proceeds: "Have you ever considered a spiral +oar for that purpose [propulsion of canal boats], or are you for two +wheels?" Watt added a pen-and-ink drawing of his spiral oar, greatly +resembling the form of screw afterwards patented. Nothing, however, +was actually done, and the idea slept. +</P> + +<P> +It was revived again in 1785, by Joseph Bramah, a wonderful projector +and inventor.[5] He took out a patent, which included a rotatory +steam-engine, and a mode of propelling vessels by means either of a +paddle-wheel or a "screw propeller." This propeller was "similar to +the fly of a smoke-jack"; but there is no account of Bramah having +practically tried this method of propulsion. +</P> + +<P> +Austria, also, claims the honour of the invention of the screw steamer. +At Trieste and Vienna are statues erected to Joseph Ressel, on whose +behalf his countrymen lay claim to the invention; and patents for some +sort of a screw date back as far as 1794. +</P> + +<P> +Patents were also taken out in England and America—by W. Lyttleton in +1794; by E. Shorter in 1799; by J. C. Stevens, of New Jersey, in 1804; +by Henry James in 1811—but nothing practical was accomplished. +Richard Trevethick, the anticipator of many things, also took out a +patent in 1815, and in it he describes the screw propeller with +considerable minuteness. Millington, Whytock, Perkins, Marestier, and +Brown followed, with no better results. +</P> + +<P> +The late Dr. Birkbeck, in a letter addressed to the 'Mechanics' +Register,' in the year 1824, claimed that John Swan, of 82, Mansfield +Street, Kingsland Road, London, was the practical inventor of the screw +propeller. John Swan was a native of Coldingham, Berwickshire. He had +removed to London, and entered the employment of Messrs. Gordon, of +Deptford. Swan fitted up a boat with his propeller, and tried it on a +sheet of water in the grounds of Charles Gordon, Esq., of Dulwich Hill. +"The velocity and steadiness of the motion," said Dr. Birkbeck in his +letter, "so far exceeded that of the same model when impelled by +paddle-wheels driven by the same spring, that I could not doubt its +superiority; and the stillness of the water was such as to give the +vessel the appearance of being moved by some magical power." +</P> + +<P> +Then comes another claimant—Mr. Robert Wilson, then of Dunbar (not far +from Coldingham), but afterwards of the Bridgewater Foundry, +Patricroft. In his pamphlet, published a few years ago, he states that +he had long considered the subject, and in 1827 he made a small model, +fitted with "revolving skulls," which he tried on a sheet of water in +the presence of the Hon. Capt. Anthony Maitland, son of the Earl of +Lauderdale. The experiment was successful—so successful, that when +the "stern paddles" were in 1828 used at Leith in a boat twenty-five +feet long, with two men to work the machinery, the boat was propelled +at an average speed of about ten miles an hour; and the Society of Arts +afterwards, in October, 1882, awarded Mr. Wilson their silver medal for +the "description, drawing, and models of stern paddles for propelling +steamboats, invented by him." The subject was, in 1833, brought by Sir +John Sinclair under the consideration of the Board of Admiralty; but +the report of the officials (Oliver Lang, Abethell, Lloyd, and +Kingston) was to the effect that "the plan proposed (independent of +practical difficulties) is objectionable, as it involves a greater loss +of power than the common mode of applying the wheels to the side." And +here ended the experiment, so far as Mr. Wilson's "stern paddles" were +concerned. +</P> + +<P> +It will be observed, from what has been said, that the idea of a screw +propeller is a very old one. Watt, Bramah, Trevethick, and many more, +had given descriptions of the screw. Trevethick schemed a number of +its forms and applications, which have been the subject of many +subsequent patents. It has been so with many inventions. It is not +the man who gives the first idea of a machine who is entitled to the +merit of its introduction, or the man who repeats the idea, and +re-repeats it, but the man who is so deeply impressed with the +importance of the discovery, that he insists upon its adoption, will +take no denial, and at the risk of fame and fortune, pushes through all +opposition, and is determined that what he thinks he has discovered +shall not perish for want of a fair trial. And that this was the case +with the practical introducer of the screw propeller will be obvious +from the following statement. +</P> + +<P> +Francis Pettit Smith was born at Hythe, in the county of Kent, in 1808. +His father was postmaster of the town, and a person of much zeal and +integrity. The boy was sent to school at Ashford, and there received a +fair amount of education, under the Rev. Alexander Power. Young Smith +displayed no special characteristic except a passion for constructing +models of boats. When he reached manhood, he adopted the business of a +grazing farmer on Romney Marsh. He afterwards removed to Hendon, north +of London, where he had plenty of water on which to try his model +boats. The reservoir of the Old Welsh Harp was close at hand—a place +famous for its water-birds and wild fowl. +</P> + +<P> +Smith made many models of boats, his experiments extending over many +years. In 1834, he constructed a boat propelled by a wooden screw +driven by a spring, the performance of which was thought extraordinary. +Where he had got his original idea is not known. It was floating about +in many minds, and was no special secret. Smith, however, arrived at +the conclusion that his method of propelling steam vessels by means of +a screw was much superior to paddles—at that time exclusively +employed. In the following year, 1835, he constructed a superior +model, with which he performed a number of experiments at Hendon. In +May 1836, he took out a patent for propelling vessels by means of a +screw revolving beneath the water at the stern. He then openly +exhibited his invention at the Adelaide Gallery in London. Sir John +Barrow, Secretary to the Admiralty, inspected the model, and was much +impressed by its action. During the time it was publicly exhibited, an +offer was made to purchase the invention for the Pacha of Egypt; but +the offer was declined. +</P> + +<P> +At this stage of his operations, Smith was joined by Mr. Wright, +banker, and Mr. C. A. Caldwell, who had the penetration to perceive +that the invention was one of much promise, and were desirous of +helping its introduction to general use. They furnished Smith with the +means of constructing a more complete model. In the autumn of 1836, a +small steam vessel of 10 tons burthen and six horse-power was built, +further to test the advantages of the invention. This boat was fitted +with a wooden screw of two whole turns. On the 1st of November the +vessel was exhibited to the public on the Paddington Canal, as well as +on the Thames, where she continued to ply until the month of September +1837. +</P> + +<P> +During the trips upon the Thames, a happy accident occurred, which +first suggested the advantage of reducing the length of the screw. The +propeller having struck upon some obstacle in the water, about one-half +of the length of the screw was broken off, and it was found that; the +vessel immediately shot ahead and attained a much greater speed than +before. In consequence of this discovery, a new screw of a single turn +was fitted to her, after which she was found to work much better. +</P> + +<P> +Having satisfied himself as to the eligibility of the propeller in +smooth water, Mr. Smith then resolved to take his little vessel to the +open sea, and breast the winds and the waves. Accordingly, one Saturday +in the month of September 1837, he proceeded in his miniature boat, +down the river, from Blackwall to Gravesend. There he took a pilot on +board, and went on to Ramsgate. He passed through the Downs, and +reached Dover in safety. A trial of the vessel's performance was made +there in the presence of Mr. Wright, the banker, and Mr. Peake, the +civil engineer. From Dover the vessel went on to Folkestone and Hythe, +encountering severe weather. Nevertheless, the boat behaved admirably, +and attained a speed of over seven miles an hour. +</P> + +<P> +Though the weather had become stormy and boisterous, the little vessel +nevertheless set out on her return voyage to London. Crowds of people +assembled to witness her departure, and many nautical men watched her +progress with solicitude as she steamed through the waves under the +steep cliffs of the South Foreland. The courage of the undertaking, and +the unexpected good performance of the little vessel, rendered her an +object of great interest and excitement as she "screwed" her way along +the coast. +</P> + +<P> +The tiny vessel reached her destination in safety. Surely the +difficulty of a testing trial, although with a model screw, had at +length been overcome. But no! The paddle still possessed the +ascendency; and a thousand interests—invested capital, use and wont, +and conservative instincts—all stood in the way. +</P> + +<P> +Some years before—indeed, about the time that Smith took out his +patent—Captain Ericsson, the Swede, invented a screw propeller. Smith +took out his patent in May, 1836; and Ericsson in the following July. +Ericsson was a born inventor. While a boy in Sweden, he made saw mills +and pumping engines, with tools invented by himself. He learnt to +draw, and his mechanical career began. When only twelve years old, he +was appointed a cadet in the Swedish corps of mechanical engineers, and +in the following year he was put in charge of a section of the Gotha +Ship Canal, then under construction. Arrived at manhood, Ericsson went +over to England, the great centre of mechanical industry. He was then +twenty-three years old. He entered into partnership with John +Braithwaite, and with him constructed the Novelty, which took part in +the locomotive competition at Rainhill on the 6th October, 1829. The +prize was awarded to Stephenson's Rocket on the 14th; but it was +acknowledged by The Times of the day that the Novelty was Stephenson's +sharpest competitor. +</P> + +<P> +Ericsson had a wonderfully inventive brain, a determined purpose, and a +great capacity for work. When a want was felt, he was immediately +ready with an invention. The records of the Patent Office show his +incessant activity. He invented pumping engines, steam engines, fire +engines, and caloric engines. His first patent for a "reciprocating +propeller" was taken out in October 1834. To exhibit its action, he +had a small boat constructed of only about two feet long. It was +propelled by means of a screw; and was shown at work in a circular bath +in London. It performed its voyage round the basin at the rate of +about three miles an hour. His patent for a "spiral propeller," was +taken out in July 1836. This was the invention, to exhibit which he +had a vessel constructed, of about 40 feet long, with two propellers, +each of 5 feet 3 inches diameter. +</P> + +<P> +This boat, the Francis B. Ogden, proved extremely successful. She moved +at a speed of about ten miles an hour. She was able to tow vessels of +140 tons burthen at the rate of seven miles an hour. Perceiving the +peculiar and admirable fitness of the screw-propeller for ships of war, +Ericsson invited the Lords of the Admiralty to take an excursion in tow +of his experimental boat. "My Lords" consented; and the Admiralty +barge contained on this occasion, Sir Charles Adam, senior Lord, Sir +William Symonds, surveyor, Sir Edward Parry, of Polar fame, Captain +Beaufort, hydrographer, and other men of celebrity. This distinguished +company embarked at Somerset House, and the little steamer, with her +precious charge, proceeded down the river to Limehouse at the rate of +about ten miles an hour. After visiting the steam-engine manufactory +of Messrs. Seawood, where their Lordships' favourite apparatus, the +Morgan paddle-wheel, was in course of construction, they re-embarked, +and returned in safety to Somerset House. +</P> + +<P> +The experiment was perfectly successful, and yet the result was +disappointment. A few days later, a letter from Captain Beaufort +informed Mr. Ericsson that their Lordships had certainly been "very +much disappointed with the result of the experiment." The reason for +the disappointment was altogether inexplicable to the inventor. It +afterwards appeared, however, that Sir William Symonds, then Surveyor +to the Navy, had expressed the opinion that "even if the propeller had +the power of propelling a vessel, it would be found altogether useless +in practice, because the power being applied at the stern, it would be +absolutely impossible to make the vessel steer!" It will be remembered +that Francis Pettit Smith's screw vessel went to sea in the course of +the same year; and not only faced the waves, but was made to steer in a +perfectly successful manner. +</P> + +<P> +Although the Lords of the Admiralty would not further encourage the +screw propeller of Ericsson, an officer of the United States Navy, +Capt. R. F. Stockton, was so satisfied of its success, that after +making a single trip in the experimental steamboat from London Bridge +to Greenwich, he ordered the inventor to build for him forthwith two +iron boats for the United States, with steam machinery and a propeller +on the same plan. One of these vessels—the Robert F. +Stockton—seventy feet in length, was constructed by Laird and Co., of +Birkenhead, in 1838, and left England for America in April 1839. Capt. +Stockton so fully persuaded Ericsson of his probable success in +America, that the inventor at once abandoned his professional +engagements in England, and set out for the United States. It is +unnecessary to mention the further important works of this great +engineer. +</P> + +<P> +We may, however, briefly mention that in 1844, Ericsson constructed for +the United States Government the Princeton screw steamer—though he was +never paid for his time, labour, and expenditure.[6] Undeterred by +their ingratitude, Ericsson nevertheless constructed for the same +government, when in the throes of civil war, the famous Monitor, the +iron-clad cupola vessel, and was similarly rewarded! He afterwards +invented the torpedo ship—the Destroyer—the use of which has +fortunately not yet been required in sea warfare. Ericsson still +lives—constantly planning and scheming—in his house in Beach Street, +New York. He is now over eighty years old having been born in 1803. +He is strong and healthy. How has he preserved his vigorous +constitution? The editor of Scribner gives the answer: "The hall +windows of his house are open, winter and summer, and none but open +grate-fires are allowed. Insomnia never troubles him, for he falls +asleep as soon as his head touches the pillow. His appetite and +digestion are always good, and he has not lost a meal in ten years. +What an example to the men who imagine it is hard work that is killing +them in this career of unremitting industry!" +</P> + +<P> +To return to "Screw" Smith, after the successful trial of his little +vessel at sea in the autumn of 1837. He had many difficulties yet to +contend with. There was, first, the difficulty of a new invention, and +the fact that the paddle-boat had established itself in public +estimation. The engineering and shipbuilding world were dead against +him. They regarded the project of propelling a vessel by means of a +screw as visionary and preposterous. There was also the official +unwillingness to undertake anything novel, untried, and contrary to +routine. There was the usual shaking of the head and the shrugging of +the shoulders, as if the inventor were either a mere dreamer or a +projector eager to lay his hands upon the public purse. The surveyor +of the navy was opposed to the plan, because of the impossibility of +making a vessel steer which was impelled from the stern. "Screw" Smith +bided his time; he continued undaunted, and was determined to succeed. +He laboured steadily onward, maintaining his own faith unshaken, and +upholding the faith of the gentlemen who had become associated with him +in the prosecution of the invention. +</P> + +<P> +At the beginning of 1838 the Lords of the Admiralty requested Mr. Smith +to allow his vessel to be tried under their inspection. Two trials were +accordingly made, and they gave so much satisfaction that the adoption +of the propeller for naval purposes was considered as a not improbable +contingency. Before deciding finally upon its adoption, the Lords of +the Admiralty were anxious to see an experiment made with a vessel of +not less than 200 tons. Mr. Smith had not the means of accomplishing +this by himself, but with the improved prospects of the invention, +capitalists now came to his aid. One of the most effective and +energetic of these was Mr. Henry Currie, banker; and, with the +assistance of others, the "Ship Propeller Company" was formed, and +proceeded to erect the test ship proposed by the Admiralty. +</P> + +<P> +The result was the Archimedes, a wooden vessel of 237 tons burthen. +She was designed by Mr. Pasco, laid down by Mr. Wimshurst in the spring +of 1838, was launched on the 18th of October following, and made her +first trip in May 1839. She was fitted with a screw of one turn placed +in the dead wood, and propelled by a pair of engines of 80-horse power. +The vessel was built under the persuasion that her performance would be +considered satisfactory if a speed was attained of four or five knots +an hour, where as her actual speed was nine and a half knots. The +Lords of the Admiralty were invited to inspect the ship. At the second +trial Sir Edward Parry, Sir William Symonds, Captain Basil Hall, and +other distinguished persons were present. +</P> + +<P> +The results were again satisfactory. The success of the Archimedes +astonished the engineering world. Even the Surveyor of the Royal Navy +found that the vessel could steer! The Lords of the Admiralty could no +longer shut their eyes. But the invention could not at once be +adopted. It must be tested by the best judges. The vessel was sent to +Dover to be tried with the best packets between Dover and Calais. Mr. +Lloyd, the chief engineer of the Navy, conducted the investigation, and +reported most favourably as to the manner of her performance. Yet +several years elapsed before the screw was introduced into the service. +</P> + +<P> +In 1840 the Archimedes was placed at the disposal of Captain Chappell, +of the Royal Navy, who, accompanied by Mr. Smith, visited every +principal port in Great Britain. She was thus seen by shipowners, +marine engineers, and shipbuilders in every part of the kingdom. They +regarded her with wonder and admiration; yet the new mode of navigation +was not speedily adopted. The paddle-wheel still held its own. The +sentiment, if not the plant and capital, of the engineering world, were +against the introduction of the screw. After the vessel had returned +from her circumnavigation of Great Britain, she was sent to Oporto, and +performed the voyage in sixty-eight and a half hours, then held to be +the quickest voyage on record. She was then sent to the Texel at the +request of the Dutch Government. She went through the North Holland +Canal, visited Amsterdam, Antwerp, and other ports; and everywhere left +the impression that the screw was an efficient and reliable power in +the propulsion of vessels at sea. +</P> + +<P> +Shipbuilders, however, continued to "fight shy" of the screw. The late +Isambard Kingdon Brunel is entitled to the credit of having first +directed the attention of shipbuilders to this important invention. He +was himself a man of original views, free from bias, and always ready +to strike out a fresh path in engineering works. He was building a +large new iron steamer at Bristol, the Great Britain, for passenger +traffic between England and America. He had intended to construct her +as a paddle steamer; but hearing of the success of the Archimedes, he +inspected the vessel, and was so satisfied with the performance of the +screw that he recommended his directors to adopt this method for +propelling the Great Britain. His advice was adopted, and the vessel +was altered so as to adapt her for the reception of the screw. The +vessel was found perfectly successful, and on her first voyage to +London she attained the speed of ten knots an hour, though the wind and +balance of tides were against her. A few other merchant ships were +built and fitted with the screw; the Princess Royal at Newcastle in +1840, the Margaret and Senator at Hull, and the Great Northern at +Londonderry, in 1841. +</P> + +<P> +The Lords of the Admiralty made slow progress in adapting the screw for +the Royal Navy. Sir William Symonds, the surveyor and principal +designer of Her Majesty's ships, was opposed to all new projects. He +hated steam power, and was utterly opposed to iron ships. He speaks of +them in his journal as "monstrous."[7] So long as he remained in +office everything was done in a perfunctory way. A small vessel named +the Bee was built at Chatham in 1841, and fitted with both paddles and +the screw for the purposes of experiment. In the same year the +Rattier, the first screw vessel built for the navy, was laid down at +Sheerness. Although of only 888 tons burthen, she was not launched +until the spring of 1843. She was then fitted with the same kind of +screw as the Archimedes, that is, a double-headed screw of half a +convolution. Experiments went on for about three years, so as to +determine the best proportions of the screw, and the proportions then +ascertained have since been the principal guides of engineering +practice. +</P> + +<P> +The Rattler was at length tried in a water tournament with the +paddle-steamer Alecto, and signally defeated her. Francis Pettit +Smith, like Gulliver, may be said to have dragged the whole British +fleet after him. Were the paddle our only means of propulsion, our +whole naval force would be reduced to a nullity. Hostile gunners would +wing a paddle-steamer as effectually as a sportsman wings a bird, and +all the plating in the world would render such a ship a mere helpless +log on the water. +</P> + +<P> +The Admiralty could no longer defer the use of this important +invention. Like all good things, it made its way slowly and by +degrees. The royal naval authorities, who in 1833 backed the side +paddles, have since adopted the screw in most of the ships-of-war. In +all long sea-going voyages, also, the screw is now the favourite mode +of propulsion. Screw ships of prodigious size are now built and +launched in all the ship-building ports of Britain, and are sent out to +navigate in every part of the world. +</P> + +<P> +The introduction of iron as the material for shipbuilding has immensely +advanced the interests of steam navigation, as it enables the builders +to construct vessels of great size with the finest lines, so as to +attain the highest rates of speed. +</P> + +<P> +One might have supposed that Francis Pettit Smith would derive some +substantial benefit from his invention, or at least that the Ship +Propeller Company would distribute large dividends among their +proprietors. Nothing of the kind. Smith spent his money, his labour, +and his ingenuity in conferring a great public benefit without +receiving any adequate reward; and the company, instead of distributing +dividends, lost about 50,000L. in introducing this great invention; +after which, in 1856, the patent-right expired. Three hundred and +twenty-seven ships and vessels of all classes in the Royal Navy had +then been fitted with the screw propeller, and a much larger number in +the merchant service; but since that time the number of screw +propellers constructed is to be counted by thousands. +</P> + +<P> +In his comparatively impoverished condition it was found necessary to +do something for the inventor. The Civil Engineers, with Robert +Stephenson, M.P., in the chair, entertained him at a dinner and +presented him with a handsome salver and claret jug. And that he might +have something to put upon his salver and into his claret jug, a number +of his friends and admirers subscribed over 2000L. as a testimonial. +The Government appointed him Curator of the Patent Museum at South +Kensington; the Queen granted him a pension on the Civil List for 200L. +a year; he was raised to the honour of knighthood in 1871, and three +years later he died. +</P> + +<P> +Francis Pettit Smith was not a great inventor. He had, like many +others, invented a screw propeller. But, while those others had given +up the idea of prosecuting it to its completion, Smith stuck to his +invention with determined tenacity, and never let it go until he had +secured for it a complete triumph. As Mr. Stephenson observed at the +engineer's meeting: "Mr. Smith had worked from a platform which might +have been raised by others, as Watt had done, and as other great men +had done; but he had made a stride in advance which was almost +tantamount to a new invention. It was impossible to overrate the +advantages which this and other countries had derived from his untiring +and devoted patience in prosecuting the invention to a successful +issue." Baron Charles Dupin compared the farmer Smith with the barber +Arkwright: "He had the same perseverance and the same indomitable +courage. These two moral qualities enabled him to triumph over every +obstacle." This was the merit of "Screw" Smith—that he was determined +to realize what his predecessors had dreamt of achieving; and he +eventually accomplished his great purpose. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Footnotes for Chapter II. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] In the Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects for +1860, it was pointed out that the general dimensions and form of bottom +of this ship were very similar to the most famous line-of-battle ships +built down to the end of last century, some of which were then in +existence. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[2] According to the calculation of Mr. Chatfield, of Her Majesty's +dockyard at Plymouth, in a paper read before the British Association in +1841 on shipbuilding. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[3] The phrase "wooden walls" is derived from the Greek. When the city +of Athens was once in danger of being attacked and destroyed, the +oracle of Delphi was consulted. The inhabitants were told that there +was no safety for them but in their "wooden walls,"—that is their +shipping. As they had then a powerful fleet, the oracle gave them +rational advice, which had the effect of saving the Athenian people. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[4] An account of these is given by Bennet Woodcraft in his Sketch of +the Origin and Progress of Steam Navigation, London, 1848. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[5] See Industrial Biography, pp. 183-197, +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[6] The story is told in Scribner's Monthly Illustrated Magazine, for +April 1879. Ericsson's modest bill was only $15,000 for two years' +labour. He was put off from year to year, and at length the Government +refused to pay the amount. "The American Government," says the editor +of Scribner, "will not appropriate the money to pay it, and that is +all. It is said to be the nature of republics to be ungrateful; but +must they also be dishonest?" +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[7] Memoirs of the Life and Services of Rear-Admiral Sir William +Symonds, Kt., p. 332. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III.[1] +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +JOHN HARRISON: INVENTOR OF THE MARINE CHRONOMETER. +</H3> + +<P> +"No man knows who invented the mariner's compass, or who first hollowed +out a canoe from a log. The power to observe accurately the sun, moon, +and planets, so as to fix a vessel's actual position when far out of +sight of land, enabling long voyages to be safely made; the marvellous +improvements in ship-building, which shortened passages by sailing +vessels, and vastly reduced freights even before steam gave an +independent force to the carrier—each and all were done by small +advances, which together contributed to the general movement of +mankind.... Each owes all to the others. The forgotten inventors live +for ever in the usefulness of the work they have done and the progress +they have striven for."—H. M. Hyndman. +</P> + +<P> +One of the most extraordinary things connected with Applied Science is +the method by which the Navigator is enabled to find the exact spot of +sea on which his ship rides. There may be nothing but water and sky +within his view; he may be in the midst of the ocean, or gradually +nearing the land; the curvature of the globe baffles the search of his +telescope; but if he have a correct chronometer, and can make an +astronomical observation, he may readily ascertain his longitude, and +know his approximate position—how far he is from home, as well as from +his intended destination. He is even enabled, at some special place, +to send down his grappling-irons into the sea, and pick up an +electrical cable for examination and repair. +</P> + +<P> +This is the result of a knowledge of Practical Astronomy. "Place an +astronomer," says Mr. Newcomb, "on board a ship; blindfold him; carry +him by any route to any ocean on the globe, whether under the tropics +or in one of the frigid zones; land him on the wildest rock that can be +found; remove his bandage, and give him a chronometer regulated to +Greenwich or Washington time, a transit instrument with the proper +appliances, and the necessary books and tables, and in a single clear +night he can tell his position within a hundred yards by observations +of the stars. This, from a utilitarian point of view, is one of the +most important operations of Practical Astronomy."[2] +</P> + +<P> +The Marine Chronometer was the outcome of the crying want of the +sixteenth century for an instrument that should assist the navigator to +find his longitude on the pathless ocean. Spain was then the principal +naval power; she was the most potent monarchy in Europe, and held half +America under her sway. Philip III. offered 100,000 crowns for any +discovery by means of which the longitude might be determined by a +better method than by the log, which was found very defective. Holland +next became a great naval power, and followed the example of Spain in +offering 30,000 florins for a similar discovery. But though some +efforts were made, nothing practical was done, principally through the +defective state of astronomical instruments. England succeeded Spain +and Holland as a naval power; and when Charles II. established the +Greenwich Observatory, it was made a special point that Flamsteed, the +Astronomer-Royal, should direct his best energies to the perfecting of +a method for finding the longitude by astronomical observations. But +though Flamsteed, together with Halley and Newton, made some progress, +they were prevented from obtaining ultimate success by the want of +efficient chronometers and the defective nature of astronomical +instruments. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing was done until the reign of Queen Anne, when a petition was +presented to the Legislature on the 25th of May, 1714, by "several +captains of Her Majesty's ships, merchants in London, and commanders of +merchantmen, in behalf of themselves, and of all others concerned in +the navigation of Great Britain," setting forth the importance of the +accurate discovery of the longitude, and the inconvenience and danger +to which ships were subjected from the want of some suitable method of +discovering it. The petition was referred to a committee, which took +evidence on the subject. It appears that Sir Isaac Newton, with his +extraordinary sagacity, hit the mark in his report. "One is," he said, +"by a watch to keep time exactly; but, by reason of the motion of a +ship, and the variation of heat and cold, wet and dry, and the +difference of gravity in different latitudes, such a watch hath not yet +been made." +</P> + +<P> +An Act was however passed in the Session of 1714, offering a very large +public reward to inventors: 10,000L. to any one who should discover a +method of determining the longitude to one degree of a great circle, or +60 geographical miles; 15,000L. if it determined the same to two-thirds +of that distance, or 40 geographical miles; and 20,000L. if it +determined the same to one-half of the same distance, or 30 +geographical miles. Commissioners were appointed by the same Act, who +were instructed that "one moiety or half part of such reward shall be +due and paid when the said commissioners, or the major part of them, do +agree that any such method extends to the security of ships within 80 +geographical miles of the shore, which are places of the greatest +danger; and the other moiety or half part when a ship, by the +appointment of the said commissioners, or the major part of them, shall +actually sail over the ocean, from Great Britain to any such port in +the West Indies as those commissioners, or the major part of them, +shall choose or nominate for the experiment, without losing the +longitude beyond the limits before mentioned." +</P> + +<P> +The terms of this offer indicate how great must have been the risk and +inconvenience which it was desired to remedy. Indeed, it is almost +inconceivable that a reward so great could be held out for a method +which would merely afford security within eighty geographical miles! +</P> + +<P> +This splendid reward for a method of discovering the longitude was +offered to the world—to inventors and scientific men of all +countries—without restriction of race, or nation, or language. As +might naturally be expected, the prospect of obtaining it stimulated +many ingenious men to make suggestions and contrive experiments; but +for many years the successful construction of a marine time-keeper +seemed almost hopeless. At length, to the surprise of every one, the +prize was won by a village carpenter—a person of no school, or +university, or college whatever. +</P> + +<P> +Even so distinguished an artist and philosopher as Sir Christopher Wren +was engaged, as late in his life as the year 1720, in attempting to +solve this important problem. As has been observed, in the memoir of +him contained in the 'Biographia Britannica,'[3] "This noble invention, +like some others of the most useful ones to human life, seems to be +reserved for the peculiar glory of an ordinary mechanic, who, by +indefatigable industry, under the guidance of no ordinary sagacity, +hath seemingly at last surmounted all difficulties, and brought it to a +most unexpected degree of perfection." Where learning and science +failed, natural genius seems to have triumphed. +</P> + +<P> +The truth is, that the great mechanic, like the great poet, is born, +not made; and John Harrison, the winner of the famous prize, was a born +mechanic. He did not, however, accomplish his object without the +exercise of the greatest skill, patience, and perseverance. His +efforts were long, laborious, and sometimes apparently hopeless. +Indeed, his life, so far as we can ascertain the facts, affords one of +the finest examples of difficulties encountered and triumphantly +overcome, and of undaunted perseverance eventually crowned by success, +which is to be found in the whole range of biography. +</P> + +<P> +No complete narrative of Harrison's career was ever written. Only a +short notice of him appears in the 'Biographia Britannica,' published +in 1766, during his lifetime'—the facts of which were obtained from +himself. A few notices of him appear in the 'Annual Register,' also +published during his lifetime. The final notice appeared in the volume +published in 1777, the year after his death. No Life of him has since +appeared. Had he been a destructive hero, and fought battles by land +or sea, we should have had biographies of him without end. But he +pursued a more peaceful and industrious course. His discovery +conferred an incalculable advantage on navigation, and enabled +innumerable lives to be saved at sea; it also added to the domains of +science by its more exact measurement of time. But his memory has been +suffered to pass silently away, without any record being left for the +benefit and advantage of those who have succeeded him. The following +memoir includes nearly all that is known of the life and labours of +John Harrison. +</P> + +<P> +He was born at Foulby, in the parish of Wragby, near Pontefract, +Yorkshire, in March, 1693. His father, Henry Harrison, was carpenter +and joiner to Sir Rowland Winn, owner of the Nostell Priory estate. +The present house was built by the baronet on the site of the ancient +priory. Henry Harrison was a sort of retainer of the family, and long +continued in their Service. +</P> + +<P> +Little is known of the boy's education. It was certainly of a very +inferior description. Like George Stephenson, Harrison always had a +great difficulty in making himself understood, either by speech or +writing. Indeed, every board-school boy now receives a better +education than John Harrison did a hundred and eighty years ago. But +education does not altogether come by reading and writing. The boy was +possessed of vigorous natural abilities. He was especially attracted +by every machine that moved upon wheels. The boy was 'father to the +man.' When six years old, and lying sick of small-pox, a going watch +was placed upon his pillow, which afforded him infinite delight. +</P> + +<P> +When seven years old he was taken by his father to Barrow, near +Barton-on-Humber, where Sir Rowland Winn had another residence and +estate. Henry Harrison was still acting as the baronet's carpenter and +joiner. In course of time young Harrison joined his father in the +workshop, and proved of great use to him. His opportunities for +acquiring knowledge were still very few, but he applied his powers of +observation and his workmanship upon the things which were nearest him. +He worked in wood, and to wood he first turned his attention. +</P> + +<P> +He was still fond of machines going upon wheels. He had enjoyed the +sight of the big watch going upon brass wheels when he was a boy; but, +now that he was a workman in wood, he proposed to make an eight-day +clock, with wheels of this material. He made the clock in 1713, when +he was twenty years old,[4] so that he must have made diligent use of +his opportunities. He had of course difficulties to encounter, and +nothing can be accomplished without them; for it is difficulties that +train the habits of application and perseverance. But he succeeded in +making an effective clock, which counted the time with regularity. +This clock is still in existence. It is to be seen at the Museum of +Patents, South Kensington; and when we visited it a few months ago it +was going, and still marking the moments as they passed. It is +contained in a case about six feet high, with a glass front, showing a +pendulum and two weights. Over the clock is the following inscription: +</P> + +<P> +"This clock was made at Barrow, Lincolnshire, in the year 1715, by John +Harrison, celebrated as the inventor of a nautical timepiece, or +chronometer, which gained the reward of 20,000L., offered by the Board +of Longitude, A.D. 1767. +</P> + +<P> +"This clock strikes the hour, indicates the day of the month, and with +one exception (the escapement) the wheels are entirely made of wood." +</P> + +<P> +This, however, was only a beginning. Harrison proceeded to make better +clocks; and then he found it necessary to introduce metal, which was +more lasting. He made pivots of brass, which moved more conveniently +in sockets of wood with the use of oil. He also caused the teeth of +his wheels to run against cylindrical rollers of wood, fixed by brass +pins, at a proper distance from the axis of the pinions; and thus to a +considerable extent removed the inconveniences of friction. +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime Harrison eagerly improved every incident from which he +might derive further information. There was a clergyman who came every +Sunday to the village to officiate in the neighbourhood; and having +heard of the sedulous application of the young carpenter, he lent him a +manuscript copy of Professor Saunderson's discourses. That blind +professor had prepared several lectures on natural philosophy for the +use of his students, though they were not intended for publication. +Young Harrison now proceeded to copy them out, together with the +diagrams. Sometimes, indeed, he spent the greater part of the night in +writing or drawing. +</P> + +<P> +As part of his business, he undertook to survey land, and to repair +clocks and watches, besides carrying on his trade of a carpenter. He +soon obtained a considerable knowledge of what had been done in clocks +and watches, and was able to do not only what the best professional +workers had done, but to strike out entirely new lights in the clock +and watch-making business. He found out a method of diminishing +friction by adding a joint to the pallets of the pendulum, whereby they +were made to work in the nature of rollers of a large radius, without +any sliding, as usual, upon the teeth of the wheel. He constructed a +clock on the recoiling principle, which went perfectly, and never lost +a minute within fourteen years. Sir Edmund Denison Beckett says that +he invented this method in order to save himself the trouble of going +so frequently to oil the escapement of a turret clock, of which he had +charge; though there were other influences at work besides this. +</P> + +<P> +But his most important invention, at this early period of his life, was +his compensation pendulum. Every one knows that metals expand with +heat and contract by cold. The pendulum of the clock therefore +expanded in summer and contracted in winter, thereby interfering with +the regular going of the clock. Huygens had by his cylindrical checks +removed the great irregularity arising from the unequal lengths of the +oscillations; but the pendulum was affected by the tossing of a ship at +sea, and was also subject to a variation in weight, depending on the +parallel of latitude. Graham, the well-known clock-maker, invented the +mercurial compensation pendulum, consisting of a glass or iron jar +filled with quicksilver and fixed to the end of the pendulum rod. When +the rod was lengthened by heat, the quicksilver and the jar which +contained it were simultaneously expanded and elevated, and the centre +of oscillation was thus continued at the same distance from the point +of suspension. +</P> + +<P> +But the difficulty, to a certain extent, remained unconquered until +Harrison took the matter in hand. He observed that all rods of metal +do not alter their lengths equally by heat, or, on the contrary, become +shorter by cold, but some more sensibly than others. After innumerable +experiments Harrison at length composed a frame somewhat resembling a +gridiron, in which the alternate bars were of steel and of brass, and +so arranged that those which expanded the most were counteracted by +those which expanded the least. By this means the pendulum contained +the power of equalising its own action, and the centre of oscillation +continued at the same absolute distance from the point of suspension +through all the variations of heat and cold during the year.[5] +</P> + +<P> +Thus by the year 1726, when he was only thirty-three years old, +Harrison had furnished himself with two compensation clocks, in which +all the irregularities to which these machines were subject, were +either removed or so happily balanced, one metal against the other, +that the two clocks kept time together in different parts of his house, +without the variation of more than a single second in the month. One +of them, indeed, which he kept by him for his own use, and constantly +compared with a fixed star, did not vary so much as one whole minute +during the ten years that he continued in the country after finishing +the machine.[6] +</P> + +<P> +Living, as he did, not far from the sea, Harrison next endeavoured to +arrange his timekeeper for purposes of navigation. +</P> + +<P> +He tried his clock in a vessel belonging to Barton-on-Humber; but his +compensating pendulum could there be of comparatively little use; for +it was liable to be tossed hither or thither by the sudden motions of +the ship. He found it necessary, therefore, to mount a chronometer, or +portable timekeeper, which might be taken from place to place, and +subjected to the violent and irregular motion of a ship at sea, without +affecting its rate of going. It was evident to him that the first +mover must be changed from a weight and pendulum to a spring wound up +and a compensating balance. +</P> + +<P> +He now applied his genius in this direction. After pondering over the +subject, he proceeded to London in 1728, and exhibited his drawings to +Dr. Halley, then Astronomer-Royal. The Doctor referred him to Mr. +George Graham, the distinguished horologer, inventor of the dead-beat +escapement and the mercurial pendulum. After examining the drawings and +holding some converse with Harrison, Graham perceived him to be a man +of uncommon merit, and gave him every encouragement. He recommended +him, however, to make his machine before again applying to the Board of +Longitude. +</P> + +<P> +Harrison returned home to Barrow to complete his task, and many years +elapsed before he again appeared in London to present his first +chronometer. +</P> + +<P> +The remarkable success which Harrison had achieved in his compensating +pendulum could not but urge him on to further experiments. He was no +doubt to a certain extent influenced by the reward of 20,000L. which +the English Government had offered for an instrument that should enable +the longitude to be more accurately determined by navigators at sea +than was then possible; and it was with the object of obtaining +pecuniary assistance to assist him in completing his chronometer that +Harrison had, in 1728, made his first visit to London to exhibit his +drawings. +</P> + +<P> +The Act of Parliament offering this superb reward was passed in 1714, +fourteen years before, but no attempt had been made to claim it. It +was right that England, then rapidly advancing to the first position as +a commercial nation, should make every effort to render navigation less +hazardous. Before correct chronometers were invented, or good lunar +tables were prepared,[7] the ship, when fairly at sea, out of sight of +land, and battling with the winds and tides, was in a measure lost. No +method existed for accurately ascertaining the longitude. The ship +might be out of its course for one or two hundred miles, for anything +that the navigator knew; and only the wreck of his ship on some unknown +coast told of the mistake that he had made in his reckoning. +</P> + +<P> +It may here be mentioned that it was comparatively easy to determine +the latitude of a ship at sea every day when the sun was visible. The +latitude—that is, the distance of any spot from the equator and the +pole—might be found by a simple observation with the sextant. The +altitude of the sun at noon is found, and by a short calculation the +position of the ship can be ascertained. +</P> + +<P> +The sextant, which is the instrument universally used at sea, was +gradually evolved from similar instruments used from the earliest +times. The object of this instrument has always been to find the +angular distance between two bodies—that is to say, the angle +contained by two straight lines, drawn from those bodies to meet in the +observer's eye. The simplest instrument of this kind may be well +represented by a pair of compasses. If the hinge is held to the eye, +one leg pointed to the distant horizon, and the other leg pointed to +the sun, the position of the two legs will show the angular distance of +the sun from the horizon at the moment of observation. +</P> + +<P> +Until the end of the seventeenth century, the instrument used was of +this simple kind. It was generally a large quadrant, with one or two +bars moving on a hinge,—to all intents and purposes a huge pair of +compasses. The direction of the sight was fixed by the use of a slit +and a pointer, much as in the ordinary rifle. This instrument was +vastly improved by the use of a telescope, which not only allowed +fainter objects to be seen, but especially enabled the sight to be +accurately directed to the object observed. +</P> + +<P> +The instruments of the pre-telescopic age reached their glory in the +hands of Tycho Brahe. He used magnificent instruments of the simple +"pair of compasses" kind—circles, quadrants, and sextants. These were +for the most part ponderous fixed instruments of little or no use for +the purposes of navigation. But Tycho Brahe's sextant proved the +forerunner of the modern instrument. The general structure is the +same; but the vast improvement of the modern sextant is due, firstly, +to the use of the reflecting mirror, and, secondly, to the use of the +telescope for accurate sighting. These improvements were due to many +scientific men—to William Gascoigne, who first used the telescope, +about 1640; to Robert Hooke, who, in 1660, proposed to apply it to the +quadrant; to Sir Isaac Newton, who designed a reflecting quadrant;[8] +and to John Hadley, who introduced it. The modern sextant is merely a +modification of Newton's or Badley's quadrant, and its present +construction seems to be perfect. +</P> + +<P> +It therefore became possible accurately to determine the position of a +ship at sea as regarded its latitude. But it was quite different as +regarded the longitude that is, the distance of any place from a given +meridian, eastward or westward. In the case of longitude there is no +fixed spot to which reference can be made. The rotation of the earth +makes the existence of such a spot impossible. The question of +longitude is purely a question of TIME. The circuit of the globe, east +and west, is simply represented by twenty-four hours. Each place has +its own time. It is very easy to determine the local time at any spot +by observations made at that spot. But, as time is always changing, +the knowledge of the local time gives no idea of the actual position; +and still less of a moving object—say, of a ship at sea. But if, in +any locality, we know the local time, and also the local time of some +other locality at that moment—say, of the Observatory at Greenwich we +can, by comparing the two local times, determine the difference of +local times, or, what is the same thing, the difference of longitude +between the two places. It was necessary therefore for the navigator to +be in possession of a first-rate watch or chronometer, to enable him to +determine accurately the position of his ship at sea, as respected the +longitude. +</P> + +<P> +Before the middle of the eighteenth century good watches were +comparatively unknown. The navigator mainly relied, for his +approximate longitude, upon his Dead Reckoning, without any observation +of the heavenly bodies. He depended upon the accuracy of the course +which he had steered by the compass, and the mensuration of the ship's +velocity by an instrument called the Log, as well as by combining and +rectifying all the allowances for drift, lee-way, and so on, according +to the trim of the ship; but all of these were liable to much +uncertainty, especially when the sea was in a boisterous condition. +There was another and independent course which might have been +adopted—that is, by observation of the moon, which is constantly +moving amongst the stars from west to east. But until the middle of +the eighteenth century good lunar tables were as much unknown as good +watches. +</P> + +<P> +Hence a method of ascertaining the longitude, with the same degree of +accuracy which is attainable in respect of latitude, had for ages been +the grand desideratum for men "who go down to the sea in ships." Mr. +Macpherson, in his important work entitled 'The Annals of Commerce,' +observes, "Since the year 1714, when Parliament offered a reward of +20,000L. for the best method of ascertaining the longitude at sea, many +schemes have been devised, but all to little or no purpose, as going +generally upon wrong principles, till that heaven-taught artist Mr. +John Harrison arose;" and by him, as Mr. Macpherson goes on to say, the +difficulty was conquered, having devoted to it "the assiduous studies +of a long life." +</P> + +<P> +The preamble of the Act of Parliament in question runs as follows: +"Whereas it is well known by all that are acquainted with the art of +navigation that nothing is so much wanted and desired at sea as the +discovery of the longitude, for the safety and quickness of voyages, +the preservation of ships and the lives of men," and so on. The Act +proceeds to constitute certain persons commissioners for the discovery +of the longitude, with power to receive and experiment upon proposals +for that purpose, and to grant sums of money not exceeding 2000L. to +aid in such experiments. It will be remembered from what has been +above stated, that a reward of 10,000L. was to be given to the person +who should contrive a method of determining the longitude within one +degree of a great circle, or 60 geographical miles; 15,000L. within 40 +geographical miles; and 20,000L. within 30 geographical miles. +</P> + +<P> +It will, in these days, be scarcely believed that little more than a +hundred and fifty years ago a prize of not less than ten thousand +pounds should have been offered for a method of determining the +longitude within sixty miles, and that double the amount should have +been offered for a method of determining it within thirty miles! The +amount of these rewards is sufficient proof of the fearful necessity +for improvement which then existed in the methods of navigation. And +yet, from the date of the passing of the Act in 1714 until the year +1736, when Harrison finished his first timepiece, nothing had been done +towards ascertaining the longitude more accurately, even within the +wide limits specified by the Act of Parliament. Although several +schemes had been projected, none of them had proved successful, and the +offered rewards therefore still remained unclaimed. +</P> + +<P> +To return to Harrison. After reaching his home at Barrow, after his +visit to London in 1728, he began his experiments for the construction +of a marine chronometer. The task was one of no small difficulty. It +was necessary to provide against irregularities arising from the motion +of a ship at sea, and to obviate the effect of alternations of +temperature in the machine itself, as well as the oil with which it was +lubricated. A thousand obstacles presented themselves, but they were +not enough to deter Harrison from grappling with the work he had set +himself to perform. +</P> + +<P> +Every one knows the beautiful machinery of a timepiece, and the perfect +tools required to produce such a machine. Some of these tools Harrison +procured in London, but the greater number he provided for himself; and +many entirely new adaptations were required for his chronometer. As +wood could no longer be exclusively employed, as in his first clock, he +had to teach himself to work accurately and minutely in brass and other +metals. Having been unable to obtain any assistance from the Board of +Longitude, he was under the necessity, while carrying forward his +experiments, of maintaining himself by still working at his trade of a +carpenter and joiner. This will account for the very long period that +elapsed before he could bring his chronometer to such a state as that +it might be tried with any approach to certainty in its operations. +</P> + +<P> +Harrison, besides his intentness and earnestness, was a cheerful and +hopeful man. He had a fine taste for music, and organised and led the +choir of the village church, which attained a high degree of +perfection. He invented a curious monochord, which was not less +accurate than his clocks in the mensuration of time. His ear was +distressed by the ringing of bells out of tune, and he set himself to +remedy them. At the parish church of Hull, for instance, the bells +were harsh and disagreeable, and by the authority of the vicar and +churchwardens he was allowed to put them into a state of exact tune, so +that they proved entirely melodious. +</P> + +<P> +But the great work of his life was his marine chronometer. He found it +necessary, in the first place, to alter the first mover of his clock to +a spring wound up, so that the regularity of the motion might be +derived from the vibrations of balances, instead of those of a pendulum +as in a standing clock. Mr. Folkes, President of the Royal Society, +when presenting the gold medal to Harrison in 1749, thus describes the +arrangement of his new machine. The details were obtained from +Harrison himself, who was present. He had made use of two balances +situated in the same plane, but vibrating in contrary directions, so +that the one of these being either way assisted by the tossing of the +ship, the other might constantly be just so much impeded by it at the +same time. As the equality of the times of the vibrations of the +balance of a pocket-watch is in a great measure owing to the spiral +spring that lies under it, so the same was here performed by the like +elasticity of four cylindrical springs or worms, applied near the upper +and lower extremities of the two balances above described. +</P> + +<P> +Then came in the question of compensation. Harrison's experience with +the compensation pendulum of his clock now proved of service to him. +He had proceeded to introduce a similar expedient in his proposed +chronometer. As is well known to those who are acquainted with the +nature of springs moved by balances, the stronger those springs are, +the quicker the vibrations of the balances are performed, and vice +versa; hence it follows that those springs, when braced by cold, or +when relaxed by heat, must of necessity cause the timekeeper to go +either faster or slower, unless some method could be found to remedy +the inconvenience. +</P> + +<P> +The method adopted by Harrison was his compensation balance, doubtless +the backbone of his invention. His "thermometer kirb," he himself +says, "is composed of two thin plates of brass and steel, riveted +together in several places, which, by the greater expansion of brass +than steel by heat and contraction by cold, becomes convex on the brass +side in hot weather and convex on the steel side in cold weather; +whence, one end being fixed, the other end obtains a motion +corresponding with the changes of heat and cold, and the two pins at +the end, between which the balance spring passes, and which it +alternately touches as the spring bends and unbends itself, will +shorten or lengthen the spring, as the change of heat or cold would +otherwise require to be done by hand in the manner used for regulating +a common watch." Although the method has since been improved upon by +Leroy, Arnold, and Earnshaw, it was the beginning of all that has since +been done in the perfection of marine chronometers. Indeed, it is +amazing to think of the number of clever, skilful, and industrious men +who have been engaged for many hundred years in the production of that +exquisite fabric—so useful to everybody, whether scientific or +otherwise, on land or sea the modern watch. +</P> + +<P> +It is unnecessary here to mention in detail the particulars of +Harrison's invention. These were published by himself in his +'Principles of Mr. Harrison's Timekeeper.' It may, however, be +mentioned that he invented a method by which the chronometer might be +kept going without losing any portion of time. This was during the +process of winding up, which was done once in a day. While the +mainspring was being wound up, a secondary one preserved the motion of +the wheels and kept the machine going. +</P> + +<P> +After seven years' labour, during which Harrison encountered and +overcame numerous difficulties, he at last completed his first marine +chronometer. He placed it in a sort of moveable frame, somewhat +resembling what the sailors call a 'compass jumble,' but much more +artificially and curiously made and arranged. In this state the +chronometer was tried from time to time in a large barge on the river +Humber, in rough as well as in smooth weather, and it was found to go +perfectly, without losing a moment of time. +</P> + +<P> +Such was the condition of Harrison's chronometer when he arrived with +it in London in 1735, in order to apply to the commissioners appointed +for providing a public reward for the discovery of the longitude at +sea. He first showed it to several members of the Royal Society, who +cordially approved of it. Five of the most prominent members—Dr. +Bailey, Dr. Smith, Dr. Bradley, Mr. John Machin, and Mr. George +Graham—furnished Harrison with a certificate, stating that the +principles of his machine for measuring time promised a very great and +sufficient degree of exactness. In consequence of this certificate, +the machine, at the request of the inventor, and at the recommendation +of the Lords of the Admiralty, was placed on board a man-of-war. +</P> + +<P> +Sir Charles Wager, then first Lord of the Admiralty, wrote to the +captain of the Centurion, stating that the instrument had been approved +by mathematicians as the best that had been made for measuring time; +and requesting his kind treatment of Mr. Harrison, who was to accompany +it to Lisbon. Captain Proctor answered the First Lord from Spithead, +dated May 17th, 1736, promising his attention to Harrison's comfort, +but intimating his fear that he had attempted impossibilities. It is +always so with a new thing. The first steam-engine, the first +gaslight, the first locomotive, the first steamboat to America, the +first electric telegraph, were all impossibilities! +</P> + +<P> +This first chronometer behaved very well on the outward voyage in the +Centurion. It was not affected by the roughest weather, or by the +working of the ship through the rolling waves of the Bay of Biscay. It +was brought back, with Harrison, in the Orford man-of-war, when its +great utility was proved in a remarkable manner, although, from the +voyage being nearly on a meridian, the risk of losing the longitude was +comparatively small. Yet the following was the certificate of the +captain of the ship, dated the 24th June, 1737: "When we made the +land, the said land, according to my reckoning (and others), ought to +have been the Start; but, before we knew what land it was, John +Harrison declared to me and the rest of the ship's company that, +according to his observations with his machine, it ought to be the +Lizard—the which, indeed, it was found to be, his observation showing +the ship to be more west than my reckoning, above one degree and +twenty-six miles,"—that is, nearly ninety miles out of its course! +</P> + +<P> +Six days later—that is, on the 30th June—the Board of Longitude met, +when Harrison was present, and produced the chronometer with which he +had made the voyage to Lisbon and back. The minute states: "Mr. John +Harrison produced a new invented machine, in the nature of clockwork, +whereby he proposes to keep time at sea with more exactness than by any +other instrument or method hitherto contrived, in order to the +discovery of the longitude at sea; and proposes to make another machine +of smaller dimensions within the space of two years, whereby he will +endeavour to correct some defects which he hath found in that already +prepared, so as to render the same more perfect; which machine, when +completed, he is desirous of having tried in one of His Majesty's ships +that shall be bound to the West Indies; but at the same time +represented that he should not be able, by reason of his necessitous +circumstances, to go on and finish his said machine without assistance, +and requested that he may be furnished with the sum of 500L., to put +him in a capacity to perform the same, and to make a perfect experiment +thereof." +</P> + +<P> +The result of the meeting was that 500L. was ordered to be paid to +Harrison, one moiety as soon as convenient, and the other when he has +produced a certificate from the captain of one of His Majesty's ships +that he has put the machine on board into the captain's possession. +Mr. George Graham, who was consulted, urged that the Commissioners +should grant Harrison at least 1000L., but they only awarded him half +the sum, and at first only a moiety of the amount voted. At the +recommendation of Lord Monson, who was present, Harrison accepted the +250L. as a help towards the heavy expenses which he had already +incurred, and was again about to incur, in perfecting the invention. +He was instructed to make his new chronometer of less dimensions, as +the one exhibited was cumbersome and heavy, and occupied too much space +on board. +</P> + +<P> +He accordingly proceeded to make his second chronometer. It occupied a +space of only about half the size of the first. He introduced several +improvements. He lessened the number of the wheels, and thereby +diminished friction. But the general arrangement remained the same. +This second machine was finished in 1739. It was more simple in its +arrangement, and less cumbrous in its dimensions. It answered even +better than the first, and though it was not tried at sea its motions +were sufficiently exact for finding the longitude within the nearest +limits proposed by Act of Parliament. +</P> + +<P> +Not satisfied with his two machines, Harrison proceeded to make a +third. This was of an improved construction, and occupied still less +space, the whole of the machine and its apparatus standing upon an area +of only four square feet. It was in such forwardness in January, 1741, +that it was exhibited before the Royal Society, and twelve of the most +prominent members signed a certificate of "its great and excellent use, +as well for determining the longitude at sea as for correcting the +charts of the coasts." The testimonial concluded: "We do recommend +Mr. Harrison to the favour of the Commissioners appointed by Act of +Parliament as a person highly deserving of such further encouragement +and assistance as they shall judge proper and sufficient to finish his +third machine." The Commissioners granted him a further sum of 500L. +Harrison was already reduced to necessitous circumstances by his +continuous application to the improvement of the timekeepers. He had +also got into debt, and required further assistance to enable him to +proceed with their construction; but the Commissioners would only help +him by driblets. +</P> + +<P> +Although Harrison had promised that the third machine would be ready +for trial on August 1, 1743, it was not finished for some years later. +In June, 1746, we find him again appearing before the Board, asking for +further assistance. While proceeding with his work he found it +necessary to add a new spring, "having spent much time and thought in +tempering them." Another 500L. was voted to enable him to pay his +debts, to maintain himself and family, and to complete his chronometer. +</P> + +<P> +Three years later he exhibited his third machine to the Royal Society, +and on the 30th of November, 1749, he was awarded the Gold Medal for +the year. In presenting it, Mr. Folkes, the President, said to Mr. +Harrison, "I do here, by the authority and in the name of the Royal +Society of London for the improving of natural knowledge, present you +with this small but faithful token of their regard and esteem. I do, +in their name congratulate you upon the successes you have already had, +and I most sincerely wish that all your future trials may in every way +prove answerable to these beginnings, and that the full accomplishment +of your great undertaking may at last be crowned with all the +reputation and advantage to yourself that your warmest wishes may +suggest, and to which so many years so laudably and so diligently spent +in the improvement of those talents which God Almighty has bestowed +upon you, will so justly entitle your constant and unwearied +perseverance." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Folkes, in his speech, spoke of Mr. Harrison as "one of the most +modest persons he had ever known. In speaking," he continued, "of his +own performances, he has assured me that, from the immense number of +diligent and accurate experiments he has made, and from the severe +tests to which he has in many ways put his instrument, he expects he +shall be able with sufficient certainty, through all the greatest +variety of seasons and the most irregular motions of the sea, to keep +time constantly, without the variation of so much as three seconds in a +week,—a degree of exactness that is astonishing and even stupendous, +considering the immense number of difficulties, and those of very +different sorts, which the author of these inventions must have had to +encounter and struggle withal." +</P> + +<P> +Although it is common enough now to make first-rate +chronometers—sufficient to determine the longitude with almost perfect +accuracy in every clime of the world—it was very different at that +time, when Harrison was occupied with his laborious experiments. +Although he considered his third machine to be the ne plus ultra of +scientific mechanism, he nevertheless proceeded to construct a fourth +timepiece, in the form of a pocket watch about five inches in diameter. +He found the principles which he had adopted in his larger machines +applied equally well in the smaller, and the performances of the last +surpassed his utmost expectations. But in the meantime, as his third +timekeeper was, in his opinion, sufficient to supply the requirements +of the Board of Longitude as respected the highest reward offered, he +applied to the Commissioners for leave to try that instrument on board +a royal ship to some port in the West Indies, as directed by the +statute of Queen Anne. +</P> + +<P> +Though Harrison's third timekeeper was finished about the year 1758, it +was not until March 12, 1761, that he received orders for his son +William to proceed to Portsmouth, and go on board the Dorsetshire +man-of-war, to proceed to Jamaica. But another tedious delay occurred. +The ship was ordered elsewhere, and William Harrison, after remaining +five months at Portsmouth, returned to London. By this time, John +Harrison had finished his fourth timepiece—the small one, in the form +of a watch. At length William Harrison set sail with this timekeeper +from Portsmouth for Jamaica, on November 18th, 1761, in the Deptford +man-of-war. The Deptford had forty-three ships in convoy, and arrived +at Jamaica on the 19th of January, 1762, three days before the Beaver, +another of His Majesty's ships-of-war, which had sailed from Portsmouth +ten days before the Deptford, but had lost her reckoning and been +deceived in her longitude, having trusted entirely to the log. +Harrison's timepiece had corrected the log of the Deptford to the +extent of three degrees of longitude, whilst several of the ships in +the fleet lost as much as five degrees! This shows the haphazard way +in which navigation was conducted previous to the invention of the +marine chronometer. +</P> + +<P> +When the Deptford arrived at Port Royal, Jamaica, the timekeeper was +found to be only five and one tenth seconds in error; and during the +voyage of four months, on its return to Portsmouth on March 26th, 1762, +it was found (after allowing for the rate of gain or loss) to have +erred only one minute fifty-four and a half seconds. In the latitude +of Portsmouth this only amounted to eighteen geographical miles, +whereas the Act had awarded that the prize should be given where the +longitude was determined within the distance of thirty geographical +miles. One would have thought that Harrison was now clearly entitled +to his reward of 20,000L. +</P> + +<P> +Not at all! The delays interposed by Government are long and tedious, +and sometimes insufferable. Harrison had accomplished more than was +needful to obtain the highest reward which the Board of Longitude had +publicly offered. But they would not certify that he had won the +prize. On the contrary, they started numerous objections, and +continued for years to subject him to vexatious delays and +disappointments. They pleaded that the previous determination of the +longitude of Jamaica by astronomical observation was unsatisfactory; +that there was no proof of the chronometer having maintained a uniform +rate during the voyage; and on the 17th of August, 1762, they passed a +resolution, stating that they "were of opinion that the experiments +made of the watch had not been sufficient to determine the longitude at +sea." +</P> + +<P> +It was accordingly necessary for Harrison to petition Parliament on the +subject. Three reigns had come and gone since the Act of Parliament +offering the reward had been passed. Anne had died; George I. and +George II. had reigned and died; and now, in the reign of George +III.—thirty-five years after Harrison had begun his labours, and after +he had constructed four several marine chronometers, each of which was +entitled to win the full prize,—an Act of Parliament was passed +enabling the inventor to obtain the sum of 5000L. as part of the +reward. But the Commissioners still hesitated. They differed about +the tempering of the springs. They must have another trial of the +timekeeper, or anything with which to put off a settlement of the +claim. Harrison was ready for any further number of trials; and in the +meantime the Commissioners merely paid him a further sum on account. +</P> + +<P> +Two more dreary years passed. Nothing was done in 1763 except a +quantity of interminable talk at the Board of Commissioners. At +length, on the 28th of March, 1764, Harrison's son again departed with +the timekeeper on board the ship Tartar for Barbadoes. He returned in +about four months, during which time the instrument enabled the +longitude to be ascertained within ten miles, or one-third of the +required geographical distance. Harrison memorialised the +Commissioners again and again, in order that he might obtain the reward +publicly offered by the Government. +</P> + +<P> +At length the Commissioners could no longer conceal the truth. In +September,1764, they virtually recognised Harrison's claim by paying +him 1000L. on account; and, on the 9th of February,1765, they passed a +resolution setting forth that they were "unanimously of opinion that +the said timekeeper has kept its time with sufficient correctness, +without losing its longitude in the voyage from Portsmouth to Barbadoes +beyond the nearest limit required by the Act 12th of Queen Anne, but +even considerably within the same." Yet they would not give Harrison +the necessary certificate, though they were of opinion that he was +entitled to be paid the full reward! +</P> + +<P> +It is pleasant to contrast the generous conduct of the King of Sardinia +with the procrastinating and illiberal spirit which Harrison met with +in his own country. During the same year in which the above resolution +was passed, the Sardinian minister ordered four of Harrison's +timekeepers at the price of 1000L. each, at the special instance of the +King of Sardinia "as an acknowledgement of Mr. Harrison's ingenuity, +and as some recompense for the time spent by him for the general good +of mankind." This grateful attention was all the more praiseworthy, as +Sardinia could not in any way be regarded as a great maritime power. +</P> + +<P> +Harrison was now becoming old and feeble. He had attained the age of +seventy-four. He had spent forty long years in working out his +invention. He was losing his eyesight, and could not afford to wait +much longer. Still he had to wait. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Full little knowest thou, who hast not tried,<BR> + What hell it is in suing long to bide;<BR> + To lose good days, that might be better spent;<BR> + To waste long nights in pensive discontent;<BR> + To spend to-day, to be put back to-morrow,<BR> + To feed on hope, to pine with fear and sorrow."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +But Harrison had not lost his spirit. On May 30th, 1765, he addressed +another remonstrance to the Board, containing much stronger language +than he had yet used. "I cannot help thinking," he said, "that I am +extremely ill-used by gentlemen from whom I might have expected a +different treatment; for, if the Act of the 12th of Queen Anne be +deficient, why have I so long been encouraged under it, in order to +bring my invention to perfection? And, after the completion, why was +my son sent twice to the West Indies? Had it been said to my son, when +he received the last instruction, 'There will, in case you succeed, be +a new Act on your return, in order to lay you under new restrictions, +which were not thought of in the Act of the 12th of Queen Anne,'—I +say, had this been the case, I might have expected some such treatment +as that I now meet with. +</P> + +<P> +"It must be owned that my case is very hard; but I hope I am the first, +and for my country's sake I hope I shall be the last, to suffer by +pinning my faith upon an English Act of Parliament. Had I received my +just reward—for certainly it may be so called after forty years' close +application of the talent which it has pleased God to give me—then my +invention would have taken the course which all improvements in this +world do; that is, I must have instructed workmen in its principles and +execution, which I should have been glad of an opportunity of doing. +But how widely different this is from what is now proposed, viz., for +me to instruct people that I know nothing of, and such as may know +nothing of mechanics; and, if I do not make them understand to their +satisfaction, I may then have nothing! +</P> + +<P> +"Hard fate indeed to me, but still harder to the world, which may be +deprived of this my invention, which must be the case, except by my +open and free manner in describing all the principles of it to +gentlemen and noblemen who almost at all times have had free recourse +to my instruments. And if any of these workmen have been so ingenious +as to have got my invention, how far you may please to reward them for +their piracy must be left for you to determine; and I must set myself +down in old age, and thank God I can be more easy in that I have the +conquest, and though I have no reward, than if I had come short of the +matter and by some delusion had the reward!" +</P> + +<P> +The Right Honourable the Earl of Egmont was in the chair of the Board +of Longitude on the day when this letter was read—June 13, 1765. The +Commissioners were somewhat startled by the tone which the inventor had +taken. Indeed, they were rather angry. Mr. Harrison, who was in +waiting, was called in. After some rather hot speaking, and after a +proposal was made to Harrison which he said he would decline to accede +to "so long as a drop of English blood remained in his body," he left +the room. Matters were at length arranged. The Act of Parliament (5 +Geo. III. cap. 20) awarded him, upon a full discovery of the principles +of his time-keeper, the payment of such a sum, as with the 2500L. he +had already received, would make one half of the reward; and the +remaining half was to be paid when other chronometers had been made +after his design, and their capabilities fully proved. He was also +required to assign his four chronometers—one of which was styled a +watch—to the use of the public. +</P> + +<P> +Harrison at once proceeded to give full explanations of the principles +of his chronometer to Dr. Maskelyne, and six other gentlemen, who had +been appointed to receive them. He took his timekeeper to pieces in +their presence, and deposited in their hands correct drawings of the +same, with the parts, so that other skilful makers might construct +similar chronometers on the same principles. Indeed, there was no +difficulty in making them; after his explanations and drawings had been +published. An exact copy of his last watch was made by the ingenious +Mr. Kendal; and was used by Captain Cook in his three years' +circumnavigation of the world, to his perfect satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +England had already inaugurated that series of scientific expeditions +which were to prove so fruitful of results, and to raise her naval +reputation to so great a height. In these expeditions, the officers, +the sailors, and the scientific men, were constantly brought face to +face with unforeseen difficulties and dangers, which brought forth +their highest qualities as men. There was, however, some intermixture +of narrowness in the minds of those who sent them forth. For instance, +while Dr. Priestley was at Leeds, he was asked by Sir Joseph Banks to +join Captain Cook's second expedition to the Southern Seas, as an +astronomer. Priestley gave his assent, and made arrangements to set +out. But some weeks later, Banks informed him that his appointment had +been cancelled, as the Board of Longitude objected to his theology. +Priestley's otherwise gentle nature was roused. "What I am, and what +they are, in respect of religion," he wrote to Banks, in December, +1771, "might easily have been known before the thing was proposed to me +at all. Besides, I thought that this had been a business of +philosophy, and not of divinity. If, however, this be the case, I +shall hold the Board of Longitude in extreme contempt." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Cook was appointed to the command of the Resolution, and +Captain Wallis to the command of the Adventure, in November, 1771. +They proceeded to equip the ships; and amongst the other instruments +taken on board Captain Cook's ship, were two timekeepers, one made by +Mr. Larcum Kendal, on Mr. Harrison's principles, and the other by Mr. +John Arnold, on his own. The expedition left Deptford in April, 1772; +and shortly afterwards sailed for the South Seas. "Mr. Kendal's watch" +is the subject of frequent notices in Captain Cook's account. At the +Cape of Good Hope, it is said to have "answered beyond all +expectation." Further south, in the neighbourhood of Cape Circumcision, +he says, "the use of the telescope is found difficult at first, but a +little practice will make it familiar. By the assistance of the watch +we shall be able to discover the greatest error this method of +observing the longitude at sea is liable to." It was found that +Harrison's watch was more correct than Arnold's, and when near Cape +Palliser in New Zealand, Cook says, "this day at noon, when we attended +the winding-up of the watches, the fusee of Mr. Arnold's would not turn +round, so that after several unsuccessful trials we were obliged to let +it go down." From this time, complete reliance was placed upon +Harrison's chronometer. Some time later, Cook says, "I must here take +notice that our longitude can never be erroneous while we have so good +a guide as Mr. Kendal's watch." It may be observed, that at the +beginning of the voyage, observations were made by the lunar tables; +but these, being found unreliable, were eventually discontinued. +</P> + +<P> +To return to Harrison. He continued to be worried by official +opposition. His claims were still unsatisfied. His watch at home +underwent many more trials. Dr. Maskelyne, the Royal Astronomer, was +charged with being unfavourable to the success of chronometers, being +deeply interested in finding the longitude by lunar tables; although +this method is now almost entirely superseded by the chronometer. +Harrison accordingly could not get the certificate of what was due to +him under the Act of Parliament. Years passed before he could obtain +the remaining amount of his reward. It was not until the year 1773, or +forty-five years after the commencement of his experiments, that he +succeeded in obtaining it. The following is an entry in the list of +supplies granted by Parliament in that year: "June 14. To John +Harrison, as a further reward and encouragement over and above the sums +already received by him, for his invention of a timekeeper for +ascertaining the longitude at sea, and his discovery of the principles +upon which the same was constructed, 8570 pounds 0s. 0d." +</P> + +<P> +John Harrison did not long survive the settlement of his claims; for he +died on the 24th of March, 1776, at the age of eighty-three. He was +buried at the south-west corner of Hampstead parish churchyard, where a +tombstone was erected to his memory, and an inscription placed upon it +commemorating his services. His wife survived him only a year; she +died at seventy-two, and was buried in the same tomb. His son, William +Harrison, F.R.S., a deputy-lientenant of the counties of Monmouth and +Middlesex, died in 1815, at the ripe age of eighty-eight, and was also +interred there. The tomb having stood for more than a century, became +somewhat dilapidated; when the Clock-makers' Company of the City of +London took steps in 1879 to reconstruct it, and recut the +inscriptions. An appropriate ceremony took place at the final +uncovering of the tomb. +</P> + +<P> +But perhaps the most interesting works connected with John Harrison and +the great labour of his life, are the wooden clock at the South +Kensington Museum, and the four chronometers made by him for the +Government, which are still preserved at the Royal Observatory, +Greenwich. The three early ones are of great weight, and can scarcely +be moved without some bodily labour. But the fourth, the marine +chronometer or watch, is of small dimensions, and is easily handled. +It still possesses the power of going accurately; as does "Mr. Kendal's +watch," which was made exactly after it. These will always prove the +best memorials of this distinguished workman. +</P> + +<P> +Before concluding this brief notice of the life and labours of John +Harrison, it becomes me to thank most cordially Mr. Christie, +Astronomer-Royal, for his kindness in exhibiting the various +chronometers deposited at the Greenwich Observatory, and for his +permission to inspect the minutes of the Board of Longitude, where the +various interviews between the inventor and the commissioners, +extending over many years, are faithfully but too procrastinatingly +recorded. It may be finally said of John Harrison, that by his +invention of the chronometer—the ever-sleepless and ever-trusty friend +of the mariner—he conferred an incalculable benefit on science and +navigation, and established his claim to be regarded as one of the +greatest benefactors of mankind. +</P> + +<P> +POstscript.—In addition to the information contained in this chapter, +I have been recently informed by the Rev. Mr. Sankey, vicar of Wragby, +that the family is quite extinct in the parish, except the wife of a +plumber, who claims relationship with Harrison. The representative of +the Winn family was created Lord St. Oswald in 1885. Harrison is not +quite forgotten at Foulby. The house in which he was born was a low +thatched cottage, with two rooms, one used as a living room, and the +other as a sleeping room. The house was pulled down about forty years +ago; but the entrance door, being of strong, hard wood, is still +preserved. The vicar adds that young Harrison would lie out on the +grass all night in summer time, studying the details of his wooden +clock. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Footnotes to Chapter III. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] Originally published in Longmam's Magazine, but now rewritten and +enlarged. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[2] Popular Astronomy. By Simon Newcomb, LL.D., Professor U.S. Naval +Observatory. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[3] Biographia Britannica, vol. vi. part 2, p. 4375. This volume was +published in 1766, before the final reward had been granted to Harrison. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[4] This clock is in the possession of Abraham Riley, of Bromley, near +Leeds. He informs us that the clock is made of wood throughout, +excepting the escapement and the dial, which are made of brass. It +bears the mark of "John Harrison, 1713." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[5] Harrison's compensation pendulum was afterwards improved by Arnold, +Earnshaw, and other English makers. Dent's prismatic balance is now +considered the best. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[6] See Mr. Folkes's speech to the Royal Soc., 30th Nov., 1749. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[7] No trustworthy lunar tables existed at that time. It was not until +the year 1753 that Tobias Mayer, a German, published the first lunar +tables which could be relied upon. For this, the British Government +afterwards awarded to Mayer's widow the sum of 5000L. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[8] Sir Isaac Newton gave his design to Edmund Halley, then +Astronomer-Royal. Halley laid it on one side, and it was found among +his papers after his death in 1742, twenty-five years after the death +of Newton. A similar omission was made by Sir G. B. Airy, which led to +the discovery of Neptune being attributed to Leverrier instead of to +Adams. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +JOHN LOMBE: INTRODUCER OF THE SILK INDUSTRY INTO ENGLAND. +</H3> + +<P> +"By Commerce are acquired the two things which wise men accompt of all +others the most necessary to the well-being of a Commonwealth: That is +to say, a general Industry of Mind and Hardiness of Body, which never +fail to be accompanyed with Honour and Plenty. So that, questionless, +when Commerce does not flourish, as well as other Professions, and when +Particular Persons out of a habit of Laziness neglect at once the +noblest way of employing their time and the fairest occasion for +advancing their fortunes, that Kingdom, though otherwise never so +glorious, wants something of being compleatly happy."—A Treatise +touching the East India Trade (1695). +</P> + +<P> +Industry puts an entirely new face upon the productions of nature. By +labour man has subjugated the world, reduced it to his dominion, and +clothed the earth with a new garment. The first rude plough that man +thrust into the soil, the first rude axe of stone with which he felled +the pine, the first rude canoe scooped by him from its trunk to cross +the river and reach the greener fields beyond, were each the outcome of +a human faculty which brought within his reach some physical comfort he +had never enjoyed before. +</P> + +<P> +Material things became subject to the influence of labour. From the +clay of the ground, man manufactured the vessels which were to contain +his food. Out of the fleecy covering of sheep, he made clothes for +himself of many kinds; from the flax plant he drew its fibres, and made +linen and cambric; from the hemp plant he made ropes and fishing nets; +from the cotton pod he fabricated fustians, dimities, and calicoes. +From the rags of these, or from weed and the shavings of wood, he made +paper on which books and newspapers were printed. Lead was formed by +him into printer's type, for the communication of knowledge without end. +</P> + +<P> +But the most extraordinary changes of all were made in a heavy stone +containing metal, dug out of the ground. With this, when smelted by +wood or coal, and manipulated by experienced skill, iron was produced. +From this extraordinary metal, the soul of every manufacture, and the +mainspring perhaps of civilised society—arms, hammers, and axes were +made; then knives, scissors, and needles; then machinery to hold and +control the prodigious force of steam; and eventually railroads and +locomotives, ironclads propelled by the screw, and iron and steel +bridges miles in length. +</P> + +<P> +The silk manufacture, though originating in the secretion of a tiny +caterpillar, is perhaps equally extraordinary. Hundreds of thousands +of pounds weight of this slender thread, no thicker than the filaments +spun by a spider, give employment to millions of workers throughout the +world. Silk, and the many textures wrought from this beautiful +material, had long been known in the East; but the period cannot be +fixed when man first divested the chrysalis of its dwelling, and +discovered that the little yellow ball which adhered to the leaf of the +mulberry tree, could be evolved into a slender filament, from which +tissues of endless variety and beauty could be made. The Chinese were +doubtless among the first who used the thread spun by the silkworm for +the purposes of clothing. The manufacture went westward from China to +India and Persia, and from thence to Europe. Alexander the Great +brought home with him a store of rich silks from Persia Aristotle and +Pliny give descriptions of the industrious little worm and its +productions. Virgil is the first of the Roman writers who alludes to +the production of silk in China; and the terms he employs show how +little was then known about the article. It was introduced at Rome +about the time of Julius Caesar, who displayed a profusion of silks in +some of his magnificent theatrical spectacles. Silk was so valuable +that it was then sold for an equal weight of gold. Indeed, a law was +passed that no man should disgrace himself by wearing a silken garment. +The Emperor Heliogabalus despised the law, and wore a dress composed +wholly of silk. The example thus set was followed by wealthy citizens. +A demand for silk from the East soon became general. +</P> + +<P> +It was not until about the middle of the sixth century that two Persian +monks, who had long resided in China, and made themselves acquainted +with the mode of rearing the silkworm, succeeded in carrying the eggs +of the insect to Constantinople. Under their direction they were +hatched and fed. A sufficient number of butterflies were saved to +propagate the race, and mulberry trees were planted to afford +nourishment to the rising generations of caterpillars. Thus the +industry was propagated. It spread into the Italian peninsula; and +eventually manufactures of silk velvet, damask, and satin became +established in Venice, Milan, Florence, Lucca, and other places. +</P> + +<P> +Indeed, for several centuries the manufacture of silk in Europe was for +the most part confined to Italy. The rearing of silkworms was of great +importance in Modena, and yielded a considerable revenue to the State. +The silk produced there was esteemed the best in Lombardy. Until the +beginning of the sixteenth century, Bologna was the only city which +possessed proper "throwing" mills, or the machinery requisite for +twisting and preparing silken fibres for the weaver. Thousands of +people were employed at Florence and Genoa about the same time in the +silk manufacture. And at Venice it was held in such high esteem, that +the business of a silk factory was considered a noble employment.[1] +</P> + +<P> +It was long before the use of silk became general in England. "Silk," +said an old writer, "does not immediately come hither from the Worm +that spins and makes it, but passes many a Climate, travels many a +Desert, employs many a Hand, loads many a Camel, and freights many a +Ship before it arrives here; and when at last it comes, it is in return +for other manufactures, or in exchange for our money."[2] It is said +that the first pair of silk stockings was brought into England from +Spain, and presented to Henry VIII. He had before worn hose of cloth. +In the third year of Queen Elizabeth's reign, her tiring woman, Mrs. +Montagu, presented her with a pair of black silk stockings as a New +Year's gift; whereupon her Majesty asked if she could have any more, in +which case she would wear no more cloth stockings. When James VI. of +Scotland received the ambassadors sent to congratulate him upon his +accession to the throne of Great Britain, he asked one of his lords to +lend him his pair of silken hose, that he "might not appear a scrub +before strangers." From these circumstances it will be observed how +rare the wearing of silk was in England. +</P> + +<P> +Shortly after becoming king, James I. endeavoured to establish the silk +manufacture in England, as had already been successfully done in +France. He gave every encouragement to the breeding of silkworms. He +sent circular letters to all the counties of England, strongly +recommending the inhabitants to plant mulberry trees. The trees were +planted in many places, but the leaves did not ripen in sufficient time +for the sustenance of the silkworms. +</P> + +<P> +The same attempt was made at Inneshannon, near Bandon, in Ireland, by +the Hugnenot refugees, but proved abortive. The climate proved too +cold or damp for the rearing of silkworms with advantage. All that +remains is "The Mulberry Field," which still retains its name. +Nevertheless the Huguenots successfully established the silk +manufacture at London and Dublin, obtaining the spun silk from abroad. +</P> + +<P> +Down to the beginning of last century, the Italians were the principal +producers of organzine or thrown silk; and for a long time they +succeeded in keeping their art a secret. Although the silk +manufacture, as we have seen, was introduced into this country by the +Huguenot artizans, the price of thrown silk was so great that it +interfered very considerably with its progress. Organzine was +principally made within the dominions of Savoy, by means of a large and +curious engine, the like of which did not exist elsewhere. The +Italians, by the most severe laws, long preserved the mystery of the +invention. The punishment prescribed by one of their laws to be +inflicted upon anyone who discovered the secret, or attempted to carry +it out of the Sardinian dominions, was death, with the forfeiture of +all the goods the delinquent possessed; and the culprit was "to be +afterwards painted on the outside of the prison walls, hanging to the +gallows by one foot, with an inscription denoting the name and crime of +the person, there to be continued for a perpetual mark of infamy."[3] +</P> + +<P> +Nevertheless, a bold and ingenious man was found ready to brave all +this danger in the endeavour to discover the secret. It may be +remembered with what courage and determination the founder of the Foley +family introduced the manufacture of nails into England. He went into +the Danemora mine district, near Upsala in Sweden, fiddling his way +among the miners; and after making two voyages, he at last wrested from +them the secret of making nails, and introduced the new industry into +the Staffordshire district.[4] The courage of John Lombe, who +introduced the thrown-silk industry into England, was equally notable. +He was a native of Norwich. Playfair, in his 'Family Antiquity' (vii. +312), says his name "may have been taken from the French Lolme, or de +Lolme," as there were many persons of French and Flemish origin settled +at Norwich towards the close of the sixteenth century; but there is no +further information as to his special origin. +</P> + +<P> +John Lombe's father, Henry Lombe, was a worsted weaver, and was twice +married. By his first wife he had two sons, Thomas and Henry; and by +his second, he had also two sons, Benjamin and John. At his death in +1695, he left his two brothers his "supervisors," or trustees, and +directed them to educate his children in due time to some useful trade. +Thomas, the eldest son, went to London. He was apprenticed to a trade, +and succeeded in business, as we find him Sheriff of London and +Middlesex in 1727, when in his forty-second year. He was also knighted +in the same year, most probably on the accession of George II. to the +throne. +</P> + +<P> +John, the youngest son of the family, and half-brother of Thomas, was +put an apprentice to a trade. In 1702, we find him at Derby, working +as a mechanic with one Mr. Crotchet. This unfortunate gentleman +started a small silk-mill at Derby, with the object of participating in +the profits derived from the manufacture. +</P> + +<P> +"The wear of silks," says Hutton, in his 'History of Derby,' "was the +taste of the ladies, and the British merchant was obliged to apply to +the Italian with ready money for the article at an exorbitant price." +Crotchet did not succeed in his undertaking. "Three engines were found +necessary for the process: he had but one. An untoward trade is a +dreadful sink for money; and an imprudent tradesman is still more +dreadful. We often see instances where a fortune would last a man much +longer if he lived upon his capital, than if he sent it into trade. +Crotchet soon became insolvent." +</P> + +<P> +John Lombe, who had been a mechanic in Crotchet's silk mill, lost his +situation accordingly. But he seems to have been possessed by an +intense desire to ascertain the Italian method of silk-throwing. He +could not learn it in England. There was no other method but going to +Italy, getting into a silk mill, and learning the secret of the Italian +art. He was a good mechanic and a clever draughtsman, besides being +intelligent and fearless. +</P> + +<P> +But he had not the necessary money wherewith to proceed to Italy. +</P> + +<P> +His half-brother Thomas, however, was doing well in London, and was +willing to help him with the requisite means. Accordingly, John set +out for Italy, not long after the failure of Crotchet. +</P> + +<P> +John Lombe succeeded in getting employment in a silk mill in Piedmont, +where the art of silk-throwing was kept a secret. He was employed as a +mechanic, and had thus an opportunity, in course of time, of becoming +familiar with the operation of the engine. Hutton says that he bribed +the workmen; but this would have been a dangerous step, and would +probably have led to his expulsion, if not to his execution. Hutton +had a great detestation of the first silk factory at Derby, where he +was employed when a boy; and everything that he says about it must be +taken cum grano salis. When the subject of renewing the patent was +before Parliament in 1731, Mr. Perry, who supported the petition of Sir +Thomas Lombe, said that "the art had been kept so secret in Piedmont, +that no other nation could ever yet come at the invention, and that Sir +Thomas and his brother resolved to make an attempt for the bringing of +this invention into their own country. They knew that there would be +great difficulty and danger in the undertaking, because the king of +Sardinia had made it death for any man to discover this invention, or +attempt to carry it out of his dominions. The petitioner's brother, +however, resolved to venture his person for the benefit and advantage +of his native country, and Sir Thomas was resolved to venture his +money, and to furnish his brother with whatever sums should be +necessary for executing so bold and so generous a design. His brother +went accordingly over to Italy; and after a long stay and a great +expense in that country, he found means to see this engine so often, +and to pry into the nature of it so narrowly, that he made himself +master of the whole invention and of all the different parts and +motions belonging to it." +</P> + +<P> +John Lombe was absent from England for several years. While occupied +with his investigations and making his drawings, it is said that it +began to be rumoured that the Englishman was prying into the secret of +the silk mill, and that he had to fly for his life. However this may +be, he got on board an English ship, and returned to England in safety. +He brought two Italian workmen with him, accustomed to the secrets of +the silk trade. He arrived in London in 1716, when, after conferring +with his brother, a specification was prepared and a patent for the +organzining of raw silk was taken out in 1718. The patent was granted +for fourteen years. +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime, John Lombe arranged with the Corporation of the town +of Derby for taking a lease of the island or swamp on the river +Derwent, at a ground rental of 8L. a year. The island, which was well +situated for water-power, was 500 feet long and 52 feet wide. +Arrangements were at once made for erecting a silk mill thereon, the +first large factory in England. It was constructed entirely at the +expense of his brother Thomas. While the building was in progress, +John Lombe hired various rooms in Derby, and particularly the Town +Hall, where he erected temporary engines turned by hand, and gave +employment to a large number of poor people. +</P> + +<P> +At length, after about three years' labour, the great silk mill was +completed. It was founded upon huge piles of oak, from 16 to 20 feet +long, driven into the swamp close to each other by an engine made for +the purpose. The building was five stories high, contained eight large +apartments, and had no fewer than 468 windows. The Lombes must have +had great confidence in their speculation, as the building and the +great engine for making the organzine silk, together with the other +fittings, cost them about 30,000L. +</P> + +<P> +One effect of the working of the mill was greatly to reduce the price +of the thrown-silk, and to bring it below the cost of the Italian +production. The King of Sardinia, having heard of the success of the +Lombe's undertaking, prohibited the exportation of Piedmontese raw +silk, which interrupted the course of their prosperity, until means +were taken to find a renewed supply elsewhere. +</P> + +<P> +And now comes the tragic part of the story, for which Mr. Hutton, the +author of the 'History of Derby,' is responsible. As he worked in the +silk mill when a boy, from 1730 to 1737, he doubtless heard it from the +mill-hands, and there may be some truth in it, though mixed with a +little romance. It is this:— +</P> + +<P> +Hutton says of John Lombe, that he "had not pursued this lucrative +commerce more than three or four years when the Italians, who felt the +effects from their want of trade, determined his destruction, and hoped +that that of his works would follow. An artful woman came over in the +character of a friend, associated with the parties, and assisted in the +business. She attempted to gain both the Italian workmen, and +succeeded with one. By these two slow poison was supposed, and perhaps +justly, to have been administered to John Lombe, who lingered two or +three years in agony, and departed. The Italian ran away to his own +country; and Madam was interrogated, but nothing transpired, except +what strengthened suspicion." A strange story, if true. +</P> + +<P> +Of the funeral, Hutton says:—"John Lombe's was the most superb ever +known in Derby. A man of peaceable deportment, who had brought a +beneficial manufactory into the place, employed the poor, and at +advanced wages, could not fail meeting with respect, and his melancholy +end with pity. Exclusive of the gentlemen who attended, all the people +concerned in the works were invited. The procession marched in pairs, +and extended the length of Full Street, the market-place, and +Iron-gate; so that when the corpse entered All Saints, at St. Mary's +Gate, the last couple left the house of the deceased, at the corner of +Silk-mill Lane." +</P> + +<P> +Thus John Lombe died and was buried at the early age of twenty-nine; +and Thomas, the capitalist, continued the owner of the Derby silk mill. +Hutton erroneously states that William succeeded, and that he shot +himself. The Lombes had no brother of the name of William, and this +part of Hutton's story is a romance. +</P> + +<P> +The affairs of the Derby silk mill went on prosperously. Enough thrown +silk was manufactured to supply the trade, and the weaving of silk +became a thriving business. Indeed, English silk began to have a +European reputation. In olden times it was said that "the stranger +buys of the Englishman the case of the fox for a groat, and sells him +the tail again for a shilling." But now the matter was reversed, and +the saying was, "The Englishman buys silk of the stranger for twenty +marks, and sells him the same again for one hundred pounds." +</P> + +<P> +But the patent was about to expire. It had been granted for only +fourteen years; and a long time had elapsed before the engine could be +put in operation, and the organzine manufactured. It was the only +engine in the kingdom. Joshua Gee, writing in 1731, says: "As we have +but one Water Engine in the kingdom for throwing silk, if that should +be destroyed by fire or any other accident, it would make the +continuance of throwing fine silk very precarious; and it is very much +to be doubted whether all the men now living in the kingdom could make +another." Gee accordingly recommended that three or four more should +be erected at the public expense, "according to the model of that at +Derby."[5] +</P> + +<P> +The patent expired in 1732. The year before, Sir Thomas Lombe, who had +been by this time knighted, applied to Parliament for a prolongation of +the patent. The reasons for his appeal were principally these: that +before he could provide for the full supply of other silk proper for +his purpose (the Italians having prohibited the exportation of raw +silk), and before he could alter his engine, train up a sufficient +number of workpeople, and bring the manufacture to perfection, almost +all the fourteen years of his patent right would have expired. +"Therefore," the petition to Parliament concluded, "as he has not +hitherto received the intended benefit of the aforesaid patent, and in +consideration of the extraordinary nature of this undertaking, the very +great expense, hazard, and difficulty he has undergone, as well as the +advantage he has thereby procured to the nation at his own expense, the +said Sir Thomas Lombe humbly hopes that Parliament will grant him a +further term for the sole making and using his engines, or such other +recompense as in their wisdom shall seem meet."[6] +</P> + +<P> +The petition was referred to a Committee. After consideration, they +recommended the House of Commons to grant a further term of years to +Sir Thomas Lombe. The advisers of the King, however, thought it better +that the patent should not be renewed, but that the trade in silk +should be thrown free to all. Accordingly the Chancellor of the +Exchequer acquainted the House (14th March, 1731) that "His Majesty +having been informed of the case of Sir Thomas Lombe, with respect to +his engine for making organzine silk, had commanded him to acquaint +this House, that His Majesty recommended to their consideration the +making such provision for a recompense to Sir Thomas Lombe as they +shall think proper." +</P> + +<P> +The result was, that the sum of 14,000L. was voted and paid to Sir +Thomas Lombe as "a reward for his eminent services done to the nation, +in discovering with the greatest hazard and difficulty the capital +Italian engines, and introducing and bringing the same to full +perfection in this kingdom, at his own great expense."[7] The trade +was accordingly thrown open. Silk mills were erected at Stockport and +elsewhere; Hutton says that divers additional mills were erected in +Derby; and a large and thriving trade was established. In 1850, the +number employed in the silk manufacture exceeded a million persons. +The old mill has recently become disused. Although supported by strong +wooden supports, it showed signs of falling; and it was replaced by a +larger mill, more suitable to modern requirements. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Footnotes for Chapter IV. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] "This was equally the case with two other trades;—those of +glass-maker and druggist, which brought no contamination upon nobility +in Venice. In a country where wealth was concentrated in the hands of +the powerful, it was no doubt highly judicious thus to encourage its +employment for objects of public advantage. A feeling, more or less +powerful, has always existed in the minds of the high-born, against the +employment of their time and wealth to purposes of commerce or +manufactures. All trades, save only that of war, seem to have been +held by them as in some sort degrading, and but little comporting with +the dignity of aristocratic blood." Cabinet Cyclopedia—Silk +Manufacture, p. 20. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[2] A Brief State of the Inland or Home Trade. (Pamphlet.) 1730. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[3] A Brief State of the Case relating to the Machine erected at Derby +for making Italian Organzine Silk, which was discovered and brought +into England with the utmost difficulty and hazard, and at the Sole +Expense of Sir Thomas Lombe. House of Commons Paper, 28th January, +1731. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[4] Self-Help, p. 205. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[5] The Trade and Navigation of Great Britain considered, p. 94. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[6] The petition sets forth the merits of the machine at Derby for +making Italian organzine silk—"a manufacture made out of fine raw +silk, by reducing it to a hard twisted fine and even thread. This silk +makes the warp, and is absolutely necessary to mix with and cover the +Turkey and other coarser silks thrown here, which are used for +Shute,—so that, without a constant supply of this fine Italian +organzine silk, very little of the said Turkey or other silks could be +used, nor could the silk weaving trade be carried on in England. This +Italian organzine (or thrown) silk has in all times past been bought +with our money, ready made (or worked) in Italy, for want of the art of +making it here. Whereas now, by making it ourselves out of fine +Italian raw silk, the nation saves near one-third part; and by what we +make out of fine China raw silk, above one-half of the price we pay for +it ready worked in Italy. The machine at Derby contains 97,746 wheels, +movements, and individual parts (which work day and night), all which +receive their motion from one large water-wheel, are governed by one +regulator, and it employs about 300 persons to attend and supply it +with work." In Bees Cyclopaedia (art. 'Silk Manufacture') there is a +full description of the Piedmont throwing machine introduced to England +by John Lombe, with a good plate of it. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[7] Sir Thomas Lombe died in 1738. He had two daughters. The first, +Hannah, was married to Sir Robert Clifton, of Clifton, co. +Notts; the second, Mary Turner, was married to James, 7th Earl of +Lauderdale. In his will, he "recommends his wife, at the conclusion of +the Darby concern," to distribute among his "principal servants or +managers five or six hundred pounds." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WILLIAM MURDOCK: HIS LIFE AND INVENTIONS. +</H3> + +<P> +"Justice exacts, that those by whom we are most benefited Should be +most admired."—Dr. Johnson. +</P> + +<P> +"The beginning of civilization is the discovery of some useful arts, by +which men acquire property, comforts, or luxuries. The necessity or +desire of preserving them leads to laws and social institutions... In +reality, the origin as well as the progress and improvement of civil +society is founded on mechanical and chemical inventions."—Sir Humphry +Davy. +</P> + +<P> +At the middle of last century, Scotland was a very poor country. It +consisted mostly of mountain and moorland; and the little arable land +it contained was badly cultivated. Agriculture was almost a lost art. +"Except in a few instances," says a writer in the 'Farmers' Magazine' +of 1803, "Scotland was little better than a barren waste." Cattle +could with difficulty be kept alive; and the people in some parts of +the country were often on the brink of starvation. The people were +hopeless, miserable, and without spirit, like the Irish in their very +worst times. After the wreck of the Darien expedition, there seemed to +be neither skill, enterprise, nor money left in the country. What +resources it contained were altogether undeveloped. There was little +communication between one place and another, and such roads as existed +were for the greater part of the year simply impassable. +</P> + +<P> +There were various opinions as to the causes of this frightful state of +things. Some thought it was the Union between England and Scotland; +and Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, "The Patriot," as he was called, urged +its Repeal. In one of his publications, he endeavoured to show that +about one-sixth of the population of Scotland was in a state of +beggary—two hundred thousand vagabonds begging from door to door, or +robbing and plundering people as poor as themselves.[1] Fletcher was +accordingly as great a repealer as Daniel O'Connell in after times. +But he could not get the people to combine. There were others who held +a different opinion. They thought that something might be done by the +people themselves to extricate the country from its miserable condition. +</P> + +<P> +It still possessed some important elements of prosperity. The +inhabitants of Scotland, though poor, were strong and able to work. +The land, though cold and sterile, was capable of cultivation. +</P> + +<P> +Accordingly, about the middle of last century, some important steps +were taken to improve the general condition of things. A few +public-spirited landowners led the way, and formed themselves into a +society for carrying out improvements in agriculture. They granted long +leases of farms as a stimulus to the most skilled and industrious, and +found it to their interest to give the farmer a more permanent interest +in his improvements than he had before enjoyed. Thus stimulated and +encouraged, farming made rapid progress, especially in the Lothians; +and the example spread into other districts. Banks were established +for the storage of capital. Roads were improved, and communications +increased between one part of the country and another. Hence trade and +commerce arose, by reason of the facilities afforded for the +interchange of traffic. The people, being fairly educated by the +parish schools, were able to take advantage of these improvements. +Sloth and idleness gradually disappeared, before the energy, activity, +and industry which were called into life by the improved communications. +</P> + +<P> +At the same time, active and powerful minds were occupied in extending +the domain of knowledge. Black and Robison, of Glasgow, were the +precursors of James Watt, whose invention of the condensing +steam-engine was yet to produce a revolution in industrial operations, +the like of which had never before been known. Watt had hit upon his +great idea while experimenting with an old Newcomen model which +belonged to the University of Glasgow. He was invited by Mr. Roebuck +of Kinneil to make a working steam-engine for the purpose of pumping +water from the coal-pits at Boroughstoness; but his progress was +stopped by want of capital, as well as by want of experience. It was +not until the brave and generous Matthew Boulton of Birmingham took up +the machine, and backed Watt with his capital and his spirit, that +Watt's enterprise had the remotest chance of success. Even after about +twelve years' effort, the condensing steam-engine was only beginning, +though half-heartedly, to be taken up and employed by colliery +proprietors and cotton manufacturers. In developing its powers, and +extending its uses, the great merits of William Murdock can never be +forgotten. Watt stands first in its history, as the inventor; Boulton +second, as its promoter and supporter; and Murdock third, as its +developer and improver. +</P> + +<P> +William Murdock was born on the 21st of August, 1754, at Bellow Mill, +in the parish of Auchinleck, Ayrshire. His father, John, was a miller +and millwright, as well as a farmer. His mother's maiden name was +Bruce, and she used to boast of being descended from Robert Bruce, the +deliverer of Scotland. The Murdocks, or Murdochs—for the name was +spelt in either way—were numerous in the neighbourhood, and they were +nearly all related to each other. They are supposed to have originally +come into the district from Flanders, between which country and +Scotland a considerable intercourse existed in the middle ages. Some +of the Murdocks took a leading part in the construction of the abbeys +and cathedrals of the North;[2] others were known as mechanics; but the +greater number were farmers. +</P> + +<P> +One of the best known members of the family was John Murdock, the poet +Burns' first teacher. Burns went to his school at Alloway Mill, when +he was six years old. There he learnt to read and write. When Murdock +afterwards set up a school at Ayr, Burns, who was then fifteen, went to +board with him. In a letter to a correspondent, Murdock said: "In +1773, Robert Burns came to board and lodge with me, for the purpose of +revising his English grammar, that he might be better qualified to +instruct his brothers and sisters at home. He was now with me day and +night, in school, at all meals, and in all my walks." The pupil even +shared the teacher's bed at night. Murdock lent the boy books, and +helped the cultivation of his mind in many ways. Burns soon revised +his English grammar, and learnt French, as well as a little Latin. +Some time after, Murdock removed to London, and had the honour of +teaching Talleyrand English during his residence as an emigrant in this +country. He continued to have the greatest respect for his former +pupil, whose poetry commemorated the beauties of his native district. +</P> + +<P> +It may be mentioned that Bellow Mill is situated on the Bellow Water, +near where it joins the river Lugar. One of Burns' finest songs +begins:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Behind yon hills where Lugar flows."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +That was the scene of William Murdock's boyhood. When a boy, he herded +his father's cows along the banks of the Bellow; and as there were then +no hedges, it was necessary to have some one to watch the cattle while +grazing. The spot is still pointed out where the boy, in the +intervals of his herding, hewed a square compartment out of the rock by +the water side, and there burnt the splint coal found on the top of the +Black Band ironstone. That was one of the undeveloped industries of +Scotland; for the Scotch iron trade did not arrive at any considerable +importance until about a century later.[3] The little cavern in which +Murdock burnt the splint coal was provided with a fireplace and vent, +all complete. It is possible that he may have there derived, from his +experiments, the first idea of Gas as an illuminant. +</P> + +<P> +Murdock is also said to have made a wooden horse, worked by mechanical +power, which was the wonder of the district. On this mechanical horse +he rode to the village of Cumnock, about two miles distant. His +father's name is, however, associated with his own in the production of +this machine. Old John Murdock had a reputation for intelligence and +skill of no ordinary kind. When at Carron ironworks, in 1760, he had a +pinton cast after a pattern which he had prepared. This is said to +have been the first piece of iron-toothed gearing ever used in mill +work. When I last saw it, the pinton was placed on the lawn in front +of William Murdock's villa at Handsworth. +</P> + +<P> +The young man helped his father in many ways. He worked in the mill, +worked on the farm, and assisted in the preparation of mill machinery. +In this way he obtained a considerable amount of general technical +knowledge. He even designed and constructed bridges. He was employed +to build a bridge over the river Nith, near Dumfries, and it stands +there to this day, a solid and handsome structure. But he had an +ambition to be something more than a country mason. He had heard a +great deal about the inventions of James Watt; and he determined to try +whether he could not get "a job" at the famous manufactory at Soho. He +accordingly left his native place in the year 1777, in the twenty-third +year of his age; and migrated southward. He left plenty of Murdocks +behind him. There was a famous staff in the family, originally owned +by William Murdock's grandfather, which bore the following inscription: +"This staff I leave in pedigree to the oldest Murdock after me, in the +parish of Auchenleck, 1745." This staff was lately held by Jean +Murdock, daughter of the late William Murdock, joiner, cousin of the +subject of this biography. +</P> + +<P> +When William arrived at Soho in 1777 he called at the works to ask for +employment. Watt was then in Cornwall, looking after his pumping +engines; but he saw Boulton, who was usually accessible to callers of +every rank. In answer to Murdock's enquiry whether he could have a +job, Boulton replied that work was very slack with them, and that every +place was filled up. During the brief conversation that took place, +the blate young Scotchman, like most country lads in the presence of +strangers, had some difficulty in knowing what to do with his hands, +and unconsciously kept twirling his hat with them. Boulton's attention +was attracted to the twirling hat, which seemed to be of a peculiar +make. It was not a felt hat, nor a cloth hat, nor a glazed hat: but it +seemed to be painted, and composed of some unusual material. "That +seems to be a curious sort of hat," said Boulton, looking at it more +closely; "what is it made of?" "Timmer, sir," said Murdock, modestly. +"Timmer? Do you mean to say that it is made of wood?" "'Deed it is, +sir." "And pray how was it made?" "I made it mysel, sir, in a bit +laithey of my own contrivin'." "Indeed!" +</P> + +<P> +Boulton looked at the young man again. He had risen a hundred degrees +in his estimation. William was a good-looking fellow—tall, strong, +and handsome—with an open intelligent countenance. Besides, he had +been able to turn a hat for himself with a lathe of his own +construction. This, of itself, was a sufficient proof that he was a +mechanic of no mean skill. "Well!" said Boulton, at last, "I will +enquire at the works, and see if there is anything we can set you to. +Call again, my man." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, sir," said Murdock, giving a final twirl to his hat. +</P> + +<P> +Such was the beginning of William Murdock's connection with the firm of +Boulton and Watt. When he called again he was put upon a trial job, +and then, as he was found satisfactory, he was engaged for two years at +15s. a week when at home, 17s. when in the country, and 18s. when in +London. Boulton's engagement of Murdock was amply justified by the +result. Beginning as an ordinary mechanic, he applied himself +diligently and conscientiously to his work, and gradually became +trusted. More responsible duties were confided to him, and he strove +to perform them to the best of his power. His industry, skilfulness, +and steady sobriety, soon marked him for promotion, and he rose from +grade to grade until he became Boulton and Watt's most trusted +co-worker and adviser in all their mechanical undertakings of +importance. +</P> + +<P> +Watt himself had little confidence in Scotchmen as mechanics. He told +Sir Waiter Scott that though many of them sought employment at his +works, he could never get any of them to become first-rate workmen. +They might be valuable as clerks and book-keepers, but they had an +insuperable aversion to toiling long at any point of mechanism, so as +to earn the highest wages paid to the workmen.[4] The reason no doubt +was, that the working-people of Scotland were then only in course of +education as practical mechanics; and now that they have had a +century's discipline of work and technical training, the result is +altogether different, as the engine-shops and shipbuilding-yards of the +Clyde abundantly prove. Mechanical power and technical ability are the +result of training, like many other things. +</P> + +<P> +When Boulton engaged Murdock, as we have said, Watt was absent in +Cornwall, looking after the pumping-engines which had been erected at +several of the mines throughout that county. The partnership had only +been in existence for three years, and Watt was still struggling with +the difficulties which he had to surmount in getting the steam engine +into practical use. His health was bad, and he was oppressed with +frightful headaches. He was not the man to fight the selfishness of the +Cornish adventurers. "A little more of this hurrying and vexation," he +said, "will knock me up altogether." Boulton went to his help +occasionally, and gave him hope and courage. And at length William +Murdock, after he had acquired sufficient knowledge of the business, +was able to undertake the principal management of the engines in +Cornwall. +</P> + +<P> +We find that in 1779, when he was only twenty-five years old, he was +placed in this important position. When he went into Cornwall, he gave +himself no rest until he had conquered the defects of the engines, and +put them into thorough working order. +</P> + +<P> +He devoted himself to his duties with a zeal and ability that +completely won Watt's heart. When he had an important job in hand, he +could scarcely sleep. One night at his lodgings at Redruth, the people +were disturbed by a strange noise in his room. Several heavy blows +were heard upon the floor. They started from their beds, rushed to +Murdock's room, and found him standing in his shirt, heaving at the +bedpost in his sleep, shouting "Now she goes, lads! now she goes!" +</P> + +<P> +Murdock became a most popular man with the mine owners. He also became +friendly with the Cornish workmen and engineers. Indeed, he fought his +way to their affections. One day, some half-dozen of the mining +captains came into his engine-room at Chacewater, and began to bully +him. This he could not stand. He stript, selected the biggest, and +put himself into a fighting attitude. They set to, and in a few minutes +Murdock's powerful bones and muscles enabled him to achieve the +victory. The other men, who had looked on fairly, without interfering, +seeing the temper and vigour of the man they had bullied, made +overtures of reconciliation. William was quite willing to be friendly. +Accordingly they shook hands all round, and parted the best of friends. +It is also said that Murdock afterwards fought a duel with Captain +Trevethick, because of a quarrel between Watt and the mining engineer, +in which Murdock conceived his master to have been unfairly and harshly +treated.[5] +</P> + +<P> +The uses of Watt's steam-engine began to be recognised as available for +manufacturing purposes. It was then found necessary to invent some +method by which continuous rotary motion should be secured, so as to +turn round the moving machinery of mills. With this object Watt had +invented his original wheel-engine. But no steps were taken to +introduce it into practical use. At length he prepared a model, in +which he made use of a crank connected with the working beam of the +engine, so as to produce the necessary rotary motion. +</P> + +<P> +There was no originality in this application. The crank was one of the +most common of mechanical appliances. It was in daily use in every +spinning wheel, and in every turner's and knife-grinder's foot-lathe. +Watt did not take out a patent for the crank, not believing it to be +patentable. But another person did so, thereby anticipating Watt in +the application of the crank for producing rotary motion. He had +therefore to employ some other method, and in the new contrivance he +had the valuable help of William Murdock. Watt devised five different +methods of securing rotary motion without using the crank, but +eventually he adopted the "Sun-and-planet motion," the invention of +Murdock. This had the singular property of going twice round for every +stroke of the engine, and might be made to go round much oftener +without additional machinery. The invention was patented in February, +1782, five Years after Murdock had entered the service of Boulton and +Watt. +</P> + +<P> +Murdock continued for many years busily occupied in superintending the +Cornish steam-engines. We find him described by his employers as +"flying from mine to mine," putting the engines to rights. If anything +went wrong, he was immediately sent for. He was active, quick-sighted, +shrewd, sober, and thoroughly trustworthy. Down to the year 1780, his +wages were only a pound a week; but Boulton made him a present of ten +guineas, to which the owners of the United Mines added another ten, in +acknowledgment of the admirable manner in which he bad erected their +new engine, the chairman of the company declaring that he was "the most +obliging and industrious workman he had ever known." That he secured +the admiration of the Cornish engineers may be obvious from the fact of +Mr. Boaze having invited him to join in an engineering partnership; but +Murdock remained loyal to the Birmingham firm, and in due time he had +his reward. +</P> + +<P> +He continued to be the "right hand man" of the concern in Cornwall. +Boulton wrote to Watt, towards the end of 1782: "Murdock hath been +indefatigable ever since he began. He has scarcely been in bed or +taken necessary food. After slaving night and day on Thursday and +Friday, a letter came from Wheal Virgin that he must go instantly to +set their engine to work, or they would let out the fire. He went and +set the engine to work; it worked well for the five or six hours he +remained. He left it, and returned to the Consolidated Mines about +eleven at night, and was employed about the engines till four this +morning, and then went to bed. I found him at ten this morning in +Poldice Cistern, seeking for pins and castors that had jumped out, when +I insisted on his going home to bed." +</P> + +<P> +On one occasion, when an engine superintended by Murdock stopped +through some accident, the water rose in the mine, and the workmen were +"drowned out." Upon this occurring, the miners went "roaring at him" +for throwing them out of work, and threatened to tear him to pieces. +Nothing daunted, he went through the midst of the men, repaired the +invalided engine, and started it afresh. +</P> + +<P> +When he came out of the engine-house, the miners cheered him +vociferously and insisted upon carrying him home upon their shoulders +in triumph! +</P> + +<P> +Steam was now asserting its power everywhere. It was pumping water +from the mines in Cornwall and driving the mills of the manufacturers +in Lancashire. Speculative mechanics began to consider whether it +might not be employed as a means of land locomotion. The comprehensive +mind of Sir Isaac Newton had long before, in his 'Explanation of the +Newtonian Philosophy,' thrown out the idea of employing steam for this +purpose; but no practical experiment was made. Benjamin Franklin, +while agent in London for the United Provinces of America, had a +correspondence with Matthew Boulton, of Birmingham, and Dr. Darwin, of +Lichfield, on the same subject. Boulton sent a model of a fire-engine +to London for Franklin's inspection; but Franklin was too much occupied +at the time by grave political questions to pursue the subject further. +Erasmus Darwin's speculative mind was inflamed by the idea of a "fiery +chariot," and he urged his friend Boulton to prosecute the contrivance +of the necessary steam machinery.[6] +</P> + +<P> +Other minds were at work. Watt, when only twenty-three years old, at +the instigation of his friend Robison, made a model locomotive, +provided with two cylinders of tin plate; but the project was laid +aside, and was never again taken up by the inventor. Yet, in his +patent of 1784, Watt included an arrangement by means of which +steam-power might be employed for the purposes of locomotion. But no +further model of the contrivance was made. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, Cugnot, of Paris, had already made a road engine worked by +steam power. It was first tried at the Arsenal in 1769; and, being set +in motion, it ran against a stone wall in its way and threw it down. +The engine was afterwards tried in the streets of Paris. In one of the +experiments it fell over with a crash, and was thenceforward locked up +in the Arsenal to prevent its doing further mischief. This first +locomotive is now to be seen at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers +at Paris. +</P> + +<P> +Murdock had doubtless heard of Watt's original speculations, and +proceeded, while at Redruth, during his leisure hours, to construct a +model locomotive after a design of his own. This model was of small +dimensions, standing little more than a foot and a half high, though it +was sufficiently large to demonstrate the soundness of the principle on +which it was constructed. It was supported on three wheels, and +carried a small copper boiler, heated by a spirit lamp, with a flue +passing obliquely through it. The cylinder, of 3/4 inch diameter and +2-inch stroke, was fixed in the top of the boiler, the piston-rod being +connected with the vibratory beam attached to the connecting-rod which +worked the crank of the driving-wheel. This little engine worked by +the expansive force of steam only, which was discharged into the +atmosphere after it had done its work of alternately raising and +depressing the piston in the cylinder. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Murdock's son, while living at Handsworth, informed the present +writer that this model was invented and constructed in 1781; but, after +perusing the correspondence of Boulton and Watt, we infer that it was +not ready for trial until 1784. The first experiment was made in +Murdock's own house at Redruth, when the little engine successfully +hauled a model waggon round the room,—the single wheel, placed in +front of the engine and working in a swivel frame, enabling it to run +round in a circle. +</P> + +<P> +Another experiment was made out of doors, on which occasion, small +though the engine was, it fairly outran the speed of its inventor. One +night, after returning from his duties at the mine at Redruth, Murdock +went with his model locomotive to the avenue leading to the church, +about a mile from the town. The walk was narrow, straight, and level. +Having lit the lamp, the water soon boiled, and off started the engine +with the inventor after it. Shortly after he heard distant shouts of +terror. It was too dark to perceive objects, but he found, on +following up the machine, that the cries had proceeded from the worthy +vicar, who, while going along the walk, had met the hissing and fiery +little monster, which he declared he took to be the Evil One in propria +persona! +</P> + +<P> +When Watt was informed of Murdock's experiments, he feared that they +might interfere with his regular duties, and advised their +discontinuance. Should Murdock still resolve to continue them, Watt +urged his partner Boulton, then in Cornwall, that, rather than lose +Murdock's services, they should advance him 100L.; and, if he succeeded +within a year in making an engine capable of drawing a post-chaise +carrying two passengers and the driver, at the rate of four miles an +hour, that a locomotive engine business should be established, with +Murdock as a partner. The arrangement, however, never proceeded any +further. Perhaps a different attraction withdrew Murdock from his +locomotive experiments. He was then paying attention to a young lady, +the daughter of Captain Painter; and in 1785 he married her, and +brought her home to his house in Cross Street, Redruth. +</P> + +<P> +In the following year,—September, 1786—Watt says, in a letter to +Boulton, "I have still the same opinion concerning the steam carriage, +but, to prevent more fruitless argument about it, I have one of some +size under hand. In the meantime, I wish William could be brought to +do as we do, to mind the business in hand, and let such as Symington +and Sadler throw away their time and money in hunting shadows." In a +subsequent letter Watt expressed his gratification at finding "that +William applies to his business." From that time forward, Murdock as +well as Watt, dropped all further speculation on the subject, and left +it to others to work out the problem of the locomotive engine. +Murdock's model remained but a curious toy, which he took pleasure in +exhibiting to his intimate friends; and, though he long continued to +speculate about road locomotion, and was persuaded of its +practicability, he abstained from embodying his ideas of the necessary +engine in any complete working form. +</P> + +<P> +Murdock nevertheless continued inventing, for the man who is given to +invent, and who possesses the gift of insight, cannot rest. He lived +in the midst of inventors. Watt and Boulton were constantly suggesting +new things, and Murdock became possessed by the same spirit. In 1791 +he took out his first patent. It was for a method of preserving ships' +bottoms from foulness by the use of a certain kind of chemical paint. +Mr. Murdock's grandson informs us that it was recently re-patented and +was the cause of a lawsuit, and that Hislop's patent for revivifying +gas-lime would have been an infringement, if it had not expired. +</P> + +<P> +Murdock is still better known by his invention of gas for lighting +purposes. Several independent inquirers into the constituents of +Newcastle coal had arrived at the conclusion that nearly one-third of +the substance was driven off in vapour by the application of heat, and +that the vapour so driven off was inflammable. But no suggestion had +been made to apply this vapour for lighting purposes until Murdock took +the matter in hand. Mr. M. S. Pearse has sent us the following +interesting reminiscence: "Some time since, when in the West of +Cornwall, I was anxious to find out whether any one remembered Murdock. +I discovered one of the most respectable and intelligent men in +Camborne, Mr. William Symons, who not only distinctly remembered +Murdock, but had actually been present on one of the first occasions +when gas was used. Murdock, he says, was very fond of children, and +not unfrequently took them into his workshop to show them what he was +doing. Hence it happened that on one occasion this gentleman, then a +boy of seven or eight, was standing outside Murdock's door with some +other boys, trying to catch sight of some special mystery inside, for +Dr. Boaze, the chief doctor of the place, and Murdock had been busy all +the afternoon. Murdock came out, and asked my informant to run down to +a shop near by for a thimble. On returning with the thimble, the boy +pretended to have lost it, and, whilst searching in every pocket, he +managed to slip inside the door of the workshop, and then produced the +thimble. He found Dr. Boaze and Murdock with a kettle filled with +coal. The gas issuing from it had been burnt in a large metal case, +such as was used for blasting purposes. Now, however, they had applied +a much smaller tube, and at the end of it fastened the thimble, through +the small perforations made in which they burned a continuous jet for +some time."[7] +</P> + +<P> +After numerous experiments, Murdock had his house in Cross Street +fitted up in 1792 for being lit by gas. The coal was subjected to heat +in an iron retort, and the gas was conveyed in pipes to the offices and +the different rooms of the house, where it was burned at proper +apertures or burners.[8] Portions of the gas were also confined in +portable vessels of tinned iron, from which it was burned when +required, thus forming a moveable gas-light. Murdock had a gas lantern +in regular use, for the purpose of lighting himself home at night +across the moors, from the mines where he was working, to his home at +Redruth. This lantern was formed by filling a bladder with gas and +fixing a jet to the mouthpiece at the bottom of a glass lantern, with +the bladder hanging underneath. +</P> + +<P> +Having satisfied himself as to the superior economy of coal gas, as +compared with oils and tallow, for the purposes of artificial +illumination, Murdock mentioned the subject to Mr. James Watt, jun., +during a brief visit to Soho in 1794, and urged the propriety of taking +out a patent. Watt was, however, indifferent to taking out any further +patents, being still engaged in contesting with the Cornish mine-owners +his father's rights to the user of the condensing steam-engine. +Nothing definite was done at the time. Murdock returned to Cornwall +and continued his experiments. At the end of the same year he +exhibited to Mr. Phillips and others, at the Polgooth mine, his +apparatus for extracting gases from coal and other substances, showed +it in use, lit the gas which issued from the burner, and showed its +"strong and beautiful light." He afterwards exhibited the same +apparatus to Tregelles and others at the Neath Abbey Company's +ironworks in Glamorganshire. +</P> + +<P> +Murdock returned to Soho in 1798, to take up his permanent residence in +the neighbourhood. When the mine owners heard of his intention to +leave Cornwall, they combined in offering him a handsome salary +provided he would remain in the county; but his attachment to his +friends at Soho would not allow him to comply with their request. He +again urged the firm of Boulton and Watt to take out a patent for the +use of gas for lighting purposes. But being still embroiled in their +tedious and costly lawsuit, they were naturally averse to risk +connection with any other patent. Watt the younger, with whom Murdock +communicated on the subject, was aware that the current of gas obtained +from the distillation of coal in Lord Dundonald's tar-ovens had been +occasionally set fire to, and also that Bishop Watson and others had +burned gas from coal, after conducting it through tubes, or after it +had issued from the retort. Mr. Watt was, however, quite satisfied +that Murdock was the first person who had suggested its economical +application for public and private uses. +</P> + +<P> +But he was not clear, after the legal difficulties which had been +raised as to his father's patent rights, that it would be safe to risk +a further patent for gas. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Murdock's suggestion, accordingly, was not acted upon. But he went +on inventing in other directions. He thenceforward devoted himself +entirely to mechanical pursuits. Mr. Buckle has said of him:—"The +rising sun often found him, after a night spent in incessant labour, +still at the anvil or turning-lathe; for with his own hands he would +make such articles as he would not intrust to unskilful ones." In 1799 +he took out a patent (No. 2340), embodying some very important +inventions. First, it included the endless screw working into a +toothed-wheel, for boring steam-cylinders, which is still in use. +Second, the casting of a steam-jacket in one cylinder, instead of being +made in separate segments bolted together with caulked joints, as was +previously done. Third, the new double-D slide-valve, by which the +construction and working of the steam-engine was simplified, and the +loss of steam saved, as well as the cylindrical valve for the same +purpose. And fourth, improved rotary engines. One of the latter was +set to drive the machines in his private workshop, and continued in +nearly constant work and in perfect use for about thirty years. +</P> + +<P> +In 1801, Murdock sent his two sons William and John to the Ayr Academy, +for the benefit of Scotch education. In the summer-time they spent +their vacation at Bellow Mill, which their grandfather still continued +to occupy. They fished in the river, and "caught a good many trout." +The boys corresponded regularly with their father at Birmingham. In +1804, they seem to have been in a state of great excitement about the +expected landing of the French in Scotland. The volunteers of Ayr +amounted to 300 men, the cavalry to 150, and the riflemen to 50. "The +riflemen," says John, "go to the seashore every Saturday to shoot at a +target. They stand at 70 paces distant, and out of 100 shots they +often put in 60 bullets!" William says, "Great preparations are still +making for the reception of the French. Several thousand of pikes are +carried through the town every week; and all the volunteers and +riflemen have received orders to march at a moment's warning." The +alarm, however, passed away. At the end of 1804, the two boys received +prizes; William got one in arithmetic and another in the Rector's +composition class; and John also obtained two, one in the mathematical +class, and the other in French. +</P> + +<P> +To return to the application of gas for lighting purposes. In 1801, a +plan was proposed by a M. Le Blond for lighting a part of the streets +of Paris with gas. Murdock actively resumed his experiments; and on +the occasion of the Peace of Amiens in March, 1802, he made the first +public exhibition of his invention. The whole of the works at Soho +were brilliantly illuminated with gas. +</P> + +<P> +The sight was received with immense enthusiasm. There could now be no +doubt as to the enormous advantages of this method of producing +artificial light, compared with that from oil or tallow. In the +following year the manufacture of gas-making apparatus was added to the +other branches of Boulton and Watts' business, with which Murdock was +now associated,—and as much as from 4000L. to 5000L. of capital were +invested in the new works. The new method of lighting speedily became +popular amongst manufacturers, from its superior safety, cheapness, and +illuminating power. The mills of Phillips and Lee of Manchester were +fitted up in 1805; and those of Burley and Kennedy, also of Manchester, +and of Messrs. Gott, of Leeds, in subsequent years. +</P> + +<P> +Though Murdock had made the uses of gas-lighting perfectly clear, it +was some time before it was proposed to light the streets by the new +method. The idea was ridiculed by Sir Humphry Davy, who asked one of +the projectors if he intended to take the dome of St. Paul's for a +gasometer! Sir Waiter Scott made many clever jokes about those who +proposed to "send light through the streets in pipes;" and even +Wollaston, a well known man of science, declared that they "might as +well attempt to light London with a slice from the moon." It has been +so with all new projects—with the steamboat, the locomotive, and the +electric telegraph. As John Wilkinson said of the first vessel of iron +which he introduced, "it will be only a nine days' wonder, and +afterwards a Columbus's egg." +</P> + +<P> +On the 25th of February, 1808, Murdock read a paper before the Royal +Society "On the Application of Gas from Coal to economical purposes." +He gave a history of the origin and progress of his experiments, down +to the time when he had satisfactorily lit up the premises of Phillips +and Lee at Manchester. The paper was modest and unassuming, like +everything he did. +</P> + +<P> +It concluded:—"I believe I may, without presuming too much, claim both +the first idea of applying, and the first application of this gas to +economical purposes."[9] The Royal Society awarded Murdock their large +Rumford Gold Medal for his communication. +</P> + +<P> +In the following year a German named Wintzer, or Winsor, appeared as +the promotor of a scheme for obtaining a royal charter with extensive +privileges, and applied for powers to form a joint-stock company to +light part of London and Westminster with gas. Winsor claimed for his +method of gas manufacture that it was more efficacious and profitable +than any then known or practised. The profits, indeed, were to be +prodigious. Winsor made an elaborate calculation in his pamphlet +entitled 'The New Patriotic Imperial and National Light and Heat +Company,' from which it appeared that the net annual profits "agreeable +to the official experiments" would amount to over two hundred and +twenty-nine millions of pounds!—and that, giving over nine-tenths of +that sum towards the redemption of the National Debt, there would still +remain a total profit of 570L. to be paid to the subscribers for every +5L. of deposit! Winsor took out a patent for the invention, and the +company, of which he was a member, proceeded to Parliament for an Act. +Boulton and Watt petitioned against the Bill, and James Watt, junior, +gave evidence on the subject. Henry Brougham, who was the counsel for +the petitioners, made great fun of Winsor's absurd speculations,[10] +and the Bill was thrown out. +</P> + +<P> +In the following year the London and Westminster Chartered Gas Light +and Coke Company succeeded in obtaining their Act. They were not very +successful at first. Many prejudices existed against the employment of +the new light. It was popularly supposed that the gas was carried +along the pipes on fire, and that the pipes must necessarily be +intensely hot. When it was proposed to light the House of Commons with +gas, the architect insisted on the pipes being placed several inches +from the walls, for fear of fire; and, after the pipes had been fixed, +the members might be seen applying their gloved hands to them to +ascertain their temperature, and afterwards expressing the greatest +surprise on finding that they were as cool as the adjoining walls. +</P> + +<P> +The Gas Company was on the point of dissolution when Mr. Samuel Clegg +came to their aid. Clegg had been a pupil of Murdock's, at Soho. He +knew all the arrangements which Murdock had invented. He had assisted +in fitting up the gas machinery at the mills of Phillips & Lee, +Manchester, as well as at Lodge's Mill, Sowerby Bridge, near Halifax. +He was afterwards employed to fix the apparatus at the Catholic College +of Stoneyhurst, in Lancashire, at the manufactory of Mr. Harris at +Coventry, and at other places. In 1813 the London and Westminster Gas +Company secured the services of Mr. Clegg, and from that time forwards +their career was one of prosperity. In 1814 Westminster Bridge was +first lighted with gas, and shortly after the streets of St. +Margaret's, Westminster. Crowds of people followed the lamplighter on +his rounds to watch the sudden effect of his flame applied to the +invisible stream of gas which issued from the burner. The lamplighters +became so disgusted with the new light that they struck work, and Clegg +himself had for a time to act as lamplighter. +</P> + +<P> +The advantages of the new light, however, soon became generally +recognised, and gas companies were established in most of the large +towns. Glasgow was lit up by gas in 1817, and Liverpool and Dublin in +the following year. Had Murdock in the first instance taken out a +patent for his invention, it could not fail to have proved exceedingly +remunerative to him; but he derived no advantage from the extended use +of the new system of lighting except the honour of having invented +it.[11] He left the benefits of his invention to the public, and +returned to his labours at Soho, which more than ever completely +engrossed him. +</P> + +<P> +Murdock now became completely identified with the firm of Boulton & +Watt. He assigned to them his patent for the slide-valve, the rotary +engine, and other inventions "for a good and valuable consideration." +Indeed his able management was almost indispensable to the continued +success of the Soho foundry. Mr. Nasmyth, when visiting the works +about thirty years after Murdock had taken their complete management in +hand, recalled to mind the valuable services of that truly admirable +yet modest mechanic. He observed the admirable system, which he had +invented, of transmitting power from one central engine to other small +vacuum engines attached to the several machines which they were +employed to work. "This vacuum method," he says, "of transmitting +power dates from the time of Papin; but it remained a dead contrivance +for about a century until it received the masterly touch of Murdock." +</P> + +<P> +"The sight which I obtained" (Mr. Nasmyth proceeds) "of the vast series +of workshops of that celebrated establishment, fitted with evidences of +the presence and results of such master minds in design and execution, +and the special machine tools which I believe were chiefly to be +ascribed to the admirable inventive power and common-sense genius of +William Murdock, made me feel that I was indeed on classic ground in +regard to everything connected with the construction of steam-engine +machinery. The interest was in no small degree enhanced by coming +every now and then upon some machine that had every historical claim to +be regarded as the prototype of many of our modern machine tools. All +these had William Murdock's genius stamped upon them, by reason of +their common-sense arrangements, which showed that he was one of those +original thinkers who had the courage to break away from the trammels +of traditional methods, and take short cuts to accomplish his objects +by direct and simple means." +</P> + +<P> +We have another recollection of William Murdock, from one who knew him +when a boy. This is the venerable Charles Manby, F.R.S., still +honorary secretary of the Institute of Civil Engineers. He says +(writing to us in September 1883), "I see from the public prints that +you have been presiding at a meeting intended to do honour to the +memory of William Murdock—a most worthy man and an old friend of mine. +When he found me working the first slide valve ever introduced into an +engine-building establishment at Horsley, he patted me on the head, and +said to my father, 'Neighbour Manby, this is not the way to bring up a +good workman—merely turning a handle, without any shoulder work.' He +evidently did not anticipate any great results from my engineering +education. But we all know what machine tools are doing now,—and +where should we be without them?" +</P> + +<P> +Watt withdrew from the firm in 1800, on the expiry of his patent for +the condensing steam-engine; but Boulton continued until the year 1809, +when he died full of years and honours. Watt lived on until 1819. The +last part of his life was the happiest. During the time that he was in +the throes of his invention, he was very miserable, weighed down with +dyspepsia and sick headaches. But after his patent had expired, he was +able to retire with a moderate fortune, and began to enjoy life. +Before, he had "cursed his inventions," now he could bless them. He +was able to survey them, and find out what was right and what was +wrong. He used his head and his hands in his private workshop, and +found many means of employing both pleasantly. Murdock continued to be +his fast friend, and they spent many agreeable hours together. They +made experiments and devised improvements in machines. Watt wished to +make things more simple. He said to Murdock, "it is a great thing to +know what to do without. We must have a book of blots—things to be +scratched out." One of the most interesting schemes of Watt towards +the end of his life was the contrivance of a sculpture-making machine; +and he proceeded so far with it as to to able to present copies of +busts to his friends as "the productions of a young artist just +entering his eighty-third year." The machine, however, remained +unfinished at his death, and the remarkable fact is that it was Watt's +only unfinished work. +</P> + +<P> +The principle of the machine was to carry a guide-point at one side +over the bust or alto-relievo to be copied, and at the other side to +carry a corresponding cutting-tool or drill over the alabaster, ivory, +jet, or plaster of Paris to be executed. The machine worked, as it +were, with two hands, the one feeling the pattern, the other cutting +the material into the required form. Many new alterations were +necessary for carrying out this ingenious apparatus, and Murdock was +always at hand to give his old friend and master his best assistance. +We have seen many original letters from Watt to Murdock, asking for +counsel and help. In one of these, written in 1808, Watt says: "I have +revived an idea which, if it answers, will supersede the frame and +upright spindle of the reducing machine, but more of this when we meet. +Meanwhile it will be proper to adhere to the frame, etc., at present, +until we see how the other alterations answer." In another he says: "I +have done a Cicero without any plaits—the different segments meeting +exactly. The fitting the drills into the spindle by a taper of 1 in 6 +will do. They are perfectly stiff and will not unscrew easily. Four +guide-pullies answer, but there must be a pair for the other end, and +to work with a single hand, for the returning part is always cut upon +some part or other of the frame." +</P> + +<P> +These letters are written sometimes in the morning, sometimes at noon, +sometimes at night. There was a great deal of correspondence about +"pullies," which did not seem to answer at first. "I have made the +tablets," said Watt on one occasion, "slide more easily, and can +counterbalance any part of their weight which may be necessary; but the +first thing to try is the solidity of the machine, which cannot be done +till the pullies are mounted." Then again: "The bust-making must be +given up until we get a more solid frame. I have worked two days at +one and spoiled it, principally from the want of steadiness." For +Watt, it must be remembered, was now a very old man. +</P> + +<P> +He then proceeded to send Murdock the drawing of a "parallel motion for +the machine," to be executed by the workmen at Soho. The truss braces +and the crosses were to be executed of steel, according to the details +he enclosed. "I have warmed up," he concludes, "an old idea, and can +make a machine in which the pentagraph and the leading screw will all +be contained in the beam, and the pattern and piece to be cut will +remain at rest fixed upon a lath of cast iron or stout steel." Watt is +very particular in all his details: "I am sorry," he says in one note, +"to trouble you with so many things; but the alterations on this +spindle and socket [he annexes a drawing] may wait your convenience." +In a further note, Watt says. "The drawing for the parallel lathe is +ready; but I have been sadly puzzled about the application of the +leading screws to the cranes in the other. I think, however, I have now +got the better of the difficulties, and made it more certain, as well +as more simple, than it was. I have done an excellent head of John +Hunter in hard white in shorter time than usual. I want to show it you +before I repair it." +</P> + +<P> +At last Watt seems to have become satisfied: "The lathe," he says, "is +very much improved, and you seem to have given the finishing blow to +the roofed frame, which appears perfectly stiff. I had some hours' +intense thinking upon the machine last night, and have made up my mind +on it at last. The great difficulty was about the application of the +band, but I have settled it to be much as at present." +</P> + +<P> +Watt's letters to Murdock are most particular in details, especially as +to screws, nuts, and tubes, with strengths and dimensions, always +illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings. And yet all this was done +merely for mechanical amusement, and not for any personal pecuniary +advantage. While Watt was making experiments as to the proper +substances to be carved and drilled, he also desired Murdock to make +similar experiments. "The nitre," he said in one note, "seems to do +harm; the fluor composition seems the best and hardest. Query, what +would some calcined pipe-clay do? If you will calcine some fire-clay +by a red heat and pound it,—about a pound,—and send it to me, I shall +try to make you a mould or two in Henning's manner to cast this and the +sulphur acid iron in. I have made a screwing tool for wood that seems +to answer; also one of a one-tenth diameter for marble, which does very +well." In another note, Watt says: "I find my drill readily makes 2400 +turns per minute, even with the large drill you sent last; if I bear +lightly, a three-quarter ferril would run about 3000, and by an engine +that might be doubled." +</P> + +<P> +The materials to be drilled into medallions also required much +consideration. "I am much obliged to you," said Watt, "for the balls, +etc., which answer as well as can be expected. They make great +progress in cutting the crust (Ridgways) or alabaster, and also cut +marble, but the harder sorts soon blunt them. At any rate, marble does +not do for the medallions, as its grain prevents its being cut smooth, +and its semi-transparence hurts the effect. I think Bristol lime, or +shell lime, pressed in your manner, would have a good effect. When you +are at leisure, I shall thank you for a few pieces, and if some of them +are made pink or flesh colour, they will look well. I used the ball +quite perpendicular, and it cut well, as most of the cutting is +sideways. I tried a fine whirling point, but it made little progress; +another with a chisel edge did almost as well as the balls, but did not +work so pleasantly. I find a triangular scraping point the best, and I +think from some trials it should be quite a sharp point. The wheel +runs easier than it did, but has still too much friction. I wished to +have had an hour's consultation with you, but have been prevented by +sundry matters among others by that plaguey stove, which is now in your +hands." +</P> + +<P> +Watt was most grateful to Murdock for his unvarying assistance. In +January, 1813, when Watt was in his seventy-seventh year, he wrote to +Murdock, asking him to accept a present of a lathe "I have not heard +from you," he says, "in reply to my letter about the lathe; and, +presuming you are not otherwise provided, I have bought it, and request +your acceptance of it. At present, an alteration for the better is +making in the oval chuck, and a few additional chucks, rest, etc., are +making to the lathe. When these are finished, I shall have it at +Billinger's until you return, or as you otherwise direct. I am going +on with my drawings for a complete machine, and shall be glad to see +you here to judge of them." +</P> + +<P> +The drawings were made, but the machine was never finished. +"Invention," said Watt, "goes on very slowly with me now." Four years +later, he was still at work; but death put a stop to his +"diminishing-machine." It is a remarkable testimony to the skill and +perseverance of a man who had already accomplished so much, that it is +almost his only unfinished work. Watt died in 1819, in the +eighty-third year of his age, to the great grief of Murdock, his oldest +and most attached friend and correspondent. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, the firm of Boulton and Watt continued. The sons of the two +partners carried it on, with Murdock as their Mentor. He was still +full of work and inventive power. In 1802, he applied the compressed +air of the Blast Engine employed to blow the cupolas of the Soho +Foundry, for the purpose of driving the lathe in the pattern shop. It +worked a small engine, with a 12-inch cylinder and 18-inch stroke, +connected with the lathe, the speed being regulated as required by +varying the admission of the blast. This engine continued in use for +about thirty-five years. +</P> + +<P> +In 1803 Murdock experimented on the power of high-pressure steam in +propelling shot, and contrived a steam-engine with which he made many +trials at Soho, thereby anticipating the apparatus contrived by Mr. +Perkins many years later. +</P> + +<P> +In 1810 Murdock took out a patent for boring steam-pipes for water, and +cutting columns out of solid blocks of stone, by means of a cylindrical +crown saw. The first machine was used at Soho, and afterwards at Mr. +Rennie's Works in London, and proved quite successful. Among his other +inventions were a lift worked by compressed air, which raised and +lowered the castings from the boring-mill to the level of the foundry +and the canal bank. He used the same kind of power to ring the bells +in his house at Sycamore Hill, and the contrivance was afterwards +adopted by Sir Walter Scott in his house at Abbotsford. +</P> + +<P> +Murdock was also the inventor of the well-known cast-iron cement, so +extensively used in engine and machine work. The manner in which he +was led to this invention affords a striking illustration of his +quickness of observation. Finding that some iron-borings and +sal-ammoniac had got accidently mixed together in his tool-chest, and +rusted his saw-blade nearly through, he took note of the circumstance, +mixed the articles in various proportions, and at length arrived at the +famous cement, which eventually became an article of extensive +manufacture at the Soho Works. +</P> + +<P> +Murdock's ingenuity was constantly at work, even upon matters which lay +entirely outside his special vocation. The late Sir William Fairbairn +informed us that he contrived a variety of curious machines for +consolidating peat moss, finely ground and pulverised, under immense +pressure, and which, when consolidated, could be moulded into beautiful +medals, armlets, and necklaces. The material took the most brilliant +polish and had the appearance of the finest jet. +</P> + +<P> +Observing that fish-skins might be used as an economical substitute for +isinglass, he went up to London on one occasion in order to explain to +brewers the best method of preparing and using them. He occupied +handsome apartments, and, little regarding the splendour of the +drawing-room, he hung the fish-skins up against the walls. His +landlady caught him one day when he was about to bang up a wet cod's +skin! He was turned out at once, with all his fish. While in town on +this errand, it occurred to him that a great deal of power was wasted +in treading the streets of London! He conceived the idea of using the +streets and roadways as a grand tread-mill, under which the waste power +might be stored up by mechanical methods and turned to account. He had +also an idea of storing up the power of the tides, and of running +water, in the same way. The late Charles Babbage, F.R.S., entertained +a similar idea about using springs of Ischia or of the geysers of +Iceland as a power necessary for condensing gases, or perhaps for the +storage of electricity.[12] The latter, when perfected, will probably +be the greatest invention of the next half century. +</P> + +<P> +Another of Murdock's' ingenious schemes, was his proposed method of +transmitting letters and packages through a tube exhausted by an +air-pump. This project led to the Atmospheric Railway, the success of +which, so far as it went, was due to the practical ability of Murdock's +pupil, Samuel Clegg. Although the atmospheric railway was eventually +abandoned, it is remarkable that the original idea was afterwards +revived and practised with success by the London Pneumatic Dispatch +Company. +</P> + +<P> +In 1815, while Murdock was engaged in erecting an apparatus of his own +invention for heating the water for the baths at Leamington, a +ponderous cast-iron plate fell upon his leg above his ankle, and +severely injured him. He remained a long while at Leamington, and when +it was thought safe to remove him, the Birmingham Canal Company kindly +placed their excursion boat at his disposal, and he was conveyed safely +homeward. So soon as he was able, he was at work again at the Soho +factory. +</P> + +<P> +Although the elder Watt had to a certain extent ignored the uses of +steam as applied to navigation, being too much occupied with developing +the powers of the pumping and rotary engine, the young partners, with +the stout aid of Murdock, took up the question. They supplied Fulton in +1807 with his first engine, by means of which the Clermont made her +first voyage along the Hudson river. They also supplied Fulton and +Livingston with the next two engines for the Car of Neptune and the +Paragon. From that time forward, Boulton and Watt devoted themselves +to the manufacture of engines for steamboats. Up to the year 1814, +marine engines had been all applied singly in the vessel; but in this +year Boulton and Watt first applied two condensing engines, connected +by cranks set at right angles on the shaft, to propel a steamer on the +Clyde. Since then, nearly all steamers are fitted with two engines. +In making this important improvement, the firm were materially aided by +the mechanical genius of William Murdock, and also of Mr. Brown, then +an assistant, but afterwards a member of the firm. +</P> + +<P> +In order to carry on a set of experiments with respect to the most +improved form of marine engine, Boulton and Watt purchased the +Caledonia, a Scotch boat built on the Clyde by James Wood and Co., of +Port Glasgow. The engines and boilers were taken out. The vessel was +fitted with two side lever engines, and many successive experiments +were made with her down to August, 1817, at an expense of about +10,000L. This led to a settled plan of construction, by which marine +engines were greatly improved. James Watt, junior, accompanied the +Caledonia to Holland and up the Rhine. The vessel was eventually sold +to the Danish Government, and used for carrying the mails between Kiel +and Copenhagen. It is, however, unnecessary here to venture upon the +further history of steam navigation. +</P> + +<P> +In the midst of these repeated inventions and experiments, Murdock was +becoming an old man. Yet he never ceased to take an interest in the +works at Soho. At length his faculties experienced a gradual decay, +and he died peacefully at his house at Sycamore Hill, on the 15th of +November,1839, in his eighty-fifth year. He was buried near the +remains of the great Boulton and Watt; and a bust by Chantrey served to +perpetuate the remembrance of his manly and intelligent countenance. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Footnotes for Chapter V. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] Fletcher's Political Works, London, 1737, p. 149, +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[2] One of the Murdocks built the cathedral at Glasgow, as well as +others in Scotland. The famous school of masonry at Antwerp sent out a +number of excellent architects during the 11th, 12th, and 13th +centuries. One of these, on coming into Scotland, assumed the name of +Murdo. He was a Frenchman, born in Paris, as we learn from the +inscription left on Melrose Abbey, and he died while building that +noble work: it is as follows:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +"John Murdo sumtyme cait was I And born in Peryse certainly, An' had in +kepyng all mason wark Sanct Andrays, the Hye Kirk o' Glasgo, Melrose +and Paisley, Jedybro and Galowy. Pray to God and Mary baith, and sweet +Saint John, keep this Holy Kirk frae scaith." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[3] The discovery of the Black Band Ironstone by David Mushet in 1801, +and the invention of the Hot Blast by James Beaumont Neilson in 1828, +will be found related in Industrial Biography, pp. 141-161. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[4] Note to Lockhart's Life of Scott. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[5] This was stated to the present writer some years ago by William +Murdock's son; although there is no other record of the event. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[6] See Lives of Engineers (Boulton and Watt), iv. pp. 182-4. Small +edition, pp. 130-2. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[7] Mr. Pearse's letter is dated 23rd April, 1867, but has not before +been published. He adds that "others remembered Murdock, one who was +an apprentice with him, and lived with him for some time—a Mr. Vivian, +of the foundry at Luckingmill." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[8] Murdock's house still stands in Cross Street, Redruth; those still +live who saw the gas-pipes conveying gas from the retort in the little +yard to near the ceiling of the room, just over the table; a hole for +the pipe was made in the window frame. The old window is now replaced +by a new frame."—Life of Richard Trevithick, i. 64. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[9] Philosophical Transactions, 1808, pp. 124-132. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[10] Winsor's family evidently believed in his great powers; for I am +informed by Francis Galton, Esq., F.R.S., that there is a fantastical +monument on the right-hand side of the central avenue of the Kensal +Green Cemetery, about half way between the lodge and the church, which +bears the following inscription:—"Tomb of Frederick Albert Winsor, son +of the late Frederick Albert Winsor, originator of public Gas-lighting, +buried in the Cemetery of Pere la Chaise, Paris. At evening time it +shall be light."—Zachariah xiv. 7. "I am come a light into the world, +that whoever believeth in Me shall not abide in darkness."—John xii. +46. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[11] Mr. Parkes, in his well known Chemical Essays (ed. 1841, p. 157), +after referring to the successful lighting up by Murdock of the +manufactory of Messrs. Phillips and Lee at Manchester in 1805, "with +coal gas issuing from nearly a thousand burners," proceeds, "This grand +application of the new principle satisfied the public mind, not only of +the practicability, but also of the economy of the application; and as +a mark of the high opinion they entertained of his genius and +perseverance, and in order to put the question of priority of the +discovery beyond all doubt, the Council of the Royal Society in 1808 +awarded to Mr. Murdock the Gold Medal founded by the late Count +Rumford." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[12] "Thus," says Mr. Charles Babbage, "in a future age, power may +become the staple commodity of the Icelanders, and of the inhabitants +of other volcanic districts; and possibly the very process by which +they will procure this article of exchange for the luxuries of happier +climates may, in some measure, tame the tremendous element which +occasionally devastates their provinces."—Economy of Manufactures. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FREDERICK KOENIG: INVENTOR OF THE STEAM-PRINTING MACHINE. +</H3> + +<P> +"The honest projector is he who, having by fair and plain principles of +sense, honesty, and ingenuity, brought any contrivance to a suitable +perfection, makes out what he pretends to, picks nobody's pocket, puts +his project in execution, and contents himself with the real produce as +the profit of his invention."—De Foe. +</P> + +<P> +I published an article in 'Macmillan's Magazine' for December, 1869, +under the above title. The materials were principally obtained from +William and Frederick Koenig, sons of the inventor. +</P> + +<P> +Since then an elaborate life has been published at Stuttgart, under the +title of "Friederich Koenig und die Erfindung Der Schnellpresse, Ein +Biographisches Denkmal. Von Theodor Goebel." The author, in sending me +a copy of the volume, refers to the article published in 'Macmillan,' +and says, "I hope you will please to accept it as a small +acknowledgment of the thanks, which every German, and especially the +sons of Koenig, in whose name I send the book as well as in mine, owe +to you for having bravely taken up the cause of the much wronged +inventor, their father—an action all the more praiseworthy, as you had +to write against the prejudices and the interests of your own +countrymen." +</P> + +<P> +I believe it is now generally admitted that Koenig was entitled to the +merit of being the first person practically to apply the power of steam +to indefinitely multiplying the productions of the printing-press; and +that no one now attempts to deny him this honour. It is true others, +who followed him, greatly improved upon his first idea; but this was +the case with Watt, Symington, Crompton, Maudslay, and many more. The +true inventor is not merely the man who registers an idea and takes a +patent for it, or who compiles an invention by borrowing the idea of +another, improving upon or adding to his arrangements, but the man who +constructs a machine such as has never before been made, which executes +satisfactorily all the functions it was intended to perform. And this +is what Koenig's invention did, as will be observed from the following +brief summary of his life and labours. +</P> + +<P> +Frederick Koenig was born on the 17th of April, 1774, at Eisleben, in +Saxony, the birthplace also of a still more famous person, Martin +Luther. His father was a respectable peasant proprietor, described by +Herr Goebel as Anspanner. But this word has now gone out of use. In +feudal times it described the farmer who was obliged to keep draught +cattle to perform service due to the landlord. The boy received a +solid education at the Gymnasium, or public school of the town. At a +proper age he was bound apprentice for five years to Breitkopf and +Hartel, of Leipzig, as compositor and printer; but after serving for +four and a quarter years, he was released from his engagement because +of his exceptional skill, which was an unusual occurrence. +</P> + +<P> +During the later years of his apprenticeship, Koenig was permitted to +attend the classes in the University, more especially those of Ernst +Platner, a physician, philosopher, and anthropologist. After that he +proceeded to the printing-office of his uncle, Anton F. Rose, at +Greifswald, an old seaport town on the Baltic, where he remained a few +years. He next went to Halle as a journeyman printer,—German workmen +going about from place to place, during their wanderschaft, for the +purpose of learning their business. After that, he returned to +Breitkopf and Hartel, at Leipzig, where he had first learnt his trade. +During this time, having saved a little money, he enrolled himself for +a year as a regular student at the University of Leipzig. +</P> + +<P> +According to Koenig's own account, he first began to devise ways and +means for improving the art of printing in the year 1802, when he was +twenty-eight years old. Printing large sheets of paper by hand was a +very slow as well as a very laborious process. One of the things that +most occupied the young printer's mind was how to get rid of this +"horse-work," for such it was, in the business of printing. He was +not, however, over-burdened with means, though he devised a machine +with this object. But to make a little money, he made translations for +the publishers. In 1803 Koenig returned to his native town of +Eisleben, where he entered into an arrangement with Frederick Riedel, +who furnished the necessary capital for carrying on the business of a +printer and bookseller. Koenig alleges that his reason for adopting +this step was to raise sufficient money to enable him to carry out his +plans for the improvement of printing. +</P> + +<P> +The business, however, did not succeed, as we find him in the following +year carrying on a printing trade at Mayence. Having sold this +business, he removed to Suhl in Thuringia. Here he was occupied with a +stereotyping process, suggested by what he had read about the art as +perfected in England by Earl Stanhope. He also contrived an improved +press, provided with a moveable carriage, on which the types were +placed, with inking rollers, and a new mechanical method of taking off +the impression by flat pressure. +</P> + +<P> +Koenig brought his new machine under the notice of the leading printers +in Germany, but they would not undertake to use it. The plan seemed to +them too complicated and costly. He tried to enlist men of capital in +his scheme, but they all turned a deaf ear to him. He went from town +to town, but could obtain no encouragement whatever. Besides, +industrial enterprise in Germany was then in a measure paralysed by the +impending war with France, and men of capital were naturally averse to +risk their money on what seemed a merely speculative undertaking. +</P> + +<P> +Finding no sympathisers or helpers at home, Koenig next turned his +attention abroad. England was then, as now, the refuge of inventors +who could not find the means of bringing out their schemes elsewhere; +and to England he wistfully turned his eyes. In the meantime, however, +his inventive ability having become known, an offer was made to him by +the Russian Government to proceed to St. Petersburg and organise the +State printing-office there. The invitation was accepted, and Koenig +proceeded to St. Petersburg in the spring of 1806. But the official +difficulties thrown in his way were very great, and so disgusted him, +that he decided to throw up his appointment, and try his fortune in +England. He accordingly took ship for London, and arrived there in the +following November, poor in means, but rich in his great idea, then his +only property. +</P> + +<P> +As Koenig himself said, when giving an account of his +invention:—"There is on the Continent no sort of encouragement for an +enterprise of this description. The system of patents, as it exists in +England, being either unknown, or not adopted in the Continental +States, there is no inducement for industrial enterprise; and +projectors are commonly obliged to offer their discoveries to some +Government, and to so licit their encouragement. I need hardly add +that scarcely ever is an invention brought to maturity under such +circumstances. The well-known fact, that almost every invention seeks, +as it were, refuge in England, and is there brought to perfection, +though the Government does not afford any other protection to inventors +beyond what is derived from the wisdom of the laws, seems to indicate +that the Continent has yet to learn from her the best manner of +encouraging the mechanical arts. I had my full share in the ordinary +disappointments of Continental projectors; and after having lost in +Germany and Russia upwards of two years in fruitless applications, I at +last resorted to England."[1] +</P> + +<P> +After arriving in London, Koenig maintained himself with difficulty by +working at his trade, for his comparative ignorance of the English +language stood in his way. But to work manually at the printer's +"case," was not Koenig's object in coming to England. His idea of a +printing machine was always uppermost in his mind, and he lost no +opportunity of bringing the subject under the notice of master printers +likely to take it up. He worked for a time in the printing office of +Richard Taylor, Shoe Lane, Fleet Street, and mentioned the matter to +him. Taylor would not undertake the invention himself, but he +furnished Koenig with an introduction to Thomas Bensley, the well-known +printer of Bolt Court, Fleet Street. On the 11th of March, 1807, +Bensley invited Koenig to meet him on the subject of their recent +conversation about "the discovery;" and on the 31st of the same month, +the following agreement was entered into between Koenig and Bensley:— +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Koenig, having discovered an entire new Method of Printing by +Machinery, agrees to communicate the same to Mr. Bensley under the +following conditions:—that, if Mr. Bensley shall be satisfied the +Invention will answer all the purposes Mr. Koenig has stated in the +Particulars he has delivered to Mr. Bensley, signed with his name, he +shall enter into a legal Engagement to purchase the Secret from Mr. +Koenig, or enter into such other agreement as may be deemed mutually +beneficial to both parties; or, should Mr. Bensley wish to decline +having any concern with the said Invention, then he engages not to make +any use of the Machinery, or to communicate the Secret to any person +whatsoever, until it is proved that the Invention is made use of by any +one without restriction of Patent, or other particular agreement on the +part of Mr. Koenig, under the penalty of Six Thousand Pounds. +<BR><BR> + "(Signed) T. Bensley,<BR> + "Friederich Konig.<BR> + "Witness—J. Hunneman."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +Koenig now proceeded to put his idea in execution. He prepared his +plans of the new printing machine. It seems, however, that the +progress made by him was very slow. Indeed, three years passed before +a working model could be got ready, to show his idea in actual +practice. In the meantime, Mr. Walter of The Times had been seen by +Bensley, and consulted on the subject of the invention. On the 9th of +August, 1809, more than two years after the date of the above +agreement, Bensley writes to Koenig: "I made a point of calling upon +Mr. Walter yesterday, who, I am sorry to say, declines our proposition +altogether, having (as he says) so many engagements as to prevent him +entering into more." +</P> + +<P> +It may be mentioned that Koenig's original plan was confined to an +improved press, in which the operation of laying the ink on the types +was to be performed by an apparatus connected with the motions of the +coffin, in such a manner as that one hand could be saved. As little +could be gained in expedition by this plan, the idea soon suggested +itself of moving the press by machinery, or to reduce the several +operations to one rotary motion, to which the first mover might be +applied. Whilst Koenig was in the throes of his invention, he was +joined by his friend Andrew F. Bauer, a native of Stuttgart, who +possessed considerable mechanical power, in which the inventor himself +was probably somewhat deficient. At all events, these two together +proceeded to work out the idea, and to construct the first actual +working printing machine. +</P> + +<P> +A patent was taken out, dated the 29th of March, 1810, which describes +the details of the invention. The arrangement was somewhat similar to +that known as the platen machine; the printing being produced by two +flat plates, as in the common hand-press. It also embodied an +ingenious arrangement for inking the type. Instead of the +old-fashioned inking balls, which were beaten on the type by hand +labour, several cylinders covered with felt and leather were used, and +formed part of the machine itself. Two of the cylinders revolved in +opposite directions, so as to spread the ink, which was then +transferred by two other inking cylinders alternately applied to the +"forme" by the action of spiral springs. The movement of all the parts +of the machine were to be derived from a steam-engine, or other first +mover. +</P> + +<P> +"After many obstructions and delays," says Koenig himself, in +describing the history of his invention, "the first printing machine +was completed exactly upon the plan which I have described in the +specification of my first patent. It was set to Work in April, 1811. +The sheet (H) of the new Annual Register for 1810, 'Principal +Occurrences,' 3000 copies, was printed with it; and is, I have no +doubt, the first part of a book ever printed with a machine. The +actual use of it, however, soon suggested new ideas, and led to the +rendering it less complicated and more powerful"[2] +</P> + +<P> +Of course! No great invention was ever completed at one effort. It +would have been strange if Koenig had been satisfied with his first +attempt. It was only a beginning, and he naturally proceeded with the +improvement of his machine. It took Watt more than twenty years to +elaborate his condensing steam-engine; and since his day, owing to the +perfection of self-acting tools, it has been greatly improved. The +power of the Steamboat and the Locomotive also, as well as of all other +inventions, have been developed by the constantly succeeding +improvements of a nation of mechanical engineers. +</P> + +<P> +Koenig's experiment was only a beginning, and he naturally proceeded +with the improvement of his machine. Although the platen machine of +Koenig's has since been taken up a new, and perfected, it was not +considered by him sufficiently simple in its arrangements as to be +adapted for common use; and he had scarcely completed it, when he was +already revolving in his mind a plan of a second machine on a new +principle, with the object of ensuring greater speed, economy, and +simplicity. +</P> + +<P> +By this time, other well-known London printers, Messrs. Taylor and +Woodfall, had joined Koenig and Bensley in their partnership for the +manufacture and sale of printing machines. The idea which now occurred +to Koenig was, to employ a cylinder instead of a flat Platen machine, +for taking the impressions off the type, and to place the sheet round +the cylinder, thereby making it, as it were, part of the periphery. As +early as the year 1790, one William Nicholson had taken out a patent +for a machine for printing "on paper, linen, cotton, woollen, and other +articles," by means of "blocks, forms, types, plates, and originals," +which were to be "firmly imposed upon a cylindrical surface in the same +manner as common letter is imposed upon a flat stone."[3] From the +mention of "colouring cylinder," and "paper-hangings, floor-cloths, +cottons, linens, woollens, leather, skin, and every other flexible +material," mentioned in the specification, it would appear as if +Nicholson's invention were adapted for calico-printing and +paper-hangings, as well as for the printing of books. But it was never +used for any of these purposes. It contained merely the register of an +idea, and that was all. It was left for Adam Parkinson, of Manchester, +to invent and make practical use of the cylinder printing machine for +calico in the year 1805, and this was still further advanced by the +invention of James Thompson, of Clitheroe, in 1813; while it was left +for Frederick Koenig to invent and carry into practical operation the +cylinder printing press for newspapers. +</P> + +<P> +After some promising experiments, the plans for a new machine on the +cylindrical principle were proceeded with. Koenig admitted throughout +the great benefit he derived from the assistance of his friend Bauer. +"By the judgment and precision," he said, "with which he executed my +plans, he greatly contributed to my success." A patent was taken out +on October 30th, 1811; and the new machine was completed in December, +1812. The first sheets ever printed with an entirely cylindrical +press, were sheets G and X of Clarkson's 'Life of Penn.' The papers of +the Protestant Union were also printed with it in February and March, +1813. Mr. Koenig, in his account of the invention, says that "sheet M +of Acton's 'Hortus Kewensis,' vol. v., will show the progress of +improvement in the use of the invention. Altogether, there are about +160,000 sheets now in the hands of the public, printed with this +machine, which, with the aid of two hands, takes off 800 impressions in +the hour"[4] +</P> + +<P> +Koenig took out a further patent on July 23rd, 1813, and a fourth (the +last) on the 14th of March, 1814. The contrivance of these various +arrangements cost the inventor many anxious days and nights of study +and labour. But he saw before him only the end he wished to compass, +and thought but little of himself and his toils. It may be mentioned +that the principal feature of the invention was the printing cylinder +in the centre of the machine, by which the impression was taken from +the types, instead of by flat plates as in the first arrangement. The +forme was fixed in a cast-iron plate which was carried to and fro on a +table, being received at either end by strong spiral springs. A double +machine, on the same principle,—the forme alternately passing under +and giving an impression at one of two cylinders at either end of the +press,—was also included in the patent of 1811. +</P> + +<P> +How diligently Koenig continued to elaborate the details of his +invention will be obvious from the two last patents which he took out, +in 1813 and 1814. In the first he introduced an important improvement +in the inking arrangement, and a contrivance for holding and carrying +on the sheet, keeping it close to the printing cylinder by means of +endless tapes; while in the second, he added the following new +expedients: a feeder, consisting of an endless web,—an improved +arrangement of the endless tapes by inner as well as outer +friskets,—an improvement of the register (that is, one page falling +exactly on the back of another), by which greater accuracy of +impression was also secured; and finally, an arrangement by which the +sheet was thrown out of the machine, printed by the revolving cylinder +on both sides. +</P> + +<P> +The partners in Koenig's Patents had established a manufactory in +Whitecross Street for the production of the new machines. The workmen +employed were sworn to secrecy. They entered into an agreement by +which they were liable to forfeit 100L. if they communicated to others +the secret of the machines, either by drawings or description, or if +they told by whom or for whom they were constructed. This was to avoid +the hostility of the pressmen, who, having heard of the new invention, +were up in arms against it, as likely to deprive them of their +employment. And yet, as stated by Johnson in his 'Typographia,' the +manual labour of the men who worked at the hand press, was so severe +and exhausting, "that the stoutest constitutions fell a sacrifice to it +in a few years." The number of sheets that could be thrown off was also +extremely limited. +</P> + +<P> +With the improved press, perfected by Earl Stanhope, about 250 +impressions could be taken, or 125 sheets printed on both sides in an +hour. Although a greater number was produced in newspaper printing +offices by excessive labour, yet it was necessary to have duplicate +presses, and to set up duplicate forms of type, to carry on such extra +work; and still the production of copies was quite inadequate to +satisfy the rapidly increasing demand for newspapers. The time was +therefore evidently ripe for the adoption of such a machine as that of +Koenig. Attempts had been made by many inventors, but every one of +them had failed. Printers generally regarded the steam-press as +altogether chimerical. +</P> + +<P> +Such was the condition of affairs when Koenig finished his improved +printing machine in the manufactory in Whitecross Street. The partners +in the invention were now in great hopes. When the machine had been got +ready for work, the proprietors of several of the leading London +newspapers were invited to witness its performances. Amongst them were +Mr. Perry of the Morning chronicle, and Mr. Walter of The Times. Mr. +Perry would have nothing to do with the machine; he would not even go +to see it, for he regarded it as a gimcrack.[5] On the contrary, Mr. +Walter, though he had five years before declined to enter into any +arrangement with Bensley, now that he heard the machine was finished, +and at work, decided to go and inspect it. It was thoroughly +characteristic of the business spirit of the man. He had been very +anxious to apply increased mechanical power to the printing of his +newspaper. He had consulted Isambard Brunel—one of the cleverest +inventors of the day—on the subject; but Brunel, after studying the +subject, and labouring over a variety of plans, finally gave it up. He +had next tried Thomas Martyn, an ingenious young compositor, who had a +scheme for a self-acting machine for working the printing press. But, +although Mr. Walter supplied him with the necessary funds, his scheme +never came to anything. Now, therefore, was the chance for Koenig! +</P> + +<P> +After carefully examining the machine at work, Mr. Walter was at once +satisfied as to the great value of the invention. He saw it turning +out the impressions with unusual speed and great regularity. This was +the very machine of which he had been in search. But it turned out the +impressions printed on one side only. Koenig, however, having briefly +explained the more rapid action of a double machine on the same +principle for the printing of newspapers, Mr. Walter, after a few +minutes' consideration, and before leaving the premises, ordered two +double machines for the printing of The Times newspaper. Here, at +last, was the opportunity for a triumphant issue out of Koenig's +difficulties. +</P> + +<P> +The construction of the first newspaper machine was still, however, a +work of great difficulty and labour. It must be remembered that +nothing of the kind had yet been made by any other inventor. The +single-cylinder machine, which Mr. Walter had seen at work, was +intended for bookwork only. Now Koenig had to construct a +double-cylinder machine for printing newspapers, in which many of the +arrangements must necessarily be entirely new. With the assistance of +his leading mechanic, Bauer, aided by the valuable suggestions of Mr. +Walter himself, Koenig at length completed his plans, and proceeded +with the erection of the working machine. The several parts were +prepared at the workshop in Whitecross Street, and taken from thence, +in as secret a way as possible, to the premises in Printing House +Square, adjoining The Times office, where they were fitted together and +erected into a working machine. Nearly two years elapsed before the +press was ready for work. Great as was the secrecy with which the +operations were conducted, the pressmen of The Times office obtained +some inkling of what was going on, and they vowed vengeance to the +foreign inventor who threatened their craft with destruction. There +was, however, always this consolation: every attempt that had +heretofore been made to print newspapers in any other way than by +manual labour had proved an utter failure! +</P> + +<P> +At length the day arrived when the first newspaper steam-press was +ready for use. The pressmen were in a state of great excitement, for +they knew by rumour that the machine of which they had so long been +apprehensive was fast approaching completion. One night they were told +to wait in the press-room, as important news was expected from abroad. +At six o'clock in the morning of the 29th November, 1814, Mr. Walter, +who had been watching the working of the machine all through the night, +suddenly appeared among the pressmen, and announced that "The Times is +already printed by steam!" Knowing that the pressmen had vowed +vengeance against the inventor and his invention, and that they had +threatened "destruction to him and his traps," he informed them that if +they attempted violence, there was a force ready to suppress it; but +that if they were peaceable, their wages should be continued to every +one of them until they could obtain similar employment. This proved +satisfactory so far, and he proceeded to distribute several copies of +the newspaper amongst them—the first newspaper printed by steam! That +paper contained the following memorable announcement:— +</P> + +<P> +"Our Journal of this day presents to the Public the practical result of +the greatest improvement connected with printing since the discovery of +the art itself. The reader of this paragraph now holds in his hand one +of the many thousand impressions of The Times newspaper which were +taken off last night by a mechanical apparatus. A system of machinery +almost organic has been devised and arranged, which, while it relieves +the human frame of its most laborious' efforts in printing, far exceeds +all human powers in rapidity and dispatch. That the magnitude of the +invention may be justly appreciated by its effects, we shall inform the +public, that after the letters are placed by the compositors, and +enclosed in what is called the forme, little more remains for man to do +than to attend upon and to watch this unconscious agent in its +operations. The machine is then merely supplied with paper: itself +places the forme, inks it, adjusts the paper to the forme newly inked, +stamps the sheet, and gives it forth to the hands of the attendant, at +the same time withdrawing the forme for a fresh coat of ink, which +itself again distributes, to meet the ensuing sheet now advancing for +impression; and the whole of these complicated acts is performed with +such a velocity and simultaneousness of movement, that no less than +1100 sheets are impressed in one hour. +</P> + +<P> +"That the completion of an invention of this kind, not the effect of +chance, but the result of mechanical combinations methodically arranged +in the mind of the artist, should be attended with many obstructions +and much delay, may be readily imagined. Our share in this event has, +indeed, only been the application of the discovery, under an agreement +with the patentees, to our own particular business; yet few can +conceive—even with this limited interest—the various disappointments +and deep anxiety to which we have for a long course of time been +subjected. +</P> + +<P> +"Of the person who made this discovery we have but little to add. Sir +Christopher Wren's noblest monument is to be found in the building +which he erected; so is the best tribute of praise which we are capable +of offering to the inventor of the printing machine, comprised in the +preceding description, which we have feebly sketched, of the powers and +utility of his invention. It must suffice to say further, that he is a +Saxon by birth; that his name is Koenig; and that the invention has +been executed under the direction of his friend and countryman, Bauer." +</P> + +<P> +The machine continued to work steadily and satisfactorily, +notwithstanding the doubters, the unbelievers, and the threateners of +vengeance. The leading article of The Times for December 3rd, 1814, +contains the following statement:— +</P> + +<P> +"The machine of which we announced the discovery and our adoption a few +days ago, has been whirling on its course ever since, with improving +order, regularity, and even speed. The length of the debates on +Thursday, the day when Parliament was adjourned, will have been +observed; on such an occasion the operation of composing and printing +the last page must commence among all the journals at the same moment; +and starting from that moment, we, with our infinitely superior +circulation, were enabled to throw off our whole impression many hours +before the other respectable rival prints. The accuracy and clearness +of the impression will likewise excite attention. +</P> + +<P> +"We shall make no reflections upon those by whom this wonderful +discovery has been opposed,—the doubters and unbelievers,—however +uncharitable they may have been to us; were it not that the efforts of +genius are always impeded by drivellers of this description, and that +we owe it to such men as Mr. Koenig and his Friend, and all future +promulgators of beneficial inventions, to warn them that they will have +to contend with everything that selfishness and conceited ignorance can +devise or say; and if we cannot clear their way before them, we would +at least give them notice to prepare a panoply against its dirt and +filth. +</P> + +<P> +"There is another class of men from whom we receive dark and anonymous +threats of vengeance if we persevere in the use of this machine. These +are the Pressmen. They well know, at least should well know, that such +menace is thrown away upon us. There is nothing that we will not do to +assist and serve those whom we have discharged. They themselves can +seethe greater rapidity and precision with which the paper is printed. +What right have they to make us print it slower and worse for their +supposed benefit? A little reflection, indeed, would show them that it +is neither in their power nor in ours to stop a discovery now made, if +it is beneficial to mankind; or to force it down if it is useless. They +had better, therefore, acquiesce in a result which they cannot alter; +more especially as there will still be employment enough for the old +race of pressmen, before the new method obtains general use, and no new +ones need be brought up to the business; but we caution them seriously +against involving themselves and their families in ruin, by becoming +amenable to the laws of their country. It has always been matter of +great satisfaction to us to reflect, that we encountered and crushed +one conspiracy; and we should be sorry to find our work half done. +</P> + +<P> +"It is proper to undeceive the world in one particular; that is, as to +the number of men discharged. We in fact employ only eight fewer +workmen than formerly; whereas more than three times that number have +been employed for a year and a half in building the machine." +</P> + +<P> +On the 8th of December following, Mr. Koenig addressed an advertisement +"To the Public" in the columns of The Times, giving an account of the +origin and progress of his invention. We have already cited several +passages from the statement. After referring to his two last patents, +he says: "The machines now printing The Times and Mail are upon the +same principle; but they have been contrived for the particular purpose +of a newspaper of extensive circulation, where expedition is the great +object. +</P> + +<P> +"The public are undoubtedly aware, that never, perhaps, was a new +invention put to so severe a trial as the present one, by being used on +its first public introduction for the printing of newspapers, and will, +I trust, be indulgent with respect to the many defects in the +performance, though none of them are inherent in the principle of the +machine; and we hope, that in less than two months, the whole will be +corrected by greater adroitness in the management of it, so far at +least as the hurry of newspaper printing will at all admit. +</P> + +<P> +"It will appear from the foregoing narrative, that it was incorrectly +stated in several newspapers, that I had sold my interest to two other +foreigners; my partners in this enterprise being at present two +Englishmen, Mr. Bensley and Mr. Taylor; and it is gratifying to my +feelings to avail myself of this opportunity to thank those gentlemen +publicly for the confidence which they have reposed in me, for the aid +of their practical skill, and for the persevering support which they +have afforded me in long and very expensive experiments; thus risking +their fortunes in the prosecution of my invention. +</P> + +<P> +"The first introduction of the invention was considered by some as a +difficult and even hazardous step. The Proprietor of The Times having +made that his task, the public are aware that it is in good hands." +</P> + +<P> +One would think that Koenig would now feel himself in smooth water, and +receive a share of the good fortune which he had so laboriously +prepared for others. Nothing of the kind! His merits were disputed; +his rights were denied; his patents were infringed; and he never +received any solid advantages for his invention, until he left the +country and took refuge in Germany. It is true, he remained for a few +years longer, in charge of the manufactory in Whitecross Street, but +they were years to him of trouble and sorrow. +</P> + +<P> +In 1816, Koenig designed and superintended the construction of a single +cylinder registering machine for book-printing. This was supplied to +Bensley and Son, and turned out 1000 sheets, printed on both sides, in +the hour. Blumenbach's 'Physiology' was the first entire book printed +by steam, by this new machine. It was afterwards employed, in 1818, in +working off the Literary Gazette. A machine of the same kind was +supplied to Mr. Richard Taylor for the purpose of printing the +'Philosophical Magazine,' and books generally. This was afterwards +altered to a double machine, and employed for printing the Weekly +Dispatch. +</P> + +<P> +But what about Koenig's patents? They proved of little use to him. +They only proclaimed his methods, and enabled other ingenious mechanics +to borrow his adaptations. Now that he had succeeded in making +machines that would work, the way was clear for everybody else to +follow his footsteps. It had taken him more than six years to invent +and construct a successful steam printing press; but any clever +mechanic, by merely studying his specification, and examining his +machine at work, might arrive at the same results in less than a week. +</P> + +<P> +The patents did not protect him. New specifications, embodying some +modification or alteration in detail, were lodged by other inventors +and new patents taken out. New printing machines were constructed in +defiance of his supposed legal rights; and he found himself stripped of +the reward that he had been labouring for during so many long and +toilsome years. He could not go to law, and increase his own vexation +and loss. He might get into Chancery easy enough; but when would he +get out of it, and in what condition? +</P> + +<P> +It must also be added, that Koenig was unfortunate in his partner +Bensley. While the inventor was taking steps to push the sale of his +book-printing machines among the London printers, Bensley, who was +himself a book-printer, was hindering him in every way in his +negotiations. Koenig was of opinion that Bensley wished to retain the +exclusive advantage which the possession of his registering book +machine gave him over the other printers, by enabling him to print more +quickly and correctly than they could, and thus give him an advantage +over them in his printing contracts. +</P> + +<P> +When Koenig, in despair at his position, consulted counsel as to the +infringement of his patent, he was told that he might institute +proceedings with the best prospect of success; but to this end a +perfect agreement by the partners was essential. When, however, Koenig +asked Bensley to concur with him in taking proceedings in defence of +the patent right, the latter positively refused to do so. Indeed, +Koenig was under the impression that his partner had even entered into +an arrangement with the infringers of the patent to share with them the +proceeds of their piracy. +</P> + +<P> +Under these circumstances, it appeared to Koenig that only two +alternatives remained for him to adopt. One was to commence an +expensive, and it might be a protracted, suit in Chancery, in defence +of his patent rights, with possibly his partner, Bensley, against him; +and the other, to abandon his invention in England without further +struggle, and settle abroad. He chose the latter alternative, and left +England finally in August, 1817. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Richard Taylor, the other partner in the patent, was an honourable +man; but he could not control the proceedings of Bensley. In a memoir +published by him in the 'Philosophical Magazine,' "On the Invention and +First Introduction of Mr. Koenig's Printing Machine," in which he +honestly attributes to him the sole merit of the invention, he says, +"Mr. Koenig left England, suddenly, in disgust at the treacherous +conduct of Bensley, always shabby and overreaching, and whom he found +to be laying a scheme for defrauding his partners in the patents of all +the advantages to arise from them. Bensley, however, while he +destroyed the prospects of his partners, outwitted himself, and +grasping at all, lost all, becoming bankrupt in fortune as well as in +character."[6] +</P> + +<P> +Koenig was badly used throughout. His merits as an inventor were +denied. On the 3rd of January, 1818, after he had left England, +Bensley published a letter in the Literary Gazette, in which he speaks +of the printing machine as his own, without mentioning a word of +Koenig. The 'British Encyclopaedia,' in describing the inventors of +the printing machine, omitted the name of Koenig altogether. The +'Mechanics Magazine,' for September, 1847, attributed the invention to +the Proprietors of The Times, though Mr. Walter himself had said that +his share in the event had been "only the application of the +discovery;" and the late Mr. Bennet Woodcroft, usually a fair man, in +his introductory chapter to 'Patents for Inventions in Printing,' +attributes the merit to William Nicholson's patent (No. 1748), which, +he said, "produced an entire revolution in the mechanism of the art." +In other publications, the claims of Bacon and Donkin were put forward, +while those of the real inventor were ignored. The memoir of Koenig by +Mr. Richard Taylor, in the 'Philosophical Magazine,' was honest and +satisfactory; and should have set the question at rest. +</P> + +<P> +It may further be mentioned that William Nicholson,—who was a patent +agent, and a great taker out of patents, both in his own name and in +the names of others,—was the person employed by Koenig as his agent to +take the requisite steps for registering his invention. When Koenig +consulted him on the subject, Nicholson observed that "seventeen years +before he had taken out a patent for machine printing, but he had +abandoned it, thinking that it wouldn't do; and had never taken it up +again." Indeed, the two machines were on different principles. Nor +did Nicholson himself ever make any claim to priority of invention, +when the success of Koenig's machine was publicly proclaimed by Mr. +Walter of The Times some seven years later. +</P> + +<P> +When Koenig, now settled abroad, heard of the attempts made in England +to deny his merits as an inventor, he merely observed to his friend +Bauer, "It is really too bad that these people, who have already robbed +me of my invention, should now try to rob me of my reputation." Had he +made any reply to the charges against him, it might have been comprised +in a very few words: "When I arrived in England, no steam printing +machine had ever before been seen; when I left it, the only printing +machines in actual work were those which I had constructed." But +Koenig never took the trouble to defend the originality of his +invention in England, now that he had finally abandoned the field to +others. +</P> + +<P> +There can be no question as to the great improvements introduced in the +printing machine by Mr. Applegath and Mr. Cowper; by Messrs. Hoe and +Sons, of New York; and still later by the present Mr. Walter of The +Times, which have brought the art of machine printing to an +extraordinary degree of perfection and speed. But the original merits +of an invention are not to be determined by a comparison of the first +machine of the kind ever made with the last, after some sixty years' +experience and skill have been applied in bringing it to perfection. +Were the first condensing engine made at Soho—now to be seen at the +Museum in South Kensington—in like manner to be compared with the last +improved pumping-engine made yesterday, even the great James Watt might +be made out to have been a very poor contriver. It would be much +fairer to compare Koenig's steam-printing machine with the hand-press +newspaper printing machine which it superseded. Though there were steam +engines before Watt, and steamboats before Fulton, and steam +locomotives before Stephenson, there were no steam printing presses +before Koenig with which to compare them, Koenig's was undoubtedly the +first, and stood unequalled and alone. +</P> + +<P> +The rest of Koenig's life, after he retired to Germany, was spent in +industry, if not in peace and quietness. He could not fail to be cast +down by the utter failure of his English partnership, and the loss of +the fruits of his ingenious labours. But instead of brooding over his +troubles, he determined to break away from them, and begin the world +anew. He was only forty-three when he left England, and he might yet +be able to establish himself prosperously in life. He had his own head +and hands to help him. +</P> + +<P> +Though England was virtually closed against him, the whole continent of +Europe was open to him, and presented a wide field for the sale of his +printing machines. +</P> + +<P> +While residing in England, Koenig had received many communications from +influential printers in Germany. Johann Spencer and George Decker +wrote to him in 1815, asking for particulars about his invention; but +finding his machine too expensive,[7] the latter commissioned Koenig to +send him a Stanhope printing press—the first ever introduced into +Germany—the price of which was 95L. Koenig did this service for his +friend, for although he stood by the superior merits of his own +invention, he was sufficiently liberal to recognise the merits of the +inventions of others. Now that he was about to settle in Germany, he +was able to supply his friends and patrons on the spot. +</P> + +<P> +The question arose, where was he to settle? He made enquiries about +sites along the Rhine, the Neckar, and the Main. At last he was +attracted by a specially interesting spot at Oberzell on the Main, near +Wurzburg. It was an old disused convent of the Praemonstratensian +monks. The place was conveniently situated for business, being nearly +in the centre of Germany. The Bavarian Government, desirous of giving +encouragement to so useful a genius, granted Koenig the use of the +secularised monastery on easy terms; and there accordingly he began his +operations in the course of the following year. Bauer soon joined him, +with an order from Mr. Walter for an improved Times machine; and the +two men entered into a partnership which lasted for life. +</P> + +<P> +The partners had at first great difficulties to encounter in getting +their establishment to work. Oberzell was a rural village, containing +only common labourers, from whom they had to select their workmen. +Every person taken into the concern had to be trained and educated to +mechanical work by the partners themselves. With indescribable +patience they taught these labourers the use of the hammer, the file, +the turning-lathe, and other tools, which the greater number of them +had never before seen, and of whose uses they were entirely ignorant. +The machinery of the workshop was got together with equal difficulty +piece by piece, some of the parts from a great distance,—the +mechanical arts being then at a very low ebb in Germany, which was +still suffering from the effects of the long continental war. +</P> + +<P> +At length the workshop was fitted up, the old barn of the monastery +being converted into an iron foundry. +</P> + +<P> +Orders for printing machines were gradually obtained. The first came +from Brockhaus, of Leipzig. By the end of the fourth year two other +single-cylinder machines were completed and sent to Berlin, for use in +the State printing office. By the end of the eighth year seven +double-cylinder steam presses had been manufactured for the largest +newspaper printers in Germany. The recognised excellence of Koenig and +Bauer's book-printing machines—their perfect register, and the quality +of the work they turned out—secured for them an increasing demand, and +by the year 1829 the firm had manufactured fifty-one machines for the +leading book printers throughout Germany. The Oberzell manufactory was +now in full work, and gave regular employment to about 120 men. +</P> + +<P> +A period of considerable depression followed. As was the case in +England, the introduction of the printing machine in Germany excited +considerable hostility among the pressmen. In some of the principal +towns they entered into combinations to destroy them, and several +printing machines were broken by violence and irretrievably injured. +But progress could not be stopped; the printing machine had been fairly +born, and must eventually do its work for mankind. These combinations, +however, had an effect for a time. They deterred other printers from +giving orders for the machines; and Koenig and Bauer were under the +necessity of suspending their manufacture to a considerable extent. To +keep their men employed, the partners proceeded to fit up a paper +manufactory, Mr. Cotta, of Stuttgart, joining them in the adventure; +and a mill was fitted up, embodying all the latest improvements in +paper-making. +</P> + +<P> +Koenig, however, did not live to enjoy the fruits or all his study, +labour, toil, and anxiety; for, while this enterprise was still in +progress, and before the machine trade had revived, he was taken ill, +and confined to bed. He became sleepless; his nerves were unstrung; +and no wonder. Brain disease carried him off on the 17th of January, +1833; and this good, ingenious, and admirable inventor was removed from +all further care and trouble. +</P> + +<P> +He died at the early age of fifty-eight, respected and beloved by all +who knew him. +</P> + +<P> +His partner Bauer survived to continue the business for twenty years +longer. It was during this later period that the Oberzell manufactory +enjoyed its greatest prosperity. The prejudices of the workmen +gradually subsided when they found that machine printing, instead of +abridging employment, as they feared it would do, enormously increased +it; and orders accordingly flowed in from Berlin, Vienna, and all the +leading towns and cities of Germany, Austria, Denmark, Russia, and +Sweden. The six hundredth machine, turned out in 1847, was capable of +printing 6000 impressions in the hour. In March, 1865, the thousandth +machine was completed at Oberzell, on the occasion of the celebration +of the fifty years' jubilee of the invention of the steam press by +Koenig. +</P> + +<P> +The sons of Koenig carried on the business; and in the biography by +Goebel, it is stated that the manufactory of Oberzell has now turned +out no fewer than 3000 printing machines. The greater number have been +supplied to Germany; but 660 were sent to Russia, 61 to Asia, 12 to +England, and 11 to America. The rest were despatched to Italy, +Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Holland, and other countries. +</P> + +<P> +It remains to be said that Koenig and Bauer, united in life, were not +divided by death. Bauer died on February 27, 1860, and the remains of +the partners now lie side by side in the little cemetery at Oberzell, +close to the scene of their labours and the valuable establishment +which they founded. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Footnotes for Chapter VI. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] Koenig's letter in The Times, 8th December, 1814 +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[2] Koenig's letter in The Times, 8th December, 1814. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[3] Date of Patent, 29th April, 1790, No. 1748, +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[4] Koenig's letter in The Times, 8th December, 1814. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[5] Mr. Richard Taylor, one of the partners in the patent, says, "Mr. +Perry declined, alleging that he did not consider a newspaper worth so +many years' purchase as would equal the cost of the machine." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[6] Mr. Richard Taylor, F.S.A., memoir in 'Philosophical Magazine' for +October 1847, p. 300. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[7] The price of a single cylinder non-registering machine was +advertised at 900L.; of a double ditto, 1400L.; and of a cylinder +registering machine, 2000L.; added to which was 250L., 350L., and 500L. +per annum for each of these machines so long as the patent lasted, or +an agreed sum to be paid down at once. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WALTERS OF THE TIMES: INVENTION OF THE WALTER PRESS. +</H3> + +<P> +"Intellect and industry are never incompatible. There is more wisdom, +and will be more benefit, in combining them than scholars like to +believe, or than the common world imagine. Life has time enough for +both, and its happiness will be increased by the union."—SHARON TURNER. +</P> + +<P> +"I have beheld with most respect the man Who knew himself, and knew the +ways before him, And from among them chose considerately, With a clear +foresight, not a blindfold courage; And, having chosen, with a +steadfast mind Pursued his purpose." HENRY TAYLOR—Philip van Artevelde. +</P> + +<P> +The late John Walter, who adopted Koenig's steam printing press in +printing The Times, was virtually the inventor of the modern newspaper. +The first John Walter, his father, learnt the art of printing in the +office of Dodsley, the proprietor of the 'Annual Register.' He +afterwards pursued the profession of an underwriter, but his fortunes +were literally shipwrecked by the capture of a fleet of merchantmen by +a French squadron. Compelled by this loss to return to his trade, he +succeeded in obtaining the publication of 'Lloyd's List,' as well as +the printing of the Board of Customs. He also established himself as a +publisher and bookseller at No. 8, Charing Cross. But his principal +achievement was in founding The Times newspaper. +</P> + +<P> +The Daily Universal Register was started on the 1st of January, 1785, +and was described in the heading as "printed logographically." The +type had still to be composed, letter by letter, each placed alongside +of its predecessor by human fingers. Mr. Walter's invention consisted +in using stereotyped words and parts of words instead of separate metal +letters, by which a certain saving of time and labour was effected. +The name of the 'Register' did not suit, there being many other +publications bearing a similar title. Accordingly, it was re-named The +Times, and the first number was issued from Printing House Square on +the 1st of January, 1788. +</P> + +<P> +The Times was at first a very meagre publication. It was not much +bigger than a number of the old 'Penny Magazine,' containing a single +short leader on some current topic, without any pretensions to +excellence; some driblets of news spread out in large type; half a +column of foreign intelligence, with a column of facetious paragraphs +under the heading of "The Cuckoo;" while the rest of each number +consisted of advertisements. Notwithstanding the comparative innocence +of the contents of the early numbers of the paper, certain passages +which appeared in it on two occasions subjected the publisher to +imprisonment in Newgate. The extent of the offence, on one occasion, +consisted in the publication of a short paragraph intimating that their +Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York had "so +demeaned themselves as to incur the just disapprobation of his +Majesty!" For such slight offences were printers sent to gaol in those +days. +</P> + +<P> +Although the first Mr. Walter was a man of considerable business +ability, his exertions were probably too much divided amongst a variety +of pursuits to enable him to devote that exclusive attention to The +Times which was necessary to ensure its success. +</P> + +<P> +He possibly regarded it, as other publishers of newspapers then did, +mainly as a means of obtaining a profitable business in job-printing. +Hence, in the elder Walter's hands, the paper was not only unprofitable +in itself, but its maintenance became a source of gradually increasing +expenditure; and the proprietor seriously contemplated its +discontinuance. +</P> + +<P> +At this juncture, John Walter, junior, who had been taken into the +business as a partner, entreated his father to entrust him with the +sole conduct of the paper, and to give it "one more trial." This was +at the beginning of 1803. The new editor and conductor was then only +twenty-seven years of age. He had been trained to the manual work of a +printer "at case," and passed through nearly every department in the +office, literary and mechanical. But in the first place, he had +received a very liberal education, first at Merchant Taylors' School, +and afterwards at Trinity College, Oxford, where he pursued his +classical studies with much success. He was thus a man of +well-cultured mind; he had been thoroughly disciplined to work; he was, +moreover, a man of tact and energy, full of expedients, and possessed +by a passion for business. His father, urged by the young man's +entreaties, at length consented, although not without misgivings, to +resign into his hands the entire future control of The Times. +</P> + +<P> +Young Walter proceeded forthwith to remodel the establishment, and to +introduce improvements into every department, as far as the scanty +capital at his command would admit. Before he assumed the direction, +The Times did not seek to guide opinion or to exercise political +influence. It was a scanty newspaper—nothing more, Any political +matters referred to were usually introduced in "Letters to the Editor," +in the form in which Junius's Letters first appeared in the Public +Advertiser. The comments on political affairs by the Editor were +meagre and brief, and confined to a mere statement of supposed facts. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Walter, very much to the dismay of his father, struck out an +entirely new course. He boldly stated his views on public affairs, +bringing his strong and original judgment to bear upon the political +and social topics of the day. He carefully watched and closely studied +public opinion, and discussed general questions in all their bearings. +He thus invented the modern Leading Article. The adoption of an +independent line of politics necessarily led him to canvass freely, and +occasionally to condemn, the measures of the Government. Thus, he had +only been about a year in office as editor, when the Sidmouth +Administration was succeeded by that of Mr. Pitt, under whom Lord +Melville undertook the unfortunate Catamaran expedition. His +Lordship's malpractices in the Navy Department had also been brought to +light by the Commissioners of Naval Inquiry. On both these topics Mr. +Walter spoke out freely in terms of reprobation; and the result was, +that the printing for the Customs and the Government advertisements +were at once removed from The Times office. +</P> + +<P> +Two years later Mr. Pitt died, and an Administration succeeded which +contained a portion of the political chiefs whom the editor had +formerly supported on his undertaking the management of the paper. He +was invited by one of them to state the injustice which had been done +to him by the loss of the Customs printing, and a memorial to the +Treasury was submitted for his signature, with a view to its recovery. +But believing that the reparation of the injury in this manner was +likely to be considered as a favour, entitling those who granted it to +a certain degree of influence over the politics of the journal, Walter +refused to sign it, or to have any concern in presenting the memorial. +He did more; he wrote to those from whom the restoration of the +employment was expected to come, disavowing all connection with the +proceeding. The matter then dropped, and the Customs printing was +never restored to the office. +</P> + +<P> +This course was so unprecedented, and, as his father thought, was so +very wrong-headed, that young Walter had for some time considerable +difficulty in holding his ground and maintaining the independent +position he had assumed. But with great tenacity of purpose he held on +his course undismayed. He was a man who looked far ahead,—not so much +taking into account the results at the end of each day or of each year, +but how the plan he had laid down for conducting the paper would work +out in the long run. And events proved that the high-minded course he +had pursued with so much firmness of purpose was the wisest course +after all. +</P> + +<P> +Another feature in the management which showed clear-sightedness and +business acuteness, was the pains which the Editor took to ensure +greater celerity of information and dispatch in printing. The expense +which he incurred in carrying out these objects excited the serious +displeasure of his father, who regarded them as acts of juvenile folly +and extravagance. Another circumstance strongly roused the old man's +wrath. It appears that in those days the insertion of theatrical puffs +formed a considerable source of newspaper income; and yet young Walter +determined at once to abolish them. It is not a little remarkable that +these earliest acts of Mr. Walter—which so clearly marked his +enterprise and high-mindedness—should have been made the subject of +painful comments in his father's will. +</P> + +<P> +Notwithstanding this serious opposition from within, the power and +influence of the paper visibly and rapidly grew. The new Editor +concentrated in the columns of his paper a range of information such as +had never before been attempted, or indeed thought possible. His +vigilant eye was directed to every detail of his business. He greatly +improved the reporting of public meetings, the money market, and other +intelligence,—aiming at greater fulness and accuracy. In the +department of criticism his labours were unwearied. He sought to +elevate the character of the paper, and rendered it more dignified by +insisting that it should be impartial. He thus conferred the greatest +public service upon literature, the drama, and the fine arts, by +protecting them against the evil influences of venal panegyric on the +one hand, and of prejudiced hostility on the other. +</P> + +<P> +But the most remarkable feature of The Times that which emphatically +commended it to public support and ensured its commercial success—was +its department of foreign intelligence. At the time that Walter +undertook the management of the journal, Europe was a vast theatre of +war; and in the conduct of commercial affairs—not to speak of +political movements—it was of the most vital importance that early +information should be obtained of affairs on the Continent. The Editor +resolved to become himself the purveyor of foreign intelligence, and at +great expense he despatched his agents in all directions, even in the +track of armies; while others were employed, under various disguises +and by means of sundry pretexts, in many parts of the Continent. These +agents collected information, and despatched it to London, often at +considerable risks, for publication in The Times, where it usually +appeared long in advance of the government despatches. +</P> + +<P> +The late Mr. Pryme, in his 'Autobiographic Recollections,' mentions a +visit which he paid to Mr. Walter at his seat at Bearwood. "He +described to me," says Mr. Pryme, "the cause of the large extension in +the circulation of The Times. He was the first to establish a foreign +correspondent. This was Henry Crabb Robinson, at a salary of 300L. a +year.... Mr. Walter also established local reporters, instead of +copying from the country papers. His father doubted the wisdom of such +a large expenditure, but the son prophesied a gradual and certain +success, which has actually been realised." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Robinson has described in his Diary the manner in which he became +connected with the foreign correspondence. "In January, 1807," he +says, "I received, through my friend J.D. Collier, a proposal from Mr. +Walter that I should take up my residence at Altona, and become The +Times correspondent. I was to receive from the editor of the +'Hamburger Correspondenten' all the public documents at his disposal, +and was to have the benefit also of a mass of information, of which the +restraints of the German Press did not permit him to avail himself. +The honorarium I was to receive was ample with my habits of life. I +gladly accepted the offer, and never repented having done so. My +acquaintance with Mr. Walter ripened into friendship, and lasted as +long as he lived."[1] +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Robinson was forced to leave Germany by the Battle of Friedland and +the Treaty of Tilsit, which resulted in the naval coalition against +England. Returning to London, he became foreign editor of The Times +until the following year, when he proceeded to Spain as foreign +correspondent. Mr. Walter had also an agent in the track of the army +in the unfortunate Walcheren expedition; and The Times announced the +capitulation of Flushing forty-eight hours before the news had arrived +by any other channel. By this prompt method of communicating public +intelligence, the practice, which had previously existed, of +systematically retarding the publication of foreign news by officials +at the General Post Office, who made gain by selling them to the +Lombard Street brokers, was effectually extinguished. +</P> + +<P> +This circumstance, as well as the independent course which Mr. Walter +adopted in the discussion of foreign politics, explains in some measure +the opposition which he had to encounter in the transmission of his +despatches. As early as the year 1805, when he had come into collision +with the Government and lost the Customs printing, The Times despatches +were regularly stopped at the outports, whilst those for the +Ministerial journals were allowed to proceed. This might have crushed +a weaker man, but it did not crush Walter. Of course he expostulated. +He was informed at the Home Secretary's office that he might be +permitted to receive his foreign papers as a favour. But as this +implied the expectation of a favour from him in return, the proposal +was rejected; and, determined not to be baffled, he employed special +couriers, at great cost, for the purpose of obtaining the earliest +transmission of foreign intelligence. +</P> + +<P> +These important qualities—enterprise, energy, business tact, and +public spirit—sufficiently account for his remarkable success. To +these, however, must be added another of no small +importance—discernment and knowledge of character. Though himself the +head and front of his enterprise, it was necessary that he should +secure the services and co-operation of men of first-rate ability; and +in the selection of such men his judgment was almost unerring. By his +discernment and munificence, he collected round him some of the ablest +writers of the age. These were frequently revealed to him in the +communications of correspondents—the author of the letters signed +"Vetus" being thus selected to write in the leading columns of the +Paper. But Walter himself was the soul of The Times. It was he who +gave the tone to its articles, directed its influence, and +superintended its entire conduct with unremitting vigilance. +</P> + +<P> +Even in conducting the mechanical arrangements of the paper—a business +of no small difficulty—he had often occasion to exercise promptness +and boldness of decision in cases of emergency. Printers in those days +were a rather refractory class of work men, and not unfrequently took +advantage of their position to impose hard terms on their employers, +especially in the daily press, where everything must be promptly done +within a very limited time. Thus on one occasion, in 1810, the +pressmen made a sudden demand upon the proprietor for an increase of +wages, and insisted upon a uniform rate being paid to all hands, +whether good or bad. Walter was at first disposed to make concessions +to the men; but having been privately informed that a combination was +already entered into by the compositors, as well as by the pressmen, to +leave his employment suddenly, under circumstances that would have +stopped the publication of the paper, and inflicted on him the most +serious injury, he determined to run all risks, rather than submit to +what now appeared to him in the light of an extortion. +</P> + +<P> +The strike took place on a Saturday morning, when suddenly, and without +notice, all the hands turned out. Mr. Walter had only a few hours' +notice of it, but he had already resolved upon his course. He +collected apprentices from half a dozen different quarters, and a few +inferior workmen, who were glad to obtain employment on any terms. He +himself stript to his shirt-sleeves, and went to work with the rest; +and for the next six-and-thirty hours he was incessantly employed at +case and at press. On the Monday morning, the conspirators, who had +assembled to triumph over his ruin, to their inexpressible amazement +saw The Times issue from the publishing office at the usual hour, +affording a memorable example of what one man's resolute energy may +accomplish in a moment of difficulty. +</P> + +<P> +The journal continued to appear with regularity, though the printers +employed at the office lived in a state of daily peril. The +conspirators, finding themselves baffled, resolved upon trying another +game. They contrived to have two of the men employed by Walter as +compositors apprehended as deserters from the Royal Navy. The men were +taken before the magistrate; but the charge was only sustained by the +testimony of clumsy, perjured witnesses, and fell to the ground. The +turn-outs next proceeded to assault the new hands, when Mr. Walter +resolved to throw around them the protection of the law. By the advice +of counsel, he had twenty-one of the conspirators apprehended and +tried, and nineteen of them were found guilty and condemned to various +periods of imprisonment. From that moment combination was at an end in +Printing House Square. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Walter's greatest achievement was his successful application of +steam power to newspaper printing. Although he had greatly improved +the mechanical arrangements after he took command of the paper, the +rate at which the copies could be printed off remained almost +stationary. It took a very long time indeed to throw off, by the +hand-labour of pressmen, the three or four thousand copies which then +constituted the ordinary circulation of The Times. On the occasion of +any event of great public interest being reported in the paper, it was +found almost impossible to meet the demand for copies. Only about 300 +copies could be printed in the hour, with one man to ink the types and +another to work the press, while the labour was very severe. Thus it +took a long time to get out the daily impression, and very often the +evening papers were out before The Times had half supplied the demand. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Walter could not brook the tedium of this irksome and laborious +process. To increase the number of impressions, he resorted to various +expedients. The type was set up in duplicate, and even in triplicate; +several Stanhope presses were kept constantly at work; and still the +insatiable demands of the newsmen on certain occasions could not be +met. Thus the question was early forced upon his consideration, +whether he could not devise machinery for the purpose of expediting the +production of newspapers. Instead of 300 impressions an hour, he +wanted from 1500 to 2000. Although such a speed as this seemed quite +as chimerical as propelling a ship through the water against wind and +tide at fifteen miles an hour, or running a locomotive on a railway at +fifty, yet Mr. Walter was impressed with the conviction that a much +more rapid printing of newspapers was feasible than by the slow +hand-labour process; and he endeavoured to induce several ingenious +mechanical contrivers to take up and work out his idea. +</P> + +<P> +The principle of producing impressions by means of a cylinder, and of +inking the types by means of a roller, was not new. We have seen, in +the preceding memoir, that as early as 1790 William Nicholson had +patented such a method, but his scheme had never been brought into +practical operation. Mr. Walter endeavoured to enlist Marc Isambard +Brunel—one of the cleverest inventors of the day—in his proposed +method of rapid printing by machinery; but after labouring over a +variety of plans for a considerable time, Brunel finally gave up the +printing machine, unable to make anything of it. Mr. Walter next tried +Thomas Martyn, an ingenious young compositor, who had a scheme for a +self-acting machine for working the printing press. He was supplied +with the necessary funds to enable him to prosecute his idea; but Mr. +Walter's father was opposed to the scheme, and when the funds became +exhausted, this scheme also fell to the ground. +</P> + +<P> +As years passed on, and the circulation of the paper increased, the +necessity for some more expeditious method of printing became still +more urgent. Although Mr. Walter had declined to enter into an +arrangement with Bensley in 1809, before Koenig had completed his +invention of printing by cylinders, it was different five years later, +when Koenig's printing machine was actually at work. In the preceding +memoir, the circumstances connected with the adoption of the invention +by Mr. Walter are fully related; as well as the announcement made in +The Times on the 29th of November, 1814—the day on which the first +newspaper printed by steam was given to the world. +</P> + +<P> +But Koenig's printing machine was but the beginning of a great new +branch of industry. After he had left this country in disgust, it +remained for others to perfect the invention; although the ingenious +German was entitled to the greatest credit for having made the first +satisfactory beginning. Great inventions are not brought forth at a +heat. They are begun by one man, improved by another, and perfected by +a whole host of mechanical inventors. Numerous patents were taken out +for the mechanical improvement of printing. Donkin and Bacon contrived +a machine in 1813, in which the types were placed on a revolving prism. +One of them was made for the University of Cambridge, but it was found +too complicated; the inking was defective; and the project was +abandoned. +</P> + +<P> +In 1816, Mr. Cowper obtained a patent (No.3974) entitled, "A Method of +Printing Paper for Paper Hangings, and Other Purposes." +</P> + +<P> +The principal feature of this invention consisted in the curving or +bending of stereotype plates for the purpose of being printed in that +form. A number of machines for printing in two colours, in exact +register, was made for the Bank of England, and four millions of One +Pound notes were printed before the Bank Directors determined to +abolish their further issue. The regular mode of producing stereotype +plates, from plaster of Paris moulds, took so much time, that they +could not then be used for newspaper printing. +</P> + +<P> +Two years later, in 1818, Mr. Cowper invented and patented (No. 4194) +his great improvements in printing. It may be mentioned that he was +then himself a printer, in partnership with Mr. Applegath, his +brother-in-law. His invention consisted in the perfect distribution of +the ink, by giving end motion to the rollers, so as to get a +distribution crossways, as well as lengthways. This principle is at +the very foundation of good printing, and has been adopted in every +machine since made. The very first experiment proved that the +principle was right. Mr. Cowper was asked by Mr. Walter to alter +Koenig's machine at The Times office, so as to obtain good +distribution. He adopted two of Nicholson's single cylinders and flat +formes of type. Two "drums" were placed betwixt the cylinders to +ensure accuracy in the register,—over and under which the sheet was +conveyed in it s progress from one cylinder to the other,—the sheet +being at all times firmly held between two tapes, which bound it to the +cylinders and drums. This is commonly called, in the trade, a +"perfecting machine;" that is, it printed the paper on both sides +simultaneously, and is still much used for "book-work," whilst single +cylinder machines are often used for provincial newspapers. +</P> + +<P> +After this, Mr. Cowper designed the four cylinder machine for The +Times,—by means of which from 4000 to 5000 sheets could be printed +from one forme in the hour. In 1823, Mr. Applegath invented an +improvement in the inking apparatus, by placing the distributing +rollers at an angle across the distributing table, instead of forcing +them endways by other means. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Walter continued to devote the same unremitting attention to his +business as before. He looked into all the details, was familiar with +every department, and, on an emergency, was willing to lend a hand in +any work requiring more than ordinary despatch. +</P> + +<P> +Thus, it is related of him that, in the spring of 1833, shortly after +his return to Parliament as Member for Berkshire, he was at The Times +office one day, when an express arrived from Paris, bringing the speech +of the King of the French on the opening of the Chambers. The express +arrived at 10 A.M., after the day's impression of the paper had been +published, and the editors and compositors had left the office. It was +important that the speech should be published at once; and Mr. Walter +immediately set to work upon it. He first translated the document; +then, assisted by one compositor, he took his place at the type-case, +and set it up. To the amazement of one of the staff, who dropped in +about noon, he "found Mr. Walter, M.P. for Berks, working in his +shirt-sleeves!" The speech was set and printed, and the second edition +was in the City by one o'clock. Had he not "turned to" as he did, the +whole expense of the express service would have been lost. And it is +probable that there was not another man in the whole establishment who +could have performed the double work—intellectual and physical—which +he that day executed with his own head and hands. +</P> + +<P> +Such an incident curiously illustrates his eminent success in life. It +was simply the result of persevering diligence, which shrank from no +effort and neglected no detail; as well as of prudence allied to +boldness, but certainly not "of chance;" and, above all, of highminded +integrity and unimpeachable honesty. It is perhaps unnecessary to add +more as to the merits of Mr. Walter as a man of enterprise in business, +or as a public man and a Member of Parliament. The great work of his +life was the development of his journal, the history of which forms the +best monument to his merits and his powers. +</P> + +<P> +The progressive improvement of steam printing machinery was not +affected by Mr. Walter's death, which occurred in 1847. He had given +it an impulse which it never lost. In 1846 Mr. Applegath patented +certain important improvements in the steam press. The general +disposition of his new machine was that of a vertical cylinder 200 +inches in circumference, holding on it the type and distributing +surfaces, and surrounded alternately by inking rollers and pressing +cylinders. Mr. Applegath estimated in his specification that in his +new vertical system the machine, with eight cylinders, would print +about 10,000 sheets per hour. The new printing press came into use in +1848, and completely justified the anticipations of its projector. +</P> + +<P> +Applegath's machine, though successfully employed at The Times office, +did not come into general use. It was, to a large extent, superseded +by the invention of Richard M. Hoe, of New York. Hoe's process +consisted in placing the types upon a horizontal cylinder, against +which the sheets were pressed by exterior and smaller cylinders. The +types were arranged in segments of a circle, each segment forming a +frame that could be fixed on the cylinder. These printing machines +were made with from two to ten subsidiary cylinders. The first presses +sent by Messrs. Hoe & Co. to this country were for Lloyd's Weekly +Newspaper, and were of the six-cylinder size. These were followed by +two ten-cylinder machines, ordered by the present Mr. Walter, for The +Times. Other English newspaper proprietors—both in London and the +provinces—were supplied with the machines, as many as thirty-five +having been imported from America between 1856 and 1862. It may be +mentioned that the two ten-cylinder Hoes made for The Times were driven +at the rate of thirty-two revolutions per minute, which gives a +printing rate of 19,200 per hour, or about 16,000 including stoppages. +</P> + +<P> +Much of the ingenuity exercised both in the Applegath and Hoe Machines +was directed to the "chase," which had to hold securely upon its curved +face the mass of movable type required to form a page. And now the +enterprise of the proprietor of The Times again came to the front. The +change effected in the art of newspaper-printing, by the process of +stereotypes, is scarcely inferior to that by which the late Mr. Walter +applied steam-power to the printing press, and certainly equal to that +by which the rotary press superseded the reciprocatory action of the +flat machine. +</P> + +<P> +Stereotyping has a curious history. Many attempts were made to obtain +solid printing-surfaces by transfer from similar surfaces, composed, in +the first place, of movable types. The first who really succeeded was +one Ged, an Edinburgh goldsmith, who, after a series of difficult +experiments, arrived at a knowledge of the art of stereotyping. The +first method employed was to pour liquid stucco, of the consistency of +cream, over the types; and this, when solid, gave a perfect mould. +Into this the molten metal was poured, and a plate was produced, +accurately resembling the page of type. As long ago as 1730, Ged +obtained a privilege from the University of Cambridge for printing +Bibles and Prayer-books after this method. But the workmen were dead +against it, as they thought it would destroy their trade. The +compositors and the pressmen purposely battered the letters in the +absence of their employers. In consequence of this interference Ged +was ruined, and died in poverty. +</P> + +<P> +The art had, however, been born, and could not be kept down. It was +revived in France, in Germany, and in America. Fifty years after the +discovery of Ged, Tilloch and Foulis, of Glasgow, patented a similar +invention, without knowing anything of what Ged had done; and after +great labour and many experiments, they produced plates, the +impressions from which could not be distinguished from those taken +from the types from which they were cast. Some years afterwards, Lord +Stanhope, to whom the art of printing is much indebted, greatly +improved the art of stereotyping, though it was still quite +inapplicable to newspaper printing. The merit of this latter invention +is due to the enterprise of the present proprietor of The Times. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Walter began his experiments, aided by an ingenious Italian founder +named Dellagana, early in 1856. It was ascertained that when +papier-mache matrices were rapidly dried and placed in a mould, +separate columns might be cast in them with stereotype metal, type +high, planed flat, and finished with sufficient speed to get up the +duplicate of a forme of four pages fitted for printing. Steps were +taken to adapt these type-high columns to the Applegath Presses, then +worked with polygonal chases. When the Hoe machines were introduced, +instead of dealing with the separate columns, the papier-mache matrix +was taken from the whole page at one operation, by roller-presses +constructed for the purpose. The impression taken off in this manner +is as perfect as if it had been made in the finest wax. The matrix is +rapidly dried on heating surfaces, and then accurately adjusted in a +casting machine curved to the exact circumference of the main drum of +the printing press, and fitted with a terra-cotta top to secure a +casting of uniform thickness. On pouring stereotype metal into this +mould, a curved plate was obtained, which, after undergoing a certain +amount of trimming at two machines, could be taken to press and set to +work within twenty-five minutes from the time at which the process +began. +</P> + +<P> +Besides the great advantages obtained from uniform sets of the plates, +which might be printed on different machines at the rate of 50,000 +impressions an hour, or such additional number as might be required, +there is this other great advantage, that there is no wear and tear of +type in the curved chases by obstructive friction; and that the fount, +instead of wearing out in two years, might last for twenty; for the +plates, after doing their work for one day, are melted down into a new +impression for the next day's printing. At the same time, the original +type-page, safe from injury, can be made to yield any number of copies +that may be required by the exigencies of the circulation. It will be +sufficiently obvious that by the multiplication of stereotype plates +and printing machines, there is practically no limit to the number of +copies of a newspaper that may be printed within the time which the +process now usually occupies. +</P> + +<P> +This new method of newspaper stereotyping was originally employed on +the cylinders of the Applegath and Hoe Presses. But it is equally +applicable to those of the Walter Press, a brief description of which +we now subjoin. As the construction of the first steam newspaper +machine was due to the enterprise of the late Mr. Walter, so the +construction of this last and most improved machine is due in like +manner to the enterprise of his son. The new Walter Press is not, like +Applegath and Cowper's, and Hoe's, the improvement of an existing +arrangement, but an almost entirely original invention. +</P> + +<P> +In the Reports of the Jurors on the "Plate, Letterpress, and other +modes of Printing," at the International Exhibition of 1862, the +following passage occurs:—"It is incumbent on the reporters to point +out that, excellent and surprising as are the results achieved by the +Hoe and Applegath Machines, they cannot be considered satisfactory +while those machines themselves are so liable to stoppages in working. +No true mechanic can contrast the immense American ten-cylinder presses +of The Times with the simple calico-printing machine, without feeling +that the latter furnishes the true type to which the mechanism for +newspaper printing should as much as possible approximate." +</P> + +<P> +On this principle, so clearly put forward, the Inventors of the Walter +Press proceeded in the contrivance of the new machine. It is true that +William Nicholson, in his patent of 1790, prefigured the possibility of +printing on "paper, linen, cotton, woollen, and other articles," by +means of type fixed on the outer surface of a revolving cylinder; but +no steps were taken to carry his views into effect. Sir Rowland Hill +also, before he became connected with Post Office reform, revived the +contrivance of Nicholson, and referred to it in his patent of 1835 (No. +6762); and he also proposed to use continuous rolls of paper, which +Fourdrinier and Donkin had made practicable by their invention of the +paper-making machine about the year 1804; but both Nicholson's and +Hill's patents remained a dead letter.[2] +</P> + +<P> +It may be easy to conceive a printing machine, or even to make a model +of one; but to construct an actual working printing press, that must be +sure and unfailing in its operations, is a matter surrounded with +difficulties. At every step fresh contrivances have to be introduced; +they have to be tried again and again; perhaps they are eventually +thrown aside to give place to new arrangements. Thus the head of the +inventor is kept in a state of constant turmoil. Sometimes the whole +machine has to be remodelled from beginning to end. One step is gained +by degrees, then another; and at last, after years of labour, the new +invention comes before the world in the form of a practical working +machine. +</P> + +<P> +In 1862 Mr. Walter began in The Times office, with tools and machinery +of his own, experiments for constructing a perfecting press which +should print the paper from rolls of paper instead of from sheets. +Like his father, Mr. Walter possessed an excellent discrimination of +character, and selected the best men to aid him in his important +undertaking. Numerous difficulties had, of course, to be surmounted. +Plans were varied from time to time; new methods were tried, altered, +and improved, simplification being aimed at throughout. Six long years +passed in this pursuit of the possible. At length the clear light +dawned. In 1868 Mr. Walter ventured to order the construction of three +machines on the pattern of the first complete one which had been made. +By the end of 1869 these were finished and placed in a room by +themselves; and a fourth was afterwards added. There the printing of +The Times is now done, in less than half the time it previously +occupied, and with one-fifth the number of hands. +</P> + +<P> +The most remarkable feature in the Walter Press is its wonderful +simplicity of construction. Simplicity of arrangement is always the +beau ideal of the mechanical engineer. This printing press is not only +simple, but accurate, compact, rapid, and economical. +</P> + +<P> +While each of the ten-feeder Hoe Machines occupies a large and lofty +room, and requires eighteen men to feed and work it, the new Walter +Machine occupies a space of only about 14 feet by 5, or less than any +newspaper machine yet introduced; and it requires only three lads to +take away, with half the attention of an overseer, who easily +superintends two of the machines while at work. The Hoe Machine turns +out 7000 impressions printed on both sides in the hour, whereas the +Walter Machine turns out 12,000 impressions completed in the same time. +</P> + +<P> +The new Walter Press does not in the least resemble any existing +printing machine, unless it be the calendering machine which furnished +its type. At the printing end it looks like a collection of small +cylinders or rollers. The first thing to be observed is the continuous +roll of paper four miles long, tightly mounted on a reel, which, when +the machine is going, flies round with immense rapidity. The web of +paper taken up by the first roller is led into a series of small hollow +cylinders filled with water and steam, perforated with thousands of +minute holes. By this means the paper is properly damped before the +process of printing is begun. The roll of paper, drawn by nipping +rollers, next flies through to the cylinder on which the stereotype +plates are fixed, so as to form the four pages of the ordinary sheet of +The Times; there it is lightly pressed against the type and printed; +then it passes downwards round another cylinder covered with cloth, and +reversed; next to the second type-covered roller, where it takes the +impression exactly on the other side of the remaining four pages. It +next reaches one of the most ingenious contrivances of the +invention—the cutting machinery, by means of which the paper is +divided by a quick knife into the 5500 sheets of which the entire web +consists. The tapes hurry the now completely printed newspaper up an +inclined plane, from which the divided sheets are showered down in a +continuous stream by an oscillating frame, where they are met by two +boys, who adjust the sheets as they fall. The reel of four miles long +is printed and divided into newspapers complete in about twenty-five +minutes. +</P> + +<P> +The machine is almost entirely self-acting, from the pumping-up of the +ink into the ink-box out of the cistern below stairs, to the +registering of the numbers as they are printed in the manager's room +above. It is always difficult to describe a machine in words. Nothing +but a series of sections and diagrams could give the reader an idea of +the construction of this unrivalled instrument. The time to see it and +wonder at it is when the press is in full work. And even then you can +see but little of its construction, for the cylinders are wheeling +round with immense velocity. The rapidity with which the machine works +may be inferred from the fact that the printing cylinders (round which +the stereotyped plates are fixed), while making their impressions on +the paper, travel at the surprising speed of 200 revolutions a minute, +or at the rate of about nine miles an hour! +</P> + +<P> +Contrast this speed with the former slowness. Go back to the beginning +of the century. Before the year 1814 the turn-out of newspapers was +only about 300 single impressions in an hour—that is, impressions +printed on only one side of the paper. Koenig by his invention +increased the issue to 1100 impressions. Applegath and Cowper by their +four-cylinder machine increased the issue to 4000, and by the +eight-cylinder machine to 10,000 an hour. But these were only +impressions printed on one side of the paper. The first perfecting +press—that is, printing simultaneously the paper on both sides—was +the Walter, the speed of which has been raised to 12,000, though, if +necessary, it can produce excellent work at the rate of 17,000 complete +copies of an eight-page paper per hour. Then, with the new method of +stereotyping—by means of which the plates can be infinitely multiplied +and by the aid of additional machines, the supply of additional +impressions is absolutely unlimited. +</P> + +<P> +The Walter Press is not a monopoly. It is manufactured at The Times +office, and is supplied to all comers. Among the other daily papers +printed by its means in this country are the Daily News, the Scotsmam, +and the Birmingham Daily Post. The first Walter Press was sent to +America in 1872, where it was employed to print the Missouri Republican +at St. Louis, the leading newspaper of the Mississippi Valley. An +engineer and a skilled workman from The Times office accompanied the +machinery. On arriving at St. Louis—the materials were unpacked, +lowered into the machine-room, where they were erected and ready for +work in the short space of five days. +</P> + +<P> +The Walter Press was an object of great interest at the Centennial +Exhibition held at Philadelphia in 1876, where it was shown printing +the New Fork Times one of the most influential journals in America. +The press was surrounded with crowds of visitors intently watching its +perfect and regular action, "like a thing of life." The New York Times +said of it: "The Walter Press is the most perfect printing press yet +known to man; invented by the most powerful journal of the Old World, +and adopted as the very best press to be had for its purposes by the +most influential journal of the New World.... It is an honour to Great +Britain to have such an exhibit in her display, and a lasting benefit +to the printing business, especially to newspapers.... The first +printing press run by steam was erected in the year 1814 in the office +of The Times by the father of him who is the present proprietor of that +world-famous journal. The machine of 1814 was described in The Times +of the 29th November in that year, and the account given of it closed +in these words: 'The whole of these complicated acts is performed with +such a velocity and simultaneosness of movement that no less than 1100 +sheets are impressed in one hour.' Mirabile dictu! And the Walter +Press of to-day can run off 17,000 copies an hour printed on both +sides. This is not bad work for one man's lifetime." +</P> + +<P> +It is unnecessary to say more about this marvellous machine. Its +completion forms the crown of the industry which it represents, and of +the enterprise of the journal which it prints. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Footnotes for Chapter VII. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] Diary, Reminiscences, and Correspondence of Henry Crabb Robinson, +Barrister-at-Law, F.S.A., i. 231. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[2] After the appearance of my article on the Koenig and Walter Presses +in Macmillan's Magazine for December, 1869, I received the following +letter from Sir Rowland Hill:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +"Hampstead" January 5th, 1870. +<BR><BR> +"My dear sir, +<BR><BR> +"In your very interesting article in Macmillan's Magazine on the +subject of the printing machine, you have unconsciously done me some +injustice. To convince yourself of this, you have only to read the +enclosed paper. The case, however, will be strengthened when I tell +you that as far back as the year 1856, that is, seven years after the +expiry of my patent, I pointed out to Mr. Mowbray Morris, the manager +of The Times, the fitness of my machine for the printing of that +journal, and the fact that serious difficulties to its adoption had +been removed. I also, at his request, furnished him with a copy of the +document with which I now trouble you. Feeling sure that you would +like to know the truth on any subject of which you may treat, I should +be glad to explain the matter more fully, and for this purpose will, +with your permission, call upon you at any time you may do me the +favour to appoint. "Faithfully yours, +<BR><BR> +"Rowland Hill." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +On further enquiry I obtained the Patent No. 6762; but found that +nothing practical had ever come of it. The pamphlet enclosed by Sir +Rowland Hill in the above letter is entitled 'The Rotary Printing +Machine.' It is very clever and ingenious, like everything he did. But +it was still left for some one else to work out the invention into a +practical working printing-press. The subject is fully referred to in +the 'Life of Sir Rowland Hill' (i. 224,525). In his final word on the +subject, Sir Rowland "gladly admits the enormous difficulty of bringing +a complex machine into practical use," a difficulty, he says, which +"has been most successfully overcome by the patentees of the Walter +Press." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WILLIAM CLOWES: INTRODUCER OF BOOK-PRINTING BY STEAM. +</H3> + +<P> +"The Images of men's wits and knowledges remain in Books, exempted from +the wrong of time, and capable of perpetual renovation. Neither are +they fitly to be called Images, because they generate still, and cast +their seeds in the minds of others, provoking and causing infinite +actions and opinions in succeeding ages; so that, if the invention of +the Ship was thought so noble, which carrieth riches and commodities +from place to place, and consociateth the most remote Regions in +participation of their Fruits, how much more are letters to be +magnified, which, as Ships, pass through the vast Seas of time, and +make ages so distant to participate of the wisdom, illuminations, and +inventions, the one of the other?"—Bacon, On the Proficience and +Advancement of Learning. +</P> + +<P> +Steam has proved as useful and potent in the printing of books as in +the printing of newspapers. Down to the end of last century, "the +divine art," as printing was called, had made comparatively little +progress. That is to say, although books could be beautifully printed +by hand labour, they could not be turned out in any large numbers. +</P> + +<P> +The early printing press was rude. It consisted of a table, along +which the forme of type, furnished with a tympan and frisket, was +pushed by hand. The platen worked vertically between standards, and +was brought down for the impression, and raised after it, by a common +screw, worked by a bar handle. The inking was performed by balls +covered with skin pelts; they were blacked with ink, and beaten down on +the type by the pressman. The inking was consequently irregular. +</P> + +<P> +In 1798, Earl Stanhope perfected the press that bears his name. He did +not patent it, but made his invention over to the public. In 1818, Mr. +Cowper greatly improved the inking of formes used in the Stanhope and +other presses, by the use of a hand roller covered with a composition +of glue and treacle, in combination with a distributing table. The ink +was thus applied in a more even manner, and with a considerable +decrease of labour. With the Stanhope Press, printing was as far +advanced as it could possibly be by means of hand labour. About 250 +impressions could be taken off, on one side, in an hour. +</P> + +<P> +But this, after all, was a very small result. When books could be +produced so slowly, there could be no popular literature. Books were +still articles for the few, instead of for the many. Steam power, +however, completely altered the state of affairs. When Koenig invented +his steam press, he showed by the printing of Clarkson's 'Life of +Penn'—the first sheets ever printed with a cylindrical press—that +books might be printed neatly, as well as cheaply, by the new machine. +Mr. Bensley continued the process, after Koenig left England; and in +1824, according to Johnson in his 'Typographia,' his son was "driving +an extensive business." +</P> + +<P> +In the following year, 1825, Archibald Constable, of Edinburgh, +propounded his plan for revolutionising the art of bookselling. Instead +of books being articles of luxury, he proposed to bring them into +general consumption. He would sell them, not by thousands, but by +hundreds of thousands, "ay, by millions;" and he would accomplish this +by the new methods of multiplication—by machine printing and by steam +power. Mr. Constable accordingly issued a library of excellent books; +and, although he was ruined—not by this enterprise, but the other +speculations into which he entered—he set the example which other +enterprising minds were ready to follow. Amongst these was Charles +Knight, who set the steam presses of William Clowes to work, for the +purposes of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. +</P> + +<P> +William Clowes was the founder of the vast printing establishment from +which these sheets are issued; and his career furnishes another +striking illustration of the force of industry and character. He was +born on the 1st of January, 1779. His father was educated at Oxford, +and kept a large school at Chichester; but dying when William was but +an infant, he left his widow, with straitened means, to bring up her +family. At a proper age William was bound apprentice to a printer at +Chichester; and, after serving him for seven years, he came up to +London, at the beginning of 1802, to seek employment as a journeyman. +He succeeded in finding work at a small office on Tower Hill, at a +small wage. The first lodgings he took cost him 5s. a week; but +finding this beyond his means he hired a room in a garret at 2s. 6d., +which was as much as he could afford out of his scanty earnings. +</P> + +<P> +The first job he was put to, was the setting-up of a large +poster-bill—a kind of work which he had been accustomed to execute in +the country; and he knocked it together so expertly that his master, +Mr. Teape, on seeing what he could do, said to him, "Ah! I find you are +just the fellow for me." The young man, however, felt so strange in +London, where he was without a friend or acquaintance, that at the end +of the first month he thought of leaving it; and yearned to go back to +his native city. But he had not funds enough to enable him to follow +his inclinations, and he accordingly remained in the great City, to +work, to persevere, and finally to prosper. He continued at Teape's +for about two years, living frugally, and even contriving to save a +little money. +</P> + +<P> +He then thought of beginning business on his own account. The small +scale on which printing was carried on in those days enabled him to +make a start with comparatively little capital. By means of his own +savings and the help of his friends, he was enabled to take a little +printing-office in Villiers Street, Strand, about the end of 1803; and +there he began with one printing press, and one assistant. His stock +of type was so small, that he was under the necessity of working it +from day to day like a banker's gold. When his first job came in, he +continued to work for the greater part of three nights, setting the +type during the day, and working it off at night, in order that the +type might be distributed for resetting on the following morning. He +succeeded, however, in executing his first job to the entire +satisfaction of his first customer. +</P> + +<P> +His business gradually increased, and then, with his constantly saved +means, he was enabled to increase his stock of type, and to undertake +larger jobs. Industry always tells, and in the long-run leads to +prosperity. He married early, but he married well. He was only +twenty-four when he found his best fortune in a good, affectionate +wife. Through this lady's cousin, Mr. Winchester, the young printer +was shortly introduced to important official business. His punctual +execution of orders, the accuracy of his work, and the despatch with +which he turned it out soon brought him friends, and his obliging and +kindly disposition firmly secured them. Thus, in a few years, the +humble beginner with one press became a printer on a large scale. +</P> + +<P> +The small concern expanded into a considerable printing-office in +Northumberland Court, which was furnished with many presses and a large +stock of type. The office was, unfortunately, burnt down; but a larger +office rose in its place. +</P> + +<P> +What Mr. Clowes principally aimed at, in carrying on his business, was +accuracy, speed, and quantity. He did not seek to produce editions de +luxe in limited numbers, but large impressions of works in popular +demand—travels, biographies, histories, blue-books, and official +reports, in any quantity. For this purpose, he found the process of +hand-printing too tedious, as well as too costly; and hence he early +turned his attention to book printing by machine presses, driven by +steam power,—in this matter following the example of Mr. Walter of the +Times, who had for some years employed the same method for newspaper +printing. +</P> + +<P> +Applegath & Cowper's machines had greatly advanced the art of printing. +They secured perfect inking and register; and the sheets were printed +off more neatly, regularly, and expeditiously; and larger sheets could +be printed on both sides, than by any other method. In 1823, +accordingly, Mr. Clowes erected his first steam presses, and he soon +found abundance of work for them. But to produce steam requires +boilers and engines, the working of which occasions smoke and noise. +Now, as the printing-office, with its steam presses, was situated in +Northumberland Court, close to the palace of the Duke of +Northumberland, at Charing Cross, Mr. Clowes was required to abate the +nuisance, and to stop the noise and dirt occasioned by the use of his +engines. This he failed to do, and the Duke commenced an action +against him. +</P> + +<P> +The case was tried in June, 1824, in the Court of Common Pleas. It was +ludicrous to hear the extravagant terms in which the counsel for the +plaintiff and his witnesses described the nuisance—the noise made by +the engine in the underground cellar, some times like thunder, at other +times like a thrashing-machine, and then again like the rumbling of +carts and waggons. The printer had retained the Attorney-general, Mr. +Copley, afterwards Lord Lyndhurst, who conducted his case with +surpassing ability. The cross-examination of a foreign artist, employed +by the Duke to repaint some portraits of the Cornaro family by Titian, +is said to have been one of the finest things on record. The sly and +pungent humour, and the banter with which the counsel derided and +laughed down this witness, were inimitable. The printer won his case; +but he eventually consented to remove his steam presses from the +neighbourhood, on the Duke paying him a certain sum to be determined by +the award of arbitrators. +</P> + +<P> +It happened, about this period, that a sort of murrain fell upon the +London publishers. After the failure of Constable at Edinburgh, they +came down one after another, like a pack of cards. Authors are not the +only people who lose labour and money by publishers; there are also +cases where publishers are ruined by authors. Printers also now lost +heavily. In one week, Mr. Clowes sustained losses through the failure +of London publishers to the extent of about 25,000L. Happily, the +large sum which the arbitrators awarded him for the removal of his +printing presses enabled him to tide over the difficulty; he stood his +ground unshaken, and his character in the trade stood higher than ever. +</P> + +<P> +In the following year Mr. Clowes removed to Duke Street, Blackfriars, +to premises until then occupied by Mr. Applegath, as a printer; and +much more extensive buildings and offices were now erected. There his +business transactions assumed a form of unprecedented magnitude, and +kept pace with the great demand for popular information which set in +with such force about fifty years ago. In the course of ten years—as +we find from the 'Encyclopaedia Metropolitana'—there were twenty of +Applegath & Cowper's machines, worked by two five-horse engines. From +these presses were issued the numerous admirable volumes and +publications of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; the +treatises on 'Physiology,' by Roget, and 'Animal Mechanics,' by Charles +Bell; the 'Elements of Physics,' by Neill Arnott; 'The Pursuit of +Knowledge under Difficulties,' by G. L. Craik, a most fascinating book; +the Library of Useful Knowledge; the 'Penny Magazine,' the first +illustrated publication; and the 'Penny Cyclopaedia,' that admirable +compendium of knowledge and science. +</P> + +<P> +These publications were of great value. Some of them were printed in +unusual numbers. The 'Penny Magazine,' of which Charles Knight was +editor, was perhaps too good, because it was too scientific. +Nevertheless, it reached a circulation of 200,000 copies. The 'Penny +Cyclopaedia' was still better. It was original, and yet cheap. The +articles were written by the best men that could be found in their +special departments of knowledge. The sale was originally 75,000 +weekly; but, as the plan enlarged, the price was increased from 1d. to +2d., and then to 4d. At the end of the second year, the circulation +had fallen to 44,000; and at the end of the third year, to 20,000. +</P> + +<P> +It was unfortunate for Mr. Knight to be so much under the influence of +his Society. Had the Cyclopaedia been under his own superintendence, +it would have founded his fortune. As it was, he lost over 30,000L. by +the venture. The 'Penny Magazine' also went down in circulation, until +it became a non-paying publication, and then it was discontinued. It +is curious to contrast the fortunes of William Chambers of Edinburgh +with those of Charles Knight of London. 'Chambers's Edinburgh Journal' +was begun in February, 1832, and the 'Penny Magazine' in March, 1832. +</P> + +<P> +Chambers was perhaps shrewder than Knight. His journal was as good, +though without illustrations; but he contrived to mix up amusement with +useful knowledge. It may be a weakness, but the public like to be +entertained, even while they are feeding upon better food. Hence +Chambers succeeded, while Knight failed. The 'Penny Magazine' was +discontinued in 1845, whereas 'Chambers's Edinburgh Journal' has +maintained its popularity to the present day. Chambers, also, like +Knight, published an 'Encyclopaedia,' which secured a large +circulation. But he was not trammelled by a Society, and the +'Encyclopaedia' has become a valuable property. +</P> + +<P> +The publication of these various works would not have been possible +without the aid of the steam printing press. When Mr. Edward Cowper +was examined before a Committee of the House of Commons, he said, "The +ease with which the principles and illustrations of Art might be +diffused is, I think, so obvious that it is hardly necessary to say a +word about it. Here you may see it exemplified in the 'Penny +Magazine.' Such works as this could not have existed without the +printing machine." He was asked, "In fact, the mechanic and the +peasant, in the most remote parts of the country, have now an +opportunity of seeing tolerably correct outlines of form which they +never could behold before?" To which he answered, "Exactly; and +literally at the price they used to give for a song." "Is there not, +therefore, a greater chance of calling genius into activity?" "Yes," +he said, "not merely by books creating an artist here and there, but by +the general elevation of the taste of the public." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Clowes was always willing to promote deserving persons in his +office. One of these rose from step to step, and eventually became one +of the most prosperous publishers in London. He entered the service as +an errand-boy, and got his meals in the kitchen. Being fond of +reading, he petitioned Mrs. Clowes to let him sit somewhere, apart from +the other servants, where he might read his book in quiet. Mrs. Clowes +at length entreated her husband to take him into the office, for +"Johnnie Parker was such a good boy." He consented, and the boy took +his place at a clerk's desk. He was well-behaved, diligent, and +attentive. As he advanced in years, his steady and steadfast conduct +showed that he could be trusted. Young fellows like this always make +their way in life; for character invariably tells, not only in securing +respect, but in commanding confidence. Parker was promoted from one +post to another, until he was at length appointed overseer over the +entire establishment. +</P> + +<P> +A circumstance shortly after occurred which enabled Mr. Clowes to +advance him, though greatly to his own inconvenience, to another +important post. The Syndics of Cambridge were desirous that Mr. Clowes +should go down there to set their printing-office in order; they +offered him 400L. a year if he would only appear occasionally, and see +that the organisation was kept complete. He declined, because the +magnitude of his own operations had now become so great that they +required his unremitting attention. He, however strongly recommended +Parker to the office, though he could ill spare him. But he would not +stand in the young man's way, and he was appointed accordingly. He did +his work most effectually at Cambridge, and put the University Press +into thorough working order. +</P> + +<P> +As the 'Penny Magazine' and other publications of the Society of Useful +Knowledge were now making their appearance, the clergy became desirous +of bringing out a religious publication of a popular character, and +they were in search for a publisher. Parker, who was well known at +Cambridge, was mentioned to the Bishop of London as the most likely +person. An introduction took place, and after an hour's conversation +with Parker, the Bishop went to his friends and said, "This is the very +man we want." An offer was accordingly made to him to undertake the +publication of the 'Saturday Magazine' and the other publications of +the Christian Knowledge Society, which he accepted. It is unnecessary +to follow his fortunes. His progress was steady; he eventually became +the publisher of 'Fraser's Magazine' and of the works of John Stuart +Mill and other well-known writers. Mill never forgot his appreciation +and generosity; for when his 'System of Logic' had been refused by the +leading London publishers, Parker prized the book at its rightful value +and introduced it to the public. +</P> + +<P> +To return to Mr. Clowes. In the course of a few years, the original +humble establishment of the Sussex compositor, beginning with one press +and one assistant, grew up to be one of the largest printing-offices in +the world. It had twenty-five steam presses, twenty-eight +hand-presses, six hydraulic presses, and gave direct employment to over +five hundred persons, and indirect employment to probably more than ten +times that number. Besides the works connected with his +printing-office, Mr. Clowes found it necessary to cast his own types, +to enable him to command on emergency any quantity; and to this he +afterwards added stereotyping on an immense scale. He possessed the +power of supplying his compositors with a stream of new type at the +rate of about 50,000 pieces a day. In this way, the weight of type in +ordinary use became very great; it amounted to not less than 500 tons, +and the stereotyped plates to about 2500 tons the value of the latter +being not less than half a million sterling. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Clowes would not hesitate, in the height of his career, to have +tons of type locked up for months in some ponderous blue-book. To +print a report of a hundred folio pages in the course of a day or +during a night, or of a thousand pages in a week, was no uncommon +occurrence. From his gigantic establishment were turned out not fewer +than 725,000 printed sheets, or equal to 30,000 volumes a week. Nearly +45,000 pounds of paper were printed weekly. The quantity printed on +both sides per week, if laid down in a path of 22 1/4 inches broad, +would extend 263 miles in length. +</P> + +<P> +About the year 1840, a Polish inventor brought out a composing machine, +and submitted it to Mr. Clowes for approval. But Mr. Clowes was +getting too old to take up and push any new invention. +</P> + +<P> +He was also averse to doing anything to injure the compositors, having +once been a member of the craft. At the same time he said to his son +George, "If you find this to be a likely machine, let me know. Of +course we must go with the age. If I had not started the steam press +when I did, where should I have been now?" On the whole, the composing +machine, though ingenious, was incomplete, and did not come into use at +that time, nor indeed for a long time after. Still, the idea had been +born, and, like other inventions, became eventually developed into a +useful working machine. Composing machines are now in use in many +printing-offices, and the present Clowes' firm possesses several of +them. Those in The Times newspaper office are perhaps the most perfect +of all. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Clowes was necessarily a man of great ability, industry, and +energy. Whatever could be done in printing, that he would do. He would +never admit the force of any difficulty that might be suggested to his +plans. When he found a person ready to offer objections, he would say, +"Ah! I see you are a difficulty-maker: you will never do for me." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Clowes died in 1847, at the age of sixty-eight. There still remain +a few who can recall to mind the giant figure, the kindly countenance, +and the gentle bearing of this "Prince of Printers," as he was styled +by the members of his craft. His life was full of hard and useful +work; and it will probably be admitted that, as the greatest multiplier +of books in his day, and as one of the most effective practical +labourers for the diffusion of useful knowledge, his name is entitled +to be permanently associated, not only with the industrial, but also +with the intellectual development of our time. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHARLES BIANCONI: A LESSON OF SELF-HELP IN IRELAND. +</H3> + +<P> +"I beg you to occupy yourself in collecting biographical notices +respecting the Italians who have honestly enriched themselves in other +regions, particularly referring to the obstacles of their previous +life, and to the efforts and the means which they employed for +vanquishing them, as well as to the advantages which they secured for +themselves, for the countries in which they settled, and for the +country to which they owed their birth."—GENERAL MENABREA, Circular to +Italian Consuls. +</P> + +<P> +When Count Menabrea was Prime Minister of Italy, he caused a despatch +to be prepared and issued to Italian Consuls in all parts of the world, +inviting them to collect and forward to him "biographical notices +respecting the Italians who have honourably advanced themselves in +foreign countries." +</P> + +<P> +His object, in issuing the despatch, was to collect information as to +the lives of his compatriots living abroad, in order to bring out a +book similar to 'Self-help,' the examples cited in which were to be +drawn exclusively from the lives of Italian citizens. Such a work, he +intimated, "if it were once circulated among the masses, could not fail +to excite their emulation and encourage them to follow the examples +therein set forth," while "in the course of time it might exercise a +powerful influence on the increased greatness of our country." +</P> + +<P> +We are informed by Count Menabrea that, although no special work has +been published from the biographical notices collected in answer to his +despatch, yet that the Volere e Potere ('Will is Power') of Professor +Lessona, issued a few years ago, sufficiently answers the purpose which +he contemplated, and furnishes many examples of the patient industry +and untiring perseverance of Italians in all parts of the world. Many +important illustrations of life and character are necessarily omitted +from Professor Lessona's interesting work. Among these may be +mentioned the subject of the following pages,—a distinguished Italian +who entirely corresponds to Count Menabrea's description—one who, in +the face of the greatest difficulties, raised himself to an eminent +public position, at the same time that he conferred the greatest +benefits upon the country in which he settled and carried on his +industrial operations. We mean Charles Bianconi, and his establishment +of the great system of car communication through out Ireland.[1] +</P> + +<P> +Charles Bianconi was born in 1786, at the village of Tregolo, situated +in the Lombard Highlands of La Brianza, about ten miles from Como. The +last elevations of the Alps disappear in the district; and the great +plain of Lombardy extends towards the south. The region is known for +its richness and beauty; the inhabitants being celebrated for the +cultivation of the mulberry and the rearing of the silkworm, the finest +silk in Lombardy being produced in the neighbourhood. Indeed, +Bianconi's family, like most of the villagers, maintained themselves by +the silk culture. +</P> + +<P> +Charles had three brothers and one sister. When of a sufficient age, +he was sent to school. The Abbe Radicali had turned out some good +scholars; but with Charles Bianconi his failure was complete. The new +pupil proved a tremendous dunce. He was very wild, very bold, and very +plucky; but he learned next to nothing. +</P> + +<P> +Learning took as little effect upon him as pouring water upon a duck's +back. Accordingly, when he left school at the age of sixteen, he was +almost as ignorant as when he had entered it; and a great deal more +wilful. +</P> + +<P> +Young Bianconi had now arrived at the age at which he was expected to +do something for his own maintenance. His father wished to throw him +upon his own resources; and as he would soon be subject to the +conscription, he thought of sending him to some foreign country in +order to avoid the forced service. Young fellows, who had any love of +labour or promptings of independence in them, were then accustomed to +leave home and carry on their occupations abroad. It was a common +practice for workmen in the neighbourhood of Como to emigrate to +England and carry on various trades; more particularly the manufacture +and sale of barometers, looking-glasses, images, prints, pictures, and +other articles. +</P> + +<P> +Accordingly, Bianconi's father arranged with one Andrea Faroni to take +the young man to England and instruct him in the trade of +print-selling. Bianconi was to be Faroni's apprentice for eighteen +months; and in the event of his not liking the occupation, he was to be +placed under the care of Colnaghi, a friend of his father's, who was +then making considerable progress as a print-seller in London; and who +afterwards succeeded in achieving a considerable fortune and reputation. +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi made his preparations for leaving home. A little festive +entertainment was given at a little inn in Como, at which the whole +family were present. It was a sad thing for Bianconi's mother to take +leave of her boy, wild though he was. On the occasion of this parting +ceremony, she fainted outright, at which the young fellow thought that +things were assuming a rather serious aspect. As he finally left the +family home at Tregolo, the last words his mother said to him were +these—words which he never forgot: "When you remember me, think of me +as waiting at this window, watching for your return." +</P> + +<P> +Besides Charles Bianconi, Faroni took three other boys under his +charge. One was the son of a small village innkeeper, another the son +of a tailor, and the third the son of a flax-dealer. This party, under +charge of the Padre, ascended the Alps by the Val San Giacomo road. +From the summit of the pass they saw the plains of Lombardy stretching +away in the blue distance. They soon crossed the Swiss frontier, and +then Bianconi found himself finally separated from home. He now felt, +that without further help from friends or relatives, he had his own way +to make in the world. +</P> + +<P> +The party of travellers duly reached England; but Faroni, without +stopping in London, took them over to Ireland at once. They reached +Dublin in the summer of 1802, and lodged in Temple Bar, near Essex +Bridge. It was some little time before Faroni could send out the boys +to sell pictures. First he had the leaden frames to cast; then they +had to be trimmed and coloured; and then the pictures—mostly of sacred +subjects, or of public characters—had to be mounted. The flowers; +which were of wax, had also to be prepared and finished, ready for sale +to the passers-by. +</P> + +<P> +When Bianconi went into the streets of Dublin to sell his mounted +prints, he could not speak a word of English. He could only say, "Buy, +buy!" Everybody spoke to him an unknown tongue. When asked the price, +he could only indicate by his fingers the number of pence he wanted for +his goods. At length he learned a little English,—at least sufficient +"for the road;" and then he was sent into the country to sell his +merchandize. He was despatched every Monday morning with about forty +shillings' worth of stock, and ordered to return home on Saturdays, or +as much sooner as he liked, if he had sold all the pictures. The only +money his master allowed him at starting was fourpence. When Bianconi +remonstrated at the smallness of the amount, Faroni answered, "While +you have goods you have money; make haste to sell your goods!" +</P> + +<P> +During his apprenticeship, Bianconi learnt much of the country through +which he travelled. He was constantly making acquaintances with new +people, and visiting new places. At Waterford he did a good trade in +small prints. Besides the Scripture pieces, he sold portraits of the +Royal Family, as well as of Bonaparte and his most distinguished +generals. "Bony" was the dread of all magistrates, especially in +Ireland. At Passage, near Waterford, Bianconi was arrested for having +sold a leaden framed picture of the famous French Emperor. He was +thrown into a cold guard-room, and spent the night there without bed, +or fire, or food. Next morning he was discharged by the magistrate, +but cautioned that he must not sell any more of such pictures. +</P> + +<P> +Many things struck Bianconi in making his first journeys through +Ireland. He was astonished at the dram-drinking of the men, and the +pipe-smoking of the women. The violent faction-fights which took place +at the fairs which he frequented, were of a kind which he had never +before observed among the pacific people of North Italy. These +faction-fights were the result, partly of dram-drinking, and partly of +the fighting mania which then prevailed in Ireland. There were also +numbers of crippled and deformed beggars in every town,—quarrelling +and fighting in the streets,—rows and drinkings at wakes,—gambling, +duelling, and riotous living amongst all classes of the people,—things +which could not but strike any ordinary observer at the time, but which +have now, for the most part, happily passed away. +</P> + +<P> +At the end of eighteen months, Bianconi's apprenticeship was out; and +Faroni then offered to take him back to his father, in compliance with +the original understanding. But Bianconi had no wish to return to +Italy. Faroni then made over to him the money he had retained on his +account, and Bianconi set up business for himself. He was now about +eighteen years old; he was strong and healthy, and able to walk with a +heavy load on his back from twenty to thirty miles a day. He bought a +large case, filled it with coloured prints and other articles, and +started from Dublin on a tour through the south of Ireland. He +succeeded, like most persons who labour diligently. The curly-haired +Italian lad became a general favourite. He took his native politeness +with him everywhere; and made many friends among his various customers +throughout the country. +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi used to say that it was about this time when he was carrying +his heavy case upon his back, weighing at least a hundred pounds—that +the idea began to strike him, of some cheap method of conveyance being +established for the accommodation of the poorer classes in Ireland. As +he dismantled himself of his case of pictures, and sat wearied and +resting on the milestones along the road, he puzzled his mind with the +thought, "Why should poor people walk and toil, and rich people ride +and take their ease? Could not some method be devised by which poor +people also might have the opportunity of travelling comfortably?" +</P> + +<P> +It will thus be seen that Bianconi was already beginning to think about +the matter. When asked, not long before his death, how it was that he +had first thought of starting his extensive Car establishment, he +answered, "It grew out of my back!" It was the hundred weight of +pictures on his dorsal muscles that stimulated his thinking faculties. +But the time for starting his great experiment had not yet arrived. +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi wandered about from town to town for nearly two years. The +picture-case became heavier than ever. For a time he replaced it with +a portfolio of unframed prints. Then he became tired of the wandering +life, and in 1806 settled down at Carrick-on-Suir as a print-seller and +carver and gilder. He supplied himself with gold-leaf from Waterford, +to which town he used to proceed by Tom Morrissey's boat. Although the +distance by road between the towns was only twelve miles, it was about +twenty-four by water, in consequence of the windings of the river Suir. +Besides, the boat could only go when the state of the tide permitted. +Time was of little consequence; and it often took half a day to make +the journey. In the course of one of his voyages, Bianconi got himself +so thoroughly soaked by rain and mud that he caught a severe cold, +which ran into pleurisy, and laid him up for about two months. He was +carefully attended to by a good, kind physician, Dr. White, who would +not take a penny for his medicine and nursing. +</P> + +<P> +Business did not prove very prosperous at Carrick-on-suir; the town was +small, and the trade was not very brisk. Accordingly, Bianconi +resolved, after a year's ineffectual trial, to remove to Waterford, a +more thriving centre of operations. He was now twenty-one years old. +He began again as a carver and gilder; and as business flowed in upon +him, he worked very hard, sometimes from six in the morning until two +hours after midnight. As usual, he made many friends. Among the best +of them was Edward Rice, the founder of the "Christian Brothers" in +Ireland. Edward Rice was a true benefactor to his country. He devoted +himself to the work of education, long before the National Schools were +established; investing the whole of his means in the foundation and +management of this noble institution. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Rice's advice and instruction set and kept Bianconi in the right +road. He helped the young foreigner to learn English. Bianconi was no +longer a dunce, as he had been at school; but a keen, active, +enterprising fellow, eager to make his way in the world. Mr. Rice +encouraged him to be sedulous and industrious, urged him to carefulness +and sobriety, and strengthened his religions impressions. The help and +friendship of this good man, operating upon the mind and soul of a +young man, whose habits of conduct and whose moral and religious +character were only in course of formation, could not fail to exercise, +as Bianconi always acknowledged they did, a most powerful influence +upon the whole of his after life. +</P> + +<P> +Although "three removes" are said to be "as bad as a fire," Bianconi, +after remaining about two years at Waterford, made a third removal in +1809, to Clonmel, in the county of Tipperary. Clonmel is the centre of +a large corn trade, and is in water communication, by the Suir, with +Carrick and Waterford. Bianconi, therefore, merely extended his +connection; and still continued his dealings with his customers in the +other towns. He made himself more proficient in the mechanical part of +his business; and aimed at being the first carver and gilder in the +trade. Besides, he had always an eye open for new business. At that +time, when the war was raging with France, gold was at a premium. The +guinea was worth about twenty-six or twenty-seven shillings. Bianconi +therefore began to buy up the hoarded-up guineas of the peasantry. The +loyalists became alarmed at his proceedings, and began to circulate the +report that Bianconi, the foreigner, was buying up bullion to send +secretly to Bonaparte! The country people, however, parted with their +guineas readily; for they had no particular hatred of "Bony," but +rather admired him. +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi's conduct was of course quite loyal in the matter; he merely +bought the guineas as a matter of business, and sold them at a profit +to the bankers. +</P> + +<P> +The country people had a difficulty in pronouncing his name. His shop +was at the corner of Johnson Street, and instead of Bianconi, he came +to be called "Bian of the Corner." He was afterwards known as "Bian." +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi soon became well known after his business was established. He +became a proficient in the carving and gilding line, and was looked +upon as a thriving man. He began to employ assistants in his trade, +and had three German gilders at work. While they were working in the +shop he would travel about the country, taking orders and delivering +goods—sometimes walking and sometimes driving. +</P> + +<P> +He still retained a little of his old friskiness and spirit of +mischief. He was once driving a car from Clonmel to Thurles; he had +with him a large looking-glass with a gilt frame, on which about a +fortnight's labour had been bestowed. In a fit of exuberant humour he +began to tickle the horse under his tail with a straw! In an instant +the animal reared and plunged, and then set off at a gallop down hill. +The result was, that the car was dashed to bits and the looking-glass +broken into a thousand atoms! +</P> + +<P> +On another occasion, a man was carrying to Cashel on his back one of +Bianconi's large looking-glasses. An old woman by the wayside, seeing +the odd-looking, unwieldy package, asked what it was; on which +Bianconi, who was close behind the man carrying the glass, answered +that it was "the Repeal of the Union!" The old woman's delight was +unbounded! She knelt down on her knees in the middle of the road, as +if it had been a picture of the Madonna, and thanked God for having +preserved her in her old age to see the Repeal of the Union! +</P> + +<P> +But this little waywardness did not last long. Bianconi's wild oats +were soon all sown. He was careful and frugal. As he afterwards used +to say, "When I was earning a shilling a day at Clonmel, I lived upon +eightpence." He even took lodgers, to relieve him of the charge of his +household expenses. But as his means grew, he was soon able to have a +conveyance of his own. He first started a yellow gig, in which he +drove about from place to place, and was everywhere treated with +kindness and hospitality. He was now regarded as "respectable," and as +a person worthy to hold some local office. He was elected to a Society +for visiting the Sick Poor, and became a Member of the House of +Industry. He might have gone on in the same business, winning his way +to the Mayoralty of Clonmel, which he afterwards held; but that the old +idea, which had first sprung up in his mind while resting wearily on +the milestones along the road, with his heavy case of pictures by his +side, again laid hold of him, and he determined now to try whether his +plan could not be carried into effect. +</P> + +<P> +He had often lamented the fatigue that poor people had to undergo in +travelling with burdens from place to place upon foot, and wondered +whether some means might not be devised for alleviating their +sufferings. Other people would have suggested "the Government!" Why +should not the Government give us this, that, and the other,—give us +roads, harbours, carriages, boats, nets, and so on. This, of course, +would have been a mistaken idea; for where people are too much helped, +they invariably lose the beneficent practice of helping themselves. +Charles Bianconi had never been helped, except by advice and +friendship. He had helped himself throughout; and now he would try to +help others. +</P> + +<P> +The facts were patent to everybody. There was not an Irishman who did +not know the difficulty of getting from one town to another. There +were roads between them, but no conveyances. There was an abundance of +horses in the country, for at the close of the war an unusual number of +horses, bred for the army, were thrown upon the market. Then a tax had +been levied upon carriages, which sent a large number of jaunting-cars +out of employment. +</P> + +<P> +The roads of Ireland were on the whole good, being at that time quite +equal, if not superior, to most of those in England. The facts of the +abundant horses, the good roads, the number of unemployed outside cars, +were generally known; but until Bianconi took the enterprise in hand, +there was no person of thought, or spirit, or capital in the country, +who put these three things together horses, roads, and cars and dreamt +of remedying the great public inconvenience. +</P> + +<P> +It was left for our young Italian carver and gilder, a struggling man +of small capital, to take up the enterprise, and show what could be +done by prudent action and persevering energy. Though the car system +originally "grew out of his back," Bianconi had long been turning the +subject over in his mind. His idea was, that we should never despise +small interests, nor neglect the wants of poor people. He saw the +mail-coaches supplying the requirements of the rich, and enabling them +to travel rapidly from place to place. "Then," said he to himself, +"would it not be possible for me to make an ordinary two-wheeled car +pay, by running as regularly for the accommodation of poor districts +and poor people?" +</P> + +<P> +When Mr. Wallace, chairman of the Select Committee on Postage, in 1838, +asked Mr. Bianconi, "What induced you to commence the car +establishment?" his answer was, "I did so from what I saw, after coming +to this country, of the necessity for such cars, inasmuch as there was +no middle mode of conveyance, nothing to fill up the vacuum that +existed between those who were obliged to walk and those who posted or +rode. My want of knowledge of the language gave me plenty of time for +deliberation, and in proportion as I grew up with the knowledge of the +language and the localities, this vacuum pressed very heavily upon my +mind, till at last I hit upon the idea of running jaunting-cars, and +for that purpose I commenced running one between Clonmel and Cahir."[2] +</P> + +<P> +What a happy thing it was for Bianconi and Ireland that he could not +speak with facility,—that he did not know the language or the manners +of the country! In his case silence was "golden." Had he been able to +talk like the people about him, he might have said much and done +little,—attempted nothing and consequently achieved nothing. He might +have got up a meeting and petitioned Parliament to provide the cars, +and subvention the car system; or he might have gone amongst his +personal friends, asked them to help him, and failing their help, given +up his idea in despair, and sat down grumbling at the people and the +Government. +</P> + +<P> +But instead of talking, he proceeded to doing, thereby illustrating +Lessona's maxim of Volere e potere. After thinking the subject fully +over, he trusted to self-help. He found that with his own means, +carefully saved, he could make a beginning; and the beginning once +made, included the successful ending. +</P> + +<P> +The beginning, it is true, was very small. It was only an ordinary +jaunting-car, drawn by a single horse, capable of accommodating six +persons. The first car ran between Clonmel and Cahir, a distance of +about twelve miles, on the 5th of July, 1815—a memorable day for +Bianconi and Ireland. Up to that time the public accommodation for +passengers was confined to a few mail and day coaches on the great +lines of road, the fares by which were very high, and quite beyond the +reach of the poorer or middle-class people. +</P> + +<P> +People did not know what to make of Bianconi's car when it first +started. There were, of course, the usual prophets of disaster, who +decided that it "would never do." Many thought that no one would pay +eighteen-pence for going to Cahir by car when they could walk there for +nothing? There were others who thought that Bianconi should have stuck +to his shop, as there was no connection whatever between +picture-gilding and car-driving! +</P> + +<P> +The truth is, the enterprise at first threatened to be a failure! +Scarcely anybody would go by the car. People preferred trudging on +foot, and saved their money, which was more valuable to them than their +time. The car sometimes ran for weeks without a passenger. Another +man would have given up the enterprise in despair. But this was not +the way with Bianconi. He was a man of tenacity and perseverance. +What should he do but start an opposition car? Nobody knew of it but +himself; not even the driver of the opposition car. However, the rival +car was started. The races between the car-drivers, the free lifts +occasionally given to passengers, the cheapness of the fare, and the +excitement of the contest, attracted the attention of the public. The +people took sides, and before long both cars came in full. Fortunately +the "great big yallah horse" of the opposition car broke down, and +Bianconi had all the trade to himself. +</P> + +<P> +The people became accustomed to travelling. They might still walk to +Cahir; but going by car saved their legs, saved their brains, and saved +their time. They might go to Cahir market, do their business there, +and be comfortably back within the day. Bianconi then thought of +extending the car to Tipperary and Limerick. In the course of the same +year, 1815, he started another car between Clonmel, Cashel, and +Thurles. Thus all the principal towns of Tipperary were, in the first +year of the undertaking, connected together by car, besides being also +connected with Limerick. +</P> + +<P> +It was easy to understand the convenience of the car system to business +men, farmers, and even peasants. Before their establishment, it took a +man a whole day to walk from Thurles to Clonmel, the second day to do +his business, and the third to walk back again; whereas he could, in +one day, travel backwards and forwards between the two towns, and have +five or six intermediate hours for the purpose of doing his business. +Thus two clear days could be saved. +</P> + +<P> +Still carrying out his scheme, Bianconi, in the following year (1816), +put on a car from Clonmel to Waterford. Before that time there was no +car accommodation between Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir, about half-way +to Waterford; but there was an accommodation by boat between Carrick +and Waterford. The distance between the two latter places was, by +road, twelve miles, and by the river Suir twenty-four miles. Tom +Morrissey's boat plied two days a week; it carried from eight to ten +passengers at 6 1/2d. of the then currency; it did the voyage in from +four to five hours, and besides had to wait for the tide to float it up +and down the river. When Bianconi's car was put on, it did the +distance daily and regularly in two hours, at a fare of two shillings. +</P> + +<P> +The people soon got accustomed to the convenience of the cars. They +also learned from them the uses of punctuality and the value of time. +They liked the open-air travelling and the sidelong motion. The new +cars were also safe and well-appointed. They were drawn by good horses +and driven by good coachmen. Jaunting-car travelling had before been +rather unsafe. The country cars were of a ramshackle order, and the +drivers were often reckless. "Will I pay the pike, or drive at it, +plaise your honour?" said a driver to his passenger on approaching a +turnpike-gate. Sam Lover used to tell a story of a car-driver, who, +after driving his passenger up-hill and down-hill, along a very bad +road, asked him for something extra at the end of his journey. +</P> + +<P> +"Faith," said the driver, "its not putting me off with this ye'd be, if +ye knew but all." The gentleman gave him another shilling. "And now +what do you mean by saying, 'if ye knew but all?'" "That I druv yer +honor the last three miles widout a linch-pin!" +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi, to make sure of the soundness and safety of his cars, set up +a workshop to build them for himself. He could thus depend upon their +soundness, down even to the linch-pin itself. He kept on his carving +and gilding shop until his car business had increased so much that it +required the whole of his time and attention; and then he gave it up. +In fact, when he was able to run a car from Clonmel to Waterford—a +distance of thirty-two miles—at a fare of three-and-sixpence, his +eventual triumph was secure. +</P> + +<P> +He made Waterford one of the centres of his operations, as he had +already made Clonmel. In 1818 he established a car between Waterford +and Ross, in the following year a car between Waterford and Wexford, +and another between Waterford and Enniscorthy. A few years later he +established other cars between Waterford and Kilkenny, and Waterford +and Dungarvan. From these furthest points, again, other cars were +established in communication with them, carrying the line further +north, east, and west. So much had the travelling between Clonmel and +Waterford increased, that in a few years (instead of the eight or ten +passengers conveyed by Tom Morrissey's boat on the Suir) there was +horse and car power capable of conveying a hundred passengers daily +between the two places. +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi did a great stroke of business at the Waterford election of +1826. Indeed it was the turning point of his fortunes. He was at +first greatly cramped for capital. The expense of maintaining and +increasing his stock of cars, and of foddering his horses was very +great; and he was always on the look-out for more capital. When the +Waterford election took place, the Beresford party, then all-powerful, +engaged all his cars to drive the electors to the poll. The popular +party, however, started a candidate, and applied to Bianconi for help. +But he could not comply, for his cars were all engaged. The morning +after his refusal of the application, Bianconi was pelted with mud. +One or two of his cars and horses were heaved over the bridge. +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi then wrote to Beresford's agent, stating that he could no +longer risk the lives of his drivers and his horses, and desiring to be +released from his engagement. The Beresford party had no desire to +endanger the lives of the car-drivers or their horses, and they set +Bianconi free. He then engaged with the popular party, and enabled +them to win the election. For this he was paid the sum of a thousand +pounds. This access of capital was greatly helpful to him under the +circumstances. He was able to command the market, both for horses and +fodder. He was also placed in a position to extend the area of his car +routes. +</P> + +<P> +He now found time, amidst his numerous avocations, to get married! He +was forty years of age before this event occurred. He married Eliza +Hayes, some twenty years younger than himself, the daughter of Patrick +Hayes, of Dublin, and of Henrietta Burton, an English-woman. The +marriage was celebrated on the 14th of February, 1827; and the ceremony +was performed by the late Archbishop Murray. Mr. Bianconi must now +have been in good circumstances, as he settled two thousand pounds upon +his wife on their marriage-day. His early married life was divided +between his cars, electioneering, and Repeal agitation—for he was +always a great ally of O'Connell. Though he joined in the Repeal +movement, his sympathies were not with it; for he preferred Imperial to +Home Rule. But he could never deny himself the pleasure of following +O'Connell, "right or wrong." +</P> + +<P> +Let us give a picture of Bianconi now. The curly-haired Italian boy +had grown a handsome man. His black locks curled all over his head +like those of an ancient Roman bust. His face was full of power, his +chin was firm, his nose was finely cut and well-formed; his eyes were +keen and sparkling, as if throwing out a challenge to fortune. He was +active, energetic, healthy, and strong, spending his time mostly in the +open air. He had a wonderful recollection of faces, and rarely forgot +to recognise the countenance that he had once seen. He even knew all +his horses by name. He spent little of his time at home, but was +constantly rushing about the country after business, extending his +connections, organizing his staff, and arranging the centres of his +traffic. +</P> + +<P> +To return to the car arrangements. A line was early opened from +Clonmel—which was at first the centre of the entire connection—to +Cork; and that line was extended northward, through Mallow and +Limerick. Then, the Limerick car went on to Tralee, and from thence to +Cahirciveen, on the south-west coast of Ireland. The cars were also +extended northward from Thurles to Roscrea, Ballinasloe, Athlone, +Roscommon, and Sligo, and to all the principal towns in the north-west +counties of Ireland. +</P> + +<P> +The cars interlaced with each other, and plied, not so much in +continuous main lines, as across country, so as to bring all important +towns, but especially the market towns, into regular daily +communication with each other. Thus, in the course of about thirty +years, Bianconi succeeded in establishing a system of internal +communication in Ireland, which traversed the main highways and +cross-roads from town to town, and gave the public a regular and safe +car accommodation at the average rate of a penny-farthing per mile. +</P> + +<P> +The traffic in all directions steadily increased. The first car used +was capable of accommodating only six persons. This was between +Clonmel and Cahir. But when it went on to Limerick, a larger car was +required. The traffic between Clonmel and Waterford was also begun +with a small-sized car. But in the course of a few years, there were +four large-sized cars, travelling daily each way, between the two +places. And so it was in other directions, between Cork in the south; +and Sligo and Strabane in the north and north-west; between Wexford in +the east, and Galway and Skibbereen in the west and south-west. +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi first increased the accommodation of these cars so as to carry +four persons on each side instead of three, drawn by two horses. But +as the two horses could quite as easily carry two additional +passengers, another piece was added to the car so as to carry five +passengers. Then another four-wheeled car was built, drawn by three +horses, so as to carry six passengers on each side. And lastly, a +fourth horse was used, and the car was further enlarged, so as to +accommodate seven, and eventually eight passengers on each side, with +one on the box, which made a total accommodation for seventeen +passengers. The largest and heaviest of the long cars, on four wheels, +was called "Finn MacCoul's," after Ossian's Giant; the fast cars, of a +light build, on two wheels, were called "Faugh-a-ballagh," or "clear +the way"; while the intermediate cars were named "Massey Dawsons," +after a popular Tory squire. +</P> + +<P> +When Bianconi's system was complete, he had about a hundred vehicles at +work; a hundred and forty stations for changing horses, where from one +to eight grooms were employed; about a hundred drivers, thirteen +hundred horses, performing an average distance of three thousand eight +hundred miles daily; passing through twenty-three counties, and +visiting no fewer than a hundred and twenty of the principal towns and +cities in the south and west and midland counties of Ireland. +Bianconi's horses consumed on an average from three to four thousand +tons of hay yearly, and from thirty to forty thousand barrels of oats, +all of which were purchased in the respective localities in which they +were grown. +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi's cars—or "The Bians"—soon became very popular. Everybody +was under obligations to them. They greatly promoted the improvement +of the country. People could go to market and buy or sell their goods +more advantageously. It was cheaper for them to ride than to walk. +They brought the whole people of the country so much nearer to each +other. They virtually opened up about seven-tenths of Ireland to +civilisation and commerce, and among their other advantages, they +opened markets for the fresh fish caught by the fishermen of Galway, +Clifden, Westport, and other places, enabling them to be sold +throughout the country on the day after they were caught. They also +opened the magnificent scenery of Ireland to tourists, and enabled them +to visit Bantry Bay, Killarney, South Donegal, and the wilds of +Connemara in safety, all the year round. +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi's service to the public was so great, and it was done with so +much tact, that nobody had a word to say against him. Everybody was his +friend. Not even the Whiteboys would injure him or the mails he +carried. He could say with pride, that in the most disturbed times his +cars had never been molested. Even during the Whiteboy insurrection, +though hundreds of people were on the roads at night, the traffic went +on without interference. At the meeting of the British Association in +1857, Bianconi said: "My conveyances, many of them carrying very +important mails, have been travelling during all hours of the day and +night, often in lonely and unfrequented places; and during the long +period of forty-two years that my establishment has been in existence, +the slightest injury has never been done by the people to my property, +or that entrusted to my care; and this fact gives me greater pleasure +than any pride I might feel in reflecting upon the other rewards of my +life's labour." +</P> + +<P> +Of course Bianconi's cars were found of great use for carrying the +mails. The post was, at the beginning of his enterprise, very badly +served in Ireland, chiefly by foot and horse posts. When the first car +was run from Clonmel to Cahir, Bianconi offered to carry the mail for +half the price then paid for "sending it alternately by a mule and a +bad horse." The post was afterwards found to come regularly instead of +irregularly to Cahir; and the practice of sending the mails by +Bianconi's cars increased from year to year. Dispatch won its way to +popularity in Ireland as elsewhere, and Bianconi lived to see all the +cross-posts in Ireland arranged on his system. +</P> + +<P> +The postage authorities frequently used the cars of Bianconi as a means +of competing with the few existing mail-coaches. For instance, they +asked him to compete for carrying the post between Limerick and Tralee, +then carried by a mail-coach. Before tendering, Bianconi called on the +contractor, to induce him to give in to the requirements of the Post +Office, because he knew that the postal authorities only desired to +make use of him to fight the coach proprietors. But having been +informed that it was the intention of the Post Office to discontinue +the mail-coach whether Bianconi took the contract or not, he at length +sent in his tender, and obtained the contract. +</P> + +<P> +He succeeded in performing the service, and delivered the mail much +earlier than it had been done before. But the former contractor, +finding that he had made a mistake, got up a movement in favour of +re-establishing the mail-coach upon that line of road; and he +eventually induced the postage authorities to take the mail contract +out of the hands of Bianconi, and give it back to himself, as formerly. +Bianconi, however, continued to keep his cars upon the road. He had +before stated to the contractor, that if he once started his cars, he +would not leave it, even though the contract were taken from him. Both +coach and car therefore ran for years upon the road, each losing +thousands of pounds. "But," said Bianconi, when asked about the matter +by the Committee on Postage in 1838, "I kept my word: I must either +lose character by breaking my word, or lose money. I prefer losing +money to giving up the line of road." +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi had also other competitors to contend with, especially from +coach and car proprietors. No sooner had he shown to others the way to +fortune, than he had plenty of imitators. But they did not possess his +rare genius for organisation, nor perhaps his still rarer principles. +They had not his tact, his foresight, his knowledge, nor his +perseverance. When Bianconi was asked by the Select Committee on +Postage, "Do the opposition cars started against you induce you to +reduce your fares?" his answer was, "No; I seldom do. Our fares are so +close to the first cost, that if any man runs cheaper than I do, he +must starve off, as few can serve the public lower and better than I +do."[3] +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi was once present at a meeting of car proprietors, called for +the purpose of uniting to put down a new opposition coach. Bianconi +would not concur, but protested against it, saying, "If car proprietors +had united against me when I started, I should have been crushed. But +is not the country big enough for us all?" The coach proprietors, +after many angry words, threatened to unite in running down Bianconi +himself. "Very well," he said, "you may run me off the road—that is +possible; but while there is this" (pulling a flower out of his coat) +"you will not put me down." The threat merely ended in smoke, the +courage and perseverance of Bianconi having long since become generally +recognised. +</P> + +<P> +We have spoken of the principles of Mr. Bianconi. They were most +honourable. His establishment might be spoken of as a school of +morality. In the first place, he practically taught and enforced the +virtues of punctuality, truthfulness, sobriety, and honesty. He also +taught the public generally the value of time, to which, in fact, his +own success was in a great measure due. While passing through Clonmel +in 1840, Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall called upon Bianconi and went over his +establishment, as well as over his house and farm, a short distance +from the town. The travellers had a very pressing engagement, and +could not stay to hear the story of how their entertainer had contrived +to "make so much out of so little." "How much time have you?" he +asked. "Just five minutes." "The car," says Mr. Hall, "had conveyed +us to the back entrance. Bianconi instantly rang the bell, and said to +the servant, 'Tell the driver to bring the car round to the front,' +adding, 'that will save one minute, and enable me to tell you all +within the time.' This was, in truth the secret of his success, making +the most of time."[4] +</P> + +<P> +But the success of Bianconi was also due to the admirable principles on +which his establishment was conducted. His drivers were noted as being +among the most civil and obliging men in Ireland, besides being +pleasant companions to boot. They were careful, punctual, truthful, +and honest; but all this was the result of strict discipline on the +part of their master. +</P> + +<P> +The drivers were taken from the lowest grades of the establishment, and +promoted to higher positions according to their respective merits as +opportunity offered. "Much surprise," says Bianconi, "has often been +expressed at the high order of men connected with my car establishment +and at its popularity; but parties thus expressing themselves forget to +look at Irish society with sufficient grasp. For my part, I cannot +better compare it than to a man merging to convalescence from a serious +attack of malignant fever, and requiring generous nutrition in place of +medical treatment"[5] +</P> + +<P> +To attach the men to the system, as well as to confer upon them the due +reward for their labour, he provided for all the workmen who had been +injured, worn out, or become superannuated in his service. The drivers +could then retire upon a full pension, which they enjoyed during the +rest of their lives. They were also paid their full wages during +sickness, and at their death Bianconi educated their children, who grew +up to manhood, and afterwards filled the situations held by their +deceased parents. +</P> + +<P> +Every workman had thus a special interest in his own good conduct. +They knew that nothing but misbehaviour could deprive them of the +benefits they enjoyed; and hence their endeavours to maintain their +positions by observing the strict discipline enjoined by their employer. +</P> + +<P> +Sobriety was, of course, indispensable—a drunken car-driver being +amongst the most dangerous of servants. The drivers must also be +truthful, and the man found telling a lie, however venial, was +instantly dismissed. Honesty was also strongly enforced, not only for +the sake of the public, but for the sake of the men themselves. Hence +he never allowed his men to carry letters. If they did so, he fined +them in the first instance very severely, and in the second instance +dismissed them. "I do so," he said, "because if I do not respect other +institutions (the Post Office), my men will soon learn not to respect +my own. Then, for carrying letters during the extent of their trip, the +men most probably would not get money, but drink, and hence become +dissipated and unworthy of confidence." +</P> + +<P> +Thus truth, accuracy, punctuality, sobriety, and honesty being strictly +enforced, formed the fundamental principle of the entire management. +At the same time, Bianconi treated his drivers with every confidence +and respect. He made them feel that, in doing their work well, they +conferred a greater benefit on him and on the public than he did on +them by paying them their wages. +</P> + +<P> +When attending the British Association at Cork, Bianconi said that, "in +proportion as he advanced his drivers, he lowered their wages." +"Then," said Dr. Taylor, the Secretary, "I wouldn't like to serve you." +"Yes, you would," replied Bianconi, "because in promoting my drivers I +place them on a more lucrative line, where their certainty of receiving +fees from passengers is greater." +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi was as merciful to his horses as to his men. He had much +greater difficulty at first in finding good men than good horses, +because the latter were not exposed to the temptations to which the +former were subject. Although the price of horses continued to rise, +he nevertheless bought the best horses at increased prices, and he took +care not to work them overmuch. He gave his horses as well as his men +their seventh day's rest. "I find by experience," he said, "that I can +work a horse eight miles a day for six days in the week, easier than I +can work six miles for seven days; and that is one of my reasons for +having no cars, unless carrying a mail, plying upon Sundays." +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi had confidence in men generally. The result was that men had +confidence in him. Even the Whiteboys respected him. At the close of +a long and useful life he could say with truth, "I never yet attempted +to do an act of generosity or common justice, publicly or privately, +that I was not met by manifold reciprocity." +</P> + +<P> +By bringing the various classes of society into connection with each +other, Bianconi believed, and doubtless with truth, that he was the +means of making them respect each other, and that he thereby promoted +the civilisation of Ireland. At the meeting of the social Science +Congress, held at Dublin in 1861, he said: "The state of the roads was +such as to limit the rate of travelling to about seven miles an hour, +and the passengers were often obliged to walk up hills. Thus all +classes were brought together, and I have felt much pleasure in +believing that the intercourse thus created tended to inspire the +higher classes with respect and regard for the natural good qualities +of the humbler people, which the latter reciprocated by a becoming +deference and an anxiety to please and oblige. Such a moral benefit +appears to me to be worthy of special notice and congratulation." +</P> + +<P> +Even when railways were introduced, Bianconi did not resist them, but +welcomed them as "the great civilisers of the age." There was, in his +opinion, room enough for all methods of conveyance in Ireland. When +Captain Thomas Drummond was appointed Under-Secretary for Ireland in +1835, and afterwards chairman of the Irish Railway Commission, he had +often occasion to confer with Mr. Bianconi, who gave him every +assistance. Mr. Drummond conceived the greatest respect for Bianconi, +and often asked him how it was that he, a foreigner, should have +acquired so extensive an influence and so distinguished a position in +Ireland? +</P> + +<P> +"The question came upon me," said Bianconi, "by surprise, and I did not +at the time answer it. But another day he repeated his question, and I +replied, 'Well, it was because, while the big and the little were +fighting, I crept up between them, carried out my enterprise, and +obliged everybody.'" This, however, did not satisfy Mr. Drummond, who +asked Bianconi to write down for him an autobiography, containing the +incidents of his early life down to the period of his great Irish +enterprise. Bianconi proceeded to do this, writing down his past +history in the occasional intervals which he could snatch from the +immense business which he still continued personally to superintend. +But before the "Drummond memoir" could be finished Mr. Drummond himself +had ceased to live, having died in 1840, principally of overwork. What +he thought of Bianconi, however, has been preserved in his Report of +the Irish Railway Commission of 1838, written by Mr. Drummond himself, +in which he thus speaks of his enterprising friend in starting and +conducting the great Irish car establishment:— +</P> + +<P> +"With a capital little exceeding the expense of outfit he commenced. +Fortune, or rather the due reward of industry and integrity, favoured +his first efforts. He soon began to increase the number of his cars +and multiply routes, until his establishment spread over the whole of +Ireland. These results are the more striking and instructive as having +been accomplished in a district which has long been represented as the +focus of unreclaimed violence and barbarism, where neither life nor +property can be deemed secure. Whilst many possessing a personal +interest in everything tending to improve or enrich the country have +been so misled or inconsiderate as to repel by exaggerated statements +British capital from their doors, this foreigner chose Tipperary as the +centre of his operations, wherein to embark all the fruits of his +industry in a traffic peculiarly exposed to the power and even to the +caprice of the peasantry. The event has shown that his confidence in +their good sense was not ill-grounded. +</P> + +<P> +"By a system of steady and just treatment he has obtained a complete +mastery, exempt from lawless intimidation or control, over the various +servants and agents employed by him, and his establishment is popular +with all classes on account of its general usefulness and the fair +liberal spirit of its management. The success achieved by this spirited +gentleman is the result, not of a single speculation, which might have +been favoured by local circumstances, but of a series of distinct +experiments, all of which have been successful." +</P> + +<P> +When the railways were actually made and opened, they ran right through +the centre of Bianconi's long-established systems of communication. +They broke up his lines, and sent them to the right and left. But, +though they greatly disturbed him, they did not destroy him. In his +enterprising hands the railways merely changed the direction of the +cars. He had at first to take about a thousand horses off the road, +with thirty-seven vehicles, travelling 2446 miles daily. But he +remodelled his system so as to run his cars between the +railway-stations and the towns to the right and left of the main lines. +</P> + +<P> +He also directed his attention to those parts of Ireland which had not +before had the benefit of his conveyances. And in thus still +continuing to accommodate the public, the number of his horses and +carriages again increased, until, in 1861, he was employing 900 horses, +travelling over 4000 miles daily; and in 1866, when he resigned his +business, he was running only 684 miles daily below the maximum run in +1845, before the railways had begun to interfere with his traffic. +</P> + +<P> +His cars were then running to Dungarvan, Waterford, and Wexford in the +south-west of Ireland; to Bandon, Rosscarbery, Skibbereen, and +Cahirciveen, in the south; to Tralee, Galway, Clifden, Westport, and +Belmullet in the west; to Sligo, Enniskillen, Strabane, and Letterkenny +in the north; while, in the centre of Ireland, the towns of Thurles, +Kilkenny, Birr, and Ballinasloe were also daily served by the cars of +Bianconi. +</P> + +<P> +At the meeting of the British Association, held in Dublin in 1857, Mr. +Bianconi mentioned a fact which, he thought, illustrated the increasing +prosperity of the country and the progress of the people. It was, that +although the population had so considerably decreased by emigration and +other causes, the proportion of travellers by his conveyances continued +to increase, demonstrating not only that the people had more money, but +that they appreciated the money value of time, and also the advantages +of the car system established for their accommodation. +</P> + +<P> +Although railways must necessarily have done much to promote the +prosperity of Ireland, it is very doubtful whether the general +passenger public were not better served by the cars of Bianconi than by +the railways which superseded them. Bianconi's cars were on the whole +cheaper, and were always run en correspondence, so as to meet each +other; whereas many of the railway trains in the south of Ireland, +under the competitive system existing between the several companies, +are often run so as to miss each other. The present working of the +Irish railway traffic provokes perpetual irritation amongst the Irish +people, and sufficiently accounts for the frequent petitions presented +to Parliament that they should be taken in hand and worked by the State. +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi continued to superintend his great car establishment until +within the last few years. He had a constitution of iron, which he +expended in active daily work. He liked to have a dozen irons in the +fire, all red-hot at once. At the age of seventy he was still a man in +his prime; and he might be seen at Clonmel helping, at busy times, to +load the cars, unpacking and unstrapping the luggage where it seemed to +be inconveniently placed; for he was a man who could never stand by and +see others working without having a hand in it himself. Even when well +on to eighty, he still continued to grapple with the immense business +involved in working a traffic extending over two thousand five hundred +miles of road. +</P> + +<P> +Nor was Bianconi without honour in his adopted country. He began his +great enterprise in 1815, though it was not until 1831 that he obtained +letters of naturalisation. His application for these privileges was +supported by the magistrates of Tipperary and by the Grand Jury, and +they were at once granted. In 1844 he was elected Mayor of Clonmel, +and took his seat as Chairman at the Borough Petty Sessions to dispense +justice. +</P> + +<P> +The first person brought before him was James Ryan, who had been drunk +and torn a constable's belt. "Well, Ryan," said the magistrate, "what +have you to say?" "Nothing, your worship; only I wasn't drunk." "Who +tore the constable's belt?" "He was bloated after his Christmas +dinner, your worship, and the belt burst!" "You are so very pleasant," +said the magistrate, "that you will have to spend forty-eight hours in +gaol." +</P> + +<P> +He was re-elected Mayor in the following year, very much against his +wish. He now began to buy land, for "land hunger" was strong upon him. +In 1846 he bought the estate of Longfield, in the parish of Boherlahan, +county of Tipperary. It consisted of about a thousand acres of good +land, with a large cheerful house overlooking the river Suir. He went +on buying more land, until he became possessor of about eight thousand +English acres. +</P> + +<P> +One of his favourite sayings was: "Money melts, but land holds while +grass grows and water runs." He was an excellent landlord, built +comfortable houses for his tenantry, and did what he could for their +improvement. Without solicitation, the Government appointed him a +justice of the peace and a Deputy-lientenant for the county of +Tipperary. Everything that he did seemed to thrive. He was honest, +straightforward, loyal, and law-abiding. +</P> + +<P> +On first taking possession of his estate at Longfield, he was met by a +procession of the tenantry, who received him with great enthusiasm. In +his address to them, he said, amongst other things: "Allow me to +impress upon you the great importance of respecting the laws. The laws +are made for the good and the benefit of society, and for the +punishment of the wicked. No one but an enemy would counsel you to +outrage the laws. Above all things, avoid secret and unlawful +societies. Much of the improvement now going on amongst us is owing to +the temperate habits of the people, to the mission of my much respected +friend, Father Mathew, and to the advice of the Liberator. Follow the +advice of O'Connell; be temperate, moral, peaceable; and you will +advance your country, ameliorate your condition, and the blessing of +God will attend all your efforts." +</P> + +<P> +Bianconi was always a great friend of O'Connell. From an early period +he joined him in the Catholic Emancipation movement. He took part with +him in founding the National Bank in Ireland. In course of time the +two became more intimately related. Bianconi's son married O'Connell's +granddaughter; and O'Connell's nephew, Morgan John, married Bianconi's +daughter. Bianconi's son died in 1864, leaving three daughters, but no +male heir to carry on the family name. The old man bore the blow of +his son's premature death with fortitude, and laid his remains in the +mortuary chapel, which he built on his estate at Longfield. +</P> + +<P> +In the following year, when he was seventy-eight, he met with a severe +accident. He was overturned, and his thigh was severely fractured. He +was laid up for six months, quite incapable of stirring. He was +afterwards able to get about in a marvellous way, though quite +crippled. As his life's work was over, he determined to retire finally +from business; and he handed over the whole of his cars, coaches, +horses, and plant, with all the lines of road he was then working, to +his employes, on the most liberal terms. +</P> + +<P> +My youngest son met Mr. Bianconi, by appointment, at the Roman Catholic +church at Boherlahan, in the summer of 1872. Although the old +gentleman had to be lifted into and out of his carriage by his two +men-servants, he was still as active-minded as ever. Close to the +church at Boherlahan is Bianconi's mortuary chapel, which he built as a +sort of hobby, for the last resting-place of himself and his family. +The first person interred in it was his eldest daughter, who died in +Italy; the second was his only son. A beautiful monument with a +bas-relief has been erected in the chapel by Benzoni, an Italian +sculptor, to the memory of his daughter. +</P> + +<P> +"As we were leaving the chapel," my son informs me, "we passed a long +Irish car containing about sixteen people, the tenants of Mr. Bianconi, +who are brought at his expense from all parts of the estate. He is +very popular with his tenantry, regarding their interests as his own; +and he often quotes the words of his friend Mr. Drummond, that +'property has its duties as well as its rights.' He has rebuilt nearly +every house on his extensive estates in Tipperary. +</P> + +<P> +"On our way home, the carriage stopped to let me down and see the +strange remains of an ancient fort, close by the roadside. It consists +of a high grass-grown mound, surrounded by a moat. It is one of the +so-called Danish forts, which are found in all parts of Ireland. If it +be true that these forts were erected by the Danes, they must at one +time have had a strong hold of the greater part of Ireland. +</P> + +<P> +"The carriage entered a noble avenue of trees, with views of prettily +enclosed gardens on either side. Mr. Bianconi exclaimed, 'Welcome to +the Carman's Stage!' Longfield House, which we approached, is a fine +old-fashioned house, situated on the river Suir, a few miles south of +Cashel, one of the most ancient cities in Ireland. Mr. Bianconi and +his family were most hospitable; and I found him most lively and +communicative. He talked cleverly and with excellent choice of +language for about three hours, during which I learnt much from him. +</P> + +<P> +"Like most men who have accomplished great things, and overcome many +difficulties, Mr. Bianconi is fond of referring to the past events in +his interesting life. The acuteness of his conversation is wonderful. +He hits off a keen thought in a few words, sometimes full of wit and +humour. I thought this very good: 'Keep before the wheels, young man, +or they will run over you: always keep before the wheels!' He read +over to me the memoir he had prepared at the suggestion of Mr. +Drummond, relating to the events of his early life; and this opened the +way for a great many other recollections not set down in the book. +</P> + +<P> +"He vividly remembered the parting from his mother, nearly seventy +years ago, and spoke of her last words to him: 'When you remember me, +think of me as waiting at this window, watching for your return.' This +led him to speak of the great forgetfulness and want of respect which +children have for their parents nowadays. 'We seem,' he said, 'to have +fallen upon a disrespectful age.' +</P> + +<P> +"'It is strange,' said he, 'how little things influence one's mind and +character. When I was a boy at Waterford, I bought an old second-hand +book from a man on the quay, and the maxim on its title-page fixed +itself deeply on my memory. It was, "Truth, like water, will find its +own level."' And this led him to speak of the great influence which the +example and instruction of Mr. Rice, of the Christian Brothers, had had +upon his mind and character. 'That religions institution,' said he, +'of which Mr. Rice was one of the founders, has now spread itself over +the country, and, by means of the instruction which the members have +imparted to the poorer ignorant classes, they have effected quite a +revolution in the south of Ireland.' +</P> + +<P> +"'I am not much of a reader,' said Mr. Bianconi; 'the best part of my +reading has consisted in reading way-bills. But I was once +complimented by Justice Lefroy upon my books. He remarked to me what a +wonderful education I must have had to invent my own system of +book-keeping. Yes,' said he, pointing to his ledgers, 'there they +are.' The books are still preserved, recording the progress of the +great car enterprise. They show at first the small beginnings, and +then the rapid growth—the tens growing to hundreds, and the hundreds +to thousands—the ledgers and day-books containing, as it were, the +whole history of the undertaking—of each car, of each man, of each +horse, and of each line of road, recorded most minutely. +</P> + +<P> +"'The secret of my success,' said he, 'has been promptitude, fair +dealing, and good humour. And this I will add, what I have often said +before, that I never did a kind action but it was returned to me +tenfold. My cars have never received the slightest injury from the +people. Though travelling through the country for about sixty years, +the people have throughout respected the property intrusted to me. My +cars have passed through lonely and unfrequented places, and they have +never, even in the most disturbed times, been attacked. That, I think, +is an extraordinary testimony to the high moral character of the Irish +people.' +</P> + +<P> +"'It is not money, but the genius of money that I esteem,' said +Bianconi; 'not money itself, but money used as a creative power.' +</P> + +<P> +And he himself has furnished in his own life the best possible +illustration of his maxim He created a new industry, gave employment to +an immense number of persons, promoted commerce, extended civilisation; +and, though a foreigner, proved one of the greatest of Ireland's +benefactors." +</P> + +<P> +About two years after the date of my son's visit, Charles Bianconi +passed away, full of years and honours; and his remains were laid +beside those of his son and daughter, in the mortuary chapel at +Boherlahan. He died in 1875, in his ninetieth year. Well might Signor +Henrico Mayer say, at the British Association at Cork in 1846, that "he +felt proud as an Italian to hear a compatriot so deservedly eulogised; +and although Ireland might claim Bianconi as a citizen, yet the +Italians should ever with pride hail him as a countryman, whose +industry and virtue reflected honour on the country of his birth." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Footnotes for Chapter IX. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] This article originally appeared in 'Good Words.' A biography of +Charles Bianconi, by his daughter, Mrs. Morgan John O'Connell, has +since been published; but the above article is thought worthy of +republication, as its contents were for the most part taken principally +from Mr. Bianconi's own lips. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[2] Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Committee on Postage +(Second Report), 1838, p. 284. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[3] Evidence before the Select Committee on Postage, 1838. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[4] Hall's 'Ireland,' ii. 76. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[5] Paper read before the British Association at Cork, 1843. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INDUSTRY IN IRELAND: THROUGH CONNAUGHT AND ULSTER, TO BELFAST. +</H3> + +<P> +"The Irish people have a past to boast of, and a future to create."—J. +F. O'Carrol. +</P> + +<P> +"One of the great questions is how to find an outlet for Irish +manufactures. We ought to be an exporting nation, or we never will be +able to compete successfully with our trade rivals."—E. D. Gray. +</P> + +<P> +"Ireland may become a Nation again, if we all sacrifice our parricidal +passions, prejudices, and resentments on the altar of our country. +Then shall your manufactures flourish, and Ireland be free."—Daniel +O'Connell. +</P> + +<P> +Further communications passed between my young friend, the Italian +count, and his father; and the result was that he accompanied me to +Ireland, on the express understanding that he was to send home a letter +daily by post assuring his friends of his safety. We went together +accordingly to Galway, up Lough Corrib to Cong and Lough Mask; by the +romantic lakes and mountains of Connemara to Clifden and Letterfrack, +and through the lovely pass of Kylemoor to Leenane; along the fiord of +Killury; then on, by Westport and Ballina to Sligo. Letters were +posted daily by my young friend; and every day we went forwards in +safety. +</P> + +<P> +But how lonely was the country! We did not meet a single American +tourist during the whole course of our visit, and the Americans are the +most travelling people in the world. Although the railway companies +have given every facility for visiting Connemara and the scenery of the +West of Ireland, we only met one single English tourist, accompanied by +his daughter. The Bianconi long car between Clifden and Westport had +been taken off for want of support. The only persons who seemed to +have no fear of Irish agrarianism were the English anglers, who are +ready to brave all dangers, imaginary or supposed, provided they can +only kill a big salmon! And all the rivers flowing westward into the +Atlantic are full of fine fish. While at Galway, we looked down into +the river Corrib from the Upper Bridge, and beheld it literally black +with the backs of salmon! They were waiting for a flood to enable them +to ascend the ladder into Lough Corrib. While there, 1900 salmon were +taken in one day by nets in the bay. +</P> + +<P> +Galway is a declining town. It has docks, but no shipping; bonded +warehouses, but no commerce. It has a community of fishermen at +Claddagh, but the fisheries of the bay are neglected. As one of the +poor men of the place exclaimed, "Poverty is the curse of Ireland." On +looking at Galway from the Claddagh side, it seems as if to have +suffered from a bombardment. Where a roof has fallen in, nothing has +been done to repair it. It was of no use. The ruin has been left to +go on. The mills, which used to grind home-grown corn, are now +unemployed. The corn comes ready ground from America. Nothing is +thought of but emigration, and the best people are going, leaving the +old, the weak, and the inefficient at home. "The labourer," said the +late President Garfield, "has but one commodity to sell—his day's +work, it is his sole reliance. He must sell it to-day, or it is lost +for-ever." And as the poor Irishman cannot sell his day's labour, he +must needs emigrate to some other country, where his only commodity may +be in demand. +</P> + +<P> +While at Galway, I read with interest an eloquent speech delivered by +Mr. Parnell at the banquet held in the Great Hall of the Exhibition at +Cork. Mr. Parnell asked, with much reason, why manufactures should not +be established and encouraged in the South of Ireland, as in other +parts of the country. Why should not capital be invested, and +factories and workshops developed, through the length and breadth of +the kingdom? "I confess," he said, "I should like to give Ireland a +fair opportunity of working her home manufactures. We can each one of +us do much to revive the ancient name of our nation in those industrial +pursuits which have done so much to increase and render glorious those +greater nations by the side of which we live. I trust that before many +years are over we shall have the honour and pleasure of meeting in even +a more splendid palace than this, and of seeing in the interval that +the quick-witted genius of the Irish race has profited by the lessons +which this beautiful Exhibition must undoubtedly teach, and that much +will have been done to make our nation happy, prosperous, and free." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Parnell, in the course of his speech, referred to the manufactures +which had at one time flourished in Ireland—to the flannels of +Rathdrum, the linens of Bandon, the cottons of Cork, and the gloves of +Limerick. Why should not these things exist again? "We have a people +who are by nature quick and facile to learn, who have shown in many +other countries that they are industrious and laborious, and who have +not been excelled—whether in the pursuits of agriculture under a +midday sun in the field, or amongst the vast looms in the factory +districts—by the people of any country on the face of the globe."[1] +Most just and eloquent! +</P> + +<P> +The only weak point in Mr. Parnell's speech was where he urged his +audience "not to use any article of the manufacture of any other +country except Ireland, where you can get up an Irish manufacture." +The true remedy is to make Irish articles of the best and cheapest, and +they will be bought, not only by the Irish, but by the English and +people of all nations. Manufactures cannot be "boycotted." They will +find their way into all lands, in spite even of the most restrictive +tariffs. Take, for instance, the case of Belfast hereafter to be +referred to. If the manufacturing population of that town were to rely +for their maintenance on the demand for their productions at home, they +would simply starve. But they make the best and the cheapest goods of +their kind, and hence the demand for them is world-wide. +</P> + +<P> +There is an abundant scope for the employment of capital and skilled +labour in Ireland. During the last few years land has been falling +rapidly out of cultivation. The area under cereal crops has +accordingly considerably decreased.[2] Since 1868, not less than +400,000 acres have been disused for this purpose.[3] Wheat can be +bought better and cheaper in America, and imported into Ireland ground +into flour. The consequence is, that the men who worked the soil, as +well as the men who ground the corn, are thrown out of employment, and +there is nothing left for them but subsistence upon the poor-rates, +emigration to other countries, or employment in some new domestic +industry. +</P> + +<P> +Ireland is by no means the "poor Ireland" that she is commonly supposed +to be. The last returns of the Postmaster-General show that she is +growing in wealth. Irish thrift has been steadily at work during the +last twenty years. Since the establishment of the Post Office Savings +Banks, in 1861, the deposits have annually increased in value. At the +end of 1882, more than two millions sterling had been deposited in +these banks, and every county participated in the increase.[4] The +largest accumulations were in the counties of Dublin, Antrim, Cork, +Down, Tipperary, and Tyrone, in the order named. Besides this amount, +the sum of 2,082,413L. was due to depositors in the ordinary Savings +Banks on the 20th of November, 1882; or, in all, more than four +millions sterling, the deposits of small capitalists. At Cork, at the +end of last year, it was found that the total deposits made in the +savings bank had been 76,000L, or an increase of 6,675L. over the +preceding twelve months. But this is not all. The Irish middle +classes are accustomed to deposit most of their savings in the Joint +Stock banks; and from the returns presented to the Lord Lieutenant, +dated the 31st of January, 1883, we find that these had been more than +doubled in twenty years, the deposits and cash balances having +increased from 14,389,000L. at the end of 1862, to 32,746,000L. at the +end of 1882. During the last year they had increased by the sum of +2,585,000L. "So large an increase in bank deposits and cash balances," +says the Report, "is highly satisfactory." It may be added that the +investments in Government and India Stock, on which dividends were paid +at the Bank of Ireland, at the end of 1882, amounted to not less than +31,804,000L. +</P> + +<P> +It is proper that Ireland should be bountiful with her increasing +means. It has been stated that during the last eighteen years her +people have contributed not less than six millions sterling for the +purpose of building places of worship, convents, schools, and colleges, +in connection with the Roman Catholic Church, not to speak of their +contributions for other patriotic objects. +</P> + +<P> +It would be equally proper if some of the saved surplus capital of +Ireland, as suggested by Mr. Parnell, were invested in the +establishment of Irish manufactures. This would not only give +profitable occupation to the unemployed, but enable Ireland to become +an increasingly exporting nation. We are informed by an Irish banker, +that there is abundance of money to be got in Ireland for any industry +which has a reasonable chance of success. One thing, however, is +certain: there must be perfect safety. An old writer has said that +"Government is a badge of lost innocence: the palaces of kings are +built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise." The main use of +government is protection against the weaknesses and selfishness of +human nature. If there be no protection for life, liberty, property, +and the fruits of accumulated industry, government becomes +comparatively useless, and society is driven back upon its first +principles. +</P> + +<P> +Capital is the most sensitive of all things. It flies turbulence and +strife, and thrives only in security and freedom. It must have +complete safety. If tampered with by restrictive laws, or hampered by +combinations, it suddenly disappears. "The age of glory of a nation," +said Sir Humphry Davy, "is the age of its security. The same dignified +feeling which urges men to gain a dominion over nature will preserve +them from the dominion of slavery. Natural, and moral, and religions +knowledge, are of one family; and happy is the country and great its +strength where they dwell together in union." +</P> + +<P> +Dublin was once celebrated for its shipbuilding, its timber-trade, its +iron manufactures, and its steam-printing; Limerick was celebrated for +its gloves; Kilkenny for its blankets; Bandon for its woollen and linen +manufactures. But most of these trades were banished by strikes.[5] +Dr. Doyle stated before the Irish Committee of 1830, that the almost +total extinction of the Kilkenny blanket-trade was attributable to the +combinations of the weavers; and O'Connell admitted that Trades Unions +had wrought more evil to Ireland than absenteeism and Saxon +maladministration. But working men have recently become more prudent +and thrifty; and it is believed that under the improved system of +moderate counsel, and arbitration between employers and employed, a +more hopeful issue is likely to attend the future of such enterprises. +</P> + +<P> +Another thing is clear. A country may be levelled down by idleness and +ignorance; it can only be levelled up by industry and intelligence. It +is easy to pull down; it is very difficult to build up. The hands that +cannot erect a hovel may demolish a palace. We have but to look to +Switzerland to see what a country may become which mixes its industry +with its brains. That little land has no coal, no seaboard by which +she can introduce it, and is shut off from other countries by lofty +mountains, as well as by hostile tariffs; and yet Switzerland is one of +the most prosperous nations in Europe, because governed and regulated +by intelligent industry. Let Ireland look to Switzerland, and she need +not despair. +</P> + +<P> +Ireland is a much richer country by nature than is generally supposed. +In fact, she has not yet been properly explored. There is copper-ore in +Wicklow, Waterford, and Cork. The Leitrim iron-ores are famous for +their riches; and there is good ironstone in Kilkenny, as well as in +Ulster. The Connaught ores are mixed with coal-beds. Kaolin, +porcelain clay, and coarser clay, abound; but it is only at Belleek +that it has been employed in the pottery manufacture. But the sea +about Ireland is still less explored than the land. All round the +Atlantic seaboard of the Irish coast are shoals of herring and +mackerel, which might be food for men, but are at present only consumed +by the multitudes of sea-birds which follow them. +</P> + +<P> +In the daily papers giving an account of the Cork Exhibition, appeared +the following paragraph: "An interesting exhibit will be a quantity of +preserved herrings from Lowestoft, caught off the old head of Kinsale, +and returned to Cork after undergoing a preserving process in +England."[6] Fish caught off the coast of Ireland by English fishermen, +taken to England and cured, and then "returned to Cork" for exhibition! +Here is an opening for patriotic Irishmen. Why not catch and preserve +the fish at home, and get the entire benefit of the fish traffic? Will +it be believed that there is probably more money value in the seas +round Ireland than there is in the land itself? This is actually the +case with the sea round the county of Aberdeen.[7] +</P> + +<P> +A vast source of wealth lies at the very doors of the Irish people. +But the harvest of an ocean teeming with life is allowed to pass into +other hands. The majority of the boats which take part in the fishery +at Kinsale are from the little island of Man, from Cornwall, from +France, and from Scotland. The fishermen catch the fish, salt them, +and carry them or send them away. While the Irish boats are diminishing +in number, those of the strangers are increasing. In an East Lothian +paper, published in May 1881, I find the following paragraph, under the +head of Cockenzie:-. +</P> + +<P> +"Departure of Boats.—In the early part of this week, a number of the +boats here have left for the herring-fishery at Kinsale, in Ireland. +The success attending their labours last year at that place and at +Howth has induced more of them than usual to proceed thither this year." +</P> + +<P> +It may not be generally known that Cockenzie is a little fishing +village on the Firth of Forth, in Scotland, where the fishermen have +provided themselves, at their own expense, with about fifty decked +fishing-boats, each costing, with nets and gear, about 500L. With +these boats they carry on their pursuits on the coast of Scotland, +England, and Ireland. In 1882, they sent about thirty boats to +Kinsale[8] and Howth. The profits of their fishing has been such as to +enable them, with the assistance of Lord Wemyss, to build for +themselves a convenient harbour at Port Seaton, without any help from +the Government. They find that self-help is the best help, and that it +is absurd to look to the Government and the public purse for what they +can best do for themselves. +</P> + +<P> +The wealth of the ocean round Ireland has long been known. As long ago +as the ninth and tenth centuries, the Danes established a fishery off +the western coasts, and carried on a lucrative trade with the south of +Europe. In Queen Mary's reign, Philip II. of Spain paid 1000L. +annually in consideration of his subjects being allowed to fish on the +north-west coast of Ireland; and it appears that the money was brought +into the Irish Exchequer. In 1650, Sweden was permitted, as a favour, +to employ a hundred vessels in the Irish fishery; and the Dutch in the +reign of Charles I. were admitted to the fisheries on the payment of +30,000L. In 1673, Sir W. Temple, in a letter to Lord Essex, says that +"the fishing of Ireland might prove a mine under water as rich as any +under ground."[9] +</P> + +<P> +The coasts of Ireland abound in all the kinds of fish in common +use—cod, ling, haddock, hake, mackerel, herring, whiting, conger, +turbot, brill, bream, soles, plaice, dories, and salmon. The banks off +the coast of Galway are frequented by myriads of excellent fish; yet, +of the small quantity caught, the bulk is taken in the immediate +neighbourhood of the shores. Galway bay is said to be the finest +fishing ground in the world; but the fish cannot be expected to come on +shore unsought: they must be found, followed, and netted. The +fishing-boats from the west of Scotland are very successful; and they +often return the fish to Ireland, cured, which had been taken out of +the Irish bays. "I tested this fact in Galway," says Mr. S. C. Hall. +"I had ordered fish for dinner; two salt haddocks were brought to me. +On inquiry, I ascertained where they were bought, and learned from the +seller that he was the agent of a Scotch firm, whose boats were at that +time loading in the bay."[10] But although Scotland imports some 80,000 +barrels of cured herrings annually into Ireland, that is not enough; +for we find that there is a regular importation of cured herrings, cod, +ling, and hake, from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, towards the food of +the Irish people.[11] +</P> + +<P> +The fishing village of Claddagh, at Galway, is more decaying than ever. +It seems to have suffered from a bombardment, like the rest of the +town. The houses of the fishermen, when they fall in, are left in +ruins. While the French, and English, and Scotch boats leave the coast +laden with fish, the Claddagh men remain empty-handed. They will only +fish on "lucky days," so that the Galway market is often destitute of +fish, while the Claddagh people are starving. On one occasion an +English company was formed for the purpose of fishing and curing fish +at Galway, as is now done at Yarmouth, Grimsby, Fraserburgh, Wick, and +other places. Operations were commenced, but so soon as the English +fishermen put to sea in their boats, the Claddagh men fell upon them, +and they were glad to escape with their lives.[12] Unfortunately, the +Claddagh men have no organization, no fixed rules, no settled +determination to work, unless when pressed by necessity. The +appearance of the men and of their cabins show that they are greatly in +want of capital; and fishing cannot be successfully performed without a +sufficiency of this industrial element. +</P> + +<P> +Illustrations of this neglected industry might be given to any extent. +Herring fishing, cod fishing, and pilchard fishing, are alike +untouched. The Irish have a strong prejudice against the pilchard; +they believe it to be an unlucky fish, and that it will rot the net +that takes it. The Cornishmen do not think so, for they find the +pilchard fishing to be a source of great wealth. The pilchards strike +upon the Irish coast first before they reach Cornwall. When Mr. Brady, +Inspector of Irish Fisheries, visited St. Ives a few years ago, he saw +captured, in one seine alone, nearly ten thousand pounds of this fish. +</P> + +<P> +Not long since; according to a northern local paper,[13] a large fleet +of vessels in full sail was seen from the west coast of Donegal, +evidently making for the shore. Many surmises were made about the +unusual sight. Some thought it was the Fenians, others the Home +Rulers, others the Irish-American Dynamiters. Nothing of the kind! It +was only a fleet of Scotch smacks, sixty-four in number, fishing for +herring between Torry Island and Horn Head. The Irish might say to the +Scotch fishermen, in the words of the Morayshire legend, "Rejoice, O my +brethren, in the gifts of the sea, for they enrich you without making +any one else the poorer!" +</P> + +<P> +But while the Irish are overlooking their treasure of herring, the +Scotch are carefully cultivating it. The Irish fleet of fishing-boats +fell off from 27,142 in 1823 to 7181 in 1878; and in 1882 they were +still further reduced to 6089.[14] Yet Ireland has a coast-line of +fishing ground of nearly three thousand miles in extent. +</P> + +<P> +The bights and bays on the west coast of Ireland—off Erris, Mayo, +Connemara, and Donegal—swarm with fish. Near Achill Bay, 2000 +mackerel were lately taken at a single haul; and Clew Bay is often +alive with fish. In Scull Bay and Crookhaven, near Cape Clear, they +are so plentiful that the peasants often knock them on the head with +oars, but will not take the trouble to net them. +</P> + +<P> +These swarms of fish might be a source of permanent wealth. A +gentleman of Cork one day borrowed a common rod and line from a Cornish +miner in his employment, and caught fifty-seven mackerel from the jetty +in Scull Bay before breakfast. Each of these mackerel was worth +twopence in Cork market, thirty miles off. Yet the people round about, +many of whom were short of food, were doing nothing to catch them, but +expecting Providence to supply their wants. Providence, however, +always likes to be helped. Some people forget that the Giver of all +good gifts requires us to seek for them by industry, prudence, and +perseverance.[15] +</P> + +<P> +Some cry for more loans; some cry for more harbours. It would be well +to help with suitable harbours, but the system of dependence upon +Government loans is pernicious. The Irish ought to feel that the very +best help must come from themselves. This is the best method for +teaching independence. Look at the little Isle of Man. The fishermen +there never ask for loans. They look to their nets and their boats; +they sail for Ireland, catch the fish, and sell them to the Irish +people. With them, industry brings capital, and forms the fertile +seed-ground of further increase of boats and nets. Surely what is +done by the Manxmen, the Cornishmen, and the Cockenziemen, might be +done by the Irishmen. The difficulty is not to be got over by +lamenting about it, or by staring at it, but by grappling with it, and +overcoming it. It is deeds, not words, that are wanted. Employment for +the mass of the people must spring from the people themselves. +Provided there is security for life and property, and an absence of +intimidation, we believe that capital will become invested in the +fishing industry of Ireland; and that the result will be peace, food, +and prosperity. +</P> + +<P> +We must remember that it is only of comparatively late years that +England and Scotland have devoted so much attention to the fishery of +the seas surrounding our island. In this fact there is consolation and +hope for Ireland. At the beginning of the seventeenth century Sir +Waiter Raleigh laid before the King his observations concerning the +trade and commerce of England, in which he showed that the Dutch were +almost monopolising the fishing trade, and consequently adding to their +shipping, commerce, and wealth. "Surely," he says, "the stream is +necessary to be turned to the good of this kingdom, to whose sea-coasts +alone God has sent us these great blessings and immense riches for us +to take; and that every nation should carry away out of this kingdom +yearly great masses of money for fish taken in our seas, and sold again +by them to us, must needs be a great dishonour to our nation, and +hindrance to this realm." +</P> + +<P> +The Hollanders then had about 50,000 people employed in fishing along +the English coast; and their industry and enterprise gave employment to +about 150,000 more, "by sea and land, to make provision, to dress and +transport the fish they take, and return commodities; whereby they are +enabled yearly to build 1000 ships and vessels." The prosperity of +Amsterdam was then so great that it was said that Amsterdam was +"founded on herring-bones." Tobias Gentleman published in 1614 his +treatise on 'England's Way to win Wealth, and to employ Ships and +Marines,'[16] in which he urged the English people to vie with the +Dutch in fishing the seas, and thereby to give abundant employment, as +well as abundant food, to the poorer people of the country. +</P> + +<P> +"Look," he said, "on these fellows, that we call the plump Hollanders; +behold their diligence in fishing, and our own careless negligence!" +The Dutch not only fished along the coasts near Yarmouth, but their +fishing vessels went north as far as the coasts of Shetland. What most +roused Mr. Gentleman's indignation was, that the Dutchmen caught the +fish and sold them to the Yarmouth herring-mongers "for ready gold, so +that it amounteth to a great sum of money, which money doth never come +again into England." "We are daily scorned," he says, "by these +Hollanders, for being so negligent of our Profit, and careless of our +Fishing; and they do daily flout us that be the poor Fishermen of +England, to our Faces at Sea, calling to us, and saying, 'Ya English, +ya sall or oud scoue dragien;' which, in English, is this, 'You +English, we will make you glad to wear our old Shoes!'" +</P> + +<P> +Another pamphlet, to a similar effect, 'The Royal Fishing revived,'[17] +was published fifty years later, in which it was set forward that the +Dutch "have not only gained to themselves almost the sole fishing in +his Majesty's Seas; but principally upon this Account have very near +beat us out of all our other most profitable Trades in all Parts of the +World." It was even proposed to compel "all Sorts of begging Persons +and all other poor People, all People condemned for less Crimes than +Blood," as well as "all Persons in Prison for Debt," to take part in +this fishing trade! But this was not the true way to force the +traffic. The herring fishery at Yarmouth and along the coast began to +make gradual progress with the growth of wealth and enterprise +throughout the country; though it was not until 1787—less than a +hundred years ago—that the Yarmouth men began the deep-sea herring +fishery. +</P> + +<P> +Before then, the fishing was all carried on along shore in little +cobles, almost within sight of land. The native fishery also extended +northward, along the east coast of Scotland and the Orkney and Shetland +Isles, until now the herring fishery of Scotland forms one of the +greatest industries in the United Kingdom, and gives employment, +directly or indirectly, to close upon half a million of people, or to +one-seventh of the whole population of Scotland. +</P> + +<P> +Taking these facts into consideration, therefore, there is no reason to +despair of seeing, before many years have elapsed, a large development +of the fishing industry of Ireland. We may yet see Galway the +Yarmouth, Achill the Grimsby, and Killybegs the Wick of the West. +Modern society in Ireland, as everywhere else, can only be transformed +through the agency of labour, industry, and commerce—inspired by the +spirit of work, and maintained by the accumulations of capital. The +first end of all labour is security,—security to person, possession, +and property, so that all may enjoy in peace the fruits of their +industry. For no liberty, no freedom, can really exist which does not +include the first liberty of all—the right of public and private +safety. +</P> + +<P> +To show what energy and industry can do in Ireland, it is only +necessary to point to Belfast, one of the most prosperous and +enterprising towns in the British Islands. The land is the same, the +climate is the same, and the laws are the same, as those which prevail +in other parts of Ireland. Belfast is the great centre of Irish +manufactures and commerce, and what she has been able to do might be +done elsewhere, with the same amount of energy and enterprise. But it +is not land, or climate, or altered laws that are wanted. It is men to +lead and direct, and men to follow with anxious and persevering +industry. It is always the Man society wants. +</P> + +<P> +The influence of Belfast extends far out into the country. As you +approach it from Sligo, you begin to see that you are nearing a place +where industry has accumulated capital, and where it has been invested +in cultivating and beautifying the land. After you pass Enniskillen, +the fields become more highly cultivated. The drill-rows are more +regular; the hedges are clipped; the weeds no longer hide the crops, as +they sometimes do in the far west. The country is also adorned with +copses, woods, and avenues. A new crop begins to appear in the +fields—a crop almost peculiar to the neighbourhood of Belfast. It is +a plant with a very slender erect green stem, which, when full grown, +branches at the top into a loose corymb of blue flowers. This is the +flax plant, the cultivation and preparation of which gives employment +to a great number of persons, and is to a large extent the foundation +of the prosperity of Belfast. +</P> + +<P> +The first appearance of the linen industry of Ireland, as we approach +Belfast from the west, is observed at Portadown. Its position on the +Bann, with its water power, has enabled this town, as well as the other +places on the river, to secure and maintain their due share in the +linen manufacture. Factories with their long chimneys begin to appear. +The fields are richly cultivated, and a general air of well-being +pervades the district. Lurgan is reached, so celebrated for its +diapers; and the fields there about are used as bleaching-greens. +Then comes Lisburn, a populous and thriving town, the inhabitants of +which are mostly engaged in their staple trade, the manufacture of +damasks. This was really the first centre of the linen trade. Though +Lord Strafford, during his government of Ireland, encouraged the flax +industry, by sending to Holland for flax-seed, and inviting Flemish +and French artisans to settle in Ireland, it was not until the +Huguenots, who had been banished from France by the persecutions of +Louis XIV., settled in Ireland in such large numbers, that the +manufacture became firmly established. The Crommelins, the Goyers, and +the Dupres, were the real founders of this great branch of industry.[18] +</P> + +<P> +As the traveller approaches Belfast, groups of houses, factories, and +works of various kinds, appear closer and closer; long chimneys over +boilers and steam-engines, and brick buildings three or four stories +high; large yards full of workmen, carts, and lorries; and at length we +are landed in the midst of a large manufacturing town. As we enter the +streets, everybody seems to be alive. What struck William Hutton when +he first saw Birmingham, might be said of Belfast: "I was surprised at +the place, but more at the people. They possessed a vivacity I had +never before beheld. I had been among dreamers, but now I saw men +awake. Their very step along the street showed alacrity. Every man +seemed to know what he was about. The town was large, and full of +inhabitants, and these inhabitants full of industry. The faces of other +men seemed tinctured with an idle gloom; but here with a pleasing +alertness. Their appearance was strongly marked with the modes of +civil life." +</P> + +<P> +Some people do not like manufacturing towns: they prefer old castles +and ruins. They will find plenty of these in other parts of Ireland. +But to found industries that give employment to large numbers of +persons, and enable them to maintain themselves and families upon the +fruits of their labour—instead of living upon poor-rates levied from +the labours of others, or who are forced, by want of employment, to +banish themselves from their own country, to emigrate and settle among +strangers, where they know not what may become of them—is a most +honourable and important source of influence, and worthy of every +encouragement. +</P> + +<P> +Look at the wonderfully rapid rise of Belfast, originating in the +enterprise of individuals, and developed by the earnest and anxious +industry of the inhabitants of Ulster! +</P> + +<P> +"God save Ireland!" By all means. But Ireland cannot be saved without +the help of the people who live in it. God endowed men, there as +elsewhere, with reason, will, and physical power; and it is by patient +industry only that they can open up a pathway to the enduring +prosperity of the country. There is no Eden in nature. The earth +might have continued a rude uncultivated wilderness, but for human +energy, power, and industry. These enable man to subdue the +wilderness, and develop the potency of labour. "Possunt quia credunt +posse." They must conquer who will. +</P> + +<P> +Belfast is a comparatively modern town. It has no ancient history. +About the beginning of the sixteenth century it was little better than +a fishing village. There was a castle, and a ford to it across the +Lagan. A chapel was built at the ford, at which hurried prayers were +offered up for those who were about to cross the currents of Lagan +Water. In 1575, Sir Henry Sydney writes to the Lords of the Council: +"I was offered skirmish by MacNeill Bryan Ertaugh at my passage over +the water at Belfast, which I caused to be answered, and passed over +without losse of man or horse; yet by reason of the extraordinaire +Retorne our horses swamme and the Footmen in the passage waded very +deep." The country round about was forest land. It was so thickly +wooded that it was a common saying that one might walk to Lurgan "on +the tops of the trees." +</P> + +<P> +In 1612, Belfast consisted of about 120 houses, built of mud and +covered with thatch. The whole value of the land on which the town is +built, is said to have been worth only 5L. in fee simple.[19] "Ulster," +said Sir John Davies, "is a very desert or wilderness; the inhabitants +thereof having for the most part no certain habitation in any towns or +villages." In 1659, Belfast contained only 600 inhabitants: +Carrickfergus was more important, and had 1312 inhabitants. But about +1660, the Long Bridge over the Lagan was built, and prosperity began to +dawn upon the little town. It was situated at the head of a navigable +lough, and formed an outlet for the manufacturing products of the +inland country. Ships of any burden, however, could not come near the +town. The cargoes, down even to a recent date, had to be discharged +into lighters at Garmoyle. Streams of water made their way to the +Lough through the mud banks; and a rivulet ran through what is now +known as the High Street. +</P> + +<P> +The population gradually increased. In 1788 Belfast had 12,000 +inhabitants. But it was not until after the Union with Great Britain +that the town made so great a stride. At the beginning of the present +century it had about 20,000 inhabitants. At every successive census, +the progress made was extraordinary, until now the population of +Belfast amounts to over 225,000. There is scarcely an instance of so +large a rate of increase in the British Islands, save in the +exceptional case of Middlesborough, which was the result of the opening +out of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and the discovery of +ironstone in the hills of Cleveland in Yorkshire. Dundee and Barrow +are supposed to present the next most rapid increases of population. +</P> + +<P> +The increase of shipping has also been equally great. Ships from other +ports frequented the Lough for purposes of trade; but in course of time +the Belfast merchants supplied themselves with ships of their own. In +1791 one William Ritchie, a sturdy North Briton, brought with him from +Glasgow ten men and a quantity of shipbuilding materials. He gradually +increased the number of his workmen, and proceeded to build a few +sloops. He reclaimed some land from the sea, and made a shipyard and +graving dock on what was known as Corporation Ground. In November 1800 +the new graving dock, near the bridge, was opened for the reception of +vessels. It was capable of receiving three vessels of 200 tons each! +In 1807 a vessel of 400 tons burthen was launched from Mr. Ritchie's +shipyard, when a great crowd of people assembled to witness the +launching of "so large a ship"—far more than now assemble to see a +3000-tonner of the White Star Line leave the slips and enter the water! +</P> + +<P> +The shipbuilding trade has been one of the most rapidly developed, +especially of late years. In 1805 the number of vessels frequenting +the port was 840; whereas in 1883 the number had been increased to +7508, with about a million and a-half of tonnage; while the gross value +of the exports from Belfast exceeded twenty millions sterling annually. +In 1819 the first steamboat of 100 tons was used to tug the vessels up +the windings of the Lough, which it did at the rate of three miles an +hour, to the astonishment of everybody. Seven years later, the +steamboat Rob Roy was put on between Glasgow and Belfast. But these +vessels had been built in Scotland. It was not until 1826 that the +first steamboat, the chieftain, was built in Belfast, by the same +William Ritchie. Then, in 1838, the first iron boat was built in the +Lagan foundry, by Messrs. Coates and Young, though it was but a mere +cockle-shell compared with the mighty ocean steamers which are now +regularly launched from Queen's Island. In the year 1883 the largest +shipbuilding firm in the town launched thirteen vessels, of over 30,000 +tons gross, while two other firms launched twelve ships, of about +10,000 tons gross. +</P> + +<P> +I do not propose to enter into details respecting the progress of the +trades of Belfast. The most important is the spinning of fine linen +yarn, which is for the most part concentrated in that town, over +25,000,000 of pounds weight being exported annually. Towards the end of +the seventeenth century the linen manufacture had made but little +progress. In 1680 all Ireland did not export more than 6000L. worth +annually. Drogheda was then of greater importance than Belfast. But +with the settlement of the persecuted Hugnenots in Ulster, and +especially through the energetic labours of Crommelin, Goyer, and +others, the growth of flax was sedulously cultivated, and its +manufacture into linen of all sorts became an important branch of Irish +industry. In the course of about fifty years the exports of linen +fabrics increased to the value of over 600,000L. per annum. +</P> + +<P> +It was still, however, a handicraft manufacture, and done for the most +part at home. Flax was spun and yarn was woven by hand. Eventually +machinery was employed, and the turn-out became proportionately large +and valuable. It would not be possible for hand labour to supply the +amount of linen now turned out by the aid of machinery. It would +require three times the entire population of Ireland to spin and weave, +by the old spinning-wheel and hand-loom methods, the amount of linen +cloth now annually manufactured by the operatives of Belfast alone. +There are now forty large spinning-mills in Belfast and the +neighbourhood, which furnish employment to a very large number of +working people.[20] +</P> + +<P> +In the course of my visit to Belfast, I inspected the works of the York +Street flax-spinning mills, founded in 1830 by the Messrs. Mulholland, +which now give employment, directly or indirectly, to many thousand +persons. I visited also, with my young Italian friend, the admirable +printing establishment of Marcus Ward and Co., the works of the Belfast +Rope-work Company, and the shipbuilding works of Harland and Wolff. +There we passed through the roar of the iron forge, the clang of the +Nasmyth hammer, and the intermittent glare of the furnaces—all telling +of the novel appliances of modern shipbuilding, and the power of the +modern steam-engine. I prefer to give a brief account of this latter +undertaking, as it exhibits one of the newest and most important +industries of Belfast. It also shows, on the part of its proprietors, +a brave encounter with difficulties, and sets before the friends of +Ireland the truest and surest method of not only giving employment to +its people, but of building up on the surest foundations the prosperity +of the country. +</P> + +<P> +The first occasion on which I visited Belfast—the reader will excuse +the introduction of myself—was in 1840; about forty-four years ago. I +went thither on the invitation of the late Wm. Sharman Crawford, Esq., +M.P., the first prominent advocate of tenant-right, to attend a public +meeting of the Ulster Association, and to spend a few days with him at +his residence at Crawfordsburn, near Bangor. Belfast was then a town +of comparatively little importance, though it had already made a fair +start in commerce and industry. As our steamer approached the head of +the Lough, a large number of labourers were observed—with barrows, +picks, and spades—scooping out and wheeling up the slob and mud of the +estuary, for the purpose of forming what is now known as Queen's +Island, on the eastern side of the river Lagan. The work was conducted +by William Dargan, the famous Irish contractor; and its object was to +make a straight artificial outlet—the Victoria Channel—by means of +which vessels drawing twenty-three feet of water might reach the port +of Belfast. Before then, the course of the Lagan was tortuous and +difficult of navigation; but by the straight cut, which was completed +in 1846, and afterwards extended further seawards, ships of large +burden were enabled to reach the quays, which extend for about a mile +below Queen's Bridge, on both sides of the river. +</P> + +<P> +It was a saying of honest William Dargan, that "when a thing is put +anyway right at all, it takes a vast deal of mismanagement to make it +go wrong." He had another curious saying about "the calf eating the +cow's belly," which, he said, was not right, "at all, at all." Belfast +illustrated his proverbial remarks. That the cutting of the Victoria +Channel was doing the "right thing" for Belfast, was clear, from the +constantly increasing traffic of the port. In course of time, several +extensive docks and tidal basins were added; while provision was made, +in laying out the reclaimed land at the entrance of the estuary, for +their future extension and enlargement. The town of Belfast was by +these means gradually placed in immediate connection by sea with the +principal western ports of England and Scotland,—steamships of large +burden now leaving it daily for Liverpool, Glasgow, Fleetwood, Barrow, +and Ardrossan. The ships entering the port of Belfast in 1883 were +7508, of 1,526,535 tonnage; they had been more than doubled in fifteen +years. The town has risen from nothing, to exhibit a Customs revenue, +in 1883, of 608,781L., infinitely greater than that of Leith, the port +of Edinburgh, or of Hull, the chief port of Yorkshire. The population +has also largely increased. When I visited Belfast in 1840, the town +contained 75,000 inhabitants. They are now over 225,006, or more than +trebled,—Belfast being the tenth town, in point of population, in the +United Kingdom. +</P> + +<P> +The spirit and enterprise of the people are illustrated by the variety +of their occupations. They do not confine themselves to one branch of +business; but their energies overflow into nearly every department of +industry. Their linen manufacture is of world-wide fame; but much less +known are their more recent enterprises. The production of aerated +waters, for instance, is something extraordinary. In 1882 the +manufacturers shipped off 53,163 packages, and 24,263 cwts. of aerated +waters to England, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, and other +countries. While Ireland produces no wrought iron, though it contains +plenty of iron-stone,—and Belfast has to import all the iron which it +consumes,—yet one engineering firm alone, that of Combe, Barbour, and +Combe, employs 1500 highly-paid mechanics, and ships off its iron +machinery to all parts of the world. The printing establishment of +Marcus Ward and Co. employs over 1000 highly skilled and ingenious +persons, and extends the influence of learning and literature into all +civilised countries. We might add the various manufactures of roofing +felt (of which there are five), of ropes, of stoves, of stable +fittings, of nails, of starch, of machinery; all of which have earned a +world-wide reputation. +</P> + +<P> +We prefer, however, to give an account of the last new industry of +Belfast—that of shipping and shipbuilding. Although, as we have said, +Belfast imports from Scotland and England all its iron and all its +coal,[21] it nevertheless, by the skill and strength of its men, sends +out some of the finest and largest steamships which navigate the +Atlantic and Pacific. It all comes from the power of individuality, +and furnishes a splendid example for Dublin, Cork, Waterford, and +Limerick, each of which is provided by nature with magnificent +harbours, with fewer of those difficulties of access which Belfast has +triumphed over; and each of which might be the centre of some great +industrial enterprise, provided only there were patriotic men willing +to embark their capital, perfect protection for the property invested, +and men willing to work rather than to strike. +</P> + +<P> +It was not until the year 1853 that the Queen's Island—raked out of +the mud of the slob-land—was first used for shipbuilding purposes. +Robert Hickson and Co. then commenced operations by laying down the +Mary Stenhouse, a wooden sailing-ship of 1289 tons register; and the +vessel was launched in the following year. +</P> + +<P> +The operations of the firm were continued until the year 1859, when the +shipbuilding establishments on Queen's Island were acquired by Mr. E. +J. Harland (afterwards Harland and Wolff), since which time the +development of this great branch of industry in Belfast has been rapid +and complete. +</P> + +<P> +From the history of this firm, it will be found that energy is the most +profitable of all merchandise; and that the fruit of active work is the +sweetest of all fruits. Harland and Wolff are the true Watt and +Boulton of Belfast. At the beginning of their great enterprise, their +works occupied about four acres of land; they now occupy over +thirty-six acres. The firm has imported not less than two hundred +thousand tons of iron; which have been converted by skill and labour +into 168 ships of 253,000 total tonnage. These ships, if laid close +together, would measure nearly eight miles in length. +</P> + +<P> +The advantage to the wage-earning class can only be shortly stated. +Not less than 34 per cent. is paid in labour on the cost of the ships +turned out. The number of persons employed in the works is 3920; and +the weekly wages paid to them is 4000L., or over 200,000L. annually. +Since the commencement of the undertaking, about two millions sterling +have been paid in wages. +</P> + +<P> +All this goes towards the support of the various industries of the +place. That the working classes of Belfast are thrifty and frugal may +be inferred from the fact that at the end of 1882 they held deposits in +the Savings Bank to the amount of 230,289L., besides 158,064L. in the +Post Office Savings Banks.[22] Nearly all the better class working +people of the town live in separate dwellings, either rented or their +own property. There are ten Building Societies in Belfast, in which +industrious people may store their earnings, and in course of time +either buy or build their own houses. +</P> + +<P> +The example of energetic, active men always spreads. Belfast contains +two other shipbuilding yards, both the outcome of Harland and Wolff's +enterprise; those of Messrs. Macilwaine and Lewis, employing about four +hundred men, and of Messrs. Workman and Clarke, employing about a +thousand. The heads of both these firms were trained in the parent +shipbuilding works of Belfast. There is do feeling of rivalry between +the firms, but all work together for the good of the town. +</P> + +<P> +In Plutarch's Lives, we are told that Themistocles said on one +occasion, "'Tis true that I have never learned how to tune a harp, or +play upon a lute, but I know how to raise a small and inconsiderable +city to glory and greatness." So might it be said of Harland and +Wolff. They have given Belfast not only a potency for good, but a +world-wide reputation. Their energies overflow. Mr. Harland is the +active and ever-prudent Chairman of the most important of the local +boards, the Harbour Trust of Belfast, and exerts himself to promote the +extension of the harbour facilities of the port as if the benefits were +to be exclusively his own; while Mr. Wolff is the Chairman of one of +the latest born industries of the place, the Belfast Rope-work Company, +which already gives employment to over 600 persons. +</P> + +<P> +This last-mentioned industry is only about six years old. The works +occupy over seven acres of ground, more than six acres of which are +under roofing. Although the whole of the raw material is imported from +abroad from Russia, the Philippine Islands, New Zealand, and Central +America—it is exported again in a manufactured state to all parts of +the world. +</P> + +<P> +Such is the contagion of example, and such the ever-branching +industries with which men of enterprise and industry can enrich and +bless their country. The following brief memoir of the career of Mr. +Harland has been furnished at my solicitation; and I think that it will +be found full of interest as well as instruction. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Footnotes for Chapter X. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] Report in the Cork Examiner, 5th July, 1883. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[2] In 1883, as compared with 1882, there was a decrease of 58,022 +acres in the land devoted to the growth of wheat; there was a total +decrease of 114,871 acres in the land under tillage.—Agricultural +Statistics, Ireland, 1883. Parliamentary Return, c. 3768. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[3] Statistical Abstract for the United Kingdom, 1883. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[4] The particulars are these: deposits in Irish Post Office Savings +Banks, 31st December, 1882, 1,925,440; to the credit of depositors and +Government stock, 125,000L.; together, 2,050,440L. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +The increase of deposits over those made in the preceding year, were: +in Dublin, 31,321L.; in Antrim, 23,328L.; in Tyrone, 21,315L.; in Cork, +17,034L.; and in Down, 10,382L. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[5] The only thriving manufacture now in Dublin is that of intoxicating +drinks—beer, porter, stout, and whisky. Brewing and distilling do not +require skilled labour, so that strikes do not affect them. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[6] Times, 11th June, 1883. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[7] The valuation of the county of Aberdeen (exclusive of the city) was +recently 866,816L., whereas the value of the herrings (748,726 barrels) +caught round the coast (at 25s. the barrel) was 935,907L., thereby +exceeding the estimated annual rental of the county by 69,091L. The +Scotch fishermen catch over a million barrels of herrings annually, +representing a value of about a million and a-half sterling. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[8] A recent number of Land and Water supplies the following +information as to the fishing at Kinsale:—"The takes of fish have been +so enormous and unprecedented that buyers can scarcely be found, even +when, as now, mackerel are selling at one shilling per six score. +Piles of magnificent fish lie rotting in the sun. The sides of Kinsale +Harbour are strewn with them, and frequently, when they have become a +little 'touched,' whole boat-loads are thrown overboard into the water. +This great waste is to be attributed to scarcity of hands to salt the +fish and want of packing-boxes. Some of the boats are said to have +made as much as 500L. this season. The local fishing company are +making active preparations for the approaching herring fishery, and it +is anticipated that Kinsale may become one of the centres of this +description of fishing." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[9] Statistical Journal for March 1848. Paper by Richard Valpy on "The +Resources of the Irish Sea Fisheries," pp. 55-72. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[10] HALL, Retrospect of a Long Life, ii. 324. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[11] The Commissioners of Irish Fisheries, in one of their reports, +observe:—"Notwithstanding the diminished population, the fish captured +round the coast is so inadequate to the wants of the population that +fully 150,000L. worth of ling, cod, and herring are annually imported +from Norway, Newfoundland, and Scotland, the vessels bearing these +cargoes, as they approach the shores of Ireland, frequently sailing +through large shoals of fish of the same description as they are +freighted with!" +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[12] The following examination of Mr. J. Ennis, chairman of the Midland +and Great Western Railway, took place before the "Royal Commission on +Railways," as long ago as the year 1846:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +Chairman—"Is the fish traffic of any importance to your railway?" +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +Mr. Ennis—"of course it is, and we give it all the facilities that we +can.... But the Galway fisheries, where one would expect to find +plenty of fish, are totally neglected." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +Sir Rowland Hill—"What is the reason of that?" +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +Mr. Ennis—"I will endeavour to explain. I had occasion a few nights +ago to speak to a gentleman in the House of Commons with regard to an +application to the Fishery Board for 2000L. to restore the pier at +Buffin, in Clew Bay, and I said, 'Will you join me in the application? +I am told it is a place that swarms with fish, and if we had a pier +there the fishermen will have some security, and they will go out.' The +only answer I received was, 'They will not go out; they pay no +attention whatever to the fisheries; they allow the fish to come and go +without making any effort to catch them....'" +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +Mr. Ayrton—"Do you think that if English fishermen went to the west +coast of Ireland they would be able to get on in harmony with the +native fishermen?" +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +Mr. Ennis—"We know the fact to be, that some years ago, a company was +established for the purpose of trawling in Galway Bay, and what was the +consequence? The Irish fishermen, who inhabit a region in the +neighbourhood of Galway, called Claddagh, turned out against them, and +would not allow them to trawl, and the Englishmen very properly went +away with their lives." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +Sir Rowland Hill—"Then they will neither fish themselves nor allow any +one else to fish!" +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +Mr. Ennis—"It seems to be so."—Minutes of Evidence, 175-6. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[13] The Derry Journal. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[14] Report of Inspectors of Irish Fisheries for 1882. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[15] The Report of the Inspectors of Irish Fisheries on the Sea and +Inland Fisheries of Ireland for 1882, gives a large amount of +information as to the fish which swarm round the Irish coast. Mr. Brady +reports on the abundance of herring and other fish all round the coast. +Shoals of herrings "remained off nearly the entire coast of Ireland +from August till December." "Large shoals of pilchards" were observed +on the south and south-west coasts. Off Dingle, it is remarked, "the +supply of all kinds of fish is practically inexhaustible." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +"Immense shoals of herrings off Liscannor and Loop Head;" "the +mackerel is always on this coast, and can be captured at any time of +the year, weather permitting." At Belmullet, "the shoals of fish off +the coast, particularly herring and mackerel, are sometimes enormous." +The fishermen, though poor, are all very orderly and well conducted. +They only want energy and industry. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[16] The Harleian Miscellany, iii. 378-91. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[17] The Harleian Miscellany, iii. 392. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[18] See The Huguenots in England and Ireland. A Board of Traders, for +the encouragement and promotion of the hemp and flax manufacture in +Ireland, was appointed by an Act of Parliament at the beginning of last +century (6th October, 1711), and the year after the appointment of the +Board the following notice was placed on the records of the +institution:—"Louis Crommelin and the Huguenot colony have been +greatly instrumental in improving and propagating the flaxen +manufacture in the north of this Kingdom, and the perfection to which +the same is brought in that part of the country has been greatly owing +to the skill and industry of the said Crommelin." In a history of the +linen trade, published at Belfast, it is said that "the dignity which +that enterprising man imparted to labour, and the halo which his +example cast around physical exertion, had the best effect in raising +the tone of popular feeling, as well among the patricians as among the +peasants of the north of Ireland. This love of industry did much to +break down the national prejudice in favour of idleness, and cast +doubts on the social orthodoxy of the idea then so popular with the +squirearchy, that those alone who were able to live without employment +had any rightful claim to the distinctive title of gentleman.... A +patrician by birth and a merchant by profession, Crommelin proved, by +his own life, his example, and his enterprise, that an energetic +manufacturer may, at the same time, take a high place in the +conventional world." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[19] Benn's History of Belfast, p. 78. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[20] From the Irish Manufacturers' Almanack for 1883 I learn that +nearly one-third of the spindles used in Europe in the linen trade, and +more than one-fourth of the power-looms, belong to Ireland, that "the +Irish linen and associated trades at present give employment to 176,303 +persons; and it is estimated that the capital sunk in spinning and +weaving factories, and the business incidental thereto, is about +100,000,000L., and of that sum 37,000,000L. is credited to Belfast +alone." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[21] The importation of coal in 1883 amounted to over 700,000 tons. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[22] We are indebted to the obliging kindness of the Right Hon. Mr. +Fawcett, Postmaster-General for this return. The total number of +depositors in the Post Office Savings banks in the Parliamentary +borough of Belfast is 10,827 and the amount of their deposits, +including the interest standing to their credit, on the 31st December, +1882, was 158,064L. 0s. 1d. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +An important item in the savings of Belfast, not included in the above +returns, consists in the amounts of deposits made with the various +Limited Companies, as well as with the thriving Building Societies in +the town and neighbourhood. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SHIPBUILDING IN BELFAST—ITS ORIGIN AND PROGRESS. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +BY SIR E. J. HARLAND, ENGINEER AND SHIPBUILDER. +</P> + +<P> +"The useful arts are but reproductions or new combinations by the art +of man, of the same natural benefactors. He no longer waits for +favouring gales, but by means of steam he realises the fable of +AEolus's bag, and carries the two-and-thirty winds in the boiler of his +boat."—Emerson. +</P> + +<P> +"The most exquisite and the most expensive machinery is brought into +play where operations on the most common materials are to be performed, +because these are executed on the widest scale. This is the meaning of +the vast and astonishing prevalence of machine work in this country: +that the machine, with its million fingers, works for millions of +purchasers, while in remote countries, where magnificence and savagery +stand side by side, tens of thousands work for one. There Art labours +for the rich alone; here she works for the poor no less. There the +multitude produce only to give splendour and grace to the despot or the +warrior, whose slaves they are, and whom they enrich; here the man who +is powerful in the weapons of peace, capital, and machinery, uses them +to give comfort and enjoyment to the public, whose servant he is, and +thus becomes rich while he enriches others with his goods."—William +Whewell, D.D. +</P> + +<P> +I was born at Scarborough in May, 1831, the sixth of a family of eight. +My father was a native of Rosedale, half-way between Whitby and +Pickering: his nurse was the sister of Captain Scoresby, celebrated as +an Arctic explorer. Arrived at manhood, he studied medicine, graduated +at Edinburgh, and practised in Scarborough until nearly his death in +1866. He was thrice Mayor and a Justice of the Peace for the borough. +Dr. Harland was a man of much force of character, and displayed great +originality in the treatment of disease. Besides exercising skill in +his profession, he had a great love for mechanical pursuits. He spent +his leisure time in inventions of many sorts; and, in conjunction with +the late Sir George Cayley of Brompton, he kept an excellent mechanic +constantly at work. +</P> + +<P> +In 1827 he invented and patented a steam-carriage for running on common +roads. Before the adoption of railways, the old stage coaches were +found slow and insufficient for the traffic. A working model of the +steam-coach was perfected, embracing a multitubular boiler for quickly +raising high-pressure steam, with a revolving surface condenser for +reducing the steam to water again, by means of its exposure to the cold +draught of the atmosphere through the interstices of extremely thin +laminations of copper plates. The entire machinery, placed under the +bottom of the carriage, was borne on springs; the whole being of an +elegant form. This model steam-carriage ascended with perfect ease the +steepest roads. Its success was so complete that Dr. Harland designed +a full-sized carriage; but the demands upon his professional skill were +so great that he was prevented going further than constructing the pair +of engines, the wheels, and a part of the boiler,—all of which +remnants I still preserve, as valuable links in the progress of steam +locomotion. +</P> + +<P> +Other branches of practical science—such as electricity, magnetism, +and chemical cultivation of the soil—received a share of his +attention. He predicted that three or four powerful electric lamps +would yet light a whole city. He was also convinced of the feasibility +of an electric cable to New York, and calculated the probable cost. As +an example to the neighbourhood, he successfully cultivated a tract of +moorland, and overcame difficulties which before then were thought +insurmountable. +</P> + +<P> +When passing through Newcastle, while still a young man, on one of his +journeys to the University at Edinburgh, and being desirous of +witnessing the operations in a coal-mine, a friend recommended him to +visit Killingworth pit, where he would find one George Stephenson, a +most intelligent workman, in charge. My father was introduced to Mr. +Stephenson accordingly; and after rambling over the underground +workings, and observing the pumping and winding engines in full +operation, a friendship was made, which afterwards proved of the +greatest service to myself, by facilitating my being placed as a pupil +at the great engineering works of Messrs. Robert Stephenson and Co., at +Newcastle. +</P> + +<P> +My mother was the daughter of Gawan Pierson, a landed proprietor of +Goathland, near Rosedale. She, too, was surprisingly mechanical in her +tastes; and assisted my father in preparing many of his plans, besides +attaining considerable proficiency in drawing, painting, and modelling +in wax. Toys in those days were poor, as well as very expensive to +purchase. But the nursery soon became a little workshop under her +directions; and the boys were usually engaged, one in making a cart, +another in carving out a horse, and a third in cutting out a boat; +while the girls were making harness, or sewing sails, or cutting out +and making perfect dresses for their dolls—whose houses were +completely furnished with everything, from the kitchen to the attic, +all made at home. +</P> + +<P> +It was in a house of such industry and mechanism that I was brought up. +As a youth, I was slow at my lessons; preferring to watch and assist +workmen when I had an opportunity of doing so, even with the certainty +of having a thrashing from the schoolmaster for my neglect. Thus I got +to know every workshop and every workman in the town. At any rate I +picked up a smattering of a variety of trades, which afterwards proved +of the greatest use to me. The chief of these was wooden shipbuilding, +a branch of industry then extensively carried on by Messrs. William and +Robert Tindall, the former of whom resided in London; he was one of the +half-dozen great shipbuilders and owners who founded "Lloyd's." +Splendid East Indiamen, of some 1000 tons burden, were then built at +Scarborough; and scarcely a timber was moulded, a plank bent, a spar +lined off, or launching ship-ways laid, without my being present to +witness them. And thus, in course of time, I was able to make for +myself the neatest and fastest of model yachts. +</P> + +<P> +At that time, I attended the Grammar School. Of the rudiments taught, +I was fondest of drawing, geometry, and Euclid. Indeed, I went twice +through the first two books of the latter before I was twelve years +old. At this age I was sent to the Edinburgh Academy, my eldest +brother William being then a medical student at the University. I +remained at Edinburgh two years. My early progress in mathematics +would have been lost in the classical training which was then insisted +upon at the academy, but for my brother who was not only a good +mathematician but an excellent mechanic. He took care to carry on my +instruction in that branch of knowledge, as well as to teach me to make +models of machines and buildings, in which he was himself proficient. +I remember, in one of my journeys to Edinburgh, by coach from +Darlington, that a gentleman expressed his wonder what a screw +propeller could be like; for the screw, as a method of propulsion, was +then being introduced. I pointed out to him the patent tail of a +windmill by the roadside, and said, "It is just like that!" +</P> + +<P> +In 1844 my mother died; and shortly after, my brother having become +M.D., and obtained a prize gold medal, we returned to Scarborough. It +was intended that he should assist my father; but he preferred going +abroad for a few years. I may mention further, with relation to him, +that after many years of scientific research and professional practice, +he died at Hong Kong in 1858, when a public monument was erected to his +memory, in what is known as the "Happy Valley." +</P> + +<P> +I remained for a short time under the tuition of my old master. But as +the time was rapidly approaching when I too must determine what I was +"to be" in life. I had no hesitation in deciding to be an engineer, +though my father wished me to be a barrister. But I kept constant to my +resolution; and eventually he succeeded, through his early acquaintance +with George Stephenson, in gaining for me an entrance to the +engineering works of Robert Stephenson and Co., at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. +I started there as a pupil on my fifteenth birthday, for an +apprenticeship of five years. I was to spend the first four years in +the various workshops, and the last year in the drawing-office. +</P> + +<P> +I was now in my element. The working hours, it is true, were very +long,—being from six in the morning until 8.15 at night; excepting on +Saturday, when we knocked off at four. However, all this gave me so +much the more experience; and, taking advantage of it, I found that, +when I had reached the age of eighteen, I was intrusted with the full +charge of erecting one side of a locomotive. I had to accomplish the +same amount of work as my mate on the other side, one Murray Playfair, +a powerful, hard-working Scotchman. My strength and endurance were +sometimes taxed to the utmost, and required the intervals of my labour +to be spent in merely eating and sleeping. +</P> + +<P> +I afterwards went through the machine-shops. I was fortunate enough to +get charge of the best screw-cutting and brass-turning lathe in the +shop; the former occupant, Jack Singleton, having just been promoted to +a foreman's berth at the Messrs. Armstrong's factory. He afterwards +became superintendent of all the hydraulic machinery of the Mersey Dock +Trust at Liverpool. After my four years had been completed, I went into +the drawing-office, to which I had looked forward with pleasure; and, +having before practised lineal as well as free-hand drawing, I soon +succeeded in getting good and difficult designs to work out, and +eventually finished drawings of the engines. Indeed, on visiting the +works many years after, one of these drawings was shown to me as a +"specimen;" the person exhibiting it not knowing that it was my own +work. +</P> + +<P> +In the course of my occasional visits to Scarborough, my attention was +drawn to the imperfect design of the lifeboats of the period; the +frequent shipwrecks along the coast indicating the necessity for their +improvement. After considerable deliberation, I matured a plan for a +metal lifeboat, of a cylindrico-conical or chrysalis form, to be +propelled by a screw at each end, turned by sixteen men inside, seated +on water-ballast tanks; sufficient room being left at the ends inside +for the accommodation of ten or twelve shipwrecked persons; while a +mate near the bow, and the captain near the stern in charge of the +rudder, were stationed in recesses in the deck about three feet deep. +The whole apparatus was almost cylindrical, and watertight, save in the +self-acting ventilators, which could only give access to the smallest +portion of water. I considered that, if the lifeboat fully manned were +launched into the roughest seas, or off the deck of a vessel, it would, +even if turned on its back, immediately right itself, without any of +the crew being disturbed from their positions, to which they were to +have been strapped. +</P> + +<P> +It happened that at this time (the summer of 1850) his Grace the late +Duke of Northumberland, who had always taken a deep interest in the +Lifeboat Institution, offered a prize of one hundred guineas for the +best model and design of such a craft; so I determined to complete my +plans and make a working model of my lifeboat. I came to the +conclusion that the cylindrico-conical form, with the frames to be +carried completely round and forming beams as well, and the two screws, +one at each end, worked off the same power, by which one or other of +them would always be immersed, were worth registering in the Patent +Office. I therefore entered a caveat there; and continued working at +my model in the evenings. I first made a wooden block model, on the +scale of an inch to the foot. I had some difficulty in procuring +sheets of copper thin enough, so that the model should draw only the +correct amount of water; but at last I succeeded, through finding the +man at Newcastle who had supplied my father with copper plates for his +early road locomotive. +</P> + +<P> +The model was only 32 inches in length, and 8 inches in beam; and in +order to fix all the internal fittings, of tanks, seats, crank handles, +and pulleys, I had first to fit the shell plating, and then, by finally +securing one strake of plates on, and then another, after all inside +was complete, I at last finished for good the last outside plate. In +executing the job, my early experience of all sorts of handiwork came +serviceably to my aid. After many a whole night's work—for the +evenings alone were not sufficient for the purpose—I at length +completed my model; and triumphantly and confidently took it to sea in +an open boat; and then cast it into the waves. The model either rode +over them or passed through them; if it was sometimes rolled over, it +righted itself at once, and resumed its proper attitude in the waters. +After a considerable trial I found scarcely a trace of water inside. +Such as had got there was merely through the joints in the sliding +hatches; though the ventilators were free to work during the +experiments. +</P> + +<P> +I completed the prescribed drawings and specifications, and sent them, +together with the model, to Somerset House. Some 280 schemes of +lifeboats were submitted for competition; but mine was not successful. +I suspect that the extreme novelty of the arrangement deterred the +adjudicators from awarding in its favour. Indeed, the scheme was so +unprecedented, and so entirely out of the ordinary course of things, +that there was no special mention made of it in the report afterwards +published, and even the description there given was incorrect. The +prize was awarded to Mr. James Beeching, of Great Yarmouth, whose plans +were afterwards generally adopted by the Lifeboat Society. I have +preserved my model just as it was; and some of its features have since +been introduced with advantage into shipbuilding.[1] +</P> + +<P> +The firm of Robert Stephenson and Co. having contracted to build for +the Government three large iron caissons for the Keyham Docks, and as +these were very similar in construction to that of an ordinary iron +ship, draughtsmen conversant with that class of work were specially +engaged to superintend it. The manager, knowing my fondness for ships, +placed me as his assistant at this new work. After I had mastered it, +I endeavoured to introduce improvements, having observed certain +defects in laying down the lines—I mean by the use of graduated curves +cut out of thin wood. In lieu of this method, I contrived thin tapered +laths of lancewood, and weights of a particular form, with steel claws +and knife edges attached, so as to hold the lath tightly down to the +paper, yet capable of being readily adjusted, so as to produce any form +of curve, along which the pen could freely and continuously travel. +This method proved very efficient, and it has since come into general +use. +</P> + +<P> +The Messrs. Stephenson were then also making marine engines, as well as +large condensing pumping engines, and a large tubular bridge to be +erected over the river Don. The splendid high-level bridge over the +Tyne, of which Robert Stephenson was the engineer, was also in course +of construction. With the opportunity of seeing these great works in +progress, and of visiting, during my holidays and long evenings, most +of the manufactories and mines in the neighbourhood of Newcastle, I +could not fail to pick up considerable knowledge, and an acquaintance +with a vast variety of trades. There were about thirty other pupils in +the works at the same time with myself; some were there either through +favour or idle fancy; but comparatively few gave their full attention +to the work, and I have since heard nothing of them. Indeed, unless a +young fellow takes a real interest in his work, and has a genuine love +for it, the greatest advantages will prove of no avail whatever. +</P> + +<P> +It was a good plan adopted at the works, to require the pupils to keep +the same hours as the rest of the men, and, though they paid a premium +on entering, to give them the same rate of wages as the rest of the +lads. Mr. William Hutchinson, a contemporary of George Stephenson, was +the managing partner. He was a person of great experience, and had the +most thorough knowledge of men and materials, knowing well how to +handle both to the best advantage. +</P> + +<P> +His son-in-law, Mr. William Weallans, was the head draughtsman, and +very proficient, not only in quickness but in accuracy and finish. I +found it of great advantage to have the benefit of the example and the +training of these very clever men. +</P> + +<P> +My five years apprenticeship was completed in May 1851, on my twentieth +birthday. Having had but very little "black time," as it was called, +beyond the half-yearly holiday for visiting my friends, and having only +"slept in" twice during the five years, I was at once entered on the +books as a journeyman, on the "big" wage of twenty shillings a week. +Orders were, however, at that time very difficult to be had. +</P> + +<P> +Railway trucks, and even navvies' barrows, were contracted for in order +to keep the men employed. It was better not to discharge them, and to +find something for them to do. At the same time it was not very +encouraging for me, under such circumstances, to remain with the firm. +I therefore soon arranged to leave; and first of all I went to see +London. It was the Great Exhibition year of 1851. I need scarcely say +what a rich feast I found there, and how thoroughly I enjoyed it all. +I spent about two months in inspecting the works of art and mechanics +in the Exhibition, to my own great advantage. I then returned home; +and, after remaining in Scarborough for a short time, I proceeded to +Glasgow with a letter of introduction to Messrs. J. and G. Thomson, +marine engine builders, who started me on the same wages which I had +received at Stephenson's, namely twenty shillings a week. +</P> + +<P> +I found the banks of the Clyde splendid ground for gaining further +mechanical knowledge. There were the ship and engine works on both +sides of the river, down to Govan; and below there, at Renfrew, +Dumbarton, Port Glasgow, and Greenock—no end of magnificent yards—so +that I had plenty of occupation for my leisure time on Saturday +afternoons. The works of Messrs. Robert Napier and Sons were then at +the top of the tree. The largest Cunard steamers were built and +engined there. Tod and Macgregor were the foremost in screw +steamships—those for the Peninsular and Oriental Company being +splendid models of symmetry and works of art. Some of the fine wooden +paddle-steamers built in Bristol for the Royal Mail Company were sent +round to the Clyde for their machinery. I contrived to board all these +ships from time to time, so as to become well acquainted with their +respective merits and peculiarities. +</P> + +<P> +As an illustration of how contrivances, excellent in principle, but +defective in construction, may be discarded, but again taken up under +more favourable circumstances, I may mention that I saw a Hall's patent +surface-condensor thrown to one side from one of these steamers, the +principal difficulty being in keeping it tight. And yet, in the course +of a very few years, by the simplest possible contrivance—inserting an +indiarubber ring round each end of the tube (Spencer's patent)—surface +condensation in marine engines came into vogue; and there is probably +no ocean-going steamer afloat without it, furnished with every variety +of suitable packings. +</P> + +<P> +After some time, the Messrs. Thomson determined to build their own +vessels, and an experienced naval draughtsman was engaged, to whom I +was "told off" whenever he needed assistance. In the course of time, +more and more of the ship work came in my way. Indeed, I seemed to +obtain the preference. Fortunately for us both, my superior obtained +an appointment of a similar kind on the Tyne, at superior pay, and I +was promoted to his place. The Thomsons had now a very fine +shipbuilding-yard, in full working order, with several large steamers +on the stocks. I was placed in the drawing-office as head draughtsman. +At the same time I had no rise of wages; but still went on enjoying my +twenty shillings a week. I was, however, gaining information and +experience, and knew that better pay would follow in due course of +time. And without solicitation I was eventually offered an engagement +for a term of years, at an increased and increasing salary, with three +months' notice on either side. +</P> + +<P> +I had only enjoyed the advance for a short time, when Mr. Thomas +Toward, a shipbuilder on the Tyne, being in want of a manager, made +application to the Messrs. Stephenson for such a person. They mentioned +my name, and Mr. Toward came over to the Clyde to see me. The result +was, that I became engaged, and it was arranged that I should enter on +my enlarged duties on the Tyne in the autumn of 1853. It was with no +small reluctance that I left the Messrs. Thomson. They were +first-class practical men, and had throughout shown me every kindness +and consideration. But a managership was not to be had every day; and +being the next step to the position of a master, I could not neglect +the opportunity for advancement which now offered itself. +</P> + +<P> +Before leaving Glasgow, however, I found that it would be necessary to +have a new angle and plate furnace provided for the works on the Tyne. +Now, the best man in Glasgow for building these important requisites +for shipbuilding work was scarcely ever sober; but by watching and +coaxing him, and by a liberal supply of Glenlivat afterwards, I +contrived to lay down on paper, from his directions, what he considered +to be the best class of furnace; and by the aid of this I was +afterwards enabled to construct what proved to be the best furnace on +the Tyne. +</P> + +<P> +To return to my education in shipbuilding. My early efforts in +ship-draughting at Stephensons' were further developed and matured at +Thomsons' on the Clyde. Models and drawings were more carefully worked +out on the 1/4-in. scale than heretofore. The stern frames were laid +off and put up at once correctly, which before had been first shaped by +full-sized wooden moulds. I also contrived a mode of quickly and +correctly laying off the frame-lines on a model, by laying it on a +plane surface, and then, with a rectangular block traversing it—a +pencil in a suitable holder being readily applied over the curved +surface. This method is now in general use. +</P> + +<P> +Even at that time, competition as regards speed in the Clyde steamers +was very keen. Foremost among the competitors was the late Mr. David +Hutchinson, who, though delighted with the Mountaineer, built by the +Thomsons in 1853, did not hesitate to have her lengthened forward to +make her sharper, so as to secure her ascendency in speed during the +ensuing season. The results were satisfactory; and his steamers grew +and grew, until they developed into the celebrated Iona and Cambria, +which were in later years built for him by the same firm. I may +mention that the Cunard screw steamer Jura was the last heavy job with +which I was connected while at Thomsons'. +</P> + +<P> +I then proceeded to the Tyne, to superintend the building of ships and +marine boilers. The shipbuilding yard was at St. Peter's, about two +and a-half miles below Newcastle. I found the work, as practised +there, rough and ready; but by steady attention to all the details, and +by careful inspection when passing the "piece-work" (a practice much in +vogue there, but which I discouraged), I contrived to raise the +standard of excellence, without a corresponding increase of price. My +object was to raise the quality of the work turned out; and, as we had +orders from the Russian Government, from China, and the Continent, as +well as from shipowners at home, I observed that quality was a very +important element in all commercial success. My master, Mr. Thomas +Toward, was in declining health; and, being desirous of spending his +winters abroad, I was consequently left in full charge of the works. +But as there did not appear to be a satisfactory prospect, under the +circumstances, for any material development of the business, a trifling +circumstance arose, which again changed the course of my career. +</P> + +<P> +An advertisement appeared in the papers for a manager to conduct a +shipbuilding yard in Belfast. I made inquiries as to the situation, +and eventually applied for it. I was appointed, and entered upon my +duties there at Christmas, 1854. The yard was a much larger one than +that on the Tyne, and was capable of great expansion. It was situated +on what was then well known as the Queen's Island; but now, like the +Isle of Dogs, it has been attached by reclamation. The yard, about +four acres in extent, was held by lease from the Belfast Harbour +Commissioners. It was well placed, alongside a fine patent slip, with +clear frontage, allowing of the largest ships being freely launched. +Indeed, the first ship built there, the Mary Stenhouse, had only just +been completed and launched by Messrs. Robert Hickson and Co., then the +proprietors of the undertaking. They were also the owners of the Eliza +Street Iron Works, Belfast, which were started to work up old iron +materials. But as the works were found to be unremunerative, they were +shortly afterwards closed. +</P> + +<P> +On my entering the shipbuilding yard I found that the firm had an order +for two large sailing ships. One of these was partly in frame; and I +at once tackled with it and the men. Mr. Hickson, the acting partner, +not being practically acquainted with the business, the whole +proceeding connected with the building of the ships devolved upon me. +I had been engaged to supersede a manager summarily dismissed. +Although he had not given satisfaction to his employers, he was a great +favourite with the men. Accordingly, my appearance as manager in his +stead was not very agreeable to the employed. On inquiry I found that +the rate of wages paid was above the usual value, whilst the quantity +as well as quality of the work done were below the standard. I +proceeded to rectify these defects, by paying the ordinary rate of +wages, and then by raising the quality of the work done. I was met by +the usual method—a strike. The men turned out. They were abetted by +the former manager; and the leading hands hung about the town +unemployed, in the hope of my throwing up the post in disgust. +</P> + +<P> +But, nothing daunted, I went repeatedly over to the Clyde for the +purpose of enlisting fresh hands. When I brought them over, however, +in batches, there was the greatest difficulty in inducing them to work. +They were intimidated, or enticed, or feasted, and sent home again. +The late manager had also taken a yard on the other side of the river, +and actually commenced to build a ship, employing some of his old +comrades; but beyond laying the keel, little more was ever done. A few +months after my arrival, my firm had to arrange with its creditors, +whilst I, pending the settlement, had myself to guarantee the wages to +a few of the leading hands, whom I had only just succeeded in gathering +together. In this dilemma, an old friend, a foreman on the Clyde, came +over to Belfast to see me. After hearing my story, and considering the +difficulties I had to encounter, he advised me at once to "throw up the +job!" My reply was, that "having mounted a restive horse, I would ride +him into the stable." +</P> + +<P> +Notwithstanding the advice of my friend, I held on. The comparatively +few men in the works, as well as those out, no doubt observed my +determination. The obstacles were no doubt great; the financial +difficulties were extreme; and yet there was a prospect of profit from +the work in hand, provided only the men could be induced to settle +steadily down to their ordinary employment. I gradually gathered +together a number of steady workmen, and appointed suitable foremen. I +obtained a considerable accession of strength from Newcastle. On the +death of Mr. Toward, his head foreman, Mr. William Hanston, with a +number of the leading hands, joined me. From that time forward the +works went on apace; and we finished the ships in hand to the perfect +satisfaction of the owners. +</P> + +<P> +Orders were obtained for several large sailing ships as well as screw +vessels. We lifted and repaired wrecked ships, to the material +advantage of Mr. Hickson, then the sole representative of the firm. +After three years thus engaged, I resolved to start somewhere as a +shipbuilder on my own account. I made inquiries at Garston, +Birkenhead, and other places. When Mr. Hickson heard of my intentions, +he said he had no wish to carry on the concern after I left, and made a +satisfactory proposal for the sale to me of his holding of the Queen's +Island Yard. So I agreed to the proposed arrangement. The transfer +and the purchase were soon completed, through the kind assistance of my +old and esteemed friend Mr. G. G. Schwabe, of Liverpool; whose nephew, +Mr. G. W. Wolff, had been with me for a few months as my private +assistant. +</P> + +<P> +It was necessary, however, before commencing for myself, that I should +assist Mr. Hickson in finishing off the remaining vessels in hand, as +well as to look out for orders on my own account. Fortunately, I had +not long to wait; for it had so happened that my introduction to the +Messrs. Thomson of Glasgow had been made through the instrumentality of +my good friend Mr. Schwabe, who induced Mr. James Bibby (of J. Bibby, +Sons & Co., Liverpool) to furnish me with the necessary letter. While +in Glasgow, I had endeavoured to assist the Messrs. Bibby in the +purchase of a steamer; so I was now intrusted by them with the +building of three screw steamers the Venetian, Sicilian, and Syrian, +each 270 feet long, by 34 feet beam, and 22 feet 9 inches hold; and +contracted with Macnab and Co., Greenock, to supply the requisite +steam-engines. +</P> + +<P> +This was considered a large order in those days. It required many +additions to the machinery, plant, and tools of the yard. I invited +Mr. Wolff, then away in the Mediterranean as engineer of a steamer, to +return and take charge of the drawing office. Mr. Wolff had served his +apprenticeship with Messrs. Joseph Whitworth and Co., of Manchester, +and was a most able man, thoroughly competent for the work. Everything +went on prosperously; and, in the midst of all my engagements, I found +time to woo and win the hand of Miss Rosa Wann, of Vermont, Belfast, to +whom I was married on the 26th of January, 1860, and by her great +energy, soundness of judgment, and cleverness in organization, I was +soon relieved from all sources of care and anxiety, excepting those +connected with business. +</P> + +<P> +The steamers were completed in the course of the following year, +doubtless to the satisfaction of the owners, for their delivery was +immediately followed by an order for two larger vessels. As I required +frequently to go from home, and as the works must be carefully attended +to during my absence, on the 1st of January, 1862, I took Mr. Wolff in +as a partner; and the firm has since continued under the name of +Harland and Wolff. I may here add that I have throughout received the +most able advice and assistance from my excellent friend and partner, +and that we have together been enabled to found an entirely new branch +of industry in Belfast. +</P> + +<P> +It is necessary for me here to refer back a little to a screw steamer +which was built on the Clyde for Bibby and Co. by Mr. John Read, and +engined by J. and G. Thomson while I was with them. That steamer was +called the Tiber. She was looked upon as of an extreme length, being +235 feet, in proportion to her beam, which was 29 feet. Serious +misgivings were thrown out as to whether she would ever stand a heavy +sea. Vessels of such proportions were thought to be crank, and even +dangerous. Nevertheless, she seemed to my mind a great success. From +that time, I began to think and work out the advantages and +disadvantages of such a vessel, from an owner's as well as from a +builder's point of view. The result was greatly in favour of the +owner, though entailing difficulties in construction as regards the +builder. These difficulties, however. I thought might easily be +overcome. +</P> + +<P> +In the first steamers ordered of me by the Messrs. Bibby, I thought it +more prudent to simply build to the dimensions furnished, although they +were even longer than usual. But, prior to the precise dimensions +being fixed for the second order, I with confidence proposed my theory +of the greater carrying power and accommodation, both for cargo and +passengers, that would be gained by constructing the new vessels of +increased length, without any increase of beam. I conceived that they +would show improved qualities in a sea-way, and that, notwithstanding +the increased accommodation, the same speed with the same power would +be obtained, by only a slight increase in the first cost. The result +was, that I was allowed to settle the dimensions; and the following +were then decided on: Length, 310 feet; beam, 34 feet; depth of hold, +24 feet 9 inches; all of which were fully compensated for by making the +upper deck entirely of iron. In this way, the hull of the ship was +converted into a box girder of immensely increased strength, and was, I +believe, the first ocean steamer ever so constructed. The rig too was +unique. The four masts were made in one continuous length, with +fore-and-aft sails, but no yards,—thereby reducing the number of hands +necessary to work them. And the steam winches were so arranged as to +be serviceable for all the heavy hauls, as well as for the rapid +handling of the cargo. +</P> + +<P> +In the introduction of so many novelties, I was well supported by Mr. +F. Leyland, the junior partner of Messrs. Bibby's firm, and by the +intelligent and practical experience of Captain Birch, the overlooker, +and Captain George Wakeham, the Commodore of the company. Unsuccessful +attempts had been made many years before to condense the steam from the +engines by passing it into variously formed chambers, tubes, &c., to be +there condensed by surfaces kept cold by the circulation of sea-water +round them, so as to preserve the pure water and return it to the +boilers free of salt. In this way, "salting up" was avoided, and a +considerable saving of fuel and expenses in repairs was effected. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Spencer had patented an improvement on Hall's method of surface +condensation, by introducing indiarubber rings at each end of the +tubes. This had been tried as an experiment on shore, and we advised +that it should be adopted in one of Messrs. Bibby's smallest steamers, +the Frankfort. The results were found perfectly satisfactory. Some 20 +per cent. of fuel was saved; and, after the patent right had been +bought, the method was adopted in all the vessels of the company. +</P> + +<P> +When these new ships were first seen at Liverpool, the "old salts" held +up their hands. They were too long! they were too sharp! they would +break their backs! They might, indeed, get out of the Mersey, but they +would never get back! The ships, however, sailed; and they made rapid +and prosperous voyages to and from the Mediterranean. They fulfilled +all the promises which had been made. They proved the advantages of +our new build of ships; and the owners were perfectly satisfied with +their superior strength, speed, and accommodation. The Bibbys were +wise men in their day and generation. They did not stop, but went on +ordering more ships. After the Grecian and the Italian had made two or +three voyages to Alexandria, they sent us an order for three more +vessels. By our advice, they were made twenty feet longer than the +previous ones, though of no greater beam; in other respects, they were +almost identical. This was too much for "Jack." "What!" he exclaimed, +"more Bibby's coffins?" Yes, more and more; and in the course of time, +most shipowners followed our example. +</P> + +<P> +To a young firm, a repetition of orders like these was a great +advantage,—not only because of the novel design of the ships, but also +because of their constructive details. We did our best to fit up the +Egyptian, Dalmatian, and Arabian, as first-rate vessels. Those engaged +in the Mediterranean trade finding them to be serious rivals, partly +because of the great cargos which they carried, but principally from +the regularity with which they made their voyages with such +surprisingly small consumption of coal. They were not, however, what +"Jack" had been accustomed to consider "dry ships." The ship built +Dutchman fashion, with her bluff ends, is the driest of all ships, but +the least steady, because she rises to every sea. But the new ships, +because of their length and sharpness, precluded this; for, though they +rose sufficiently to an approaching wave for all purposes of safety, +they often went through the crest of it, and, though shipping a little +water, it was not only easier for the vessel, but the shortest road. +</P> + +<P> +Nature seems to have furnished us with the finest design for a vessel +in the form of the fish: it presents such fine lines—is so clean, so +true, and so rapid in its movements. The ship, however, must float; +and to hit upon the happy medium of velocity and stability seems to me +the art and mystery of shipbuilding. In order to give large carrying +capacity, we gave flatness of bottom and squareness of bilge. This +became known in Liverpool as the "Belfast bottom;" and it has been +generally adopted. This form not only serves to give stability, but +also increases the carrying power without lessening the speed. +</P> + +<P> +While Sailor Jack and our many commercial rivals stood aghast and +wondered, our friends gave us yet another order for a still longer +ship, with still the same beam and power. The vessel was named the +Persian; she was 360 feet long, 34 feet beam, 24 feet 9 inches hold. +More cargo was thus carried, at higher speed. It was only a further +development of the fish form of structure. Venice was an important port +to call at. The channel was difficult to navigate, and the Venetian +class (270 feet long) was supposed to be the extreme length that could +be handled here. But what with the straight stem,—by cutting the +forefoot away, and by the introduction of powerful steering-gear, +worked amidships,—the captain was able to navigate the Persian, 90 +feet longer than the Venetian, with much less anxiety and inconvenience. +</P> + +<P> +Until the building of the Persian, we had taken great pride in the +modelling and finish of the old style of cutwater and figurehead, with +bowsprit and jib-boom; but in urging the advantages of greater length +of hull, we were met by the fact of its being simply impossible in +certain docks to swing vessels of any greater length than those already +constructed. Not to be beaten, we proposed to do away with all these +overhanging encumbrances, and to adopt a perpendicular stem. In this +way the hull might be made so much longer; and this was, I believe, the +first occasion of its being adopted in this country in the case of an +ocean steamer; though the once celebrated Collins Line of paddle +steamers had, I believe, such stems. The iron decks, iron bulwarks, +and iron rails, were all found very serviceable in our later vessels, +there being no leaking, no caulking of deck-planks or waterways, nor +any consequent damaging of cargo. Having found it impossible to +combine satisfactorily wood with iron, each being so differently +affected by temperature and moisture, I secured some of these novelties +of construction in a patent, by which filling in the spaces between +frames, &c., with Portland cement, instead of chocks of wood, and +covering the iron plates with cement and tiles, came into practice, and +this has since come into very general use. +</P> + +<P> +The Tiber, already referred to, was 235 feet in length when first +constructed by Read, of Glasgow, and was then thought too long; but she +was now placed in our hands to be lengthened 39 feet, as well as to +have an iron deck added, both of which greatly improved her. We also +lengthened the Messrs. Bibby's Calpe—also built by Messrs. Thomson +while I was there—by no less than 93 feet. The advantage of +lengthening ships, retaining the same beam and power, having become +generally recognised, we were in trusted by the Cunard Company to +lengthen the Hecla, Olympus, Atlas, and Marathon, each by 63 feet. The +Royal Consort P.S., which had been lengthened first at Liverpool, was +again lengthened by us at Belfast. +</P> + +<P> +The success of all this heavy work, executed for successful owners, put +a sort of backbone into the Belfast shipbuilding yard. While other +concerns were slack, we were either lengthening or building steamers as +well as sailing-ships for firms in Liverpool, London, and Belfast. +Many acres of ground were added to the works. The Harbour +Commissioners had now made a fine new graving-dock, and connected the +Queen's Island with the mainland. The yard, thus improved and +extended, was surveyed by the Admiralty, and placed on the first-class +list. We afterwards built for the Government the gun vessels Lynx and +Algerine, as well as the store and torpedo ship Hecla, of 3360 tons. +</P> + +<P> +The Suez Canal being now open, our friends the Messrs. Bibby gave us an +order for three steamers of very large tonnage, capable of being +adapted for trade with the antipodes if necessary. In these new +vessels there was no retrograde step as regards length, for they were +390 feet keel by 37 feet beam, square-rigged on three of the masts, +with the yards for the first time fitted on travellers, as to enable +them to be readily sent down; thus forming a unique combination of big +fore-and-aft sails, with handy square sails. These ships were named +the Istrian, Iberian, and Illyrian, and in 1868 they went to sea; soon +after to be followed by three more ships—the Bavarian, Bohemian, and +Bulgarian—in most respects the same, though ten feet longer, with the +same beam. They were first placed in the Mediterranean trade, but were +afterwards transferred to the Liverpool and Boston trade, for cattle +and emigrants. These, with three smaller steamers for the Spanish +cattle trade, and two larger steamers for other trades, made together +twenty steam-vessels constructed for the Messrs. John Bibby, Sons, & +Co.; and it was a matter of congratulation that, after a great deal of +heavy and constant work, not one of them had exhibited the slightest +indication of weakness,—all continuing in first-rate working order. +</P> + +<P> +The speedy and economic working of the Belfast steamers, compared with +those of the ordinary type, having now become well known, a scheme was +set on foot in 1869 for employing similar vessels, though of larger +size, for passenger and goods accommodation between England and +America. Mr. T. H. Ismay, of Liverpool, the spirited shipowner, then +formed, in conjunction with the late Mr. G. H. Fletcher, the Oceanic +Steam Navigation Company, Limited; and we were commissioned by them to +build six large Transatlantic steamers, capable of carrying a heavy +cargo of goods, as well as a full complement of cabin and steerage +passengers, between Liverpool and New York, at a speed equal, if not +superior, to that of the Cunard and Inman lines. The vessels were to +be longer than any we had yet constructed, being 420 feet keel and 41 +feet beam, with 32 feet hold. +</P> + +<P> +This was a great opportunity, and we eagerly embraced it. The works +were now up to the mark in point of extent and appliances. The men in +our employment were mostly of our own training: the foremen had been +promoted from the ranks; the manager, Mr. W. H. Wilson, and the head +draughtsman, Mr. W. J. Pirrie (since become partners), having, as +pupils, worked up through all the departments, and ultimately won their +honourable and responsible positions by dint of merit only—by +character, perseverance, and ability. We were therefore in a position +to take up an important contract of this kind, and to work it out with +heart and soul. +</P> + +<P> +As everything in the way of saving of fuel was of first-rate +importance, we devoted ourselves to that branch of economic working. +It was necessary that buoyancy or space should be left for cargo, at +the same time that increased speed should be secured, with as little +consumption of coal as possible. The Messrs. Elder and Co., of +Glasgow, had made great strides in this direction with the paddle +steam-engines which they had constructed for the Pacific Company on the +compound principle. They had also introduced them on some of their +screw steamers, with more or less success. Others were trying the same +principle in various forms, by the use of high-pressure cylinders, and +so on; the form of the boilers being varied according to circumstances, +for the proper economy of fuel. The first thing absolutely wanted was, +perfectly reliable information as to the actual state of the compound +engine and boiler up to the date of our inquiry. To ascertain the +facts by experience, we dispatched Mr. Alexander Wilson, younger +brother of the manager who had been formerly a pupil of Messrs. Macnab +and Co., of Greenock, and was thoroughly able for the work—to make a +number of voyages in steam vessels fitted with the best examples of +compound engines. +</P> + +<P> +The result of this careful inquiry was the design of the machinery and +boilers of the Oceanic and five sister-ships. They were constructed on +the vertical overhead "tandem" type, with five-feet stroke (at that +time thought excessive), oval single-ended transverse boilers, with a +working pressure of sixty pounds. We contracted with Messrs. Maudslay, +Sons, and Field, of London, for three of these sets, and with Messrs. +George Forrester and Co., of Liverpool, for the other three; and as we +found we could build the six vessels in the same time as the machinery +was being constructed; and, as all this machinery had to be conveyed to +Belfast to be there fitted on board, whilst the vessels were being +otherwise finished, we built a little screw-steamer, the Camel, of +extra strength, with very big hatchways, to receive these large masses +of iron; and this, in course of time, was found to work with great +advantage; until eventually we constructed our own machinery. +</P> + +<P> +We were most fortunate in the type of engine we had fixed upon, for it +proved both economical and serviceable in all ways; and, with but +slight modifications, we repeated it in the many subsequent vessels +which we built for the White Star Company. Another feature of novelty +in these vessels consisted in placing the first-class accommodation +amidships, with the third-class aft and forward. In all previous ocean +steamers, the cabin passengers had been berthed near the stern, where +the heaving motion of the vessel was far greater than in the centre, +and where that most disagreeable vibration inseparable from proximity +to the propeller was ever present. The unappetising smells from the +galley were also avoided. And last, but not least, a commodious +smoking-saloon was fitted up amidships, contrasting most favourably +with the scanty accommodation provided in other vessels. The saloon, +too, presented the novelty of extending the full width of the vessel, +and was lighted from each side. Electric bells were for the first time +fitted on board ship. The saloon and entire range of cabins were +lighted by gas, made on board, though this has since given place to the +incandescent electric light. A fine promenade deck was provided over +the saloon, which was accessible from below in all weathers by the +grand staircase. +</P> + +<P> +These, and other arrangements, greatly promoted the comfort and +convenience of the cabin passengers; while those in the steerage found +great improvements in convenience, sanitation, and accommodation. +"Jack" had his forecastle well ventilated and lighted, and a +turtle-back over his head when on deck, with winches to haul for him, +and a steam-engine to work the wheel; while the engineers and firemen +berthed as near their work as possible, never needing to wet a jacket +or miss a meal. In short, for the first time perhaps, ocean-voyaging, +even in the North Atlantic, was made not only less tedious and dreadful +to all, but was rendered enjoyable and even delightful to many. Before +the Oceanic, the pioneer of the new line, was even launched, rival +companies had already consigned her to the deepest place in the ocean. +Her first appearance in Liverpool was therefore regarded with much +interest. Mr. Ismay, during the construction of the vessel, took every +pains to suggest improvements and arrangements with a view to the +comfort and convenience of the travelling public. He accompanied the +vessel on her first voyage to New York in March, 1871, under command of +Captain, now Sir Digby Murray, Brt. Although severe weather was +experienced, the ship made a splendid voyage, with a heavy cargo of +goods and passengers. The Oceanic thus started the Transatlantic +traffic of the Company, with the house-flag of the White Star proudly +flying on the main. +</P> + +<P> +It may be mentioned that the speed of the Oceanic was at least a knot +faster per hour than had been heretofore accomplished across the +Atlantic. The motion of the vessel was easy, without any indication of +weakness or straining, even in the heaviest weather. The only +inducement to slow was when going head to it (which often meant head +through it), to avoid the inconvenience of shipping a heavy body of +"green sea" on deck forward. A turtle-back was therefore provided to +throw it off, which proved so satisfactory, as it had done on the +Holyhead and Kingstown boats, that all the subsequent vessels were +similarly constructed. Thus, then, as with the machinery, so was the +hull of the Oceanic, a type of the succeeding vessels, which after +intervals of a few months took up their stations on the Transatlantic +line. +</P> + +<P> +Having often observed, when at sea in heavy weather, how the pitching +of the vessel caused the weights on the safety-valves to act +irregularly, thus letting puffs of steam escape at every heave, and as +high pressure steam was too valuable a commodity to be so wasted, we +determined to try direct-acting spiral springs, similar to those used +in locomotives, in connection with the compound engine. But as no such +experiment was possible in any vessels requiring the Board of Trade +certificate, the alternative of using the Camel as an experimental +vessel was adopted. The spiral springs were accordingly fitted upon +the boiler of that vessel, and with such a satisfactory result that the +Board of Trade allowed the use of the same contrivance on all the +boilers of the Oceanic and every subsequent steamer, and the +contrivance has now come into general use. +</P> + +<P> +It would be too tedious to mention in detail the other ships built for +the White Star line. The Adriatic and Celtic were made 17 feet 6 +inches longer than the Oceanic, and a little sharper, being 437 feet 6 +inches keel, 41 feet beam, and 32 feet hold. The success of the Company +had been so great under the able management of Ismay, Imrie and Co., +and they had secured so large a share of the passengers and cargo, as +well as of the mails passing between Liverpool and New York, that it +was found necessary to build two still larger and faster vessels—the +Britannic and Germanic: these were 455 feet in length; 45 feet in beam; +and of 5000 indicated horse-power. The Britannic was in the first +instance constructed with the propeller fitted to work below the line +of keel when in deep water, by which means the "racing" of the engines +was avoided. When approaching shallow water, the propeller was raised +by steam-power to the ordinary position without any necessity for +stopping the engines during the operation. Although there was an +increase of speed by this means through the uniform revolutions of the +machinery in the heaviest sea, yet there was an objectionable amount of +vibration at certain parts of the vessel, so that we found it necessary +to return to the ordinary fixed propeller, working in the line of +direction of the vessel. Comfort at sea is of even more importance +than speed; and although we had succeeded in four small steamers +working on the new principle, it was found better to continue in the +larger ships to resort to the established modes of propulsion. It may +happen that at some future period the new method may yet be adopted +with complete success. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile competition went on with other companies. Monopoly cannot +exist between England and America. Our plans were followed; and +sharper boats and heavier power became the rule of the day. But +increase of horse-power of engines means increase of heating surface +and largely increased boilers, when we reach the vanishing point of +profit, after which there is nothing left but speed and expense. It +may be possible to fill a ship with boilers, and to save a few hours in +the passage from Liverpool to New York by a tremendous expenditure of +coal; but whether that will answer the purpose of any body of +shareholders must be left for the future to determine. +</P> + +<P> +"Brute force" may be still further employed. It is quite possible that +recent "large strides" towards a more speedy transit across the +Atlantic may have been made "in the dark." +</P> + +<P> +The last ships we have constructed for Ismay, Imrie and Co. have been +of comparatively moderate dimensions and power—the Arabic and Coptic, +430 feet long; and the Ionic and Boric, 440 feet long, all of 2700 +indicated horse-power. These are large cargo steamers, with a moderate +amount of saloon accommodation, and a large space for emigrants. Some +of these are now engaged in crossing the Pacific, whilst others are +engaged in the line from London to New Zealand; the latter being +specially fitted up for carrying frozen meat. +</P> + +<P> +To return to the operations of the Belfast shipbuilding yard. A +serious accident occurred in the autumn of 1867 to the mail +paddle-steamer the Wolf, belonging to the Messrs. Burns, of Glasgow. +When passing out of the Lough, about eight miles from Belfast, she was +run into by another steamer. She was cut down and sank, and there she +lay in about seven fathoms of water; the top of her funnel and masts +being only visible at low tide. She was in a dangerous position for +all vessels navigating the entrance to the port, and it was necessary +that she should be removed, either by dynamite, gunpowder, or some +other process. Divers were sent down to examine the ship, and the +injury done to her being found to be slight, the owners conferred with +us as to the possibility of lifting her and bringing her into port. +Though such a process had never before been accomplished, yet knowing +her structure well, and finding that we might rely upon smooth water +for about a week or two in summer, we determined to do what we could to +lift the sunken vessel to the surface. +</P> + +<P> +We calculated the probable weight of the vessel, and had a number of +air-tanks expressly built for her floatation. These were secured to +the ship with chains and hooks, the latter being inserted through the +side lights in her sheer strake. Early in the following summer +everything was ready. The air-tanks were prepared and rafted together. +Powerful screws were attached to each chain, with hand-pumps for +emptying the tanks, together with a steam tender fitted with cooking +appliances, berths and stores, for all hands engaged in the enterprise. +We succeeded in attaching the hooks and chains by means of divers; the +chains being ready coiled on deck. But the weather, which before +seemed to be settled, now gave way. No sooner had we got the pair of +big tanks secured to the after body, than a fierce north-north-easterly +gale set in, and we had to run for it, leaving the tanks partly filled, +in order to lessen the strain on everything. +</P> + +<P> +When the gale had settled, we returned again, and found that no harm +had been done. The remainder of the hooks were properly attached to +the rest of the tanks, the chains were screwed tightly up, and the +tanks were pumped clear. Then the tide rose; and before high water we +had the great satisfaction of getting the body of the vessel under +weigh, and towing her about a cable's length from her old bed. At each +tide's work she was lifted higher and higher, and towed into shallower +water towards Belfast; until at length we had her, after eight days, +safely in the harbour, ready to enter the graving dock,—not more +ready, however, than we all were for our beds, for we had neither +undressed nor shaved during that anxious time. Indeed, our friends +scarcely recognised us on our return home. +</P> + +<P> +The result of the enterprise was this. The clean cut made into the bow +of the ship by the collision was soon repaired. The crop of oysters +with which she was incrusted gave place to the scraper and the +paintbrush. The Wolf came out of the dock to the satisfaction both of +the owners and underwriters; and she was soon "ready for the road," +nothing the worse for her ten months' immersion.[2] +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the building of new iron ships went on in the Queen's Island. +We were employed by another Liverpool Company—the British Shipowners' +Company, Limited—to supply some large steamers. The British Empire, +of 3361 gross tonnage, was the same class of vessel as those of the +White Star line, but fuller, being intended for cargo. Though +originally intended for the Eastern trade, this vessel was eventually +placed on the Liverpool and Philadelphia line; and her working proved +so satisfactory that five more vessels were ordered like her, which +were chartered to the American Company. +</P> + +<P> +The Liverpool agents, Messrs. Richardson, Spence, and Co., having +purchased the Cunard steamer Russia, sent her over to us to be +lengthened 70 feet, and entirely refitted—another proof of the rapid +change which owners of merchant ships now found it necessary to adopt +in view of the requirements of modern traffic. +</P> + +<P> +Another Liverpool firm, the Messrs. T. and J. Brocklebank, of +world-wide repute for their fine East Indiamen, having given up +building for themselves at their yard at Whitehaven, commissioned us to +build for them the Alexandria, and Baroda, which were shortly followed +by the Candahar and Tenasserim. And continuing to have a faith in the +future of big iron sailing ships, they further employed us to build for +them two of yet greater tonnage, the Belfast and the Majestic. +</P> + +<P> +Indeed, there is a future for sailing ships, notwithstanding the recent +development of steam power. Sailing ships can still hold their own, +especially in the transport of heavy merchandise for great distances. +They can be built more cheaply than steamers; they can be worked more +economically, because they require no expenditure on coal, nor on wages +of engineers; besides, the space occupied in steamers by machinery is +entirely occupied by merchandise, all of which pays its quota of +freight. Another thing may be mentioned: the telegraph enables the +fact of the sailing of a vessel, with its cargo on board, to be +communicated from Calcutta or San Francisco to Liverpool, and from that +moment the cargo becomes as marketable as if it were on the spot. +There are cases, indeed, where the freight by sailing ship is even +greater than by steamer, as the charge for warehousing at home is +saved, and in the meantime the cargo while at sea is negotiable. +</P> + +<P> +We have accordingly, during the last few years, built some of the +largest iron and steel sailing ships that have ever gone to sea. The +aim has been to give them great carrying capacity and fair speed, with +economy of working; and the use of steel, both in the hull and the +rigging, facilitates the attainment of these objects. In 1882 and +1883, we built and launched four of these steel and iron sailing +ships—the Waiter H. Wilson, the W. J. Pirrie, the Fingal, and the Lord +Wolseley—each of nearly 3000 tons register, with four masts,—the +owners being Mr. Lawther, of Belfast; Mr. Martin, of Dublin; and the +Irish Shipowners Company. +</P> + +<P> +Besides these and other sailing ships, we have built for Messrs. Ismay, +Imrie and Co. the Garfield, of 2347 registered tonnage; for Messrs. +Thomas Dixon and Son, the Lord Downshire (2322); and for Messrs. +Bullock's Bay Line, the Bay of Panama (2365). +</P> + +<P> +In 1880 we took in another piece of the land reclaimed by the Belfast +Harbour Trust; and there, in close proximity to the ship-yard, we +manufacture all the machinery required for the service of the steamers +constructed by our firm. In this way we are able to do everything +"within ourselves"; and the whole land now occupied by the works +comprises about forty acres, with ten building slips suitable for the +largest vessels. +</P> + +<P> +It remains for me to mention a Belfast firm, which has done so much for +the town. I mean the Messrs. J.P. Corry and Co., who have always been +amongst our best friends. We built for them their first iron sailing +vessel, the Jane Porter, in 1860, and since then they have never failed +us. They successfully established their "Star" line of sailing +clippers from London to Calcutta, all of which were built here. They +subsequently gave us orders for yet larger vessels, in the Star of +France and the Star of Italy. In all, we have built for that firm +eleven of their well-known "Star" ships. +</P> + +<P> +We have built five ships for the Asiatic Steam Navigation Company, +Limited, each of from 1650 to 2059 tons gross; and we are now building +for them two ships, each of about 3000 tons gross. In 1883 we launched +thirteen iron and steel vessels, of a registered tonnage of over 30,000 +tons. Out of eleven ships now building, seven are of steel. +</P> + +<P> +Such is a brief and summary account of the means by which we have been +enabled to establish a new branch of industry in Belfast. It has been +accomplished simply by energy and hard work. We have been +well-supported by the skilled labour of our artisans; we have been +backed by the capital and the enterprise of England; and we believe +that if all true patriots would go and do likewise, there would be +nothing to fear for the prosperity and success of Ireland. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Footnotes for Chapter XI. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] Although Mr. Harland took no further steps with his lifeboat, the +project seems well worthy of a fair trial. We had lately the pleasure +of seeing the model launched and tried on the lake behind Mr. Harland's +residence at Ormiston, near Belfast. The cylindrical lifeboat kept +perfectly water-tight, and though thrown into the water in many +different positions—sometimes tumbled in on its prow, at other times +on its back (the deck being undermost), it invariably righted itself. +The screws fore and aft worked well, and were capable of being turned +by human labour or by steam power. Now that such large freights of +passengers are carried by ocean-going ships, it would seem necessary +that some such method should be adopted of preserving life at sea; for +ordinary lifeboats, which are so subject to destructive damage, are +often of little use in fires or shipwrecks, or other accidents on the +ocean. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[2] A full account is given in the Illustrated London News of the 21st +of October, 1868, with illustrations, of the raising of the Wolf; and +another, more scientific, is given in the Engineer of the 16th of +October, of the same year. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ASTRONOMERS AND STUDENTS IN HUMBLE LIFE: +<BR> +A NEW CHAPTER IN THE 'PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE UNDER DIFFICULTIES.' +</H3> + +<P> +"I first learnt to read when the masons were at work in your house. I +approached them one day, and observed that the architect used a rule +and compass, and that he made calculations. I inquired what might be +the meaning and use of these things, and I was informed that there was +a science called Arithmetic. I purchased a book of arithmetic, and I +learned it. I was told there was another science called Geometry; I +bought the necessary books, and I learned Geometry. By reading, I +found there were good books in these two sciences in Latin; I bought a +dictionary, and I learned Latin. I understood, also, that there were +good books of the same kind in French; I bought a dictionary, and I +learned French. It seems to me that one does not need to know anything +more than the twenty-four letters to learn everything else that one +wishes."—Edmund Stone to the Duke of Argyll. ('Pursuit of Knowledge +under Difficulties.') +</P> + +<P> +"The British Census proper reckons twenty-seven and a half million in +the home countries. What makes this census important is the quality of +the units that compose it. They are free forcible men, in a country +where life is safe, and has reached the greatest value. They give the +bias to the current age; and that not by chance or by mass, but by +their character, and by the number of individuals among them of +personal ability."—Emerson: English Traits. +</P> + +<P> +From Belfast to the Highlands of Scotland is an easy route by steamers +and railways. While at Birnam, near Dunkeld, I was reminded of some +remarkable characters in the neighbourhood. After the publication of +the 'Scotch Naturalist' and 'Robert Dick,' I received numerous letters +informing me of many self-taught botanists and students of nature, +quite as interesting as the subjects of my memoirs. Among others, +there was John Duncan, the botanist weaver of Aberdeen, whose +interesting life has since been done justice to by Mr. Jolly; and John +Sim of Perth, first a shepherd boy, then a soldier, and towards the +close of his life a poet and a botanist, whose life, I was told, was +"as interesting as a romance." +</P> + +<P> +There was also Alexander Croall, Custodian of the Smith Institute at +Stirling, an admirable naturalist and botanist. He was originally a +hard-working parish schoolmaster, near Montrose. During his holiday +wanderings he collected plants for his extensive herbarium. His +accomplishments having come under the notice of the late Sir William +Hooker, he was selected by that gentleman to prepare sets of the Plants +of Braemar for the Queen and Prince Albert, which he did to their +entire satisfaction. He gave up his school-mastership for an ill-paid +but more congenial occupation, that of Librarian to the Derby Museum +and Herbarium. Some years ago, he was appointed to his present position +of Custodian to the Smith Institute—perhaps the best provincial museum +and art gallery in Scotland. +</P> + +<P> +I could not, however, enter into the history of these remarkable +persons; though I understand there is a probability of Mr. Croall +giving his scientific recollections to the world. He has already +brought out a beautiful work, in four volumes, 'British Seaweeds, +Nature-printed;' and anything connected with his biography will be +looked forward to with interest. +</P> + +<P> +Among the other persons brought to my notice, years ago, were +Astronomers in humble life. For instance, I received a letter from +John Grierson, keeper of the Girdleness Lighthouse, near Aberdeen, +mentioning one of these persons as "an extraordinary character." +"William Ballingall," he said, "is a weaver in the town of Lower Largo, +Fifeshire; and from his early days he has made astronomy the subject of +passionate study. I used to spend my school vacation at Largo, and +have frequently heard him expound upon his favourite subject. I +believe that very high opinions have been expressed by scientific +gentlemen regarding Ballingall's attainments. They were no doubt +surprised that an individual with but a very limited amount of +education, and whose hours of labour were from five in the morning +until ten or eleven at night, should be able to acquire so much +knowledge on so profound a subject. Had he possessed a fair amount of +education, and an assortment of scientific instruments and books, the +world would have heard more about him. Should you ever find yourself," +my correspondent concludes, "in his neighbourhood, and have a few hours +to spare, you would have no reason to regret the time spent in his +company." I could not, however, arrange to pay the proposed visit to +Largo; but I found that I could, without inconvenience, visit another +astronomer in the neighbourhood of Dunkeld. +</P> + +<P> +In January 1879 I received a letter from Sheriff Barclay, of Perth, to +the following effect: "Knowing the deep interest you take in genius +and merit in humble ranks, I beg to state to you an extraordinary case. +John Robertson is a railway porter at Coupar Angus station. From early +youth he has made the heavens his study. Night after night he looks +above, and from his small earnings he has provided himself with a +telescope which cost him about 30L. He sends notices of his +observations to the scientific journals, under the modest initials of +'J.R.' He is a great favourite with the public; and it is said that he +has made some observations in celestial phenomena not before noticed. +It does occur to me that he should have a wider field for his favourite +study. In connection with an observatory, his services would be +invaluable." +</P> + +<P> +Nearly five years had elapsed since the receipt of this letter, and I +had done nothing to put myself in communication with the Coupar Angus +astronomer. Strange to say, his existence was again recalled to my +notice by Professor Grainger Stewart, of Edinburgh. He said that if I +was in the neighbourhood I ought to call upon him, and that he would +receive me kindly. His duty, he said, was to act as porter at the +station, and to shout the name of the place as the trains passed. I +wrote to John Robertson accordingly, and received a reply stating that +he would be glad to see me, and inclosing a photograph, in which I +recognised a good, honest, sensible face, with his person inclosed in +the usual station porter's garb, "C.R. 1446." +</P> + +<P> +I started from Dunkeld, and reached Coupar Angus in due time. As I +approached the station, I heard the porter calling out, "Coupar Angus! +change here for Blairgowrie!"[1] It was the voice of John Robertson. +</P> + +<P> +I descended from the train, and addressed him at once: after the +photograph there could be no mistaking him. An arrangement for a +meeting was made, and he called upon me in the evening. I invited him +to such hospitality as the inn afforded; but he would have nothing. "I +am much obliged to you," he said; "but it always does me harm." I knew +at once what the "it" meant. Then he invited me to his house in +Causewayend Street. I found his cottage clean and comfortable, +presided over by an evidently clever wife. He took me into his +sitting-room, where I inspected his drawings of the sun-spots, made in +colour on a large scale. In all his statements he was perfectly modest +and unpretending. The following is his story, so far as I can +recollect, in his own words:— +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; I certainly take a great interest in astronomy, but I have done +nothing in it worthy of notice. I am scarcely worthy to be called a +day labourer in the science. I am very well known hereabouts, +especially to the travelling public; but I must say that they think a +great deal more of me than I deserve. +</P> + +<P> +"What made me first devote my attention to the subject of astronomy? +Well, if I can trace it to one thing more than another, it was to some +evening lectures delivered by the late Dr. Dick, of Broughty Ferry, to +the men employed at the Craigs' Bleachfield Works, near Montrose, where +I then worked, about the year 1848. Dr. Dick was an excellent +lecturer, and I listened to him with attention. His instructions were +fully impressed upon our minds by Mr. Cooper, the teacher of the +evening school, which I attended. After giving the young lads employed +at the works their lessons in arithmetic, he would come out with us +into the night—and it was generally late when we separated—and show +us the principal constellations, and the planets above the horizon. It +was a wonderful sight; yet we were told that these hundreds upon +hundreds of stars, as far as the eye could see, were but a mere vestige +of the creation amidst which we lived. I got to know the names of some +of the constellations the Greater Bear, with 'the pointers' which +pointed to the Pole Star, Orion with his belt, the Twins, the Pleiades, +and other prominent objects in the heavens. It was a source of +constant wonder and surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"When I left the Bleachfield Works, I went to Inverury, to the North of +Scotland Railway, which was then in course of formation; and for many +years, being immersed in work, I thought comparatively little of +astronomy. It remained, however, a pleasant memory. It was only after +coming to this neighbourhood in 1854, when the railway to Blairgowrie +was under construction, that I began to read up a little, during my +leisure hours, on the subject of astronomy. I got married the year +after, since which time I have lived in this house. +</P> + +<P> +"I became a member of a reading-room club, and read all the works of +Dr. Dick that the library contained: his 'Treatise on the Solar +System,' his 'Practical Astronomer,' and other works. There were also +some very good popular works to which I was indebted for amusement as +well as instruction: Chambers's 'Information for the People,' +Cassell's 'Popular Educator,' and a very interesting series of articles +in the 'Leisure Hour,' by Edwin Dunkin of the Royal Observatory, +Greenwich. These last papers were accompanied by maps of the chief +constellations, so that I had a renewed opportunity of becoming a +little better acquainted with the geography of the heavens. +</P> + +<P> +"I began to have a wish for a telescope, by means of which I might be +able to see a little more than with my naked eyes. But I found that I +could not get anything of much use, short of 20L. I could not for a +long time feel justified in spending so much money for my own personal +enjoyment. My children were then young and dependent upon me. They +required to attend school—for education is a thing that parents must +not neglect, with a view to the future. However, about the year 1875, +my attention was called to a cheap instrument advertised by +Solomon—what he called his '5L. telescope.' I purchased one, and it +tantalised me; for the power of the instrument was such as to teach me +nothing of the surface of the planets. After using it for about two +years, I sold it to a student, and then found that I had accumulated +enough savings to enable me to buy my present instrument. Will you +come into the next room and look at it?" +</P> + +<P> +I went accordingly into the adjoining room, and looked at the new +telescope. It was taken from its case, put upon its tripod, and looked +in beautiful condition. It is a refractor, made by Cooke and Sons of +York. The object glass is three inches; the focal length forty-three +inches; and the telescope, when drawn out, with the pancratic eyepiece +attached, is about four feet. It was made after Mr. Robertson's +directions, and is a sort of combination of instruments. +</P> + +<P> +"Even that instrument," he proceeded, "good as it is for the money, +tantalises me yet. A look through a fixed equatorial, such as every +large observatory is furnished with is a glorious view. I shall never +forget the sight that I got when at Dunecht Observatory, to which I was +invited through the kindness of Dr. Copeland, the Earl of Crawford and +Balcarres' principal astronomer. +</P> + +<P> +"You ask me what I have done in astronomical research? I am sorry to +say I have been able to do little except to gratify my own curiosity; +and even then, as I say, I have been much tantalised. I have watched +the spots on the sun from day to day through obscured glasses, since +the year 1878, and made many drawings of them. Mr. Rand Capron, the +astronomer, of Guildown, Guildford, desired to see these drawings, and +after expressing his satisfaction with them, he sent them to Mr. +Christie, Astronomer Royal, Greenwich. Although photographs of the +solar surface were preferred, Mr. Capron thought that my sketches might +supply gaps in the partially cloudy days, as well as details which +might not appear on the photographic plates. I received a very kind +letter from Mr. Christie, in which he said that it would be very +difficult to make the results obtained from drawings, however accurate, +at all comparable with those derived from photographs; especially as +regards the accurate size of the spots as compared with the diameter of +the sun. And no doubt he is right. +</P> + +<P> +"What, do I suppose, is the cause of these spots in the sun? Well, that +is a very difficult question to answer. Changes are constantly going +on at the sun's surface, or, I may rather say, in the sun's interior, +and making themselves apparent at the surface. Sometimes they go on +with enormous activity; at other times they are more quiet. They recur +alternately in periods of seven or eight weeks, while these again are +also subject to a period of about eleven years—that is, the short +recurring outbursts go on for some years, when they attain a maximum, +from which they go on decreasing. I may say that we are now (August +1883) at, or very near, a maximum epoch. There is no doubt that this +period has an intimate connection with our auroral displays; but I +don't think that the influence sun-spots have on light or heat is +perceptible. Whatever influence they possess would be felt alike on +the whole terrestrial globe. We have wet, dry, cold, and warm years, +but they are never general. The kind of season which prevails in one +country is often quite reversed in another perhaps in the adjacent one. +Not so with our auroral displays. They are universal on both sides of +the globe; and from pole to pole the magnetic needle trembles during +their continuance. Some authorities are of opinion that these +eleven-year cycles are subject to a larger cycle, but sun-spot +observations have not existed long enough to determine this point. For +myself, I have a great difficulty in forming an opinion. I have very +little doubt that the spots are depressions on the surface of the sun. +This is more apparent when the spot is on the limb. I have often seen +the edge very rugged and uneven when groups of large spots were about +to come round on the east side. I have communicated some of my +observations to 'The Observatory,' the monthly review of astronomy, +edited by Mr. Christie, now Astronomer Royal,[2] as well as to The +Scotsmam, and some of our local papers.[3] +</P> + +<P> +"I have also taken up the observation of variable stars in a limited +portion of the heavens. That, and 'hunting for comets' is about all +the real astronomical work that an amateur can do nowadays in our +climate, with a three-inch telescope. I am greatly indebted to the +Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, who regularly sends me circulars of all +astronomical discoveries, both in this and foreign countries. I will +give an instance of the usefulness of these circulars. On the morning +of the 4th of October, 1880, a comet was discovered by Hartwig, of +Strasburg, in the constellation of Corona. He telegraphed it to +Dunecht Observatory, fifteen miles from Aberdeen. The circulars +announcing the discovery were printed and despatched by post to various +astronomers. My circular reached me by 7 P.M., and, the night being +favourable, I directed my telescope upon the part of the heavens +indicated, and found the comet almost at once—that is, within fifteen +hours of the date of its discovery at Strasburg. +</P> + +<P> +"In April, 1878, a large meteor was observed in broad daylight, passing +from south to north, and falling it was supposed, about twenty miles +south of Ballater. Mr. A. S. Herschel, Professor of Physics in the +College of Science, 'Newcastle-on-Tyne, published a letter in The +Scotsmam, intimating his desire to be informed of the particulars of +the meteor's flight by those who had seen it. As I was one of those who +had observed the splendid meteor flash northwards almost under the face +of the bright sun (at 10.25 A.M.), I sent the Professor a full account +of what I had seen, for which he professed his strong obligations. +This led to a very pleasant correspondence with Professor Herschel. +After this, I devoted considerable attention to meteors, and sent many +contributions to 'The Observatory' on the subject.[4] +</P> + +<P> +"You ask me what are the hours at which I make my observations? I am +due at the railway station at six in the morning, and I leave at six in +the evening; but I have two hours during the day for meals and rest. +Sometimes I get a glance at the heavens in the winter mornings when the +sky is clear, hunting for comets. My observations on the sun are +usually made twice a day during my meal hours, or in the early morning +or late at evening in summer, while the sun is visible. Yes, you are +right; I try and make the best use of my time. It is much too short +for all that I propose to do. My evenings are my own. When the +heavens are clear, I watch them; when obscured, there are my books and +letters. +</P> + +<P> +"Dr. Alexander Brown, of Arbroath, is one of my correspondents. I have +sent him my drawings of the rings of Saturn, of Jupiter's belt and +satellites. Dr. Ralph Copeland, of Dunecht, is also a very good friend +and adviser. Occasionally, too, I send accounts of solar disturbances, +comet a within sight, eclipses, and occultations, to the Scotsman, the +Dundee Evening Telegraph and Evening News, or to the Blairgowrie +Advertiser. Besides, I am the local observer of meteorology, and +communicate regularly with Mr. Symons. These things entirely fill up +my time. +</P> + +<P> +"Do I intend always to remain a railway porter? Oh, yes; I am very +comfortable! The company are very kind to me, and I hope I serve them +faithfully. It is true Sheriff Barclay has, without my knowledge, +recommended me to several well-known astronomers as an observer. But +at my time of life changes are not to be desired. I am quite satisfied +to go on as I am doing. My young people are growing up, and are +willing to work for themselves. But come, sir," he concluded, "come +into the garden, and look at the moon through my telescope." +</P> + +<P> +We went into the garden accordingly, but a cloud was over the moon, and +we could not see it. At the top of the garden was the self-registering +barometer, the pitcher to measure the rainfall, and the other apparatus +necessary to enable the "Diagram of barometer, thermometer, rain, and +wind" to be conducted, so far as Coupar Angus is concerned. This Mr. +Robertson has done for four years past. As the hour was late, and as I +knew that my entertainer must be up by six next morning, I took my +leave. +</P> + +<P> +A man's character often exhibits itself in his amusements. One must +have a high respect for the character of John Robertson, who looks at +the manner in which he spends his spare time. His astronomical work is +altogether a labour of love. It is his hobby; and the working man may +have his hobby as well as the rich. In his case he is never less idle +than when idle. Some may think that he is casting his bread upon the +waters, and that he may find it after many days. But it is not with +this object that he carries on his leisure-hour pursuits. Some have +tried—sheriff Barclay among others[5]—to obtain appointments for him +in connection with astronomical observation; others to secure +advancement for him in his own line. But he is a man who is satisfied +with his lot—one of the rarest things on earth. Perhaps it is by +looking so much up to the heavens that he has been enabled to obtain +his portion of contentment. +</P> + +<P> +Next morning I found him busy at the station, making arrangements for +the departure of the passenger train for Perth, and evidently upon the +best of terms with everybody. And here I leave John Robertson, the +contented Coupar Angus astronomer. +</P> + +<P> +Some years ago I received from my friend Mr. Nasmyth a letter of +introduction to the late Mr. Cooke of York, while the latter was still +living. I did not present it at the time; but I now proposed to visit, +on my return homewards, the establishment which he had founded at York +for the manufacture of telescopes and other optical instruments. +Indeed, what a man may do for himself as well as for science, cannot be +better illustrated than by the life of this remarkable man. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Nasmyth says that he had an account from Cooke himself of his small +beginnings. He was originally a shoemaker in a small country village. +Many a man has risen to distinction from a shoemaker's seat. Bulwer, +in his 'What will He do with It?' has discussed the difference between +shoemakers and tailors. "The one is thrown upon his own resources, the +other works in the company of his fellows: the one thinks, the other +communicates. Cooke was a man of natural ability, and he made the best +use of his powers. Opportunity, sooner or later, comes to nearly all +who work and wait, and are duly persevering. Shoemaking was not found +very productive; and Cooke, being fairly educated as well as +self-educated, opened a village school. He succeeded tolerably well. +He taught himself geometry and mathematics, and daily application made +him more perfect in his studies. In course of time an extraordinary +ambition took possession of him: no less than the construction of a +reflecting telescope of six inches diameter. The idea would not let +him rest until he had accomplished his purpose. He cast and polished +the speculum with great labour; but just as he was about to finish it, +the casting broke! What was to be done? About one-fifth had broken +away, but still there remained a large piece, which he proceeded to +grind down to a proper diameter. His perseverance was rewarded by the +possession of a 3 1/2 inch speculum, which by his rare skill he worked +into a reflecting telescope of very good quality. +</P> + +<P> +He was, however, so much annoyed by the treacherously brittle nature of +the speculum metal that he abandoned its use, and betook himself to +glass. He found that before he could make a good achromatic telescope +it was necessary that he should calculate his curves from data +depending upon the nature of the glass. He accordingly proceeded to +study the optical laws of refraction, in which his knowledge of +geometry and mathematics greatly helped him. And in course of time, by +his rare and exquisite manipulative skill, he succeeded in constructing +a four-inch refractor, or achromatic telescope, of admirable defining +power. +</P> + +<P> +The excellence of his first works became noised abroad. Astronomical +observers took an interest in him; and friends began to gather round +him, amongst others the late Professor Phillips and the Rev. Vernon +Harcourt, Dean of York. Cooke received an order for a telescope like +his own; then he received other orders. At last he gave up teaching, +and took to telescope making. He advanced step by step; and like a +practical, thoughtful man, he invented special tools and machinery for +the purpose of grinding and polishing his glasses. He opened a shop in +York, and established himself as a professed maker of telescopes. He +added to this the business of a general optician, his wife attending to +the sale in the shop, while he himself attended to the workshop. +</P> + +<P> +Such was the excellence of his work that the demand for his telescopes +largely increased. They were not only better manufactured, but greatly +cheaper than those which had before been in common use. Three of the +London makers had before possessed a monopoly of the business; but now +the trade was thrown open by the enterprise of Cooke of York. He +proceeded to erect a complete factory—the Buckingham Street works. +His brother took charge of the grinding and polishing of the lenses, +while his sons attended to the mechanism of the workshop; but Cooke +himself was the master spirit of the whole concern. Everything that he +did was good and accurate. His clocks were about the best that could +be made. He carried out his clock-making business with the same zeal +that he devoted to the perfection of his achromatic telescopes. His +work was always first-rate. There was no scamping about it. +Everything that he did was thoroughly good and honest. His 4 1/4-inch +equatorials are perfect gems; and his admirable achromatics, many of +them of the largest class, are known all over the world. Altogether, +Thomas Cooke was a remarkable instance of the power of Self-Help. +</P> + +<P> +Such was the story of his Life, as communicated by Mr. Nasmyth. I was +afterwards enabled, through the kind assistance of his widow, Mrs. +Cooke, whom I saw at Saltburn, in Yorkshire, to add a few particulars +to his biography. +</P> + +<P> +"My husband," she said, "was the son of a working shoemaker at +Pocklington, in the East Riding. He was born in 1807. His father's +circumstances were so straitened that he was not able to do much for +him; but he sent him to the National school, where he received some +education. He remained there for about two years, and then he was put +to his father's trade. But he greatly disliked shoemaking, and longed +to get away from it. He liked the sun, the sky, and the open air. He +was eager to be a sailor, and, having heard of the voyages of Captain +Cook, he wished to go to sea. He spent his spare hours in learning +navigation, that he might be a good seaman. But when he was ready to +set out for Hull, the entreaties and tears of his mother prevailed on +him to give up the project; and then he had to consider what he should +do to maintain himself at home. +</P> + +<P> +"He proceeded with his self-education, and with such small aids as he +could procure, he gathered together a good deal of knowledge. He +thought that he might be able to teach others. Everybody liked him, for +his diligence, his application, and his good sense. At the age of +seventeen he was employed to teach the sons of the neighbouring +farmers. He succeeded so well that in the following year he opened a +village school at Beilby. He went on educating himself, and learnt a +little of everything. He next removed his school to Kirpenbeck, near +Stamford Bridge; and it was there," proceeded Mrs. Cooke, "that I got +to know him, for I was one of his pupils." +</P> + +<P> +"He first learned mathematics by buying an old volume at a bookstall, +with a spare shilling. That was before he began to teach. He also got +odd sheets, and read other books about geometry and mathematics, before +he could buy them; for he had very little to spare. He studied and +learnt as much as he could. +</P> + +<P> +He was very anxious to get an insight into knowledge. He studied +optics before he had any teaching. Then he tried to turn his knowledge +to account. While at Kirpenbeck he made his first object-glass out of +a thick tumbler bottom. He ground the glass cleverly by hand; then he +got a piece of tin and soldered it together, and mounted the +object-glass in it so as to form a telescope. +</P> + +<P> +"He next got a situation at the Rev. Mr. Shapkley's school in +Micklegate, York, where he taught mathematics. He also taught in +ladies' schools in the city, and did what he could to make a little +income. Our intimacy had increased, and we had arranged to get +married. He was twenty-four, and I was nineteen, when we were happily +united. I was then his pupil for life. +</P> + +<P> +"Professor Phillips saw his first telescope, with the object-glass made +out of the thick tumbler bottom, and he was so much pleased with it +that my husband made it over to him. But he also got an order for +another, from Mr. Gray, solicitor, more by way of encouragement than +because Mr. Gray wanted it, for he was a most kind man. The +object-glass was of four-inch aperture, and when mounted the defining +power was found excellent. My husband was so successful with his +telescopes that he went on from smaller to greater, and at length he +began to think of devoting himself to optics altogether. His knowledge +of mathematics had led him on, and friends were always ready to +encourage him in his pursuits. +</P> + +<P> +"During this time he had continued his teaching at the school in the +day-time; and he also taught on his own account the sons of gentlemen +in the evening: amongst others the sons of Dr. Wake and Dr. Belcomb, +both medical men. He was only making about 100L. a year, and his +family was increasing. It was necessary to be very economical, and I +was careful of everything. At length my uncle Milner agreed to advance +about 100L. as a loan. A shop was taken in Stonegate in 1836, and +provided with optical instruments. I attended to the shop, while my +husband worked in the back premises. To bring in a little ready money, +I also took in lodgers. +</P> + +<P> +"My husband now devoted himself entirely to telescope making and +optics. But he took in other work. His pumps were considered +excellent; and he furnished all those used at the pump-room, Harrogate. +His clocks, telescope-driving[6] and others, were of the best. He +commenced turret-clock making in 1852, and made many improvements in +them. We had by that time removed to Coney Street; and in 1855 the +Buckingham Works were established, where a large number of first-rate +workmen were employed. A place was also taken in Southampton Street, +London, in 1868, for the sale of the instruments manufactured at York." +</P> + +<P> +Thus far Mrs. Cooke. It may be added that Thomas Cooke revived the art +of making refracting telescopes in England. Since the discovery by +Dollond, in 1758, of the relation between the refractive and dispersive +powers of different kinds of glass, and the invention by that +distinguished optician of the achromatic telescope, the manufacture of +that instrument had been confined to England, where the best flint +glass was made. But through the short-sighted policy of the +Government, an exorbitant duty was placed upon the manufacture of flint +glass, and the English trade was almost entirely stamped out. We had +accordingly to look to foreign countries for the further improvement of +the achromatic telescope, which Dollond had so much advanced. +</P> + +<P> +A humble mechanic of Brenetz, in the Canton of Neufchatel, Switzerland, +named Guinaud, having directed his attention to the manufacture of +flint glass towards the close of last century, at length succeeded, +after persevering efforts, in producing masses of that substance +perfectly free from stain, and therefore adapted for the construction +of the object-glasses of telescopes. +</P> + +<P> +Frauenhofer, the Bavarian optician, having just begun business, heard +of the wonderful success of Guinaud, and induced the Swiss mechanic to +leave Brenetz and enter into partnership with him at Munich in 1805. +</P> + +<P> +The result was perfectly successful; and the new firm turned out some +of the largest object-glasses which had until then been made. With one +of these instruments, having an aperture of 9.9 inches, Struve, the +Russian astronomer, made some of his greatest discoveries. Frauenhofer +was succeeded by Merz and Mahler, who carried out his views, and turned +out the famous refractors of Pulkowa Observatory in Russia, and of +Harvard University in the United States. These last two telescopes +contained object-glasses of fifteen inches aperture. +</P> + +<P> +The pernicious impost upon flint glass having at length been removed by +the English Government, an opportunity was afforded to our native +opticians to recover the supremacy which they had so long lost. It is +to Thomas Cooke, more than to any other person, that we owe the +recovery of this manufacture. Mr. Lockyer, writing in 1878, says: "The +two largest and most perfectly mounted refractors on the German form at +present in existence are those at Gateshead and Washington, U.S. The +former belongs to Mr. Newall, a gentleman who, connected with those who +were among the first to recognise the genius of our great English +optician, Cooke, did not hesitate to risk thousands of pounds in one +great experiment, the success of which will have a most important +bearing upon the astronomy of the future."[7] +</P> + +<P> +The progress which Mr. Cooke made in his enterprise was slow but +steady. Shortly after he began business as an optician, he became +dissatisfied with the method of hand-polishing, and made arrangements +to polish the object-glasses by machinery worked by steam power. By +this means he secured perfect accuracy of figure. He was also able to +turn out a large quantity of glasses, so as to furnish astronomers in +all parts of the world with telescopes of admirable defining power, at +a comparatively moderate price. In all his works he endeavoured to +introduce simplicity. He left his mark on nearly every astronomical +instrument. He found the equatorial comparatively clumsy; he left it +nearly perfect. His beautiful "dividing machine," for marking +divisions on the circles, four feet in diameter and altogether +self-acting—which divides to five minutes and reads off to five +seconds is not the least of his triumphs. +</P> + +<P> +The following are some of his more important achromatic telescopes. In +1850, when he had been fourteen years in business, he furnished his +earliest patron, Professor Phillips, with an equatorial telescope of 6 +1/4 inches aperture. His second (of 6 1/8) was supplied two years +later, to James Wigglesworth of Wakefield. William Gray, Solicitor, of +York, one of his earliest friends, bought a 6 1/2-inch telescope in +1853. In the following year, Professor Pritchard of Oxford was supplied +with a 6 1/2-inch. The other important instruments were as follows: in +1854, Dr. Fisher, Liverpool, 6 inches; in 1855, H. L. Patterson, +Gateshead, 7 1/4 inches; in 1858, J. G. Barclay, Layton, Essex, 7 1/4 +inches; in 1857, Isaac Fletcher, Cockermouth, 9 1/4 inches; in 1858, +Sir W. Keith Murray, Ochtertyre, Crieff, 9 inches; in 1859, Captain +Jacob, 9 inches; in 1860, James Nasmyth, Penshurst, 8 inches; in 1861, +another telescope to J. G. Barclay, 10 inches; in 1864, the Rev. W. R. +Dawes, Haddenham, Berks, 8 inches; and in 1867, Edward Crossley, +Bermerside, Halifax, 9 3/8 inches. +</P> + +<P> +In 1855 Mr. Cooke obtained a silver medal at the first Paris Exhibition +for a six-inch equatorial telescope.[8] This was the highest prize +awarded. A few years later he was invited to Osborne by the late +Prince Albert, to discuss with his Royal Highness the particulars of an +equatorial mounting with a clock movement, for which he subsequently +received the order. On its completion he superintended the erection of +the telescope, and had the honour of directing it to several of the +celestial objects for the Queen and the Princess Alice, and answered +their many interesting questions as to the stars and planets within +sight. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Cooke was put to his mettle towards the close of his life. A +contest had long prevailed among telescope makers as to who should turn +out the largest refracting instrument. The two telescopes of fifteen +inches aperture, prepared by Merz and Mahler, of Munich, were the +largest then in existence. Their size was thought quite extraordinary. +But in 1846, Mr. Alvan Clark, of Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, U.S., +spent his leisure hour's in constructing small telescopes.[9] He was +not an optician, nor a mathematician, but a portrait painter. He +possessed, however, enough knowledge of optics and of mechanics, to +enable him to make and judge a telescope. He spent some ten years in +grinding lenses, and was at length enabled to produce objectives equal +in quality to any ever made. +</P> + +<P> +In 1853, the Rev. W. E. Dawes—one of Mr. Cooke's customers—purchased +an object-glass from Mr. Clark. It was so satisfactory that he ordered +several others, and finally an entire telescope. The American artist +then began to be appreciated in his own country. In 1860 he received +an order for a refractor of eighteen inches aperture, three inches +greater than the largest which had up to that time been made. This +telescope was intended for the Observatory of Mississippi; but the +Civil War prevented its being removed to the South; and the telescope +was sold to the Astronomical Society of Chicago and mounted in the +Observatory of that city. +</P> + +<P> +And now comes in the rivalry of Mr. Cooke of York, or rather of his +patron, Mr. Newall of Gateshead. At the Great Exhibition of London, in +1862, two large circular blocks of glass, about two inches thick and +twenty-six inches in diameter, were shown by the manufacturers, Messrs. +Chance of Birmingham. These discs were found to be of perfect quality, +and suitable for object-glasses of the best kind. At the close of the +Exhibition, they were purchased by Mr. Newall, and transferred to the +workshops of Messrs. Cooke and Sons at York. To grind and polish and +mount these discs was found a work of great labour and difficulty. Mr. +Lockyer says, "such an achievement marks an epoch in telescopic +astronomy, and the skill of Mr. Cooke and the munificence of Mr. Newall +will long be remembered." +</P> + +<P> +When finished, the object-glass had an aperture of nearly twenty-five +inches, and was of much greater power than the eighteen-inch Chicago +instrument. The length of the tube was about thirty-two feet. The +cast-iron pillar supporting the whole was nineteen feet in height from +the ground, and the weight of the whole instrument was about six tons. +In preparing this telescope, nearly everything, from its extraordinary +size, had to be specially arranged.[10] The great anxiety involved in +these arrangements, and the constant study and application told heavily +upon Mr. Cooke, and though the instrument wanted only a few touches to +make it complete, his health broke down, and he died on the 19th of +October, 1868, at the comparatively early age of sixty-two. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Cooke's death was felt, in a measure, to be a national loss. His +science and skill had restored to England the prominent position she +had held in the time of Dollond; and, had he lived, even more might +have been expected from him. We believe that the Gold Medal and +Fellowship of the Royal Society were waiting for him; but, as one of +his friends said to his widow, "neither worth nor talent avails when +the great ordeal is presented to us." In a letter from Professor +Pritchard, he said: "Your husband has left his mark upon his age. No +optician of modern times has gained a higher reputation; and I for one +do not hesitate to call his loss national; for he cannot be replaced at +present by any one else in his own peculiar line. I shall carry the +recollection of the affectionate esteem in which I held Thomas Cooke +with me to my grave. Alas! that he should be cut off just at the +moment when he was about to reap the rewards due to his unrivalled +excellence. I have said that F.R.S. and medals were to be his. But he +is, we fondly trust, in a better and higher state than that of earthly +distinction. Best assured, your husband's name must ever be associated +with the really great men of his day. Those who knew him will ever +cherish his memory." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Cooke left behind him the great works which he founded in +Buckingham Street, York. They still give employment to a large number +of skilled and intelligent artizans. There I found many important +works in progress,—the manufacture of theodolites, of prismatic +compasses (for surveying), of Bolton's range finder, and of telescopes +above all. In the factory yard was the commencement of the Observatory +for Greenwich, to contain the late Mr. Lassell's splendid two feet +Newtonian reflecting telescope, which has been presented to the nation. +Mr. Cooke's spirit still haunts the works, which are carried on with +the skill, the vigour, and the perseverance, transmitted by him to his +sons. +</P> + +<P> +While at York, I was informed by Mr. Wigglesworth, the partner of +Messrs. Cooke, of an energetic young astronomer at Bainbridge, in the +mountain-district of Yorkshire, who had not only been able to make a +telescope of his own, but was an excellent photographer. He was not yet +thirty years of age, but had encountered and conquered many +difficulties. This is a sort of character which is more often to be +met with in remote country places than in thickly-peopled cities. In +the country a man is more of an individual; in a city he is only one of +a multitude. The country boy has to rely upon himself, and has to work +in comparative solitude, while the city boy is distracted by +excitements. Life in the country is full of practical teachings; +whereas life in the city may be degraded by frivolities and pleasures, +which are too often the foes of work. Hence we have usually to go to +out-of-the-way corners of the country for our hardest brain-workers. +Contact with the earth is a great restorer of power; and it is to the +country folks that we must ever look for the recuperative power of the +nation as regards health, vigour, and manliness. +</P> + +<P> +Bainbridge is a remote country village, situated among the high lands +or Fells on the north-western border of Yorkshire. The mountains there +send out great projecting buttresses into the dales; and the waters +rush down from the hills, and form waterfalls or Forces, which Turner +has done so much to illustrate. The river Bain runs into the Yore at +Bainbridge, which is supposed to be the site of an old Roman station. +Over the door of the Grammar School is a mermaid, said to have been +found in a camp on the top of Addleborough, a remarkable limestone hill +which rises to the south-east of Bainbridge. It is in this +grammar-school that we find the subject of this little autobiography. +He must be allowed to tell the story of his life—which he describes as +'Work: Good, Bad, and Indifferent—in his own words: +</P> + +<P> +"I was born on November 20th, 1853. In my childhood I suffered from +ill-health. My parents let me play about in the open air, and did not +put me to school until I had turned my sixth year. One day, playing in +the shoemaker's shop, William Farrel asked me if I knew my letters. I +answered 'No.' He then took down a primer from a shelf, and began to +teach me the alphabet, at the same time amusing me by likening the +letters to familiar objects in his shop. I soon learned to read, and +in about six weeks I surprised my father by reading from an easy book +which the shoemaker had given me. +</P> + +<P> +"My father then took me into the school, of which he was master, and my +education may be said fairly to have begun. My progress, however, was +very slow partly owing to ill-health, but more, I must acknowledge, to +carelessness and inattention. In fact, during the first four years I +was at school, I learnt very little of anything, with the exception of +reciting verses, which I seemed to learn without any mental effort. My +memory became very retentive. I found that by attentively reading half +a page of print, or more, from any of the school-books, I could repeat +the whole of it without missing a word. I can scarcely explain how I +did it; but I think it was by paying strict attention to the words as +words, and forming a mental picture of the paragraphs as they were +grouped in the book. Certain, I am, that their sense never made much +impression on me, for, when questioned by the teacher, I was always +sent to the bottom of the class, though apparently I had learned my +exercise to perfection. +</P> + +<P> +"When I was twelve years old, I made the acquaintance of a very +ingenious boy, who came to our school. Samuel Bridge was a born +mechanic. Though only a year older than myself, such was his ability +in the use of tools, that he could construct a model of any machine +that he saw. He awakened in me a love of mechanical construction, and +together we made models of colliery winding-frames, iron-rolling mills, +trip-hammers, and water-wheels. Some of them were not mere toys, but +constructed to scale, and were really good working models. This love +of mechanical construction has never left me, and I shall always +remember with affection Samuel Bridge, who first taught me to use the +hammer and file. The last I heard of him was in 1875, when he passed +his examination as a schoolmaster, in honours, and was at the head of +his list. +</P> + +<P> +"During the next two years, when between twelve and fourteen, I made +comparatively slow progress at school. I remember having to write out +the fourth commandment from memory. The teacher counted twenty-three +mistakes in ten lines of my writing. It will be seen from this, that, +as regards learning, I continued heedless and backward. About this +time, my father, who was a good violinist, took me under his tuition. +He made me practice on the violin about an hour and a half a day. I +continued this for a long time. But the result was failure. I hated +the violin, and would never play unless compelled to do so. I suppose +the secret was that I had no 'ear.' +</P> + +<P> +"It was different with subjects more to my mind. Looking over my +father's books one day, I came upon Gregory's 'Handbook of Inorganic +Chemistry,' and began reading it. I was fascinated with the book, and +studied it morning, noon, and night—in fact, every time when I could +snatch a few minutes. I really believe that at one time I could have +repeated the whole of the book from memory. Now I found the value of +arithmetic, and set to work in earnest on proportion, vulgar and +decimal fractions, and, in fact, everything in school work that I could +turn to account in the science of chemistry. The result of this sudden +application was that I was seized with an illness. For some months I +had incessant headache; my hair became dried up, then turned grey, and +finally came off. Weighing myself shortly after my recovery, at the +age of fifteen, I found that I just balanced fifty-six pounds. I took +up mensuration, then astronomy, working at them slowly, but giving the +bulk of my spare time to chemistry. +</P> + +<P> +"In the year 1869, when I was sixteen years old, I came across Cuthbert +Bede's book, entitled 'Photographic Pleasures.' It is an amusing book, +giving an account of the rise and progress of photography, and at the +same time having a good-natured laugh at it. I read the book +carefully, and took up photography as an amusement, using some +apparatus which belonged to my father, who had at one time dabbled in +the art. I was soon able to take fair photographs. I then decided to +try photography as a business. I was apprenticed to a photographer, +and spent four years with him—one year at Northallerton, and three at +Darlington. When my employer removed to Darlington, I joined the +School of Art there. +</P> + +<P> +"Having read an account of the experiments of M. E. Becquerel, a French +savant, on photographing in the colours of nature, my curiosity was +awakened. I carefully repeated his experiments, and convinced myself +that he was correct. I continued my experiments in heliochromy for a +period of about two years, during which time I made many photographs in +colours, and discovered a method of developing the coloured image, +which enabled me to shorten the exposure to one-fortieth of the +previously-required time. During these experiments, I came upon some +curious results, which, I think, might puzzle our scientific men to +account for. For instance, I proved the existence of black light, or +rays of such a nature as to turn the rose-coloured surface of the +sensitive-plate black—that is, rays reflected from the black paint of +drapery, produced black in the picture, and not the effect of darkness. +I was, like Becquerel, unable to fix the coloured image without +destroying the colours; though the plates would keep a long while in +the dark, and could be examined in a subdued, though not in a strong +light. The coloured image was faint, but the colours came out with +great truth and delicacy. +</P> + +<P> +"I began to attend the School of Art at Darlington on the 6th of March, +1872. I found, on attempting to draw, that I had naturally a correct +eye and hand; and I made such progress, that when the students' +drawings were examined, previously to sending them up to South +Kensington, all my work was approved. I was then set to draw from the +cast in chalk, although I had only been at the school for a month. I +tried for all the four subjects at the May examination, and was +fortunate enough to pass three of them, and obtained as a prize +Packett's 'Sciography.' I worked hard during the next year, and sent up +seventeen works; for one of these, the 'Venus de Milo,' I gained a +studentship. +</P> + +<P> +"I then commenced the study of human anatomy, and began water-colour +painting, reading all the works upon art on which I could lay my hand. +At the May examination of 1873, I completed my second-grade +certificate, and at the end of the year of my studentship, I accepted +the office of teacher in the School of Art. This art-training created +in me a sort of disgust for photography, as I saw that the science of +photography had really very little genuine art in it, and was more +allied to a mechanical pursuit than to an artistic one. Now, when I +look back on my past ideas, I clearly see that a great deal of this +disgust was due to my ignorance and self-conceit. +</P> + +<P> +"In 1874, I commenced painting in tempora, and then in oil, copying the +pictures lent to the school from the South Kensington Art Library. I +worked also from still life, and began sketching from nature in oil and +water-colours, sometimes selling my work to help me to buy materials +for art-work and scientific experiments. I was, however, able to do +very little in the following year, as I was at home suffering from +sciatica. For nine months I could not stand erect, but had to hobble +about with a stick. This illness caused me to give up my teachership. +</P> + +<P> +"Early in 1876 I returned to Darlington. I went on with my art studies +and the science of chemistry; though I went no further in heliochromy. +I pushed forward with anatomy. I sent about fifteen works to South +Kensington, and gained as my third-grade prize in list A the +'Dictionary of Terms used in Art' by Thomas Fairholt, which I found a +very useful work. Towards the end of the year, my father, whose health +was declining, sent for me home to assist him in the school. I now +commenced the study of Algebra and Euclid in good earnest, but found it +tough work. My father, though a fair mathematician, was unable to give +me any instruction; for he had been seized with paralysis, from which +he never recovered. Before he died, he recommended me to try for a +schoolmaster's certificate; and I promised him that I would. I +obtained a situation as master of a small village school, not under +Government inspection; and I studied during the year, and obtained a +second class certificate at the Durham Diocesan College at Christmas, +1877. Early in the following year, the school was placed under +Government inspection, and became a little more remunerative. +</P> + +<P> +"I now went on with chemical analysis, making my own apparatus. +Requiring an intense heat on a small scale, I invented a furnace that +burnt petroleum oil. It was blown by compressed air. After many +failures, I eventually succeeded in bringing it to such perfection that +in 7 1/2 minutes it would bring four ounces of steel into a perfectly +liquefied state. I next commenced the study of electricity and +magnetism; and then acoustics, light, and heat. I constructed all my +apparatus myself, and acquired the art of glass-blowing, in order to +make my own chemical apparatus, and thus save expense. +</P> + +<P> +"I then went on with Algebra and Euclid, and took up plane +trigonometry; but I devoted most of my time to electricity and +magnetism. I constructed various scientific apparatus—a syren, +telephones, microphones, an Edison's megaphone, as well as an +electrometer, and a machine for covering electric wire with cotton or +silk. A friend having lent me a work on artificial memory, I began to +study it; but the work led me into nothing but confusion, and I soon +found that if I did not give it up, I should be left with no memory at +all. I still went an sketching from Nature, not so much as a study, +but as a means of recruiting my health, which was far from being good. +At the beginning of 1881 I obtained my present situation as assistant +master at the Yorebridge Grammar School, of which the Rev. W. +Balderston, M.A., is principal. +</P> + +<P> +"Soon after I became settled here, I spent some of my leisure time in +reading Emerson's 'Optics,' a work I bought at an old bookstall. I was +not very successful with it, owing to my deficient mathematical +knowledge. On the May Science Examinations of 1881 taking place at +Newcastle-on-Tyne, applied for permission to sit, and obtained four +tickets for the following subjects:—Mathematics, Electricity and +Magnetism, Acoustics, Light and Heat, and Physiography. During the +preceding month I had read up the first three subjects, but, being +pressed for time, I gave up the idea of taking physiography. However, +on the last night of the examinations, I had some conversation with one +of the students as to the subjects required for physiography. He said, +'You want a little knowledge of everything in a scientific way, and +nothing much of anything.' I determined to try, for 'nothing much of +anything' suited me exactly. I rose early next morning, and as soon as +the shops were open I went and bought a book on the subject, 'Outlines +of Physiography,' by W. Lawson, F.R.G.S. I read it all day, and at +night sat for the examination. The results of my examinations were, +failure in mathematics, but second class advanced grade certificates in +all the others. I do not attach any credit to passing in physiography, +but merely relate the circumstance as curiously showing what can be +done by a good 'cram.' +</P> + +<P> +"The failure in mathematics caused me to take the subject 'by the +horns,' to see what I could do with it. I began by going over +quadratic equations, and I gradually solved the whole of those given in +Todhunter's larger 'Algebra.' Then I re-read the progressions, +permutations, combinations; the binomial theorem, with indices and +surds; the logarithmic theorem and series, converging and diverging. I +got Todhunter's larger 'Plane Trigonometry,' and read it, with the +theorems contained in it; then his 'Spherical Trigonometry;' his +'Analytical Geometry, of Two Dimensions,' and 'Conics.' I next obtained +De Morgan's 'Differential and Integral Calculus,' then Woolhouse's, and +lastly, Todhunter's. I found this department of mathematics difficult +and perplexing to the last degree; but I mastered it sufficiently to +turn it to some account. This last mathematical course represents +eighteen months of hard work, and I often sat up the whole night +through. One result of the application was a permanent injury to my +sight. +</P> + +<P> +"Wanting some object on which to apply my newly-acquired mathematical +knowledge, I determined to construct an astronomical telescope. I got +Airy's 'Geometrical Optics,' and read it through. Then I searched +through all my English Mechanic (a scientific paper that I take), and +prepared for my work by reading all the literature on the subject that +I could obtain. I bought two discs of glass, of 6 1/2 inches diameter, +and began to grind them to a spherical curve 12 feet radius. I got +them hollowed out, but failed in fining them through lack of skill. +This occurred six times in succession; but at the seventh time the +polish came up beautifully, with scarcely a scratch upon the surface. +Stopping my work one night, and it being starlight, I thought I would +try the mirror on a star. I had a wooden frame ready for the purpose, +which the carpenter had made for me. Judge of my surprise and delight +when I found that the star disc enlarged nearly in the same manner from +each side of the focal point, thus making it extremely probable that I +had accidentally hit on a near approach to the parabola in the curve of +my mirror. And such proved to be the case. I have the mirror still, +and its performance is very good indeed. +</P> + +<P> +"I went no further with this mirror, for fear or spoiling it. It is +very slightly grey in the centre, but not sufficiently so as to +materially injure its performance. I mounted it in a wooden tube, +placed it on a wooden stand, and used it for a time thus mounted; but +getting disgusted with the tremor and inconvenience I had to put up +with, I resolved to construct for it an iron equatorial stand. I made +my patterns, got them cast, turned and fitted them myself, grinding all +the working parts together with emery and oil, and fitted a +tangent-screw motion to drive the instrument in right ascension. Now I +found the instrument a pleasure to use; and I determined to add to it +divided circles, and to accurately adjust it to the meridian. I made +my circles of well-seasoned mahogany, with slips of paper on their +edges, dividing them with my drawing instruments, and varnishing them +to keep out the wet. I shall never forget that sunny afternoon upon +which I computed the hour-angle for Jupiter, and set the instrument so +that by calculation Jupiter should pass through the field of the +instrument at 1h. 25m. 15s. With my watch in my hand, and my eye to +the eye-piece, I waited for the orb. When his glorious face appeared, +almost in a direct line for the centre of the field, I could not +contain my joy, but shouted out as loudly as I could,—greatly to the +astonishment of old George Johnson, the miller, who happened to be in +the field where I had planted my stand! +</P> + +<P> +"Now, though I had obtained what I wanted—a fairly good +instrument,—still I was not quite satisfied; as I had produced it by a +fortunate chance, and not by skill alone. I therefore set to work +again on the other disc of glass, to try if I could finish it in such a +way as to excel the first one. After nearly a year's work I found that +I could only succeed in equalling it. But then, during this time, I had +removed the working of mirrors from mere chance to a fair amount of +certainty. By bringing my mathematical knowledge to bear on the +subject, I had devised a method of testing and measuring my work which, +I am happy to say, has been fairly successful, and has enabled me to +produce the spherical, elliptic, parabolic, or hyperbolic curve in my +mirrors, with almost unvarying success. The study of the practical +working of specula and lenses has also absorbed a good deal of my spare +time during the last two years, and the work involved has been scarcely +less difficult. Altogether, I consider this last year (1882-3) to mark +the busiest period of my life. +</P> + +<P> +"It will be observed that I have only given an account of those +branches of study in which I have put to practical test the deductions +from theoretical reasoning. I am at present engaged on the theory of +the achromatic object-glass, with regard to spherical chromatism—a +subject upon which, I believe, nearly all our text-books are silent, +but one nevertheless of vital importance to the optician. I can only +proceed very slowly with it, on account of having to grind and figure +lenses for every step of the theory, to keep myself in the right track; +as mere theorizing is apt to lead one very much astray, unless it be +checked by constant experiment. For this particular subject, lenses +must be ground firstly to spherical, and then to curves of conic +sections, so as to eliminate spherical aberration from each lens; so +that it will be observed that this subject is not without its +difficulties. +</P> + +<P> +"About a month ago (September, 1883), I determined to put to the test +the statement of some of our theorists, that the surface of a rotating +fluid is either a parabola or a hyperbola. I found by experiment that +it is neither, but an approximation to the tractrix (a modification of +the catenary), if anything definite; as indeed one, on thinking over +the matter, might feel certain it would be—the tractrix being the +curve of least friction. +</P> + +<P> +"In astronomy, I have really done very little beyond mere algebraical +working of the fundamental theorems, and a little casual observation of +the telescope. So far, I must own, I have taken more pleasure in the +theory and construction of the telescope, than in its use." +</P> + +<P> +Such is Samuel Lancaster's history of the growth and development of his +mind. I do not think there is anything more interesting in the +'Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties.' His life has been a gallant +endeavour to win further knowledge, though too much at the expense of a +constitution originally delicate. He pursues science with patience and +determination, and wooes truth with the ardour of a lover. Eulogy of +his character would here be unnecessary; but, if he takes due care of +his health, we shall hear more of him.[11] +</P> + +<P> +More astronomers in humble life! There seems to to be no end of them. +There must be a great fascination in looking up to the heavens, and +seeing those wondrous worlds careering in the far-off infinite. Let me +look back to the names I have introduced in this chapter of +autobiography. First, there was my worthy porter friend at Coupar +Angus station, enjoying himself with his three-inch object-glass. Then +there was the shoemaker and teacher, and eventually the first-rate +maker of achromatic instruments. Look also at the persons whom he +supplied with his best telescopes. Among them we find princes, +baronets, clergymen, professors, doctors, solicitors, manufacturers, +and inventors. Then we come to the portrait painter, who acquired the +highest supremacy in the art of telescope making; then to Mr. Lassell, +the retired brewer, whose daughters presented his instrument to the +nation; and, lastly, to the extraordinary young schoolmaster of +Bainbridge, in Yorkshire. And now before I conclude this last chapter, +I have to relate perhaps the most extraordinary story of all—that of +another astronomer in humble life, in the person of a slate counter at +Port Penrhyn, Bangor, North Wales. +</P> + +<P> +While at Birnam, I received a letter from my old friend the Rev. +Charles Wicksteed, formerly of Leeds, calling my attention to this +case, and inclosing an extract from the letter of a young lady, one of +his correspondents at Bangor. In that letter she said: "What you write +of Mr. Christmas Evans reminds me very much of a visit I paid a few +evenings ago to an old man in Upper Bangor. He works on the Quay, but +has a very decided taste for astronomy, his leisure time being spent in +its study, with a great part of his earnings. I went there with some +friends to see an immense telescope, which he has made almost entirely +without aid, preparing the glasses as far as possible himself, and +sending them away merely to have their concavity changed. He showed us +all his treasures with the greatest delight, explaining in English, but +substituting Welsh when at a loss. He has scarcely ever been at +school, but has learnt English entirely from books. Among other things +he showed us were a Greek Testament and a Hebrew Bible, both of which +he can read. His largest telescope, which is several yards long, he +has named 'Jumbo,' and through it he told us he saw the snowcap on the +pole of Mars. He had another smaller telescope, made by himself, and +had a spectroscope in process of making. He is now quite old, but his +delight in his studies is still unbounded and unabated. It seems so sad +that he has had no right opportunity for developing his talent." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Wicksteed was very much interested in the case, and called my +attention to it, that I might add the story to my repertory of +self-helping men. While at York I received a communication from Miss +Grace Ellis, the young lady in question, informing me of the name of +the astronomer—John Jones, Albert Street, Upper Bangor—and intimating +that he would be glad to see me any evening after six. As railways +have had the effect of bringing places very close together in point of +time—making of Britain, as it were, one great town—and as the autumn +was brilliant, and the holiday season not at an end, I had no +difficulty in diverging from my journey, and taking Bangor on my way +homeward. Starting from York in the morning, and passing through Leeds, +Manchester, and Chester, I reached Bangor in the afternoon, and had my +first interview with Mr. Jones that very evening. +</P> + +<P> +I found him, as Miss Grace Ellis had described, active, vigorous, and +intelligent; his stature short, his face well-formed, his eyes keen and +bright. I was first shown into his little parlour downstairs, +furnished with his books and some of his instruments; I was then taken +to his tiny room upstairs, where he had his big reflecting telescope, +by means of which he had seen, through the chamber window, the snowcap +of Mars. He is so fond of philology that I found he had no fewer than +twenty-six dictionaries, all bought out of his own earnings. "I am +fond of all knowledge," he said—"of Reuben, Dan, and Issachar; but I +have a favourite, a Benjamin, and that is Astronomy. I would sell all +of them into Egypt, but preserve my Benjamin." His story is briefly as +follows:— +</P> + +<P> +"I was born at Bryngwyn Bach, Anglesey, in 1818, and I am sixty-five +years old. I got the little education I have, when a boy. Owen Owen, +who was a cousin of my mother's, kept a school at a chapel in the +village of Dwyrain, in Anglesey. It was said of Owen that he never had +more than a quarter of a year's schooling, so that he could not teach +me much. I went to his school at seven, and remained with him about a +year. Then he left; and some time afterwards I went for a short period +to an old preacher's school, at Brynsieneyn chapel. There I learnt but +little, the teacher being negligent. He allowed the children to play +together too much, and he punished them for slight offences, making +them obstinate and disheartened. But I remember his once saying to the +other children, that I ran through my little lesson 'like a coach.' +However, when I was about twelve years old, my father died, and in +losing him I lost almost all the little I had learnt during the short +periods I had been at school. Then I went to work for the farmers. +</P> + +<P> +"In this state of ignorance I remained for years, until the time came +when on Sunday I used to saddle the old black mare for Cadwalladr +Williams, the Calvinist Methodist preacher, at Pen Ceint, Anglesey; and +after he had ridden away, I used to hide in his library during the +sermon, and there I learnt a little that I shall not soon forget. In +that way I had many a draught of knowledge, as it were, by stealth. +Having a strong taste for music, I was much attracted by choral +singing; and on Sundays and in the evenings I tried to copy out airs +from different books, and accustomed my hand a little to writing. This +tendency was, however, choked within me by too much work with the +cattle, and by other farm labour. In a word, I had but little fair +weather in my search for knowledge. One thing enticed me from another, +to the detriment of my plans; some fair Eve often standing with an +apple in hand, tempting me to taste of that. +</P> + +<P> +"The old preacher's books at Pen Ceint were in Welsh. I had not yet +learned English, but tried to learn it by comparing one line in the +English New Testament with the same line in the Welsh. This was the +Hamiltonian method, and the way in which I learnt most languages. I +first got an idea of astronomy from reading 'The Solar System,' by Dr. +Dick, translated into Welsh by Eleazar Roberts of Liverpool. That book +I found on Sundays in the preacher's library; and many a sublime +thought it gave me. It was comparatively easy to understand. +</P> + +<P> +"When I was about thirty I was taken very ill, and could no longer +work. I then went to Bangor to consult Dr. Humphrys. After I got +better I found work at the Port at 12s. a week. I was employed in +counting the slates, or loading the ships in the harbour from the +railway trucks. I lodged in Fwn Deg, near where Hugh Williams, +Gatehouse, then kept a navigation school for young sailors. I learnt +navigation, and soon made considerable progress. I also learnt a +little arithmetic. At first nearly all the young men were more +advanced than myself; but before I left matters were different, and the +Scripture words became verified—"the last shall be first." I remained +with Hugh Williams six months and a half. During that time I went +twice through the 'Tutor's Assistant,' and a month before I left I was +taught mensuration. That is all the education I received, and the +greater part of it was during my by-hours. +</P> + +<P> +"I got to know English pretty well, though Welsh was the language of +those about me. From easy books I went to those more difficult. I was +helped in my pronunciation of English by comparing the words with the +phonetic alphabet, as published by Thomas Gee of Denbigh, in 1853. +With my spare earnings I bought books, especially when my wages began +to rise. Mr. Wyatt, the steward, was very kind, and raised my pay from +time to time at his pleasure. I suppose I was willing, correct, and +faithful. I improved my knowledge by reading books on astronomy. I +got, amongst others, 'The Mechanism of the Heavens,' by Denison +Olmstead, an American; a very understandable book. Learning English, +which was a foreign language to me, led me to learn other languages. I +took pleasure in finding out the roots or radixes of words, and from +time to time I added foreign dictionaries to my little library. But I +took most pleasure in astronomy. +</P> + +<P> +"The perusal of Sir John Herschel's 'Outlines of Astronomy,' and of his +'Treatise on the Telescope,' set my mind on fire. I conceived the idea +of making a telescope of my own, for I could not buy one. While +reading the Mechanics' Magazine I observed the accounts of men who made +telescopes. Why should not I do the same? Of course it was a matter +of great difficulty to one who knew comparatively little of the use of +tools. But I had a willing mind and willing hands. So I set to work. +I think I made my first telescope about twenty years ago. It was +thirty-six inches long, and the tube was made of pasteboard. I got the +glasses from Liverpool for 4s. 6d. Captain Owens, of the ship Talacra, +bought them. He also bought for me, at a bookstall, the Greek Lexicon +and the Greek New Testament, for which he paid 7s. 6d. With my new +telescope I could see Jupiter's four satellites, the craters on the +moon, and some of the double stars. It was a wonderful pleasure to me. +</P> + +<P> +"But I was not satisfied with the instrument. I wanted a bigger and a +more perfect one. I sold it and got new glasses from Solomon of +London, who was always ready to trust me. I think it was about the +year 1868 that I began to make a reflecting telescope. I got a rough +disc of glass, from St. Helens, of ten inches diameter. It took me +from nine to ten days to grind and polish it ready for parabolising and +silvering. I did this by hand labour with the aid of emery, but +without a lathe. I finally used rouge instead of emery in grinding +down the glass, until I could see my face in the mirror quite plain. I +then sent the 8 3/16 inch disc to Mr. George Calver, of Chelmsford, to +turn my spherical curve to a parabolic curve, and to silver the mirror, +for which I paid him 5L. I mounted this in my timber tube; the focus +was ten feet. When everything was complete I tried my instrument on +the sky, and found it to have good defining power. The diameter of the +other glass I have made is a little under six inches. +</P> + +<P> +"You ask me if their performance satisfies me? Well; I have compared +my six-inch reflector with a 4 1/4 inch refractor, through my window, +with a power of 100 and 140. I can't say which was the best. But if +out on a clear night I think my reflector would take more power than +the refractor. However that may be, I saw the snowcap on the planet +Mars quite plain; and it is satisfactory to me so far. With respect to +the 8 3/16 inch glass, I am not quite satisfied with it yet; but I am +making improvements, and I believe it will reward my labour in the end." +</P> + +<P> +Besides these instruments John Jones has an equatorial which is mounted +on a tripod stand, made by himself. It contains the right ascension, +declination, and azimuth index, all neatly carved upon slate. In his +spectroscope he makes his prisms out of the skylights used in vessels. +These he grinds down to suit his purpose. I have not been able to go +into the complete detail of the manner in which he effects the grinding +of his glasses. It is perhaps too technical to be illustrated in words, +which are full of focuses, parabolas, and convexities. But enough may +be gathered from the above account to give an idea of the wonderful +tenacity of this aged student, who counts his slates into the ships by +day, and devotes his evenings to the perfecting of his astronomical +instruments. But not only is he an astronomer and a philologist; he is +also a bard, and his poetry is much admired in the district. He writes +in Welsh, not in English, and signs himself "Ioan, of Bryngwyn Bach," +the place where he was born. Indeed, he is still at a loss for words +when he speaks in English. He usually interlards his conversation with +passages in Welsh, which is his mother-tongue. A friend has, however, +done me the favour to translate two of John Jones's poems into English. +The first is 'The Telescope':— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "To Heaven it points, where rules the Sun<BR> + In golden gall'ries bright;<BR> + And the pale Moon in silver rays<BR> + Makes dalliance in the night.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "It sweeps with eagle glances<BR> + The sky, its myriad throng,<BR> + That myriad throng to marshal<BR> + And bring to us their song.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Orb upon orb it follows<BR> + As oft they intertwine,<BR> + And worlds in vast processions<BR> + As if in battle line.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "It loves all things created,<BR> + To follow and to trace;<BR> + And never fears to penetrate<BR> + The dark abyss of space."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The next is to 'The Comet':— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "A maiden fair, with light of stars bedecked,<BR> + Starts out of space at Jove's command;<BR> + With visage wild, and long dishevelled hair,<BR> + Speeds she along her starry course;<BR> + The hosts of heaven regards she not,—<BR> + Fain would she scorn them all except her father Sol,<BR> + Whose mighty influence her headlong course doth all control."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The following translation may also be given: it shows that the bard is +not without a spice of wit. A fellow-workman teased him to write some +lines; when John Jones, in a seemingly innocent manner, put some +questions, and ascertained that he had once been a tailor. Accordingly +this epigram was written, and appeared in the local paper the week +after: "To a quondam Tailor, now a Slate-teller":— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "To thread and needle now good-bye,<BR> + With slates I aim at riches;<BR> + The scissors will I ne'er more ply,<BR> + Nor make, but order, breeches."[12]<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The bi-lingual speech is the great educational difficulty of Wales. To +get an entrance into literature and science requires a knowledge of +English; or, if not of English, then of French or German. But the +Welsh language stands in the way. Few literary or scientific works are +translated into Welsh. Hence the great educational difficulty +continues, and is maintained from year to year by patriotism and +Eisteddfods. +</P> + +<P> +Possibly the difficulties to be encountered may occasionally evoke +unusual powers of study; but this can only occur in exceptional cases. +While at Bangor Mr. Cadwalladr Davies read to me the letter of a +student and professor, whose passion for knowledge is of an +extraordinary character. While examined before the Parliamentary +Committee appointed to inquire into the condition of intermediate and +higher education in Wales and Monmouthshire, Mr. Davies gave evidence +relating to this and other remarkable cases, of which the following is +an abstract, condensed by himself:— +</P> + +<P> +"The night schools in the quarry districts have been doing a very great +work; and, if the Committee will allow me, I will read an extract from +a letter which I received from Mr. Bradley Jones, master of the Board +Schools at Llanarmon, near Mold, Flintshire, who some years ago kept a +very flourishing night school in the neighbourhood. He says: 'During +the whole of the time (fourteen years) that I was at Carneddi, I +carried on these schools, and I believe I have had more experience of +such institutions than any teacher in North Wales. For several years +about 120 scholars used to attend the Carneddi night school in the +winter months, four evenings a week. Nearly all were quarrymen, from +fourteen to twenty-one years of age, and engaged at work from 7 A.M. to +5.30 P.M. So intense was their desire for education that some of them +had to walk a distance of two or even three miles to school. These, +besides working hard all day, had to walk six miles in the one case and +nine in the other before school-time, in addition to the walk home +afterwards. Several of them used to attend all the year round, even +coming to me for lessons in summer before going to work, as well as in +the evening. Indeed, so anxious were some of them, that they would +often come for lessons as early as five o'clock in the morning. This +may appear almost incredible, but any of the managers of the Carneddi +School could corroborate the statement.' +</P> + +<P> +"I have now in my mind's eye," continues Mr. Bradley, "several of these +young men, who, by dint of indefatigable labour and self-denial, +ultimately qualified themselves for posts in which a good education is +a sine qua non. Some of them are to-day quarry managers, professional +men, certificated teachers, and ministers of the Gospel. Five of them +are at the present time students at Bala College. One got a situation +in the Glasgow Post Office as letter-carrier. During his leisure hours +he attended the lectures at one of the medical schools of that city, +and in course of time gained his diploma. He is now practising as a +surgeon, and I understand with signal success. This gentleman worked +in the Penrhyn Quarry until he was twenty years old. I could give many +more instances of the resolute and self-denying spirit with which the +young quarrymen of Bethesda sought to educate themselves. The teachers +of the other schools in that neighbourhood could give similar examples, +for during the winter months there used to be no less than 300 evening +scholars under instruction in the different schools. The Bethesda +booksellers could tell a tale that would surprise our English friends. +I have been informed by one of them that he has sold to young quarrymen +an immense number of such works as Lord Macaulay's, Stuart Mill's, and +Professor Fawcett's; and it is no uncommon sight to find these and +similar works read and studied by the young quarrymen during the dinner +hour." +</P> + +<P> +"I can give," proceeds Mr. Cadwalladr Davies, "one remarkable instance +to show the struggles which young Welshmen have to undertake in order +to get education. The boy in question, the son of 'poor but honest +parents,' left the small national school of his native village when he +was 12 1/2 years of age, and then followed his father's occupation of +shoemaking until he was 16 1/2 years of age. After working hard at his +trade for four years, he, his brother, and two fellow apprentices, +formed themselves into a sort of club to learn shorthand, the whole +matter being kept a profound secret. They had no teachers, and they +met at the gas-works, sitting opposite the retorts on a bench supported +at each end with bricks. They did not penetrate far into the mysteries +of Welsh shorthand; they soon abandoned the attempt, and induced the +village schoolmaster to open a night school. +</P> + +<P> +"This, however, did not last long. The young Crispin was returning +late one night from Llanrwst in company with a lad of the same age, and +both having heard much of the blessings of education from a Scotch lady +who took a kindly interest in them, their ambition was inflamed, and +they entered into a solemn compact that they would thenceforward devote +themselves body and soul to the attainment of an academical degree. +Yet they were both poor. One was but a shoemaker's apprentice, while +the other was a pupil teacher earning but a miserable weekly pittance. +One could do the parts of speech; the other could not. One had +struggled with the pans asinorum; the other had never seen it. I may +mention that the young pupil teacher is now a curate in the Church of +England. He is a graduate of Cambridge University and a prizeman of +Clare College. But to return to the little shoemaker. +</P> + +<P> +"After returning home from Llanrwst, he disburthened his heart to his +mother, and told her that shoemaking, which until now he had pursued +with extraordinary zest, could no longer interest him. His mother, who +was equal to the emergency, sent the boy to a teacher of the old +school, who had himself worked his way from the plough. After the +exercise of considerable diplomacy, an arrangement was arrived at +whereby the youth was to go to school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and +Fridays, and make shoes during the remaining days of the week. This +suited him admirably. That very night he seized upon a geography, and +began to learn the counties of England and Wales. The fear of failure +never left him for two hours together, except when he slept. The plan +of work was faithfully kept; though by this time shoemaking had lost +its charms. He shortened his sleeping hours, and rose at any moment +that he awoke—at two, three, or four in the morning. He got his +brother, who had been plodding with him over shorthand, to study +horticulture, and fruit and vegetable culture; and that brother shortly +after took a high place in an examination held by the Royal +Horticultural Society. For a time, however, they worked together; and +often did their mother get up at four o'clock in the depth of winter, +light their fire, and return to bed after calling them up to the work +of self-culture. Even this did not satisfy their devouring ambition. +There was a bed in the workshop, and they obtained permission to sleep +there. Then they followed their own plans. The young gardener would +sit up till one or two in the morning, and wake his brother, who had +gone to bed as soon as he had given up work the night before. +</P> + +<P> +Now he got up and studied through the small hours of the morning until +the time came when he had to transfer his industry to shoemaking, or go +to school on the appointed days after the distant eight o'clock had +come. His brother had got worn out. Early sleep seemed to be the best. +They then both went to bed about eight o'clock, and got the policeman +to call them up before retiring himself. +</P> + +<P> +"So the struggle went on, until the faithful old schoolmaster thought +that his young pupil might try the examination at the Bangor Normal +College. He was now eighteen years of age; and it was eighteen months +since the time when he began to learn the counties of England and +Wales. He went to Bangor, rigged out in his brother's coat and +waistcoat, which were better than his own; and with his brother's watch +in his pocket to time himself in his examinations. He went through his +examination, but returned home thinking he had failed. Nevertheless, +he had in the meantime, on the strength of a certificate which he had +obtained six months before, in an examination held by the Society of +Arts and Sciences in Liverpool, applied for a situation as teacher in a +grammar-school at Ormskirk in Lancashire. He succeeded in his +application, and had been there for only eight days when he received a +letter from Mr. Rowlands, Principal of the Bangor Normal College, +informing him that he had passed at the head of the list, and was the +highest non-pupil teacher examined by the British and Foreign Society. +Having obtained permission from his master to leave, he packed his +clothes and his few books. He had not enough money to carry him home; +but, unasked, the master of the school gave him 10s. He arrived home +about three o'clock on a Sunday morning, after a walk of eleven miles +over a lonely road from the place where the train had stopped. He +reeled on the way, and found the country reeling too. He had been +sleeping eight nights in a damp bed. Six weeks of the Bangor Session +passed, and during that time he had been delirious, and was too weak to +sit up in bed. But the second time he crossed the threshold of his +home he made for Bangor and got back his "position," which was all +important to him, and he kept it all through. +</P> + +<P> +"Having finished his course at Bangor he went to keep a school at +Brynaman; he endeavoured to study but could not. After two years he +gave up the school, and with 60L. saved he faced the world once more. +There was a scholarship of the value of 40L. a year, for three years, +attached to one of the Scotch Universities, to be competed for. He +knew the Latin Grammar, and had, with help, translated one of the books +of Caesar. Of Greek he knew nothing, save the letters and the first +declension of nouns; but in May he began to read in earnest at a +farmhouse. He worked every day from 6 A.M. to 12 P.M. with only an +hour's intermission. He studied the six Latin and two Greek books +prescribed; he did some Latin composition unaided; brushed up his +mathematics; and learnt something of the history of Greece and Rome. +In October, after five months of hard work, he underwent an examination +for the scholarship, and obtained it; beating his opponent by +twenty-eight marks in a thousand. He then went up to the Scotch +University and passed all the examinations for his ordinary M.A. degree +in two years and a half. On his first arrival at the University he +found that he could not sleep; but he wearily yet victoriously plodded +on; took a prize in Greek, then the first prize in philosophy, the +second prize in logic, the medal in English literature, and a few other +prizes. +</P> + +<P> +"He had 40L. when he first arrived in Scotland; and he carried away +with him a similar sum to Germany, whither he went to study for honours +in philosophy. He returned home with little in his pocket, borrowing +money to go to Scotland, where he sat for honours and for the +scholarship. He got his first honours, and what was more important at +the time, money to go on with. He now lives on the scholarship which +he took at that time; is an assistant professor; and, in a fortnight, +will begin a course of lectures for ladies in connection with his +university. Writing to me a few days ago,[13] he says, 'My health, +broken down with my last struggle, is quite restored, and I live with +the hope of working on. Many have worked more constantly, but few have +worked more intensely. I found kindness on every hand always, but had +I failed in a single instance I should have met with entire bankruptcy. +The failure would have been ruinous.... I thank God for the struggle, +but would not like to see a dog try it again. There are droves of lads +in Wales that would creep up but they cannot. Poverty has too heavy a +hand for them.'" +</P> + +<P> +The gentleman whose brief history is thus summarily given by Mr. +Davies, is now well known as a professor of philosophy; and, if his +health be spared, he will become still better known. He is the author +of several important works on 'Moral Philosophy,' published by a +leading London firm; and more works are announced from his pen. The +victorious struggle for knowledge which we have recounted might +possibly be equalled, but it could not possibly be surpassed. There +are, however, as Mr. Davies related to the Parliamentary Committee, +many instances of Welsh students—most of them originally +quarrymen—who keep themselves at school by means of the savings +effected from manual labour, "in frequent cases eked out and helped by +the kindness of friends and neighbours," who struggle up through many +difficulties, and eventually achieve success in the best sense of the +term. "One young man"—as the teacher of a grammar-school, within two +miles of Bangor, related to Mr. Davies—"who came to me from the quarry +some time ago, was a gold medallist at Edinburgh last winter;" and +contributions are readily made by the quarrymen to help forward any +young man who displays an earnest desire for knowledge in science and +literature. +</P> + +<P> +It is a remarkable fact that the quarrymen of Carnarvonshire have +voluntarily contributed large sums of money towards the establishment +of the University College in North Wales—the quarry districts in that +county having contributed to that fund, in the course of three years, +mostly in half-crown subscriptions, not less than 508L. 4s. 4d.—"a +fact," says Mr. Davies, "without its parallel in the history of the +education of any country;" the most striking feature being, that these +collections were made in support of an institution from which the +quarrymen could only very remotely derive any benefit. +</P> + +<P> +While I was at Bangor, on the 24th of August, 1883, the news arrived +that the Committee of Selection had determined that Bangor should be +the site for the intended North Wales University College. The news +rapidly spread, and great rejoicings prevailed throughout the borough, +which had just been incorporated. The volunteer band played through +the streets; the church bells rang merry peals; and gay flags were +displayed from nearly every window. There never was such a triumphant +display before in the cause of University education. +</P> + +<P> +As Mr. Cadwalladr Davies observed at the banquet, which took place on +the following day: "The establishment of the new institution will mark +the dawn of a new era in the history of the Welsh people. He looked to +it, not only as a means of imparting academical knowledge to the +students within its walls, but also as a means of raising the +intellectual and moral tone of the whole people. They were fond of +quoting the saying of a great English writer, that there was something +Grecian in the Celtic race, and that the Celtic was the refining +element in the British character; but such remarks, often accompanied +as they were with offensive comparisons from Eisteddfod platforms, +would in future be put to the test, for they would, with their new +educational machinery, be placed on a footing of perfect equality with +the Scotch and the Irish people." +</P> + +<P> +And here must come to an end the character history of my autumn tour in +Ireland, Scotland, Yorkshire, and Wales. I had not the remotest +intention when setting out of collecting information and writing down +my recollections of the journey. But the persons I met, and the +information I received, were of no small interest—at least to myself; +and I trust that the reader will derive as much pleasure from perusing +my observations as I have had in collecting and writing them down. I +do think that the remarkable persons whose history and characters I +have endeavoured, however briefly, to sketch, will be found to afford +many valuable and important lessons of Self-Help; and to illustrate how +the moral and industrial foundations of a country may be built up and +established. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Footnotes for Chapter XII. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] A "poet," who dates from "New York, March 1883," has published +seven stanzas, entitled "Change here for Blairgowrie," from which we +take the following:— +<BR><BR> + "From early morn till late at e'en,<BR> + John's honest face is to be seen,<BR> + Bustling about the trains between,<BR> + Be 't sunshine or be 't showery;<BR> + And as each one stops at his door,<BR> + He greets it with the well-known roar<BR> + Of 'Change here for Blairgowrie.'<BR> + Even when the still and drowsy night<BR> + Has drawn the curtains of our sight,<BR> + John's watchful eyes become more bright,<BR> + And take another glow'r aye<BR> + Thro' yon blue dome of sparkling stars<BR> + Where Venus bright and ruddy Mars<BR> + Shine down upon Blairgowrie.<BR> + He kens each jinkin' comet's track,<BR> + And when it's likely to come back,<BR> + When they have tails, and when they lack—<BR> + In heaven the waggish power aye;<BR> + When Jupiter's belt buckle hings,<BR> + And the Pyx mark on Saturn's rings,<BR> + He sees from near Blairgowrie."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[2] The Observatory, No. 61, p. 146; and No. 68, p. 371. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[3] In an article on the subject in the Dundee Evening Telegraph, Mr. +Robertson observes: "If our finite minds were more capable of +comprehension, what a glorious view of the grandeur of the Deity would +be displayed to us in the contemplation of the centre and source of +light and heat to the solar system. The force requisite to pour such +continuous floods to the remotest parts of the system must ever baffle +the mind of man to grasp. But we are not to sit down in indolence: our +duty is to inquire into Nature's works, though we can never exhaust the +field. Our minds cannot imagine motion without some Power moving +through the medium of some subordinate agency, ever acting on the sun, +to send such floods of light and heat to our otherwise cold and dark +terrestrial ball; but it is the overwhelming magnitude of such power +that we are incapable of comprehending. The agency necessary to throw +out the floods of flame seen during the few moments of a total eclipse +of the sun, and the power requisite to burst open a cavity in its +surface, such as could entirely engulph our earth, will ever set all +the thinking capacity of man at nought." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[4] The Observatory, Nos. 34, 42, 45, 49, and 58. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[5] We regret to say that Sheriff Barclay died a few months ago, +greatly respected by all who knew him. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[6] Sir E. Denison Beckett, in his Rudimentary Treatise on clocks and +Watches and Bells, has given an instance or the telescope-driving +clock, invented by Mr. Cooke (p. 213). +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[7] J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S.—Stargazing, Past and Present, p. 302. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[8] This excellent instrument is now in the possession of my +son-in-law, Dr. Hartree, of Leigh, near Tunbridge. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[9] An interesting account of Mr. Alvan Clark is given in Professor +Newcomb's 'Popular Astronomy,' p. 137. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[10] A photographic representation of this remarkable telescope is +given as the frontispiece to Mr. Lockyer's Stargazing, Past and +Present; and a full description of the instrument is given in the text +of the same work. This refracting telescope did not long remain the +largest. Mr. Alvan Clark was commissioned to erect a larger equatorial +for Washington Observatory; the object-glass (the rough disks of which +were also furnished by Messrs. Chance of Birmingham) exceeding in +aperture that of Mr. Cooke's by only one inch. This was finished and +mounted in November, 1873. Another instrument of similar size and +power was manufactured by Mr. Clark for the University of Virginia. +But these instruments did not long maintain their supremacy. In 1881, +Mr. Howard Grubb, of Dublin, manufactured a still larger instrument for +the Austrian Government—the object-glass being of twenty-seven inches +aperture. But Mr. Alvan Clark was not to be beaten. In 1882, he +supplied the Russian Government with the largest refracting telescope +in existence the object-glass being of thirty inches diameter. Even +this, however, is to be surpassed by the lens which Mr. Clark has in +hand for the Lick Observatory (California), which is to have a clear +aperture of three feet in diameter. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[11] Since the above passage was written and in type, I have seen (in +September 1884) the reflecting telescope referred to at pp. 357-8. It +was mounted on its cast-iron equatorial stand, and at work in the field +adjoining the village green at Bainbridge, Yorkshire. The mirror of +the telescope is 8 inches in diameter; its focal length, 5 feet; and +the tube in which it is mounted, about 6 feet long. The instrument +seemed to me to have an excellent defining power. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +But Mr. Lancaster, like every eager astronomer, is anxious for further +improvements. He considers the achromatic telescope the king of +instruments, and is now engaged in testing convex optical surfaces, +with a view to achieving a telescope of that description. The chief +difficulty is the heavy charge for the circular blocks of flint glass +requisite for the work which he meditates. "That," he says, "is the +great difficulty with amateurs of my class." He has, however, already +contrived and constructed a machine for grinding and polishing the +lenses in an accurate convex form, and it works quite satisfactorily. +Mr. Lancaster makes his own tools. From the raw material, whether of +glass or steel, he produces the work required. As to tools, all that +he requires is a bar of steel and fire; his fertile brain and busy +hands do the rest. I looked into the little workshop behind his +sitting-room, and found it full of ingenious adaptations. The turning +lathe occupies a considerable part of it; but when he requires more +space, the village smith with his stithy, and the miller with his +water-power, are always ready to help him. His tools, though not +showy, are effective. His best lenses are made by himself: those +which he buys are not to be depended upon. The best flint glass is +obtained from Paris in blocks, which he divides, grinds, and polishes +to perfect form. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +I was attracted by a newly made machine, placed on a table in the +sitting-room; and on inquiry found that its object was to grind and +polish lenses. Mr. Lancaster explained that the difficulty to be +overcome in a good machine, is to make the emery cut the surface +equally from centre to edge of the lens, so that the lens will neither +lengthen nor shorten the curve during its production. To quote his +words: "This really involves the problem of the 'three bodies,' or +disturbing forces so celebrated in dynamical mathematics, and it is +further complicated by another quantity, the 'coefficient of +attrition,' or work done by the grinding material, as well as the +mischief done by capillary attraction and nodal points of superimposed +curves in the path of the tool. These complications tend to cause +rings or waves of unequal wear in the surface of the glass, and ruin +the defining power of the lens, which depends upon the uniformity of +its curve. As the outcome of much practical experiment, combined with +mathematical research, I settled upon the ratio of speed between the +sheave of the lens-tool guide and the turn-table; between whose limits +the practical equalization of wear (or cut of the emery) might with the +greater facility be adjusted, by means of varying the stroke and +eccentricity of the tool. As the result of these considerations in the +construction of the machine, the surface of the glass 'comes up' +regularly all over the lens; and the polishing only takes a few +minutes' work—thus keeping the truth of surface gained by using a +rigid tool." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +The machine in question consists of a revolving sheave or ring, with a +sliding strip across its diameter; the said strip having a slot and +clamping screw at one end, and a hole towards the other, through which +passes the axis of the tool used in forming the lens,—the slot in the +strip allowing the tool to give any stroke from 0 to 1.25 inch. The +lens is carried on a revolving turn-table, with an arrangement to allow +the axis of the lens to coincide with the axis of the table. The ratio +of speed between the sheave and turn-table is arranged by belt and +properly sized pulleys, and the whole can be driven either by hand or +by power. The sheave merely serves as a guide to the tool in its path, +and the lens may either be worked on the turn-table or upon a chuck +attached to the tool rod. The work upon the lens is thus to a great +extent independent of the error of the machine through shaking, or bad +fitting, or wear; and the only part of the machine which requires +really first-class work is the axis of the turn-table, which (in this +machine) is a conical bearing at top, with steel centre below,—the +bearing turned, hardened, and then ground up true, and run in +anti-friction metal. Other details might be given, but these are +probably enough for present purposes. We hope, at some future time, +for a special detail of Mr. Lancaster's interesting investigations, +from his own mind and pen. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[12] The translations are made by W. Cadwalladr Davies, Esq. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[13] This evidence was given by Mr. W. Cadwalladr Davies on the 28th +October, 1880. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Men of Invention and Industry, by Samuel Smiles + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEN OF INVENTION AND INDUSTRY *** + +***** This file should be named 725-h.htm or 725-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/7/2/725/ + +Produced by Eric Hutton. HTML version by Al Haines. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Men of Invention and Industry + +Author: Samuel Smiles + +Posting Date: August 16, 2008 [EBook #725] +Release Date: November, 1996 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEN OF INVENTION AND INDUSTRY *** + + + + +Produced by Eric Hutton. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + +MEN OF INVENTION AND INDUSTRY + + +by + +Samuel Smiles + + + + +"Men there have been, ignorant of letters; without art, without +eloquence; who yet had the wisdom to devise and the courage to perform +that which they lacked language to explain. Such men have worked the +deliverance of nations and their own greatness. Their hearts are their +books; events are their tutors; great actions are their +eloquence."--MACAULAY. + + + + +Contents. + +Preface + +CHAPTER I Phineas Pett: + Beginnings of English Shipbuilding + +CHAPTER II Francis Pettit Smith: + Practical Introducer of the Screw Propeller + +CHAPTER III John Harrison: + Inventor of the Marine Chronometer + +CHAPTER IV John Lombe: + Introducer of the Silk Industry into England + +CHAPTER V William Murdock: + His Life and Inventions + +CHAPTER VI Frederick Koenig: + Inventor of the Steam-printing Machine + +CHAPTER VII The Walters of 'The Times': + Inventor of the Walter Press + +CHAPTER VIII William Clowes: + Book-printing by Steam + +CHAPTER IX Charles Bianconi: + A Lesson of Self-Help in Ireland + +CHAPTER X Industry in Ireland: + Through Connaught and Ulster to Belfast + +CHAPTER XI Shipbuilding in Belfast: + By Sir E. J. Harland, Engineer and Shipbuilder + +CHAPTER XII Astronomers and students in humble life: + A new Chapter in the 'Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties' + + + +PREFACE + +I offer this book as a continuation of the memoirs of men of invention +and industry published some years ago in the 'Lives of Engineers,' +'Industrial Biography,' and 'Self-Help.' + +The early chapters relate to the history of a very important branch of +British industry--that of Shipbuilding. A later chapter, kindly +prepared by Sir Edward J. Harland, of Belfast, relates to the origin +and progress of shipbuilding in Ireland. + +Many of the facts set forth in the Life and Inventions of William +Murdock have already been published in my 'Lives of Boulton and Watt;' +but these are now placed in a continuous narrative, and supplemented by +other information, more particularly the correspondence between Watt +and Murdock, communicated to me by the present representative of the +family, Mr. Murdock, C.E., of Gilwern, near Abergavenny. + +I have also endeavoured to give as accurate an account as possible of +the Invention of the Steam-printing Press, and its application to the +production of Newspapers and Books,--an invention certainly of great +importance to the spread of knowledge, science, and literature, +throughout the world. + +The chapter on the "Industry of Ireland" will speak for itself. It +occurred to me, on passing through Ireland last year, that much +remained to be said on that subject; and, looking to the increasing +means of the country, and the well-known industry of its people, it +seems reasonable to expect, that with peace, security, energy, and +diligent labour of head and hand, there is really a great future before +Ireland. + +The last chapter, on "Astronomers in Humble Life," consists for the +most part of a series of Autobiographies. It may seem, at first sight, +to have little to do with the leading object of the book; but it serves +to show what a number of active, earnest, and able men are +comparatively hidden throughout society, ready to turn their hands and +heads to the improvement of their own characters, if not to the +advancement of the general community of which they form a part. + +In conclusion, I say to the reader, as Quarles said in the preface to +his 'Emblems,' "I wish thee as much pleasure in the reading as I had in +the writing." In fact, the last three chapters were in some measure +the cause of the book being published in its present form. + +London, November, 1884. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +PHINEAS PETT: BEGINNINGS OF ENGLISH SHIP-BUILDING. + +"A speck in the Northern Ocean, with a rocky coast, an ungenial +climate, and a soil scarcely fruitful,--this was the material patrimony +which descended to the English race--an inheritance that would have +been little worth but for the inestimable moral gift that accompanied +it. Yes; from Celts, Saxons, Danes, Normans--from some or all of +them--have come down with English nationality a talisman that could +command sunshine, and plenty, and empire, and fame. The 'go' which +they transmitted to us--the national vis--this it is which made the old +Angle-land a glorious heritage. Of this we have had a portion above +our brethren--good measure, running over. Through this our +island-mother has stretched out her arms till they enriched the globe +of the earth....Britain, without her energy and enterprise, what would +she be in Europe?"--Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (1870). + +In one of the few records of Sir Isaac Newton's life which he left for +the benefit of others, the following comprehensive thought occurs: + +"It is certainly apparent that the inhabitants of this world are of a +short date, seeing that all arts, as letters, ships, printing, the +needle, &c., were discovered within the memory of history." + +If this were true in Newton's time, how much truer is it now. Most of +the inventions which are so greatly influencing, as well as advancing, +the civilization of the world at the present time, have been discovered +within the last hundred or hundred and fifty years. We do not say that +man has become so much wiser during that period; for, though he has +grown in Knowledge, the most fruitful of all things were said by "the +heirs of all the ages" thousands of years ago. + +But as regards Physical Science, the progress made during the last +hundred years has been very great. Its most recent triumphs have been +in connection with the discovery of electric power and electric light. +Perhaps the most important invention, however, was that of the working +steam engine, made by Watt only about a hundred years ago. The most +recent application of this form of energy has been in the propulsion of +ships, which has already produced so great an effect upon commerce, +navigation, and the spread of population over the world. + +Equally important has been the influence of the Railway--now the +principal means of communication in all civilized countries. This +invention has started into full life within our own time. The +locomotive engine had for some years been employed in the haulage of +coals; but it was not until the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester +Railway in 1830, that the importance of the invention came to be +acknowledged. The locomotive railway has since been everywhere adopted +throughout Europe. In America, Canada, and the Colonies, it has opened +up the boundless resources of the soil, bringing the country nearer to +the towns, and the towns to the country. It has enhanced the celerity +of time, and imparted a new series of conditions to every rank of life. + +The importance of steam navigation has been still more recently +ascertained. When it was first proposed, Sir Joseph Banks, President +of the Royal Society, said: "It is a pretty plan, but there is just +one point overlooked: that the steam-engine requires a firm basis on +which to work." Symington, the practical mechanic, put this theory to +the test by his successful experiments, first on Dalswinton Lake, and +then on the Forth and Clyde Canal. Fulton and Bell afterwards showed +the power of steamboats in navigating the rivers of America and Britain. + +After various experiments, it was proposed to unite England and America +by steam. Dr. Lardner, however, delivered a lecture before the Royal +Institution in 1838, "proving" that steamers could never cross the +Atlantic, because they could not carry sufficient coal to raise steam +enough during the voyage. But this theory was also tested by +experience in the same year, when the Sirius, of London, left Cork for +New York, and made the passage in nineteen days. Four days after the +departure of the Sirius, the Great Western left Bristol for New York, +and made the passage in thirteen days five hours.[1] The problem was +solved; and great ocean steamers have ever since passed in continuous +streams between the shores of England and America. + +In an age of progress, one invention merely paves the way for another. +The first steamers were impelled by means of paddle wheels; but these +are now almost entirely superseded by the screw. And this, too, is an +invention almost of yesterday. It was only in 1840 that the Archimedes +was fitted as a screw yacht. + +A few years later, in 1845, the Great Britain, propelled by the screw, +left Liverpool for New York, and made the voyage in fourteen days. The +screw is now invariably adopted in all long ocean voyages. + +It is curious to look back, and observe the small beginnings of +maritime navigation. As regards this country, though its institutions +are old, modern England is still young. As respects its mechanical and +scientific achievements, it is the youngest of all countries. Watt's +steam engine was the beginning of our manufacturing supremacy; and +since its adoption, inventions and discoveries in Art and Science, +within the last hundred years, have succeeded each other with +extraordinary rapidity. In 1814 there was only one steam vessel in +Scotland; while England possessed none at all. Now, the British +mercantile steam-ships number about 5000, with about 4 millions of +aggregate tonnage.[2] + +In olden times this country possessed the materials for great things, +as well as the men fitted to develope them into great results. But the +nation was slow to awake and take advantage of its opportunities. +There was no enterprise, no commerce--no "go" in the people. The roads +were frightfully bad; and there was little communication between one +part of the country and another. + +If anything important had to be done, we used to send for foreigners to +come and teach us how to do it. We sent for them to drain our fens, to +build our piers and harbours, and even to pump our water at London +Bridge. Though a seafaring population lived round our coasts, we did +not fish our own seas, but left it to the industrious Dutchmen to catch +the fish, and supply our markets. It was not until the year 1787 that +the Yarmouth people began the deep-sea herring fishery; and yet these +were the most enterprising amongst the English fishermen. + +English commerce also had very slender beginnings. At the commencement +of the fifteenth century, England was of very little account in the +affairs of Europe. Indeed, the history of modern England is nearly +coincident with the accession of the Tudors to the throne. With the +exception of Calais and Dunkirk, her dominions on the Continent had +been wrested from her by the French. The country at home had been made +desolate by the Wars of the Roses. The population was very small, and +had been kept down by war, pestilence, and famine.[3] The chief staple +was wool, which was exported to Flanders in foreign ships, there to be +manufactured into cloth. Nearly every article of importance was +brought from abroad; and the little commerce which existed was in the +hands of foreigners. The seas were swept by privateers, little better +than pirates, who plundered without scruple every vessel, whether +friend or foe, which fell in their way. + +The British navy has risen from very low beginnings. The English fleet +had fallen from its high estate since the reign of Edward III., who won +a battle from the French and Flemings in 1340, with 260 ships; but his +vessels were all of moderate size, being boats, yachts, and caravels, +of very small tonnage. According to the contemporary chronicles, +Weymouth, Fowey, Sandwich, and Bristol, were then of nearly almost as +much importance as London;[4] which latter city only furnished +twenty-five vessels, with 662 mariners. + +The Royal Fleet began in the reign of Henry VII. Only six or seven +vessels then belonged to the King, the largest being the Grace de Dieu, +of comparatively small tonnage. The custom then was, to hire ships +from the Venetians, the Genoese, the Hanse towns, and other trading +people; and as soon as the service for which the vessels so hired was +performed, they were dismissed. + +When Henry VIII. ascended the throne in 1509, he directed his attention +to the state of the navy. Although the insular position of England was +calculated to stimulate the art of shipbuilding more than in most +continental countries, our best ships long continued to be built by +foreigners. Henry invited from abroad, especially from Italy, where +the art of shipbuilding had made the greatest progress, as many skilful +artists and workmen as he could procure, either by the hope of gain, or +the high honours and distinguished countenance which he paid them. "By +incorporating," says Charnock, "these useful persons among his own +subjects, he soon formed a corps sufficient to rival those states which +had rendered themselves most distinguished by their knowledge in this +art; so that the fame of Genoa and Venice, which had long excited the +envy of the greater part of Europe, became suddenly transferred to the +shores of Britain."[5] + +In fitting out his fleet, we find Henry disbursing large sums to +foreigners for shipbuilding, for "harness" or armour, and for munitions +of all sorts. The State Papers[6] particularize the amounts paid to +Lewez de la Fava for "harness;" to William Gurre, "bregandy-maker;" and +to Leonard Friscobald for "almayn ryvetts." + +Francis de Errona, a Spaniard, supplied the gunpowder. Among the +foreign mechanics and artizans employed were Hans Popenruyter, +gunfounder of Mechlin; Robert Sakfeld, Robert Skorer, Fortuno de +Catalenago, and John Cavelcant. On one occasion 2,797L. 19s. 4 1/2d. +was disbursed for guns and grindstones. This sum must be multiplied by +about four, to give the proper present value. Popenruyter seems to have +been the great gunfounder of the age; he supplied the principal guns +and gun stores for the English navy, and his name occurs in every +Ordnance account of the series, generally for sums of the largest +amounts. + +Henry VIII. was the first to establish Royal dockyards, first at +Woolwich, then at Portsmouth, and thirdly at Deptford, for the erection +and repair of ships. Before then, England had been principally +dependent upon Dutchmen and Venetians, both for ships of war and +merchantmen. The sovereign had neither naval arsenals nor dockyards, +nor any regular establishment of civil or naval affairs to provide +ships of war. Sir Edward Howard, Lord High Admiral of England, at the +accession of Henry VIII., actually entered into a "contract" with that +monarch to fight his enemies. + +This singular document is still preserved in the State Paper office. +Even after the establishment of royal dockyards, the sovereign--as late +as the reign of Elizabeth--entered into formal contracts with +shipwrights for the repair and maintenance of ships, as well as for +additions to the fleet. + +The King, having made his first effort at establishing a royal navy, +sent the fleet to sea against the ships of France. The Regent was the +ship royal, with Sir Thomas Knivet, Master of the Horse, and Sir John +Crew of Devonshire, as Captains. The fleet amounted to twenty-five +well furnished ships. The French fleet were thirty-nine in number. +They met in Brittany Bay, and had a fierce fight. The Regent grappled +with a great carack of Brest; the French, on the English boarding their +ship, set fire to the gunpowder, and both ships were blown up, with all +their men. The French fleet fled, and the English kept the seas. The +King, hearing of the loss of the Regent, caused a great ship to be +built, the like of which had never before been seen in England, and +called it Harry Grace de Dieu. + +This ship was constructed by foreign artizans, principally by Italians, +and was launched in 1515. She was said to be of a thousand tons +portage--the largest ship in England. The vessel was four-masted, with +two round tops on each mast, except the shortest mizen. She had a high +forecastle and poop, from which the crew could shoot down upon the deck +or waist of another vessel. The object was to have a sort of castle at +each end of the ship. This style of shipbuilding was doubtless +borrowed from the Venetians, then the greatest naval power in Europe. +The length of the masts, the height of the ship above the water's edge, +and the ornaments and decorations, were better adapted for the +stillness of the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas, than for the +boisterous ocean of the northern parts of Europe.[7] The story long +prevailed that "the Great Harry swept a dozen flocks of sheep off the +Isle of Man with her bob-stay." An American gentleman (N.B. Anderson, +LL.D., Boston) informed the present author that this saying is still +proverbial amongst the United States sailors. + +The same features were reproduced in merchant ships. Most of them were +suited for defence, to prevent the attacks of pirates, which swarmed +the seas round the coast at that time. Shipbuilding by the natives in +private shipyards was in a miserable condition. Mr. Willet, in his +memoir relative to the navy, observes: "It is said, and I believe with +truth, that at this time (the middle of the sixteenth century) there +was not a private builder between London Bridge and Gravesend, who +could lay down a ship in the mould left from a Navy Board's draught, +without applying to a tinker who lived in Knave's Acre."[8] + +Another ship of some note built at the instance of Henry VIII. was the +Mary Rose, of the portage of 500 tons. We find her in the "pond at +Deptford" in 1515. Seven years later, in the thirtieth year of Henry +VIII.'s reign, she was sent to sea, with five other English ships of +war, to protect such commerce as then existed from the depredations of +the French and Scotch pirates. The Mary Rose was sent many years later +(in 1544) with the English fleet to the coast of France, but returned +with the rest of the fleet to Portsmouth without entering into any +engagement. While laid at anchor, not far from the place where the +Royal George afterwards went down, and the ship was under repair, her +gun-ports being very low when she was laid over, "the shipp turned, the +water entered, and sodainly she sanke." + +What was to be done? There were no English engineers or workmen who +could raise the ship. Accordingly, Henry VIII. sent to Venice for +assistance, and when the men arrived, Pietro de Andreas was dispatched +with the Venetian marines and carpenters to raise the Mary Rose. Sixty +English mariners were appointed to attend upon them. The Venetians +were then the skilled "heads," the English were only the "hands." +Nevertheless they failed with all their efforts; and it was not until +the year 1836 that Mr. Dean, the engineer, succeeded in raising not +only the Royal George, but the Mary Rose, and cleared the roadstead at +Portsmouth of the remains of the sunken ships. + +When Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1558, the commerce and navigation +of England were still of very small amount. The population of the +kingdom amounted to only about five millions--not much more than the +population of London is now. The country had little commerce, and what +it had was still mostly in the hands of foreigners. The Hanse towns +had their large entrepot for merchandise in Cannon Street, on the site +of the present Cannon Street Station. The wool was still sent abroad +to Flanders to be fashioned into cloth, and even garden produce was +principally imported from Holland. Dutch, Germans, Flemings, French, +and Venetians continued to be our principal workmen. Our iron was +mostly obtained from Spain and Germany. The best arms and armour came +from France and Italy. Linen was imported from Flanders and Holland, +though the best came from Rheims. Even the coarsest dowlas, or +sailcloth, was imported from the Low Countries. + +The royal ships continued to be of very small burthen, and the +mercantile ships were still smaller. The Queen, however, did what she +could to improve the number and burthen of our ships. "Foreigners," +says Camden, "stiled her the restorer of naval glory and Queen of the +Northern Seas." In imitation of the Queen, opulent subjects built +ships of force; and in course of time England no longer depended upon +Hamburg, Dantzic, Genoa, and Venice, for her fleet in time of war. + +Spain was then the most potent power in Europe, and the Netherlands, +which formed part of the dominions of Spain, was the centre of +commercial prosperity. Holland possessed above 800 good ships, of from +200 to 700 tons burthen, and above 600 busses for fishing, of from 100 +to 200 tons. Amsterdam and Antwerp were in the heyday of their +prosperity. Sometimes 500 great ships were to be seen lying together +before Amsterdam;[9] whereas England at that time had not four merchant +ships of 400 tons each! Antwerp, however, was the most important city +in the Low Countries. It was no uncommon thing to see as many as 2500 +ships in the Scheldt, laden with merchandize. Sometimes 500 ships +would come and go from Antwerp in one day, bound to or returning from +the distant parts of the world. The place was immensely rich, and was +frequented by Spaniards, Germans, Danes, English, Italians, and +Portuguese the Spaniards being the most numerous. Camden, in his +history of Queen Elizabeth, relates that our general trade with the +Netherlands in 1564 amounted to twelve millions of ducats, five +millions of which was for English cloth alone. + +The religious persecutions of Philip II. of Spain and of Charles IX. of +France shortly supplied England with the population of which she stood +in need--active, industrious, intelligent artizans. Philip set up the +Inquisition in Flanders, and in a few years more than 50,000 persons +were deliberately murdered. The Duchess of Parma, writing to Philip II. +in 1567, informed him that in a few days above 100,000 men had already +left the country with their money and goods, and that more were +following every day. They fled to Germany, to Holland, and above all +to England, which they hailed as Asylum Christi. The emigrants settled +in the decayed cities and towns of Canterbury, Norwich, Sandwich, +Colchester, Maidstone, Southampton, and many other places, where they +carried on their manufactures of woollen, linen, and silk, and +established many new branches of industry.[10] + +Five years later, in 1572, the massacre of St. Bartholomew took place +in France, during which the Roman Catholic Bishop Perefixe alleges that +100,000 persons were put to death because of their religions opinions. +All this persecution, carried on so near the English shores, rapidly +increased the number of foreign fugitives into England, which was +followed by the rapid advancement of the industrial arts in this +country. + +The asylum which Queen Elizabeth gave to the persecuted foreigners +brought down upon her the hatred of Philip II. and Charles IX. When +they found that they could not prevent her furnishing them with an +asylum, they proceeded to compass her death. She was excommunicated by +the Pope, and Vitelli was hired to assassinate her. Philip also +proceeded to prepare the Sacred Armada for the subjugation of the +English nation, and he was master of the most powerful army and navy in +the world. + +Modern England was then in the throes of her birth. She had not yet +reached the vigour of her youth, though she was full of life and +energy. She was about to become the England of free thought, commerce, +and manufactures; to plough the ocean with her navies, and to plant her +colonies over the earth. Up to the accession of Elizabeth, she had +done little, but now she was about to do much. + +It was a period of sudden emancipation of thought, and of immense +fertility and originality. The poets and prose writers of the time +united the freshness of youth with the vigour of manhood. Among these +were Spenser, Shakespeare, Sir Philip Sidney, the Fletchers, Marlowe, +and Ben Jonson. Among the statesmen of Elizabeth were Burleigh, +Leicester, Walsingham, Howard, and Sir Nicholas Bacon. But perhaps +greatest of all were the sailors, who, as Clarendon said, "were a +nation by themselves;" and their leaders--Drake, Frobisher, Cavendish, +Hawkins, Howard, Raleigh, Davis, and many more distinguished seamen. + +They were the representative men of their time, the creation in a great +measure of the national spirit. They were the offspring of long +generations of seamen and lovers of the sea. They could not have been +great but for the nation which gave them birth, and imbued them with +their worth and spirit. The great sailors, for instance, could not +have originated in a nation of mere landsmen. + +They simply took the lead in a country whose coasts were fringed with +sailors. Their greatness was but the result of an excellence in +seamanship which prevailed widely around them. + +The age of English maritime adventure only began in the reign of +Elizabeth. England had then no colonies--no foreign possessions +whatever. The first of her extensive colonial possessions was +established in this reign. "Ships, colonies, and commerce" began to be +the national motto--not that colonies make ships and commerce, but that +ships and commerce make colonies. Yet what cockle-shells of ships our +pioneer navigators first sailed in! + +Although John Cabot or Gabota, of Bristol, originally a citizen of +Venice, had discovered the continent of North America in 1496, in the +reign of Henry VII., he made no settlement there, but returned to +Bristol with his four small ships. Columbus did not see the continent +of America until two years later, in 1498, his first discoveries being +the islands of the West Indies. + +It was not until the year 1553 that an attempt was made to discover a +North-west passage to Cathaya or China. Sir Hugh Willonghby was put in +command of the expedition, which consisted of three ships,--the Bona +Esperanza, the Bona Ventura (Captain Chancellor), and the Bona +Confidentia (Captain Durforth),--most probably ships built by +Venetians. Sir Hugh reached 72 degrees of north latitude, and was +compelled by the buffeting of the winds to take refuge with Captain +Durforth's vessel at Arcina Keca, in Russian Lapland, where the two +captains and the crews of these ships, seventy in number, were frozen +to death. In the following year some Russian fishermen found Sir John +Willonghby sitting dead in his cabin, with his diary and other papers +beside him. + +Captain Chancellor was more fortunate. He reached Archangel in the +White Sea, where no ship had ever been seen before. He pointed out to +the English the way to the whale fishery at Spitzbergen, and opened up +a trade with the northern parts of Russia. Two years later, in 1556, +Stephen Burroughs sailed with one small ship, which entered the Kara +Sea; but he was compelled by frost and ice to return to England. The +strait which he entered is still called "Burrough's Strait." + +It was not, however, until the reign of Elizabeth that great maritime +adventures began to be made. Navigators were not so venturous as they +afterwards became. Without proper methods of navigation, they were apt +to be carried away to the south, across an ocean without limit. In +1565 a young captain, Martin Frobisher, came into notice. At the age +of twenty-five he captured in the South Seas the Flying Spirit, a +Spanish ship laden with a rich cargo of cochineal. Four years later, +in 1569, he made his first attempt to discover the north-west passage +to the Indies, being assisted by Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick. The +ships of Frobisher were three in number, the Gabriel, of from 15 to 20 +tons; the Michael, of from 20 to 25 tons, or half the size of a modern +fishing-boat; and a pinnace, of from 7 to 10 tons! The aggregate of +the crews of the three ships was only thirty-five, men and boys. Think +of the daring of these early navigators in attempting to pass by the +North Pole to Cathay through snow, and storm, and ice, in such +miserable little cockboats! The pinnace was lost; the Michael, under +Owen Griffith, a Welsh-man, deserted; and Martin Frobisher in the +Gabriel went alone into the north-western sea! + +He entered the great bay, since called Hudson's Bay, by Frobisher's +Strait. He returned to England without making the discovery of the +Passage, which long remained the problem of arctic voyagers. Yet ten +years later, in 1577, he made another voyage, and though he made his +second attempt with one of Queen Elizabeth's own ships, and two barks, +with 140 persons in all, he was as unsuccessful as before. He brought +home some supposed gold ore; and on the strength of the stones +containing gold, a third expedition went out in the following year. +After losing one of the ships, consuming the provisions, and suffering +greatly from ice and storms, the fleet returned home one by one. The +supposed gold ore proved to be only glittering sand. + +While Frobisher was seeking El-Dorado in the North, Francis Drake was +finding it in the South. He was a sailor, every inch of him. + +"Pains, with patience in his youth," says Fuller, "knit the joints of +his soul, and made them more solid and compact." At an early age, when +carrying on a coasting trade, his imagination was inflamed by the +exploits of his protector Hawkins in the New World, and he joined him +in his last unfortunate adventure on the Spanish Main. He was not, +however, discouraged by his first misfortune, but having assembled +about him a number of seamen who believed in him, he made other +adventures to the West Indies, and learnt the navigation of that part +of the ocean. In 1570, he obtained a regular commission from Queen +Elizabeth, though he sailed his own ships, and made his own ventures. +Every Englishman, who had the means, was at liberty to fit out his own +ships; and with tolerable vouchers, he was able to procure a commission +from the Court, and proceed to sea at his own risk and cost. Thus, the +naval enterprise and pioneering of new countries under Elizabeth, was +almost altogether a matter of private enterprise and adventure. + +In 1572, the butchery of the Hugnenots took place at Paris and +throughout France; while at the same time the murderous power of Philip +II. reigned supreme in the Netherlands. The sailors knew what they had +to expect from the Spanish king in the event of his obtaining his +threatened revenge upon England; and under their chosen chiefs they +proceeded to make war upon him. In the year of the massacre of St. +Bartholomew, Drake set sail for the Spanish Main in the Pasha, of +seventy tons, accompanied by the Swan, of twenty-five tons; the united +crews of the vessels amounting to seventy-three men and boys. With +this insignificant force, Drake made great havoc amongst the Spanish +shipping at Nombre de Dios. He partially crossed the Isthmus of +Darien, and obtained his first sight of the great Pacific Ocean. He +returned to England in August 1573, with his frail barks crammed with +treasure. + +A few years later, in 1577, he made his ever-memorable expedition. +Charnock says it was "an attempt in its nature so bold and +unprecedented, that we should scarcely know whether to applaud it as a +brave, or condemn it as a rash one, but for its success." The squadron +with which he sailed for South America consisted of five vessels, the +largest of which, the Pelican, was only of 100 tons burthen; the next, +the Elizabeth, was of 80; the third, the Swan, a fly-boat, was of 50; +the Marygold bark, of 30; and the Christopher, a pinnace, of 15 tons. +The united crews of these vessels amounted to only 164, gentlemen and +sailors. + +The gentlemen went with Drake "to learn the art of navigation." After +various adventures along the South American coast, the little fleet +passed through the Straits of Magellan, and entered the Pacific Ocean. +Drake took an immense amount of booty from the Spanish towns along the +coast, and captured the royal galleon, the Cacafuego, laden with +treasure. After trying in vain to discover a passage home by the +North-eastern ocean, though what is now known as Behring Straits, he +took shelter in Port San Francisco, which he took possession of in the +name of the Queen of England, and called New Albion. He eventually +crossed the Pacific for the Moluccas and Java, from which he sailed +right across the Indian Ocean, and by the Cape of Good Hope to England, +thus making the circumnavigation of the world. He was absent with his +little fleet for about two years and ten months. + +Not less extraordinary was the voyage of Captain Cavendish, who made +the circumnavigation of the globe at his own expense. He set out from +Plymouth in three small vessels on the 21st July, 1586. One vessel was +of 120 tons, the second of 60 tons, and the third of 40 tons--not much +bigger than a Thames yacht. The united crews, of officers, men, and +boys, did not exceed 123! Cavendish sailed along the South American +continent, and made through the Straits of Magellan, reaching the +Pacific Ocean. He burnt and plundered the Spanish settlements along +the coast, captured some Spanish ships, and took by boarding the +galleon St. Anna, with 122,000 Spanish dollars on board. He then +sailed across the Pacific to the Ladrone Islands, and returned home +through the Straits of Java and the Indian Archipelago by the Cape of +Good Hope, and reached England after an absence of two years and a +month. + +The sacred and invincible Armada was now ready, Philip II. was +determined to put down those English adventurers who had swept the +coasts of Spain and plundered his galleons on the high seas. The +English sailors knew that the sword of Philip was forged in the gold +mines of South America, and that the only way to defend their country +was to intercept the plunder on its voyage home to Spain. But the +sailors and their captains--Drake, Hawkins, Frobisher, Howard, +Grenville, Raleigh, and the rest--could not altogether interrupt the +enterprise of the King of Spain. The Armada sailed, and came in sight +of the English coast on the 20th of July, 1588. + +The struggle was of an extraordinary character. On the one side was +the most powerful naval armament that had ever put to sea. It consisted +of six squadrons of sixty fine large ships, the smallest being of 700 +tons. Besides these were four gigantic galleasses, each carrying fifty +guns, four large armed galleys, fifty-six armed merchant ships, and +twenty caravels--in all, 149 vessels. On board were 8000 sailors, +20,000 soldiers, and a large number of galley-slaves. The ships +carried provisions enough for six months' consumption; and the supply +of ammunition was enormous. + +On the other side was the small English fleet under Hawkins and Drake. +The Royal ships were only thirteen in number. The rest were +contributed by private enterprize, there being only thirty-eight +vessels of all sorts and sizes, including cutters and pinnaces, +carrying the Queen's flag. The principal armed merchant ships were +provided by London, Southampton, Bristol, and the other southern ports. +Drake was followed by some privateers; Hawkins had four or five ships, +and Howard of Effingham two. The fleet was, however, very badly found +in provisions and ammunition. There was only a week's provisions on +board, and scarcely enough ammunition for one day's hard fighting. But +the ships, small though they were, were in good condition. They could +sail, whether in pursuit or in flight, for the men who navigated them +were thorough sailors. + +The success of the defence was due to tact, courage, and seamanship. +At the first contact of the fleets, the Spanish towering galleons +wished to close, to grapple with their contemptuous enemies, and crush +them to death. "Come on!" said Medina Sidonia. Lord Howard came on +with the Ark and three other ships, and fired with immense rapidity +into the great floating castles. The Sam Mateo luffed, and wanted them +to board. "No! not yet!" The English tacked, returned, fired again, +riddled the Spaniards, and shot away in the eye of the wind. To the +astonishment of the Spanish Admiral, the English ships approached him +or left him just as they chose. "The enemy pursue me," wrote the +Spanish Admiral to the Prince of Parma; "they fire upon me most days +from morning till nightfall, but they will not close and grapple, +though I have given them every opportunity." The Capitana, a galleon +of 1200 tons, dropped behind, struck her flag to Drake, and increased +the store of the English fleet by some tons of gunpowder. Another +Spanish ship surrendered, and another store of powder and shot was +rescued for the destruction of the Armada. And so it happened +throughout, until the Spanish fleet was driven to wreck and ruin, and +the remaining ships were scattered by the tempests of the north. After +all, Philip proved to be, what the sailors called him, only "a Colossus +stuffed with clouts." + +The English sailors followed up their advantage. They went on +"singeing the Ring of Spain's beard." Private adventurers fitted up a +fleet under the command of Drake, and invaded the mainland of Spain. +They took the lower part of the town of Corunna; sailed to the Tagus, +and captured a fleet of ships laden with wheat and warlike stores for a +new Armada. They next sacked Vigo, and returned to England with 150 +pieces of cannon and a rich booty. The Earl of Cumberland sailed to +the West Indies on a private adventure, and captured more Spanish +prizes. In 1590, ten English merchantmen, returning from the Levant, +attacked twelve Spanish galleons, and after six hours' contest, put +them to flight with great loss. In the following year, three merchant +ships set sail for the East Indies, and in the course of their voyage +took several Portuguese vessels. + +A powerful Spanish fleet still kept the seas, and in 1591 they +conquered the noble Sir Richard Grenville at the Azores--fifteen great +Spanish galleons against one Queen's ship, the Revenge. In 1593, two +of the Queen's ships, accompanied by a number of merchant ships, sailed +for the West Indies, under Burroughs, Frobisher, and Cross, and amongst +their other captures they took the greatest of all the East India +caracks, a vessel of 1600 tons, 700 men, and 36 brass cannon, laden +with a magnificent cargo. She was taken to Dartmouth, and surprised +all who saw her, being the largest ship that had ever been seen in +England. In 1594, Captain James Lancaster set sail with three ships +upon a voyage of adventure. He was joined by some Dutch and French +privateers. The result was, that they captured thirty-nine of the +Spanish ships. Sir Amias Preston, Sir John Hawkins, and Sir Francis +Drake, also continued their action upon the seas. Lord Admiral Howard +and the Earl of Essex made their famous attack upon Cadiz for the +purpose of destroying the new Armada; they demolished all the forts; +sank eleven of the King of Spain's best ships, forty-four merchant +ships, and brought home much booty. + +Nor was maritime discovery neglected. The planting of new colonies +began, for the English people had already begun to swarm. In 1578, Sir +Humphrey Gilbert planted Newfoundland for the Queen. In 1584, Sir +Waiter Raleigh planted the first settlement in Virginia. Nor was the +North-west passage neglected; for in 1580, Captain Pett (a name famous +on the Thames) set sail from Harwich in the George, accompanied by +Captain Jackman in the William. They reached the ice in the North Sea, +but were compelled to return without effecting their purpose! Will it +be believed that the George was only of 40 tons, and that its crew +consisted of nine men and a boy; and that the William was of 20 tons, +with five men and a boy? The wonder is that these little vessels could +resist the terrible icefields, and return to England again with their +hardy crews. + +Then in 1585, another of our adventurous sailors, John Davis, of +Sandridge on the Dart, set sail with two barks, the Sunshine and the +Moonshine, of 50 and 35 tons respectively, and discovered in the far +North-west the Strait which now bears his name. He was driven back by +the ice; but, undeterred by his failure, he set out on a second, and +then on a third voyage of discovery in the two following years. But he +never succeeded in discovering the North-west passage. It all reads +like a mystery--these repeated, determined, and energetic attempts to +discover a new way of reaching the fabled region of Cathay. + +In these early times the Dutch were not unworthy rivals of the English. +After they had succeeded in throwing off the Spanish yoke and achieved +their independence, they became one of the most formidable of maritime +powers. In the course of another century Holland possessed more +colonies, and had a larger share of the carrying trade of the world +than Britain. It was natural therefore that the Dutch republic should +take an interest in the North-west passage; and the Dutch sailors, by +their enterprise and bravery, were among the first to point the way to +Arctic discovery. Barents and Behring, above all others, proved the +courage and determination of their heroic ancestors. + +The romance of the East India Company begins with an advertisement in +the London Gazette of 1599, towards the end of the reign of Queen +Elizabeth. As with all other enterprises of the nation, it was +established by private means. The Company was started with a capital +of 72,000L. in 50L. shares. The adventurers bought four vessels of an +average burthen of 350 tons. These were stocked with provisions, +"Norwich stuffs," and other merchandise. The tiny fleet sailed from +Billingsgate on the 13th February, 1601. It went by the Cape of Good +Hope to the East Indies, under the command of Captain James Lancaster. +It took no less than sixteen months to reach the Indian Archipelago. + +The little fleet reached Acheen in June, 1602. The king of the +territory received the visitors with courtesy, and exchanged spices +with them freely. The four vessels sailed homeward, taking possession +of the island of St. Helena on their way back; having been absent +exactly thirty-one months. The profits of the first voyage proved to +be about one hundred per cent. Such was the origin of the great East +India Company--now expanded into an empire, and containing about two +hundred millions of people. + +To return to the shipping and the mercantile marine of the time of +Queen Elizabeth. The number of Royal ships was only thirteen, the rest +of the navy consisting of merchant ships, which were hired and +discharged when their purpose was served.[11] According to Wheeler, at +the accession of the Queen, there were not more than four ships +belonging to the river Thames, excepting those of the Royal Navy, which +were over 120 tons in burthen;[12] and after forty years, the whole of +the merchant ships of England, over 100 tons, amounted to 135; only a +few of these being of 500 tons. In 1588, the number had increased to +150, "of about 150 tons one with another, employed in trading voyages +to all parts and countries." The principal shipping which frequented +the English ports still continued to be foreign--Italian, Flemish, and +German. + +Liverpool, now possessing the largest shipping tonnage in the world, +had not yet come into existence. It was little better than a fishing +village. The people of the place presented a petition to the Queen, +praying her to remit a subsidy which had been imposed upon them, and +speaking of their native place as "Her Majesty's poor decayed town of +Liverpool." In 1565, seven years after Queen Elizabeth began to reign, +the number of vessels belonging to Liverpool was only twelve. The +largest was of forty tons burthen, with twelve men; and the smallest +was a boat of six tons, with three men.[13] + +James I., on his accession to the throne of England in 1603, called in +all the ships of war, as well as the numerous privateers which had been +employed during the previous reign in waging war against the commerce +of Spain, and declared himself to be at peace with all the world. +James was as peaceful as a Quaker. He was not a fighting King;--and, +partly on this account, he was not popular. He encouraged manufactures +in wool, silk, and tapestry. He gave every encouragement to the +mercantile and colonizing adventurers to plant and improve the rising +settlements of Virginia, New England, and Newfoundland. He also +promoted the trade to the East Indies. Attempts continued to be made, +by Hudson, Poole, Button, Hall, Baffin, and other courageous seamen, to +discover the North-West passage, but always without effect. + +The shores of England being still much infested by Algerine and other +pirates,[14] King James found it necessary to maintain the ships of war +in order to protect navigation and commerce. He nearly doubled the +ships of the Royal Navy, and increased the number from thirteen to +twenty-four. Their size, however, continued small, both Royal and +merchant ships. Sir William Monson says, that at the accession of +James I. there were not above four merchant ships in England of 400 +tons burthen.[15] The East Indian merchants were the first to increase +the size. In 1609, encouraged by their Charter, they built the Trade's +Increase, of 1100 tons burthen, the largest merchant ship that had ever +been built in England. As it was necessary that, the crew of the ship +should be able to beat off the pirates, she was fully armed. The +additional ships of war were also of heavier burthen. In the same +year, the Prince, of 1400 tons burthen, was launched; she carried +sixty-four cannon, and was superior to any ship of the kind hitherto +seen in England. + +And now we arrive at the subject of this memoir. The Petts were the +principal ship-builders of the time. They had long been known upon the +Thames, and had held posts in the Royal Dockyards since the reign of +Henry VII. They were gallant sailors, too; one of them, as already +mentioned, having made an adventurous voyage to the Arctic Ocean in his +little bark, the George, of only 40 tons burthen. Phineas Pett was the +first of the great ship-builders. His father, Peter Pett, was one of +the Queen's master shipwrights. Besides being a ship-builder, he was +also a poet, being the author of a poetical piece entitled, "Time's +Journey to seek his daughter Truth,"[16] a very respectable +performance. Indeed, poetry is by no means incompatible with +ship-building--the late Chief Constructor of the Navy being, perhaps, +as proud of his poetry as of his ships. Pett's poem was dedicated to +the Lord High Admiral, Howard, Earl of Nottingham; and this may +possibly have been the reason of the singular interest which he +afterwards took in Phineas Pett, the poet shipwright's son. + +Phineas Pett was the second son of his father. He was born at +Deptford, or "Deptford Strond," as the place used to be called, on the +1st of November, 1570. At nine years old, he was sent to the +free-school at Rochester, and remained there for four years. Not +profiting much by his education there, his father removed him to a +private school at Greenwich, kept by a Mr. Adams. Here he made so much +progress, that in three years time he was ready for Cambridge. He was +accordingly sent to that University at Shrovetide, 1586, and was +entered at Emmanuel College, under charge of Mr. Charles Chadwick, the +president. His father allowed him 20L. per annum, besides books, +apparel, and other necessaries. + +Phineas remained at Cambridge for three years. He was obliged to quit +the University by the death of his "reverend, ever-loving father," +whose loss, he says, "proved afterwards my utter undoing almost, had +not God been more merciful to me." His mother married again, "a most +wicked husband," says Pett in his autobiography,[17] "one, Mr. Thomas +Nunn, a minister," but of what denomination he does not state. His +mother's imprudence wholly deprived him of his maintenance, and having +no hopes of preferment from his friends, he necessarily abandoned his +University career, "presently after Christmas, 1590." + +Early in the following year, he was persuaded by his mother to +apprentice himself to Mr. Richard Chapman, of Deptford Strond, one of +the Queen's Master shipwrights, whom his late father had "bred up from +a child to that profession." He was allowed 2L. 6s. 8d. per annum, +with which he had to provide himself with tools and apparel. Pett +spent two years in this man's service to very little purpose; Chapman +then died, and the apprentice was dismissed. Pett applied to his elder +brother Joseph, who would not help him, although he had succeeded to +his father's post in the Royal Dockyard. He was accordingly +"constrained to ship himself to sea upon a desperate voyage in a +man-of-war." He accepted the humble place of carpenter's mate on board +the galleon Constance, of London. Pett's younger brother, Peter, then +living at Wapping, gave him lodging, meat, and drink, until the ship +was ready to sail. But he had no money to buy clothes. Fortunately one +William King, a yoeman in Essex, taking pity upon the unfortunate young +man, lent him 3L. for that purpose; which Pett afterwards repaid. + +The Constance was of only 200 tons burden. She set sail for the South +a few days before Christmas, 1592. There is no doubt that she was +bound upon a piratical adventure. Piracy was not thought dishonourable +in those days. Four years had elapsed since the Armada had approached +the English coast; and now the English and Dutch ships were scouring +the seas in search of Spanish galleons. + +Whoever had the means of furnishing a ship, and could find a plucky +captain to command her, sent her out as a privateer. Even the +Companies of the City of London clubbed their means together for the +purpose of sending out Sir Waiter Raleigh to capture Spanish ships, and +afterwards to divide the plunder; as any one may see on referring to +the documents of the London Corporation.[18] + +The adventure in which Pett was concerned did not prove very fortunate. +He was absent for about twenty months on the coasts of Spain and +Barbary, and in the Levant, enduring much misery for want of victuals +and apparel, and "without taking any purchase of any value." The +Constance returned to the Irish coast, "extreme poorly." The vessel +entered Cork harbour, and then Pett, thoroughly disgusted with +privateering life, took leave of both ship and voyage. With much +difficulty, he made his way across the country to Waterford, from +whence he took ship for London. He arrived there three days before +Christmas, 1594, in a beggarly condition, and made his way to his +brother Peter's house at Wapping, who again kindly entertained him. +The elder brother Joseph received him more coldly, though he lent him +forty shillings to find himself in clothes. At that time, the fleet +was ordered to be got ready for the last expedition of Drake and +Hawkins to the West Indies. The Defiance was sent into Woolwich dock +to be sheathed; and as Joseph Pett was in charge of the job, he allowed +his brother to be employed as a carpenter. + +In the following year, Phineas succeeded in attracting the notice of +Matthew Baker, who was commissioned to rebuild Her Majesty's Triumph. +Baker employed Pett as an ordinary workman; but he had scarcely begun +the job before Baker was ordered to proceed with the building of a +great new ship at Deptford, called the Repulse. + +Phineas wished to follow the progress of the Triumph, but finding his +brother Joseph unwilling to retain him in his employment, he followed +Baker to Deptford, and continued to work at the Repulse until she was +finished, launched, and set sail on her voyage, at the end of April, +1596. This was the leading ship of the squadron which set sail for +Cadiz, under the command of the Earl of Essex and the Lord Admiral +Howard, and which did so much damage to the forts and shipping of +Philip II. of Spain. + +During the winter months, while the work was in progress, Pett spent +the leisure of his evenings in perfecting himself in learning, +especially in drawing, cyphering, and mathematics, for the purpose, as +he says, of attaining the knowledge of his profession. His master, Mr. +Baker, gave him every encouragement, and from his assistance, he adds, +"I must acknowledge I received my greatest lights." The Lord Admiral +was often present at Baker's house. Pett was importuned to set sail +with the ship when finished, but he preferred remaining at home. The +principal reason, no doubt, that restrained him at this moment from +seeking the patronage of the great, was the care of his two +sisters,[19] who, having fled from the house of their barbarous +stepfather, could find no refuge but in that of their brother Phineas. +Joseph refused to receive them, and Peter of Wapping was perhaps less +able than willing to do so. + +In April, 1597, Pett had the advantage of being introduced to Howard, +Earl of Nottingham, then Lord High Admiral of England. This, he says, +was the first beginning of his rising. Two years later, Howard +recommended him for employment in purveying plank and timber in Norfolk +and Suffolk for shipbuilding purposes. Pett accomplished his business +satisfactorily, though he had some malicious enemies to contend +against. In his leisure, he began to prepare models of ships, which he +rigged and finished complete. He also proceeded with the study of +mathematics. The beginning of the year 1600 found Pett once more out +of employment; and during his enforced idleness, which continued for +six months, he seriously contemplated abandoning his profession and +attempting to gain "an honest and convenient maintenance" by joining a +friend in purchasing a caravel (a small vessel), and navigating it +himself. + +He was, however, prevented from undertaking this enterprise by a +message which he received from the Court, then stationed at Greenwich. +The Lord High Admiral desired to see him; and after many civil +compliments, he offered him the post of keeper of the plankyard at +Chatham. Pett was only too glad to accept this offer, though the +salary was small. He shipped his furniture on board a hoy of Rainham, +and accompanied it down the Thames to the junction with the Medway. +There he escaped a great danger--one of the sea perils of the time. +The mouths of navigable rivers were still infested with pirates; and as +the hoy containing Pett approached the Nore about three o'clock in the +morning, and while still dark, she came upon a Dunkirk picaroon, full +of men. Fortunately the pirate was at anchor; she weighed and gave +chase, and had not the hoy set full sail, and been impelled up the +Swale by a fresh wind, Pett would have been taken prisoner, with all +his furniture.[20] + +Arrived at Chatham, Pett met his brother Joseph, became reconciled to +him, and ever after they lived together as loving brethren. At his +brother's suggestion, Pett took a lease of the Manor House, and settled +there with his sisters. He was now in the direct way to preferment. +Early in the following year (March, 1601) he succeeded to the place of +assistant to the principal master shipwright at Chatham, and undertook +the repairs of Her Majesty's ship The Lion's Whelp, and in the next +year he new-built the Moon enlarging her both in length and breadth. + +At the accession of James I. in 1603, Pett was commanded by the Lord +High Admiral with all possible speed to build a little vessel for the +young Prince Henry, eldest son of His Majesty. It was to be a sort of +copy of the Ark Royal, which was the flagship of the Lord High Admiral +when he defeated the Spanish Armada. Pett proceeded to accomplish the +order with all dispatch. The little ship was in length by the keel 28 +feet, in breadth 12 feet, and very curiously garnished within and +without with painting and carving. After working by torch and candle +light, night and day, the ship was launched, and set sail for the +Thames, with the noise of drums, trumpets, and cannon, at the beginning +of March, 1604. After passing through a great storm at the Nore, the +vessel reached the Tower, where the King and the young Prince inspected +her with delight. She was christened Disdain by the Lord High Admiral, +and Pett was appointed captain of the ship. + +After his return to Chatham, Pett, at his own charge, built a small +ship at Gillingham, of 300 tons, which he launched in the same year, +and named the Resistance. The ship was scarcely out of hand, when Pett +was ordered to Woolwich, to prepare the Bear and other vessels for +conveying his patron, the Lord High Admiral, as an Ambassador +Extraordinary to Spain, for the purpose of concluding peace, after a +strife of more than forty years. The Resistance was hired by the +Government as a transport, and Pett was put in command. He seems to +have been married at this time, as he mentions in his memoir that he +parted with his wife and children at Chatham on the 24th of March, +1605, and that he sailed from Queenborough on Easter Sunday. + +During the voyage to Lisbon the Resistance became separated from the +Ambassador's squadron, and took refuge in Corunna. She then set sail +for Lisbon, which she reached on the 24th of April; and afterwards for +St. Lucar, on the Guadalquiver, near Seville, which she reached on the +11th of May following. After revisiting Corunna, "according to +instructions," on the homeward voyage, Pett directed his course for +England, and reached Rye on the 26th of June, "amidst much rain, +thunder, and lightning." In the course of the same year, his brother +Joseph died, and Phineas succeeded to his post as master shipbuilder at +Chatham. He was permitted, in conjunction with one Henry Farvey and +three others, to receive the usual reward of 5s. per ton for building +five new merchant ships,[21] most probably for East Indian commerce, +now assuming large dimensions. He was despatched by the Government to +Bearwood, in Hampshire, to make a selection of timber from the estate +of the Earl of Worcester for the use of the navy, and on presenting his +report 3000 tons were purchased. What with his building of ships, his +attendance on the Lord Admiral to Spain, and his selection of timber +for the Government, his hands seem to have been kept very full during +the whole of 1605. + +In July, 1606, Pett received private instructions from the Lord High +Admiral to have all the King's ships "put into comely readiness" for +the reception of the King of Denmark, who was expected on a Royal +visit. "Wherein," he says, "I strove extraordinarily to express my +service for the honour of the kingdom; but by reason the time limited +was short, and the business great, we laboured night and day to effect +it, which accordingly was done, to the great honour of our sovereign +king and master, and no less admiration of all strangers that were +eye-witnesses to the same." The reception took place on the 10th of +August, 1606. + +Shortly after the departure of His Majesty of Denmark, four of the +Royal ships--the Ark, Victory, Golden Lion, and Swiftsure--were ordered +to be dry-docked; the two last mentioned at Deptford, under charge of +Matthew Baker; and the two former at Woolwich, under that of Pett. For +greater convenience, Pett removed his family to Woolwich. After being +elected and sworn Master of the Company of Shipwrights, he refers in +his manuscript, for the first time, to his magnificent and original +design of the Prince Royal.[22] + +"After settling at Woolwich," he says, "I began a curious model for the +prince my master, most part whereof I wrought with my own hands." +After finishing the model, he exhibited it to the Lord High Admiral, +and, after receiving his approval and commands, he presented it to the +young prince at Richmond. "His Majesty (who was present) was +exceedingly delighted with the sight of the model, and passed some time +in questioning the divers material things concerning it, and demanded +whether I could build the great ship in all parts like the same; for I +will, says His Majesty, compare them together when she shall be +finished. Then the Lord Admiral commanded me to tell His Majesty the +story of the Three Ravens[23] I had seen at Lisbon, in St. Vincent's +Church; which I did as well as I could, with my best expressions, +though somewhat daunted at first at His Majesty's presence, having +never before spoken before any King." + +Before, however, he could accomplish his purpose, Pett was overtaken by +misfortunes. His enemies, very likely seeing with spite the favour +with which he had been received by men in high position, stirred up an +agitation against him. There may, and there very probably was, a great +deal of jobbery going on in the dockyards. It was difficult, under the +system which prevailed, to have any proper check upon the expenditure +for the repair and construction of ships. At all events, a commission +was appointed for the purpose of inquiring into the abuses and +misdemeanors of those in office; and Pett's enemies took care that his +past proceedings should be thoroughly overhauled,--together with those +of Sir Robert Mansell, then Treasurer to the Navy; Sir John Trevor, +surveyor; Sir Henry Palmer, controller; Sir Thomas Bluther, victualler; +and many others. + +While the commission was still sitting and holding what Pett calls +their "malicious proceedings," he was able to lay the keel of his new +great ship upon the stocks in the dock at Woolwich on the 20th of +October, 1608. He had a clear conscience, for his hands were clean. +He went on vigorously with his work, though he knew that the +inquisition against him was at its full height. His enemies reported +that he was "no artist, and that he was altogether insufficient to +perform such a service" as that of building his great ship. +Nevertheless, he persevered, believing in the goodness of his cause. +Eventually, he was enabled to turn the tables upon his accusers, and to +completely justify himself in all his transactions with the king, the +Lord Admiral, and the public officers, who were privy to all his +transactions. Indeed, the result of the enquiry was not only to cause +a great trouble and expense to all the persons accused, but, as Pett +says in his Memoir, "the Government itself of that royal office was so +shaken and disjoined as brought almost ruin upon the whole Navy, and a +far greater charge to his Majesty in his yearly expense than ever was +known before."[24] + +In the midst of his troubles and anxieties, Pett was unexpectedly +cheered with the presence of his "Master" Prince Henry, who specially +travelled out of his way from Essex to visit him at Woolwich, to see +with his own eyes what progress he was making with the great ship. +After viewing the dry dock, which had been constructed by Pett, and was +one of the first, if not the very first in England,--his Highness +partook of a banquet which the shipbuilder had hastily prepared for him +in his temporary lodgings. + +One of the circumstances which troubled Pett so much at this time, was +the strenuous opposition of the other shipbuilders to his plans of the +great ship. There never had been such a frightful innovation. The +model was all wrong. The lines were detestable. The man who planned +the whole thing was a fool, a "cozener" of the king, and the ship, +suppose it to be made, was "unfit for any other use but a dung-boat!" +This attack upon his professional character weighed very heavily upon +his mind. + +He determined to put his case in a staightforward manner before the +Lord High Admiral. He set down in writing in the briefest manner +everything that he had done, and the plots that had been hatched +against him; and beseeched his lordship, for the honour of the State, +and the reputation of his office, to cause the entire matter to be +thoroughly investigated "by judicious and impartial persons." After a +conference with Pett, and an interview with his Majesty, the Lord High +Admiral was authorised by the latter to invite the Earls of Worcester +and Suffolk to attend with him at Woolwich, and bring all the accusers +of Pett's design of the great ship before them for the purpose of +examination, and to report to him as to the actual state of affairs. +Meanwhile Pett's enemies had been equally busy. They obtained a +private warrant from the Earl of Northampton[25] to survey the work; +"which being done," says Pett, "upon return of the insufficiency of the +same under their hands, and confirmation by oath, it was resolved +amongst them I should be turned out, and for ever disgraced." + +But the lords appointed by the King now interfered between Pett and his +adversaries. They first inspected the ship, and made a diligent survey +of the form and manner of the work and the goodness of the materials, +and then called all the accusers before them to hear their allegations. +They were examined separately. First, Baker the master shipbuilder was +called. He objected to the size of the ship, to the length, breadth, +depth, draught of water, height of jack, rake before and aft, breadth +of the floor, scantling of the timber, and so on. Then another of the +objectors was called; and his evidence was so clearly in contradiction +to that which had already been given, that either one or both must be +wrong. The principal objector, Captain Waymouth, next gave his +evidence; but he was able to say nothing to any purpose, except giving +their lordships "a long, tedious discourse of proportions, measures, +lines, and an infinite rabble of idle and unprofitable speeches, clean +from the matter." + +The result was that their lordships reported favourably of the design +of the ship, and the progress which had already been made. + +The Earl of Nottingham interposed his influence; and the King himself, +accompanied by the young Prince, went down to Woolwich, and made a +personal examination.[26] A great many witnesses were again examined, +twenty-four on one side, and twenty-seven on the other. The King then +carefully examined the ship himself: "the planks, the tree-nails, the +workmanship, and the cross-grained timber." "The cross-grain," he +concluded, "was in the men and not in the timber." After all the +measurements had been made and found correct, "his Majesty," says Pett, +"with a loud voice commanded the measurers to declare publicly the very +truth; which when they had delivered clearly on our side, all the whole +multitude heaved up their hats, and gave a great and loud shout and +acclamation. And then the Prince, his Highness, called with a high +voice in these words: 'Where be now these perjured fellows that dare +thus abuse his Majesty with these false accusations? Do they not +worthily deserve hanging?"' + +Thus Pett triumphed over all his enemies, and was allowed to finish the +great ship in his own way. By the middle of September 1610, the vessel +was ready to be "strucken down upon her ways"; and a dozen of the +choice master carpenters of his Majesty's navy came from Chatham to +assist in launching her. The ship was decorated, gilded, draped, and +garlanded; and on the 24th the King, the Queen, and the Royal family +came from the palace at Theobald's to witness the great sight. +Unfortunately, the day proved very rough; and it was little better than +a neap tide. The ship started very well, but the wind "overblew the +tide"; she caught in the dock-gates, and settled hard upon the ground, +so that there was no possibility of launching her that day. + +This was a great disappointment. The King retired to the palace at +Greenwich, though the Prince lingered behind. When he left, he +promised to return by midnight, after which it was proposed to make +another effort to set the ship afloat. When the time arrived, the +Prince again made his appearance, and joined the Lord High Admiral, and +the principal naval officials. It was bright moonshine. After +midnight the rain began to fall, and the wind to blow from the +southwest. But about two o'clock, an hour before high water, the word +was given to set all taut, and the ship went away without any straining +of screws and tackles, till she came clear afloat into the midst of the +Thames. The Prince was aboard, and amidst the blast of trumpets and +expressions of joy, he performed the ceremony of drinking from the +great standing cup, and throwing the rest of the wine towards the +half-deck, and christening the ship by the name of the Prince Royal.[27] + +The dimensions of the ship may be briefly described. Her keel was 114 +feet long, and her cross-beam 44 feet. She was of 1400 tons burthen, +and carried 64 pieces of great ordnance. She was the largest ship that +had yet been constructed in England. + +The Prince Royal was, at the time she was built, considered one of the +most wonderful efforts of human genius. Mr. Charnock, in his 'Treatise +on Marine Architecture,' speaks of her as abounding in striking +peculiarities. Previous to the construction of this ship, vessels were +built in the style of the Venetian galley, which although well adapted +for the quiet Mediterranean, were not suited for the stormy northern +ocean. The fighting ships also of the time of Henry VIII. and +Elizabeth were too full of "top-hamper" for modern navigation. They +were oppressed by high forecastles and poops. Pett struck out entirely +new ideas in the build and lines of his new ship; and the course which +he adopted had its effect upon all future marine structures. The ship +was more handy, more wieldy, and more convenient. She was +unquestionably the first effort of English ingenuity in the direction +of manageableness and simplicity. "The vessel in question," says +Charnock, "may be considered the parent of the class of shipping which +continues in practice even to the present moment." + +It is scarcely necessary to pursue in detail the further history of +Phineas Pett. We may briefly mention the principal points. In 1612, +the Prince Royal was appointed to convey the Princess Elizabeth and her +husband, The Palsgrave, to the Continent. Pett was on board the ship, +and found that "it wrought exceedingly well, and was so yare of conduct +that a foot of helm would steer her." While at Flushing, "such a +multitude of people, men, women, and children, came from all places in +Holland to see the ship, that we could scarce have room to go up and +down till very night." + +About the 27th of March, 1616, Pett bargained with Sir Waiter Raleigh +to build a vessel of 500 tons,[28] and received 500L. from him on +account. The King, through the interposition of the Lord Admiral, +allowed Pett to lay her keel on the galley dock at Woolwich. In the +same year he was commissioned by the Lord Zouche, now Lord Warden of +the Cinque Ports, to construct a pinnace of 40 tons, in respect of +which Pett remarks, "towards the whole of the hull of the pinnace, and +all her rigging, I received only 100L. from the Lord Zouche, the rest +Sir Henry Mainwaring (half-brother to Raleigh) cunningly received on my +behalf, without my knowledge, which I never got from him but by +piecemeal, so that by the bargain I was loser 100L. at least." + +Pett fared much worse at the hands of Raleigh himself. His great ship, +the Destiny, was finished and launched in December, 1616. "I delivered +her to him," says Pett, "on float, in good order and fashion; by which +business I lost 700L., and could never get any recompense at all for +it; Sir Walter going to sea and leaving me unsatisfied."[29] Nor was +this the only loss that Pett met with this year. The King, he states, +"bestowed upon me for the supply of my present relief the making of a +knight-baronet," which authority Pett passed to a recusant, one Francis +Ratcliffe, for 700L.; but that worthy defrauded him, so that he lost +30L. by the bargain. + +Next year, Pett was despatched by the Government to the New Forest in +Hampshire, "where," he says, "one Sir Giles Mompesson[30] had made a +vast waste in the spoil of his Majesty's timber, to redress which I was +employed thither, to make choice out of the number of trees he had +felled of all such timber as was useful for shipping, in which business +I spent a great deal of time, and brought myself into a great deal of +trouble." About this period, poor Pett's wife and two of his children +lay for some time at death's door. Then more enquiries took place into +the abuses of the dockyards, in which it was sought to implicate Pett. +During the next three years (1618-20) he worked under the immediate +orders of the Commissioners in the New Dock at Chatham. + +In 1620, Pett's friend Sir Robert Mansell was appointed General of the +Fleet destined to chastise the Algerine pirates, who still continued +their depredations on the shipping in the Channel, and the King +thereupon commissioned Pett to build with all dispatch two pinnaces, of +120 and 80 tons respectively. "I was myself," he says, "to serve as +Captain in the voyage"--being glad, no doubt, to escape from his +tormentors. The two pinnaces were built at Ratcliffe, and were +launched on the 16th and 18th of October, 1620. On the 30th, Pett +sailed with the fleet, and after driving the pirates out of the +Channel, he returned to port after an absence of eleven months. + +His enemies had taken advantage of his absence from England to get an +order for the survey of the Prince Royal, his masterpiece; the result +of which was, he says, that "they maliciously certified the ship to be +unserviceable, and not fit to continue--that what charges should be +bestowed upon her would be lost." Nevertheless, the Prince Royal was +docked, and fitted for a voyage to Spain. She was sent thither with +Charles Prince of Wales and the Duke of Buckingham, the former going in +search of a Spanish wife. Pett, the builder of the ship, was commanded +to accompany the young Prince and the Duke. + +The expedition sailed on the 24th of August, 1623, and returned on the +14th of October. Pett was entertained on board the Prince Royal, and +rendered occasional services to the officers in command, though nothing +of importance occurred during the voyage. + +The Prince of Wales presented him with a valuable gold chain as a +reward for his attendance. In 1625, Pett, after rendering many +important services to the Admiralty, was ordered again to prepare the +Prince Royal for sea. She was to bring over the Prince of Wales's +bride from France. While the preparations were making for the voyage, +news reached Chatham of the death of King James. Pett was afterwards +commanded to go forward with the work of preparing the Prince Royal, as +well as the whole fleet, which was intended to escort the French +Princess, or rather the Queen, to England. The expedition took place +in May, and the young Queen landed at Dover on the 12th of that month. + +Pett continued to be employed in building and repairing ships, as well +as in preparing new designs, which he submitted to the King and the +Commissioners of the Navy. In 1626, he was appointed a joint +commissioner, with the Lord High Admiral, the Lord Treasurer +Marlborough, and others, "to enquire into certain alleged abuses of the +Navy, and to view the state thereof, and also the stores thereof," +clearly showing that he was regaining his old position. He was also +engaged in determining the best mode of measuring the tonnage of +ships.[31] Four years later he was again appointed a commissioner for +making "a general survey of the whole navy at Chatham." For this and +his other services the King promoted Pett to be a principal officer of +the Navy, with a fee of 200L. per annum. His patent was sealed on the +16th of January, 1631. In the same year the King visited Woolwich to +witness the launching of the Vanguard, which Pett had built; and his +Majesty honoured the shipwright by participating in a banquet at his +lodgings. + +From this period to the year 1637, Pett records nothing of particular +importance in his autobiography. He was chiefly occupied in aiding his +son Peter--who was rapidly increasing his fame as a shipwright--in +repairing and building first-class ships of war. As Pett had, on an +early occasion in his life, prepared a miniature ship for Prince Henry, +eldest son of James I., he now proceeded to prepare a similar model for +the Prince of Wales, the King's eldest son, afterwards Charles II. +This model was presented to the Prince at St. James's, "who entertained +it with great joy, being purposely made to disport himself withal." On +the next visit of his Majesty to Woolwich, he inspected the progress +made with the Leopard, a sloop-of-war built by Peter Pett. While in +the hold of the vessel, the King called Phineas to one side, and told +him of his resolution to have a great new ship built, and that Phineas +must be the builder. This great new ship was The Sovereign of the +Seas, afterwards built by Phineas and Peter Pett. Some say that the +model was prepared by the latter; but Phineas says that it was prepared +by himself, and finished by the 29th of October, 1634. As a +compensation for his services, his Majesty renewed his pension of 40L. +(which had been previously stopped), with orders for all the arrears +due upon it to be paid. + +To provide the necessary timber for the new ship, Phineas and his son +went down into the North to survey the forests. They went first by +water to Whitby; from thence they proceeded on horseback to Gisborough +and baited; then to Stockton, where they found but poor entertainment, +though they lodged with the Mayor, whose house "was only a mean +thatched cottage!" Middlesborough and the great iron district of the +North had not yet come into existence. + +Newcastle, already of some importance, was the principal scene of their +labours. The timber for the new ship was found in Chapley Wood and +Bracepeth Park. The gentry did all they could to facilitate the object +of Pett. On his journey homewards (July, 1635), he took Cambridge on +his way, where, says he, "I lodged at the Falcon, and visited Emmanuel +College, where I had been a scholar in my youth." + +The Sovereign of the Seas was launched on the 12th of October, 1637, +having been about two years in building. Evelyn in his diary says of +the ship (19th July, 1641):--"We rode to Rochester and Chatham to see +the Soveraigne, a monstrous vessel so called, being for burthen, +defence, and ornament, the richest that ever spread cloth before the +wind. She carried 100 brass cannon, and was 1600 tons, a rare sailer, +the work of the famous Phineas Pett." Rear-Admiral Sir William Symonds +says that she was afterwards cut down, and was a safe and fast ship.[32] + +The Sovereign continued for nearly sixty years to be the finest ship in +the English service. Though frequently engaged in the most injurious +occupations, she continued fit for any services which the exigencies of +the State might require. She fought all through the wars of the +Commonwealth; she was the leading ship of Admiral Blake, and was in all +the great naval engagements with France and Holland. The Dutch gave +her the name of The Golden Devil. In the last fight between the +English and French, she encountered the Wonder of the World, and so +warmly plied the French Admiral, that she forced him out of his +three-decked wooden castle, and chasing the Royal Sun, before her, +forced her to fly for shelter among the rocks, where she became a prey +to lesser vessels, and was reduced to ashes. At last, in the reign of +William III., the Sovereign became leaky and defective with age; she +was laid up at Chatham, and being set on fire by negligence or +accident, she burnt to the water's edge. + +To return to the history of Phineas Pett. As years approached, he +retired from office, and "his loving son," as he always affectionately +designates Peter, succeeded him as principal shipwright, Charles I. +conferring upon him the honour of knighthood. Phineas lived for ten +years after the Sovereign of the Seas was launched. In the burial +register of the parish of Chatham it is recorded, "Phineas Pett, Esqe. +and Capt., was buried 21st August, 1647."[33] + +Sir Peter Pett was almost as distinguished as his father. He was the +builder of the first frigate, The Constant Warwick. Sir William +Symonds says of this vessel:--"She was an incomparable sailer, +remarkable for her sharpness and the fineness of her lines; and many +were built like her." Pett "introduced convex lines on the immersed +part of the hull, with the studding and sprit sails; and, in short, he +appears to have fully deserved his character of being the best ship +architect of his time."[34] Sir Peter Pett's monument in Deptford Old +Church fully records his services to England's naval power. + +The Petts are said to have been connected with shipbuilding in the +Thames for not less than 200 years. Fuller, in his 'Worthies of +England,' says of them--"I am credibly informed that that mystery of +shipwrights for some descents hath been preserved faithfully in +families, of whom the Petts about Chatham are of singular regard. Good +success have they with their skill, and carefully keep so precious a +pearl, lest otherwise amongst many friends some foes attain unto it." + +The late Peter Bolt, member for Greenwich, took pride in being +descended from the Petts; but so far as we know, the name itself has +died out. In 1801, when Charnock's 'History of Marine Architecture' +was published, Mr. Pett, of Tovil, near Maidstone, was the sole +representative of the family. + + +Footnotes for Chapter I. + +[1] This was not the first voyage of a steamer between England and +America. The Savannah made the passage from New York to Liverpool as +early as 1819; but steam was only used occasionally during the voyage, +In 1825, the Enterprise, with engines by Maudslay, made the voyage from +Falmouth to Calcutta in 113 days; and in 1828, the Curacoa made the +voyage between Holland and the Dutch West Indies. But in all these +cases, steam was used as an auxiliary, and not as the one essential +means of propulsion, as in the case of the Sirius and the Great +Western, which were steam voyages only. + +[2] "In 1862 the steam tonnage of the country was 537,000 tons; in +1872, it was 1,537,000 tons; and in 1882, it had reached 3,835,000 +tons."--Mr. Chamberlain's speech, House of Commons, 19th May, 1884. + +[3] The last visit of the plague was in 1665. + +[4] Roll of Edward the Third's Fleet. Cotton's Library, British Museum. + +[5] Charnock's History Of Marine Architecture, ii. 89. + +[6] State Papers. Henry VIII. Nos. 3496, 3616, 4633. The principal +kinds of ordnance at that time were these:--The "Apostles," so called +from the head of an Apostle which they bore; "Curtows," or "Courtaulx"; +"Culverins" and "Serpents"; "Minions," and "Potguns"; "Nurembergers," +and "Bombards" or mortars. + +[7] The sum of all costs of the Harry Grace de Dieu and three small +galleys, was 7708L. 5s. 3d. (S.P.O. No. 5228, Henry VIII.) + +[8] Charnock, ii. 47 (note). + +[9] Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, ii. 126. + +[10] The Huguenots: their Settlements, Churches, and Industries, in +England and Ireland, ch. iv. + +[11] Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, ii. 156. + +[12] Ibid. ii. 85. + +[13] Picton's Selections from the Municipal Archives and Records of +Liverpool, p. 90. About a hundred years later, in 1757, the gross +customs receipts of Liverpool had increased to 198,946L.; whilst those +of Bristol were as much as 351,211L. In 1883, the amount of tonnage of +Liverpool, inwards and outwards, was 8,527,531 tons, and the total dock +revenue for the year was 1,273,752L.! + +[14] There were not only Algerine but English pirates scouring the +seas. Keutzner, the German, who wrote in Elizabeth's reign, said, "The +English are good sailors and famous pirates (sunt boni nautae et +insignis pyratae)." Roberts, in his Social History of the Southern +Counties (p. 93), observes, "Elizabeth had employed many English as +privateers against the Spaniard. After the war, many were loth to lead +an inactive life. They had their commissions revoked, and were +proclaimed pirates. The public looked upon them as gallant fellows; +the merchants gave them underhand support; and even the authorities in +maritime towns connived at the sale of their plunder. In spite of +proclamations, during the first five years after the accession of James +I., there were continual complaints. This lawless way of life even +became popular. Many Englishmen furnished themselves with good ships +and scoured the seas, but little careful whom they might plunder." It +was found very difficult to put down piracy. According to Oliver's +History of the city of Exeter, not less than "fifteen sail of Turks" +held the English Channel, snapping up merchantmen, in the middle of the +seventeenth century! The harbours in the south-west were infested by +Moslem pirates, who attacked and plundered the ships, and carried their +crews into captivity. The loss, even to an inland port like Exeter, in +ships, money, and men, was enormous. + +[15] Naval Tracts, p. 294. + +[16] This poem is now very rare. It is not in the British Museum. + +[17] There are three copies extant of the autobiography, all of which +are in the British Museum. In the main, they differ but slightly from +each other. Not one of them has been published in extenso. In +December, 1795, and in February, 1796, Dr. Samuel Denne communicated to +the Society of Antiquaries particulars of two of these MSS., and +subsequently published copious extracts from them in their transactions +(Archae. xii. anno 1796), in a very irregular and careless manner. It +is probable that Dr. Denne never saw the original manuscript, but only +a garbled copy of it. The above narrative has been taken from the +original, and collated with the documents in the State Paper Office. + +[18] See, for instance, the Index to the Journals of Records of the +Corporation of the City of London (No. 2, p. 346, 15901694) under the +head of "Sir Walter Raleigh." There is a document dated the 15th +November, 1593, in the 35th of Elizabeth, which runs as +follows:--"Committee appointed on behalf of such of the City Companies +as have ventured in the late Fleet set forward by Sir Walter Raleigh, +Knight, and others, to join with such honourable personages as the +Queen hath appointed, to take a perfect view of all such goods, prizes, +spices, jewels, pearls, treasures, &c., lately taken in the Carrack, +and to make sale and division (Jor. 23, p. 156). Suit to be made to +the Queen and Privy Council for the buying of the goods, &c., lately +taken at sea in the Carrack; a committee appointed to take order +accordingly; the benefit or loss arising thereon to be divided and +borne between the Chamber [of the Corporation of the City] and the +Companies that adventured (157). The several Companies that adventured +at sea with Sir Waiter Raleigh to accept so much of the goods taken in +the Carrack to the value of 12,000L. according to the Queen's offer. A +committee appointed to acquaint the Lords of the Council with the +City's acceptance thereof (167). Committee for sale of the Carrack +goods appointed (174). Bonds for sale to be sealed (196).... +Committee to audit accounts of a former adventure (224 b.)." + +[19] There were three sisters in all, the eldest of whom (Abigail) fell +a victim to the cruelty of Nunn, who struck her across the head with +the fire-tongs, from the effects of which she died in three days. Nunn +was tried and convicted of manslaughter. He died shortly after. Mrs. +Nunn, Phineas's mother, was already dead. + +[20] It would seem, from a paper hereafter to be more particularly +referred to, that the government encouraged the owners of ships and +others to clear the seas of these pirates, agreeing to pay them for +their labours. In 1622, Pett fitted out an expedition against these +pests of navigation, but experienced some difficulty in getting his +expenses repaid. + +[21] See grant S.P.O., 29th May, 1605. + +[22] An engraving of this remarkable ship is given in Charnock's +History of Marine Architecture, ii. p. 199. + +[23] The story of the Three, or rather Two Ravens, is as follows:--The +body of St. Vincent was originally deposited at the Cape, which still +bears his name, on the Portuguese coast; and his tomb, says the legend, +was zealously guarded by a couple of ravens. When it was determined, +in the 12th century, to transport the relics of the Saint to the +Cathedral of Lisbon, the two ravens accompanied the ship which +contained them, one at its stem and the other at its stern. The relics +were deposited in the Chapel of St. Vincent, within the Cathedral, and +there the two ravens have ever since remained. The monks continued to +support two such birds in the cloisters, and till very lately the +officials gravely informed the visitor to the Cathedral that they were +the identical ravens which accompanied the Saint's relics to their +city. The birds figure in the arms of Lisbon. + +[24] The evidence taken by the Commissioners is embodied in a +voluminous report. State Paper Office, Dom. James I., vol. xli. 1608. + +[25] The Earl of Northampton, Privy Seal, was Lord Warden of the Cinque +Ports; hence his moving in the matter. Pett says he was his "most +implacable enemy." It is probable that the earl was jealous of Pett, +because he had received his commission to build the great ship directly +from the sovereign, without the intervention of his lordship. + +[26] This Royal investigation took place at Woolwich on the 8th May, +1609. The State Paper Office contains a report of the same date, most +probably the one presented to the King, signed by six ship-builders and +Captain Waymouth, and counter signed by Northampton and four others. +The Report is headed "The Prince Royal: imperfections found upon view +of the new work begun at Woolwich." It would occupy too much space to +give the results here. + +[27] Alas! for the uncertainties of life! This noble young prince--the +hope of England and the joy of his parents, from whom such great things +were anticipated--for he was graceful, frank, brave, active, and a +lover of the sea,--was seized with a serious illness, and died in his +eighteenth year, on the 16th November, 1612. + +[28] Pett says she was to be 500 tons, but when he turned her out her +burthen was rated at 700 tons. + +[29] This conduct of Raleigh's was the more inexcusable, as there is in +the State Paper Office a warrant dated 16th Nov., 1617, for the payment +to Pett of 700 crowns "for building the new ship, the Destiny of +London, of 700 tons burthen." The least he could have done was to have +handed over to the builder his royal and usual reward. In the above +warrant, by the way, the title "our well-beloved subject," the ordinary +prefix to such grants, has either been left blank or erased (it is +difficult to say which), but was very significant of the slippery +footing of Raleigh at Court. + +[30] Sir Giles Overreach, in the play of "A new way to pay old debts," +by Philip Massinger. It was difficult for the poet, or any other +person, to libel such a personage as Mompesson. + +[31] Pett's method is described in a paper contained in the S.P.O., +dated 21st Oct., 1626. The Trinity Corporation adopted his method. + +[32] Memoirs of the Life and Services of Rear-Admiral Sir William +Symonds, Kt., p. 94. + +[33] Pett's dwelling-house at Rochester is thus described in an +anonymous history of that town (p. 337, ed. 1817):--"Beyond the +Victualling Office, on the same side of the High Street, at Rochester, +is an old mansion, now occupied by a Mr. Morson, an attorney, which +formerly belonged to the Petts, the celebrated ship-builders. The +chimney-piece in the principal room is of wood, curiously carved, the +upper part being divided into compartments by caryatydes. The central +compartment contains the family arms, viz., Or, on a fesse, gu., +between three pellets, a lion passant gardant of the field. On the +back of the grate is a cast of Neptune, standing erect in his car, with +Triton blowing conches, &c., and the date 1650." + +[34] Symonds, Memoirs of Life and Services, 94. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +FRANCIS PETTIT SMITH: PRACTICAL INTRODUCER OF THE SCREW PROPELLER. + +"The spirit of Paley's maxim that 'he alone discovers who proves,' is +applicable to the history of inventions and discoveries; for certainly +he alone invents to any good purpose, who satisfies the world that the +means he may have devised have been found competent to the end +proposed."--Dr. Samuel Brown. + +"Too often the real worker and discoverer remains unknown, and an +invention, beautiful but useless in one age or country, can be applied +only in a remote generation, or in a distant land. Mankind hangs +together from generation to generation; easy labour is but inherited +skill; great discoveries and inventions are worked up to by the efforts +of myriads ere the goal is reached."--H. M. Hyndman. + +Though a long period elapsed between the times of Phineas Pett and +"Screw" Smith, comparatively little improvement had been effected in +the art of shipbuilding. The Sovereign of the Seas had not been +excelled by any ship of war built down to the end of last century.[1] +At a comparatively recent date, ships continued to be built of timber +and plank, and impelled by sails and oars, as they had been for +thousands of years before. + +But this century has witnessed many marvellous changes. A new material +of construction has been introduced into shipbuilding, with entirely +new methods of propulsion. Old things have been displaced by new; and +the magnitude of the results has been extraordinary. The most +important changes have been in the use of iron and steel instead of +wood, and in the employment of the steam-engine in impelling ships by +the paddle or the screw. + +So long as timber was used for the construction of ships, the number of +vessels built annually, especially in so small an island as Britain, +must necessarily have continued very limited. Indeed, so little had the +cultivation of oak in Great Britain been attended to, that all the +royal forests could not have supplied sufficient timber to build one +line-of-battle ship annually; while for the mercantile marine, the +world had to be ransacked for wood, often of a very inferior quality. + +Take, for instance, the seventy-eight gun ship, the Hindostan, launched +a few years ago. It would have required 4200 loads of timber to build +a ship of that description, and the growth of the timber would have +occupied seventy acres of ground during eighty years.[2] It would have +needed something like 800,000 acres of land on which to grow the timber +for the ships annually built in this country for commercial purposes. +And timber ships are by no means lasting. The average durability of +ships of war employed in active service, has been calculated to be +about thirteen years, even when built of British oak. + +Indeed, years ago, the building of shipping in this country was much +hindered by the want of materials. + +The trade was being rapidly transferred to Canada and the United +States. Some years since, an American captain said to an Englishman, +Captain Hall, when in China, "You will soon have to come to our country +for your ships: your little island cannot grow wood enough for a large +marine." "Oh!" said the Englishman, "we can build ships of iron!" +"Iron?" replied the American in surprise, "why, iron sinks; only wood +can float!" "Well! you will find I am right." The prophecy was +correct. The Englishman in question has now a fleet of splendid iron +steamers at sea. + +The use of iron in shipbuilding had small beginnings, like everything +else. The established prejudice--that iron must necessarily sink in +water--long continued to prevail against its employment. The first +iron vessel was built and launched about a hundred years since by John +Wilkinson, of Bradley Forge, in Staffordshire. In a letter of his, +dated the 14th July, 1787, the original of which we have seen, he +writes: "Yesterday week my iron boat was launched. It answers all my +expectations, and has convinced the unbelievers, who were 999 in 1000. +It will be only a nine days' wonder, and afterwards a Columbus's egg." +It was, however, more than a nine days' wonder; for wood long continued +to be thought the only material capable of floating. + +Although Wilkinson's iron vessels continued to ply upon the Severn, +more than twenty years elapsed before another shipbuilder ventured to +follow his example. But in 1810, Onions and Son, of Brosely, built +several iron vessels, also for use upon the Severn. Then, in 1815, Mr. +Jervons, of Liverpool, built a small iron boat for use on the Mersey. +Six years later, in 1821, Mr. Aaron Manby designed an iron steam +vessel, which was built at the Horsley Company's Works, in +Staffordshire. She sailed from London to Havre a few years later, +under the command of Captain (afterwards Sir Charles) Napier, RN. She +was freighted with a cargo of linseed and iron castings, and went up +the Seine to Paris. It was some time, however, before iron came into +general use. Ten years later, in 1832, Maudslay and Field built four +iron vessels for the East India Company. In the course of about twenty +years, the use of iron became general, not only for ships of war, but +for merchant ships plying to all parts of the world. + +When ships began to be built of iron, it was found that they could be +increased without limit, so long as coal, iron, machinery, and strong +men full of skill and industry, were procurable. The trade in +shipbuilding returned to Britain, where iron ships are now made and +exported in large numbers; the mercantile marine of this country +exceeding in amount and tonnage that of all the other countries of the +world put together. The "wooden walls"[3] of England exist no more, +for iron has superseded wood. Instead of constructing vessels from the +forest, we are now digging new navies out of the bowels of the earth, +and our "walls," instead of wood, are now of iron and steel. + +The attempt to propel ships by other means than sails and oars went on +from century to century, and did not succeed until almost within our +own time. It is said that the Roman army under Claudius Codex was +transported into Sicily in boats propelled by wheels moved by oxen. +Galleys, propelled by wheels in paddles, were afterwards attempted. +The Harleian MS. contains an Italian book of sketches, attributed to +the 15th century, in which there appears a drawing of a paddle-boat, +evidently intended to be worked by men. Paddle-boats, worked by +horse-power, were also tried. Blasco Garay made a supreme effort at +Barcelona in 1543. His vessel was propelled by a paddle-wheel on each +side, worked by forty men. But nothing came of the experiment. + +Many other efforts of a similar kind were made,--by Savery among +others,[4]--until we come down to Patrick Miller, of Dalswinton, who, +in 1787, invented a double-hulled boat, which he caused to be propelled +on the Firth of Forth by men working a capstan which drove the paddles +on each side. The men soon became exhausted, and on Miller mentioning +the subject to William Symington, who was then exhibiting his road +locomotive in Edinburgh, Symington at once said, "Why don't you employ +steam-power?" + +There were many speculations in early times as to the application of +steam-power for propelling vessels through the water. David Ramsay in +1618, Dr. Grant in 1632, the Marquis of Worcester in 1661, were among +the first in England to publish their views upon the subject. But it +is probable that Denis Papin, the banished Hugnenot physician, for some +time Curator of the Royal Society, was the first who made a model +steam-boat. Daring his residence in England, he was elected Professor +of Mathematics in the University of Marburg. It was while at that city +that he constructed, in 1707, a small steam-engine, which he fitted in +a boat--une petite machine d'un, vaisseau a roues--and despatched it to +England for the purpose of being tried upon the Thames. The little +vessel never reached England. At Munden, the boatmen on the River +Weser, thinking that, if successful, it would destroy their occupation, +seized the boat, with its machine, and barbarously destroyed it. Papin +did not repeat his experiment, and died a few years later. + +The next inventor was Jonathan Hulls, of Campden, in Gloucestershire. +He patented a steamboat in 1736, and worked the paddle-wheel placed at +the stern of the vessel by means of a Newcomen engine. He tried his +boat on the River Avon, at Evesham, but it did not succeed, and the +engine was taken on shore again. A local poet commemorated his failure +in the following lines, which were remembered long after his steamboat +experiment had been forgotten:-- + + "Jonathan Hull, + With his paper skull, + Tried hard to make a machine + That should go against wind and tide; + But he, like an ass, + Couldn't bring it to pass, + So at last was ashamed to be seen." + +Nothing of importance was done in the direction of a steam-engine able +to drive paddles, until the invention by James Watt, in 1769, of his +double-acting engine--the first step by which steam was rendered +capable of being successfully used to impel a vessel. But Watt was +indifferent to taking up the subject of steam navigation, as well as of +steam locomotion. He refused many invitations to make steam-engines +for the propulsion of ships, preferring to confine himself to his +"regular established trade and manufacture," that of making condensing +steam-engines, which had become of great importance towards the close +of his life. + +Two records exist of paddle-wheel steamboats having been early tried in +France--one by the Comte d'Auxiron and M. Perrier in 1774, the other by +the Comte de Jouffroy in 1783--but the notices of their experiments are +very vague, and rest on somewhat doubtful authority. + +The idea, however, had been born, and was not allowed to die. When Mr. +Miller of Dalswinton had revived the notion of propelling vessels by +means of paddle-wheels, worked, as Savery had before worked them, by +means of a capstan placed in the centre of the vessel, and when he +complained to Symington of the fatigue caused to the men by working the +capstan, and Symington had suggested the use of steam, Mr. Miller was +impressed by the idea, and proceeded to order a steam-engine for the +purpose of trying the experiment. The boat was built at Edinburgh, and +removed to Dalswinton Lake. It was there fitted with Symington's +steam-engine, and first tried with success on the 14th of October, +1788, as has been related at length in Mr. Nasmyth's 'Autobiography.' +The experiment was repeated with even greater success in the charlotte +Dundas in 1801, which was used to tow vessels along the Forth and Clyde +Canal, and to bring ships up the Firth of Forth to the canal entrance +at Grangemouth. + +The progress of steam navigation was nevertheless very slow. +Symington's experiments were not renewed. The Charlotte Dundas was +withdrawn from use, because of the supposed injury to the banks of the +Canal, caused by the swell from the wheel. The steamboat was laid up +in a creek at Bainsford, where it went to ruin, and the inventor +himself died in poverty. Among those who inspected the vessel while at +work were Fulton, the American artist, and Henry Bell, the Glasgow +engineer. The former had already occupied himself with model +steamboats, both at Paris and in London; and in 1805 he obtained from +Boulton and Watt, of Birmingham, the steam-engine required for +propelling his paddle steamboat on the Hudson. The Clermont was first +started in August, 1807, and attained a speed of nearly five miles an +hour. Five years later, Henry Bell constructed and tried his first +steamer on the Clyde. + +It was not until 1815 that the first steamboat was seen on the Thames. +This was the Richmond packet, which plied between London and Richmond. +The vessel was fitted with the first marine engine Henry Maudslay ever +made. During the same year, the Margery, formerly employed on the +Firth of Forth, began plying between Gravesend and London; and the +Thames, formerly the Argyll, came round from the Clyde, encountering +rough seas, and making the voyage of 758 miles in five days and two +hours. This was thought extraordinarily rapid--though the voyage of +about 3000 miles, from Liverpool to New York, can now be made in only +about two days' more time. + +In nearly all seagoing vessels, the Paddle has now almost entirely +given place to the Screw. It was long before this invention was +perfected and brought into general use. It was not the production of +one man, but of several generations of mechanical inventors. A +perfected invention does not burst forth from the brain like a poetic +thought or a fine resolve. It has to be initiated, laboured over, and +pursued in the face of disappointments, difficulties, and +discouragements. + +Sometimes the idea is born in one generation, followed out in the next, +and perhaps perfected in the third. In an age of progress, one +invention merely paves the way for another. What was the wonder of +yesterday, becomes the common and unnoticed thing of to-day. + +The first idea of the screw was thrown out by James Watt more than a +century ago. Matthew Boulton, of Birmingham, had proposed to move +canal boats by means of the steam-engine; and Dr. Small, his friend, +was in communication with James Watt, then residing at Glasgow, on the +subject. In a letter from Watt to Small, dated the 30th September, +1770, the former, after speaking of the condenser, and saying that it +cannot be dispensed with, proceeds: "Have you ever considered a spiral +oar for that purpose [propulsion of canal boats], or are you for two +wheels?" Watt added a pen-and-ink drawing of his spiral oar, greatly +resembling the form of screw afterwards patented. Nothing, however, +was actually done, and the idea slept. + +It was revived again in 1785, by Joseph Bramah, a wonderful projector +and inventor.[5] He took out a patent, which included a rotatory +steam-engine, and a mode of propelling vessels by means either of a +paddle-wheel or a "screw propeller." This propeller was "similar to +the fly of a smoke-jack"; but there is no account of Bramah having +practically tried this method of propulsion. + +Austria, also, claims the honour of the invention of the screw steamer. +At Trieste and Vienna are statues erected to Joseph Ressel, on whose +behalf his countrymen lay claim to the invention; and patents for some +sort of a screw date back as far as 1794. + +Patents were also taken out in England and America--by W. Lyttleton in +1794; by E. Shorter in 1799; by J. C. Stevens, of New Jersey, in 1804; +by Henry James in 1811--but nothing practical was accomplished. +Richard Trevethick, the anticipator of many things, also took out a +patent in 1815, and in it he describes the screw propeller with +considerable minuteness. Millington, Whytock, Perkins, Marestier, and +Brown followed, with no better results. + +The late Dr. Birkbeck, in a letter addressed to the 'Mechanics' +Register,' in the year 1824, claimed that John Swan, of 82, Mansfield +Street, Kingsland Road, London, was the practical inventor of the screw +propeller. John Swan was a native of Coldingham, Berwickshire. He had +removed to London, and entered the employment of Messrs. Gordon, of +Deptford. Swan fitted up a boat with his propeller, and tried it on a +sheet of water in the grounds of Charles Gordon, Esq., of Dulwich Hill. +"The velocity and steadiness of the motion," said Dr. Birkbeck in his +letter, "so far exceeded that of the same model when impelled by +paddle-wheels driven by the same spring, that I could not doubt its +superiority; and the stillness of the water was such as to give the +vessel the appearance of being moved by some magical power." + +Then comes another claimant--Mr. Robert Wilson, then of Dunbar (not far +from Coldingham), but afterwards of the Bridgewater Foundry, +Patricroft. In his pamphlet, published a few years ago, he states that +he had long considered the subject, and in 1827 he made a small model, +fitted with "revolving skulls," which he tried on a sheet of water in +the presence of the Hon. Capt. Anthony Maitland, son of the Earl of +Lauderdale. The experiment was successful--so successful, that when +the "stern paddles" were in 1828 used at Leith in a boat twenty-five +feet long, with two men to work the machinery, the boat was propelled +at an average speed of about ten miles an hour; and the Society of Arts +afterwards, in October, 1882, awarded Mr. Wilson their silver medal for +the "description, drawing, and models of stern paddles for propelling +steamboats, invented by him." The subject was, in 1833, brought by Sir +John Sinclair under the consideration of the Board of Admiralty; but +the report of the officials (Oliver Lang, Abethell, Lloyd, and +Kingston) was to the effect that "the plan proposed (independent of +practical difficulties) is objectionable, as it involves a greater loss +of power than the common mode of applying the wheels to the side." And +here ended the experiment, so far as Mr. Wilson's "stern paddles" were +concerned. + +It will be observed, from what has been said, that the idea of a screw +propeller is a very old one. Watt, Bramah, Trevethick, and many more, +had given descriptions of the screw. Trevethick schemed a number of +its forms and applications, which have been the subject of many +subsequent patents. It has been so with many inventions. It is not +the man who gives the first idea of a machine who is entitled to the +merit of its introduction, or the man who repeats the idea, and +re-repeats it, but the man who is so deeply impressed with the +importance of the discovery, that he insists upon its adoption, will +take no denial, and at the risk of fame and fortune, pushes through all +opposition, and is determined that what he thinks he has discovered +shall not perish for want of a fair trial. And that this was the case +with the practical introducer of the screw propeller will be obvious +from the following statement. + +Francis Pettit Smith was born at Hythe, in the county of Kent, in 1808. +His father was postmaster of the town, and a person of much zeal and +integrity. The boy was sent to school at Ashford, and there received a +fair amount of education, under the Rev. Alexander Power. Young Smith +displayed no special characteristic except a passion for constructing +models of boats. When he reached manhood, he adopted the business of a +grazing farmer on Romney Marsh. He afterwards removed to Hendon, north +of London, where he had plenty of water on which to try his model +boats. The reservoir of the Old Welsh Harp was close at hand--a place +famous for its water-birds and wild fowl. + +Smith made many models of boats, his experiments extending over many +years. In 1834, he constructed a boat propelled by a wooden screw +driven by a spring, the performance of which was thought extraordinary. +Where he had got his original idea is not known. It was floating about +in many minds, and was no special secret. Smith, however, arrived at +the conclusion that his method of propelling steam vessels by means of +a screw was much superior to paddles--at that time exclusively +employed. In the following year, 1835, he constructed a superior +model, with which he performed a number of experiments at Hendon. In +May 1836, he took out a patent for propelling vessels by means of a +screw revolving beneath the water at the stern. He then openly +exhibited his invention at the Adelaide Gallery in London. Sir John +Barrow, Secretary to the Admiralty, inspected the model, and was much +impressed by its action. During the time it was publicly exhibited, an +offer was made to purchase the invention for the Pacha of Egypt; but +the offer was declined. + +At this stage of his operations, Smith was joined by Mr. Wright, +banker, and Mr. C. A. Caldwell, who had the penetration to perceive +that the invention was one of much promise, and were desirous of +helping its introduction to general use. They furnished Smith with the +means of constructing a more complete model. In the autumn of 1836, a +small steam vessel of 10 tons burthen and six horse-power was built, +further to test the advantages of the invention. This boat was fitted +with a wooden screw of two whole turns. On the 1st of November the +vessel was exhibited to the public on the Paddington Canal, as well as +on the Thames, where she continued to ply until the month of September +1837. + +During the trips upon the Thames, a happy accident occurred, which +first suggested the advantage of reducing the length of the screw. The +propeller having struck upon some obstacle in the water, about one-half +of the length of the screw was broken off, and it was found that; the +vessel immediately shot ahead and attained a much greater speed than +before. In consequence of this discovery, a new screw of a single turn +was fitted to her, after which she was found to work much better. + +Having satisfied himself as to the eligibility of the propeller in +smooth water, Mr. Smith then resolved to take his little vessel to the +open sea, and breast the winds and the waves. Accordingly, one Saturday +in the month of September 1837, he proceeded in his miniature boat, +down the river, from Blackwall to Gravesend. There he took a pilot on +board, and went on to Ramsgate. He passed through the Downs, and +reached Dover in safety. A trial of the vessel's performance was made +there in the presence of Mr. Wright, the banker, and Mr. Peake, the +civil engineer. From Dover the vessel went on to Folkestone and Hythe, +encountering severe weather. Nevertheless, the boat behaved admirably, +and attained a speed of over seven miles an hour. + +Though the weather had become stormy and boisterous, the little vessel +nevertheless set out on her return voyage to London. Crowds of people +assembled to witness her departure, and many nautical men watched her +progress with solicitude as she steamed through the waves under the +steep cliffs of the South Foreland. The courage of the undertaking, and +the unexpected good performance of the little vessel, rendered her an +object of great interest and excitement as she "screwed" her way along +the coast. + +The tiny vessel reached her destination in safety. Surely the +difficulty of a testing trial, although with a model screw, had at +length been overcome. But no! The paddle still possessed the +ascendency; and a thousand interests--invested capital, use and wont, +and conservative instincts--all stood in the way. + +Some years before--indeed, about the time that Smith took out his +patent--Captain Ericsson, the Swede, invented a screw propeller. Smith +took out his patent in May, 1836; and Ericsson in the following July. +Ericsson was a born inventor. While a boy in Sweden, he made saw mills +and pumping engines, with tools invented by himself. He learnt to +draw, and his mechanical career began. When only twelve years old, he +was appointed a cadet in the Swedish corps of mechanical engineers, and +in the following year he was put in charge of a section of the Gotha +Ship Canal, then under construction. Arrived at manhood, Ericsson went +over to England, the great centre of mechanical industry. He was then +twenty-three years old. He entered into partnership with John +Braithwaite, and with him constructed the Novelty, which took part in +the locomotive competition at Rainhill on the 6th October, 1829. The +prize was awarded to Stephenson's Rocket on the 14th; but it was +acknowledged by The Times of the day that the Novelty was Stephenson's +sharpest competitor. + +Ericsson had a wonderfully inventive brain, a determined purpose, and a +great capacity for work. When a want was felt, he was immediately +ready with an invention. The records of the Patent Office show his +incessant activity. He invented pumping engines, steam engines, fire +engines, and caloric engines. His first patent for a "reciprocating +propeller" was taken out in October 1834. To exhibit its action, he +had a small boat constructed of only about two feet long. It was +propelled by means of a screw; and was shown at work in a circular bath +in London. It performed its voyage round the basin at the rate of +about three miles an hour. His patent for a "spiral propeller," was +taken out in July 1836. This was the invention, to exhibit which he +had a vessel constructed, of about 40 feet long, with two propellers, +each of 5 feet 3 inches diameter. + +This boat, the Francis B. Ogden, proved extremely successful. She moved +at a speed of about ten miles an hour. She was able to tow vessels of +140 tons burthen at the rate of seven miles an hour. Perceiving the +peculiar and admirable fitness of the screw-propeller for ships of war, +Ericsson invited the Lords of the Admiralty to take an excursion in tow +of his experimental boat. "My Lords" consented; and the Admiralty +barge contained on this occasion, Sir Charles Adam, senior Lord, Sir +William Symonds, surveyor, Sir Edward Parry, of Polar fame, Captain +Beaufort, hydrographer, and other men of celebrity. This distinguished +company embarked at Somerset House, and the little steamer, with her +precious charge, proceeded down the river to Limehouse at the rate of +about ten miles an hour. After visiting the steam-engine manufactory +of Messrs. Seawood, where their Lordships' favourite apparatus, the +Morgan paddle-wheel, was in course of construction, they re-embarked, +and returned in safety to Somerset House. + +The experiment was perfectly successful, and yet the result was +disappointment. A few days later, a letter from Captain Beaufort +informed Mr. Ericsson that their Lordships had certainly been "very +much disappointed with the result of the experiment." The reason for +the disappointment was altogether inexplicable to the inventor. It +afterwards appeared, however, that Sir William Symonds, then Surveyor +to the Navy, had expressed the opinion that "even if the propeller had +the power of propelling a vessel, it would be found altogether useless +in practice, because the power being applied at the stern, it would be +absolutely impossible to make the vessel steer!" It will be remembered +that Francis Pettit Smith's screw vessel went to sea in the course of +the same year; and not only faced the waves, but was made to steer in a +perfectly successful manner. + +Although the Lords of the Admiralty would not further encourage the +screw propeller of Ericsson, an officer of the United States Navy, +Capt. R. F. Stockton, was so satisfied of its success, that after +making a single trip in the experimental steamboat from London Bridge +to Greenwich, he ordered the inventor to build for him forthwith two +iron boats for the United States, with steam machinery and a propeller +on the same plan. One of these vessels--the Robert F. +Stockton--seventy feet in length, was constructed by Laird and Co., of +Birkenhead, in 1838, and left England for America in April 1839. Capt. +Stockton so fully persuaded Ericsson of his probable success in +America, that the inventor at once abandoned his professional +engagements in England, and set out for the United States. It is +unnecessary to mention the further important works of this great +engineer. + +We may, however, briefly mention that in 1844, Ericsson constructed for +the United States Government the Princeton screw steamer--though he was +never paid for his time, labour, and expenditure.[6] Undeterred by +their ingratitude, Ericsson nevertheless constructed for the same +government, when in the throes of civil war, the famous Monitor, the +iron-clad cupola vessel, and was similarly rewarded! He afterwards +invented the torpedo ship--the Destroyer--the use of which has +fortunately not yet been required in sea warfare. Ericsson still +lives--constantly planning and scheming--in his house in Beach Street, +New York. He is now over eighty years old having been born in 1803. +He is strong and healthy. How has he preserved his vigorous +constitution? The editor of Scribner gives the answer: "The hall +windows of his house are open, winter and summer, and none but open +grate-fires are allowed. Insomnia never troubles him, for he falls +asleep as soon as his head touches the pillow. His appetite and +digestion are always good, and he has not lost a meal in ten years. +What an example to the men who imagine it is hard work that is killing +them in this career of unremitting industry!" + +To return to "Screw" Smith, after the successful trial of his little +vessel at sea in the autumn of 1837. He had many difficulties yet to +contend with. There was, first, the difficulty of a new invention, and +the fact that the paddle-boat had established itself in public +estimation. The engineering and shipbuilding world were dead against +him. They regarded the project of propelling a vessel by means of a +screw as visionary and preposterous. There was also the official +unwillingness to undertake anything novel, untried, and contrary to +routine. There was the usual shaking of the head and the shrugging of +the shoulders, as if the inventor were either a mere dreamer or a +projector eager to lay his hands upon the public purse. The surveyor +of the navy was opposed to the plan, because of the impossibility of +making a vessel steer which was impelled from the stern. "Screw" Smith +bided his time; he continued undaunted, and was determined to succeed. +He laboured steadily onward, maintaining his own faith unshaken, and +upholding the faith of the gentlemen who had become associated with him +in the prosecution of the invention. + +At the beginning of 1838 the Lords of the Admiralty requested Mr. Smith +to allow his vessel to be tried under their inspection. Two trials were +accordingly made, and they gave so much satisfaction that the adoption +of the propeller for naval purposes was considered as a not improbable +contingency. Before deciding finally upon its adoption, the Lords of +the Admiralty were anxious to see an experiment made with a vessel of +not less than 200 tons. Mr. Smith had not the means of accomplishing +this by himself, but with the improved prospects of the invention, +capitalists now came to his aid. One of the most effective and +energetic of these was Mr. Henry Currie, banker; and, with the +assistance of others, the "Ship Propeller Company" was formed, and +proceeded to erect the test ship proposed by the Admiralty. + +The result was the Archimedes, a wooden vessel of 237 tons burthen. +She was designed by Mr. Pasco, laid down by Mr. Wimshurst in the spring +of 1838, was launched on the 18th of October following, and made her +first trip in May 1839. She was fitted with a screw of one turn placed +in the dead wood, and propelled by a pair of engines of 80-horse power. +The vessel was built under the persuasion that her performance would be +considered satisfactory if a speed was attained of four or five knots +an hour, where as her actual speed was nine and a half knots. The +Lords of the Admiralty were invited to inspect the ship. At the second +trial Sir Edward Parry, Sir William Symonds, Captain Basil Hall, and +other distinguished persons were present. + +The results were again satisfactory. The success of the Archimedes +astonished the engineering world. Even the Surveyor of the Royal Navy +found that the vessel could steer! The Lords of the Admiralty could no +longer shut their eyes. But the invention could not at once be +adopted. It must be tested by the best judges. The vessel was sent to +Dover to be tried with the best packets between Dover and Calais. Mr. +Lloyd, the chief engineer of the Navy, conducted the investigation, and +reported most favourably as to the manner of her performance. Yet +several years elapsed before the screw was introduced into the service. + +In 1840 the Archimedes was placed at the disposal of Captain Chappell, +of the Royal Navy, who, accompanied by Mr. Smith, visited every +principal port in Great Britain. She was thus seen by shipowners, +marine engineers, and shipbuilders in every part of the kingdom. They +regarded her with wonder and admiration; yet the new mode of navigation +was not speedily adopted. The paddle-wheel still held its own. The +sentiment, if not the plant and capital, of the engineering world, were +against the introduction of the screw. After the vessel had returned +from her circumnavigation of Great Britain, she was sent to Oporto, and +performed the voyage in sixty-eight and a half hours, then held to be +the quickest voyage on record. She was then sent to the Texel at the +request of the Dutch Government. She went through the North Holland +Canal, visited Amsterdam, Antwerp, and other ports; and everywhere left +the impression that the screw was an efficient and reliable power in +the propulsion of vessels at sea. + +Shipbuilders, however, continued to "fight shy" of the screw. The late +Isambard Kingdon Brunel is entitled to the credit of having first +directed the attention of shipbuilders to this important invention. He +was himself a man of original views, free from bias, and always ready +to strike out a fresh path in engineering works. He was building a +large new iron steamer at Bristol, the Great Britain, for passenger +traffic between England and America. He had intended to construct her +as a paddle steamer; but hearing of the success of the Archimedes, he +inspected the vessel, and was so satisfied with the performance of the +screw that he recommended his directors to adopt this method for +propelling the Great Britain. His advice was adopted, and the vessel +was altered so as to adapt her for the reception of the screw. The +vessel was found perfectly successful, and on her first voyage to +London she attained the speed of ten knots an hour, though the wind and +balance of tides were against her. A few other merchant ships were +built and fitted with the screw; the Princess Royal at Newcastle in +1840, the Margaret and Senator at Hull, and the Great Northern at +Londonderry, in 1841. + +The Lords of the Admiralty made slow progress in adapting the screw for +the Royal Navy. Sir William Symonds, the surveyor and principal +designer of Her Majesty's ships, was opposed to all new projects. He +hated steam power, and was utterly opposed to iron ships. He speaks of +them in his journal as "monstrous."[7] So long as he remained in +office everything was done in a perfunctory way. A small vessel named +the Bee was built at Chatham in 1841, and fitted with both paddles and +the screw for the purposes of experiment. In the same year the +Rattier, the first screw vessel built for the navy, was laid down at +Sheerness. Although of only 888 tons burthen, she was not launched +until the spring of 1843. She was then fitted with the same kind of +screw as the Archimedes, that is, a double-headed screw of half a +convolution. Experiments went on for about three years, so as to +determine the best proportions of the screw, and the proportions then +ascertained have since been the principal guides of engineering +practice. + +The Rattler was at length tried in a water tournament with the +paddle-steamer Alecto, and signally defeated her. Francis Pettit +Smith, like Gulliver, may be said to have dragged the whole British +fleet after him. Were the paddle our only means of propulsion, our +whole naval force would be reduced to a nullity. Hostile gunners would +wing a paddle-steamer as effectually as a sportsman wings a bird, and +all the plating in the world would render such a ship a mere helpless +log on the water. + +The Admiralty could no longer defer the use of this important +invention. Like all good things, it made its way slowly and by +degrees. The royal naval authorities, who in 1833 backed the side +paddles, have since adopted the screw in most of the ships-of-war. In +all long sea-going voyages, also, the screw is now the favourite mode +of propulsion. Screw ships of prodigious size are now built and +launched in all the ship-building ports of Britain, and are sent out to +navigate in every part of the world. + +The introduction of iron as the material for shipbuilding has immensely +advanced the interests of steam navigation, as it enables the builders +to construct vessels of great size with the finest lines, so as to +attain the highest rates of speed. + +One might have supposed that Francis Pettit Smith would derive some +substantial benefit from his invention, or at least that the Ship +Propeller Company would distribute large dividends among their +proprietors. Nothing of the kind. Smith spent his money, his labour, +and his ingenuity in conferring a great public benefit without +receiving any adequate reward; and the company, instead of distributing +dividends, lost about 50,000L. in introducing this great invention; +after which, in 1856, the patent-right expired. Three hundred and +twenty-seven ships and vessels of all classes in the Royal Navy had +then been fitted with the screw propeller, and a much larger number in +the merchant service; but since that time the number of screw +propellers constructed is to be counted by thousands. + +In his comparatively impoverished condition it was found necessary to +do something for the inventor. The Civil Engineers, with Robert +Stephenson, M.P., in the chair, entertained him at a dinner and +presented him with a handsome salver and claret jug. And that he might +have something to put upon his salver and into his claret jug, a number +of his friends and admirers subscribed over 2000L. as a testimonial. +The Government appointed him Curator of the Patent Museum at South +Kensington; the Queen granted him a pension on the Civil List for 200L. +a year; he was raised to the honour of knighthood in 1871, and three +years later he died. + +Francis Pettit Smith was not a great inventor. He had, like many +others, invented a screw propeller. But, while those others had given +up the idea of prosecuting it to its completion, Smith stuck to his +invention with determined tenacity, and never let it go until he had +secured for it a complete triumph. As Mr. Stephenson observed at the +engineer's meeting: "Mr. Smith had worked from a platform which might +have been raised by others, as Watt had done, and as other great men +had done; but he had made a stride in advance which was almost +tantamount to a new invention. It was impossible to overrate the +advantages which this and other countries had derived from his untiring +and devoted patience in prosecuting the invention to a successful +issue." Baron Charles Dupin compared the farmer Smith with the barber +Arkwright: "He had the same perseverance and the same indomitable +courage. These two moral qualities enabled him to triumph over every +obstacle." This was the merit of "Screw" Smith--that he was determined +to realize what his predecessors had dreamt of achieving; and he +eventually accomplished his great purpose. + + +Footnotes for Chapter II. + +[1] In the Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects for +1860, it was pointed out that the general dimensions and form of bottom +of this ship were very similar to the most famous line-of-battle ships +built down to the end of last century, some of which were then in +existence. + +[2] According to the calculation of Mr. Chatfield, of Her Majesty's +dockyard at Plymouth, in a paper read before the British Association in +1841 on shipbuilding. + +[3] The phrase "wooden walls" is derived from the Greek. When the city +of Athens was once in danger of being attacked and destroyed, the +oracle of Delphi was consulted. The inhabitants were told that there +was no safety for them but in their "wooden walls,"--that is their +shipping. As they had then a powerful fleet, the oracle gave them +rational advice, which had the effect of saving the Athenian people. + +[4] An account of these is given by Bennet Woodcraft in his Sketch of +the Origin and Progress of Steam Navigation, London, 1848. + +[5] See Industrial Biography, pp. 183-197, + +[6] The story is told in Scribner's Monthly Illustrated Magazine, for +April 1879. Ericsson's modest bill was only $15,000 for two years' +labour. He was put off from year to year, and at length the Government +refused to pay the amount. "The American Government," says the editor +of Scribner, "will not appropriate the money to pay it, and that is +all. It is said to be the nature of republics to be ungrateful; but +must they also be dishonest?" + +[7] Memoirs of the Life and Services of Rear-Admiral Sir William +Symonds, Kt., p. 332. + + + +CHAPTER III.[1] + +JOHN HARRISON: INVENTOR OF THE MARINE CHRONOMETER. + +"No man knows who invented the mariner's compass, or who first hollowed +out a canoe from a log. The power to observe accurately the sun, moon, +and planets, so as to fix a vessel's actual position when far out of +sight of land, enabling long voyages to be safely made; the marvellous +improvements in ship-building, which shortened passages by sailing +vessels, and vastly reduced freights even before steam gave an +independent force to the carrier--each and all were done by small +advances, which together contributed to the general movement of +mankind.... Each owes all to the others. The forgotten inventors live +for ever in the usefulness of the work they have done and the progress +they have striven for."--H. M. Hyndman. + +One of the most extraordinary things connected with Applied Science is +the method by which the Navigator is enabled to find the exact spot of +sea on which his ship rides. There may be nothing but water and sky +within his view; he may be in the midst of the ocean, or gradually +nearing the land; the curvature of the globe baffles the search of his +telescope; but if he have a correct chronometer, and can make an +astronomical observation, he may readily ascertain his longitude, and +know his approximate position--how far he is from home, as well as from +his intended destination. He is even enabled, at some special place, +to send down his grappling-irons into the sea, and pick up an +electrical cable for examination and repair. + +This is the result of a knowledge of Practical Astronomy. "Place an +astronomer," says Mr. Newcomb, "on board a ship; blindfold him; carry +him by any route to any ocean on the globe, whether under the tropics +or in one of the frigid zones; land him on the wildest rock that can be +found; remove his bandage, and give him a chronometer regulated to +Greenwich or Washington time, a transit instrument with the proper +appliances, and the necessary books and tables, and in a single clear +night he can tell his position within a hundred yards by observations +of the stars. This, from a utilitarian point of view, is one of the +most important operations of Practical Astronomy."[2] + +The Marine Chronometer was the outcome of the crying want of the +sixteenth century for an instrument that should assist the navigator to +find his longitude on the pathless ocean. Spain was then the principal +naval power; she was the most potent monarchy in Europe, and held half +America under her sway. Philip III. offered 100,000 crowns for any +discovery by means of which the longitude might be determined by a +better method than by the log, which was found very defective. Holland +next became a great naval power, and followed the example of Spain in +offering 30,000 florins for a similar discovery. But though some +efforts were made, nothing practical was done, principally through the +defective state of astronomical instruments. England succeeded Spain +and Holland as a naval power; and when Charles II. established the +Greenwich Observatory, it was made a special point that Flamsteed, the +Astronomer-Royal, should direct his best energies to the perfecting of +a method for finding the longitude by astronomical observations. But +though Flamsteed, together with Halley and Newton, made some progress, +they were prevented from obtaining ultimate success by the want of +efficient chronometers and the defective nature of astronomical +instruments. + +Nothing was done until the reign of Queen Anne, when a petition was +presented to the Legislature on the 25th of May, 1714, by "several +captains of Her Majesty's ships, merchants in London, and commanders of +merchantmen, in behalf of themselves, and of all others concerned in +the navigation of Great Britain," setting forth the importance of the +accurate discovery of the longitude, and the inconvenience and danger +to which ships were subjected from the want of some suitable method of +discovering it. The petition was referred to a committee, which took +evidence on the subject. It appears that Sir Isaac Newton, with his +extraordinary sagacity, hit the mark in his report. "One is," he said, +"by a watch to keep time exactly; but, by reason of the motion of a +ship, and the variation of heat and cold, wet and dry, and the +difference of gravity in different latitudes, such a watch hath not yet +been made." + +An Act was however passed in the Session of 1714, offering a very large +public reward to inventors: 10,000L. to any one who should discover a +method of determining the longitude to one degree of a great circle, or +60 geographical miles; 15,000L. if it determined the same to two-thirds +of that distance, or 40 geographical miles; and 20,000L. if it +determined the same to one-half of the same distance, or 30 +geographical miles. Commissioners were appointed by the same Act, who +were instructed that "one moiety or half part of such reward shall be +due and paid when the said commissioners, or the major part of them, do +agree that any such method extends to the security of ships within 80 +geographical miles of the shore, which are places of the greatest +danger; and the other moiety or half part when a ship, by the +appointment of the said commissioners, or the major part of them, shall +actually sail over the ocean, from Great Britain to any such port in +the West Indies as those commissioners, or the major part of them, +shall choose or nominate for the experiment, without losing the +longitude beyond the limits before mentioned." + +The terms of this offer indicate how great must have been the risk and +inconvenience which it was desired to remedy. Indeed, it is almost +inconceivable that a reward so great could be held out for a method +which would merely afford security within eighty geographical miles! + +This splendid reward for a method of discovering the longitude was +offered to the world--to inventors and scientific men of all +countries--without restriction of race, or nation, or language. As +might naturally be expected, the prospect of obtaining it stimulated +many ingenious men to make suggestions and contrive experiments; but +for many years the successful construction of a marine time-keeper +seemed almost hopeless. At length, to the surprise of every one, the +prize was won by a village carpenter--a person of no school, or +university, or college whatever. + +Even so distinguished an artist and philosopher as Sir Christopher Wren +was engaged, as late in his life as the year 1720, in attempting to +solve this important problem. As has been observed, in the memoir of +him contained in the 'Biographia Britannica,'[3] "This noble invention, +like some others of the most useful ones to human life, seems to be +reserved for the peculiar glory of an ordinary mechanic, who, by +indefatigable industry, under the guidance of no ordinary sagacity, +hath seemingly at last surmounted all difficulties, and brought it to a +most unexpected degree of perfection." Where learning and science +failed, natural genius seems to have triumphed. + +The truth is, that the great mechanic, like the great poet, is born, +not made; and John Harrison, the winner of the famous prize, was a born +mechanic. He did not, however, accomplish his object without the +exercise of the greatest skill, patience, and perseverance. His +efforts were long, laborious, and sometimes apparently hopeless. +Indeed, his life, so far as we can ascertain the facts, affords one of +the finest examples of difficulties encountered and triumphantly +overcome, and of undaunted perseverance eventually crowned by success, +which is to be found in the whole range of biography. + +No complete narrative of Harrison's career was ever written. Only a +short notice of him appears in the 'Biographia Britannica,' published +in 1766, during his lifetime'--the facts of which were obtained from +himself. A few notices of him appear in the 'Annual Register,' also +published during his lifetime. The final notice appeared in the volume +published in 1777, the year after his death. No Life of him has since +appeared. Had he been a destructive hero, and fought battles by land +or sea, we should have had biographies of him without end. But he +pursued a more peaceful and industrious course. His discovery +conferred an incalculable advantage on navigation, and enabled +innumerable lives to be saved at sea; it also added to the domains of +science by its more exact measurement of time. But his memory has been +suffered to pass silently away, without any record being left for the +benefit and advantage of those who have succeeded him. The following +memoir includes nearly all that is known of the life and labours of +John Harrison. + +He was born at Foulby, in the parish of Wragby, near Pontefract, +Yorkshire, in March, 1693. His father, Henry Harrison, was carpenter +and joiner to Sir Rowland Winn, owner of the Nostell Priory estate. +The present house was built by the baronet on the site of the ancient +priory. Henry Harrison was a sort of retainer of the family, and long +continued in their Service. + +Little is known of the boy's education. It was certainly of a very +inferior description. Like George Stephenson, Harrison always had a +great difficulty in making himself understood, either by speech or +writing. Indeed, every board-school boy now receives a better +education than John Harrison did a hundred and eighty years ago. But +education does not altogether come by reading and writing. The boy was +possessed of vigorous natural abilities. He was especially attracted +by every machine that moved upon wheels. The boy was 'father to the +man.' When six years old, and lying sick of small-pox, a going watch +was placed upon his pillow, which afforded him infinite delight. + +When seven years old he was taken by his father to Barrow, near +Barton-on-Humber, where Sir Rowland Winn had another residence and +estate. Henry Harrison was still acting as the baronet's carpenter and +joiner. In course of time young Harrison joined his father in the +workshop, and proved of great use to him. His opportunities for +acquiring knowledge were still very few, but he applied his powers of +observation and his workmanship upon the things which were nearest him. +He worked in wood, and to wood he first turned his attention. + +He was still fond of machines going upon wheels. He had enjoyed the +sight of the big watch going upon brass wheels when he was a boy; but, +now that he was a workman in wood, he proposed to make an eight-day +clock, with wheels of this material. He made the clock in 1713, when +he was twenty years old,[4] so that he must have made diligent use of +his opportunities. He had of course difficulties to encounter, and +nothing can be accomplished without them; for it is difficulties that +train the habits of application and perseverance. But he succeeded in +making an effective clock, which counted the time with regularity. +This clock is still in existence. It is to be seen at the Museum of +Patents, South Kensington; and when we visited it a few months ago it +was going, and still marking the moments as they passed. It is +contained in a case about six feet high, with a glass front, showing a +pendulum and two weights. Over the clock is the following inscription: + +"This clock was made at Barrow, Lincolnshire, in the year 1715, by John +Harrison, celebrated as the inventor of a nautical timepiece, or +chronometer, which gained the reward of 20,000L., offered by the Board +of Longitude, A.D. 1767. + +"This clock strikes the hour, indicates the day of the month, and with +one exception (the escapement) the wheels are entirely made of wood." + +This, however, was only a beginning. Harrison proceeded to make better +clocks; and then he found it necessary to introduce metal, which was +more lasting. He made pivots of brass, which moved more conveniently +in sockets of wood with the use of oil. He also caused the teeth of +his wheels to run against cylindrical rollers of wood, fixed by brass +pins, at a proper distance from the axis of the pinions; and thus to a +considerable extent removed the inconveniences of friction. + +In the meantime Harrison eagerly improved every incident from which he +might derive further information. There was a clergyman who came every +Sunday to the village to officiate in the neighbourhood; and having +heard of the sedulous application of the young carpenter, he lent him a +manuscript copy of Professor Saunderson's discourses. That blind +professor had prepared several lectures on natural philosophy for the +use of his students, though they were not intended for publication. +Young Harrison now proceeded to copy them out, together with the +diagrams. Sometimes, indeed, he spent the greater part of the night in +writing or drawing. + +As part of his business, he undertook to survey land, and to repair +clocks and watches, besides carrying on his trade of a carpenter. He +soon obtained a considerable knowledge of what had been done in clocks +and watches, and was able to do not only what the best professional +workers had done, but to strike out entirely new lights in the clock +and watch-making business. He found out a method of diminishing +friction by adding a joint to the pallets of the pendulum, whereby they +were made to work in the nature of rollers of a large radius, without +any sliding, as usual, upon the teeth of the wheel. He constructed a +clock on the recoiling principle, which went perfectly, and never lost +a minute within fourteen years. Sir Edmund Denison Beckett says that +he invented this method in order to save himself the trouble of going +so frequently to oil the escapement of a turret clock, of which he had +charge; though there were other influences at work besides this. + +But his most important invention, at this early period of his life, was +his compensation pendulum. Every one knows that metals expand with +heat and contract by cold. The pendulum of the clock therefore +expanded in summer and contracted in winter, thereby interfering with +the regular going of the clock. Huygens had by his cylindrical checks +removed the great irregularity arising from the unequal lengths of the +oscillations; but the pendulum was affected by the tossing of a ship at +sea, and was also subject to a variation in weight, depending on the +parallel of latitude. Graham, the well-known clock-maker, invented the +mercurial compensation pendulum, consisting of a glass or iron jar +filled with quicksilver and fixed to the end of the pendulum rod. When +the rod was lengthened by heat, the quicksilver and the jar which +contained it were simultaneously expanded and elevated, and the centre +of oscillation was thus continued at the same distance from the point +of suspension. + +But the difficulty, to a certain extent, remained unconquered until +Harrison took the matter in hand. He observed that all rods of metal +do not alter their lengths equally by heat, or, on the contrary, become +shorter by cold, but some more sensibly than others. After innumerable +experiments Harrison at length composed a frame somewhat resembling a +gridiron, in which the alternate bars were of steel and of brass, and +so arranged that those which expanded the most were counteracted by +those which expanded the least. By this means the pendulum contained +the power of equalising its own action, and the centre of oscillation +continued at the same absolute distance from the point of suspension +through all the variations of heat and cold during the year.[5] + +Thus by the year 1726, when he was only thirty-three years old, +Harrison had furnished himself with two compensation clocks, in which +all the irregularities to which these machines were subject, were +either removed or so happily balanced, one metal against the other, +that the two clocks kept time together in different parts of his house, +without the variation of more than a single second in the month. One +of them, indeed, which he kept by him for his own use, and constantly +compared with a fixed star, did not vary so much as one whole minute +during the ten years that he continued in the country after finishing +the machine.[6] + +Living, as he did, not far from the sea, Harrison next endeavoured to +arrange his timekeeper for purposes of navigation. + +He tried his clock in a vessel belonging to Barton-on-Humber; but his +compensating pendulum could there be of comparatively little use; for +it was liable to be tossed hither or thither by the sudden motions of +the ship. He found it necessary, therefore, to mount a chronometer, or +portable timekeeper, which might be taken from place to place, and +subjected to the violent and irregular motion of a ship at sea, without +affecting its rate of going. It was evident to him that the first +mover must be changed from a weight and pendulum to a spring wound up +and a compensating balance. + +He now applied his genius in this direction. After pondering over the +subject, he proceeded to London in 1728, and exhibited his drawings to +Dr. Halley, then Astronomer-Royal. The Doctor referred him to Mr. +George Graham, the distinguished horologer, inventor of the dead-beat +escapement and the mercurial pendulum. After examining the drawings and +holding some converse with Harrison, Graham perceived him to be a man +of uncommon merit, and gave him every encouragement. He recommended +him, however, to make his machine before again applying to the Board of +Longitude. + +Harrison returned home to Barrow to complete his task, and many years +elapsed before he again appeared in London to present his first +chronometer. + +The remarkable success which Harrison had achieved in his compensating +pendulum could not but urge him on to further experiments. He was no +doubt to a certain extent influenced by the reward of 20,000L. which +the English Government had offered for an instrument that should enable +the longitude to be more accurately determined by navigators at sea +than was then possible; and it was with the object of obtaining +pecuniary assistance to assist him in completing his chronometer that +Harrison had, in 1728, made his first visit to London to exhibit his +drawings. + +The Act of Parliament offering this superb reward was passed in 1714, +fourteen years before, but no attempt had been made to claim it. It +was right that England, then rapidly advancing to the first position as +a commercial nation, should make every effort to render navigation less +hazardous. Before correct chronometers were invented, or good lunar +tables were prepared,[7] the ship, when fairly at sea, out of sight of +land, and battling with the winds and tides, was in a measure lost. No +method existed for accurately ascertaining the longitude. The ship +might be out of its course for one or two hundred miles, for anything +that the navigator knew; and only the wreck of his ship on some unknown +coast told of the mistake that he had made in his reckoning. + +It may here be mentioned that it was comparatively easy to determine +the latitude of a ship at sea every day when the sun was visible. The +latitude--that is, the distance of any spot from the equator and the +pole--might be found by a simple observation with the sextant. The +altitude of the sun at noon is found, and by a short calculation the +position of the ship can be ascertained. + +The sextant, which is the instrument universally used at sea, was +gradually evolved from similar instruments used from the earliest +times. The object of this instrument has always been to find the +angular distance between two bodies--that is to say, the angle +contained by two straight lines, drawn from those bodies to meet in the +observer's eye. The simplest instrument of this kind may be well +represented by a pair of compasses. If the hinge is held to the eye, +one leg pointed to the distant horizon, and the other leg pointed to +the sun, the position of the two legs will show the angular distance of +the sun from the horizon at the moment of observation. + +Until the end of the seventeenth century, the instrument used was of +this simple kind. It was generally a large quadrant, with one or two +bars moving on a hinge,--to all intents and purposes a huge pair of +compasses. The direction of the sight was fixed by the use of a slit +and a pointer, much as in the ordinary rifle. This instrument was +vastly improved by the use of a telescope, which not only allowed +fainter objects to be seen, but especially enabled the sight to be +accurately directed to the object observed. + +The instruments of the pre-telescopic age reached their glory in the +hands of Tycho Brahe. He used magnificent instruments of the simple +"pair of compasses" kind--circles, quadrants, and sextants. These were +for the most part ponderous fixed instruments of little or no use for +the purposes of navigation. But Tycho Brahe's sextant proved the +forerunner of the modern instrument. The general structure is the +same; but the vast improvement of the modern sextant is due, firstly, +to the use of the reflecting mirror, and, secondly, to the use of the +telescope for accurate sighting. These improvements were due to many +scientific men--to William Gascoigne, who first used the telescope, +about 1640; to Robert Hooke, who, in 1660, proposed to apply it to the +quadrant; to Sir Isaac Newton, who designed a reflecting quadrant;[8] +and to John Hadley, who introduced it. The modern sextant is merely a +modification of Newton's or Badley's quadrant, and its present +construction seems to be perfect. + +It therefore became possible accurately to determine the position of a +ship at sea as regarded its latitude. But it was quite different as +regarded the longitude that is, the distance of any place from a given +meridian, eastward or westward. In the case of longitude there is no +fixed spot to which reference can be made. The rotation of the earth +makes the existence of such a spot impossible. The question of +longitude is purely a question of TIME. The circuit of the globe, east +and west, is simply represented by twenty-four hours. Each place has +its own time. It is very easy to determine the local time at any spot +by observations made at that spot. But, as time is always changing, +the knowledge of the local time gives no idea of the actual position; +and still less of a moving object--say, of a ship at sea. But if, in +any locality, we know the local time, and also the local time of some +other locality at that moment--say, of the Observatory at Greenwich we +can, by comparing the two local times, determine the difference of +local times, or, what is the same thing, the difference of longitude +between the two places. It was necessary therefore for the navigator to +be in possession of a first-rate watch or chronometer, to enable him to +determine accurately the position of his ship at sea, as respected the +longitude. + +Before the middle of the eighteenth century good watches were +comparatively unknown. The navigator mainly relied, for his +approximate longitude, upon his Dead Reckoning, without any observation +of the heavenly bodies. He depended upon the accuracy of the course +which he had steered by the compass, and the mensuration of the ship's +velocity by an instrument called the Log, as well as by combining and +rectifying all the allowances for drift, lee-way, and so on, according +to the trim of the ship; but all of these were liable to much +uncertainty, especially when the sea was in a boisterous condition. +There was another and independent course which might have been +adopted--that is, by observation of the moon, which is constantly +moving amongst the stars from west to east. But until the middle of +the eighteenth century good lunar tables were as much unknown as good +watches. + +Hence a method of ascertaining the longitude, with the same degree of +accuracy which is attainable in respect of latitude, had for ages been +the grand desideratum for men "who go down to the sea in ships." Mr. +Macpherson, in his important work entitled 'The Annals of Commerce,' +observes, "Since the year 1714, when Parliament offered a reward of +20,000L. for the best method of ascertaining the longitude at sea, many +schemes have been devised, but all to little or no purpose, as going +generally upon wrong principles, till that heaven-taught artist Mr. +John Harrison arose;" and by him, as Mr. Macpherson goes on to say, the +difficulty was conquered, having devoted to it "the assiduous studies +of a long life." + +The preamble of the Act of Parliament in question runs as follows: +"Whereas it is well known by all that are acquainted with the art of +navigation that nothing is so much wanted and desired at sea as the +discovery of the longitude, for the safety and quickness of voyages, +the preservation of ships and the lives of men," and so on. The Act +proceeds to constitute certain persons commissioners for the discovery +of the longitude, with power to receive and experiment upon proposals +for that purpose, and to grant sums of money not exceeding 2000L. to +aid in such experiments. It will be remembered from what has been +above stated, that a reward of 10,000L. was to be given to the person +who should contrive a method of determining the longitude within one +degree of a great circle, or 60 geographical miles; 15,000L. within 40 +geographical miles; and 20,000L. within 30 geographical miles. + +It will, in these days, be scarcely believed that little more than a +hundred and fifty years ago a prize of not less than ten thousand +pounds should have been offered for a method of determining the +longitude within sixty miles, and that double the amount should have +been offered for a method of determining it within thirty miles! The +amount of these rewards is sufficient proof of the fearful necessity +for improvement which then existed in the methods of navigation. And +yet, from the date of the passing of the Act in 1714 until the year +1736, when Harrison finished his first timepiece, nothing had been done +towards ascertaining the longitude more accurately, even within the +wide limits specified by the Act of Parliament. Although several +schemes had been projected, none of them had proved successful, and the +offered rewards therefore still remained unclaimed. + +To return to Harrison. After reaching his home at Barrow, after his +visit to London in 1728, he began his experiments for the construction +of a marine chronometer. The task was one of no small difficulty. It +was necessary to provide against irregularities arising from the motion +of a ship at sea, and to obviate the effect of alternations of +temperature in the machine itself, as well as the oil with which it was +lubricated. A thousand obstacles presented themselves, but they were +not enough to deter Harrison from grappling with the work he had set +himself to perform. + +Every one knows the beautiful machinery of a timepiece, and the perfect +tools required to produce such a machine. Some of these tools Harrison +procured in London, but the greater number he provided for himself; and +many entirely new adaptations were required for his chronometer. As +wood could no longer be exclusively employed, as in his first clock, he +had to teach himself to work accurately and minutely in brass and other +metals. Having been unable to obtain any assistance from the Board of +Longitude, he was under the necessity, while carrying forward his +experiments, of maintaining himself by still working at his trade of a +carpenter and joiner. This will account for the very long period that +elapsed before he could bring his chronometer to such a state as that +it might be tried with any approach to certainty in its operations. + +Harrison, besides his intentness and earnestness, was a cheerful and +hopeful man. He had a fine taste for music, and organised and led the +choir of the village church, which attained a high degree of +perfection. He invented a curious monochord, which was not less +accurate than his clocks in the mensuration of time. His ear was +distressed by the ringing of bells out of tune, and he set himself to +remedy them. At the parish church of Hull, for instance, the bells +were harsh and disagreeable, and by the authority of the vicar and +churchwardens he was allowed to put them into a state of exact tune, so +that they proved entirely melodious. + +But the great work of his life was his marine chronometer. He found it +necessary, in the first place, to alter the first mover of his clock to +a spring wound up, so that the regularity of the motion might be +derived from the vibrations of balances, instead of those of a pendulum +as in a standing clock. Mr. Folkes, President of the Royal Society, +when presenting the gold medal to Harrison in 1749, thus describes the +arrangement of his new machine. The details were obtained from +Harrison himself, who was present. He had made use of two balances +situated in the same plane, but vibrating in contrary directions, so +that the one of these being either way assisted by the tossing of the +ship, the other might constantly be just so much impeded by it at the +same time. As the equality of the times of the vibrations of the +balance of a pocket-watch is in a great measure owing to the spiral +spring that lies under it, so the same was here performed by the like +elasticity of four cylindrical springs or worms, applied near the upper +and lower extremities of the two balances above described. + +Then came in the question of compensation. Harrison's experience with +the compensation pendulum of his clock now proved of service to him. +He had proceeded to introduce a similar expedient in his proposed +chronometer. As is well known to those who are acquainted with the +nature of springs moved by balances, the stronger those springs are, +the quicker the vibrations of the balances are performed, and vice +versa; hence it follows that those springs, when braced by cold, or +when relaxed by heat, must of necessity cause the timekeeper to go +either faster or slower, unless some method could be found to remedy +the inconvenience. + +The method adopted by Harrison was his compensation balance, doubtless +the backbone of his invention. His "thermometer kirb," he himself +says, "is composed of two thin plates of brass and steel, riveted +together in several places, which, by the greater expansion of brass +than steel by heat and contraction by cold, becomes convex on the brass +side in hot weather and convex on the steel side in cold weather; +whence, one end being fixed, the other end obtains a motion +corresponding with the changes of heat and cold, and the two pins at +the end, between which the balance spring passes, and which it +alternately touches as the spring bends and unbends itself, will +shorten or lengthen the spring, as the change of heat or cold would +otherwise require to be done by hand in the manner used for regulating +a common watch." Although the method has since been improved upon by +Leroy, Arnold, and Earnshaw, it was the beginning of all that has since +been done in the perfection of marine chronometers. Indeed, it is +amazing to think of the number of clever, skilful, and industrious men +who have been engaged for many hundred years in the production of that +exquisite fabric--so useful to everybody, whether scientific or +otherwise, on land or sea the modern watch. + +It is unnecessary here to mention in detail the particulars of +Harrison's invention. These were published by himself in his +'Principles of Mr. Harrison's Timekeeper.' It may, however, be +mentioned that he invented a method by which the chronometer might be +kept going without losing any portion of time. This was during the +process of winding up, which was done once in a day. While the +mainspring was being wound up, a secondary one preserved the motion of +the wheels and kept the machine going. + +After seven years' labour, during which Harrison encountered and +overcame numerous difficulties, he at last completed his first marine +chronometer. He placed it in a sort of moveable frame, somewhat +resembling what the sailors call a 'compass jumble,' but much more +artificially and curiously made and arranged. In this state the +chronometer was tried from time to time in a large barge on the river +Humber, in rough as well as in smooth weather, and it was found to go +perfectly, without losing a moment of time. + +Such was the condition of Harrison's chronometer when he arrived with +it in London in 1735, in order to apply to the commissioners appointed +for providing a public reward for the discovery of the longitude at +sea. He first showed it to several members of the Royal Society, who +cordially approved of it. Five of the most prominent members--Dr. +Bailey, Dr. Smith, Dr. Bradley, Mr. John Machin, and Mr. George +Graham--furnished Harrison with a certificate, stating that the +principles of his machine for measuring time promised a very great and +sufficient degree of exactness. In consequence of this certificate, +the machine, at the request of the inventor, and at the recommendation +of the Lords of the Admiralty, was placed on board a man-of-war. + +Sir Charles Wager, then first Lord of the Admiralty, wrote to the +captain of the Centurion, stating that the instrument had been approved +by mathematicians as the best that had been made for measuring time; +and requesting his kind treatment of Mr. Harrison, who was to accompany +it to Lisbon. Captain Proctor answered the First Lord from Spithead, +dated May 17th, 1736, promising his attention to Harrison's comfort, +but intimating his fear that he had attempted impossibilities. It is +always so with a new thing. The first steam-engine, the first +gaslight, the first locomotive, the first steamboat to America, the +first electric telegraph, were all impossibilities! + +This first chronometer behaved very well on the outward voyage in the +Centurion. It was not affected by the roughest weather, or by the +working of the ship through the rolling waves of the Bay of Biscay. It +was brought back, with Harrison, in the Orford man-of-war, when its +great utility was proved in a remarkable manner, although, from the +voyage being nearly on a meridian, the risk of losing the longitude was +comparatively small. Yet the following was the certificate of the +captain of the ship, dated the 24th June, 1737: "When we made the +land, the said land, according to my reckoning (and others), ought to +have been the Start; but, before we knew what land it was, John +Harrison declared to me and the rest of the ship's company that, +according to his observations with his machine, it ought to be the +Lizard--the which, indeed, it was found to be, his observation showing +the ship to be more west than my reckoning, above one degree and +twenty-six miles,"--that is, nearly ninety miles out of its course! + +Six days later--that is, on the 30th June--the Board of Longitude met, +when Harrison was present, and produced the chronometer with which he +had made the voyage to Lisbon and back. The minute states: "Mr. John +Harrison produced a new invented machine, in the nature of clockwork, +whereby he proposes to keep time at sea with more exactness than by any +other instrument or method hitherto contrived, in order to the +discovery of the longitude at sea; and proposes to make another machine +of smaller dimensions within the space of two years, whereby he will +endeavour to correct some defects which he hath found in that already +prepared, so as to render the same more perfect; which machine, when +completed, he is desirous of having tried in one of His Majesty's ships +that shall be bound to the West Indies; but at the same time +represented that he should not be able, by reason of his necessitous +circumstances, to go on and finish his said machine without assistance, +and requested that he may be furnished with the sum of 500L., to put +him in a capacity to perform the same, and to make a perfect experiment +thereof." + +The result of the meeting was that 500L. was ordered to be paid to +Harrison, one moiety as soon as convenient, and the other when he has +produced a certificate from the captain of one of His Majesty's ships +that he has put the machine on board into the captain's possession. +Mr. George Graham, who was consulted, urged that the Commissioners +should grant Harrison at least 1000L., but they only awarded him half +the sum, and at first only a moiety of the amount voted. At the +recommendation of Lord Monson, who was present, Harrison accepted the +250L. as a help towards the heavy expenses which he had already +incurred, and was again about to incur, in perfecting the invention. +He was instructed to make his new chronometer of less dimensions, as +the one exhibited was cumbersome and heavy, and occupied too much space +on board. + +He accordingly proceeded to make his second chronometer. It occupied a +space of only about half the size of the first. He introduced several +improvements. He lessened the number of the wheels, and thereby +diminished friction. But the general arrangement remained the same. +This second machine was finished in 1739. It was more simple in its +arrangement, and less cumbrous in its dimensions. It answered even +better than the first, and though it was not tried at sea its motions +were sufficiently exact for finding the longitude within the nearest +limits proposed by Act of Parliament. + +Not satisfied with his two machines, Harrison proceeded to make a +third. This was of an improved construction, and occupied still less +space, the whole of the machine and its apparatus standing upon an area +of only four square feet. It was in such forwardness in January, 1741, +that it was exhibited before the Royal Society, and twelve of the most +prominent members signed a certificate of "its great and excellent use, +as well for determining the longitude at sea as for correcting the +charts of the coasts." The testimonial concluded: "We do recommend +Mr. Harrison to the favour of the Commissioners appointed by Act of +Parliament as a person highly deserving of such further encouragement +and assistance as they shall judge proper and sufficient to finish his +third machine." The Commissioners granted him a further sum of 500L. +Harrison was already reduced to necessitous circumstances by his +continuous application to the improvement of the timekeepers. He had +also got into debt, and required further assistance to enable him to +proceed with their construction; but the Commissioners would only help +him by driblets. + +Although Harrison had promised that the third machine would be ready +for trial on August 1, 1743, it was not finished for some years later. +In June, 1746, we find him again appearing before the Board, asking for +further assistance. While proceeding with his work he found it +necessary to add a new spring, "having spent much time and thought in +tempering them." Another 500L. was voted to enable him to pay his +debts, to maintain himself and family, and to complete his chronometer. + +Three years later he exhibited his third machine to the Royal Society, +and on the 30th of November, 1749, he was awarded the Gold Medal for +the year. In presenting it, Mr. Folkes, the President, said to Mr. +Harrison, "I do here, by the authority and in the name of the Royal +Society of London for the improving of natural knowledge, present you +with this small but faithful token of their regard and esteem. I do, +in their name congratulate you upon the successes you have already had, +and I most sincerely wish that all your future trials may in every way +prove answerable to these beginnings, and that the full accomplishment +of your great undertaking may at last be crowned with all the +reputation and advantage to yourself that your warmest wishes may +suggest, and to which so many years so laudably and so diligently spent +in the improvement of those talents which God Almighty has bestowed +upon you, will so justly entitle your constant and unwearied +perseverance." + +Mr. Folkes, in his speech, spoke of Mr. Harrison as "one of the most +modest persons he had ever known. In speaking," he continued, "of his +own performances, he has assured me that, from the immense number of +diligent and accurate experiments he has made, and from the severe +tests to which he has in many ways put his instrument, he expects he +shall be able with sufficient certainty, through all the greatest +variety of seasons and the most irregular motions of the sea, to keep +time constantly, without the variation of so much as three seconds in a +week,--a degree of exactness that is astonishing and even stupendous, +considering the immense number of difficulties, and those of very +different sorts, which the author of these inventions must have had to +encounter and struggle withal." + +Although it is common enough now to make first-rate +chronometers--sufficient to determine the longitude with almost perfect +accuracy in every clime of the world--it was very different at that +time, when Harrison was occupied with his laborious experiments. +Although he considered his third machine to be the ne plus ultra of +scientific mechanism, he nevertheless proceeded to construct a fourth +timepiece, in the form of a pocket watch about five inches in diameter. +He found the principles which he had adopted in his larger machines +applied equally well in the smaller, and the performances of the last +surpassed his utmost expectations. But in the meantime, as his third +timekeeper was, in his opinion, sufficient to supply the requirements +of the Board of Longitude as respected the highest reward offered, he +applied to the Commissioners for leave to try that instrument on board +a royal ship to some port in the West Indies, as directed by the +statute of Queen Anne. + +Though Harrison's third timekeeper was finished about the year 1758, it +was not until March 12, 1761, that he received orders for his son +William to proceed to Portsmouth, and go on board the Dorsetshire +man-of-war, to proceed to Jamaica. But another tedious delay occurred. +The ship was ordered elsewhere, and William Harrison, after remaining +five months at Portsmouth, returned to London. By this time, John +Harrison had finished his fourth timepiece--the small one, in the form +of a watch. At length William Harrison set sail with this timekeeper +from Portsmouth for Jamaica, on November 18th, 1761, in the Deptford +man-of-war. The Deptford had forty-three ships in convoy, and arrived +at Jamaica on the 19th of January, 1762, three days before the Beaver, +another of His Majesty's ships-of-war, which had sailed from Portsmouth +ten days before the Deptford, but had lost her reckoning and been +deceived in her longitude, having trusted entirely to the log. +Harrison's timepiece had corrected the log of the Deptford to the +extent of three degrees of longitude, whilst several of the ships in +the fleet lost as much as five degrees! This shows the haphazard way +in which navigation was conducted previous to the invention of the +marine chronometer. + +When the Deptford arrived at Port Royal, Jamaica, the timekeeper was +found to be only five and one tenth seconds in error; and during the +voyage of four months, on its return to Portsmouth on March 26th, 1762, +it was found (after allowing for the rate of gain or loss) to have +erred only one minute fifty-four and a half seconds. In the latitude +of Portsmouth this only amounted to eighteen geographical miles, +whereas the Act had awarded that the prize should be given where the +longitude was determined within the distance of thirty geographical +miles. One would have thought that Harrison was now clearly entitled +to his reward of 20,000L. + +Not at all! The delays interposed by Government are long and tedious, +and sometimes insufferable. Harrison had accomplished more than was +needful to obtain the highest reward which the Board of Longitude had +publicly offered. But they would not certify that he had won the +prize. On the contrary, they started numerous objections, and +continued for years to subject him to vexatious delays and +disappointments. They pleaded that the previous determination of the +longitude of Jamaica by astronomical observation was unsatisfactory; +that there was no proof of the chronometer having maintained a uniform +rate during the voyage; and on the 17th of August, 1762, they passed a +resolution, stating that they "were of opinion that the experiments +made of the watch had not been sufficient to determine the longitude at +sea." + +It was accordingly necessary for Harrison to petition Parliament on the +subject. Three reigns had come and gone since the Act of Parliament +offering the reward had been passed. Anne had died; George I. and +George II. had reigned and died; and now, in the reign of George +III.--thirty-five years after Harrison had begun his labours, and after +he had constructed four several marine chronometers, each of which was +entitled to win the full prize,--an Act of Parliament was passed +enabling the inventor to obtain the sum of 5000L. as part of the +reward. But the Commissioners still hesitated. They differed about +the tempering of the springs. They must have another trial of the +timekeeper, or anything with which to put off a settlement of the +claim. Harrison was ready for any further number of trials; and in the +meantime the Commissioners merely paid him a further sum on account. + +Two more dreary years passed. Nothing was done in 1763 except a +quantity of interminable talk at the Board of Commissioners. At +length, on the 28th of March, 1764, Harrison's son again departed with +the timekeeper on board the ship Tartar for Barbadoes. He returned in +about four months, during which time the instrument enabled the +longitude to be ascertained within ten miles, or one-third of the +required geographical distance. Harrison memorialised the +Commissioners again and again, in order that he might obtain the reward +publicly offered by the Government. + +At length the Commissioners could no longer conceal the truth. In +September,1764, they virtually recognised Harrison's claim by paying +him 1000L. on account; and, on the 9th of February,1765, they passed a +resolution setting forth that they were "unanimously of opinion that +the said timekeeper has kept its time with sufficient correctness, +without losing its longitude in the voyage from Portsmouth to Barbadoes +beyond the nearest limit required by the Act 12th of Queen Anne, but +even considerably within the same." Yet they would not give Harrison +the necessary certificate, though they were of opinion that he was +entitled to be paid the full reward! + +It is pleasant to contrast the generous conduct of the King of Sardinia +with the procrastinating and illiberal spirit which Harrison met with +in his own country. During the same year in which the above resolution +was passed, the Sardinian minister ordered four of Harrison's +timekeepers at the price of 1000L. each, at the special instance of the +King of Sardinia "as an acknowledgement of Mr. Harrison's ingenuity, +and as some recompense for the time spent by him for the general good +of mankind." This grateful attention was all the more praiseworthy, as +Sardinia could not in any way be regarded as a great maritime power. + +Harrison was now becoming old and feeble. He had attained the age of +seventy-four. He had spent forty long years in working out his +invention. He was losing his eyesight, and could not afford to wait +much longer. Still he had to wait. + + "Full little knowest thou, who hast not tried, + What hell it is in suing long to bide; + To lose good days, that might be better spent; + To waste long nights in pensive discontent; + To spend to-day, to be put back to-morrow, + To feed on hope, to pine with fear and sorrow." + +But Harrison had not lost his spirit. On May 30th, 1765, he addressed +another remonstrance to the Board, containing much stronger language +than he had yet used. "I cannot help thinking," he said, "that I am +extremely ill-used by gentlemen from whom I might have expected a +different treatment; for, if the Act of the 12th of Queen Anne be +deficient, why have I so long been encouraged under it, in order to +bring my invention to perfection? And, after the completion, why was +my son sent twice to the West Indies? Had it been said to my son, when +he received the last instruction, 'There will, in case you succeed, be +a new Act on your return, in order to lay you under new restrictions, +which were not thought of in the Act of the 12th of Queen Anne,'--I +say, had this been the case, I might have expected some such treatment +as that I now meet with. + +"It must be owned that my case is very hard; but I hope I am the first, +and for my country's sake I hope I shall be the last, to suffer by +pinning my faith upon an English Act of Parliament. Had I received my +just reward--for certainly it may be so called after forty years' close +application of the talent which it has pleased God to give me--then my +invention would have taken the course which all improvements in this +world do; that is, I must have instructed workmen in its principles and +execution, which I should have been glad of an opportunity of doing. +But how widely different this is from what is now proposed, viz., for +me to instruct people that I know nothing of, and such as may know +nothing of mechanics; and, if I do not make them understand to their +satisfaction, I may then have nothing! + +"Hard fate indeed to me, but still harder to the world, which may be +deprived of this my invention, which must be the case, except by my +open and free manner in describing all the principles of it to +gentlemen and noblemen who almost at all times have had free recourse +to my instruments. And if any of these workmen have been so ingenious +as to have got my invention, how far you may please to reward them for +their piracy must be left for you to determine; and I must set myself +down in old age, and thank God I can be more easy in that I have the +conquest, and though I have no reward, than if I had come short of the +matter and by some delusion had the reward!" + +The Right Honourable the Earl of Egmont was in the chair of the Board +of Longitude on the day when this letter was read--June 13, 1765. The +Commissioners were somewhat startled by the tone which the inventor had +taken. Indeed, they were rather angry. Mr. Harrison, who was in +waiting, was called in. After some rather hot speaking, and after a +proposal was made to Harrison which he said he would decline to accede +to "so long as a drop of English blood remained in his body," he left +the room. Matters were at length arranged. The Act of Parliament (5 +Geo. III. cap. 20) awarded him, upon a full discovery of the principles +of his time-keeper, the payment of such a sum, as with the 2500L. he +had already received, would make one half of the reward; and the +remaining half was to be paid when other chronometers had been made +after his design, and their capabilities fully proved. He was also +required to assign his four chronometers--one of which was styled a +watch--to the use of the public. + +Harrison at once proceeded to give full explanations of the principles +of his chronometer to Dr. Maskelyne, and six other gentlemen, who had +been appointed to receive them. He took his timekeeper to pieces in +their presence, and deposited in their hands correct drawings of the +same, with the parts, so that other skilful makers might construct +similar chronometers on the same principles. Indeed, there was no +difficulty in making them; after his explanations and drawings had been +published. An exact copy of his last watch was made by the ingenious +Mr. Kendal; and was used by Captain Cook in his three years' +circumnavigation of the world, to his perfect satisfaction. + +England had already inaugurated that series of scientific expeditions +which were to prove so fruitful of results, and to raise her naval +reputation to so great a height. In these expeditions, the officers, +the sailors, and the scientific men, were constantly brought face to +face with unforeseen difficulties and dangers, which brought forth +their highest qualities as men. There was, however, some intermixture +of narrowness in the minds of those who sent them forth. For instance, +while Dr. Priestley was at Leeds, he was asked by Sir Joseph Banks to +join Captain Cook's second expedition to the Southern Seas, as an +astronomer. Priestley gave his assent, and made arrangements to set +out. But some weeks later, Banks informed him that his appointment had +been cancelled, as the Board of Longitude objected to his theology. +Priestley's otherwise gentle nature was roused. "What I am, and what +they are, in respect of religion," he wrote to Banks, in December, +1771, "might easily have been known before the thing was proposed to me +at all. Besides, I thought that this had been a business of +philosophy, and not of divinity. If, however, this be the case, I +shall hold the Board of Longitude in extreme contempt." + +Captain Cook was appointed to the command of the Resolution, and +Captain Wallis to the command of the Adventure, in November, 1771. +They proceeded to equip the ships; and amongst the other instruments +taken on board Captain Cook's ship, were two timekeepers, one made by +Mr. Larcum Kendal, on Mr. Harrison's principles, and the other by Mr. +John Arnold, on his own. The expedition left Deptford in April, 1772; +and shortly afterwards sailed for the South Seas. "Mr. Kendal's watch" +is the subject of frequent notices in Captain Cook's account. At the +Cape of Good Hope, it is said to have "answered beyond all +expectation." Further south, in the neighbourhood of Cape Circumcision, +he says, "the use of the telescope is found difficult at first, but a +little practice will make it familiar. By the assistance of the watch +we shall be able to discover the greatest error this method of +observing the longitude at sea is liable to." It was found that +Harrison's watch was more correct than Arnold's, and when near Cape +Palliser in New Zealand, Cook says, "this day at noon, when we attended +the winding-up of the watches, the fusee of Mr. Arnold's would not turn +round, so that after several unsuccessful trials we were obliged to let +it go down." From this time, complete reliance was placed upon +Harrison's chronometer. Some time later, Cook says, "I must here take +notice that our longitude can never be erroneous while we have so good +a guide as Mr. Kendal's watch." It may be observed, that at the +beginning of the voyage, observations were made by the lunar tables; +but these, being found unreliable, were eventually discontinued. + +To return to Harrison. He continued to be worried by official +opposition. His claims were still unsatisfied. His watch at home +underwent many more trials. Dr. Maskelyne, the Royal Astronomer, was +charged with being unfavourable to the success of chronometers, being +deeply interested in finding the longitude by lunar tables; although +this method is now almost entirely superseded by the chronometer. +Harrison accordingly could not get the certificate of what was due to +him under the Act of Parliament. Years passed before he could obtain +the remaining amount of his reward. It was not until the year 1773, or +forty-five years after the commencement of his experiments, that he +succeeded in obtaining it. The following is an entry in the list of +supplies granted by Parliament in that year: "June 14. To John +Harrison, as a further reward and encouragement over and above the sums +already received by him, for his invention of a timekeeper for +ascertaining the longitude at sea, and his discovery of the principles +upon which the same was constructed, 8570 pounds 0s. 0d." + +John Harrison did not long survive the settlement of his claims; for he +died on the 24th of March, 1776, at the age of eighty-three. He was +buried at the south-west corner of Hampstead parish churchyard, where a +tombstone was erected to his memory, and an inscription placed upon it +commemorating his services. His wife survived him only a year; she +died at seventy-two, and was buried in the same tomb. His son, William +Harrison, F.R.S., a deputy-lientenant of the counties of Monmouth and +Middlesex, died in 1815, at the ripe age of eighty-eight, and was also +interred there. The tomb having stood for more than a century, became +somewhat dilapidated; when the Clock-makers' Company of the City of +London took steps in 1879 to reconstruct it, and recut the +inscriptions. An appropriate ceremony took place at the final +uncovering of the tomb. + +But perhaps the most interesting works connected with John Harrison and +the great labour of his life, are the wooden clock at the South +Kensington Museum, and the four chronometers made by him for the +Government, which are still preserved at the Royal Observatory, +Greenwich. The three early ones are of great weight, and can scarcely +be moved without some bodily labour. But the fourth, the marine +chronometer or watch, is of small dimensions, and is easily handled. +It still possesses the power of going accurately; as does "Mr. Kendal's +watch," which was made exactly after it. These will always prove the +best memorials of this distinguished workman. + +Before concluding this brief notice of the life and labours of John +Harrison, it becomes me to thank most cordially Mr. Christie, +Astronomer-Royal, for his kindness in exhibiting the various +chronometers deposited at the Greenwich Observatory, and for his +permission to inspect the minutes of the Board of Longitude, where the +various interviews between the inventor and the commissioners, +extending over many years, are faithfully but too procrastinatingly +recorded. It may be finally said of John Harrison, that by his +invention of the chronometer--the ever-sleepless and ever-trusty friend +of the mariner--he conferred an incalculable benefit on science and +navigation, and established his claim to be regarded as one of the +greatest benefactors of mankind. + +POstscript.--In addition to the information contained in this chapter, +I have been recently informed by the Rev. Mr. Sankey, vicar of Wragby, +that the family is quite extinct in the parish, except the wife of a +plumber, who claims relationship with Harrison. The representative of +the Winn family was created Lord St. Oswald in 1885. Harrison is not +quite forgotten at Foulby. The house in which he was born was a low +thatched cottage, with two rooms, one used as a living room, and the +other as a sleeping room. The house was pulled down about forty years +ago; but the entrance door, being of strong, hard wood, is still +preserved. The vicar adds that young Harrison would lie out on the +grass all night in summer time, studying the details of his wooden +clock. + + +Footnotes to Chapter III. + +[1] Originally published in Longmam's Magazine, but now rewritten and +enlarged. + +[2] Popular Astronomy. By Simon Newcomb, LL.D., Professor U.S. Naval +Observatory. + +[3] Biographia Britannica, vol. vi. part 2, p. 4375. This volume was +published in 1766, before the final reward had been granted to Harrison. + +[4] This clock is in the possession of Abraham Riley, of Bromley, near +Leeds. He informs us that the clock is made of wood throughout, +excepting the escapement and the dial, which are made of brass. It +bears the mark of "John Harrison, 1713." + +[5] Harrison's compensation pendulum was afterwards improved by Arnold, +Earnshaw, and other English makers. Dent's prismatic balance is now +considered the best. + +[6] See Mr. Folkes's speech to the Royal Soc., 30th Nov., 1749. + +[7] No trustworthy lunar tables existed at that time. It was not until +the year 1753 that Tobias Mayer, a German, published the first lunar +tables which could be relied upon. For this, the British Government +afterwards awarded to Mayer's widow the sum of 5000L. + +[8] Sir Isaac Newton gave his design to Edmund Halley, then +Astronomer-Royal. Halley laid it on one side, and it was found among +his papers after his death in 1742, twenty-five years after the death +of Newton. A similar omission was made by Sir G. B. Airy, which led to +the discovery of Neptune being attributed to Leverrier instead of to +Adams. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +JOHN LOMBE: INTRODUCER OF THE SILK INDUSTRY INTO ENGLAND. + +"By Commerce are acquired the two things which wise men accompt of all +others the most necessary to the well-being of a Commonwealth: That is +to say, a general Industry of Mind and Hardiness of Body, which never +fail to be accompanyed with Honour and Plenty. So that, questionless, +when Commerce does not flourish, as well as other Professions, and when +Particular Persons out of a habit of Laziness neglect at once the +noblest way of employing their time and the fairest occasion for +advancing their fortunes, that Kingdom, though otherwise never so +glorious, wants something of being compleatly happy."--A Treatise +touching the East India Trade (1695). + +Industry puts an entirely new face upon the productions of nature. By +labour man has subjugated the world, reduced it to his dominion, and +clothed the earth with a new garment. The first rude plough that man +thrust into the soil, the first rude axe of stone with which he felled +the pine, the first rude canoe scooped by him from its trunk to cross +the river and reach the greener fields beyond, were each the outcome of +a human faculty which brought within his reach some physical comfort he +had never enjoyed before. + +Material things became subject to the influence of labour. From the +clay of the ground, man manufactured the vessels which were to contain +his food. Out of the fleecy covering of sheep, he made clothes for +himself of many kinds; from the flax plant he drew its fibres, and made +linen and cambric; from the hemp plant he made ropes and fishing nets; +from the cotton pod he fabricated fustians, dimities, and calicoes. +From the rags of these, or from weed and the shavings of wood, he made +paper on which books and newspapers were printed. Lead was formed by +him into printer's type, for the communication of knowledge without end. + +But the most extraordinary changes of all were made in a heavy stone +containing metal, dug out of the ground. With this, when smelted by +wood or coal, and manipulated by experienced skill, iron was produced. +From this extraordinary metal, the soul of every manufacture, and the +mainspring perhaps of civilised society--arms, hammers, and axes were +made; then knives, scissors, and needles; then machinery to hold and +control the prodigious force of steam; and eventually railroads and +locomotives, ironclads propelled by the screw, and iron and steel +bridges miles in length. + +The silk manufacture, though originating in the secretion of a tiny +caterpillar, is perhaps equally extraordinary. Hundreds of thousands +of pounds weight of this slender thread, no thicker than the filaments +spun by a spider, give employment to millions of workers throughout the +world. Silk, and the many textures wrought from this beautiful +material, had long been known in the East; but the period cannot be +fixed when man first divested the chrysalis of its dwelling, and +discovered that the little yellow ball which adhered to the leaf of the +mulberry tree, could be evolved into a slender filament, from which +tissues of endless variety and beauty could be made. The Chinese were +doubtless among the first who used the thread spun by the silkworm for +the purposes of clothing. The manufacture went westward from China to +India and Persia, and from thence to Europe. Alexander the Great +brought home with him a store of rich silks from Persia Aristotle and +Pliny give descriptions of the industrious little worm and its +productions. Virgil is the first of the Roman writers who alludes to +the production of silk in China; and the terms he employs show how +little was then known about the article. It was introduced at Rome +about the time of Julius Caesar, who displayed a profusion of silks in +some of his magnificent theatrical spectacles. Silk was so valuable +that it was then sold for an equal weight of gold. Indeed, a law was +passed that no man should disgrace himself by wearing a silken garment. +The Emperor Heliogabalus despised the law, and wore a dress composed +wholly of silk. The example thus set was followed by wealthy citizens. +A demand for silk from the East soon became general. + +It was not until about the middle of the sixth century that two Persian +monks, who had long resided in China, and made themselves acquainted +with the mode of rearing the silkworm, succeeded in carrying the eggs +of the insect to Constantinople. Under their direction they were +hatched and fed. A sufficient number of butterflies were saved to +propagate the race, and mulberry trees were planted to afford +nourishment to the rising generations of caterpillars. Thus the +industry was propagated. It spread into the Italian peninsula; and +eventually manufactures of silk velvet, damask, and satin became +established in Venice, Milan, Florence, Lucca, and other places. + +Indeed, for several centuries the manufacture of silk in Europe was for +the most part confined to Italy. The rearing of silkworms was of great +importance in Modena, and yielded a considerable revenue to the State. +The silk produced there was esteemed the best in Lombardy. Until the +beginning of the sixteenth century, Bologna was the only city which +possessed proper "throwing" mills, or the machinery requisite for +twisting and preparing silken fibres for the weaver. Thousands of +people were employed at Florence and Genoa about the same time in the +silk manufacture. And at Venice it was held in such high esteem, that +the business of a silk factory was considered a noble employment.[1] + +It was long before the use of silk became general in England. "Silk," +said an old writer, "does not immediately come hither from the Worm +that spins and makes it, but passes many a Climate, travels many a +Desert, employs many a Hand, loads many a Camel, and freights many a +Ship before it arrives here; and when at last it comes, it is in return +for other manufactures, or in exchange for our money."[2] It is said +that the first pair of silk stockings was brought into England from +Spain, and presented to Henry VIII. He had before worn hose of cloth. +In the third year of Queen Elizabeth's reign, her tiring woman, Mrs. +Montagu, presented her with a pair of black silk stockings as a New +Year's gift; whereupon her Majesty asked if she could have any more, in +which case she would wear no more cloth stockings. When James VI. of +Scotland received the ambassadors sent to congratulate him upon his +accession to the throne of Great Britain, he asked one of his lords to +lend him his pair of silken hose, that he "might not appear a scrub +before strangers." From these circumstances it will be observed how +rare the wearing of silk was in England. + +Shortly after becoming king, James I. endeavoured to establish the silk +manufacture in England, as had already been successfully done in +France. He gave every encouragement to the breeding of silkworms. He +sent circular letters to all the counties of England, strongly +recommending the inhabitants to plant mulberry trees. The trees were +planted in many places, but the leaves did not ripen in sufficient time +for the sustenance of the silkworms. + +The same attempt was made at Inneshannon, near Bandon, in Ireland, by +the Hugnenot refugees, but proved abortive. The climate proved too +cold or damp for the rearing of silkworms with advantage. All that +remains is "The Mulberry Field," which still retains its name. +Nevertheless the Huguenots successfully established the silk +manufacture at London and Dublin, obtaining the spun silk from abroad. + +Down to the beginning of last century, the Italians were the principal +producers of organzine or thrown silk; and for a long time they +succeeded in keeping their art a secret. Although the silk +manufacture, as we have seen, was introduced into this country by the +Huguenot artizans, the price of thrown silk was so great that it +interfered very considerably with its progress. Organzine was +principally made within the dominions of Savoy, by means of a large and +curious engine, the like of which did not exist elsewhere. The +Italians, by the most severe laws, long preserved the mystery of the +invention. The punishment prescribed by one of their laws to be +inflicted upon anyone who discovered the secret, or attempted to carry +it out of the Sardinian dominions, was death, with the forfeiture of +all the goods the delinquent possessed; and the culprit was "to be +afterwards painted on the outside of the prison walls, hanging to the +gallows by one foot, with an inscription denoting the name and crime of +the person, there to be continued for a perpetual mark of infamy."[3] + +Nevertheless, a bold and ingenious man was found ready to brave all +this danger in the endeavour to discover the secret. It may be +remembered with what courage and determination the founder of the Foley +family introduced the manufacture of nails into England. He went into +the Danemora mine district, near Upsala in Sweden, fiddling his way +among the miners; and after making two voyages, he at last wrested from +them the secret of making nails, and introduced the new industry into +the Staffordshire district.[4] The courage of John Lombe, who +introduced the thrown-silk industry into England, was equally notable. +He was a native of Norwich. Playfair, in his 'Family Antiquity' (vii. +312), says his name "may have been taken from the French Lolme, or de +Lolme," as there were many persons of French and Flemish origin settled +at Norwich towards the close of the sixteenth century; but there is no +further information as to his special origin. + +John Lombe's father, Henry Lombe, was a worsted weaver, and was twice +married. By his first wife he had two sons, Thomas and Henry; and by +his second, he had also two sons, Benjamin and John. At his death in +1695, he left his two brothers his "supervisors," or trustees, and +directed them to educate his children in due time to some useful trade. +Thomas, the eldest son, went to London. He was apprenticed to a trade, +and succeeded in business, as we find him Sheriff of London and +Middlesex in 1727, when in his forty-second year. He was also knighted +in the same year, most probably on the accession of George II. to the +throne. + +John, the youngest son of the family, and half-brother of Thomas, was +put an apprentice to a trade. In 1702, we find him at Derby, working +as a mechanic with one Mr. Crotchet. This unfortunate gentleman +started a small silk-mill at Derby, with the object of participating in +the profits derived from the manufacture. + +"The wear of silks," says Hutton, in his 'History of Derby,' "was the +taste of the ladies, and the British merchant was obliged to apply to +the Italian with ready money for the article at an exorbitant price." +Crotchet did not succeed in his undertaking. "Three engines were found +necessary for the process: he had but one. An untoward trade is a +dreadful sink for money; and an imprudent tradesman is still more +dreadful. We often see instances where a fortune would last a man much +longer if he lived upon his capital, than if he sent it into trade. +Crotchet soon became insolvent." + +John Lombe, who had been a mechanic in Crotchet's silk mill, lost his +situation accordingly. But he seems to have been possessed by an +intense desire to ascertain the Italian method of silk-throwing. He +could not learn it in England. There was no other method but going to +Italy, getting into a silk mill, and learning the secret of the Italian +art. He was a good mechanic and a clever draughtsman, besides being +intelligent and fearless. + +But he had not the necessary money wherewith to proceed to Italy. + +His half-brother Thomas, however, was doing well in London, and was +willing to help him with the requisite means. Accordingly, John set +out for Italy, not long after the failure of Crotchet. + +John Lombe succeeded in getting employment in a silk mill in Piedmont, +where the art of silk-throwing was kept a secret. He was employed as a +mechanic, and had thus an opportunity, in course of time, of becoming +familiar with the operation of the engine. Hutton says that he bribed +the workmen; but this would have been a dangerous step, and would +probably have led to his expulsion, if not to his execution. Hutton +had a great detestation of the first silk factory at Derby, where he +was employed when a boy; and everything that he says about it must be +taken cum grano salis. When the subject of renewing the patent was +before Parliament in 1731, Mr. Perry, who supported the petition of Sir +Thomas Lombe, said that "the art had been kept so secret in Piedmont, +that no other nation could ever yet come at the invention, and that Sir +Thomas and his brother resolved to make an attempt for the bringing of +this invention into their own country. They knew that there would be +great difficulty and danger in the undertaking, because the king of +Sardinia had made it death for any man to discover this invention, or +attempt to carry it out of his dominions. The petitioner's brother, +however, resolved to venture his person for the benefit and advantage +of his native country, and Sir Thomas was resolved to venture his +money, and to furnish his brother with whatever sums should be +necessary for executing so bold and so generous a design. His brother +went accordingly over to Italy; and after a long stay and a great +expense in that country, he found means to see this engine so often, +and to pry into the nature of it so narrowly, that he made himself +master of the whole invention and of all the different parts and +motions belonging to it." + +John Lombe was absent from England for several years. While occupied +with his investigations and making his drawings, it is said that it +began to be rumoured that the Englishman was prying into the secret of +the silk mill, and that he had to fly for his life. However this may +be, he got on board an English ship, and returned to England in safety. +He brought two Italian workmen with him, accustomed to the secrets of +the silk trade. He arrived in London in 1716, when, after conferring +with his brother, a specification was prepared and a patent for the +organzining of raw silk was taken out in 1718. The patent was granted +for fourteen years. + +In the meantime, John Lombe arranged with the Corporation of the town +of Derby for taking a lease of the island or swamp on the river +Derwent, at a ground rental of 8L. a year. The island, which was well +situated for water-power, was 500 feet long and 52 feet wide. +Arrangements were at once made for erecting a silk mill thereon, the +first large factory in England. It was constructed entirely at the +expense of his brother Thomas. While the building was in progress, +John Lombe hired various rooms in Derby, and particularly the Town +Hall, where he erected temporary engines turned by hand, and gave +employment to a large number of poor people. + +At length, after about three years' labour, the great silk mill was +completed. It was founded upon huge piles of oak, from 16 to 20 feet +long, driven into the swamp close to each other by an engine made for +the purpose. The building was five stories high, contained eight large +apartments, and had no fewer than 468 windows. The Lombes must have +had great confidence in their speculation, as the building and the +great engine for making the organzine silk, together with the other +fittings, cost them about 30,000L. + +One effect of the working of the mill was greatly to reduce the price +of the thrown-silk, and to bring it below the cost of the Italian +production. The King of Sardinia, having heard of the success of the +Lombe's undertaking, prohibited the exportation of Piedmontese raw +silk, which interrupted the course of their prosperity, until means +were taken to find a renewed supply elsewhere. + +And now comes the tragic part of the story, for which Mr. Hutton, the +author of the 'History of Derby,' is responsible. As he worked in the +silk mill when a boy, from 1730 to 1737, he doubtless heard it from the +mill-hands, and there may be some truth in it, though mixed with a +little romance. It is this:-- + +Hutton says of John Lombe, that he "had not pursued this lucrative +commerce more than three or four years when the Italians, who felt the +effects from their want of trade, determined his destruction, and hoped +that that of his works would follow. An artful woman came over in the +character of a friend, associated with the parties, and assisted in the +business. She attempted to gain both the Italian workmen, and +succeeded with one. By these two slow poison was supposed, and perhaps +justly, to have been administered to John Lombe, who lingered two or +three years in agony, and departed. The Italian ran away to his own +country; and Madam was interrogated, but nothing transpired, except +what strengthened suspicion." A strange story, if true. + +Of the funeral, Hutton says:--"John Lombe's was the most superb ever +known in Derby. A man of peaceable deportment, who had brought a +beneficial manufactory into the place, employed the poor, and at +advanced wages, could not fail meeting with respect, and his melancholy +end with pity. Exclusive of the gentlemen who attended, all the people +concerned in the works were invited. The procession marched in pairs, +and extended the length of Full Street, the market-place, and +Iron-gate; so that when the corpse entered All Saints, at St. Mary's +Gate, the last couple left the house of the deceased, at the corner of +Silk-mill Lane." + +Thus John Lombe died and was buried at the early age of twenty-nine; +and Thomas, the capitalist, continued the owner of the Derby silk mill. +Hutton erroneously states that William succeeded, and that he shot +himself. The Lombes had no brother of the name of William, and this +part of Hutton's story is a romance. + +The affairs of the Derby silk mill went on prosperously. Enough thrown +silk was manufactured to supply the trade, and the weaving of silk +became a thriving business. Indeed, English silk began to have a +European reputation. In olden times it was said that "the stranger +buys of the Englishman the case of the fox for a groat, and sells him +the tail again for a shilling." But now the matter was reversed, and +the saying was, "The Englishman buys silk of the stranger for twenty +marks, and sells him the same again for one hundred pounds." + +But the patent was about to expire. It had been granted for only +fourteen years; and a long time had elapsed before the engine could be +put in operation, and the organzine manufactured. It was the only +engine in the kingdom. Joshua Gee, writing in 1731, says: "As we have +but one Water Engine in the kingdom for throwing silk, if that should +be destroyed by fire or any other accident, it would make the +continuance of throwing fine silk very precarious; and it is very much +to be doubted whether all the men now living in the kingdom could make +another." Gee accordingly recommended that three or four more should +be erected at the public expense, "according to the model of that at +Derby."[5] + +The patent expired in 1732. The year before, Sir Thomas Lombe, who had +been by this time knighted, applied to Parliament for a prolongation of +the patent. The reasons for his appeal were principally these: that +before he could provide for the full supply of other silk proper for +his purpose (the Italians having prohibited the exportation of raw +silk), and before he could alter his engine, train up a sufficient +number of workpeople, and bring the manufacture to perfection, almost +all the fourteen years of his patent right would have expired. +"Therefore," the petition to Parliament concluded, "as he has not +hitherto received the intended benefit of the aforesaid patent, and in +consideration of the extraordinary nature of this undertaking, the very +great expense, hazard, and difficulty he has undergone, as well as the +advantage he has thereby procured to the nation at his own expense, the +said Sir Thomas Lombe humbly hopes that Parliament will grant him a +further term for the sole making and using his engines, or such other +recompense as in their wisdom shall seem meet."[6] + +The petition was referred to a Committee. After consideration, they +recommended the House of Commons to grant a further term of years to +Sir Thomas Lombe. The advisers of the King, however, thought it better +that the patent should not be renewed, but that the trade in silk +should be thrown free to all. Accordingly the Chancellor of the +Exchequer acquainted the House (14th March, 1731) that "His Majesty +having been informed of the case of Sir Thomas Lombe, with respect to +his engine for making organzine silk, had commanded him to acquaint +this House, that His Majesty recommended to their consideration the +making such provision for a recompense to Sir Thomas Lombe as they +shall think proper." + +The result was, that the sum of 14,000L. was voted and paid to Sir +Thomas Lombe as "a reward for his eminent services done to the nation, +in discovering with the greatest hazard and difficulty the capital +Italian engines, and introducing and bringing the same to full +perfection in this kingdom, at his own great expense."[7] The trade +was accordingly thrown open. Silk mills were erected at Stockport and +elsewhere; Hutton says that divers additional mills were erected in +Derby; and a large and thriving trade was established. In 1850, the +number employed in the silk manufacture exceeded a million persons. +The old mill has recently become disused. Although supported by strong +wooden supports, it showed signs of falling; and it was replaced by a +larger mill, more suitable to modern requirements. + + +Footnotes for Chapter IV. + +[1] "This was equally the case with two other trades;--those of +glass-maker and druggist, which brought no contamination upon nobility +in Venice. In a country where wealth was concentrated in the hands of +the powerful, it was no doubt highly judicious thus to encourage its +employment for objects of public advantage. A feeling, more or less +powerful, has always existed in the minds of the high-born, against the +employment of their time and wealth to purposes of commerce or +manufactures. All trades, save only that of war, seem to have been +held by them as in some sort degrading, and but little comporting with +the dignity of aristocratic blood." Cabinet Cyclopedia--Silk +Manufacture, p. 20. + +[2] A Brief State of the Inland or Home Trade. (Pamphlet.) 1730. + +[3] A Brief State of the Case relating to the Machine erected at Derby +for making Italian Organzine Silk, which was discovered and brought +into England with the utmost difficulty and hazard, and at the Sole +Expense of Sir Thomas Lombe. House of Commons Paper, 28th January, +1731. + +[4] Self-Help, p. 205. + +[5] The Trade and Navigation of Great Britain considered, p. 94. + +[6] The petition sets forth the merits of the machine at Derby for +making Italian organzine silk--"a manufacture made out of fine raw +silk, by reducing it to a hard twisted fine and even thread. This silk +makes the warp, and is absolutely necessary to mix with and cover the +Turkey and other coarser silks thrown here, which are used for +Shute,--so that, without a constant supply of this fine Italian +organzine silk, very little of the said Turkey or other silks could be +used, nor could the silk weaving trade be carried on in England. This +Italian organzine (or thrown) silk has in all times past been bought +with our money, ready made (or worked) in Italy, for want of the art of +making it here. Whereas now, by making it ourselves out of fine +Italian raw silk, the nation saves near one-third part; and by what we +make out of fine China raw silk, above one-half of the price we pay for +it ready worked in Italy. The machine at Derby contains 97,746 wheels, +movements, and individual parts (which work day and night), all which +receive their motion from one large water-wheel, are governed by one +regulator, and it employs about 300 persons to attend and supply it +with work." In Bees Cyclopaedia (art. 'Silk Manufacture') there is a +full description of the Piedmont throwing machine introduced to England +by John Lombe, with a good plate of it. + +[7] Sir Thomas Lombe died in 1738. He had two daughters. The first, +Hannah, was married to Sir Robert Clifton, of Clifton, co. Notts; the +second, Mary Turner, was married to James, 7th Earl of Lauderdale. In +his will, he "recommends his wife, at the conclusion of the Darby +concern," to distribute among his "principal servants or managers five +or six hundred pounds." + + + +CHAPTER V. + +WILLIAM MURDOCK: HIS LIFE AND INVENTIONS. + +"Justice exacts, that those by whom we are most benefited Should be +most admired."--Dr. Johnson. + +"The beginning of civilization is the discovery of some useful arts, by +which men acquire property, comforts, or luxuries. The necessity or +desire of preserving them leads to laws and social institutions... In +reality, the origin as well as the progress and improvement of civil +society is founded on mechanical and chemical inventions."--Sir Humphry +Davy. + +At the middle of last century, Scotland was a very poor country. It +consisted mostly of mountain and moorland; and the little arable land +it contained was badly cultivated. Agriculture was almost a lost art. +"Except in a few instances," says a writer in the 'Farmers' Magazine' +of 1803, "Scotland was little better than a barren waste." Cattle +could with difficulty be kept alive; and the people in some parts of +the country were often on the brink of starvation. The people were +hopeless, miserable, and without spirit, like the Irish in their very +worst times. After the wreck of the Darien expedition, there seemed to +be neither skill, enterprise, nor money left in the country. What +resources it contained were altogether undeveloped. There was little +communication between one place and another, and such roads as existed +were for the greater part of the year simply impassable. + +There were various opinions as to the causes of this frightful state of +things. Some thought it was the Union between England and Scotland; +and Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, "The Patriot," as he was called, urged +its Repeal. In one of his publications, he endeavoured to show that +about one-sixth of the population of Scotland was in a state of +beggary--two hundred thousand vagabonds begging from door to door, or +robbing and plundering people as poor as themselves.[1] Fletcher was +accordingly as great a repealer as Daniel O'Connell in after times. +But he could not get the people to combine. There were others who held +a different opinion. They thought that something might be done by the +people themselves to extricate the country from its miserable condition. + +It still possessed some important elements of prosperity. The +inhabitants of Scotland, though poor, were strong and able to work. +The land, though cold and sterile, was capable of cultivation. + +Accordingly, about the middle of last century, some important steps +were taken to improve the general condition of things. A few +public-spirited landowners led the way, and formed themselves into a +society for carrying out improvements in agriculture. They granted long +leases of farms as a stimulus to the most skilled and industrious, and +found it to their interest to give the farmer a more permanent interest +in his improvements than he had before enjoyed. Thus stimulated and +encouraged, farming made rapid progress, especially in the Lothians; +and the example spread into other districts. Banks were established +for the storage of capital. Roads were improved, and communications +increased between one part of the country and another. Hence trade and +commerce arose, by reason of the facilities afforded for the +interchange of traffic. The people, being fairly educated by the +parish schools, were able to take advantage of these improvements. +Sloth and idleness gradually disappeared, before the energy, activity, +and industry which were called into life by the improved communications. + +At the same time, active and powerful minds were occupied in extending +the domain of knowledge. Black and Robison, of Glasgow, were the +precursors of James Watt, whose invention of the condensing +steam-engine was yet to produce a revolution in industrial operations, +the like of which had never before been known. Watt had hit upon his +great idea while experimenting with an old Newcomen model which +belonged to the University of Glasgow. He was invited by Mr. Roebuck +of Kinneil to make a working steam-engine for the purpose of pumping +water from the coal-pits at Boroughstoness; but his progress was +stopped by want of capital, as well as by want of experience. It was +not until the brave and generous Matthew Boulton of Birmingham took up +the machine, and backed Watt with his capital and his spirit, that +Watt's enterprise had the remotest chance of success. Even after about +twelve years' effort, the condensing steam-engine was only beginning, +though half-heartedly, to be taken up and employed by colliery +proprietors and cotton manufacturers. In developing its powers, and +extending its uses, the great merits of William Murdock can never be +forgotten. Watt stands first in its history, as the inventor; Boulton +second, as its promoter and supporter; and Murdock third, as its +developer and improver. + +William Murdock was born on the 21st of August, 1754, at Bellow Mill, +in the parish of Auchinleck, Ayrshire. His father, John, was a miller +and millwright, as well as a farmer. His mother's maiden name was +Bruce, and she used to boast of being descended from Robert Bruce, the +deliverer of Scotland. The Murdocks, or Murdochs--for the name was +spelt in either way--were numerous in the neighbourhood, and they were +nearly all related to each other. They are supposed to have originally +come into the district from Flanders, between which country and +Scotland a considerable intercourse existed in the middle ages. Some +of the Murdocks took a leading part in the construction of the abbeys +and cathedrals of the North;[2] others were known as mechanics; but the +greater number were farmers. + +One of the best known members of the family was John Murdock, the poet +Burns' first teacher. Burns went to his school at Alloway Mill, when +he was six years old. There he learnt to read and write. When Murdock +afterwards set up a school at Ayr, Burns, who was then fifteen, went to +board with him. In a letter to a correspondent, Murdock said: "In +1773, Robert Burns came to board and lodge with me, for the purpose of +revising his English grammar, that he might be better qualified to +instruct his brothers and sisters at home. He was now with me day and +night, in school, at all meals, and in all my walks." The pupil even +shared the teacher's bed at night. Murdock lent the boy books, and +helped the cultivation of his mind in many ways. Burns soon revised +his English grammar, and learnt French, as well as a little Latin. +Some time after, Murdock removed to London, and had the honour of +teaching Talleyrand English during his residence as an emigrant in this +country. He continued to have the greatest respect for his former +pupil, whose poetry commemorated the beauties of his native district. + +It may be mentioned that Bellow Mill is situated on the Bellow Water, +near where it joins the river Lugar. One of Burns' finest songs +begins:-- + + "Behind yon hills where Lugar flows." + +That was the scene of William Murdock's boyhood. When a boy, he herded +his father's cows along the banks of the Bellow; and as there were then +no hedges, it was necessary to have some one to watch the cattle while +grazing. The spot is still pointed out where the boy, in the +intervals of his herding, hewed a square compartment out of the rock by +the water side, and there burnt the splint coal found on the top of the +Black Band ironstone. That was one of the undeveloped industries of +Scotland; for the Scotch iron trade did not arrive at any considerable +importance until about a century later.[3] The little cavern in which +Murdock burnt the splint coal was provided with a fireplace and vent, +all complete. It is possible that he may have there derived, from his +experiments, the first idea of Gas as an illuminant. + +Murdock is also said to have made a wooden horse, worked by mechanical +power, which was the wonder of the district. On this mechanical horse +he rode to the village of Cumnock, about two miles distant. His +father's name is, however, associated with his own in the production of +this machine. Old John Murdock had a reputation for intelligence and +skill of no ordinary kind. When at Carron ironworks, in 1760, he had a +pinton cast after a pattern which he had prepared. This is said to +have been the first piece of iron-toothed gearing ever used in mill +work. When I last saw it, the pinton was placed on the lawn in front +of William Murdock's villa at Handsworth. + +The young man helped his father in many ways. He worked in the mill, +worked on the farm, and assisted in the preparation of mill machinery. +In this way he obtained a considerable amount of general technical +knowledge. He even designed and constructed bridges. He was employed +to build a bridge over the river Nith, near Dumfries, and it stands +there to this day, a solid and handsome structure. But he had an +ambition to be something more than a country mason. He had heard a +great deal about the inventions of James Watt; and he determined to try +whether he could not get "a job" at the famous manufactory at Soho. He +accordingly left his native place in the year 1777, in the twenty-third +year of his age; and migrated southward. He left plenty of Murdocks +behind him. There was a famous staff in the family, originally owned +by William Murdock's grandfather, which bore the following inscription: +"This staff I leave in pedigree to the oldest Murdock after me, in the +parish of Auchenleck, 1745." This staff was lately held by Jean +Murdock, daughter of the late William Murdock, joiner, cousin of the +subject of this biography. + +When William arrived at Soho in 1777 he called at the works to ask for +employment. Watt was then in Cornwall, looking after his pumping +engines; but he saw Boulton, who was usually accessible to callers of +every rank. In answer to Murdock's enquiry whether he could have a +job, Boulton replied that work was very slack with them, and that every +place was filled up. During the brief conversation that took place, +the blate young Scotchman, like most country lads in the presence of +strangers, had some difficulty in knowing what to do with his hands, +and unconsciously kept twirling his hat with them. Boulton's attention +was attracted to the twirling hat, which seemed to be of a peculiar +make. It was not a felt hat, nor a cloth hat, nor a glazed hat: but it +seemed to be painted, and composed of some unusual material. "That +seems to be a curious sort of hat," said Boulton, looking at it more +closely; "what is it made of?" "Timmer, sir," said Murdock, modestly. +"Timmer? Do you mean to say that it is made of wood?" "'Deed it is, +sir." "And pray how was it made?" "I made it mysel, sir, in a bit +laithey of my own contrivin'." "Indeed!" + +Boulton looked at the young man again. He had risen a hundred degrees +in his estimation. William was a good-looking fellow--tall, strong, +and handsome--with an open intelligent countenance. Besides, he had +been able to turn a hat for himself with a lathe of his own +construction. This, of itself, was a sufficient proof that he was a +mechanic of no mean skill. "Well!" said Boulton, at last, "I will +enquire at the works, and see if there is anything we can set you to. +Call again, my man." + +"Thank you, sir," said Murdock, giving a final twirl to his hat. + +Such was the beginning of William Murdock's connection with the firm of +Boulton and Watt. When he called again he was put upon a trial job, +and then, as he was found satisfactory, he was engaged for two years at +15s. a week when at home, 17s. when in the country, and 18s. when in +London. Boulton's engagement of Murdock was amply justified by the +result. Beginning as an ordinary mechanic, he applied himself +diligently and conscientiously to his work, and gradually became +trusted. More responsible duties were confided to him, and he strove +to perform them to the best of his power. His industry, skilfulness, +and steady sobriety, soon marked him for promotion, and he rose from +grade to grade until he became Boulton and Watt's most trusted +co-worker and adviser in all their mechanical undertakings of +importance. + +Watt himself had little confidence in Scotchmen as mechanics. He told +Sir Waiter Scott that though many of them sought employment at his +works, he could never get any of them to become first-rate workmen. +They might be valuable as clerks and book-keepers, but they had an +insuperable aversion to toiling long at any point of mechanism, so as +to earn the highest wages paid to the workmen.[4] The reason no doubt +was, that the working-people of Scotland were then only in course of +education as practical mechanics; and now that they have had a +century's discipline of work and technical training, the result is +altogether different, as the engine-shops and shipbuilding-yards of the +Clyde abundantly prove. Mechanical power and technical ability are the +result of training, like many other things. + +When Boulton engaged Murdock, as we have said, Watt was absent in +Cornwall, looking after the pumping-engines which had been erected at +several of the mines throughout that county. The partnership had only +been in existence for three years, and Watt was still struggling with +the difficulties which he had to surmount in getting the steam engine +into practical use. His health was bad, and he was oppressed with +frightful headaches. He was not the man to fight the selfishness of the +Cornish adventurers. "A little more of this hurrying and vexation," he +said, "will knock me up altogether." Boulton went to his help +occasionally, and gave him hope and courage. And at length William +Murdock, after he had acquired sufficient knowledge of the business, +was able to undertake the principal management of the engines in +Cornwall. + +We find that in 1779, when he was only twenty-five years old, he was +placed in this important position. When he went into Cornwall, he gave +himself no rest until he had conquered the defects of the engines, and +put them into thorough working order. + +He devoted himself to his duties with a zeal and ability that +completely won Watt's heart. When he had an important job in hand, he +could scarcely sleep. One night at his lodgings at Redruth, the people +were disturbed by a strange noise in his room. Several heavy blows +were heard upon the floor. They started from their beds, rushed to +Murdock's room, and found him standing in his shirt, heaving at the +bedpost in his sleep, shouting "Now she goes, lads! now she goes!" + +Murdock became a most popular man with the mine owners. He also became +friendly with the Cornish workmen and engineers. Indeed, he fought his +way to their affections. One day, some half-dozen of the mining +captains came into his engine-room at Chacewater, and began to bully +him. This he could not stand. He stript, selected the biggest, and +put himself into a fighting attitude. They set to, and in a few minutes +Murdock's powerful bones and muscles enabled him to achieve the +victory. The other men, who had looked on fairly, without interfering, +seeing the temper and vigour of the man they had bullied, made +overtures of reconciliation. William was quite willing to be friendly. +Accordingly they shook hands all round, and parted the best of friends. +It is also said that Murdock afterwards fought a duel with Captain +Trevethick, because of a quarrel between Watt and the mining engineer, +in which Murdock conceived his master to have been unfairly and harshly +treated.[5] + +The uses of Watt's steam-engine began to be recognised as available for +manufacturing purposes. It was then found necessary to invent some +method by which continuous rotary motion should be secured, so as to +turn round the moving machinery of mills. With this object Watt had +invented his original wheel-engine. But no steps were taken to +introduce it into practical use. At length he prepared a model, in +which he made use of a crank connected with the working beam of the +engine, so as to produce the necessary rotary motion. + +There was no originality in this application. The crank was one of the +most common of mechanical appliances. It was in daily use in every +spinning wheel, and in every turner's and knife-grinder's foot-lathe. +Watt did not take out a patent for the crank, not believing it to be +patentable. But another person did so, thereby anticipating Watt in +the application of the crank for producing rotary motion. He had +therefore to employ some other method, and in the new contrivance he +had the valuable help of William Murdock. Watt devised five different +methods of securing rotary motion without using the crank, but +eventually he adopted the "Sun-and-planet motion," the invention of +Murdock. This had the singular property of going twice round for every +stroke of the engine, and might be made to go round much oftener +without additional machinery. The invention was patented in February, +1782, five Years after Murdock had entered the service of Boulton and +Watt. + +Murdock continued for many years busily occupied in superintending the +Cornish steam-engines. We find him described by his employers as +"flying from mine to mine," putting the engines to rights. If anything +went wrong, he was immediately sent for. He was active, quick-sighted, +shrewd, sober, and thoroughly trustworthy. Down to the year 1780, his +wages were only a pound a week; but Boulton made him a present of ten +guineas, to which the owners of the United Mines added another ten, in +acknowledgment of the admirable manner in which he bad erected their +new engine, the chairman of the company declaring that he was "the most +obliging and industrious workman he had ever known." That he secured +the admiration of the Cornish engineers may be obvious from the fact of +Mr. Boaze having invited him to join in an engineering partnership; but +Murdock remained loyal to the Birmingham firm, and in due time he had +his reward. + +He continued to be the "right hand man" of the concern in Cornwall. +Boulton wrote to Watt, towards the end of 1782: "Murdock hath been +indefatigable ever since he began. He has scarcely been in bed or +taken necessary food. After slaving night and day on Thursday and +Friday, a letter came from Wheal Virgin that he must go instantly to +set their engine to work, or they would let out the fire. He went and +set the engine to work; it worked well for the five or six hours he +remained. He left it, and returned to the Consolidated Mines about +eleven at night, and was employed about the engines till four this +morning, and then went to bed. I found him at ten this morning in +Poldice Cistern, seeking for pins and castors that had jumped out, when +I insisted on his going home to bed." + +On one occasion, when an engine superintended by Murdock stopped +through some accident, the water rose in the mine, and the workmen were +"drowned out." Upon this occurring, the miners went "roaring at him" +for throwing them out of work, and threatened to tear him to pieces. +Nothing daunted, he went through the midst of the men, repaired the +invalided engine, and started it afresh. + +When he came out of the engine-house, the miners cheered him +vociferously and insisted upon carrying him home upon their shoulders +in triumph! + +Steam was now asserting its power everywhere. It was pumping water +from the mines in Cornwall and driving the mills of the manufacturers +in Lancashire. Speculative mechanics began to consider whether it +might not be employed as a means of land locomotion. The comprehensive +mind of Sir Isaac Newton had long before, in his 'Explanation of the +Newtonian Philosophy,' thrown out the idea of employing steam for this +purpose; but no practical experiment was made. Benjamin Franklin, +while agent in London for the United Provinces of America, had a +correspondence with Matthew Boulton, of Birmingham, and Dr. Darwin, of +Lichfield, on the same subject. Boulton sent a model of a fire-engine +to London for Franklin's inspection; but Franklin was too much occupied +at the time by grave political questions to pursue the subject further. +Erasmus Darwin's speculative mind was inflamed by the idea of a "fiery +chariot," and he urged his friend Boulton to prosecute the contrivance +of the necessary steam machinery.[6] + +Other minds were at work. Watt, when only twenty-three years old, at +the instigation of his friend Robison, made a model locomotive, +provided with two cylinders of tin plate; but the project was laid +aside, and was never again taken up by the inventor. Yet, in his +patent of 1784, Watt included an arrangement by means of which +steam-power might be employed for the purposes of locomotion. But no +further model of the contrivance was made. + +Meanwhile, Cugnot, of Paris, had already made a road engine worked by +steam power. It was first tried at the Arsenal in 1769; and, being set +in motion, it ran against a stone wall in its way and threw it down. +The engine was afterwards tried in the streets of Paris. In one of the +experiments it fell over with a crash, and was thenceforward locked up +in the Arsenal to prevent its doing further mischief. This first +locomotive is now to be seen at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers +at Paris. + +Murdock had doubtless heard of Watt's original speculations, and +proceeded, while at Redruth, during his leisure hours, to construct a +model locomotive after a design of his own. This model was of small +dimensions, standing little more than a foot and a half high, though it +was sufficiently large to demonstrate the soundness of the principle on +which it was constructed. It was supported on three wheels, and +carried a small copper boiler, heated by a spirit lamp, with a flue +passing obliquely through it. The cylinder, of 3/4 inch diameter and +2-inch stroke, was fixed in the top of the boiler, the piston-rod being +connected with the vibratory beam attached to the connecting-rod which +worked the crank of the driving-wheel. This little engine worked by +the expansive force of steam only, which was discharged into the +atmosphere after it had done its work of alternately raising and +depressing the piston in the cylinder. + +Mr. Murdock's son, while living at Handsworth, informed the present +writer that this model was invented and constructed in 1781; but, after +perusing the correspondence of Boulton and Watt, we infer that it was +not ready for trial until 1784. The first experiment was made in +Murdock's own house at Redruth, when the little engine successfully +hauled a model waggon round the room,--the single wheel, placed in +front of the engine and working in a swivel frame, enabling it to run +round in a circle. + +Another experiment was made out of doors, on which occasion, small +though the engine was, it fairly outran the speed of its inventor. One +night, after returning from his duties at the mine at Redruth, Murdock +went with his model locomotive to the avenue leading to the church, +about a mile from the town. The walk was narrow, straight, and level. +Having lit the lamp, the water soon boiled, and off started the engine +with the inventor after it. Shortly after he heard distant shouts of +terror. It was too dark to perceive objects, but he found, on +following up the machine, that the cries had proceeded from the worthy +vicar, who, while going along the walk, had met the hissing and fiery +little monster, which he declared he took to be the Evil One in propria +persona! + +When Watt was informed of Murdock's experiments, he feared that they +might interfere with his regular duties, and advised their +discontinuance. Should Murdock still resolve to continue them, Watt +urged his partner Boulton, then in Cornwall, that, rather than lose +Murdock's services, they should advance him 100L.; and, if he succeeded +within a year in making an engine capable of drawing a post-chaise +carrying two passengers and the driver, at the rate of four miles an +hour, that a locomotive engine business should be established, with +Murdock as a partner. The arrangement, however, never proceeded any +further. Perhaps a different attraction withdrew Murdock from his +locomotive experiments. He was then paying attention to a young lady, +the daughter of Captain Painter; and in 1785 he married her, and +brought her home to his house in Cross Street, Redruth. + +In the following year,--September, 1786--Watt says, in a letter to +Boulton, "I have still the same opinion concerning the steam carriage, +but, to prevent more fruitless argument about it, I have one of some +size under hand. In the meantime, I wish William could be brought to +do as we do, to mind the business in hand, and let such as Symington +and Sadler throw away their time and money in hunting shadows." In a +subsequent letter Watt expressed his gratification at finding "that +William applies to his business." From that time forward, Murdock as +well as Watt, dropped all further speculation on the subject, and left +it to others to work out the problem of the locomotive engine. +Murdock's model remained but a curious toy, which he took pleasure in +exhibiting to his intimate friends; and, though he long continued to +speculate about road locomotion, and was persuaded of its +practicability, he abstained from embodying his ideas of the necessary +engine in any complete working form. + +Murdock nevertheless continued inventing, for the man who is given to +invent, and who possesses the gift of insight, cannot rest. He lived +in the midst of inventors. Watt and Boulton were constantly suggesting +new things, and Murdock became possessed by the same spirit. In 1791 +he took out his first patent. It was for a method of preserving ships' +bottoms from foulness by the use of a certain kind of chemical paint. +Mr. Murdock's grandson informs us that it was recently re-patented and +was the cause of a lawsuit, and that Hislop's patent for revivifying +gas-lime would have been an infringement, if it had not expired. + +Murdock is still better known by his invention of gas for lighting +purposes. Several independent inquirers into the constituents of +Newcastle coal had arrived at the conclusion that nearly one-third of +the substance was driven off in vapour by the application of heat, and +that the vapour so driven off was inflammable. But no suggestion had +been made to apply this vapour for lighting purposes until Murdock took +the matter in hand. Mr. M. S. Pearse has sent us the following +interesting reminiscence: "Some time since, when in the West of +Cornwall, I was anxious to find out whether any one remembered Murdock. +I discovered one of the most respectable and intelligent men in +Camborne, Mr. William Symons, who not only distinctly remembered +Murdock, but had actually been present on one of the first occasions +when gas was used. Murdock, he says, was very fond of children, and +not unfrequently took them into his workshop to show them what he was +doing. Hence it happened that on one occasion this gentleman, then a +boy of seven or eight, was standing outside Murdock's door with some +other boys, trying to catch sight of some special mystery inside, for +Dr. Boaze, the chief doctor of the place, and Murdock had been busy all +the afternoon. Murdock came out, and asked my informant to run down to +a shop near by for a thimble. On returning with the thimble, the boy +pretended to have lost it, and, whilst searching in every pocket, he +managed to slip inside the door of the workshop, and then produced the +thimble. He found Dr. Boaze and Murdock with a kettle filled with +coal. The gas issuing from it had been burnt in a large metal case, +such as was used for blasting purposes. Now, however, they had applied +a much smaller tube, and at the end of it fastened the thimble, through +the small perforations made in which they burned a continuous jet for +some time."[7] + +After numerous experiments, Murdock had his house in Cross Street +fitted up in 1792 for being lit by gas. The coal was subjected to heat +in an iron retort, and the gas was conveyed in pipes to the offices and +the different rooms of the house, where it was burned at proper +apertures or burners.[8] Portions of the gas were also confined in +portable vessels of tinned iron, from which it was burned when +required, thus forming a moveable gas-light. Murdock had a gas lantern +in regular use, for the purpose of lighting himself home at night +across the moors, from the mines where he was working, to his home at +Redruth. This lantern was formed by filling a bladder with gas and +fixing a jet to the mouthpiece at the bottom of a glass lantern, with +the bladder hanging underneath. + +Having satisfied himself as to the superior economy of coal gas, as +compared with oils and tallow, for the purposes of artificial +illumination, Murdock mentioned the subject to Mr. James Watt, jun., +during a brief visit to Soho in 1794, and urged the propriety of taking +out a patent. Watt was, however, indifferent to taking out any further +patents, being still engaged in contesting with the Cornish mine-owners +his father's rights to the user of the condensing steam-engine. +Nothing definite was done at the time. Murdock returned to Cornwall +and continued his experiments. At the end of the same year he +exhibited to Mr. Phillips and others, at the Polgooth mine, his +apparatus for extracting gases from coal and other substances, showed +it in use, lit the gas which issued from the burner, and showed its +"strong and beautiful light." He afterwards exhibited the same +apparatus to Tregelles and others at the Neath Abbey Company's +ironworks in Glamorganshire. + +Murdock returned to Soho in 1798, to take up his permanent residence in +the neighbourhood. When the mine owners heard of his intention to +leave Cornwall, they combined in offering him a handsome salary +provided he would remain in the county; but his attachment to his +friends at Soho would not allow him to comply with their request. He +again urged the firm of Boulton and Watt to take out a patent for the +use of gas for lighting purposes. But being still embroiled in their +tedious and costly lawsuit, they were naturally averse to risk +connection with any other patent. Watt the younger, with whom Murdock +communicated on the subject, was aware that the current of gas obtained +from the distillation of coal in Lord Dundonald's tar-ovens had been +occasionally set fire to, and also that Bishop Watson and others had +burned gas from coal, after conducting it through tubes, or after it +had issued from the retort. Mr. Watt was, however, quite satisfied +that Murdock was the first person who had suggested its economical +application for public and private uses. + +But he was not clear, after the legal difficulties which had been +raised as to his father's patent rights, that it would be safe to risk +a further patent for gas. + +Mr. Murdock's suggestion, accordingly, was not acted upon. But he went +on inventing in other directions. He thenceforward devoted himself +entirely to mechanical pursuits. Mr. Buckle has said of him:--"The +rising sun often found him, after a night spent in incessant labour, +still at the anvil or turning-lathe; for with his own hands he would +make such articles as he would not intrust to unskilful ones." In 1799 +he took out a patent (No. 2340), embodying some very important +inventions. First, it included the endless screw working into a +toothed-wheel, for boring steam-cylinders, which is still in use. +Second, the casting of a steam-jacket in one cylinder, instead of being +made in separate segments bolted together with caulked joints, as was +previously done. Third, the new double-D slide-valve, by which the +construction and working of the steam-engine was simplified, and the +loss of steam saved, as well as the cylindrical valve for the same +purpose. And fourth, improved rotary engines. One of the latter was +set to drive the machines in his private workshop, and continued in +nearly constant work and in perfect use for about thirty years. + +In 1801, Murdock sent his two sons William and John to the Ayr Academy, +for the benefit of Scotch education. In the summer-time they spent +their vacation at Bellow Mill, which their grandfather still continued +to occupy. They fished in the river, and "caught a good many trout." +The boys corresponded regularly with their father at Birmingham. In +1804, they seem to have been in a state of great excitement about the +expected landing of the French in Scotland. The volunteers of Ayr +amounted to 300 men, the cavalry to 150, and the riflemen to 50. "The +riflemen," says John, "go to the seashore every Saturday to shoot at a +target. They stand at 70 paces distant, and out of 100 shots they +often put in 60 bullets!" William says, "Great preparations are still +making for the reception of the French. Several thousand of pikes are +carried through the town every week; and all the volunteers and +riflemen have received orders to march at a moment's warning." The +alarm, however, passed away. At the end of 1804, the two boys received +prizes; William got one in arithmetic and another in the Rector's +composition class; and John also obtained two, one in the mathematical +class, and the other in French. + +To return to the application of gas for lighting purposes. In 1801, a +plan was proposed by a M. Le Blond for lighting a part of the streets +of Paris with gas. Murdock actively resumed his experiments; and on +the occasion of the Peace of Amiens in March, 1802, he made the first +public exhibition of his invention. The whole of the works at Soho +were brilliantly illuminated with gas. + +The sight was received with immense enthusiasm. There could now be no +doubt as to the enormous advantages of this method of producing +artificial light, compared with that from oil or tallow. In the +following year the manufacture of gas-making apparatus was added to the +other branches of Boulton and Watts' business, with which Murdock was +now associated,--and as much as from 4000L. to 5000L. of capital were +invested in the new works. The new method of lighting speedily became +popular amongst manufacturers, from its superior safety, cheapness, and +illuminating power. The mills of Phillips and Lee of Manchester were +fitted up in 1805; and those of Burley and Kennedy, also of Manchester, +and of Messrs. Gott, of Leeds, in subsequent years. + +Though Murdock had made the uses of gas-lighting perfectly clear, it +was some time before it was proposed to light the streets by the new +method. The idea was ridiculed by Sir Humphry Davy, who asked one of +the projectors if he intended to take the dome of St. Paul's for a +gasometer! Sir Waiter Scott made many clever jokes about those who +proposed to "send light through the streets in pipes;" and even +Wollaston, a well known man of science, declared that they "might as +well attempt to light London with a slice from the moon." It has been +so with all new projects--with the steamboat, the locomotive, and the +electric telegraph. As John Wilkinson said of the first vessel of iron +which he introduced, "it will be only a nine days' wonder, and +afterwards a Columbus's egg." + +On the 25th of February, 1808, Murdock read a paper before the Royal +Society "On the Application of Gas from Coal to economical purposes." +He gave a history of the origin and progress of his experiments, down +to the time when he had satisfactorily lit up the premises of Phillips +and Lee at Manchester. The paper was modest and unassuming, like +everything he did. + +It concluded:--"I believe I may, without presuming too much, claim both +the first idea of applying, and the first application of this gas to +economical purposes."[9] The Royal Society awarded Murdock their large +Rumford Gold Medal for his communication. + +In the following year a German named Wintzer, or Winsor, appeared as +the promotor of a scheme for obtaining a royal charter with extensive +privileges, and applied for powers to form a joint-stock company to +light part of London and Westminster with gas. Winsor claimed for his +method of gas manufacture that it was more efficacious and profitable +than any then known or practised. The profits, indeed, were to be +prodigious. Winsor made an elaborate calculation in his pamphlet +entitled 'The New Patriotic Imperial and National Light and Heat +Company,' from which it appeared that the net annual profits "agreeable +to the official experiments" would amount to over two hundred and +twenty-nine millions of pounds!--and that, giving over nine-tenths of +that sum towards the redemption of the National Debt, there would still +remain a total profit of 570L. to be paid to the subscribers for every +5L. of deposit! Winsor took out a patent for the invention, and the +company, of which he was a member, proceeded to Parliament for an Act. +Boulton and Watt petitioned against the Bill, and James Watt, junior, +gave evidence on the subject. Henry Brougham, who was the counsel for +the petitioners, made great fun of Winsor's absurd speculations,[10] +and the Bill was thrown out. + +In the following year the London and Westminster Chartered Gas Light +and Coke Company succeeded in obtaining their Act. They were not very +successful at first. Many prejudices existed against the employment of +the new light. It was popularly supposed that the gas was carried +along the pipes on fire, and that the pipes must necessarily be +intensely hot. When it was proposed to light the House of Commons with +gas, the architect insisted on the pipes being placed several inches +from the walls, for fear of fire; and, after the pipes had been fixed, +the members might be seen applying their gloved hands to them to +ascertain their temperature, and afterwards expressing the greatest +surprise on finding that they were as cool as the adjoining walls. + +The Gas Company was on the point of dissolution when Mr. Samuel Clegg +came to their aid. Clegg had been a pupil of Murdock's, at Soho. He +knew all the arrangements which Murdock had invented. He had assisted +in fitting up the gas machinery at the mills of Phillips & Lee, +Manchester, as well as at Lodge's Mill, Sowerby Bridge, near Halifax. +He was afterwards employed to fix the apparatus at the Catholic College +of Stoneyhurst, in Lancashire, at the manufactory of Mr. Harris at +Coventry, and at other places. In 1813 the London and Westminster Gas +Company secured the services of Mr. Clegg, and from that time forwards +their career was one of prosperity. In 1814 Westminster Bridge was +first lighted with gas, and shortly after the streets of St. +Margaret's, Westminster. Crowds of people followed the lamplighter on +his rounds to watch the sudden effect of his flame applied to the +invisible stream of gas which issued from the burner. The lamplighters +became so disgusted with the new light that they struck work, and Clegg +himself had for a time to act as lamplighter. + +The advantages of the new light, however, soon became generally +recognised, and gas companies were established in most of the large +towns. Glasgow was lit up by gas in 1817, and Liverpool and Dublin in +the following year. Had Murdock in the first instance taken out a +patent for his invention, it could not fail to have proved exceedingly +remunerative to him; but he derived no advantage from the extended use +of the new system of lighting except the honour of having invented +it.[11] He left the benefits of his invention to the public, and +returned to his labours at Soho, which more than ever completely +engrossed him. + +Murdock now became completely identified with the firm of Boulton & +Watt. He assigned to them his patent for the slide-valve, the rotary +engine, and other inventions "for a good and valuable consideration." +Indeed his able management was almost indispensable to the continued +success of the Soho foundry. Mr. Nasmyth, when visiting the works +about thirty years after Murdock had taken their complete management in +hand, recalled to mind the valuable services of that truly admirable +yet modest mechanic. He observed the admirable system, which he had +invented, of transmitting power from one central engine to other small +vacuum engines attached to the several machines which they were +employed to work. "This vacuum method," he says, "of transmitting +power dates from the time of Papin; but it remained a dead contrivance +for about a century until it received the masterly touch of Murdock." + +"The sight which I obtained" (Mr. Nasmyth proceeds) "of the vast series +of workshops of that celebrated establishment, fitted with evidences of +the presence and results of such master minds in design and execution, +and the special machine tools which I believe were chiefly to be +ascribed to the admirable inventive power and common-sense genius of +William Murdock, made me feel that I was indeed on classic ground in +regard to everything connected with the construction of steam-engine +machinery. The interest was in no small degree enhanced by coming +every now and then upon some machine that had every historical claim to +be regarded as the prototype of many of our modern machine tools. All +these had William Murdock's genius stamped upon them, by reason of +their common-sense arrangements, which showed that he was one of those +original thinkers who had the courage to break away from the trammels +of traditional methods, and take short cuts to accomplish his objects +by direct and simple means." + +We have another recollection of William Murdock, from one who knew him +when a boy. This is the venerable Charles Manby, F.R.S., still +honorary secretary of the Institute of Civil Engineers. He says +(writing to us in September 1883), "I see from the public prints that +you have been presiding at a meeting intended to do honour to the +memory of William Murdock--a most worthy man and an old friend of mine. +When he found me working the first slide valve ever introduced into an +engine-building establishment at Horsley, he patted me on the head, and +said to my father, 'Neighbour Manby, this is not the way to bring up a +good workman--merely turning a handle, without any shoulder work.' He +evidently did not anticipate any great results from my engineering +education. But we all know what machine tools are doing now,--and +where should we be without them?" + +Watt withdrew from the firm in 1800, on the expiry of his patent for +the condensing steam-engine; but Boulton continued until the year 1809, +when he died full of years and honours. Watt lived on until 1819. The +last part of his life was the happiest. During the time that he was in +the throes of his invention, he was very miserable, weighed down with +dyspepsia and sick headaches. But after his patent had expired, he was +able to retire with a moderate fortune, and began to enjoy life. +Before, he had "cursed his inventions," now he could bless them. He +was able to survey them, and find out what was right and what was +wrong. He used his head and his hands in his private workshop, and +found many means of employing both pleasantly. Murdock continued to be +his fast friend, and they spent many agreeable hours together. They +made experiments and devised improvements in machines. Watt wished to +make things more simple. He said to Murdock, "it is a great thing to +know what to do without. We must have a book of blots--things to be +scratched out." One of the most interesting schemes of Watt towards +the end of his life was the contrivance of a sculpture-making machine; +and he proceeded so far with it as to to able to present copies of +busts to his friends as "the productions of a young artist just +entering his eighty-third year." The machine, however, remained +unfinished at his death, and the remarkable fact is that it was Watt's +only unfinished work. + +The principle of the machine was to carry a guide-point at one side +over the bust or alto-relievo to be copied, and at the other side to +carry a corresponding cutting-tool or drill over the alabaster, ivory, +jet, or plaster of Paris to be executed. The machine worked, as it +were, with two hands, the one feeling the pattern, the other cutting +the material into the required form. Many new alterations were +necessary for carrying out this ingenious apparatus, and Murdock was +always at hand to give his old friend and master his best assistance. +We have seen many original letters from Watt to Murdock, asking for +counsel and help. In one of these, written in 1808, Watt says: "I have +revived an idea which, if it answers, will supersede the frame and +upright spindle of the reducing machine, but more of this when we meet. +Meanwhile it will be proper to adhere to the frame, etc., at present, +until we see how the other alterations answer." In another he says: "I +have done a Cicero without any plaits--the different segments meeting +exactly. The fitting the drills into the spindle by a taper of 1 in 6 +will do. They are perfectly stiff and will not unscrew easily. Four +guide-pullies answer, but there must be a pair for the other end, and +to work with a single hand, for the returning part is always cut upon +some part or other of the frame." + +These letters are written sometimes in the morning, sometimes at noon, +sometimes at night. There was a great deal of correspondence about +"pullies," which did not seem to answer at first. "I have made the +tablets," said Watt on one occasion, "slide more easily, and can +counterbalance any part of their weight which may be necessary; but the +first thing to try is the solidity of the machine, which cannot be done +till the pullies are mounted." Then again: "The bust-making must be +given up until we get a more solid frame. I have worked two days at +one and spoiled it, principally from the want of steadiness." For +Watt, it must be remembered, was now a very old man. + +He then proceeded to send Murdock the drawing of a "parallel motion for +the machine," to be executed by the workmen at Soho. The truss braces +and the crosses were to be executed of steel, according to the details +he enclosed. "I have warmed up," he concludes, "an old idea, and can +make a machine in which the pentagraph and the leading screw will all +be contained in the beam, and the pattern and piece to be cut will +remain at rest fixed upon a lath of cast iron or stout steel." Watt is +very particular in all his details: "I am sorry," he says in one note, +"to trouble you with so many things; but the alterations on this +spindle and socket [he annexes a drawing] may wait your convenience." +In a further note, Watt says. "The drawing for the parallel lathe is +ready; but I have been sadly puzzled about the application of the +leading screws to the cranes in the other. I think, however, I have now +got the better of the difficulties, and made it more certain, as well +as more simple, than it was. I have done an excellent head of John +Hunter in hard white in shorter time than usual. I want to show it you +before I repair it." + +At last Watt seems to have become satisfied: "The lathe," he says, "is +very much improved, and you seem to have given the finishing blow to +the roofed frame, which appears perfectly stiff. I had some hours' +intense thinking upon the machine last night, and have made up my mind +on it at last. The great difficulty was about the application of the +band, but I have settled it to be much as at present." + +Watt's letters to Murdock are most particular in details, especially as +to screws, nuts, and tubes, with strengths and dimensions, always +illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings. And yet all this was done +merely for mechanical amusement, and not for any personal pecuniary +advantage. While Watt was making experiments as to the proper +substances to be carved and drilled, he also desired Murdock to make +similar experiments. "The nitre," he said in one note, "seems to do +harm; the fluor composition seems the best and hardest. Query, what +would some calcined pipe-clay do? If you will calcine some fire-clay +by a red heat and pound it,--about a pound,--and send it to me, I shall +try to make you a mould or two in Henning's manner to cast this and the +sulphur acid iron in. I have made a screwing tool for wood that seems +to answer; also one of a one-tenth diameter for marble, which does very +well." In another note, Watt says: "I find my drill readily makes 2400 +turns per minute, even with the large drill you sent last; if I bear +lightly, a three-quarter ferril would run about 3000, and by an engine +that might be doubled." + +The materials to be drilled into medallions also required much +consideration. "I am much obliged to you," said Watt, "for the balls, +etc., which answer as well as can be expected. They make great +progress in cutting the crust (Ridgways) or alabaster, and also cut +marble, but the harder sorts soon blunt them. At any rate, marble does +not do for the medallions, as its grain prevents its being cut smooth, +and its semi-transparence hurts the effect. I think Bristol lime, or +shell lime, pressed in your manner, would have a good effect. When you +are at leisure, I shall thank you for a few pieces, and if some of them +are made pink or flesh colour, they will look well. I used the ball +quite perpendicular, and it cut well, as most of the cutting is +sideways. I tried a fine whirling point, but it made little progress; +another with a chisel edge did almost as well as the balls, but did not +work so pleasantly. I find a triangular scraping point the best, and I +think from some trials it should be quite a sharp point. The wheel +runs easier than it did, but has still too much friction. I wished to +have had an hour's consultation with you, but have been prevented by +sundry matters among others by that plaguey stove, which is now in your +hands." + +Watt was most grateful to Murdock for his unvarying assistance. In +January, 1813, when Watt was in his seventy-seventh year, he wrote to +Murdock, asking him to accept a present of a lathe "I have not heard +from you," he says, "in reply to my letter about the lathe; and, +presuming you are not otherwise provided, I have bought it, and request +your acceptance of it. At present, an alteration for the better is +making in the oval chuck, and a few additional chucks, rest, etc., are +making to the lathe. When these are finished, I shall have it at +Billinger's until you return, or as you otherwise direct. I am going +on with my drawings for a complete machine, and shall be glad to see +you here to judge of them." + +The drawings were made, but the machine was never finished. +"Invention," said Watt, "goes on very slowly with me now." Four years +later, he was still at work; but death put a stop to his +"diminishing-machine." It is a remarkable testimony to the skill and +perseverance of a man who had already accomplished so much, that it is +almost his only unfinished work. Watt died in 1819, in the +eighty-third year of his age, to the great grief of Murdock, his oldest +and most attached friend and correspondent. + +Meanwhile, the firm of Boulton and Watt continued. The sons of the two +partners carried it on, with Murdock as their Mentor. He was still +full of work and inventive power. In 1802, he applied the compressed +air of the Blast Engine employed to blow the cupolas of the Soho +Foundry, for the purpose of driving the lathe in the pattern shop. It +worked a small engine, with a 12-inch cylinder and 18-inch stroke, +connected with the lathe, the speed being regulated as required by +varying the admission of the blast. This engine continued in use for +about thirty-five years. + +In 1803 Murdock experimented on the power of high-pressure steam in +propelling shot, and contrived a steam-engine with which he made many +trials at Soho, thereby anticipating the apparatus contrived by Mr. +Perkins many years later. + +In 1810 Murdock took out a patent for boring steam-pipes for water, and +cutting columns out of solid blocks of stone, by means of a cylindrical +crown saw. The first machine was used at Soho, and afterwards at Mr. +Rennie's Works in London, and proved quite successful. Among his other +inventions were a lift worked by compressed air, which raised and +lowered the castings from the boring-mill to the level of the foundry +and the canal bank. He used the same kind of power to ring the bells +in his house at Sycamore Hill, and the contrivance was afterwards +adopted by Sir Walter Scott in his house at Abbotsford. + +Murdock was also the inventor of the well-known cast-iron cement, so +extensively used in engine and machine work. The manner in which he +was led to this invention affords a striking illustration of his +quickness of observation. Finding that some iron-borings and +sal-ammoniac had got accidently mixed together in his tool-chest, and +rusted his saw-blade nearly through, he took note of the circumstance, +mixed the articles in various proportions, and at length arrived at the +famous cement, which eventually became an article of extensive +manufacture at the Soho Works. + +Murdock's ingenuity was constantly at work, even upon matters which lay +entirely outside his special vocation. The late Sir William Fairbairn +informed us that he contrived a variety of curious machines for +consolidating peat moss, finely ground and pulverised, under immense +pressure, and which, when consolidated, could be moulded into beautiful +medals, armlets, and necklaces. The material took the most brilliant +polish and had the appearance of the finest jet. + +Observing that fish-skins might be used as an economical substitute for +isinglass, he went up to London on one occasion in order to explain to +brewers the best method of preparing and using them. He occupied +handsome apartments, and, little regarding the splendour of the +drawing-room, he hung the fish-skins up against the walls. His +landlady caught him one day when he was about to bang up a wet cod's +skin! He was turned out at once, with all his fish. While in town on +this errand, it occurred to him that a great deal of power was wasted +in treading the streets of London! He conceived the idea of using the +streets and roadways as a grand tread-mill, under which the waste power +might be stored up by mechanical methods and turned to account. He had +also an idea of storing up the power of the tides, and of running +water, in the same way. The late Charles Babbage, F.R.S., entertained +a similar idea about using springs of Ischia or of the geysers of +Iceland as a power necessary for condensing gases, or perhaps for the +storage of electricity.[12] The latter, when perfected, will probably +be the greatest invention of the next half century. + +Another of Murdock's' ingenious schemes, was his proposed method of +transmitting letters and packages through a tube exhausted by an +air-pump. This project led to the Atmospheric Railway, the success of +which, so far as it went, was due to the practical ability of Murdock's +pupil, Samuel Clegg. Although the atmospheric railway was eventually +abandoned, it is remarkable that the original idea was afterwards +revived and practised with success by the London Pneumatic Dispatch +Company. + +In 1815, while Murdock was engaged in erecting an apparatus of his own +invention for heating the water for the baths at Leamington, a +ponderous cast-iron plate fell upon his leg above his ankle, and +severely injured him. He remained a long while at Leamington, and when +it was thought safe to remove him, the Birmingham Canal Company kindly +placed their excursion boat at his disposal, and he was conveyed safely +homeward. So soon as he was able, he was at work again at the Soho +factory. + +Although the elder Watt had to a certain extent ignored the uses of +steam as applied to navigation, being too much occupied with developing +the powers of the pumping and rotary engine, the young partners, with +the stout aid of Murdock, took up the question. They supplied Fulton in +1807 with his first engine, by means of which the Clermont made her +first voyage along the Hudson river. They also supplied Fulton and +Livingston with the next two engines for the Car of Neptune and the +Paragon. From that time forward, Boulton and Watt devoted themselves +to the manufacture of engines for steamboats. Up to the year 1814, +marine engines had been all applied singly in the vessel; but in this +year Boulton and Watt first applied two condensing engines, connected +by cranks set at right angles on the shaft, to propel a steamer on the +Clyde. Since then, nearly all steamers are fitted with two engines. +In making this important improvement, the firm were materially aided by +the mechanical genius of William Murdock, and also of Mr. Brown, then +an assistant, but afterwards a member of the firm. + +In order to carry on a set of experiments with respect to the most +improved form of marine engine, Boulton and Watt purchased the +Caledonia, a Scotch boat built on the Clyde by James Wood and Co., of +Port Glasgow. The engines and boilers were taken out. The vessel was +fitted with two side lever engines, and many successive experiments +were made with her down to August, 1817, at an expense of about +10,000L. This led to a settled plan of construction, by which marine +engines were greatly improved. James Watt, junior, accompanied the +Caledonia to Holland and up the Rhine. The vessel was eventually sold +to the Danish Government, and used for carrying the mails between Kiel +and Copenhagen. It is, however, unnecessary here to venture upon the +further history of steam navigation. + +In the midst of these repeated inventions and experiments, Murdock was +becoming an old man. Yet he never ceased to take an interest in the +works at Soho. At length his faculties experienced a gradual decay, +and he died peacefully at his house at Sycamore Hill, on the 15th of +November,1839, in his eighty-fifth year. He was buried near the +remains of the great Boulton and Watt; and a bust by Chantrey served to +perpetuate the remembrance of his manly and intelligent countenance. + + +Footnotes for Chapter V. + +[1] Fletcher's Political Works, London, 1737, p. 149, + +[2] One of the Murdocks built the cathedral at Glasgow, as well as +others in Scotland. The famous school of masonry at Antwerp sent out a +number of excellent architects during the 11th, 12th, and 13th +centuries. One of these, on coming into Scotland, assumed the name of +Murdo. He was a Frenchman, born in Paris, as we learn from the +inscription left on Melrose Abbey, and he died while building that +noble work: it is as follows:-- + +"John Murdo sumtyme cait was I And born in Peryse certainly, An' had in +kepyng all mason wark Sanct Andrays, the Hye Kirk o' Glasgo, Melrose +and Paisley, Jedybro and Galowy. Pray to God and Mary baith, and sweet +Saint John, keep this Holy Kirk frae scaith." + +[3] The discovery of the Black Band Ironstone by David Mushet in 1801, +and the invention of the Hot Blast by James Beaumont Neilson in 1828, +will be found related in Industrial Biography, pp. 141-161. + +[4] Note to Lockhart's Life of Scott. + +[5] This was stated to the present writer some years ago by William +Murdock's son; although there is no other record of the event. + +[6] See Lives of Engineers (Boulton and Watt), iv. pp. 182-4. Small +edition, pp. 130-2. + +[7] Mr. Pearse's letter is dated 23rd April, 1867, but has not before +been published. He adds that "others remembered Murdock, one who was +an apprentice with him, and lived with him for some time--a Mr. Vivian, +of the foundry at Luckingmill." + +[8] Murdock's house still stands in Cross Street, Redruth; those still +live who saw the gas-pipes conveying gas from the retort in the little +yard to near the ceiling of the room, just over the table; a hole for +the pipe was made in the window frame. The old window is now replaced +by a new frame."--Life of Richard Trevithick, i. 64. + +[9] Philosophical Transactions, 1808, pp. 124-132. + +[10] Winsor's family evidently believed in his great powers; for I am +informed by Francis Galton, Esq., F.R.S., that there is a fantastical +monument on the right-hand side of the central avenue of the Kensal +Green Cemetery, about half way between the lodge and the church, which +bears the following inscription:--"Tomb of Frederick Albert Winsor, son +of the late Frederick Albert Winsor, originator of public Gas-lighting, +buried in the Cemetery of Pere la Chaise, Paris. At evening time it +shall be light."--Zachariah xiv. 7. "I am come a light into the world, +that whoever believeth in Me shall not abide in darkness."--John xii. +46. + +[11] Mr. Parkes, in his well known Chemical Essays (ed. 1841, p. 157), +after referring to the successful lighting up by Murdock of the +manufactory of Messrs. Phillips and Lee at Manchester in 1805, "with +coal gas issuing from nearly a thousand burners," proceeds, "This grand +application of the new principle satisfied the public mind, not only of +the practicability, but also of the economy of the application; and as +a mark of the high opinion they entertained of his genius and +perseverance, and in order to put the question of priority of the +discovery beyond all doubt, the Council of the Royal Society in 1808 +awarded to Mr. Murdock the Gold Medal founded by the late Count +Rumford." + +[12] "Thus," says Mr. Charles Babbage, "in a future age, power may +become the staple commodity of the Icelanders, and of the inhabitants +of other volcanic districts; and possibly the very process by which +they will procure this article of exchange for the luxuries of happier +climates may, in some measure, tame the tremendous element which +occasionally devastates their provinces."--Economy of Manufactures. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +FREDERICK KOENIG: INVENTOR OF THE STEAM-PRINTING MACHINE. + +"The honest projector is he who, having by fair and plain principles of +sense, honesty, and ingenuity, brought any contrivance to a suitable +perfection, makes out what he pretends to, picks nobody's pocket, puts +his project in execution, and contents himself with the real produce as +the profit of his invention."--De Foe. + +I published an article in 'Macmillan's Magazine' for December, 1869, +under the above title. The materials were principally obtained from +William and Frederick Koenig, sons of the inventor. + +Since then an elaborate life has been published at Stuttgart, under the +title of "Friederich Koenig und die Erfindung Der Schnellpresse, Ein +Biographisches Denkmal. Von Theodor Goebel." The author, in sending me +a copy of the volume, refers to the article published in 'Macmillan,' +and says, "I hope you will please to accept it as a small +acknowledgment of the thanks, which every German, and especially the +sons of Koenig, in whose name I send the book as well as in mine, owe +to you for having bravely taken up the cause of the much wronged +inventor, their father--an action all the more praiseworthy, as you had +to write against the prejudices and the interests of your own +countrymen." + +I believe it is now generally admitted that Koenig was entitled to the +merit of being the first person practically to apply the power of steam +to indefinitely multiplying the productions of the printing-press; and +that no one now attempts to deny him this honour. It is true others, +who followed him, greatly improved upon his first idea; but this was +the case with Watt, Symington, Crompton, Maudslay, and many more. The +true inventor is not merely the man who registers an idea and takes a +patent for it, or who compiles an invention by borrowing the idea of +another, improving upon or adding to his arrangements, but the man who +constructs a machine such as has never before been made, which executes +satisfactorily all the functions it was intended to perform. And this +is what Koenig's invention did, as will be observed from the following +brief summary of his life and labours. + +Frederick Koenig was born on the 17th of April, 1774, at Eisleben, in +Saxony, the birthplace also of a still more famous person, Martin +Luther. His father was a respectable peasant proprietor, described by +Herr Goebel as Anspanner. But this word has now gone out of use. In +feudal times it described the farmer who was obliged to keep draught +cattle to perform service due to the landlord. The boy received a +solid education at the Gymnasium, or public school of the town. At a +proper age he was bound apprentice for five years to Breitkopf and +Hartel, of Leipzig, as compositor and printer; but after serving for +four and a quarter years, he was released from his engagement because +of his exceptional skill, which was an unusual occurrence. + +During the later years of his apprenticeship, Koenig was permitted to +attend the classes in the University, more especially those of Ernst +Platner, a physician, philosopher, and anthropologist. After that he +proceeded to the printing-office of his uncle, Anton F. Rose, at +Greifswald, an old seaport town on the Baltic, where he remained a few +years. He next went to Halle as a journeyman printer,--German workmen +going about from place to place, during their wanderschaft, for the +purpose of learning their business. After that, he returned to +Breitkopf and Hartel, at Leipzig, where he had first learnt his trade. +During this time, having saved a little money, he enrolled himself for +a year as a regular student at the University of Leipzig. + +According to Koenig's own account, he first began to devise ways and +means for improving the art of printing in the year 1802, when he was +twenty-eight years old. Printing large sheets of paper by hand was a +very slow as well as a very laborious process. One of the things that +most occupied the young printer's mind was how to get rid of this +"horse-work," for such it was, in the business of printing. He was +not, however, over-burdened with means, though he devised a machine +with this object. But to make a little money, he made translations for +the publishers. In 1803 Koenig returned to his native town of +Eisleben, where he entered into an arrangement with Frederick Riedel, +who furnished the necessary capital for carrying on the business of a +printer and bookseller. Koenig alleges that his reason for adopting +this step was to raise sufficient money to enable him to carry out his +plans for the improvement of printing. + +The business, however, did not succeed, as we find him in the following +year carrying on a printing trade at Mayence. Having sold this +business, he removed to Suhl in Thuringia. Here he was occupied with a +stereotyping process, suggested by what he had read about the art as +perfected in England by Earl Stanhope. He also contrived an improved +press, provided with a moveable carriage, on which the types were +placed, with inking rollers, and a new mechanical method of taking off +the impression by flat pressure. + +Koenig brought his new machine under the notice of the leading printers +in Germany, but they would not undertake to use it. The plan seemed to +them too complicated and costly. He tried to enlist men of capital in +his scheme, but they all turned a deaf ear to him. He went from town +to town, but could obtain no encouragement whatever. Besides, +industrial enterprise in Germany was then in a measure paralysed by the +impending war with France, and men of capital were naturally averse to +risk their money on what seemed a merely speculative undertaking. + +Finding no sympathisers or helpers at home, Koenig next turned his +attention abroad. England was then, as now, the refuge of inventors +who could not find the means of bringing out their schemes elsewhere; +and to England he wistfully turned his eyes. In the meantime, however, +his inventive ability having become known, an offer was made to him by +the Russian Government to proceed to St. Petersburg and organise the +State printing-office there. The invitation was accepted, and Koenig +proceeded to St. Petersburg in the spring of 1806. But the official +difficulties thrown in his way were very great, and so disgusted him, +that he decided to throw up his appointment, and try his fortune in +England. He accordingly took ship for London, and arrived there in the +following November, poor in means, but rich in his great idea, then his +only property. + +As Koenig himself said, when giving an account of his +invention:--"There is on the Continent no sort of encouragement for an +enterprise of this description. The system of patents, as it exists in +England, being either unknown, or not adopted in the Continental +States, there is no inducement for industrial enterprise; and +projectors are commonly obliged to offer their discoveries to some +Government, and to so licit their encouragement. I need hardly add +that scarcely ever is an invention brought to maturity under such +circumstances. The well-known fact, that almost every invention seeks, +as it were, refuge in England, and is there brought to perfection, +though the Government does not afford any other protection to inventors +beyond what is derived from the wisdom of the laws, seems to indicate +that the Continent has yet to learn from her the best manner of +encouraging the mechanical arts. I had my full share in the ordinary +disappointments of Continental projectors; and after having lost in +Germany and Russia upwards of two years in fruitless applications, I at +last resorted to England."[1] + +After arriving in London, Koenig maintained himself with difficulty by +working at his trade, for his comparative ignorance of the English +language stood in his way. But to work manually at the printer's +"case," was not Koenig's object in coming to England. His idea of a +printing machine was always uppermost in his mind, and he lost no +opportunity of bringing the subject under the notice of master printers +likely to take it up. He worked for a time in the printing office of +Richard Taylor, Shoe Lane, Fleet Street, and mentioned the matter to +him. Taylor would not undertake the invention himself, but he +furnished Koenig with an introduction to Thomas Bensley, the well-known +printer of Bolt Court, Fleet Street. On the 11th of March, 1807, +Bensley invited Koenig to meet him on the subject of their recent +conversation about "the discovery;" and on the 31st of the same month, +the following agreement was entered into between Koenig and Bensley:-- + +"Mr. Koenig, having discovered an entire new Method of Printing by +Machinery, agrees to communicate the same to Mr. Bensley under the +following conditions:--that, if Mr. Bensley shall be satisfied the +Invention will answer all the purposes Mr. Koenig has stated in the +Particulars he has delivered to Mr. Bensley, signed with his name, he +shall enter into a legal Engagement to purchase the Secret from Mr. +Koenig, or enter into such other agreement as may be deemed mutually +beneficial to both parties; or, should Mr. Bensley wish to decline +having any concern with the said Invention, then he engages not to make +any use of the Machinery, or to communicate the Secret to any person +whatsoever, until it is proved that the Invention is made use of by any +one without restriction of Patent, or other particular agreement on the +part of Mr. Koenig, under the penalty of Six Thousand Pounds. + + "(Signed) T. Bensley, + "Friederich Konig. + "Witness--J. Hunneman." + +Koenig now proceeded to put his idea in execution. He prepared his +plans of the new printing machine. It seems, however, that the +progress made by him was very slow. Indeed, three years passed before +a working model could be got ready, to show his idea in actual +practice. In the meantime, Mr. Walter of The Times had been seen by +Bensley, and consulted on the subject of the invention. On the 9th of +August, 1809, more than two years after the date of the above +agreement, Bensley writes to Koenig: "I made a point of calling upon +Mr. Walter yesterday, who, I am sorry to say, declines our proposition +altogether, having (as he says) so many engagements as to prevent him +entering into more." + +It may be mentioned that Koenig's original plan was confined to an +improved press, in which the operation of laying the ink on the types +was to be performed by an apparatus connected with the motions of the +coffin, in such a manner as that one hand could be saved. As little +could be gained in expedition by this plan, the idea soon suggested +itself of moving the press by machinery, or to reduce the several +operations to one rotary motion, to which the first mover might be +applied. Whilst Koenig was in the throes of his invention, he was +joined by his friend Andrew F. Bauer, a native of Stuttgart, who +possessed considerable mechanical power, in which the inventor himself +was probably somewhat deficient. At all events, these two together +proceeded to work out the idea, and to construct the first actual +working printing machine. + +A patent was taken out, dated the 29th of March, 1810, which describes +the details of the invention. The arrangement was somewhat similar to +that known as the platen machine; the printing being produced by two +flat plates, as in the common hand-press. It also embodied an +ingenious arrangement for inking the type. Instead of the +old-fashioned inking balls, which were beaten on the type by hand +labour, several cylinders covered with felt and leather were used, and +formed part of the machine itself. Two of the cylinders revolved in +opposite directions, so as to spread the ink, which was then +transferred by two other inking cylinders alternately applied to the +"forme" by the action of spiral springs. The movement of all the parts +of the machine were to be derived from a steam-engine, or other first +mover. + +"After many obstructions and delays," says Koenig himself, in +describing the history of his invention, "the first printing machine +was completed exactly upon the plan which I have described in the +specification of my first patent. It was set to Work in April, 1811. +The sheet (H) of the new Annual Register for 1810, 'Principal +Occurrences,' 3000 copies, was printed with it; and is, I have no +doubt, the first part of a book ever printed with a machine. The +actual use of it, however, soon suggested new ideas, and led to the +rendering it less complicated and more powerful"[2] + +Of course! No great invention was ever completed at one effort. It +would have been strange if Koenig had been satisfied with his first +attempt. It was only a beginning, and he naturally proceeded with the +improvement of his machine. It took Watt more than twenty years to +elaborate his condensing steam-engine; and since his day, owing to the +perfection of self-acting tools, it has been greatly improved. The +power of the Steamboat and the Locomotive also, as well as of all other +inventions, have been developed by the constantly succeeding +improvements of a nation of mechanical engineers. + +Koenig's experiment was only a beginning, and he naturally proceeded +with the improvement of his machine. Although the platen machine of +Koenig's has since been taken up a new, and perfected, it was not +considered by him sufficiently simple in its arrangements as to be +adapted for common use; and he had scarcely completed it, when he was +already revolving in his mind a plan of a second machine on a new +principle, with the object of ensuring greater speed, economy, and +simplicity. + +By this time, other well-known London printers, Messrs. Taylor and +Woodfall, had joined Koenig and Bensley in their partnership for the +manufacture and sale of printing machines. The idea which now occurred +to Koenig was, to employ a cylinder instead of a flat Platen machine, +for taking the impressions off the type, and to place the sheet round +the cylinder, thereby making it, as it were, part of the periphery. As +early as the year 1790, one William Nicholson had taken out a patent +for a machine for printing "on paper, linen, cotton, woollen, and other +articles," by means of "blocks, forms, types, plates, and originals," +which were to be "firmly imposed upon a cylindrical surface in the same +manner as common letter is imposed upon a flat stone."[3] From the +mention of "colouring cylinder," and "paper-hangings, floor-cloths, +cottons, linens, woollens, leather, skin, and every other flexible +material," mentioned in the specification, it would appear as if +Nicholson's invention were adapted for calico-printing and +paper-hangings, as well as for the printing of books. But it was never +used for any of these purposes. It contained merely the register of an +idea, and that was all. It was left for Adam Parkinson, of Manchester, +to invent and make practical use of the cylinder printing machine for +calico in the year 1805, and this was still further advanced by the +invention of James Thompson, of Clitheroe, in 1813; while it was left +for Frederick Koenig to invent and carry into practical operation the +cylinder printing press for newspapers. + +After some promising experiments, the plans for a new machine on the +cylindrical principle were proceeded with. Koenig admitted throughout +the great benefit he derived from the assistance of his friend Bauer. +"By the judgment and precision," he said, "with which he executed my +plans, he greatly contributed to my success." A patent was taken out +on October 30th, 1811; and the new machine was completed in December, +1812. The first sheets ever printed with an entirely cylindrical +press, were sheets G and X of Clarkson's 'Life of Penn.' The papers of +the Protestant Union were also printed with it in February and March, +1813. Mr. Koenig, in his account of the invention, says that "sheet M +of Acton's 'Hortus Kewensis,' vol. v., will show the progress of +improvement in the use of the invention. Altogether, there are about +160,000 sheets now in the hands of the public, printed with this +machine, which, with the aid of two hands, takes off 800 impressions in +the hour"[4] + +Koenig took out a further patent on July 23rd, 1813, and a fourth (the +last) on the 14th of March, 1814. The contrivance of these various +arrangements cost the inventor many anxious days and nights of study +and labour. But he saw before him only the end he wished to compass, +and thought but little of himself and his toils. It may be mentioned +that the principal feature of the invention was the printing cylinder +in the centre of the machine, by which the impression was taken from +the types, instead of by flat plates as in the first arrangement. The +forme was fixed in a cast-iron plate which was carried to and fro on a +table, being received at either end by strong spiral springs. A double +machine, on the same principle,--the forme alternately passing under +and giving an impression at one of two cylinders at either end of the +press,--was also included in the patent of 1811. + +How diligently Koenig continued to elaborate the details of his +invention will be obvious from the two last patents which he took out, +in 1813 and 1814. In the first he introduced an important improvement +in the inking arrangement, and a contrivance for holding and carrying +on the sheet, keeping it close to the printing cylinder by means of +endless tapes; while in the second, he added the following new +expedients: a feeder, consisting of an endless web,--an improved +arrangement of the endless tapes by inner as well as outer +friskets,--an improvement of the register (that is, one page falling +exactly on the back of another), by which greater accuracy of +impression was also secured; and finally, an arrangement by which the +sheet was thrown out of the machine, printed by the revolving cylinder +on both sides. + +The partners in Koenig's Patents had established a manufactory in +Whitecross Street for the production of the new machines. The workmen +employed were sworn to secrecy. They entered into an agreement by +which they were liable to forfeit 100L. if they communicated to others +the secret of the machines, either by drawings or description, or if +they told by whom or for whom they were constructed. This was to avoid +the hostility of the pressmen, who, having heard of the new invention, +were up in arms against it, as likely to deprive them of their +employment. And yet, as stated by Johnson in his 'Typographia,' the +manual labour of the men who worked at the hand press, was so severe +and exhausting, "that the stoutest constitutions fell a sacrifice to it +in a few years." The number of sheets that could be thrown off was also +extremely limited. + +With the improved press, perfected by Earl Stanhope, about 250 +impressions could be taken, or 125 sheets printed on both sides in an +hour. Although a greater number was produced in newspaper printing +offices by excessive labour, yet it was necessary to have duplicate +presses, and to set up duplicate forms of type, to carry on such extra +work; and still the production of copies was quite inadequate to +satisfy the rapidly increasing demand for newspapers. The time was +therefore evidently ripe for the adoption of such a machine as that of +Koenig. Attempts had been made by many inventors, but every one of +them had failed. Printers generally regarded the steam-press as +altogether chimerical. + +Such was the condition of affairs when Koenig finished his improved +printing machine in the manufactory in Whitecross Street. The partners +in the invention were now in great hopes. When the machine had been got +ready for work, the proprietors of several of the leading London +newspapers were invited to witness its performances. Amongst them were +Mr. Perry of the Morning chronicle, and Mr. Walter of The Times. Mr. +Perry would have nothing to do with the machine; he would not even go +to see it, for he regarded it as a gimcrack.[5] On the contrary, Mr. +Walter, though he had five years before declined to enter into any +arrangement with Bensley, now that he heard the machine was finished, +and at work, decided to go and inspect it. It was thoroughly +characteristic of the business spirit of the man. He had been very +anxious to apply increased mechanical power to the printing of his +newspaper. He had consulted Isambard Brunel--one of the cleverest +inventors of the day--on the subject; but Brunel, after studying the +subject, and labouring over a variety of plans, finally gave it up. He +had next tried Thomas Martyn, an ingenious young compositor, who had a +scheme for a self-acting machine for working the printing press. But, +although Mr. Walter supplied him with the necessary funds, his scheme +never came to anything. Now, therefore, was the chance for Koenig! + +After carefully examining the machine at work, Mr. Walter was at once +satisfied as to the great value of the invention. He saw it turning +out the impressions with unusual speed and great regularity. This was +the very machine of which he had been in search. But it turned out the +impressions printed on one side only. Koenig, however, having briefly +explained the more rapid action of a double machine on the same +principle for the printing of newspapers, Mr. Walter, after a few +minutes' consideration, and before leaving the premises, ordered two +double machines for the printing of The Times newspaper. Here, at +last, was the opportunity for a triumphant issue out of Koenig's +difficulties. + +The construction of the first newspaper machine was still, however, a +work of great difficulty and labour. It must be remembered that +nothing of the kind had yet been made by any other inventor. The +single-cylinder machine, which Mr. Walter had seen at work, was +intended for bookwork only. Now Koenig had to construct a +double-cylinder machine for printing newspapers, in which many of the +arrangements must necessarily be entirely new. With the assistance of +his leading mechanic, Bauer, aided by the valuable suggestions of Mr. +Walter himself, Koenig at length completed his plans, and proceeded +with the erection of the working machine. The several parts were +prepared at the workshop in Whitecross Street, and taken from thence, +in as secret a way as possible, to the premises in Printing House +Square, adjoining The Times office, where they were fitted together and +erected into a working machine. Nearly two years elapsed before the +press was ready for work. Great as was the secrecy with which the +operations were conducted, the pressmen of The Times office obtained +some inkling of what was going on, and they vowed vengeance to the +foreign inventor who threatened their craft with destruction. There +was, however, always this consolation: every attempt that had +heretofore been made to print newspapers in any other way than by +manual labour had proved an utter failure! + +At length the day arrived when the first newspaper steam-press was +ready for use. The pressmen were in a state of great excitement, for +they knew by rumour that the machine of which they had so long been +apprehensive was fast approaching completion. One night they were told +to wait in the press-room, as important news was expected from abroad. +At six o'clock in the morning of the 29th November, 1814, Mr. Walter, +who had been watching the working of the machine all through the night, +suddenly appeared among the pressmen, and announced that "The Times is +already printed by steam!" Knowing that the pressmen had vowed +vengeance against the inventor and his invention, and that they had +threatened "destruction to him and his traps," he informed them that if +they attempted violence, there was a force ready to suppress it; but +that if they were peaceable, their wages should be continued to every +one of them until they could obtain similar employment. This proved +satisfactory so far, and he proceeded to distribute several copies of +the newspaper amongst them--the first newspaper printed by steam! That +paper contained the following memorable announcement:-- + +"Our Journal of this day presents to the Public the practical result of +the greatest improvement connected with printing since the discovery of +the art itself. The reader of this paragraph now holds in his hand one +of the many thousand impressions of The Times newspaper which were +taken off last night by a mechanical apparatus. A system of machinery +almost organic has been devised and arranged, which, while it relieves +the human frame of its most laborious' efforts in printing, far exceeds +all human powers in rapidity and dispatch. That the magnitude of the +invention may be justly appreciated by its effects, we shall inform the +public, that after the letters are placed by the compositors, and +enclosed in what is called the forme, little more remains for man to do +than to attend upon and to watch this unconscious agent in its +operations. The machine is then merely supplied with paper: itself +places the forme, inks it, adjusts the paper to the forme newly inked, +stamps the sheet, and gives it forth to the hands of the attendant, at +the same time withdrawing the forme for a fresh coat of ink, which +itself again distributes, to meet the ensuing sheet now advancing for +impression; and the whole of these complicated acts is performed with +such a velocity and simultaneousness of movement, that no less than +1100 sheets are impressed in one hour. + +"That the completion of an invention of this kind, not the effect of +chance, but the result of mechanical combinations methodically arranged +in the mind of the artist, should be attended with many obstructions +and much delay, may be readily imagined. Our share in this event has, +indeed, only been the application of the discovery, under an agreement +with the patentees, to our own particular business; yet few can +conceive--even with this limited interest--the various disappointments +and deep anxiety to which we have for a long course of time been +subjected. + +"Of the person who made this discovery we have but little to add. Sir +Christopher Wren's noblest monument is to be found in the building +which he erected; so is the best tribute of praise which we are capable +of offering to the inventor of the printing machine, comprised in the +preceding description, which we have feebly sketched, of the powers and +utility of his invention. It must suffice to say further, that he is a +Saxon by birth; that his name is Koenig; and that the invention has +been executed under the direction of his friend and countryman, Bauer." + +The machine continued to work steadily and satisfactorily, +notwithstanding the doubters, the unbelievers, and the threateners of +vengeance. The leading article of The Times for December 3rd, 1814, +contains the following statement:-- + +"The machine of which we announced the discovery and our adoption a few +days ago, has been whirling on its course ever since, with improving +order, regularity, and even speed. The length of the debates on +Thursday, the day when Parliament was adjourned, will have been +observed; on such an occasion the operation of composing and printing +the last page must commence among all the journals at the same moment; +and starting from that moment, we, with our infinitely superior +circulation, were enabled to throw off our whole impression many hours +before the other respectable rival prints. The accuracy and clearness +of the impression will likewise excite attention. + +"We shall make no reflections upon those by whom this wonderful +discovery has been opposed,--the doubters and unbelievers,--however +uncharitable they may have been to us; were it not that the efforts of +genius are always impeded by drivellers of this description, and that +we owe it to such men as Mr. Koenig and his Friend, and all future +promulgators of beneficial inventions, to warn them that they will have +to contend with everything that selfishness and conceited ignorance can +devise or say; and if we cannot clear their way before them, we would +at least give them notice to prepare a panoply against its dirt and +filth. + +"There is another class of men from whom we receive dark and anonymous +threats of vengeance if we persevere in the use of this machine. These +are the Pressmen. They well know, at least should well know, that such +menace is thrown away upon us. There is nothing that we will not do to +assist and serve those whom we have discharged. They themselves can +seethe greater rapidity and precision with which the paper is printed. +What right have they to make us print it slower and worse for their +supposed benefit? A little reflection, indeed, would show them that it +is neither in their power nor in ours to stop a discovery now made, if +it is beneficial to mankind; or to force it down if it is useless. They +had better, therefore, acquiesce in a result which they cannot alter; +more especially as there will still be employment enough for the old +race of pressmen, before the new method obtains general use, and no new +ones need be brought up to the business; but we caution them seriously +against involving themselves and their families in ruin, by becoming +amenable to the laws of their country. It has always been matter of +great satisfaction to us to reflect, that we encountered and crushed +one conspiracy; and we should be sorry to find our work half done. + +"It is proper to undeceive the world in one particular; that is, as to +the number of men discharged. We in fact employ only eight fewer +workmen than formerly; whereas more than three times that number have +been employed for a year and a half in building the machine." + +On the 8th of December following, Mr. Koenig addressed an advertisement +"To the Public" in the columns of The Times, giving an account of the +origin and progress of his invention. We have already cited several +passages from the statement. After referring to his two last patents, +he says: "The machines now printing The Times and Mail are upon the +same principle; but they have been contrived for the particular purpose +of a newspaper of extensive circulation, where expedition is the great +object. + +"The public are undoubtedly aware, that never, perhaps, was a new +invention put to so severe a trial as the present one, by being used on +its first public introduction for the printing of newspapers, and will, +I trust, be indulgent with respect to the many defects in the +performance, though none of them are inherent in the principle of the +machine; and we hope, that in less than two months, the whole will be +corrected by greater adroitness in the management of it, so far at +least as the hurry of newspaper printing will at all admit. + +"It will appear from the foregoing narrative, that it was incorrectly +stated in several newspapers, that I had sold my interest to two other +foreigners; my partners in this enterprise being at present two +Englishmen, Mr. Bensley and Mr. Taylor; and it is gratifying to my +feelings to avail myself of this opportunity to thank those gentlemen +publicly for the confidence which they have reposed in me, for the aid +of their practical skill, and for the persevering support which they +have afforded me in long and very expensive experiments; thus risking +their fortunes in the prosecution of my invention. + +"The first introduction of the invention was considered by some as a +difficult and even hazardous step. The Proprietor of The Times having +made that his task, the public are aware that it is in good hands." + +One would think that Koenig would now feel himself in smooth water, and +receive a share of the good fortune which he had so laboriously +prepared for others. Nothing of the kind! His merits were disputed; +his rights were denied; his patents were infringed; and he never +received any solid advantages for his invention, until he left the +country and took refuge in Germany. It is true, he remained for a few +years longer, in charge of the manufactory in Whitecross Street, but +they were years to him of trouble and sorrow. + +In 1816, Koenig designed and superintended the construction of a single +cylinder registering machine for book-printing. This was supplied to +Bensley and Son, and turned out 1000 sheets, printed on both sides, in +the hour. Blumenbach's 'Physiology' was the first entire book printed +by steam, by this new machine. It was afterwards employed, in 1818, in +working off the Literary Gazette. A machine of the same kind was +supplied to Mr. Richard Taylor for the purpose of printing the +'Philosophical Magazine,' and books generally. This was afterwards +altered to a double machine, and employed for printing the Weekly +Dispatch. + +But what about Koenig's patents? They proved of little use to him. +They only proclaimed his methods, and enabled other ingenious mechanics +to borrow his adaptations. Now that he had succeeded in making +machines that would work, the way was clear for everybody else to +follow his footsteps. It had taken him more than six years to invent +and construct a successful steam printing press; but any clever +mechanic, by merely studying his specification, and examining his +machine at work, might arrive at the same results in less than a week. + +The patents did not protect him. New specifications, embodying some +modification or alteration in detail, were lodged by other inventors +and new patents taken out. New printing machines were constructed in +defiance of his supposed legal rights; and he found himself stripped of +the reward that he had been labouring for during so many long and +toilsome years. He could not go to law, and increase his own vexation +and loss. He might get into Chancery easy enough; but when would he +get out of it, and in what condition? + +It must also be added, that Koenig was unfortunate in his partner +Bensley. While the inventor was taking steps to push the sale of his +book-printing machines among the London printers, Bensley, who was +himself a book-printer, was hindering him in every way in his +negotiations. Koenig was of opinion that Bensley wished to retain the +exclusive advantage which the possession of his registering book +machine gave him over the other printers, by enabling him to print more +quickly and correctly than they could, and thus give him an advantage +over them in his printing contracts. + +When Koenig, in despair at his position, consulted counsel as to the +infringement of his patent, he was told that he might institute +proceedings with the best prospect of success; but to this end a +perfect agreement by the partners was essential. When, however, Koenig +asked Bensley to concur with him in taking proceedings in defence of +the patent right, the latter positively refused to do so. Indeed, +Koenig was under the impression that his partner had even entered into +an arrangement with the infringers of the patent to share with them the +proceeds of their piracy. + +Under these circumstances, it appeared to Koenig that only two +alternatives remained for him to adopt. One was to commence an +expensive, and it might be a protracted, suit in Chancery, in defence +of his patent rights, with possibly his partner, Bensley, against him; +and the other, to abandon his invention in England without further +struggle, and settle abroad. He chose the latter alternative, and left +England finally in August, 1817. + +Mr. Richard Taylor, the other partner in the patent, was an honourable +man; but he could not control the proceedings of Bensley. In a memoir +published by him in the 'Philosophical Magazine,' "On the Invention and +First Introduction of Mr. Koenig's Printing Machine," in which he +honestly attributes to him the sole merit of the invention, he says, +"Mr. Koenig left England, suddenly, in disgust at the treacherous +conduct of Bensley, always shabby and overreaching, and whom he found +to be laying a scheme for defrauding his partners in the patents of all +the advantages to arise from them. Bensley, however, while he +destroyed the prospects of his partners, outwitted himself, and +grasping at all, lost all, becoming bankrupt in fortune as well as in +character."[6] + +Koenig was badly used throughout. His merits as an inventor were +denied. On the 3rd of January, 1818, after he had left England, +Bensley published a letter in the Literary Gazette, in which he speaks +of the printing machine as his own, without mentioning a word of +Koenig. The 'British Encyclopaedia,' in describing the inventors of +the printing machine, omitted the name of Koenig altogether. The +'Mechanics Magazine,' for September, 1847, attributed the invention to +the Proprietors of The Times, though Mr. Walter himself had said that +his share in the event had been "only the application of the +discovery;" and the late Mr. Bennet Woodcroft, usually a fair man, in +his introductory chapter to 'Patents for Inventions in Printing,' +attributes the merit to William Nicholson's patent (No. 1748), which, +he said, "produced an entire revolution in the mechanism of the art." +In other publications, the claims of Bacon and Donkin were put forward, +while those of the real inventor were ignored. The memoir of Koenig by +Mr. Richard Taylor, in the 'Philosophical Magazine,' was honest and +satisfactory; and should have set the question at rest. + +It may further be mentioned that William Nicholson,--who was a patent +agent, and a great taker out of patents, both in his own name and in +the names of others,--was the person employed by Koenig as his agent to +take the requisite steps for registering his invention. When Koenig +consulted him on the subject, Nicholson observed that "seventeen years +before he had taken out a patent for machine printing, but he had +abandoned it, thinking that it wouldn't do; and had never taken it up +again." Indeed, the two machines were on different principles. Nor +did Nicholson himself ever make any claim to priority of invention, +when the success of Koenig's machine was publicly proclaimed by Mr. +Walter of The Times some seven years later. + +When Koenig, now settled abroad, heard of the attempts made in England +to deny his merits as an inventor, he merely observed to his friend +Bauer, "It is really too bad that these people, who have already robbed +me of my invention, should now try to rob me of my reputation." Had he +made any reply to the charges against him, it might have been comprised +in a very few words: "When I arrived in England, no steam printing +machine had ever before been seen; when I left it, the only printing +machines in actual work were those which I had constructed." But +Koenig never took the trouble to defend the originality of his +invention in England, now that he had finally abandoned the field to +others. + +There can be no question as to the great improvements introduced in the +printing machine by Mr. Applegath and Mr. Cowper; by Messrs. Hoe and +Sons, of New York; and still later by the present Mr. Walter of The +Times, which have brought the art of machine printing to an +extraordinary degree of perfection and speed. But the original merits +of an invention are not to be determined by a comparison of the first +machine of the kind ever made with the last, after some sixty years' +experience and skill have been applied in bringing it to perfection. +Were the first condensing engine made at Soho--now to be seen at the +Museum in South Kensington--in like manner to be compared with the last +improved pumping-engine made yesterday, even the great James Watt might +be made out to have been a very poor contriver. It would be much +fairer to compare Koenig's steam-printing machine with the hand-press +newspaper printing machine which it superseded. Though there were steam +engines before Watt, and steamboats before Fulton, and steam +locomotives before Stephenson, there were no steam printing presses +before Koenig with which to compare them, Koenig's was undoubtedly the +first, and stood unequalled and alone. + +The rest of Koenig's life, after he retired to Germany, was spent in +industry, if not in peace and quietness. He could not fail to be cast +down by the utter failure of his English partnership, and the loss of +the fruits of his ingenious labours. But instead of brooding over his +troubles, he determined to break away from them, and begin the world +anew. He was only forty-three when he left England, and he might yet +be able to establish himself prosperously in life. He had his own head +and hands to help him. + +Though England was virtually closed against him, the whole continent of +Europe was open to him, and presented a wide field for the sale of his +printing machines. + +While residing in England, Koenig had received many communications from +influential printers in Germany. Johann Spencer and George Decker +wrote to him in 1815, asking for particulars about his invention; but +finding his machine too expensive,[7] the latter commissioned Koenig to +send him a Stanhope printing press--the first ever introduced into +Germany--the price of which was 95L. Koenig did this service for his +friend, for although he stood by the superior merits of his own +invention, he was sufficiently liberal to recognise the merits of the +inventions of others. Now that he was about to settle in Germany, he +was able to supply his friends and patrons on the spot. + +The question arose, where was he to settle? He made enquiries about +sites along the Rhine, the Neckar, and the Main. At last he was +attracted by a specially interesting spot at Oberzell on the Main, near +Wurzburg. It was an old disused convent of the Praemonstratensian +monks. The place was conveniently situated for business, being nearly +in the centre of Germany. The Bavarian Government, desirous of giving +encouragement to so useful a genius, granted Koenig the use of the +secularised monastery on easy terms; and there accordingly he began his +operations in the course of the following year. Bauer soon joined him, +with an order from Mr. Walter for an improved Times machine; and the +two men entered into a partnership which lasted for life. + +The partners had at first great difficulties to encounter in getting +their establishment to work. Oberzell was a rural village, containing +only common labourers, from whom they had to select their workmen. +Every person taken into the concern had to be trained and educated to +mechanical work by the partners themselves. With indescribable +patience they taught these labourers the use of the hammer, the file, +the turning-lathe, and other tools, which the greater number of them +had never before seen, and of whose uses they were entirely ignorant. +The machinery of the workshop was got together with equal difficulty +piece by piece, some of the parts from a great distance,--the +mechanical arts being then at a very low ebb in Germany, which was +still suffering from the effects of the long continental war. + +At length the workshop was fitted up, the old barn of the monastery +being converted into an iron foundry. + +Orders for printing machines were gradually obtained. The first came +from Brockhaus, of Leipzig. By the end of the fourth year two other +single-cylinder machines were completed and sent to Berlin, for use in +the State printing office. By the end of the eighth year seven +double-cylinder steam presses had been manufactured for the largest +newspaper printers in Germany. The recognised excellence of Koenig and +Bauer's book-printing machines--their perfect register, and the quality +of the work they turned out--secured for them an increasing demand, and +by the year 1829 the firm had manufactured fifty-one machines for the +leading book printers throughout Germany. The Oberzell manufactory was +now in full work, and gave regular employment to about 120 men. + +A period of considerable depression followed. As was the case in +England, the introduction of the printing machine in Germany excited +considerable hostility among the pressmen. In some of the principal +towns they entered into combinations to destroy them, and several +printing machines were broken by violence and irretrievably injured. +But progress could not be stopped; the printing machine had been fairly +born, and must eventually do its work for mankind. These combinations, +however, had an effect for a time. They deterred other printers from +giving orders for the machines; and Koenig and Bauer were under the +necessity of suspending their manufacture to a considerable extent. To +keep their men employed, the partners proceeded to fit up a paper +manufactory, Mr. Cotta, of Stuttgart, joining them in the adventure; +and a mill was fitted up, embodying all the latest improvements in +paper-making. + +Koenig, however, did not live to enjoy the fruits or all his study, +labour, toil, and anxiety; for, while this enterprise was still in +progress, and before the machine trade had revived, he was taken ill, +and confined to bed. He became sleepless; his nerves were unstrung; +and no wonder. Brain disease carried him off on the 17th of January, +1833; and this good, ingenious, and admirable inventor was removed from +all further care and trouble. + +He died at the early age of fifty-eight, respected and beloved by all +who knew him. + +His partner Bauer survived to continue the business for twenty years +longer. It was during this later period that the Oberzell manufactory +enjoyed its greatest prosperity. The prejudices of the workmen +gradually subsided when they found that machine printing, instead of +abridging employment, as they feared it would do, enormously increased +it; and orders accordingly flowed in from Berlin, Vienna, and all the +leading towns and cities of Germany, Austria, Denmark, Russia, and +Sweden. The six hundredth machine, turned out in 1847, was capable of +printing 6000 impressions in the hour. In March, 1865, the thousandth +machine was completed at Oberzell, on the occasion of the celebration +of the fifty years' jubilee of the invention of the steam press by +Koenig. + +The sons of Koenig carried on the business; and in the biography by +Goebel, it is stated that the manufactory of Oberzell has now turned +out no fewer than 3000 printing machines. The greater number have been +supplied to Germany; but 660 were sent to Russia, 61 to Asia, 12 to +England, and 11 to America. The rest were despatched to Italy, +Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Holland, and other countries. + +It remains to be said that Koenig and Bauer, united in life, were not +divided by death. Bauer died on February 27, 1860, and the remains of +the partners now lie side by side in the little cemetery at Oberzell, +close to the scene of their labours and the valuable establishment +which they founded. + + +Footnotes for Chapter VI. + +[1] Koenig's letter in The Times, 8th December, 1814 + +[2] Koenig's letter in The Times, 8th December, 1814. + +[3] Date of Patent, 29th April, 1790, No. 1748, + +[4] Koenig's letter in The Times, 8th December, 1814. + +[5] Mr. Richard Taylor, one of the partners in the patent, says, "Mr. +Perry declined, alleging that he did not consider a newspaper worth so +many years' purchase as would equal the cost of the machine." + +[6] Mr. Richard Taylor, F.S.A., memoir in 'Philosophical Magazine' for +October 1847, p. 300. + +[7] The price of a single cylinder non-registering machine was +advertised at 900L.; of a double ditto, 1400L.; and of a cylinder +registering machine, 2000L.; added to which was 250L., 350L., and 500L. +per annum for each of these machines so long as the patent lasted, or +an agreed sum to be paid down at once. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE WALTERS OF THE TIMES: INVENTION OF THE WALTER PRESS. + +"Intellect and industry are never incompatible. There is more wisdom, +and will be more benefit, in combining them than scholars like to +believe, or than the common world imagine. Life has time enough for +both, and its happiness will be increased by the union."--SHARON TURNER. + +"I have beheld with most respect the man Who knew himself, and knew the +ways before him, And from among them chose considerately, With a clear +foresight, not a blindfold courage; And, having chosen, with a +steadfast mind Pursued his purpose." HENRY TAYLOR--Philip van Artevelde. + +The late John Walter, who adopted Koenig's steam printing press in +printing The Times, was virtually the inventor of the modern newspaper. +The first John Walter, his father, learnt the art of printing in the +office of Dodsley, the proprietor of the 'Annual Register.' He +afterwards pursued the profession of an underwriter, but his fortunes +were literally shipwrecked by the capture of a fleet of merchantmen by +a French squadron. Compelled by this loss to return to his trade, he +succeeded in obtaining the publication of 'Lloyd's List,' as well as +the printing of the Board of Customs. He also established himself as a +publisher and bookseller at No. 8, Charing Cross. But his principal +achievement was in founding The Times newspaper. + +The Daily Universal Register was started on the 1st of January, 1785, +and was described in the heading as "printed logographically." The +type had still to be composed, letter by letter, each placed alongside +of its predecessor by human fingers. Mr. Walter's invention consisted +in using stereotyped words and parts of words instead of separate metal +letters, by which a certain saving of time and labour was effected. +The name of the 'Register' did not suit, there being many other +publications bearing a similar title. Accordingly, it was re-named The +Times, and the first number was issued from Printing House Square on +the 1st of January, 1788. + +The Times was at first a very meagre publication. It was not much +bigger than a number of the old 'Penny Magazine,' containing a single +short leader on some current topic, without any pretensions to +excellence; some driblets of news spread out in large type; half a +column of foreign intelligence, with a column of facetious paragraphs +under the heading of "The Cuckoo;" while the rest of each number +consisted of advertisements. Notwithstanding the comparative innocence +of the contents of the early numbers of the paper, certain passages +which appeared in it on two occasions subjected the publisher to +imprisonment in Newgate. The extent of the offence, on one occasion, +consisted in the publication of a short paragraph intimating that their +Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York had "so +demeaned themselves as to incur the just disapprobation of his +Majesty!" For such slight offences were printers sent to gaol in those +days. + +Although the first Mr. Walter was a man of considerable business +ability, his exertions were probably too much divided amongst a variety +of pursuits to enable him to devote that exclusive attention to The +Times which was necessary to ensure its success. + +He possibly regarded it, as other publishers of newspapers then did, +mainly as a means of obtaining a profitable business in job-printing. +Hence, in the elder Walter's hands, the paper was not only unprofitable +in itself, but its maintenance became a source of gradually increasing +expenditure; and the proprietor seriously contemplated its +discontinuance. + +At this juncture, John Walter, junior, who had been taken into the +business as a partner, entreated his father to entrust him with the +sole conduct of the paper, and to give it "one more trial." This was +at the beginning of 1803. The new editor and conductor was then only +twenty-seven years of age. He had been trained to the manual work of a +printer "at case," and passed through nearly every department in the +office, literary and mechanical. But in the first place, he had +received a very liberal education, first at Merchant Taylors' School, +and afterwards at Trinity College, Oxford, where he pursued his +classical studies with much success. He was thus a man of +well-cultured mind; he had been thoroughly disciplined to work; he was, +moreover, a man of tact and energy, full of expedients, and possessed +by a passion for business. His father, urged by the young man's +entreaties, at length consented, although not without misgivings, to +resign into his hands the entire future control of The Times. + +Young Walter proceeded forthwith to remodel the establishment, and to +introduce improvements into every department, as far as the scanty +capital at his command would admit. Before he assumed the direction, +The Times did not seek to guide opinion or to exercise political +influence. It was a scanty newspaper--nothing more, Any political +matters referred to were usually introduced in "Letters to the Editor," +in the form in which Junius's Letters first appeared in the Public +Advertiser. The comments on political affairs by the Editor were +meagre and brief, and confined to a mere statement of supposed facts. + +Mr. Walter, very much to the dismay of his father, struck out an +entirely new course. He boldly stated his views on public affairs, +bringing his strong and original judgment to bear upon the political +and social topics of the day. He carefully watched and closely studied +public opinion, and discussed general questions in all their bearings. +He thus invented the modern Leading Article. The adoption of an +independent line of politics necessarily led him to canvass freely, and +occasionally to condemn, the measures of the Government. Thus, he had +only been about a year in office as editor, when the Sidmouth +Administration was succeeded by that of Mr. Pitt, under whom Lord +Melville undertook the unfortunate Catamaran expedition. His +Lordship's malpractices in the Navy Department had also been brought to +light by the Commissioners of Naval Inquiry. On both these topics Mr. +Walter spoke out freely in terms of reprobation; and the result was, +that the printing for the Customs and the Government advertisements +were at once removed from The Times office. + +Two years later Mr. Pitt died, and an Administration succeeded which +contained a portion of the political chiefs whom the editor had +formerly supported on his undertaking the management of the paper. He +was invited by one of them to state the injustice which had been done +to him by the loss of the Customs printing, and a memorial to the +Treasury was submitted for his signature, with a view to its recovery. +But believing that the reparation of the injury in this manner was +likely to be considered as a favour, entitling those who granted it to +a certain degree of influence over the politics of the journal, Walter +refused to sign it, or to have any concern in presenting the memorial. +He did more; he wrote to those from whom the restoration of the +employment was expected to come, disavowing all connection with the +proceeding. The matter then dropped, and the Customs printing was +never restored to the office. + +This course was so unprecedented, and, as his father thought, was so +very wrong-headed, that young Walter had for some time considerable +difficulty in holding his ground and maintaining the independent +position he had assumed. But with great tenacity of purpose he held on +his course undismayed. He was a man who looked far ahead,--not so much +taking into account the results at the end of each day or of each year, +but how the plan he had laid down for conducting the paper would work +out in the long run. And events proved that the high-minded course he +had pursued with so much firmness of purpose was the wisest course +after all. + +Another feature in the management which showed clear-sightedness and +business acuteness, was the pains which the Editor took to ensure +greater celerity of information and dispatch in printing. The expense +which he incurred in carrying out these objects excited the serious +displeasure of his father, who regarded them as acts of juvenile folly +and extravagance. Another circumstance strongly roused the old man's +wrath. It appears that in those days the insertion of theatrical puffs +formed a considerable source of newspaper income; and yet young Walter +determined at once to abolish them. It is not a little remarkable that +these earliest acts of Mr. Walter--which so clearly marked his +enterprise and high-mindedness--should have been made the subject of +painful comments in his father's will. + +Notwithstanding this serious opposition from within, the power and +influence of the paper visibly and rapidly grew. The new Editor +concentrated in the columns of his paper a range of information such as +had never before been attempted, or indeed thought possible. His +vigilant eye was directed to every detail of his business. He greatly +improved the reporting of public meetings, the money market, and other +intelligence,--aiming at greater fulness and accuracy. In the +department of criticism his labours were unwearied. He sought to +elevate the character of the paper, and rendered it more dignified by +insisting that it should be impartial. He thus conferred the greatest +public service upon literature, the drama, and the fine arts, by +protecting them against the evil influences of venal panegyric on the +one hand, and of prejudiced hostility on the other. + +But the most remarkable feature of The Times that which emphatically +commended it to public support and ensured its commercial success--was +its department of foreign intelligence. At the time that Walter +undertook the management of the journal, Europe was a vast theatre of +war; and in the conduct of commercial affairs--not to speak of +political movements--it was of the most vital importance that early +information should be obtained of affairs on the Continent. The Editor +resolved to become himself the purveyor of foreign intelligence, and at +great expense he despatched his agents in all directions, even in the +track of armies; while others were employed, under various disguises +and by means of sundry pretexts, in many parts of the Continent. These +agents collected information, and despatched it to London, often at +considerable risks, for publication in The Times, where it usually +appeared long in advance of the government despatches. + +The late Mr. Pryme, in his 'Autobiographic Recollections,' mentions a +visit which he paid to Mr. Walter at his seat at Bearwood. "He +described to me," says Mr. Pryme, "the cause of the large extension in +the circulation of The Times. He was the first to establish a foreign +correspondent. This was Henry Crabb Robinson, at a salary of 300L. a +year.... Mr. Walter also established local reporters, instead of +copying from the country papers. His father doubted the wisdom of such +a large expenditure, but the son prophesied a gradual and certain +success, which has actually been realised." + +Mr. Robinson has described in his Diary the manner in which he became +connected with the foreign correspondence. "In January, 1807," he +says, "I received, through my friend J.D. Collier, a proposal from Mr. +Walter that I should take up my residence at Altona, and become The +Times correspondent. I was to receive from the editor of the +'Hamburger Correspondenten' all the public documents at his disposal, +and was to have the benefit also of a mass of information, of which the +restraints of the German Press did not permit him to avail himself. +The honorarium I was to receive was ample with my habits of life. I +gladly accepted the offer, and never repented having done so. My +acquaintance with Mr. Walter ripened into friendship, and lasted as +long as he lived."[1] + +Mr. Robinson was forced to leave Germany by the Battle of Friedland and +the Treaty of Tilsit, which resulted in the naval coalition against +England. Returning to London, he became foreign editor of The Times +until the following year, when he proceeded to Spain as foreign +correspondent. Mr. Walter had also an agent in the track of the army +in the unfortunate Walcheren expedition; and The Times announced the +capitulation of Flushing forty-eight hours before the news had arrived +by any other channel. By this prompt method of communicating public +intelligence, the practice, which had previously existed, of +systematically retarding the publication of foreign news by officials +at the General Post Office, who made gain by selling them to the +Lombard Street brokers, was effectually extinguished. + +This circumstance, as well as the independent course which Mr. Walter +adopted in the discussion of foreign politics, explains in some measure +the opposition which he had to encounter in the transmission of his +despatches. As early as the year 1805, when he had come into collision +with the Government and lost the Customs printing, The Times despatches +were regularly stopped at the outports, whilst those for the +Ministerial journals were allowed to proceed. This might have crushed +a weaker man, but it did not crush Walter. Of course he expostulated. +He was informed at the Home Secretary's office that he might be +permitted to receive his foreign papers as a favour. But as this +implied the expectation of a favour from him in return, the proposal +was rejected; and, determined not to be baffled, he employed special +couriers, at great cost, for the purpose of obtaining the earliest +transmission of foreign intelligence. + +These important qualities--enterprise, energy, business tact, and +public spirit--sufficiently account for his remarkable success. To +these, however, must be added another of no small +importance--discernment and knowledge of character. Though himself the +head and front of his enterprise, it was necessary that he should +secure the services and co-operation of men of first-rate ability; and +in the selection of such men his judgment was almost unerring. By his +discernment and munificence, he collected round him some of the ablest +writers of the age. These were frequently revealed to him in the +communications of correspondents--the author of the letters signed +"Vetus" being thus selected to write in the leading columns of the +Paper. But Walter himself was the soul of The Times. It was he who +gave the tone to its articles, directed its influence, and +superintended its entire conduct with unremitting vigilance. + +Even in conducting the mechanical arrangements of the paper--a business +of no small difficulty--he had often occasion to exercise promptness +and boldness of decision in cases of emergency. Printers in those days +were a rather refractory class of work men, and not unfrequently took +advantage of their position to impose hard terms on their employers, +especially in the daily press, where everything must be promptly done +within a very limited time. Thus on one occasion, in 1810, the +pressmen made a sudden demand upon the proprietor for an increase of +wages, and insisted upon a uniform rate being paid to all hands, +whether good or bad. Walter was at first disposed to make concessions +to the men; but having been privately informed that a combination was +already entered into by the compositors, as well as by the pressmen, to +leave his employment suddenly, under circumstances that would have +stopped the publication of the paper, and inflicted on him the most +serious injury, he determined to run all risks, rather than submit to +what now appeared to him in the light of an extortion. + +The strike took place on a Saturday morning, when suddenly, and without +notice, all the hands turned out. Mr. Walter had only a few hours' +notice of it, but he had already resolved upon his course. He +collected apprentices from half a dozen different quarters, and a few +inferior workmen, who were glad to obtain employment on any terms. He +himself stript to his shirt-sleeves, and went to work with the rest; +and for the next six-and-thirty hours he was incessantly employed at +case and at press. On the Monday morning, the conspirators, who had +assembled to triumph over his ruin, to their inexpressible amazement +saw The Times issue from the publishing office at the usual hour, +affording a memorable example of what one man's resolute energy may +accomplish in a moment of difficulty. + +The journal continued to appear with regularity, though the printers +employed at the office lived in a state of daily peril. The +conspirators, finding themselves baffled, resolved upon trying another +game. They contrived to have two of the men employed by Walter as +compositors apprehended as deserters from the Royal Navy. The men were +taken before the magistrate; but the charge was only sustained by the +testimony of clumsy, perjured witnesses, and fell to the ground. The +turn-outs next proceeded to assault the new hands, when Mr. Walter +resolved to throw around them the protection of the law. By the advice +of counsel, he had twenty-one of the conspirators apprehended and +tried, and nineteen of them were found guilty and condemned to various +periods of imprisonment. From that moment combination was at an end in +Printing House Square. + +Mr. Walter's greatest achievement was his successful application of +steam power to newspaper printing. Although he had greatly improved +the mechanical arrangements after he took command of the paper, the +rate at which the copies could be printed off remained almost +stationary. It took a very long time indeed to throw off, by the +hand-labour of pressmen, the three or four thousand copies which then +constituted the ordinary circulation of The Times. On the occasion of +any event of great public interest being reported in the paper, it was +found almost impossible to meet the demand for copies. Only about 300 +copies could be printed in the hour, with one man to ink the types and +another to work the press, while the labour was very severe. Thus it +took a long time to get out the daily impression, and very often the +evening papers were out before The Times had half supplied the demand. + +Mr. Walter could not brook the tedium of this irksome and laborious +process. To increase the number of impressions, he resorted to various +expedients. The type was set up in duplicate, and even in triplicate; +several Stanhope presses were kept constantly at work; and still the +insatiable demands of the newsmen on certain occasions could not be +met. Thus the question was early forced upon his consideration, +whether he could not devise machinery for the purpose of expediting the +production of newspapers. Instead of 300 impressions an hour, he +wanted from 1500 to 2000. Although such a speed as this seemed quite +as chimerical as propelling a ship through the water against wind and +tide at fifteen miles an hour, or running a locomotive on a railway at +fifty, yet Mr. Walter was impressed with the conviction that a much +more rapid printing of newspapers was feasible than by the slow +hand-labour process; and he endeavoured to induce several ingenious +mechanical contrivers to take up and work out his idea. + +The principle of producing impressions by means of a cylinder, and of +inking the types by means of a roller, was not new. We have seen, in +the preceding memoir, that as early as 1790 William Nicholson had +patented such a method, but his scheme had never been brought into +practical operation. Mr. Walter endeavoured to enlist Marc Isambard +Brunel--one of the cleverest inventors of the day--in his proposed +method of rapid printing by machinery; but after labouring over a +variety of plans for a considerable time, Brunel finally gave up the +printing machine, unable to make anything of it. Mr. Walter next tried +Thomas Martyn, an ingenious young compositor, who had a scheme for a +self-acting machine for working the printing press. He was supplied +with the necessary funds to enable him to prosecute his idea; but Mr. +Walter's father was opposed to the scheme, and when the funds became +exhausted, this scheme also fell to the ground. + +As years passed on, and the circulation of the paper increased, the +necessity for some more expeditious method of printing became still +more urgent. Although Mr. Walter had declined to enter into an +arrangement with Bensley in 1809, before Koenig had completed his +invention of printing by cylinders, it was different five years later, +when Koenig's printing machine was actually at work. In the preceding +memoir, the circumstances connected with the adoption of the invention +by Mr. Walter are fully related; as well as the announcement made in +The Times on the 29th of November, 1814--the day on which the first +newspaper printed by steam was given to the world. + +But Koenig's printing machine was but the beginning of a great new +branch of industry. After he had left this country in disgust, it +remained for others to perfect the invention; although the ingenious +German was entitled to the greatest credit for having made the first +satisfactory beginning. Great inventions are not brought forth at a +heat. They are begun by one man, improved by another, and perfected by +a whole host of mechanical inventors. Numerous patents were taken out +for the mechanical improvement of printing. Donkin and Bacon contrived +a machine in 1813, in which the types were placed on a revolving prism. +One of them was made for the University of Cambridge, but it was found +too complicated; the inking was defective; and the project was +abandoned. + +In 1816, Mr. Cowper obtained a patent (No.3974) entitled, "A Method of +Printing Paper for Paper Hangings, and Other Purposes." + +The principal feature of this invention consisted in the curving or +bending of stereotype plates for the purpose of being printed in that +form. A number of machines for printing in two colours, in exact +register, was made for the Bank of England, and four millions of One +Pound notes were printed before the Bank Directors determined to +abolish their further issue. The regular mode of producing stereotype +plates, from plaster of Paris moulds, took so much time, that they +could not then be used for newspaper printing. + +Two years later, in 1818, Mr. Cowper invented and patented (No. 4194) +his great improvements in printing. It may be mentioned that he was +then himself a printer, in partnership with Mr. Applegath, his +brother-in-law. His invention consisted in the perfect distribution of +the ink, by giving end motion to the rollers, so as to get a +distribution crossways, as well as lengthways. This principle is at +the very foundation of good printing, and has been adopted in every +machine since made. The very first experiment proved that the +principle was right. Mr. Cowper was asked by Mr. Walter to alter +Koenig's machine at The Times office, so as to obtain good +distribution. He adopted two of Nicholson's single cylinders and flat +formes of type. Two "drums" were placed betwixt the cylinders to +ensure accuracy in the register,--over and under which the sheet was +conveyed in it s progress from one cylinder to the other,--the sheet +being at all times firmly held between two tapes, which bound it to the +cylinders and drums. This is commonly called, in the trade, a +"perfecting machine;" that is, it printed the paper on both sides +simultaneously, and is still much used for "book-work," whilst single +cylinder machines are often used for provincial newspapers. + +After this, Mr. Cowper designed the four cylinder machine for The +Times,--by means of which from 4000 to 5000 sheets could be printed +from one forme in the hour. In 1823, Mr. Applegath invented an +improvement in the inking apparatus, by placing the distributing +rollers at an angle across the distributing table, instead of forcing +them endways by other means. + +Mr. Walter continued to devote the same unremitting attention to his +business as before. He looked into all the details, was familiar with +every department, and, on an emergency, was willing to lend a hand in +any work requiring more than ordinary despatch. + +Thus, it is related of him that, in the spring of 1833, shortly after +his return to Parliament as Member for Berkshire, he was at The Times +office one day, when an express arrived from Paris, bringing the speech +of the King of the French on the opening of the Chambers. The express +arrived at 10 A.M., after the day's impression of the paper had been +published, and the editors and compositors had left the office. It was +important that the speech should be published at once; and Mr. Walter +immediately set to work upon it. He first translated the document; +then, assisted by one compositor, he took his place at the type-case, +and set it up. To the amazement of one of the staff, who dropped in +about noon, he "found Mr. Walter, M.P. for Berks, working in his +shirt-sleeves!" The speech was set and printed, and the second edition +was in the City by one o'clock. Had he not "turned to" as he did, the +whole expense of the express service would have been lost. And it is +probable that there was not another man in the whole establishment who +could have performed the double work--intellectual and physical--which +he that day executed with his own head and hands. + +Such an incident curiously illustrates his eminent success in life. It +was simply the result of persevering diligence, which shrank from no +effort and neglected no detail; as well as of prudence allied to +boldness, but certainly not "of chance;" and, above all, of highminded +integrity and unimpeachable honesty. It is perhaps unnecessary to add +more as to the merits of Mr. Walter as a man of enterprise in business, +or as a public man and a Member of Parliament. The great work of his +life was the development of his journal, the history of which forms the +best monument to his merits and his powers. + +The progressive improvement of steam printing machinery was not +affected by Mr. Walter's death, which occurred in 1847. He had given +it an impulse which it never lost. In 1846 Mr. Applegath patented +certain important improvements in the steam press. The general +disposition of his new machine was that of a vertical cylinder 200 +inches in circumference, holding on it the type and distributing +surfaces, and surrounded alternately by inking rollers and pressing +cylinders. Mr. Applegath estimated in his specification that in his +new vertical system the machine, with eight cylinders, would print +about 10,000 sheets per hour. The new printing press came into use in +1848, and completely justified the anticipations of its projector. + +Applegath's machine, though successfully employed at The Times office, +did not come into general use. It was, to a large extent, superseded +by the invention of Richard M. Hoe, of New York. Hoe's process +consisted in placing the types upon a horizontal cylinder, against +which the sheets were pressed by exterior and smaller cylinders. The +types were arranged in segments of a circle, each segment forming a +frame that could be fixed on the cylinder. These printing machines +were made with from two to ten subsidiary cylinders. The first presses +sent by Messrs. Hoe & Co. to this country were for Lloyd's Weekly +Newspaper, and were of the six-cylinder size. These were followed by +two ten-cylinder machines, ordered by the present Mr. Walter, for The +Times. Other English newspaper proprietors--both in London and the +provinces--were supplied with the machines, as many as thirty-five +having been imported from America between 1856 and 1862. It may be +mentioned that the two ten-cylinder Hoes made for The Times were driven +at the rate of thirty-two revolutions per minute, which gives a +printing rate of 19,200 per hour, or about 16,000 including stoppages. + +Much of the ingenuity exercised both in the Applegath and Hoe Machines +was directed to the "chase," which had to hold securely upon its curved +face the mass of movable type required to form a page. And now the +enterprise of the proprietor of The Times again came to the front. The +change effected in the art of newspaper-printing, by the process of +stereotypes, is scarcely inferior to that by which the late Mr. Walter +applied steam-power to the printing press, and certainly equal to that +by which the rotary press superseded the reciprocatory action of the +flat machine. + +Stereotyping has a curious history. Many attempts were made to obtain +solid printing-surfaces by transfer from similar surfaces, composed, in +the first place, of movable types. The first who really succeeded was +one Ged, an Edinburgh goldsmith, who, after a series of difficult +experiments, arrived at a knowledge of the art of stereotyping. The +first method employed was to pour liquid stucco, of the consistency of +cream, over the types; and this, when solid, gave a perfect mould. +Into this the molten metal was poured, and a plate was produced, +accurately resembling the page of type. As long ago as 1730, Ged +obtained a privilege from the University of Cambridge for printing +Bibles and Prayer-books after this method. But the workmen were dead +against it, as they thought it would destroy their trade. The +compositors and the pressmen purposely battered the letters in the +absence of their employers. In consequence of this interference Ged +was ruined, and died in poverty. + +The art had, however, been born, and could not be kept down. It was +revived in France, in Germany, and in America. Fifty years after the +discovery of Ged, Tilloch and Foulis, of Glasgow, patented a similar +invention, without knowing anything of what Ged had done; and after +great labour and many experiments, they produced plates, the +impressions from which could not be distinguished from those taken +from the types from which they were cast. Some years afterwards, Lord +Stanhope, to whom the art of printing is much indebted, greatly +improved the art of stereotyping, though it was still quite +inapplicable to newspaper printing. The merit of this latter invention +is due to the enterprise of the present proprietor of The Times. + +Mr. Walter began his experiments, aided by an ingenious Italian founder +named Dellagana, early in 1856. It was ascertained that when +papier-mache matrices were rapidly dried and placed in a mould, +separate columns might be cast in them with stereotype metal, type +high, planed flat, and finished with sufficient speed to get up the +duplicate of a forme of four pages fitted for printing. Steps were +taken to adapt these type-high columns to the Applegath Presses, then +worked with polygonal chases. When the Hoe machines were introduced, +instead of dealing with the separate columns, the papier-mache matrix +was taken from the whole page at one operation, by roller-presses +constructed for the purpose. The impression taken off in this manner +is as perfect as if it had been made in the finest wax. The matrix is +rapidly dried on heating surfaces, and then accurately adjusted in a +casting machine curved to the exact circumference of the main drum of +the printing press, and fitted with a terra-cotta top to secure a +casting of uniform thickness. On pouring stereotype metal into this +mould, a curved plate was obtained, which, after undergoing a certain +amount of trimming at two machines, could be taken to press and set to +work within twenty-five minutes from the time at which the process +began. + +Besides the great advantages obtained from uniform sets of the plates, +which might be printed on different machines at the rate of 50,000 +impressions an hour, or such additional number as might be required, +there is this other great advantage, that there is no wear and tear of +type in the curved chases by obstructive friction; and that the fount, +instead of wearing out in two years, might last for twenty; for the +plates, after doing their work for one day, are melted down into a new +impression for the next day's printing. At the same time, the original +type-page, safe from injury, can be made to yield any number of copies +that may be required by the exigencies of the circulation. It will be +sufficiently obvious that by the multiplication of stereotype plates +and printing machines, there is practically no limit to the number of +copies of a newspaper that may be printed within the time which the +process now usually occupies. + +This new method of newspaper stereotyping was originally employed on +the cylinders of the Applegath and Hoe Presses. But it is equally +applicable to those of the Walter Press, a brief description of which +we now subjoin. As the construction of the first steam newspaper +machine was due to the enterprise of the late Mr. Walter, so the +construction of this last and most improved machine is due in like +manner to the enterprise of his son. The new Walter Press is not, like +Applegath and Cowper's, and Hoe's, the improvement of an existing +arrangement, but an almost entirely original invention. + +In the Reports of the Jurors on the "Plate, Letterpress, and other +modes of Printing," at the International Exhibition of 1862, the +following passage occurs:--"It is incumbent on the reporters to point +out that, excellent and surprising as are the results achieved by the +Hoe and Applegath Machines, they cannot be considered satisfactory +while those machines themselves are so liable to stoppages in working. +No true mechanic can contrast the immense American ten-cylinder presses +of The Times with the simple calico-printing machine, without feeling +that the latter furnishes the true type to which the mechanism for +newspaper printing should as much as possible approximate." + +On this principle, so clearly put forward, the Inventors of the Walter +Press proceeded in the contrivance of the new machine. It is true that +William Nicholson, in his patent of 1790, prefigured the possibility of +printing on "paper, linen, cotton, woollen, and other articles," by +means of type fixed on the outer surface of a revolving cylinder; but +no steps were taken to carry his views into effect. Sir Rowland Hill +also, before he became connected with Post Office reform, revived the +contrivance of Nicholson, and referred to it in his patent of 1835 (No. +6762); and he also proposed to use continuous rolls of paper, which +Fourdrinier and Donkin had made practicable by their invention of the +paper-making machine about the year 1804; but both Nicholson's and +Hill's patents remained a dead letter.[2] + +It may be easy to conceive a printing machine, or even to make a model +of one; but to construct an actual working printing press, that must be +sure and unfailing in its operations, is a matter surrounded with +difficulties. At every step fresh contrivances have to be introduced; +they have to be tried again and again; perhaps they are eventually +thrown aside to give place to new arrangements. Thus the head of the +inventor is kept in a state of constant turmoil. Sometimes the whole +machine has to be remodelled from beginning to end. One step is gained +by degrees, then another; and at last, after years of labour, the new +invention comes before the world in the form of a practical working +machine. + +In 1862 Mr. Walter began in The Times office, with tools and machinery +of his own, experiments for constructing a perfecting press which +should print the paper from rolls of paper instead of from sheets. +Like his father, Mr. Walter possessed an excellent discrimination of +character, and selected the best men to aid him in his important +undertaking. Numerous difficulties had, of course, to be surmounted. +Plans were varied from time to time; new methods were tried, altered, +and improved, simplification being aimed at throughout. Six long years +passed in this pursuit of the possible. At length the clear light +dawned. In 1868 Mr. Walter ventured to order the construction of three +machines on the pattern of the first complete one which had been made. +By the end of 1869 these were finished and placed in a room by +themselves; and a fourth was afterwards added. There the printing of +The Times is now done, in less than half the time it previously +occupied, and with one-fifth the number of hands. + +The most remarkable feature in the Walter Press is its wonderful +simplicity of construction. Simplicity of arrangement is always the +beau ideal of the mechanical engineer. This printing press is not only +simple, but accurate, compact, rapid, and economical. + +While each of the ten-feeder Hoe Machines occupies a large and lofty +room, and requires eighteen men to feed and work it, the new Walter +Machine occupies a space of only about 14 feet by 5, or less than any +newspaper machine yet introduced; and it requires only three lads to +take away, with half the attention of an overseer, who easily +superintends two of the machines while at work. The Hoe Machine turns +out 7000 impressions printed on both sides in the hour, whereas the +Walter Machine turns out 12,000 impressions completed in the same time. + +The new Walter Press does not in the least resemble any existing +printing machine, unless it be the calendering machine which furnished +its type. At the printing end it looks like a collection of small +cylinders or rollers. The first thing to be observed is the continuous +roll of paper four miles long, tightly mounted on a reel, which, when +the machine is going, flies round with immense rapidity. The web of +paper taken up by the first roller is led into a series of small hollow +cylinders filled with water and steam, perforated with thousands of +minute holes. By this means the paper is properly damped before the +process of printing is begun. The roll of paper, drawn by nipping +rollers, next flies through to the cylinder on which the stereotype +plates are fixed, so as to form the four pages of the ordinary sheet of +The Times; there it is lightly pressed against the type and printed; +then it passes downwards round another cylinder covered with cloth, and +reversed; next to the second type-covered roller, where it takes the +impression exactly on the other side of the remaining four pages. It +next reaches one of the most ingenious contrivances of the +invention--the cutting machinery, by means of which the paper is +divided by a quick knife into the 5500 sheets of which the entire web +consists. The tapes hurry the now completely printed newspaper up an +inclined plane, from which the divided sheets are showered down in a +continuous stream by an oscillating frame, where they are met by two +boys, who adjust the sheets as they fall. The reel of four miles long +is printed and divided into newspapers complete in about twenty-five +minutes. + +The machine is almost entirely self-acting, from the pumping-up of the +ink into the ink-box out of the cistern below stairs, to the +registering of the numbers as they are printed in the manager's room +above. It is always difficult to describe a machine in words. Nothing +but a series of sections and diagrams could give the reader an idea of +the construction of this unrivalled instrument. The time to see it and +wonder at it is when the press is in full work. And even then you can +see but little of its construction, for the cylinders are wheeling +round with immense velocity. The rapidity with which the machine works +may be inferred from the fact that the printing cylinders (round which +the stereotyped plates are fixed), while making their impressions on +the paper, travel at the surprising speed of 200 revolutions a minute, +or at the rate of about nine miles an hour! + +Contrast this speed with the former slowness. Go back to the beginning +of the century. Before the year 1814 the turn-out of newspapers was +only about 300 single impressions in an hour--that is, impressions +printed on only one side of the paper. Koenig by his invention +increased the issue to 1100 impressions. Applegath and Cowper by their +four-cylinder machine increased the issue to 4000, and by the +eight-cylinder machine to 10,000 an hour. But these were only +impressions printed on one side of the paper. The first perfecting +press--that is, printing simultaneously the paper on both sides--was +the Walter, the speed of which has been raised to 12,000, though, if +necessary, it can produce excellent work at the rate of 17,000 complete +copies of an eight-page paper per hour. Then, with the new method of +stereotyping--by means of which the plates can be infinitely multiplied +and by the aid of additional machines, the supply of additional +impressions is absolutely unlimited. + +The Walter Press is not a monopoly. It is manufactured at The Times +office, and is supplied to all comers. Among the other daily papers +printed by its means in this country are the Daily News, the Scotsmam, +and the Birmingham Daily Post. The first Walter Press was sent to +America in 1872, where it was employed to print the Missouri Republican +at St. Louis, the leading newspaper of the Mississippi Valley. An +engineer and a skilled workman from The Times office accompanied the +machinery. On arriving at St. Louis--the materials were unpacked, +lowered into the machine-room, where they were erected and ready for +work in the short space of five days. + +The Walter Press was an object of great interest at the Centennial +Exhibition held at Philadelphia in 1876, where it was shown printing +the New Fork Times one of the most influential journals in America. +The press was surrounded with crowds of visitors intently watching its +perfect and regular action, "like a thing of life." The New York Times +said of it: "The Walter Press is the most perfect printing press yet +known to man; invented by the most powerful journal of the Old World, +and adopted as the very best press to be had for its purposes by the +most influential journal of the New World.... It is an honour to Great +Britain to have such an exhibit in her display, and a lasting benefit +to the printing business, especially to newspapers.... The first +printing press run by steam was erected in the year 1814 in the office +of The Times by the father of him who is the present proprietor of that +world-famous journal. The machine of 1814 was described in The Times +of the 29th November in that year, and the account given of it closed +in these words: 'The whole of these complicated acts is performed with +such a velocity and simultaneosness of movement that no less than 1100 +sheets are impressed in one hour.' Mirabile dictu! And the Walter +Press of to-day can run off 17,000 copies an hour printed on both +sides. This is not bad work for one man's lifetime." + +It is unnecessary to say more about this marvellous machine. Its +completion forms the crown of the industry which it represents, and of +the enterprise of the journal which it prints. + + +Footnotes for Chapter VII. + +[1] Diary, Reminiscences, and Correspondence of Henry Crabb Robinson, +Barrister-at-Law, F.S.A., i. 231. + +[2] After the appearance of my article on the Koenig and Walter Presses +in Macmillan's Magazine for December, 1869, I received the following +letter from Sir Rowland Hill:-- + +"Hampstead" January 5th, 1870. + +"My dear sir, + +"In your very interesting article in Macmillan's Magazine on the +subject of the printing machine, you have unconsciously done me some +injustice. To convince yourself of this, you have only to read the +enclosed paper. The case, however, will be strengthened when I tell +you that as far back as the year 1856, that is, seven years after the +expiry of my patent, I pointed out to Mr. Mowbray Morris, the manager +of The Times, the fitness of my machine for the printing of that +journal, and the fact that serious difficulties to its adoption had +been removed. I also, at his request, furnished him with a copy of the +document with which I now trouble you. Feeling sure that you would +like to know the truth on any subject of which you may treat, I should +be glad to explain the matter more fully, and for this purpose will, +with your permission, call upon you at any time you may do me the +favour to appoint. "Faithfully yours, + +"Rowland Hill." + +On further enquiry I obtained the Patent No. 6762; but found that +nothing practical had ever come of it. The pamphlet enclosed by Sir +Rowland Hill in the above letter is entitled 'The Rotary Printing +Machine.' It is very clever and ingenious, like everything he did. But +it was still left for some one else to work out the invention into a +practical working printing-press. The subject is fully referred to in +the 'Life of Sir Rowland Hill' (i. 224,525). In his final word on the +subject, Sir Rowland "gladly admits the enormous difficulty of bringing +a complex machine into practical use," a difficulty, he says, which +"has been most successfully overcome by the patentees of the Walter +Press." + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +WILLIAM CLOWES: INTRODUCER OF BOOK-PRINTING BY STEAM. + +"The Images of men's wits and knowledges remain in Books, exempted from +the wrong of time, and capable of perpetual renovation. Neither are +they fitly to be called Images, because they generate still, and cast +their seeds in the minds of others, provoking and causing infinite +actions and opinions in succeeding ages; so that, if the invention of +the Ship was thought so noble, which carrieth riches and commodities +from place to place, and consociateth the most remote Regions in +participation of their Fruits, how much more are letters to be +magnified, which, as Ships, pass through the vast Seas of time, and +make ages so distant to participate of the wisdom, illuminations, and +inventions, the one of the other?"--Bacon, On the Proficience and +Advancement of Learning. + +Steam has proved as useful and potent in the printing of books as in +the printing of newspapers. Down to the end of last century, "the +divine art," as printing was called, had made comparatively little +progress. That is to say, although books could be beautifully printed +by hand labour, they could not be turned out in any large numbers. + +The early printing press was rude. It consisted of a table, along +which the forme of type, furnished with a tympan and frisket, was +pushed by hand. The platen worked vertically between standards, and +was brought down for the impression, and raised after it, by a common +screw, worked by a bar handle. The inking was performed by balls +covered with skin pelts; they were blacked with ink, and beaten down on +the type by the pressman. The inking was consequently irregular. + +In 1798, Earl Stanhope perfected the press that bears his name. He did +not patent it, but made his invention over to the public. In 1818, Mr. +Cowper greatly improved the inking of formes used in the Stanhope and +other presses, by the use of a hand roller covered with a composition +of glue and treacle, in combination with a distributing table. The ink +was thus applied in a more even manner, and with a considerable +decrease of labour. With the Stanhope Press, printing was as far +advanced as it could possibly be by means of hand labour. About 250 +impressions could be taken off, on one side, in an hour. + +But this, after all, was a very small result. When books could be +produced so slowly, there could be no popular literature. Books were +still articles for the few, instead of for the many. Steam power, +however, completely altered the state of affairs. When Koenig invented +his steam press, he showed by the printing of Clarkson's 'Life of +Penn'--the first sheets ever printed with a cylindrical press--that +books might be printed neatly, as well as cheaply, by the new machine. +Mr. Bensley continued the process, after Koenig left England; and in +1824, according to Johnson in his 'Typographia,' his son was "driving +an extensive business." + +In the following year, 1825, Archibald Constable, of Edinburgh, +propounded his plan for revolutionising the art of bookselling. Instead +of books being articles of luxury, he proposed to bring them into +general consumption. He would sell them, not by thousands, but by +hundreds of thousands, "ay, by millions;" and he would accomplish this +by the new methods of multiplication--by machine printing and by steam +power. Mr. Constable accordingly issued a library of excellent books; +and, although he was ruined--not by this enterprise, but the other +speculations into which he entered--he set the example which other +enterprising minds were ready to follow. Amongst these was Charles +Knight, who set the steam presses of William Clowes to work, for the +purposes of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. + +William Clowes was the founder of the vast printing establishment from +which these sheets are issued; and his career furnishes another +striking illustration of the force of industry and character. He was +born on the 1st of January, 1779. His father was educated at Oxford, +and kept a large school at Chichester; but dying when William was but +an infant, he left his widow, with straitened means, to bring up her +family. At a proper age William was bound apprentice to a printer at +Chichester; and, after serving him for seven years, he came up to +London, at the beginning of 1802, to seek employment as a journeyman. +He succeeded in finding work at a small office on Tower Hill, at a +small wage. The first lodgings he took cost him 5s. a week; but +finding this beyond his means he hired a room in a garret at 2s. 6d., +which was as much as he could afford out of his scanty earnings. + +The first job he was put to, was the setting-up of a large +poster-bill--a kind of work which he had been accustomed to execute in +the country; and he knocked it together so expertly that his master, +Mr. Teape, on seeing what he could do, said to him, "Ah! I find you are +just the fellow for me." The young man, however, felt so strange in +London, where he was without a friend or acquaintance, that at the end +of the first month he thought of leaving it; and yearned to go back to +his native city. But he had not funds enough to enable him to follow +his inclinations, and he accordingly remained in the great City, to +work, to persevere, and finally to prosper. He continued at Teape's +for about two years, living frugally, and even contriving to save a +little money. + +He then thought of beginning business on his own account. The small +scale on which printing was carried on in those days enabled him to +make a start with comparatively little capital. By means of his own +savings and the help of his friends, he was enabled to take a little +printing-office in Villiers Street, Strand, about the end of 1803; and +there he began with one printing press, and one assistant. His stock +of type was so small, that he was under the necessity of working it +from day to day like a banker's gold. When his first job came in, he +continued to work for the greater part of three nights, setting the +type during the day, and working it off at night, in order that the +type might be distributed for resetting on the following morning. He +succeeded, however, in executing his first job to the entire +satisfaction of his first customer. + +His business gradually increased, and then, with his constantly saved +means, he was enabled to increase his stock of type, and to undertake +larger jobs. Industry always tells, and in the long-run leads to +prosperity. He married early, but he married well. He was only +twenty-four when he found his best fortune in a good, affectionate +wife. Through this lady's cousin, Mr. Winchester, the young printer +was shortly introduced to important official business. His punctual +execution of orders, the accuracy of his work, and the despatch with +which he turned it out soon brought him friends, and his obliging and +kindly disposition firmly secured them. Thus, in a few years, the +humble beginner with one press became a printer on a large scale. + +The small concern expanded into a considerable printing-office in +Northumberland Court, which was furnished with many presses and a large +stock of type. The office was, unfortunately, burnt down; but a larger +office rose in its place. + +What Mr. Clowes principally aimed at, in carrying on his business, was +accuracy, speed, and quantity. He did not seek to produce editions de +luxe in limited numbers, but large impressions of works in popular +demand--travels, biographies, histories, blue-books, and official +reports, in any quantity. For this purpose, he found the process of +hand-printing too tedious, as well as too costly; and hence he early +turned his attention to book printing by machine presses, driven by +steam power,--in this matter following the example of Mr. Walter of the +Times, who had for some years employed the same method for newspaper +printing. + +Applegath & Cowper's machines had greatly advanced the art of printing. +They secured perfect inking and register; and the sheets were printed +off more neatly, regularly, and expeditiously; and larger sheets could +be printed on both sides, than by any other method. In 1823, +accordingly, Mr. Clowes erected his first steam presses, and he soon +found abundance of work for them. But to produce steam requires +boilers and engines, the working of which occasions smoke and noise. +Now, as the printing-office, with its steam presses, was situated in +Northumberland Court, close to the palace of the Duke of +Northumberland, at Charing Cross, Mr. Clowes was required to abate the +nuisance, and to stop the noise and dirt occasioned by the use of his +engines. This he failed to do, and the Duke commenced an action +against him. + +The case was tried in June, 1824, in the Court of Common Pleas. It was +ludicrous to hear the extravagant terms in which the counsel for the +plaintiff and his witnesses described the nuisance--the noise made by +the engine in the underground cellar, some times like thunder, at other +times like a thrashing-machine, and then again like the rumbling of +carts and waggons. The printer had retained the Attorney-general, Mr. +Copley, afterwards Lord Lyndhurst, who conducted his case with +surpassing ability. The cross-examination of a foreign artist, employed +by the Duke to repaint some portraits of the Cornaro family by Titian, +is said to have been one of the finest things on record. The sly and +pungent humour, and the banter with which the counsel derided and +laughed down this witness, were inimitable. The printer won his case; +but he eventually consented to remove his steam presses from the +neighbourhood, on the Duke paying him a certain sum to be determined by +the award of arbitrators. + +It happened, about this period, that a sort of murrain fell upon the +London publishers. After the failure of Constable at Edinburgh, they +came down one after another, like a pack of cards. Authors are not the +only people who lose labour and money by publishers; there are also +cases where publishers are ruined by authors. Printers also now lost +heavily. In one week, Mr. Clowes sustained losses through the failure +of London publishers to the extent of about 25,000L. Happily, the +large sum which the arbitrators awarded him for the removal of his +printing presses enabled him to tide over the difficulty; he stood his +ground unshaken, and his character in the trade stood higher than ever. + +In the following year Mr. Clowes removed to Duke Street, Blackfriars, +to premises until then occupied by Mr. Applegath, as a printer; and +much more extensive buildings and offices were now erected. There his +business transactions assumed a form of unprecedented magnitude, and +kept pace with the great demand for popular information which set in +with such force about fifty years ago. In the course of ten years--as +we find from the 'Encyclopaedia Metropolitana'--there were twenty of +Applegath & Cowper's machines, worked by two five-horse engines. From +these presses were issued the numerous admirable volumes and +publications of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; the +treatises on 'Physiology,' by Roget, and 'Animal Mechanics,' by Charles +Bell; the 'Elements of Physics,' by Neill Arnott; 'The Pursuit of +Knowledge under Difficulties,' by G. L. Craik, a most fascinating book; +the Library of Useful Knowledge; the 'Penny Magazine,' the first +illustrated publication; and the 'Penny Cyclopaedia,' that admirable +compendium of knowledge and science. + +These publications were of great value. Some of them were printed in +unusual numbers. The 'Penny Magazine,' of which Charles Knight was +editor, was perhaps too good, because it was too scientific. +Nevertheless, it reached a circulation of 200,000 copies. The 'Penny +Cyclopaedia' was still better. It was original, and yet cheap. The +articles were written by the best men that could be found in their +special departments of knowledge. The sale was originally 75,000 +weekly; but, as the plan enlarged, the price was increased from 1d. to +2d., and then to 4d. At the end of the second year, the circulation +had fallen to 44,000; and at the end of the third year, to 20,000. + +It was unfortunate for Mr. Knight to be so much under the influence of +his Society. Had the Cyclopaedia been under his own superintendence, +it would have founded his fortune. As it was, he lost over 30,000L. by +the venture. The 'Penny Magazine' also went down in circulation, until +it became a non-paying publication, and then it was discontinued. It +is curious to contrast the fortunes of William Chambers of Edinburgh +with those of Charles Knight of London. 'Chambers's Edinburgh Journal' +was begun in February, 1832, and the 'Penny Magazine' in March, 1832. + +Chambers was perhaps shrewder than Knight. His journal was as good, +though without illustrations; but he contrived to mix up amusement with +useful knowledge. It may be a weakness, but the public like to be +entertained, even while they are feeding upon better food. Hence +Chambers succeeded, while Knight failed. The 'Penny Magazine' was +discontinued in 1845, whereas 'Chambers's Edinburgh Journal' has +maintained its popularity to the present day. Chambers, also, like +Knight, published an 'Encyclopaedia,' which secured a large +circulation. But he was not trammelled by a Society, and the +'Encyclopaedia' has become a valuable property. + +The publication of these various works would not have been possible +without the aid of the steam printing press. When Mr. Edward Cowper +was examined before a Committee of the House of Commons, he said, "The +ease with which the principles and illustrations of Art might be +diffused is, I think, so obvious that it is hardly necessary to say a +word about it. Here you may see it exemplified in the 'Penny +Magazine.' Such works as this could not have existed without the +printing machine." He was asked, "In fact, the mechanic and the +peasant, in the most remote parts of the country, have now an +opportunity of seeing tolerably correct outlines of form which they +never could behold before?" To which he answered, "Exactly; and +literally at the price they used to give for a song." "Is there not, +therefore, a greater chance of calling genius into activity?" "Yes," +he said, "not merely by books creating an artist here and there, but by +the general elevation of the taste of the public." + +Mr. Clowes was always willing to promote deserving persons in his +office. One of these rose from step to step, and eventually became one +of the most prosperous publishers in London. He entered the service as +an errand-boy, and got his meals in the kitchen. Being fond of +reading, he petitioned Mrs. Clowes to let him sit somewhere, apart from +the other servants, where he might read his book in quiet. Mrs. Clowes +at length entreated her husband to take him into the office, for +"Johnnie Parker was such a good boy." He consented, and the boy took +his place at a clerk's desk. He was well-behaved, diligent, and +attentive. As he advanced in years, his steady and steadfast conduct +showed that he could be trusted. Young fellows like this always make +their way in life; for character invariably tells, not only in securing +respect, but in commanding confidence. Parker was promoted from one +post to another, until he was at length appointed overseer over the +entire establishment. + +A circumstance shortly after occurred which enabled Mr. Clowes to +advance him, though greatly to his own inconvenience, to another +important post. The Syndics of Cambridge were desirous that Mr. Clowes +should go down there to set their printing-office in order; they +offered him 400L. a year if he would only appear occasionally, and see +that the organisation was kept complete. He declined, because the +magnitude of his own operations had now become so great that they +required his unremitting attention. He, however strongly recommended +Parker to the office, though he could ill spare him. But he would not +stand in the young man's way, and he was appointed accordingly. He did +his work most effectually at Cambridge, and put the University Press +into thorough working order. + +As the 'Penny Magazine' and other publications of the Society of Useful +Knowledge were now making their appearance, the clergy became desirous +of bringing out a religious publication of a popular character, and +they were in search for a publisher. Parker, who was well known at +Cambridge, was mentioned to the Bishop of London as the most likely +person. An introduction took place, and after an hour's conversation +with Parker, the Bishop went to his friends and said, "This is the very +man we want." An offer was accordingly made to him to undertake the +publication of the 'Saturday Magazine' and the other publications of +the Christian Knowledge Society, which he accepted. It is unnecessary +to follow his fortunes. His progress was steady; he eventually became +the publisher of 'Fraser's Magazine' and of the works of John Stuart +Mill and other well-known writers. Mill never forgot his appreciation +and generosity; for when his 'System of Logic' had been refused by the +leading London publishers, Parker prized the book at its rightful value +and introduced it to the public. + +To return to Mr. Clowes. In the course of a few years, the original +humble establishment of the Sussex compositor, beginning with one press +and one assistant, grew up to be one of the largest printing-offices in +the world. It had twenty-five steam presses, twenty-eight +hand-presses, six hydraulic presses, and gave direct employment to over +five hundred persons, and indirect employment to probably more than ten +times that number. Besides the works connected with his +printing-office, Mr. Clowes found it necessary to cast his own types, +to enable him to command on emergency any quantity; and to this he +afterwards added stereotyping on an immense scale. He possessed the +power of supplying his compositors with a stream of new type at the +rate of about 50,000 pieces a day. In this way, the weight of type in +ordinary use became very great; it amounted to not less than 500 tons, +and the stereotyped plates to about 2500 tons the value of the latter +being not less than half a million sterling. + +Mr. Clowes would not hesitate, in the height of his career, to have +tons of type locked up for months in some ponderous blue-book. To +print a report of a hundred folio pages in the course of a day or +during a night, or of a thousand pages in a week, was no uncommon +occurrence. From his gigantic establishment were turned out not fewer +than 725,000 printed sheets, or equal to 30,000 volumes a week. Nearly +45,000 pounds of paper were printed weekly. The quantity printed on +both sides per week, if laid down in a path of 22 1/4 inches broad, +would extend 263 miles in length. + +About the year 1840, a Polish inventor brought out a composing machine, +and submitted it to Mr. Clowes for approval. But Mr. Clowes was +getting too old to take up and push any new invention. + +He was also averse to doing anything to injure the compositors, having +once been a member of the craft. At the same time he said to his son +George, "If you find this to be a likely machine, let me know. Of +course we must go with the age. If I had not started the steam press +when I did, where should I have been now?" On the whole, the composing +machine, though ingenious, was incomplete, and did not come into use at +that time, nor indeed for a long time after. Still, the idea had been +born, and, like other inventions, became eventually developed into a +useful working machine. Composing machines are now in use in many +printing-offices, and the present Clowes' firm possesses several of +them. Those in The Times newspaper office are perhaps the most perfect +of all. + +Mr. Clowes was necessarily a man of great ability, industry, and +energy. Whatever could be done in printing, that he would do. He would +never admit the force of any difficulty that might be suggested to his +plans. When he found a person ready to offer objections, he would say, +"Ah! I see you are a difficulty-maker: you will never do for me." + +Mr. Clowes died in 1847, at the age of sixty-eight. There still remain +a few who can recall to mind the giant figure, the kindly countenance, +and the gentle bearing of this "Prince of Printers," as he was styled +by the members of his craft. His life was full of hard and useful +work; and it will probably be admitted that, as the greatest multiplier +of books in his day, and as one of the most effective practical +labourers for the diffusion of useful knowledge, his name is entitled +to be permanently associated, not only with the industrial, but also +with the intellectual development of our time. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CHARLES BIANCONI: A LESSON OF SELF-HELP IN IRELAND. + +"I beg you to occupy yourself in collecting biographical notices +respecting the Italians who have honestly enriched themselves in other +regions, particularly referring to the obstacles of their previous +life, and to the efforts and the means which they employed for +vanquishing them, as well as to the advantages which they secured for +themselves, for the countries in which they settled, and for the +country to which they owed their birth."--GENERAL MENABREA, Circular to +Italian Consuls. + +When Count Menabrea was Prime Minister of Italy, he caused a despatch +to be prepared and issued to Italian Consuls in all parts of the world, +inviting them to collect and forward to him "biographical notices +respecting the Italians who have honourably advanced themselves in +foreign countries." + +His object, in issuing the despatch, was to collect information as to +the lives of his compatriots living abroad, in order to bring out a +book similar to 'Self-help,' the examples cited in which were to be +drawn exclusively from the lives of Italian citizens. Such a work, he +intimated, "if it were once circulated among the masses, could not fail +to excite their emulation and encourage them to follow the examples +therein set forth," while "in the course of time it might exercise a +powerful influence on the increased greatness of our country." + +We are informed by Count Menabrea that, although no special work has +been published from the biographical notices collected in answer to his +despatch, yet that the Volere e Potere ('Will is Power') of Professor +Lessona, issued a few years ago, sufficiently answers the purpose which +he contemplated, and furnishes many examples of the patient industry +and untiring perseverance of Italians in all parts of the world. Many +important illustrations of life and character are necessarily omitted +from Professor Lessona's interesting work. Among these may be +mentioned the subject of the following pages,--a distinguished Italian +who entirely corresponds to Count Menabrea's description--one who, in +the face of the greatest difficulties, raised himself to an eminent +public position, at the same time that he conferred the greatest +benefits upon the country in which he settled and carried on his +industrial operations. We mean Charles Bianconi, and his establishment +of the great system of car communication through out Ireland.[1] + +Charles Bianconi was born in 1786, at the village of Tregolo, situated +in the Lombard Highlands of La Brianza, about ten miles from Como. The +last elevations of the Alps disappear in the district; and the great +plain of Lombardy extends towards the south. The region is known for +its richness and beauty; the inhabitants being celebrated for the +cultivation of the mulberry and the rearing of the silkworm, the finest +silk in Lombardy being produced in the neighbourhood. Indeed, +Bianconi's family, like most of the villagers, maintained themselves by +the silk culture. + +Charles had three brothers and one sister. When of a sufficient age, +he was sent to school. The Abbe Radicali had turned out some good +scholars; but with Charles Bianconi his failure was complete. The new +pupil proved a tremendous dunce. He was very wild, very bold, and very +plucky; but he learned next to nothing. + +Learning took as little effect upon him as pouring water upon a duck's +back. Accordingly, when he left school at the age of sixteen, he was +almost as ignorant as when he had entered it; and a great deal more +wilful. + +Young Bianconi had now arrived at the age at which he was expected to +do something for his own maintenance. His father wished to throw him +upon his own resources; and as he would soon be subject to the +conscription, he thought of sending him to some foreign country in +order to avoid the forced service. Young fellows, who had any love of +labour or promptings of independence in them, were then accustomed to +leave home and carry on their occupations abroad. It was a common +practice for workmen in the neighbourhood of Como to emigrate to +England and carry on various trades; more particularly the manufacture +and sale of barometers, looking-glasses, images, prints, pictures, and +other articles. + +Accordingly, Bianconi's father arranged with one Andrea Faroni to take +the young man to England and instruct him in the trade of +print-selling. Bianconi was to be Faroni's apprentice for eighteen +months; and in the event of his not liking the occupation, he was to be +placed under the care of Colnaghi, a friend of his father's, who was +then making considerable progress as a print-seller in London; and who +afterwards succeeded in achieving a considerable fortune and reputation. + +Bianconi made his preparations for leaving home. A little festive +entertainment was given at a little inn in Como, at which the whole +family were present. It was a sad thing for Bianconi's mother to take +leave of her boy, wild though he was. On the occasion of this parting +ceremony, she fainted outright, at which the young fellow thought that +things were assuming a rather serious aspect. As he finally left the +family home at Tregolo, the last words his mother said to him were +these--words which he never forgot: "When you remember me, think of me +as waiting at this window, watching for your return." + +Besides Charles Bianconi, Faroni took three other boys under his +charge. One was the son of a small village innkeeper, another the son +of a tailor, and the third the son of a flax-dealer. This party, under +charge of the Padre, ascended the Alps by the Val San Giacomo road. +From the summit of the pass they saw the plains of Lombardy stretching +away in the blue distance. They soon crossed the Swiss frontier, and +then Bianconi found himself finally separated from home. He now felt, +that without further help from friends or relatives, he had his own way +to make in the world. + +The party of travellers duly reached England; but Faroni, without +stopping in London, took them over to Ireland at once. They reached +Dublin in the summer of 1802, and lodged in Temple Bar, near Essex +Bridge. It was some little time before Faroni could send out the boys +to sell pictures. First he had the leaden frames to cast; then they +had to be trimmed and coloured; and then the pictures--mostly of sacred +subjects, or of public characters--had to be mounted. The flowers; +which were of wax, had also to be prepared and finished, ready for sale +to the passers-by. + +When Bianconi went into the streets of Dublin to sell his mounted +prints, he could not speak a word of English. He could only say, "Buy, +buy!" Everybody spoke to him an unknown tongue. When asked the price, +he could only indicate by his fingers the number of pence he wanted for +his goods. At length he learned a little English,--at least sufficient +"for the road;" and then he was sent into the country to sell his +merchandize. He was despatched every Monday morning with about forty +shillings' worth of stock, and ordered to return home on Saturdays, or +as much sooner as he liked, if he had sold all the pictures. The only +money his master allowed him at starting was fourpence. When Bianconi +remonstrated at the smallness of the amount, Faroni answered, "While +you have goods you have money; make haste to sell your goods!" + +During his apprenticeship, Bianconi learnt much of the country through +which he travelled. He was constantly making acquaintances with new +people, and visiting new places. At Waterford he did a good trade in +small prints. Besides the Scripture pieces, he sold portraits of the +Royal Family, as well as of Bonaparte and his most distinguished +generals. "Bony" was the dread of all magistrates, especially in +Ireland. At Passage, near Waterford, Bianconi was arrested for having +sold a leaden framed picture of the famous French Emperor. He was +thrown into a cold guard-room, and spent the night there without bed, +or fire, or food. Next morning he was discharged by the magistrate, +but cautioned that he must not sell any more of such pictures. + +Many things struck Bianconi in making his first journeys through +Ireland. He was astonished at the dram-drinking of the men, and the +pipe-smoking of the women. The violent faction-fights which took place +at the fairs which he frequented, were of a kind which he had never +before observed among the pacific people of North Italy. These +faction-fights were the result, partly of dram-drinking, and partly of +the fighting mania which then prevailed in Ireland. There were also +numbers of crippled and deformed beggars in every town,--quarrelling +and fighting in the streets,--rows and drinkings at wakes,--gambling, +duelling, and riotous living amongst all classes of the people,--things +which could not but strike any ordinary observer at the time, but which +have now, for the most part, happily passed away. + +At the end of eighteen months, Bianconi's apprenticeship was out; and +Faroni then offered to take him back to his father, in compliance with +the original understanding. But Bianconi had no wish to return to +Italy. Faroni then made over to him the money he had retained on his +account, and Bianconi set up business for himself. He was now about +eighteen years old; he was strong and healthy, and able to walk with a +heavy load on his back from twenty to thirty miles a day. He bought a +large case, filled it with coloured prints and other articles, and +started from Dublin on a tour through the south of Ireland. He +succeeded, like most persons who labour diligently. The curly-haired +Italian lad became a general favourite. He took his native politeness +with him everywhere; and made many friends among his various customers +throughout the country. + +Bianconi used to say that it was about this time when he was carrying +his heavy case upon his back, weighing at least a hundred pounds--that +the idea began to strike him, of some cheap method of conveyance being +established for the accommodation of the poorer classes in Ireland. As +he dismantled himself of his case of pictures, and sat wearied and +resting on the milestones along the road, he puzzled his mind with the +thought, "Why should poor people walk and toil, and rich people ride +and take their ease? Could not some method be devised by which poor +people also might have the opportunity of travelling comfortably?" + +It will thus be seen that Bianconi was already beginning to think about +the matter. When asked, not long before his death, how it was that he +had first thought of starting his extensive Car establishment, he +answered, "It grew out of my back!" It was the hundred weight of +pictures on his dorsal muscles that stimulated his thinking faculties. +But the time for starting his great experiment had not yet arrived. + +Bianconi wandered about from town to town for nearly two years. The +picture-case became heavier than ever. For a time he replaced it with +a portfolio of unframed prints. Then he became tired of the wandering +life, and in 1806 settled down at Carrick-on-Suir as a print-seller and +carver and gilder. He supplied himself with gold-leaf from Waterford, +to which town he used to proceed by Tom Morrissey's boat. Although the +distance by road between the towns was only twelve miles, it was about +twenty-four by water, in consequence of the windings of the river Suir. +Besides, the boat could only go when the state of the tide permitted. +Time was of little consequence; and it often took half a day to make +the journey. In the course of one of his voyages, Bianconi got himself +so thoroughly soaked by rain and mud that he caught a severe cold, +which ran into pleurisy, and laid him up for about two months. He was +carefully attended to by a good, kind physician, Dr. White, who would +not take a penny for his medicine and nursing. + +Business did not prove very prosperous at Carrick-on-suir; the town was +small, and the trade was not very brisk. Accordingly, Bianconi +resolved, after a year's ineffectual trial, to remove to Waterford, a +more thriving centre of operations. He was now twenty-one years old. +He began again as a carver and gilder; and as business flowed in upon +him, he worked very hard, sometimes from six in the morning until two +hours after midnight. As usual, he made many friends. Among the best +of them was Edward Rice, the founder of the "Christian Brothers" in +Ireland. Edward Rice was a true benefactor to his country. He devoted +himself to the work of education, long before the National Schools were +established; investing the whole of his means in the foundation and +management of this noble institution. + +Mr. Rice's advice and instruction set and kept Bianconi in the right +road. He helped the young foreigner to learn English. Bianconi was no +longer a dunce, as he had been at school; but a keen, active, +enterprising fellow, eager to make his way in the world. Mr. Rice +encouraged him to be sedulous and industrious, urged him to carefulness +and sobriety, and strengthened his religions impressions. The help and +friendship of this good man, operating upon the mind and soul of a +young man, whose habits of conduct and whose moral and religious +character were only in course of formation, could not fail to exercise, +as Bianconi always acknowledged they did, a most powerful influence +upon the whole of his after life. + +Although "three removes" are said to be "as bad as a fire," Bianconi, +after remaining about two years at Waterford, made a third removal in +1809, to Clonmel, in the county of Tipperary. Clonmel is the centre of +a large corn trade, and is in water communication, by the Suir, with +Carrick and Waterford. Bianconi, therefore, merely extended his +connection; and still continued his dealings with his customers in the +other towns. He made himself more proficient in the mechanical part of +his business; and aimed at being the first carver and gilder in the +trade. Besides, he had always an eye open for new business. At that +time, when the war was raging with France, gold was at a premium. The +guinea was worth about twenty-six or twenty-seven shillings. Bianconi +therefore began to buy up the hoarded-up guineas of the peasantry. The +loyalists became alarmed at his proceedings, and began to circulate the +report that Bianconi, the foreigner, was buying up bullion to send +secretly to Bonaparte! The country people, however, parted with their +guineas readily; for they had no particular hatred of "Bony," but +rather admired him. + +Bianconi's conduct was of course quite loyal in the matter; he merely +bought the guineas as a matter of business, and sold them at a profit +to the bankers. + +The country people had a difficulty in pronouncing his name. His shop +was at the corner of Johnson Street, and instead of Bianconi, he came +to be called "Bian of the Corner." He was afterwards known as "Bian." + +Bianconi soon became well known after his business was established. He +became a proficient in the carving and gilding line, and was looked +upon as a thriving man. He began to employ assistants in his trade, +and had three German gilders at work. While they were working in the +shop he would travel about the country, taking orders and delivering +goods--sometimes walking and sometimes driving. + +He still retained a little of his old friskiness and spirit of +mischief. He was once driving a car from Clonmel to Thurles; he had +with him a large looking-glass with a gilt frame, on which about a +fortnight's labour had been bestowed. In a fit of exuberant humour he +began to tickle the horse under his tail with a straw! In an instant +the animal reared and plunged, and then set off at a gallop down hill. +The result was, that the car was dashed to bits and the looking-glass +broken into a thousand atoms! + +On another occasion, a man was carrying to Cashel on his back one of +Bianconi's large looking-glasses. An old woman by the wayside, seeing +the odd-looking, unwieldy package, asked what it was; on which +Bianconi, who was close behind the man carrying the glass, answered +that it was "the Repeal of the Union!" The old woman's delight was +unbounded! She knelt down on her knees in the middle of the road, as +if it had been a picture of the Madonna, and thanked God for having +preserved her in her old age to see the Repeal of the Union! + +But this little waywardness did not last long. Bianconi's wild oats +were soon all sown. He was careful and frugal. As he afterwards used +to say, "When I was earning a shilling a day at Clonmel, I lived upon +eightpence." He even took lodgers, to relieve him of the charge of his +household expenses. But as his means grew, he was soon able to have a +conveyance of his own. He first started a yellow gig, in which he +drove about from place to place, and was everywhere treated with +kindness and hospitality. He was now regarded as "respectable," and as +a person worthy to hold some local office. He was elected to a Society +for visiting the Sick Poor, and became a Member of the House of +Industry. He might have gone on in the same business, winning his way +to the Mayoralty of Clonmel, which he afterwards held; but that the old +idea, which had first sprung up in his mind while resting wearily on +the milestones along the road, with his heavy case of pictures by his +side, again laid hold of him, and he determined now to try whether his +plan could not be carried into effect. + +He had often lamented the fatigue that poor people had to undergo in +travelling with burdens from place to place upon foot, and wondered +whether some means might not be devised for alleviating their +sufferings. Other people would have suggested "the Government!" Why +should not the Government give us this, that, and the other,--give us +roads, harbours, carriages, boats, nets, and so on. This, of course, +would have been a mistaken idea; for where people are too much helped, +they invariably lose the beneficent practice of helping themselves. +Charles Bianconi had never been helped, except by advice and +friendship. He had helped himself throughout; and now he would try to +help others. + +The facts were patent to everybody. There was not an Irishman who did +not know the difficulty of getting from one town to another. There +were roads between them, but no conveyances. There was an abundance of +horses in the country, for at the close of the war an unusual number of +horses, bred for the army, were thrown upon the market. Then a tax had +been levied upon carriages, which sent a large number of jaunting-cars +out of employment. + +The roads of Ireland were on the whole good, being at that time quite +equal, if not superior, to most of those in England. The facts of the +abundant horses, the good roads, the number of unemployed outside cars, +were generally known; but until Bianconi took the enterprise in hand, +there was no person of thought, or spirit, or capital in the country, +who put these three things together horses, roads, and cars and dreamt +of remedying the great public inconvenience. + +It was left for our young Italian carver and gilder, a struggling man +of small capital, to take up the enterprise, and show what could be +done by prudent action and persevering energy. Though the car system +originally "grew out of his back," Bianconi had long been turning the +subject over in his mind. His idea was, that we should never despise +small interests, nor neglect the wants of poor people. He saw the +mail-coaches supplying the requirements of the rich, and enabling them +to travel rapidly from place to place. "Then," said he to himself, +"would it not be possible for me to make an ordinary two-wheeled car +pay, by running as regularly for the accommodation of poor districts +and poor people?" + +When Mr. Wallace, chairman of the Select Committee on Postage, in 1838, +asked Mr. Bianconi, "What induced you to commence the car +establishment?" his answer was, "I did so from what I saw, after coming +to this country, of the necessity for such cars, inasmuch as there was +no middle mode of conveyance, nothing to fill up the vacuum that +existed between those who were obliged to walk and those who posted or +rode. My want of knowledge of the language gave me plenty of time for +deliberation, and in proportion as I grew up with the knowledge of the +language and the localities, this vacuum pressed very heavily upon my +mind, till at last I hit upon the idea of running jaunting-cars, and +for that purpose I commenced running one between Clonmel and Cahir."[2] + +What a happy thing it was for Bianconi and Ireland that he could not +speak with facility,--that he did not know the language or the manners +of the country! In his case silence was "golden." Had he been able to +talk like the people about him, he might have said much and done +little,--attempted nothing and consequently achieved nothing. He might +have got up a meeting and petitioned Parliament to provide the cars, +and subvention the car system; or he might have gone amongst his +personal friends, asked them to help him, and failing their help, given +up his idea in despair, and sat down grumbling at the people and the +Government. + +But instead of talking, he proceeded to doing, thereby illustrating +Lessona's maxim of Volere e potere. After thinking the subject fully +over, he trusted to self-help. He found that with his own means, +carefully saved, he could make a beginning; and the beginning once +made, included the successful ending. + +The beginning, it is true, was very small. It was only an ordinary +jaunting-car, drawn by a single horse, capable of accommodating six +persons. The first car ran between Clonmel and Cahir, a distance of +about twelve miles, on the 5th of July, 1815--a memorable day for +Bianconi and Ireland. Up to that time the public accommodation for +passengers was confined to a few mail and day coaches on the great +lines of road, the fares by which were very high, and quite beyond the +reach of the poorer or middle-class people. + +People did not know what to make of Bianconi's car when it first +started. There were, of course, the usual prophets of disaster, who +decided that it "would never do." Many thought that no one would pay +eighteen-pence for going to Cahir by car when they could walk there for +nothing? There were others who thought that Bianconi should have stuck +to his shop, as there was no connection whatever between +picture-gilding and car-driving! + +The truth is, the enterprise at first threatened to be a failure! +Scarcely anybody would go by the car. People preferred trudging on +foot, and saved their money, which was more valuable to them than their +time. The car sometimes ran for weeks without a passenger. Another +man would have given up the enterprise in despair. But this was not +the way with Bianconi. He was a man of tenacity and perseverance. +What should he do but start an opposition car? Nobody knew of it but +himself; not even the driver of the opposition car. However, the rival +car was started. The races between the car-drivers, the free lifts +occasionally given to passengers, the cheapness of the fare, and the +excitement of the contest, attracted the attention of the public. The +people took sides, and before long both cars came in full. Fortunately +the "great big yallah horse" of the opposition car broke down, and +Bianconi had all the trade to himself. + +The people became accustomed to travelling. They might still walk to +Cahir; but going by car saved their legs, saved their brains, and saved +their time. They might go to Cahir market, do their business there, +and be comfortably back within the day. Bianconi then thought of +extending the car to Tipperary and Limerick. In the course of the same +year, 1815, he started another car between Clonmel, Cashel, and +Thurles. Thus all the principal towns of Tipperary were, in the first +year of the undertaking, connected together by car, besides being also +connected with Limerick. + +It was easy to understand the convenience of the car system to business +men, farmers, and even peasants. Before their establishment, it took a +man a whole day to walk from Thurles to Clonmel, the second day to do +his business, and the third to walk back again; whereas he could, in +one day, travel backwards and forwards between the two towns, and have +five or six intermediate hours for the purpose of doing his business. +Thus two clear days could be saved. + +Still carrying out his scheme, Bianconi, in the following year (1816), +put on a car from Clonmel to Waterford. Before that time there was no +car accommodation between Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir, about half-way +to Waterford; but there was an accommodation by boat between Carrick +and Waterford. The distance between the two latter places was, by +road, twelve miles, and by the river Suir twenty-four miles. Tom +Morrissey's boat plied two days a week; it carried from eight to ten +passengers at 6 1/2d. of the then currency; it did the voyage in from +four to five hours, and besides had to wait for the tide to float it up +and down the river. When Bianconi's car was put on, it did the +distance daily and regularly in two hours, at a fare of two shillings. + +The people soon got accustomed to the convenience of the cars. They +also learned from them the uses of punctuality and the value of time. +They liked the open-air travelling and the sidelong motion. The new +cars were also safe and well-appointed. They were drawn by good horses +and driven by good coachmen. Jaunting-car travelling had before been +rather unsafe. The country cars were of a ramshackle order, and the +drivers were often reckless. "Will I pay the pike, or drive at it, +plaise your honour?" said a driver to his passenger on approaching a +turnpike-gate. Sam Lover used to tell a story of a car-driver, who, +after driving his passenger up-hill and down-hill, along a very bad +road, asked him for something extra at the end of his journey. + +"Faith," said the driver, "its not putting me off with this ye'd be, if +ye knew but all." The gentleman gave him another shilling. "And now +what do you mean by saying, 'if ye knew but all?'" "That I druv yer +honor the last three miles widout a linch-pin!" + +Bianconi, to make sure of the soundness and safety of his cars, set up +a workshop to build them for himself. He could thus depend upon their +soundness, down even to the linch-pin itself. He kept on his carving +and gilding shop until his car business had increased so much that it +required the whole of his time and attention; and then he gave it up. +In fact, when he was able to run a car from Clonmel to Waterford--a +distance of thirty-two miles--at a fare of three-and-sixpence, his +eventual triumph was secure. + +He made Waterford one of the centres of his operations, as he had +already made Clonmel. In 1818 he established a car between Waterford +and Ross, in the following year a car between Waterford and Wexford, +and another between Waterford and Enniscorthy. A few years later he +established other cars between Waterford and Kilkenny, and Waterford +and Dungarvan. From these furthest points, again, other cars were +established in communication with them, carrying the line further +north, east, and west. So much had the travelling between Clonmel and +Waterford increased, that in a few years (instead of the eight or ten +passengers conveyed by Tom Morrissey's boat on the Suir) there was +horse and car power capable of conveying a hundred passengers daily +between the two places. + +Bianconi did a great stroke of business at the Waterford election of +1826. Indeed it was the turning point of his fortunes. He was at +first greatly cramped for capital. The expense of maintaining and +increasing his stock of cars, and of foddering his horses was very +great; and he was always on the look-out for more capital. When the +Waterford election took place, the Beresford party, then all-powerful, +engaged all his cars to drive the electors to the poll. The popular +party, however, started a candidate, and applied to Bianconi for help. +But he could not comply, for his cars were all engaged. The morning +after his refusal of the application, Bianconi was pelted with mud. +One or two of his cars and horses were heaved over the bridge. + +Bianconi then wrote to Beresford's agent, stating that he could no +longer risk the lives of his drivers and his horses, and desiring to be +released from his engagement. The Beresford party had no desire to +endanger the lives of the car-drivers or their horses, and they set +Bianconi free. He then engaged with the popular party, and enabled +them to win the election. For this he was paid the sum of a thousand +pounds. This access of capital was greatly helpful to him under the +circumstances. He was able to command the market, both for horses and +fodder. He was also placed in a position to extend the area of his car +routes. + +He now found time, amidst his numerous avocations, to get married! He +was forty years of age before this event occurred. He married Eliza +Hayes, some twenty years younger than himself, the daughter of Patrick +Hayes, of Dublin, and of Henrietta Burton, an English-woman. The +marriage was celebrated on the 14th of February, 1827; and the ceremony +was performed by the late Archbishop Murray. Mr. Bianconi must now +have been in good circumstances, as he settled two thousand pounds upon +his wife on their marriage-day. His early married life was divided +between his cars, electioneering, and Repeal agitation--for he was +always a great ally of O'Connell. Though he joined in the Repeal +movement, his sympathies were not with it; for he preferred Imperial to +Home Rule. But he could never deny himself the pleasure of following +O'Connell, "right or wrong." + +Let us give a picture of Bianconi now. The curly-haired Italian boy +had grown a handsome man. His black locks curled all over his head +like those of an ancient Roman bust. His face was full of power, his +chin was firm, his nose was finely cut and well-formed; his eyes were +keen and sparkling, as if throwing out a challenge to fortune. He was +active, energetic, healthy, and strong, spending his time mostly in the +open air. He had a wonderful recollection of faces, and rarely forgot +to recognise the countenance that he had once seen. He even knew all +his horses by name. He spent little of his time at home, but was +constantly rushing about the country after business, extending his +connections, organizing his staff, and arranging the centres of his +traffic. + +To return to the car arrangements. A line was early opened from +Clonmel--which was at first the centre of the entire connection--to +Cork; and that line was extended northward, through Mallow and +Limerick. Then, the Limerick car went on to Tralee, and from thence to +Cahirciveen, on the south-west coast of Ireland. The cars were also +extended northward from Thurles to Roscrea, Ballinasloe, Athlone, +Roscommon, and Sligo, and to all the principal towns in the north-west +counties of Ireland. + +The cars interlaced with each other, and plied, not so much in +continuous main lines, as across country, so as to bring all important +towns, but especially the market towns, into regular daily +communication with each other. Thus, in the course of about thirty +years, Bianconi succeeded in establishing a system of internal +communication in Ireland, which traversed the main highways and +cross-roads from town to town, and gave the public a regular and safe +car accommodation at the average rate of a penny-farthing per mile. + +The traffic in all directions steadily increased. The first car used +was capable of accommodating only six persons. This was between +Clonmel and Cahir. But when it went on to Limerick, a larger car was +required. The traffic between Clonmel and Waterford was also begun +with a small-sized car. But in the course of a few years, there were +four large-sized cars, travelling daily each way, between the two +places. And so it was in other directions, between Cork in the south; +and Sligo and Strabane in the north and north-west; between Wexford in +the east, and Galway and Skibbereen in the west and south-west. + +Bianconi first increased the accommodation of these cars so as to carry +four persons on each side instead of three, drawn by two horses. But +as the two horses could quite as easily carry two additional +passengers, another piece was added to the car so as to carry five +passengers. Then another four-wheeled car was built, drawn by three +horses, so as to carry six passengers on each side. And lastly, a +fourth horse was used, and the car was further enlarged, so as to +accommodate seven, and eventually eight passengers on each side, with +one on the box, which made a total accommodation for seventeen +passengers. The largest and heaviest of the long cars, on four wheels, +was called "Finn MacCoul's," after Ossian's Giant; the fast cars, of a +light build, on two wheels, were called "Faugh-a-ballagh," or "clear +the way"; while the intermediate cars were named "Massey Dawsons," +after a popular Tory squire. + +When Bianconi's system was complete, he had about a hundred vehicles at +work; a hundred and forty stations for changing horses, where from one +to eight grooms were employed; about a hundred drivers, thirteen +hundred horses, performing an average distance of three thousand eight +hundred miles daily; passing through twenty-three counties, and +visiting no fewer than a hundred and twenty of the principal towns and +cities in the south and west and midland counties of Ireland. +Bianconi's horses consumed on an average from three to four thousand +tons of hay yearly, and from thirty to forty thousand barrels of oats, +all of which were purchased in the respective localities in which they +were grown. + +Bianconi's cars--or "The Bians"--soon became very popular. Everybody +was under obligations to them. They greatly promoted the improvement +of the country. People could go to market and buy or sell their goods +more advantageously. It was cheaper for them to ride than to walk. +They brought the whole people of the country so much nearer to each +other. They virtually opened up about seven-tenths of Ireland to +civilisation and commerce, and among their other advantages, they +opened markets for the fresh fish caught by the fishermen of Galway, +Clifden, Westport, and other places, enabling them to be sold +throughout the country on the day after they were caught. They also +opened the magnificent scenery of Ireland to tourists, and enabled them +to visit Bantry Bay, Killarney, South Donegal, and the wilds of +Connemara in safety, all the year round. + +Bianconi's service to the public was so great, and it was done with so +much tact, that nobody had a word to say against him. Everybody was his +friend. Not even the Whiteboys would injure him or the mails he +carried. He could say with pride, that in the most disturbed times his +cars had never been molested. Even during the Whiteboy insurrection, +though hundreds of people were on the roads at night, the traffic went +on without interference. At the meeting of the British Association in +1857, Bianconi said: "My conveyances, many of them carrying very +important mails, have been travelling during all hours of the day and +night, often in lonely and unfrequented places; and during the long +period of forty-two years that my establishment has been in existence, +the slightest injury has never been done by the people to my property, +or that entrusted to my care; and this fact gives me greater pleasure +than any pride I might feel in reflecting upon the other rewards of my +life's labour." + +Of course Bianconi's cars were found of great use for carrying the +mails. The post was, at the beginning of his enterprise, very badly +served in Ireland, chiefly by foot and horse posts. When the first car +was run from Clonmel to Cahir, Bianconi offered to carry the mail for +half the price then paid for "sending it alternately by a mule and a +bad horse." The post was afterwards found to come regularly instead of +irregularly to Cahir; and the practice of sending the mails by +Bianconi's cars increased from year to year. Dispatch won its way to +popularity in Ireland as elsewhere, and Bianconi lived to see all the +cross-posts in Ireland arranged on his system. + +The postage authorities frequently used the cars of Bianconi as a means +of competing with the few existing mail-coaches. For instance, they +asked him to compete for carrying the post between Limerick and Tralee, +then carried by a mail-coach. Before tendering, Bianconi called on the +contractor, to induce him to give in to the requirements of the Post +Office, because he knew that the postal authorities only desired to +make use of him to fight the coach proprietors. But having been +informed that it was the intention of the Post Office to discontinue +the mail-coach whether Bianconi took the contract or not, he at length +sent in his tender, and obtained the contract. + +He succeeded in performing the service, and delivered the mail much +earlier than it had been done before. But the former contractor, +finding that he had made a mistake, got up a movement in favour of +re-establishing the mail-coach upon that line of road; and he +eventually induced the postage authorities to take the mail contract +out of the hands of Bianconi, and give it back to himself, as formerly. +Bianconi, however, continued to keep his cars upon the road. He had +before stated to the contractor, that if he once started his cars, he +would not leave it, even though the contract were taken from him. Both +coach and car therefore ran for years upon the road, each losing +thousands of pounds. "But," said Bianconi, when asked about the matter +by the Committee on Postage in 1838, "I kept my word: I must either +lose character by breaking my word, or lose money. I prefer losing +money to giving up the line of road." + +Bianconi had also other competitors to contend with, especially from +coach and car proprietors. No sooner had he shown to others the way to +fortune, than he had plenty of imitators. But they did not possess his +rare genius for organisation, nor perhaps his still rarer principles. +They had not his tact, his foresight, his knowledge, nor his +perseverance. When Bianconi was asked by the Select Committee on +Postage, "Do the opposition cars started against you induce you to +reduce your fares?" his answer was, "No; I seldom do. Our fares are so +close to the first cost, that if any man runs cheaper than I do, he +must starve off, as few can serve the public lower and better than I +do."[3] + +Bianconi was once present at a meeting of car proprietors, called for +the purpose of uniting to put down a new opposition coach. Bianconi +would not concur, but protested against it, saying, "If car proprietors +had united against me when I started, I should have been crushed. But +is not the country big enough for us all?" The coach proprietors, +after many angry words, threatened to unite in running down Bianconi +himself. "Very well," he said, "you may run me off the road--that is +possible; but while there is this" (pulling a flower out of his coat) +"you will not put me down." The threat merely ended in smoke, the +courage and perseverance of Bianconi having long since become generally +recognised. + +We have spoken of the principles of Mr. Bianconi. They were most +honourable. His establishment might be spoken of as a school of +morality. In the first place, he practically taught and enforced the +virtues of punctuality, truthfulness, sobriety, and honesty. He also +taught the public generally the value of time, to which, in fact, his +own success was in a great measure due. While passing through Clonmel +in 1840, Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall called upon Bianconi and went over his +establishment, as well as over his house and farm, a short distance +from the town. The travellers had a very pressing engagement, and +could not stay to hear the story of how their entertainer had contrived +to "make so much out of so little." "How much time have you?" he +asked. "Just five minutes." "The car," says Mr. Hall, "had conveyed +us to the back entrance. Bianconi instantly rang the bell, and said to +the servant, 'Tell the driver to bring the car round to the front,' +adding, 'that will save one minute, and enable me to tell you all +within the time.' This was, in truth the secret of his success, making +the most of time."[4] + +But the success of Bianconi was also due to the admirable principles on +which his establishment was conducted. His drivers were noted as being +among the most civil and obliging men in Ireland, besides being +pleasant companions to boot. They were careful, punctual, truthful, +and honest; but all this was the result of strict discipline on the +part of their master. + +The drivers were taken from the lowest grades of the establishment, and +promoted to higher positions according to their respective merits as +opportunity offered. "Much surprise," says Bianconi, "has often been +expressed at the high order of men connected with my car establishment +and at its popularity; but parties thus expressing themselves forget to +look at Irish society with sufficient grasp. For my part, I cannot +better compare it than to a man merging to convalescence from a serious +attack of malignant fever, and requiring generous nutrition in place of +medical treatment"[5] + +To attach the men to the system, as well as to confer upon them the due +reward for their labour, he provided for all the workmen who had been +injured, worn out, or become superannuated in his service. The drivers +could then retire upon a full pension, which they enjoyed during the +rest of their lives. They were also paid their full wages during +sickness, and at their death Bianconi educated their children, who grew +up to manhood, and afterwards filled the situations held by their +deceased parents. + +Every workman had thus a special interest in his own good conduct. +They knew that nothing but misbehaviour could deprive them of the +benefits they enjoyed; and hence their endeavours to maintain their +positions by observing the strict discipline enjoined by their employer. + +Sobriety was, of course, indispensable--a drunken car-driver being +amongst the most dangerous of servants. The drivers must also be +truthful, and the man found telling a lie, however venial, was +instantly dismissed. Honesty was also strongly enforced, not only for +the sake of the public, but for the sake of the men themselves. Hence +he never allowed his men to carry letters. If they did so, he fined +them in the first instance very severely, and in the second instance +dismissed them. "I do so," he said, "because if I do not respect other +institutions (the Post Office), my men will soon learn not to respect +my own. Then, for carrying letters during the extent of their trip, the +men most probably would not get money, but drink, and hence become +dissipated and unworthy of confidence." + +Thus truth, accuracy, punctuality, sobriety, and honesty being strictly +enforced, formed the fundamental principle of the entire management. +At the same time, Bianconi treated his drivers with every confidence +and respect. He made them feel that, in doing their work well, they +conferred a greater benefit on him and on the public than he did on +them by paying them their wages. + +When attending the British Association at Cork, Bianconi said that, "in +proportion as he advanced his drivers, he lowered their wages." +"Then," said Dr. Taylor, the Secretary, "I wouldn't like to serve you." +"Yes, you would," replied Bianconi, "because in promoting my drivers I +place them on a more lucrative line, where their certainty of receiving +fees from passengers is greater." + +Bianconi was as merciful to his horses as to his men. He had much +greater difficulty at first in finding good men than good horses, +because the latter were not exposed to the temptations to which the +former were subject. Although the price of horses continued to rise, +he nevertheless bought the best horses at increased prices, and he took +care not to work them overmuch. He gave his horses as well as his men +their seventh day's rest. "I find by experience," he said, "that I can +work a horse eight miles a day for six days in the week, easier than I +can work six miles for seven days; and that is one of my reasons for +having no cars, unless carrying a mail, plying upon Sundays." + +Bianconi had confidence in men generally. The result was that men had +confidence in him. Even the Whiteboys respected him. At the close of +a long and useful life he could say with truth, "I never yet attempted +to do an act of generosity or common justice, publicly or privately, +that I was not met by manifold reciprocity." + +By bringing the various classes of society into connection with each +other, Bianconi believed, and doubtless with truth, that he was the +means of making them respect each other, and that he thereby promoted +the civilisation of Ireland. At the meeting of the social Science +Congress, held at Dublin in 1861, he said: "The state of the roads was +such as to limit the rate of travelling to about seven miles an hour, +and the passengers were often obliged to walk up hills. Thus all +classes were brought together, and I have felt much pleasure in +believing that the intercourse thus created tended to inspire the +higher classes with respect and regard for the natural good qualities +of the humbler people, which the latter reciprocated by a becoming +deference and an anxiety to please and oblige. Such a moral benefit +appears to me to be worthy of special notice and congratulation." + +Even when railways were introduced, Bianconi did not resist them, but +welcomed them as "the great civilisers of the age." There was, in his +opinion, room enough for all methods of conveyance in Ireland. When +Captain Thomas Drummond was appointed Under-Secretary for Ireland in +1835, and afterwards chairman of the Irish Railway Commission, he had +often occasion to confer with Mr. Bianconi, who gave him every +assistance. Mr. Drummond conceived the greatest respect for Bianconi, +and often asked him how it was that he, a foreigner, should have +acquired so extensive an influence and so distinguished a position in +Ireland? + +"The question came upon me," said Bianconi, "by surprise, and I did not +at the time answer it. But another day he repeated his question, and I +replied, 'Well, it was because, while the big and the little were +fighting, I crept up between them, carried out my enterprise, and +obliged everybody.'" This, however, did not satisfy Mr. Drummond, who +asked Bianconi to write down for him an autobiography, containing the +incidents of his early life down to the period of his great Irish +enterprise. Bianconi proceeded to do this, writing down his past +history in the occasional intervals which he could snatch from the +immense business which he still continued personally to superintend. +But before the "Drummond memoir" could be finished Mr. Drummond himself +had ceased to live, having died in 1840, principally of overwork. What +he thought of Bianconi, however, has been preserved in his Report of +the Irish Railway Commission of 1838, written by Mr. Drummond himself, +in which he thus speaks of his enterprising friend in starting and +conducting the great Irish car establishment:-- + +"With a capital little exceeding the expense of outfit he commenced. +Fortune, or rather the due reward of industry and integrity, favoured +his first efforts. He soon began to increase the number of his cars +and multiply routes, until his establishment spread over the whole of +Ireland. These results are the more striking and instructive as having +been accomplished in a district which has long been represented as the +focus of unreclaimed violence and barbarism, where neither life nor +property can be deemed secure. Whilst many possessing a personal +interest in everything tending to improve or enrich the country have +been so misled or inconsiderate as to repel by exaggerated statements +British capital from their doors, this foreigner chose Tipperary as the +centre of his operations, wherein to embark all the fruits of his +industry in a traffic peculiarly exposed to the power and even to the +caprice of the peasantry. The event has shown that his confidence in +their good sense was not ill-grounded. + +"By a system of steady and just treatment he has obtained a complete +mastery, exempt from lawless intimidation or control, over the various +servants and agents employed by him, and his establishment is popular +with all classes on account of its general usefulness and the fair +liberal spirit of its management. The success achieved by this spirited +gentleman is the result, not of a single speculation, which might have +been favoured by local circumstances, but of a series of distinct +experiments, all of which have been successful." + +When the railways were actually made and opened, they ran right through +the centre of Bianconi's long-established systems of communication. +They broke up his lines, and sent them to the right and left. But, +though they greatly disturbed him, they did not destroy him. In his +enterprising hands the railways merely changed the direction of the +cars. He had at first to take about a thousand horses off the road, +with thirty-seven vehicles, travelling 2446 miles daily. But he +remodelled his system so as to run his cars between the +railway-stations and the towns to the right and left of the main lines. + +He also directed his attention to those parts of Ireland which had not +before had the benefit of his conveyances. And in thus still +continuing to accommodate the public, the number of his horses and +carriages again increased, until, in 1861, he was employing 900 horses, +travelling over 4000 miles daily; and in 1866, when he resigned his +business, he was running only 684 miles daily below the maximum run in +1845, before the railways had begun to interfere with his traffic. + +His cars were then running to Dungarvan, Waterford, and Wexford in the +south-west of Ireland; to Bandon, Rosscarbery, Skibbereen, and +Cahirciveen, in the south; to Tralee, Galway, Clifden, Westport, and +Belmullet in the west; to Sligo, Enniskillen, Strabane, and Letterkenny +in the north; while, in the centre of Ireland, the towns of Thurles, +Kilkenny, Birr, and Ballinasloe were also daily served by the cars of +Bianconi. + +At the meeting of the British Association, held in Dublin in 1857, Mr. +Bianconi mentioned a fact which, he thought, illustrated the increasing +prosperity of the country and the progress of the people. It was, that +although the population had so considerably decreased by emigration and +other causes, the proportion of travellers by his conveyances continued +to increase, demonstrating not only that the people had more money, but +that they appreciated the money value of time, and also the advantages +of the car system established for their accommodation. + +Although railways must necessarily have done much to promote the +prosperity of Ireland, it is very doubtful whether the general +passenger public were not better served by the cars of Bianconi than by +the railways which superseded them. Bianconi's cars were on the whole +cheaper, and were always run en correspondence, so as to meet each +other; whereas many of the railway trains in the south of Ireland, +under the competitive system existing between the several companies, +are often run so as to miss each other. The present working of the +Irish railway traffic provokes perpetual irritation amongst the Irish +people, and sufficiently accounts for the frequent petitions presented +to Parliament that they should be taken in hand and worked by the State. + +Bianconi continued to superintend his great car establishment until +within the last few years. He had a constitution of iron, which he +expended in active daily work. He liked to have a dozen irons in the +fire, all red-hot at once. At the age of seventy he was still a man in +his prime; and he might be seen at Clonmel helping, at busy times, to +load the cars, unpacking and unstrapping the luggage where it seemed to +be inconveniently placed; for he was a man who could never stand by and +see others working without having a hand in it himself. Even when well +on to eighty, he still continued to grapple with the immense business +involved in working a traffic extending over two thousand five hundred +miles of road. + +Nor was Bianconi without honour in his adopted country. He began his +great enterprise in 1815, though it was not until 1831 that he obtained +letters of naturalisation. His application for these privileges was +supported by the magistrates of Tipperary and by the Grand Jury, and +they were at once granted. In 1844 he was elected Mayor of Clonmel, +and took his seat as Chairman at the Borough Petty Sessions to dispense +justice. + +The first person brought before him was James Ryan, who had been drunk +and torn a constable's belt. "Well, Ryan," said the magistrate, "what +have you to say?" "Nothing, your worship; only I wasn't drunk." "Who +tore the constable's belt?" "He was bloated after his Christmas +dinner, your worship, and the belt burst!" "You are so very pleasant," +said the magistrate, "that you will have to spend forty-eight hours in +gaol." + +He was re-elected Mayor in the following year, very much against his +wish. He now began to buy land, for "land hunger" was strong upon him. +In 1846 he bought the estate of Longfield, in the parish of Boherlahan, +county of Tipperary. It consisted of about a thousand acres of good +land, with a large cheerful house overlooking the river Suir. He went +on buying more land, until he became possessor of about eight thousand +English acres. + +One of his favourite sayings was: "Money melts, but land holds while +grass grows and water runs." He was an excellent landlord, built +comfortable houses for his tenantry, and did what he could for their +improvement. Without solicitation, the Government appointed him a +justice of the peace and a Deputy-lientenant for the county of +Tipperary. Everything that he did seemed to thrive. He was honest, +straightforward, loyal, and law-abiding. + +On first taking possession of his estate at Longfield, he was met by a +procession of the tenantry, who received him with great enthusiasm. In +his address to them, he said, amongst other things: "Allow me to +impress upon you the great importance of respecting the laws. The laws +are made for the good and the benefit of society, and for the +punishment of the wicked. No one but an enemy would counsel you to +outrage the laws. Above all things, avoid secret and unlawful +societies. Much of the improvement now going on amongst us is owing to +the temperate habits of the people, to the mission of my much respected +friend, Father Mathew, and to the advice of the Liberator. Follow the +advice of O'Connell; be temperate, moral, peaceable; and you will +advance your country, ameliorate your condition, and the blessing of +God will attend all your efforts." + +Bianconi was always a great friend of O'Connell. From an early period +he joined him in the Catholic Emancipation movement. He took part with +him in founding the National Bank in Ireland. In course of time the +two became more intimately related. Bianconi's son married O'Connell's +granddaughter; and O'Connell's nephew, Morgan John, married Bianconi's +daughter. Bianconi's son died in 1864, leaving three daughters, but no +male heir to carry on the family name. The old man bore the blow of +his son's premature death with fortitude, and laid his remains in the +mortuary chapel, which he built on his estate at Longfield. + +In the following year, when he was seventy-eight, he met with a severe +accident. He was overturned, and his thigh was severely fractured. He +was laid up for six months, quite incapable of stirring. He was +afterwards able to get about in a marvellous way, though quite +crippled. As his life's work was over, he determined to retire finally +from business; and he handed over the whole of his cars, coaches, +horses, and plant, with all the lines of road he was then working, to +his employes, on the most liberal terms. + +My youngest son met Mr. Bianconi, by appointment, at the Roman Catholic +church at Boherlahan, in the summer of 1872. Although the old +gentleman had to be lifted into and out of his carriage by his two +men-servants, he was still as active-minded as ever. Close to the +church at Boherlahan is Bianconi's mortuary chapel, which he built as a +sort of hobby, for the last resting-place of himself and his family. +The first person interred in it was his eldest daughter, who died in +Italy; the second was his only son. A beautiful monument with a +bas-relief has been erected in the chapel by Benzoni, an Italian +sculptor, to the memory of his daughter. + +"As we were leaving the chapel," my son informs me, "we passed a long +Irish car containing about sixteen people, the tenants of Mr. Bianconi, +who are brought at his expense from all parts of the estate. He is +very popular with his tenantry, regarding their interests as his own; +and he often quotes the words of his friend Mr. Drummond, that +'property has its duties as well as its rights.' He has rebuilt nearly +every house on his extensive estates in Tipperary. + +"On our way home, the carriage stopped to let me down and see the +strange remains of an ancient fort, close by the roadside. It consists +of a high grass-grown mound, surrounded by a moat. It is one of the +so-called Danish forts, which are found in all parts of Ireland. If it +be true that these forts were erected by the Danes, they must at one +time have had a strong hold of the greater part of Ireland. + +"The carriage entered a noble avenue of trees, with views of prettily +enclosed gardens on either side. Mr. Bianconi exclaimed, 'Welcome to +the Carman's Stage!' Longfield House, which we approached, is a fine +old-fashioned house, situated on the river Suir, a few miles south of +Cashel, one of the most ancient cities in Ireland. Mr. Bianconi and +his family were most hospitable; and I found him most lively and +communicative. He talked cleverly and with excellent choice of +language for about three hours, during which I learnt much from him. + +"Like most men who have accomplished great things, and overcome many +difficulties, Mr. Bianconi is fond of referring to the past events in +his interesting life. The acuteness of his conversation is wonderful. +He hits off a keen thought in a few words, sometimes full of wit and +humour. I thought this very good: 'Keep before the wheels, young man, +or they will run over you: always keep before the wheels!' He read +over to me the memoir he had prepared at the suggestion of Mr. +Drummond, relating to the events of his early life; and this opened the +way for a great many other recollections not set down in the book. + +"He vividly remembered the parting from his mother, nearly seventy +years ago, and spoke of her last words to him: 'When you remember me, +think of me as waiting at this window, watching for your return.' This +led him to speak of the great forgetfulness and want of respect which +children have for their parents nowadays. 'We seem,' he said, 'to have +fallen upon a disrespectful age.' + +"'It is strange,' said he, 'how little things influence one's mind and +character. When I was a boy at Waterford, I bought an old second-hand +book from a man on the quay, and the maxim on its title-page fixed +itself deeply on my memory. It was, "Truth, like water, will find its +own level."' And this led him to speak of the great influence which the +example and instruction of Mr. Rice, of the Christian Brothers, had had +upon his mind and character. 'That religions institution,' said he, +'of which Mr. Rice was one of the founders, has now spread itself over +the country, and, by means of the instruction which the members have +imparted to the poorer ignorant classes, they have effected quite a +revolution in the south of Ireland.' + +"'I am not much of a reader,' said Mr. Bianconi; 'the best part of my +reading has consisted in reading way-bills. But I was once +complimented by Justice Lefroy upon my books. He remarked to me what a +wonderful education I must have had to invent my own system of +book-keeping. Yes,' said he, pointing to his ledgers, 'there they +are.' The books are still preserved, recording the progress of the +great car enterprise. They show at first the small beginnings, and +then the rapid growth--the tens growing to hundreds, and the hundreds +to thousands--the ledgers and day-books containing, as it were, the +whole history of the undertaking--of each car, of each man, of each +horse, and of each line of road, recorded most minutely. + +"'The secret of my success,' said he, 'has been promptitude, fair +dealing, and good humour. And this I will add, what I have often said +before, that I never did a kind action but it was returned to me +tenfold. My cars have never received the slightest injury from the +people. Though travelling through the country for about sixty years, +the people have throughout respected the property intrusted to me. My +cars have passed through lonely and unfrequented places, and they have +never, even in the most disturbed times, been attacked. That, I think, +is an extraordinary testimony to the high moral character of the Irish +people.' + +"'It is not money, but the genius of money that I esteem,' said +Bianconi; 'not money itself, but money used as a creative power.' + +And he himself has furnished in his own life the best possible +illustration of his maxim He created a new industry, gave employment to +an immense number of persons, promoted commerce, extended civilisation; +and, though a foreigner, proved one of the greatest of Ireland's +benefactors." + +About two years after the date of my son's visit, Charles Bianconi +passed away, full of years and honours; and his remains were laid +beside those of his son and daughter, in the mortuary chapel at +Boherlahan. He died in 1875, in his ninetieth year. Well might Signor +Henrico Mayer say, at the British Association at Cork in 1846, that "he +felt proud as an Italian to hear a compatriot so deservedly eulogised; +and although Ireland might claim Bianconi as a citizen, yet the +Italians should ever with pride hail him as a countryman, whose +industry and virtue reflected honour on the country of his birth." + + +Footnotes for Chapter IX. + +[1] This article originally appeared in 'Good Words.' A biography of +Charles Bianconi, by his daughter, Mrs. Morgan John O'Connell, has +since been published; but the above article is thought worthy of +republication, as its contents were for the most part taken principally +from Mr. Bianconi's own lips. + +[2] Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Committee on Postage +(Second Report), 1838, p. 284. + +[3] Evidence before the Select Committee on Postage, 1838. + +[4] Hall's 'Ireland,' ii. 76. + +[5] Paper read before the British Association at Cork, 1843. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +INDUSTRY IN IRELAND: THROUGH CONNAUGHT AND ULSTER, TO BELFAST. + +"The Irish people have a past to boast of, and a future to create."--J. +F. O'Carrol. + +"One of the great questions is how to find an outlet for Irish +manufactures. We ought to be an exporting nation, or we never will be +able to compete successfully with our trade rivals."--E. D. Gray. + +"Ireland may become a Nation again, if we all sacrifice our parricidal +passions, prejudices, and resentments on the altar of our country. +Then shall your manufactures flourish, and Ireland be free."--Daniel +O'Connell. + +Further communications passed between my young friend, the Italian +count, and his father; and the result was that he accompanied me to +Ireland, on the express understanding that he was to send home a letter +daily by post assuring his friends of his safety. We went together +accordingly to Galway, up Lough Corrib to Cong and Lough Mask; by the +romantic lakes and mountains of Connemara to Clifden and Letterfrack, +and through the lovely pass of Kylemoor to Leenane; along the fiord of +Killury; then on, by Westport and Ballina to Sligo. Letters were +posted daily by my young friend; and every day we went forwards in +safety. + +But how lonely was the country! We did not meet a single American +tourist during the whole course of our visit, and the Americans are the +most travelling people in the world. Although the railway companies +have given every facility for visiting Connemara and the scenery of the +West of Ireland, we only met one single English tourist, accompanied by +his daughter. The Bianconi long car between Clifden and Westport had +been taken off for want of support. The only persons who seemed to +have no fear of Irish agrarianism were the English anglers, who are +ready to brave all dangers, imaginary or supposed, provided they can +only kill a big salmon! And all the rivers flowing westward into the +Atlantic are full of fine fish. While at Galway, we looked down into +the river Corrib from the Upper Bridge, and beheld it literally black +with the backs of salmon! They were waiting for a flood to enable them +to ascend the ladder into Lough Corrib. While there, 1900 salmon were +taken in one day by nets in the bay. + +Galway is a declining town. It has docks, but no shipping; bonded +warehouses, but no commerce. It has a community of fishermen at +Claddagh, but the fisheries of the bay are neglected. As one of the +poor men of the place exclaimed, "Poverty is the curse of Ireland." On +looking at Galway from the Claddagh side, it seems as if to have +suffered from a bombardment. Where a roof has fallen in, nothing has +been done to repair it. It was of no use. The ruin has been left to +go on. The mills, which used to grind home-grown corn, are now +unemployed. The corn comes ready ground from America. Nothing is +thought of but emigration, and the best people are going, leaving the +old, the weak, and the inefficient at home. "The labourer," said the +late President Garfield, "has but one commodity to sell--his day's +work, it is his sole reliance. He must sell it to-day, or it is lost +for-ever." And as the poor Irishman cannot sell his day's labour, he +must needs emigrate to some other country, where his only commodity may +be in demand. + +While at Galway, I read with interest an eloquent speech delivered by +Mr. Parnell at the banquet held in the Great Hall of the Exhibition at +Cork. Mr. Parnell asked, with much reason, why manufactures should not +be established and encouraged in the South of Ireland, as in other +parts of the country. Why should not capital be invested, and +factories and workshops developed, through the length and breadth of +the kingdom? "I confess," he said, "I should like to give Ireland a +fair opportunity of working her home manufactures. We can each one of +us do much to revive the ancient name of our nation in those industrial +pursuits which have done so much to increase and render glorious those +greater nations by the side of which we live. I trust that before many +years are over we shall have the honour and pleasure of meeting in even +a more splendid palace than this, and of seeing in the interval that +the quick-witted genius of the Irish race has profited by the lessons +which this beautiful Exhibition must undoubtedly teach, and that much +will have been done to make our nation happy, prosperous, and free." + +Mr. Parnell, in the course of his speech, referred to the manufactures +which had at one time flourished in Ireland--to the flannels of +Rathdrum, the linens of Bandon, the cottons of Cork, and the gloves of +Limerick. Why should not these things exist again? "We have a people +who are by nature quick and facile to learn, who have shown in many +other countries that they are industrious and laborious, and who have +not been excelled--whether in the pursuits of agriculture under a +midday sun in the field, or amongst the vast looms in the factory +districts--by the people of any country on the face of the globe."[1] +Most just and eloquent! + +The only weak point in Mr. Parnell's speech was where he urged his +audience "not to use any article of the manufacture of any other +country except Ireland, where you can get up an Irish manufacture." +The true remedy is to make Irish articles of the best and cheapest, and +they will be bought, not only by the Irish, but by the English and +people of all nations. Manufactures cannot be "boycotted." They will +find their way into all lands, in spite even of the most restrictive +tariffs. Take, for instance, the case of Belfast hereafter to be +referred to. If the manufacturing population of that town were to rely +for their maintenance on the demand for their productions at home, they +would simply starve. But they make the best and the cheapest goods of +their kind, and hence the demand for them is world-wide. + +There is an abundant scope for the employment of capital and skilled +labour in Ireland. During the last few years land has been falling +rapidly out of cultivation. The area under cereal crops has +accordingly considerably decreased.[2] Since 1868, not less than +400,000 acres have been disused for this purpose.[3] Wheat can be +bought better and cheaper in America, and imported into Ireland ground +into flour. The consequence is, that the men who worked the soil, as +well as the men who ground the corn, are thrown out of employment, and +there is nothing left for them but subsistence upon the poor-rates, +emigration to other countries, or employment in some new domestic +industry. + +Ireland is by no means the "poor Ireland" that she is commonly supposed +to be. The last returns of the Postmaster-General show that she is +growing in wealth. Irish thrift has been steadily at work during the +last twenty years. Since the establishment of the Post Office Savings +Banks, in 1861, the deposits have annually increased in value. At the +end of 1882, more than two millions sterling had been deposited in +these banks, and every county participated in the increase.[4] The +largest accumulations were in the counties of Dublin, Antrim, Cork, +Down, Tipperary, and Tyrone, in the order named. Besides this amount, +the sum of 2,082,413L. was due to depositors in the ordinary Savings +Banks on the 20th of November, 1882; or, in all, more than four +millions sterling, the deposits of small capitalists. At Cork, at the +end of last year, it was found that the total deposits made in the +savings bank had been 76,000L, or an increase of 6,675L. over the +preceding twelve months. But this is not all. The Irish middle +classes are accustomed to deposit most of their savings in the Joint +Stock banks; and from the returns presented to the Lord Lieutenant, +dated the 31st of January, 1883, we find that these had been more than +doubled in twenty years, the deposits and cash balances having +increased from 14,389,000L. at the end of 1862, to 32,746,000L. at the +end of 1882. During the last year they had increased by the sum of +2,585,000L. "So large an increase in bank deposits and cash balances," +says the Report, "is highly satisfactory." It may be added that the +investments in Government and India Stock, on which dividends were paid +at the Bank of Ireland, at the end of 1882, amounted to not less than +31,804,000L. + +It is proper that Ireland should be bountiful with her increasing +means. It has been stated that during the last eighteen years her +people have contributed not less than six millions sterling for the +purpose of building places of worship, convents, schools, and colleges, +in connection with the Roman Catholic Church, not to speak of their +contributions for other patriotic objects. + +It would be equally proper if some of the saved surplus capital of +Ireland, as suggested by Mr. Parnell, were invested in the +establishment of Irish manufactures. This would not only give +profitable occupation to the unemployed, but enable Ireland to become +an increasingly exporting nation. We are informed by an Irish banker, +that there is abundance of money to be got in Ireland for any industry +which has a reasonable chance of success. One thing, however, is +certain: there must be perfect safety. An old writer has said that +"Government is a badge of lost innocence: the palaces of kings are +built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise." The main use of +government is protection against the weaknesses and selfishness of +human nature. If there be no protection for life, liberty, property, +and the fruits of accumulated industry, government becomes +comparatively useless, and society is driven back upon its first +principles. + +Capital is the most sensitive of all things. It flies turbulence and +strife, and thrives only in security and freedom. It must have +complete safety. If tampered with by restrictive laws, or hampered by +combinations, it suddenly disappears. "The age of glory of a nation," +said Sir Humphry Davy, "is the age of its security. The same dignified +feeling which urges men to gain a dominion over nature will preserve +them from the dominion of slavery. Natural, and moral, and religions +knowledge, are of one family; and happy is the country and great its +strength where they dwell together in union." + +Dublin was once celebrated for its shipbuilding, its timber-trade, its +iron manufactures, and its steam-printing; Limerick was celebrated for +its gloves; Kilkenny for its blankets; Bandon for its woollen and linen +manufactures. But most of these trades were banished by strikes.[5] +Dr. Doyle stated before the Irish Committee of 1830, that the almost +total extinction of the Kilkenny blanket-trade was attributable to the +combinations of the weavers; and O'Connell admitted that Trades Unions +had wrought more evil to Ireland than absenteeism and Saxon +maladministration. But working men have recently become more prudent +and thrifty; and it is believed that under the improved system of +moderate counsel, and arbitration between employers and employed, a +more hopeful issue is likely to attend the future of such enterprises. + +Another thing is clear. A country may be levelled down by idleness and +ignorance; it can only be levelled up by industry and intelligence. It +is easy to pull down; it is very difficult to build up. The hands that +cannot erect a hovel may demolish a palace. We have but to look to +Switzerland to see what a country may become which mixes its industry +with its brains. That little land has no coal, no seaboard by which +she can introduce it, and is shut off from other countries by lofty +mountains, as well as by hostile tariffs; and yet Switzerland is one of +the most prosperous nations in Europe, because governed and regulated +by intelligent industry. Let Ireland look to Switzerland, and she need +not despair. + +Ireland is a much richer country by nature than is generally supposed. +In fact, she has not yet been properly explored. There is copper-ore in +Wicklow, Waterford, and Cork. The Leitrim iron-ores are famous for +their riches; and there is good ironstone in Kilkenny, as well as in +Ulster. The Connaught ores are mixed with coal-beds. Kaolin, +porcelain clay, and coarser clay, abound; but it is only at Belleek +that it has been employed in the pottery manufacture. But the sea +about Ireland is still less explored than the land. All round the +Atlantic seaboard of the Irish coast are shoals of herring and +mackerel, which might be food for men, but are at present only consumed +by the multitudes of sea-birds which follow them. + +In the daily papers giving an account of the Cork Exhibition, appeared +the following paragraph: "An interesting exhibit will be a quantity of +preserved herrings from Lowestoft, caught off the old head of Kinsale, +and returned to Cork after undergoing a preserving process in +England."[6] Fish caught off the coast of Ireland by English fishermen, +taken to England and cured, and then "returned to Cork" for exhibition! +Here is an opening for patriotic Irishmen. Why not catch and preserve +the fish at home, and get the entire benefit of the fish traffic? Will +it be believed that there is probably more money value in the seas +round Ireland than there is in the land itself? This is actually the +case with the sea round the county of Aberdeen.[7] + +A vast source of wealth lies at the very doors of the Irish people. +But the harvest of an ocean teeming with life is allowed to pass into +other hands. The majority of the boats which take part in the fishery +at Kinsale are from the little island of Man, from Cornwall, from +France, and from Scotland. The fishermen catch the fish, salt them, +and carry them or send them away. While the Irish boats are diminishing +in number, those of the strangers are increasing. In an East Lothian +paper, published in May 1881, I find the following paragraph, under the +head of Cockenzie:-. + +"Departure of Boats.--In the early part of this week, a number of the +boats here have left for the herring-fishery at Kinsale, in Ireland. +The success attending their labours last year at that place and at +Howth has induced more of them than usual to proceed thither this year." + +It may not be generally known that Cockenzie is a little fishing +village on the Firth of Forth, in Scotland, where the fishermen have +provided themselves, at their own expense, with about fifty decked +fishing-boats, each costing, with nets and gear, about 500L. With +these boats they carry on their pursuits on the coast of Scotland, +England, and Ireland. In 1882, they sent about thirty boats to +Kinsale[8] and Howth. The profits of their fishing has been such as to +enable them, with the assistance of Lord Wemyss, to build for +themselves a convenient harbour at Port Seaton, without any help from +the Government. They find that self-help is the best help, and that it +is absurd to look to the Government and the public purse for what they +can best do for themselves. + +The wealth of the ocean round Ireland has long been known. As long ago +as the ninth and tenth centuries, the Danes established a fishery off +the western coasts, and carried on a lucrative trade with the south of +Europe. In Queen Mary's reign, Philip II. of Spain paid 1000L. +annually in consideration of his subjects being allowed to fish on the +north-west coast of Ireland; and it appears that the money was brought +into the Irish Exchequer. In 1650, Sweden was permitted, as a favour, +to employ a hundred vessels in the Irish fishery; and the Dutch in the +reign of Charles I. were admitted to the fisheries on the payment of +30,000L. In 1673, Sir W. Temple, in a letter to Lord Essex, says that +"the fishing of Ireland might prove a mine under water as rich as any +under ground."[9] + +The coasts of Ireland abound in all the kinds of fish in common +use--cod, ling, haddock, hake, mackerel, herring, whiting, conger, +turbot, brill, bream, soles, plaice, dories, and salmon. The banks off +the coast of Galway are frequented by myriads of excellent fish; yet, +of the small quantity caught, the bulk is taken in the immediate +neighbourhood of the shores. Galway bay is said to be the finest +fishing ground in the world; but the fish cannot be expected to come on +shore unsought: they must be found, followed, and netted. The +fishing-boats from the west of Scotland are very successful; and they +often return the fish to Ireland, cured, which had been taken out of +the Irish bays. "I tested this fact in Galway," says Mr. S. C. Hall. +"I had ordered fish for dinner; two salt haddocks were brought to me. +On inquiry, I ascertained where they were bought, and learned from the +seller that he was the agent of a Scotch firm, whose boats were at that +time loading in the bay."[10] But although Scotland imports some 80,000 +barrels of cured herrings annually into Ireland, that is not enough; +for we find that there is a regular importation of cured herrings, cod, +ling, and hake, from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, towards the food of +the Irish people.[11] + +The fishing village of Claddagh, at Galway, is more decaying than ever. +It seems to have suffered from a bombardment, like the rest of the +town. The houses of the fishermen, when they fall in, are left in +ruins. While the French, and English, and Scotch boats leave the coast +laden with fish, the Claddagh men remain empty-handed. They will only +fish on "lucky days," so that the Galway market is often destitute of +fish, while the Claddagh people are starving. On one occasion an +English company was formed for the purpose of fishing and curing fish +at Galway, as is now done at Yarmouth, Grimsby, Fraserburgh, Wick, and +other places. Operations were commenced, but so soon as the English +fishermen put to sea in their boats, the Claddagh men fell upon them, +and they were glad to escape with their lives.[12] Unfortunately, the +Claddagh men have no organization, no fixed rules, no settled +determination to work, unless when pressed by necessity. The +appearance of the men and of their cabins show that they are greatly in +want of capital; and fishing cannot be successfully performed without a +sufficiency of this industrial element. + +Illustrations of this neglected industry might be given to any extent. +Herring fishing, cod fishing, and pilchard fishing, are alike +untouched. The Irish have a strong prejudice against the pilchard; +they believe it to be an unlucky fish, and that it will rot the net +that takes it. The Cornishmen do not think so, for they find the +pilchard fishing to be a source of great wealth. The pilchards strike +upon the Irish coast first before they reach Cornwall. When Mr. Brady, +Inspector of Irish Fisheries, visited St. Ives a few years ago, he saw +captured, in one seine alone, nearly ten thousand pounds of this fish. + +Not long since; according to a northern local paper,[13] a large fleet +of vessels in full sail was seen from the west coast of Donegal, +evidently making for the shore. Many surmises were made about the +unusual sight. Some thought it was the Fenians, others the Home +Rulers, others the Irish-American Dynamiters. Nothing of the kind! It +was only a fleet of Scotch smacks, sixty-four in number, fishing for +herring between Torry Island and Horn Head. The Irish might say to the +Scotch fishermen, in the words of the Morayshire legend, "Rejoice, O my +brethren, in the gifts of the sea, for they enrich you without making +any one else the poorer!" + +But while the Irish are overlooking their treasure of herring, the +Scotch are carefully cultivating it. The Irish fleet of fishing-boats +fell off from 27,142 in 1823 to 7181 in 1878; and in 1882 they were +still further reduced to 6089.[14] Yet Ireland has a coast-line of +fishing ground of nearly three thousand miles in extent. + +The bights and bays on the west coast of Ireland--off Erris, Mayo, +Connemara, and Donegal--swarm with fish. Near Achill Bay, 2000 +mackerel were lately taken at a single haul; and Clew Bay is often +alive with fish. In Scull Bay and Crookhaven, near Cape Clear, they +are so plentiful that the peasants often knock them on the head with +oars, but will not take the trouble to net them. + +These swarms of fish might be a source of permanent wealth. A +gentleman of Cork one day borrowed a common rod and line from a Cornish +miner in his employment, and caught fifty-seven mackerel from the jetty +in Scull Bay before breakfast. Each of these mackerel was worth +twopence in Cork market, thirty miles off. Yet the people round about, +many of whom were short of food, were doing nothing to catch them, but +expecting Providence to supply their wants. Providence, however, +always likes to be helped. Some people forget that the Giver of all +good gifts requires us to seek for them by industry, prudence, and +perseverance.[15] + +Some cry for more loans; some cry for more harbours. It would be well +to help with suitable harbours, but the system of dependence upon +Government loans is pernicious. The Irish ought to feel that the very +best help must come from themselves. This is the best method for +teaching independence. Look at the little Isle of Man. The fishermen +there never ask for loans. They look to their nets and their boats; +they sail for Ireland, catch the fish, and sell them to the Irish +people. With them, industry brings capital, and forms the fertile +seed-ground of further increase of boats and nets. Surely what is +done by the Manxmen, the Cornishmen, and the Cockenziemen, might be +done by the Irishmen. The difficulty is not to be got over by +lamenting about it, or by staring at it, but by grappling with it, and +overcoming it. It is deeds, not words, that are wanted. Employment for +the mass of the people must spring from the people themselves. +Provided there is security for life and property, and an absence of +intimidation, we believe that capital will become invested in the +fishing industry of Ireland; and that the result will be peace, food, +and prosperity. + +We must remember that it is only of comparatively late years that +England and Scotland have devoted so much attention to the fishery of +the seas surrounding our island. In this fact there is consolation and +hope for Ireland. At the beginning of the seventeenth century Sir +Waiter Raleigh laid before the King his observations concerning the +trade and commerce of England, in which he showed that the Dutch were +almost monopolising the fishing trade, and consequently adding to their +shipping, commerce, and wealth. "Surely," he says, "the stream is +necessary to be turned to the good of this kingdom, to whose sea-coasts +alone God has sent us these great blessings and immense riches for us +to take; and that every nation should carry away out of this kingdom +yearly great masses of money for fish taken in our seas, and sold again +by them to us, must needs be a great dishonour to our nation, and +hindrance to this realm." + +The Hollanders then had about 50,000 people employed in fishing along +the English coast; and their industry and enterprise gave employment to +about 150,000 more, "by sea and land, to make provision, to dress and +transport the fish they take, and return commodities; whereby they are +enabled yearly to build 1000 ships and vessels." The prosperity of +Amsterdam was then so great that it was said that Amsterdam was +"founded on herring-bones." Tobias Gentleman published in 1614 his +treatise on 'England's Way to win Wealth, and to employ Ships and +Marines,'[16] in which he urged the English people to vie with the +Dutch in fishing the seas, and thereby to give abundant employment, as +well as abundant food, to the poorer people of the country. + +"Look," he said, "on these fellows, that we call the plump Hollanders; +behold their diligence in fishing, and our own careless negligence!" +The Dutch not only fished along the coasts near Yarmouth, but their +fishing vessels went north as far as the coasts of Shetland. What most +roused Mr. Gentleman's indignation was, that the Dutchmen caught the +fish and sold them to the Yarmouth herring-mongers "for ready gold, so +that it amounteth to a great sum of money, which money doth never come +again into England." "We are daily scorned," he says, "by these +Hollanders, for being so negligent of our Profit, and careless of our +Fishing; and they do daily flout us that be the poor Fishermen of +England, to our Faces at Sea, calling to us, and saying, 'Ya English, +ya sall or oud scoue dragien;' which, in English, is this, 'You +English, we will make you glad to wear our old Shoes!'" + +Another pamphlet, to a similar effect, 'The Royal Fishing revived,'[17] +was published fifty years later, in which it was set forward that the +Dutch "have not only gained to themselves almost the sole fishing in +his Majesty's Seas; but principally upon this Account have very near +beat us out of all our other most profitable Trades in all Parts of the +World." It was even proposed to compel "all Sorts of begging Persons +and all other poor People, all People condemned for less Crimes than +Blood," as well as "all Persons in Prison for Debt," to take part in +this fishing trade! But this was not the true way to force the +traffic. The herring fishery at Yarmouth and along the coast began to +make gradual progress with the growth of wealth and enterprise +throughout the country; though it was not until 1787--less than a +hundred years ago--that the Yarmouth men began the deep-sea herring +fishery. + +Before then, the fishing was all carried on along shore in little +cobles, almost within sight of land. The native fishery also extended +northward, along the east coast of Scotland and the Orkney and Shetland +Isles, until now the herring fishery of Scotland forms one of the +greatest industries in the United Kingdom, and gives employment, +directly or indirectly, to close upon half a million of people, or to +one-seventh of the whole population of Scotland. + +Taking these facts into consideration, therefore, there is no reason to +despair of seeing, before many years have elapsed, a large development +of the fishing industry of Ireland. We may yet see Galway the +Yarmouth, Achill the Grimsby, and Killybegs the Wick of the West. +Modern society in Ireland, as everywhere else, can only be transformed +through the agency of labour, industry, and commerce--inspired by the +spirit of work, and maintained by the accumulations of capital. The +first end of all labour is security,--security to person, possession, +and property, so that all may enjoy in peace the fruits of their +industry. For no liberty, no freedom, can really exist which does not +include the first liberty of all--the right of public and private +safety. + +To show what energy and industry can do in Ireland, it is only +necessary to point to Belfast, one of the most prosperous and +enterprising towns in the British Islands. The land is the same, the +climate is the same, and the laws are the same, as those which prevail +in other parts of Ireland. Belfast is the great centre of Irish +manufactures and commerce, and what she has been able to do might be +done elsewhere, with the same amount of energy and enterprise. But it +is not land, or climate, or altered laws that are wanted. It is men to +lead and direct, and men to follow with anxious and persevering +industry. It is always the Man society wants. + +The influence of Belfast extends far out into the country. As you +approach it from Sligo, you begin to see that you are nearing a place +where industry has accumulated capital, and where it has been invested +in cultivating and beautifying the land. After you pass Enniskillen, +the fields become more highly cultivated. The drill-rows are more +regular; the hedges are clipped; the weeds no longer hide the crops, as +they sometimes do in the far west. The country is also adorned with +copses, woods, and avenues. A new crop begins to appear in the +fields--a crop almost peculiar to the neighbourhood of Belfast. It is +a plant with a very slender erect green stem, which, when full grown, +branches at the top into a loose corymb of blue flowers. This is the +flax plant, the cultivation and preparation of which gives employment +to a great number of persons, and is to a large extent the foundation +of the prosperity of Belfast. + +The first appearance of the linen industry of Ireland, as we approach +Belfast from the west, is observed at Portadown. Its position on the +Bann, with its water power, has enabled this town, as well as the other +places on the river, to secure and maintain their due share in the +linen manufacture. Factories with their long chimneys begin to appear. +The fields are richly cultivated, and a general air of well-being +pervades the district. Lurgan is reached, so celebrated for its +diapers; and the fields there about are used as bleaching-greens. +Then comes Lisburn, a populous and thriving town, the inhabitants of +which are mostly engaged in their staple trade, the manufacture of +damasks. This was really the first centre of the linen trade. Though +Lord Strafford, during his government of Ireland, encouraged the flax +industry, by sending to Holland for flax-seed, and inviting Flemish +and French artisans to settle in Ireland, it was not until the +Huguenots, who had been banished from France by the persecutions of +Louis XIV., settled in Ireland in such large numbers, that the +manufacture became firmly established. The Crommelins, the Goyers, and +the Dupres, were the real founders of this great branch of industry.[18] + +As the traveller approaches Belfast, groups of houses, factories, and +works of various kinds, appear closer and closer; long chimneys over +boilers and steam-engines, and brick buildings three or four stories +high; large yards full of workmen, carts, and lorries; and at length we +are landed in the midst of a large manufacturing town. As we enter the +streets, everybody seems to be alive. What struck William Hutton when +he first saw Birmingham, might be said of Belfast: "I was surprised at +the place, but more at the people. They possessed a vivacity I had +never before beheld. I had been among dreamers, but now I saw men +awake. Their very step along the street showed alacrity. Every man +seemed to know what he was about. The town was large, and full of +inhabitants, and these inhabitants full of industry. The faces of other +men seemed tinctured with an idle gloom; but here with a pleasing +alertness. Their appearance was strongly marked with the modes of +civil life." + +Some people do not like manufacturing towns: they prefer old castles +and ruins. They will find plenty of these in other parts of Ireland. +But to found industries that give employment to large numbers of +persons, and enable them to maintain themselves and families upon the +fruits of their labour--instead of living upon poor-rates levied from +the labours of others, or who are forced, by want of employment, to +banish themselves from their own country, to emigrate and settle among +strangers, where they know not what may become of them--is a most +honourable and important source of influence, and worthy of every +encouragement. + +Look at the wonderfully rapid rise of Belfast, originating in the +enterprise of individuals, and developed by the earnest and anxious +industry of the inhabitants of Ulster! + +"God save Ireland!" By all means. But Ireland cannot be saved without +the help of the people who live in it. God endowed men, there as +elsewhere, with reason, will, and physical power; and it is by patient +industry only that they can open up a pathway to the enduring +prosperity of the country. There is no Eden in nature. The earth +might have continued a rude uncultivated wilderness, but for human +energy, power, and industry. These enable man to subdue the +wilderness, and develop the potency of labour. "Possunt quia credunt +posse." They must conquer who will. + +Belfast is a comparatively modern town. It has no ancient history. +About the beginning of the sixteenth century it was little better than +a fishing village. There was a castle, and a ford to it across the +Lagan. A chapel was built at the ford, at which hurried prayers were +offered up for those who were about to cross the currents of Lagan +Water. In 1575, Sir Henry Sydney writes to the Lords of the Council: +"I was offered skirmish by MacNeill Bryan Ertaugh at my passage over +the water at Belfast, which I caused to be answered, and passed over +without losse of man or horse; yet by reason of the extraordinaire +Retorne our horses swamme and the Footmen in the passage waded very +deep." The country round about was forest land. It was so thickly +wooded that it was a common saying that one might walk to Lurgan "on +the tops of the trees." + +In 1612, Belfast consisted of about 120 houses, built of mud and +covered with thatch. The whole value of the land on which the town is +built, is said to have been worth only 5L. in fee simple.[19] "Ulster," +said Sir John Davies, "is a very desert or wilderness; the inhabitants +thereof having for the most part no certain habitation in any towns or +villages." In 1659, Belfast contained only 600 inhabitants: +Carrickfergus was more important, and had 1312 inhabitants. But about +1660, the Long Bridge over the Lagan was built, and prosperity began to +dawn upon the little town. It was situated at the head of a navigable +lough, and formed an outlet for the manufacturing products of the +inland country. Ships of any burden, however, could not come near the +town. The cargoes, down even to a recent date, had to be discharged +into lighters at Garmoyle. Streams of water made their way to the +Lough through the mud banks; and a rivulet ran through what is now +known as the High Street. + +The population gradually increased. In 1788 Belfast had 12,000 +inhabitants. But it was not until after the Union with Great Britain +that the town made so great a stride. At the beginning of the present +century it had about 20,000 inhabitants. At every successive census, +the progress made was extraordinary, until now the population of +Belfast amounts to over 225,000. There is scarcely an instance of so +large a rate of increase in the British Islands, save in the +exceptional case of Middlesborough, which was the result of the opening +out of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and the discovery of +ironstone in the hills of Cleveland in Yorkshire. Dundee and Barrow +are supposed to present the next most rapid increases of population. + +The increase of shipping has also been equally great. Ships from other +ports frequented the Lough for purposes of trade; but in course of time +the Belfast merchants supplied themselves with ships of their own. In +1791 one William Ritchie, a sturdy North Briton, brought with him from +Glasgow ten men and a quantity of shipbuilding materials. He gradually +increased the number of his workmen, and proceeded to build a few +sloops. He reclaimed some land from the sea, and made a shipyard and +graving dock on what was known as Corporation Ground. In November 1800 +the new graving dock, near the bridge, was opened for the reception of +vessels. It was capable of receiving three vessels of 200 tons each! +In 1807 a vessel of 400 tons burthen was launched from Mr. Ritchie's +shipyard, when a great crowd of people assembled to witness the +launching of "so large a ship"--far more than now assemble to see a +3000-tonner of the White Star Line leave the slips and enter the water! + +The shipbuilding trade has been one of the most rapidly developed, +especially of late years. In 1805 the number of vessels frequenting +the port was 840; whereas in 1883 the number had been increased to +7508, with about a million and a-half of tonnage; while the gross value +of the exports from Belfast exceeded twenty millions sterling annually. +In 1819 the first steamboat of 100 tons was used to tug the vessels up +the windings of the Lough, which it did at the rate of three miles an +hour, to the astonishment of everybody. Seven years later, the +steamboat Rob Roy was put on between Glasgow and Belfast. But these +vessels had been built in Scotland. It was not until 1826 that the +first steamboat, the chieftain, was built in Belfast, by the same +William Ritchie. Then, in 1838, the first iron boat was built in the +Lagan foundry, by Messrs. Coates and Young, though it was but a mere +cockle-shell compared with the mighty ocean steamers which are now +regularly launched from Queen's Island. In the year 1883 the largest +shipbuilding firm in the town launched thirteen vessels, of over 30,000 +tons gross, while two other firms launched twelve ships, of about +10,000 tons gross. + +I do not propose to enter into details respecting the progress of the +trades of Belfast. The most important is the spinning of fine linen +yarn, which is for the most part concentrated in that town, over +25,000,000 of pounds weight being exported annually. Towards the end of +the seventeenth century the linen manufacture had made but little +progress. In 1680 all Ireland did not export more than 6000L. worth +annually. Drogheda was then of greater importance than Belfast. But +with the settlement of the persecuted Hugnenots in Ulster, and +especially through the energetic labours of Crommelin, Goyer, and +others, the growth of flax was sedulously cultivated, and its +manufacture into linen of all sorts became an important branch of Irish +industry. In the course of about fifty years the exports of linen +fabrics increased to the value of over 600,000L. per annum. + +It was still, however, a handicraft manufacture, and done for the most +part at home. Flax was spun and yarn was woven by hand. Eventually +machinery was employed, and the turn-out became proportionately large +and valuable. It would not be possible for hand labour to supply the +amount of linen now turned out by the aid of machinery. It would +require three times the entire population of Ireland to spin and weave, +by the old spinning-wheel and hand-loom methods, the amount of linen +cloth now annually manufactured by the operatives of Belfast alone. +There are now forty large spinning-mills in Belfast and the +neighbourhood, which furnish employment to a very large number of +working people.[20] + +In the course of my visit to Belfast, I inspected the works of the York +Street flax-spinning mills, founded in 1830 by the Messrs. Mulholland, +which now give employment, directly or indirectly, to many thousand +persons. I visited also, with my young Italian friend, the admirable +printing establishment of Marcus Ward and Co., the works of the Belfast +Rope-work Company, and the shipbuilding works of Harland and Wolff. +There we passed through the roar of the iron forge, the clang of the +Nasmyth hammer, and the intermittent glare of the furnaces--all telling +of the novel appliances of modern shipbuilding, and the power of the +modern steam-engine. I prefer to give a brief account of this latter +undertaking, as it exhibits one of the newest and most important +industries of Belfast. It also shows, on the part of its proprietors, +a brave encounter with difficulties, and sets before the friends of +Ireland the truest and surest method of not only giving employment to +its people, but of building up on the surest foundations the prosperity +of the country. + +The first occasion on which I visited Belfast--the reader will excuse +the introduction of myself--was in 1840; about forty-four years ago. I +went thither on the invitation of the late Wm. Sharman Crawford, Esq., +M.P., the first prominent advocate of tenant-right, to attend a public +meeting of the Ulster Association, and to spend a few days with him at +his residence at Crawfordsburn, near Bangor. Belfast was then a town +of comparatively little importance, though it had already made a fair +start in commerce and industry. As our steamer approached the head of +the Lough, a large number of labourers were observed--with barrows, +picks, and spades--scooping out and wheeling up the slob and mud of the +estuary, for the purpose of forming what is now known as Queen's +Island, on the eastern side of the river Lagan. The work was conducted +by William Dargan, the famous Irish contractor; and its object was to +make a straight artificial outlet--the Victoria Channel--by means of +which vessels drawing twenty-three feet of water might reach the port +of Belfast. Before then, the course of the Lagan was tortuous and +difficult of navigation; but by the straight cut, which was completed +in 1846, and afterwards extended further seawards, ships of large +burden were enabled to reach the quays, which extend for about a mile +below Queen's Bridge, on both sides of the river. + +It was a saying of honest William Dargan, that "when a thing is put +anyway right at all, it takes a vast deal of mismanagement to make it +go wrong." He had another curious saying about "the calf eating the +cow's belly," which, he said, was not right, "at all, at all." Belfast +illustrated his proverbial remarks. That the cutting of the Victoria +Channel was doing the "right thing" for Belfast, was clear, from the +constantly increasing traffic of the port. In course of time, several +extensive docks and tidal basins were added; while provision was made, +in laying out the reclaimed land at the entrance of the estuary, for +their future extension and enlargement. The town of Belfast was by +these means gradually placed in immediate connection by sea with the +principal western ports of England and Scotland,--steamships of large +burden now leaving it daily for Liverpool, Glasgow, Fleetwood, Barrow, +and Ardrossan. The ships entering the port of Belfast in 1883 were +7508, of 1,526,535 tonnage; they had been more than doubled in fifteen +years. The town has risen from nothing, to exhibit a Customs revenue, +in 1883, of 608,781L., infinitely greater than that of Leith, the port +of Edinburgh, or of Hull, the chief port of Yorkshire. The population +has also largely increased. When I visited Belfast in 1840, the town +contained 75,000 inhabitants. They are now over 225,006, or more than +trebled,--Belfast being the tenth town, in point of population, in the +United Kingdom. + +The spirit and enterprise of the people are illustrated by the variety +of their occupations. They do not confine themselves to one branch of +business; but their energies overflow into nearly every department of +industry. Their linen manufacture is of world-wide fame; but much less +known are their more recent enterprises. The production of aerated +waters, for instance, is something extraordinary. In 1882 the +manufacturers shipped off 53,163 packages, and 24,263 cwts. of aerated +waters to England, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, and other +countries. While Ireland produces no wrought iron, though it contains +plenty of iron-stone,--and Belfast has to import all the iron which it +consumes,--yet one engineering firm alone, that of Combe, Barbour, and +Combe, employs 1500 highly-paid mechanics, and ships off its iron +machinery to all parts of the world. The printing establishment of +Marcus Ward and Co. employs over 1000 highly skilled and ingenious +persons, and extends the influence of learning and literature into all +civilised countries. We might add the various manufactures of roofing +felt (of which there are five), of ropes, of stoves, of stable +fittings, of nails, of starch, of machinery; all of which have earned a +world-wide reputation. + +We prefer, however, to give an account of the last new industry of +Belfast--that of shipping and shipbuilding. Although, as we have said, +Belfast imports from Scotland and England all its iron and all its +coal,[21] it nevertheless, by the skill and strength of its men, sends +out some of the finest and largest steamships which navigate the +Atlantic and Pacific. It all comes from the power of individuality, +and furnishes a splendid example for Dublin, Cork, Waterford, and +Limerick, each of which is provided by nature with magnificent +harbours, with fewer of those difficulties of access which Belfast has +triumphed over; and each of which might be the centre of some great +industrial enterprise, provided only there were patriotic men willing +to embark their capital, perfect protection for the property invested, +and men willing to work rather than to strike. + +It was not until the year 1853 that the Queen's Island--raked out of +the mud of the slob-land--was first used for shipbuilding purposes. +Robert Hickson and Co. then commenced operations by laying down the +Mary Stenhouse, a wooden sailing-ship of 1289 tons register; and the +vessel was launched in the following year. + +The operations of the firm were continued until the year 1859, when the +shipbuilding establishments on Queen's Island were acquired by Mr. E. +J. Harland (afterwards Harland and Wolff), since which time the +development of this great branch of industry in Belfast has been rapid +and complete. + +From the history of this firm, it will be found that energy is the most +profitable of all merchandise; and that the fruit of active work is the +sweetest of all fruits. Harland and Wolff are the true Watt and +Boulton of Belfast. At the beginning of their great enterprise, their +works occupied about four acres of land; they now occupy over +thirty-six acres. The firm has imported not less than two hundred +thousand tons of iron; which have been converted by skill and labour +into 168 ships of 253,000 total tonnage. These ships, if laid close +together, would measure nearly eight miles in length. + +The advantage to the wage-earning class can only be shortly stated. +Not less than 34 per cent. is paid in labour on the cost of the ships +turned out. The number of persons employed in the works is 3920; and +the weekly wages paid to them is 4000L., or over 200,000L. annually. +Since the commencement of the undertaking, about two millions sterling +have been paid in wages. + +All this goes towards the support of the various industries of the +place. That the working classes of Belfast are thrifty and frugal may +be inferred from the fact that at the end of 1882 they held deposits in +the Savings Bank to the amount of 230,289L., besides 158,064L. in the +Post Office Savings Banks.[22] Nearly all the better class working +people of the town live in separate dwellings, either rented or their +own property. There are ten Building Societies in Belfast, in which +industrious people may store their earnings, and in course of time +either buy or build their own houses. + +The example of energetic, active men always spreads. Belfast contains +two other shipbuilding yards, both the outcome of Harland and Wolff's +enterprise; those of Messrs. Macilwaine and Lewis, employing about four +hundred men, and of Messrs. Workman and Clarke, employing about a +thousand. The heads of both these firms were trained in the parent +shipbuilding works of Belfast. There is do feeling of rivalry between +the firms, but all work together for the good of the town. + +In Plutarch's Lives, we are told that Themistocles said on one +occasion, "'Tis true that I have never learned how to tune a harp, or +play upon a lute, but I know how to raise a small and inconsiderable +city to glory and greatness." So might it be said of Harland and +Wolff. They have given Belfast not only a potency for good, but a +world-wide reputation. Their energies overflow. Mr. Harland is the +active and ever-prudent Chairman of the most important of the local +boards, the Harbour Trust of Belfast, and exerts himself to promote the +extension of the harbour facilities of the port as if the benefits were +to be exclusively his own; while Mr. Wolff is the Chairman of one of +the latest born industries of the place, the Belfast Rope-work Company, +which already gives employment to over 600 persons. + +This last-mentioned industry is only about six years old. The works +occupy over seven acres of ground, more than six acres of which are +under roofing. Although the whole of the raw material is imported from +abroad from Russia, the Philippine Islands, New Zealand, and Central +America--it is exported again in a manufactured state to all parts of +the world. + +Such is the contagion of example, and such the ever-branching +industries with which men of enterprise and industry can enrich and +bless their country. The following brief memoir of the career of Mr. +Harland has been furnished at my solicitation; and I think that it will +be found full of interest as well as instruction. + + +Footnotes for Chapter X. + +[1] Report in the Cork Examiner, 5th July, 1883. + +[2] In 1883, as compared with 1882, there was a decrease of 58,022 +acres in the land devoted to the growth of wheat; there was a total +decrease of 114,871 acres in the land under tillage.--Agricultural +Statistics, Ireland, 1883. Parliamentary Return, c. 3768. + +[3] Statistical Abstract for the United Kingdom, 1883. + +[4] The particulars are these: deposits in Irish Post Office Savings +Banks, 31st December, 1882, 1,925,440; to the credit of depositors and +Government stock, 125,000L.; together, 2,050,440L. + +The increase of deposits over those made in the preceding year, were: +in Dublin, 31,321L.; in Antrim, 23,328L.; in Tyrone, 21,315L.; in Cork, +17,034L.; and in Down, 10,382L. + +[5] The only thriving manufacture now in Dublin is that of intoxicating +drinks--beer, porter, stout, and whisky. Brewing and distilling do not +require skilled labour, so that strikes do not affect them. + +[6] Times, 11th June, 1883. + +[7] The valuation of the county of Aberdeen (exclusive of the city) was +recently 866,816L., whereas the value of the herrings (748,726 barrels) +caught round the coast (at 25s. the barrel) was 935,907L., thereby +exceeding the estimated annual rental of the county by 69,091L. The +Scotch fishermen catch over a million barrels of herrings annually, +representing a value of about a million and a-half sterling. + +[8] A recent number of Land and Water supplies the following +information as to the fishing at Kinsale:--"The takes of fish have been +so enormous and unprecedented that buyers can scarcely be found, even +when, as now, mackerel are selling at one shilling per six score. +Piles of magnificent fish lie rotting in the sun. The sides of Kinsale +Harbour are strewn with them, and frequently, when they have become a +little 'touched,' whole boat-loads are thrown overboard into the water. +This great waste is to be attributed to scarcity of hands to salt the +fish and want of packing-boxes. Some of the boats are said to have +made as much as 500L. this season. The local fishing company are +making active preparations for the approaching herring fishery, and it +is anticipated that Kinsale may become one of the centres of this +description of fishing." + +[9] Statistical Journal for March 1848. Paper by Richard Valpy on "The +Resources of the Irish Sea Fisheries," pp. 55-72. + +[10] HALL, Retrospect of a Long Life, ii. 324. + +[11] The Commissioners of Irish Fisheries, in one of their reports, +observe:--"Notwithstanding the diminished population, the fish captured +round the coast is so inadequate to the wants of the population that +fully 150,000L. worth of ling, cod, and herring are annually imported +from Norway, Newfoundland, and Scotland, the vessels bearing these +cargoes, as they approach the shores of Ireland, frequently sailing +through large shoals of fish of the same description as they are +freighted with!" + +[12] The following examination of Mr. J. Ennis, chairman of the Midland +and Great Western Railway, took place before the "Royal Commission on +Railways," as long ago as the year 1846:-- + +Chairman--"Is the fish traffic of any importance to your railway?" + +Mr. Ennis--"of course it is, and we give it all the facilities that we +can.... But the Galway fisheries, where one would expect to find +plenty of fish, are totally neglected." + +Sir Rowland Hill--"What is the reason of that?" + +Mr. Ennis--"I will endeavour to explain. I had occasion a few nights +ago to speak to a gentleman in the House of Commons with regard to an +application to the Fishery Board for 2000L. to restore the pier at +Buffin, in Clew Bay, and I said, 'Will you join me in the application? +I am told it is a place that swarms with fish, and if we had a pier +there the fishermen will have some security, and they will go out.' The +only answer I received was, 'They will not go out; they pay no +attention whatever to the fisheries; they allow the fish to come and go +without making any effort to catch them....'" + +Mr. Ayrton--"Do you think that if English fishermen went to the west +coast of Ireland they would be able to get on in harmony with the +native fishermen?" + +Mr. Ennis--"We know the fact to be, that some years ago, a company was +established for the purpose of trawling in Galway Bay, and what was the +consequence? The Irish fishermen, who inhabit a region in the +neighbourhood of Galway, called Claddagh, turned out against them, and +would not allow them to trawl, and the Englishmen very properly went +away with their lives." + +Sir Rowland Hill--"Then they will neither fish themselves nor allow any +one else to fish!" + +Mr. Ennis--"It seems to be so."--Minutes of Evidence, 175-6. + +[13] The Derry Journal. + +[14] Report of Inspectors of Irish Fisheries for 1882. + +[15] The Report of the Inspectors of Irish Fisheries on the Sea and +Inland Fisheries of Ireland for 1882, gives a large amount of +information as to the fish which swarm round the Irish coast. Mr. Brady +reports on the abundance of herring and other fish all round the coast. +Shoals of herrings "remained off nearly the entire coast of Ireland +from August till December." "Large shoals of pilchards" were observed +on the south and south-west coasts. Off Dingle, it is remarked, "the +supply of all kinds of fish is practically inexhaustible." + +"Immense shoals of herrings off Liscannor and Loop Head;" "the +mackerel is always on this coast, and can be captured at any time of +the year, weather permitting." At Belmullet, "the shoals of fish off +the coast, particularly herring and mackerel, are sometimes enormous." +The fishermen, though poor, are all very orderly and well conducted. +They only want energy and industry. + +[16] The Harleian Miscellany, iii. 378-91. + +[17] The Harleian Miscellany, iii. 392. + +[18] See The Huguenots in England and Ireland. A Board of Traders, for +the encouragement and promotion of the hemp and flax manufacture in +Ireland, was appointed by an Act of Parliament at the beginning of last +century (6th October, 1711), and the year after the appointment of the +Board the following notice was placed on the records of the +institution:--"Louis Crommelin and the Huguenot colony have been +greatly instrumental in improving and propagating the flaxen +manufacture in the north of this Kingdom, and the perfection to which +the same is brought in that part of the country has been greatly owing +to the skill and industry of the said Crommelin." In a history of the +linen trade, published at Belfast, it is said that "the dignity which +that enterprising man imparted to labour, and the halo which his +example cast around physical exertion, had the best effect in raising +the tone of popular feeling, as well among the patricians as among the +peasants of the north of Ireland. This love of industry did much to +break down the national prejudice in favour of idleness, and cast +doubts on the social orthodoxy of the idea then so popular with the +squirearchy, that those alone who were able to live without employment +had any rightful claim to the distinctive title of gentleman.... A +patrician by birth and a merchant by profession, Crommelin proved, by +his own life, his example, and his enterprise, that an energetic +manufacturer may, at the same time, take a high place in the +conventional world." + +[19] Benn's History of Belfast, p. 78. + +[20] From the Irish Manufacturers' Almanack for 1883 I learn that +nearly one-third of the spindles used in Europe in the linen trade, and +more than one-fourth of the power-looms, belong to Ireland, that "the +Irish linen and associated trades at present give employment to 176,303 +persons; and it is estimated that the capital sunk in spinning and +weaving factories, and the business incidental thereto, is about +100,000,000L., and of that sum 37,000,000L. is credited to Belfast +alone." + +[21] The importation of coal in 1883 amounted to over 700,000 tons. + +[22] We are indebted to the obliging kindness of the Right Hon. Mr. +Fawcett, Postmaster-General for this return. The total number of +depositors in the Post Office Savings banks in the Parliamentary +borough of Belfast is 10,827 and the amount of their deposits, +including the interest standing to their credit, on the 31st December, +1882, was 158,064L. 0s. 1d. + +An important item in the savings of Belfast, not included in the above +returns, consists in the amounts of deposits made with the various +Limited Companies, as well as with the thriving Building Societies in +the town and neighbourhood. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +SHIPBUILDING IN BELFAST--ITS ORIGIN AND PROGRESS. + +BY SIR E. J. HARLAND, ENGINEER AND SHIPBUILDER. + +"The useful arts are but reproductions or new combinations by the art +of man, of the same natural benefactors. He no longer waits for +favouring gales, but by means of steam he realises the fable of +AEolus's bag, and carries the two-and-thirty winds in the boiler of his +boat."--Emerson. + +"The most exquisite and the most expensive machinery is brought into +play where operations on the most common materials are to be performed, +because these are executed on the widest scale. This is the meaning of +the vast and astonishing prevalence of machine work in this country: +that the machine, with its million fingers, works for millions of +purchasers, while in remote countries, where magnificence and savagery +stand side by side, tens of thousands work for one. There Art labours +for the rich alone; here she works for the poor no less. There the +multitude produce only to give splendour and grace to the despot or the +warrior, whose slaves they are, and whom they enrich; here the man who +is powerful in the weapons of peace, capital, and machinery, uses them +to give comfort and enjoyment to the public, whose servant he is, and +thus becomes rich while he enriches others with his goods."--William +Whewell, D.D. + +I was born at Scarborough in May, 1831, the sixth of a family of eight. +My father was a native of Rosedale, half-way between Whitby and +Pickering: his nurse was the sister of Captain Scoresby, celebrated as +an Arctic explorer. Arrived at manhood, he studied medicine, graduated +at Edinburgh, and practised in Scarborough until nearly his death in +1866. He was thrice Mayor and a Justice of the Peace for the borough. +Dr. Harland was a man of much force of character, and displayed great +originality in the treatment of disease. Besides exercising skill in +his profession, he had a great love for mechanical pursuits. He spent +his leisure time in inventions of many sorts; and, in conjunction with +the late Sir George Cayley of Brompton, he kept an excellent mechanic +constantly at work. + +In 1827 he invented and patented a steam-carriage for running on common +roads. Before the adoption of railways, the old stage coaches were +found slow and insufficient for the traffic. A working model of the +steam-coach was perfected, embracing a multitubular boiler for quickly +raising high-pressure steam, with a revolving surface condenser for +reducing the steam to water again, by means of its exposure to the cold +draught of the atmosphere through the interstices of extremely thin +laminations of copper plates. The entire machinery, placed under the +bottom of the carriage, was borne on springs; the whole being of an +elegant form. This model steam-carriage ascended with perfect ease the +steepest roads. Its success was so complete that Dr. Harland designed +a full-sized carriage; but the demands upon his professional skill were +so great that he was prevented going further than constructing the pair +of engines, the wheels, and a part of the boiler,--all of which +remnants I still preserve, as valuable links in the progress of steam +locomotion. + +Other branches of practical science--such as electricity, magnetism, +and chemical cultivation of the soil--received a share of his +attention. He predicted that three or four powerful electric lamps +would yet light a whole city. He was also convinced of the feasibility +of an electric cable to New York, and calculated the probable cost. As +an example to the neighbourhood, he successfully cultivated a tract of +moorland, and overcame difficulties which before then were thought +insurmountable. + +When passing through Newcastle, while still a young man, on one of his +journeys to the University at Edinburgh, and being desirous of +witnessing the operations in a coal-mine, a friend recommended him to +visit Killingworth pit, where he would find one George Stephenson, a +most intelligent workman, in charge. My father was introduced to Mr. +Stephenson accordingly; and after rambling over the underground +workings, and observing the pumping and winding engines in full +operation, a friendship was made, which afterwards proved of the +greatest service to myself, by facilitating my being placed as a pupil +at the great engineering works of Messrs. Robert Stephenson and Co., at +Newcastle. + +My mother was the daughter of Gawan Pierson, a landed proprietor of +Goathland, near Rosedale. She, too, was surprisingly mechanical in her +tastes; and assisted my father in preparing many of his plans, besides +attaining considerable proficiency in drawing, painting, and modelling +in wax. Toys in those days were poor, as well as very expensive to +purchase. But the nursery soon became a little workshop under her +directions; and the boys were usually engaged, one in making a cart, +another in carving out a horse, and a third in cutting out a boat; +while the girls were making harness, or sewing sails, or cutting out +and making perfect dresses for their dolls--whose houses were +completely furnished with everything, from the kitchen to the attic, +all made at home. + +It was in a house of such industry and mechanism that I was brought up. +As a youth, I was slow at my lessons; preferring to watch and assist +workmen when I had an opportunity of doing so, even with the certainty +of having a thrashing from the schoolmaster for my neglect. Thus I got +to know every workshop and every workman in the town. At any rate I +picked up a smattering of a variety of trades, which afterwards proved +of the greatest use to me. The chief of these was wooden shipbuilding, +a branch of industry then extensively carried on by Messrs. William and +Robert Tindall, the former of whom resided in London; he was one of the +half-dozen great shipbuilders and owners who founded "Lloyd's." +Splendid East Indiamen, of some 1000 tons burden, were then built at +Scarborough; and scarcely a timber was moulded, a plank bent, a spar +lined off, or launching ship-ways laid, without my being present to +witness them. And thus, in course of time, I was able to make for +myself the neatest and fastest of model yachts. + +At that time, I attended the Grammar School. Of the rudiments taught, +I was fondest of drawing, geometry, and Euclid. Indeed, I went twice +through the first two books of the latter before I was twelve years +old. At this age I was sent to the Edinburgh Academy, my eldest +brother William being then a medical student at the University. I +remained at Edinburgh two years. My early progress in mathematics +would have been lost in the classical training which was then insisted +upon at the academy, but for my brother who was not only a good +mathematician but an excellent mechanic. He took care to carry on my +instruction in that branch of knowledge, as well as to teach me to make +models of machines and buildings, in which he was himself proficient. +I remember, in one of my journeys to Edinburgh, by coach from +Darlington, that a gentleman expressed his wonder what a screw +propeller could be like; for the screw, as a method of propulsion, was +then being introduced. I pointed out to him the patent tail of a +windmill by the roadside, and said, "It is just like that!" + +In 1844 my mother died; and shortly after, my brother having become +M.D., and obtained a prize gold medal, we returned to Scarborough. It +was intended that he should assist my father; but he preferred going +abroad for a few years. I may mention further, with relation to him, +that after many years of scientific research and professional practice, +he died at Hong Kong in 1858, when a public monument was erected to his +memory, in what is known as the "Happy Valley." + +I remained for a short time under the tuition of my old master. But as +the time was rapidly approaching when I too must determine what I was +"to be" in life. I had no hesitation in deciding to be an engineer, +though my father wished me to be a barrister. But I kept constant to my +resolution; and eventually he succeeded, through his early acquaintance +with George Stephenson, in gaining for me an entrance to the +engineering works of Robert Stephenson and Co., at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. +I started there as a pupil on my fifteenth birthday, for an +apprenticeship of five years. I was to spend the first four years in +the various workshops, and the last year in the drawing-office. + +I was now in my element. The working hours, it is true, were very +long,--being from six in the morning until 8.15 at night; excepting on +Saturday, when we knocked off at four. However, all this gave me so +much the more experience; and, taking advantage of it, I found that, +when I had reached the age of eighteen, I was intrusted with the full +charge of erecting one side of a locomotive. I had to accomplish the +same amount of work as my mate on the other side, one Murray Playfair, +a powerful, hard-working Scotchman. My strength and endurance were +sometimes taxed to the utmost, and required the intervals of my labour +to be spent in merely eating and sleeping. + +I afterwards went through the machine-shops. I was fortunate enough to +get charge of the best screw-cutting and brass-turning lathe in the +shop; the former occupant, Jack Singleton, having just been promoted to +a foreman's berth at the Messrs. Armstrong's factory. He afterwards +became superintendent of all the hydraulic machinery of the Mersey Dock +Trust at Liverpool. After my four years had been completed, I went into +the drawing-office, to which I had looked forward with pleasure; and, +having before practised lineal as well as free-hand drawing, I soon +succeeded in getting good and difficult designs to work out, and +eventually finished drawings of the engines. Indeed, on visiting the +works many years after, one of these drawings was shown to me as a +"specimen;" the person exhibiting it not knowing that it was my own +work. + +In the course of my occasional visits to Scarborough, my attention was +drawn to the imperfect design of the lifeboats of the period; the +frequent shipwrecks along the coast indicating the necessity for their +improvement. After considerable deliberation, I matured a plan for a +metal lifeboat, of a cylindrico-conical or chrysalis form, to be +propelled by a screw at each end, turned by sixteen men inside, seated +on water-ballast tanks; sufficient room being left at the ends inside +for the accommodation of ten or twelve shipwrecked persons; while a +mate near the bow, and the captain near the stern in charge of the +rudder, were stationed in recesses in the deck about three feet deep. +The whole apparatus was almost cylindrical, and watertight, save in the +self-acting ventilators, which could only give access to the smallest +portion of water. I considered that, if the lifeboat fully manned were +launched into the roughest seas, or off the deck of a vessel, it would, +even if turned on its back, immediately right itself, without any of +the crew being disturbed from their positions, to which they were to +have been strapped. + +It happened that at this time (the summer of 1850) his Grace the late +Duke of Northumberland, who had always taken a deep interest in the +Lifeboat Institution, offered a prize of one hundred guineas for the +best model and design of such a craft; so I determined to complete my +plans and make a working model of my lifeboat. I came to the +conclusion that the cylindrico-conical form, with the frames to be +carried completely round and forming beams as well, and the two screws, +one at each end, worked off the same power, by which one or other of +them would always be immersed, were worth registering in the Patent +Office. I therefore entered a caveat there; and continued working at +my model in the evenings. I first made a wooden block model, on the +scale of an inch to the foot. I had some difficulty in procuring +sheets of copper thin enough, so that the model should draw only the +correct amount of water; but at last I succeeded, through finding the +man at Newcastle who had supplied my father with copper plates for his +early road locomotive. + +The model was only 32 inches in length, and 8 inches in beam; and in +order to fix all the internal fittings, of tanks, seats, crank handles, +and pulleys, I had first to fit the shell plating, and then, by finally +securing one strake of plates on, and then another, after all inside +was complete, I at last finished for good the last outside plate. In +executing the job, my early experience of all sorts of handiwork came +serviceably to my aid. After many a whole night's work--for the +evenings alone were not sufficient for the purpose--I at length +completed my model; and triumphantly and confidently took it to sea in +an open boat; and then cast it into the waves. The model either rode +over them or passed through them; if it was sometimes rolled over, it +righted itself at once, and resumed its proper attitude in the waters. +After a considerable trial I found scarcely a trace of water inside. +Such as had got there was merely through the joints in the sliding +hatches; though the ventilators were free to work during the +experiments. + +I completed the prescribed drawings and specifications, and sent them, +together with the model, to Somerset House. Some 280 schemes of +lifeboats were submitted for competition; but mine was not successful. +I suspect that the extreme novelty of the arrangement deterred the +adjudicators from awarding in its favour. Indeed, the scheme was so +unprecedented, and so entirely out of the ordinary course of things, +that there was no special mention made of it in the report afterwards +published, and even the description there given was incorrect. The +prize was awarded to Mr. James Beeching, of Great Yarmouth, whose plans +were afterwards generally adopted by the Lifeboat Society. I have +preserved my model just as it was; and some of its features have since +been introduced with advantage into shipbuilding.[1] + +The firm of Robert Stephenson and Co. having contracted to build for +the Government three large iron caissons for the Keyham Docks, and as +these were very similar in construction to that of an ordinary iron +ship, draughtsmen conversant with that class of work were specially +engaged to superintend it. The manager, knowing my fondness for ships, +placed me as his assistant at this new work. After I had mastered it, +I endeavoured to introduce improvements, having observed certain +defects in laying down the lines--I mean by the use of graduated curves +cut out of thin wood. In lieu of this method, I contrived thin tapered +laths of lancewood, and weights of a particular form, with steel claws +and knife edges attached, so as to hold the lath tightly down to the +paper, yet capable of being readily adjusted, so as to produce any form +of curve, along which the pen could freely and continuously travel. +This method proved very efficient, and it has since come into general +use. + +The Messrs. Stephenson were then also making marine engines, as well as +large condensing pumping engines, and a large tubular bridge to be +erected over the river Don. The splendid high-level bridge over the +Tyne, of which Robert Stephenson was the engineer, was also in course +of construction. With the opportunity of seeing these great works in +progress, and of visiting, during my holidays and long evenings, most +of the manufactories and mines in the neighbourhood of Newcastle, I +could not fail to pick up considerable knowledge, and an acquaintance +with a vast variety of trades. There were about thirty other pupils in +the works at the same time with myself; some were there either through +favour or idle fancy; but comparatively few gave their full attention +to the work, and I have since heard nothing of them. Indeed, unless a +young fellow takes a real interest in his work, and has a genuine love +for it, the greatest advantages will prove of no avail whatever. + +It was a good plan adopted at the works, to require the pupils to keep +the same hours as the rest of the men, and, though they paid a premium +on entering, to give them the same rate of wages as the rest of the +lads. Mr. William Hutchinson, a contemporary of George Stephenson, was +the managing partner. He was a person of great experience, and had the +most thorough knowledge of men and materials, knowing well how to +handle both to the best advantage. + +His son-in-law, Mr. William Weallans, was the head draughtsman, and +very proficient, not only in quickness but in accuracy and finish. I +found it of great advantage to have the benefit of the example and the +training of these very clever men. + +My five years apprenticeship was completed in May 1851, on my twentieth +birthday. Having had but very little "black time," as it was called, +beyond the half-yearly holiday for visiting my friends, and having only +"slept in" twice during the five years, I was at once entered on the +books as a journeyman, on the "big" wage of twenty shillings a week. +Orders were, however, at that time very difficult to be had. + +Railway trucks, and even navvies' barrows, were contracted for in order +to keep the men employed. It was better not to discharge them, and to +find something for them to do. At the same time it was not very +encouraging for me, under such circumstances, to remain with the firm. +I therefore soon arranged to leave; and first of all I went to see +London. It was the Great Exhibition year of 1851. I need scarcely say +what a rich feast I found there, and how thoroughly I enjoyed it all. +I spent about two months in inspecting the works of art and mechanics +in the Exhibition, to my own great advantage. I then returned home; +and, after remaining in Scarborough for a short time, I proceeded to +Glasgow with a letter of introduction to Messrs. J. and G. Thomson, +marine engine builders, who started me on the same wages which I had +received at Stephenson's, namely twenty shillings a week. + +I found the banks of the Clyde splendid ground for gaining further +mechanical knowledge. There were the ship and engine works on both +sides of the river, down to Govan; and below there, at Renfrew, +Dumbarton, Port Glasgow, and Greenock--no end of magnificent yards--so +that I had plenty of occupation for my leisure time on Saturday +afternoons. The works of Messrs. Robert Napier and Sons were then at +the top of the tree. The largest Cunard steamers were built and +engined there. Tod and Macgregor were the foremost in screw +steamships--those for the Peninsular and Oriental Company being +splendid models of symmetry and works of art. Some of the fine wooden +paddle-steamers built in Bristol for the Royal Mail Company were sent +round to the Clyde for their machinery. I contrived to board all these +ships from time to time, so as to become well acquainted with their +respective merits and peculiarities. + +As an illustration of how contrivances, excellent in principle, but +defective in construction, may be discarded, but again taken up under +more favourable circumstances, I may mention that I saw a Hall's patent +surface-condensor thrown to one side from one of these steamers, the +principal difficulty being in keeping it tight. And yet, in the course +of a very few years, by the simplest possible contrivance--inserting an +indiarubber ring round each end of the tube (Spencer's patent)--surface +condensation in marine engines came into vogue; and there is probably +no ocean-going steamer afloat without it, furnished with every variety +of suitable packings. + +After some time, the Messrs. Thomson determined to build their own +vessels, and an experienced naval draughtsman was engaged, to whom I +was "told off" whenever he needed assistance. In the course of time, +more and more of the ship work came in my way. Indeed, I seemed to +obtain the preference. Fortunately for us both, my superior obtained +an appointment of a similar kind on the Tyne, at superior pay, and I +was promoted to his place. The Thomsons had now a very fine +shipbuilding-yard, in full working order, with several large steamers +on the stocks. I was placed in the drawing-office as head draughtsman. +At the same time I had no rise of wages; but still went on enjoying my +twenty shillings a week. I was, however, gaining information and +experience, and knew that better pay would follow in due course of +time. And without solicitation I was eventually offered an engagement +for a term of years, at an increased and increasing salary, with three +months' notice on either side. + +I had only enjoyed the advance for a short time, when Mr. Thomas +Toward, a shipbuilder on the Tyne, being in want of a manager, made +application to the Messrs. Stephenson for such a person. They mentioned +my name, and Mr. Toward came over to the Clyde to see me. The result +was, that I became engaged, and it was arranged that I should enter on +my enlarged duties on the Tyne in the autumn of 1853. It was with no +small reluctance that I left the Messrs. Thomson. They were +first-class practical men, and had throughout shown me every kindness +and consideration. But a managership was not to be had every day; and +being the next step to the position of a master, I could not neglect +the opportunity for advancement which now offered itself. + +Before leaving Glasgow, however, I found that it would be necessary to +have a new angle and plate furnace provided for the works on the Tyne. +Now, the best man in Glasgow for building these important requisites +for shipbuilding work was scarcely ever sober; but by watching and +coaxing him, and by a liberal supply of Glenlivat afterwards, I +contrived to lay down on paper, from his directions, what he considered +to be the best class of furnace; and by the aid of this I was +afterwards enabled to construct what proved to be the best furnace on +the Tyne. + +To return to my education in shipbuilding. My early efforts in +ship-draughting at Stephensons' were further developed and matured at +Thomsons' on the Clyde. Models and drawings were more carefully worked +out on the 1/4-in. scale than heretofore. The stern frames were laid +off and put up at once correctly, which before had been first shaped by +full-sized wooden moulds. I also contrived a mode of quickly and +correctly laying off the frame-lines on a model, by laying it on a +plane surface, and then, with a rectangular block traversing it--a +pencil in a suitable holder being readily applied over the curved +surface. This method is now in general use. + +Even at that time, competition as regards speed in the Clyde steamers +was very keen. Foremost among the competitors was the late Mr. David +Hutchinson, who, though delighted with the Mountaineer, built by the +Thomsons in 1853, did not hesitate to have her lengthened forward to +make her sharper, so as to secure her ascendency in speed during the +ensuing season. The results were satisfactory; and his steamers grew +and grew, until they developed into the celebrated Iona and Cambria, +which were in later years built for him by the same firm. I may +mention that the Cunard screw steamer Jura was the last heavy job with +which I was connected while at Thomsons'. + +I then proceeded to the Tyne, to superintend the building of ships and +marine boilers. The shipbuilding yard was at St. Peter's, about two +and a-half miles below Newcastle. I found the work, as practised +there, rough and ready; but by steady attention to all the details, and +by careful inspection when passing the "piece-work" (a practice much in +vogue there, but which I discouraged), I contrived to raise the +standard of excellence, without a corresponding increase of price. My +object was to raise the quality of the work turned out; and, as we had +orders from the Russian Government, from China, and the Continent, as +well as from shipowners at home, I observed that quality was a very +important element in all commercial success. My master, Mr. Thomas +Toward, was in declining health; and, being desirous of spending his +winters abroad, I was consequently left in full charge of the works. +But as there did not appear to be a satisfactory prospect, under the +circumstances, for any material development of the business, a trifling +circumstance arose, which again changed the course of my career. + +An advertisement appeared in the papers for a manager to conduct a +shipbuilding yard in Belfast. I made inquiries as to the situation, +and eventually applied for it. I was appointed, and entered upon my +duties there at Christmas, 1854. The yard was a much larger one than +that on the Tyne, and was capable of great expansion. It was situated +on what was then well known as the Queen's Island; but now, like the +Isle of Dogs, it has been attached by reclamation. The yard, about +four acres in extent, was held by lease from the Belfast Harbour +Commissioners. It was well placed, alongside a fine patent slip, with +clear frontage, allowing of the largest ships being freely launched. +Indeed, the first ship built there, the Mary Stenhouse, had only just +been completed and launched by Messrs. Robert Hickson and Co., then the +proprietors of the undertaking. They were also the owners of the Eliza +Street Iron Works, Belfast, which were started to work up old iron +materials. But as the works were found to be unremunerative, they were +shortly afterwards closed. + +On my entering the shipbuilding yard I found that the firm had an order +for two large sailing ships. One of these was partly in frame; and I +at once tackled with it and the men. Mr. Hickson, the acting partner, +not being practically acquainted with the business, the whole +proceeding connected with the building of the ships devolved upon me. +I had been engaged to supersede a manager summarily dismissed. +Although he had not given satisfaction to his employers, he was a great +favourite with the men. Accordingly, my appearance as manager in his +stead was not very agreeable to the employed. On inquiry I found that +the rate of wages paid was above the usual value, whilst the quantity +as well as quality of the work done were below the standard. I +proceeded to rectify these defects, by paying the ordinary rate of +wages, and then by raising the quality of the work done. I was met by +the usual method--a strike. The men turned out. They were abetted by +the former manager; and the leading hands hung about the town +unemployed, in the hope of my throwing up the post in disgust. + +But, nothing daunted, I went repeatedly over to the Clyde for the +purpose of enlisting fresh hands. When I brought them over, however, +in batches, there was the greatest difficulty in inducing them to work. +They were intimidated, or enticed, or feasted, and sent home again. +The late manager had also taken a yard on the other side of the river, +and actually commenced to build a ship, employing some of his old +comrades; but beyond laying the keel, little more was ever done. A few +months after my arrival, my firm had to arrange with its creditors, +whilst I, pending the settlement, had myself to guarantee the wages to +a few of the leading hands, whom I had only just succeeded in gathering +together. In this dilemma, an old friend, a foreman on the Clyde, came +over to Belfast to see me. After hearing my story, and considering the +difficulties I had to encounter, he advised me at once to "throw up the +job!" My reply was, that "having mounted a restive horse, I would ride +him into the stable." + +Notwithstanding the advice of my friend, I held on. The comparatively +few men in the works, as well as those out, no doubt observed my +determination. The obstacles were no doubt great; the financial +difficulties were extreme; and yet there was a prospect of profit from +the work in hand, provided only the men could be induced to settle +steadily down to their ordinary employment. I gradually gathered +together a number of steady workmen, and appointed suitable foremen. I +obtained a considerable accession of strength from Newcastle. On the +death of Mr. Toward, his head foreman, Mr. William Hanston, with a +number of the leading hands, joined me. From that time forward the +works went on apace; and we finished the ships in hand to the perfect +satisfaction of the owners. + +Orders were obtained for several large sailing ships as well as screw +vessels. We lifted and repaired wrecked ships, to the material +advantage of Mr. Hickson, then the sole representative of the firm. +After three years thus engaged, I resolved to start somewhere as a +shipbuilder on my own account. I made inquiries at Garston, +Birkenhead, and other places. When Mr. Hickson heard of my intentions, +he said he had no wish to carry on the concern after I left, and made a +satisfactory proposal for the sale to me of his holding of the Queen's +Island Yard. So I agreed to the proposed arrangement. The transfer +and the purchase were soon completed, through the kind assistance of my +old and esteemed friend Mr. G. G. Schwabe, of Liverpool; whose nephew, +Mr. G. W. Wolff, had been with me for a few months as my private +assistant. + +It was necessary, however, before commencing for myself, that I should +assist Mr. Hickson in finishing off the remaining vessels in hand, as +well as to look out for orders on my own account. Fortunately, I had +not long to wait; for it had so happened that my introduction to the +Messrs. Thomson of Glasgow had been made through the instrumentality of +my good friend Mr. Schwabe, who induced Mr. James Bibby (of J. Bibby, +Sons & Co., Liverpool) to furnish me with the necessary letter. While +in Glasgow, I had endeavoured to assist the Messrs. Bibby in the +purchase of a steamer; so I was now intrusted by them with the +building of three screw steamers the Venetian, Sicilian, and Syrian, +each 270 feet long, by 34 feet beam, and 22 feet 9 inches hold; and +contracted with Macnab and Co., Greenock, to supply the requisite +steam-engines. + +This was considered a large order in those days. It required many +additions to the machinery, plant, and tools of the yard. I invited +Mr. Wolff, then away in the Mediterranean as engineer of a steamer, to +return and take charge of the drawing office. Mr. Wolff had served his +apprenticeship with Messrs. Joseph Whitworth and Co., of Manchester, +and was a most able man, thoroughly competent for the work. Everything +went on prosperously; and, in the midst of all my engagements, I found +time to woo and win the hand of Miss Rosa Wann, of Vermont, Belfast, to +whom I was married on the 26th of January, 1860, and by her great +energy, soundness of judgment, and cleverness in organization, I was +soon relieved from all sources of care and anxiety, excepting those +connected with business. + +The steamers were completed in the course of the following year, +doubtless to the satisfaction of the owners, for their delivery was +immediately followed by an order for two larger vessels. As I required +frequently to go from home, and as the works must be carefully attended +to during my absence, on the 1st of January, 1862, I took Mr. Wolff in +as a partner; and the firm has since continued under the name of +Harland and Wolff. I may here add that I have throughout received the +most able advice and assistance from my excellent friend and partner, +and that we have together been enabled to found an entirely new branch +of industry in Belfast. + +It is necessary for me here to refer back a little to a screw steamer +which was built on the Clyde for Bibby and Co. by Mr. John Read, and +engined by J. and G. Thomson while I was with them. That steamer was +called the Tiber. She was looked upon as of an extreme length, being +235 feet, in proportion to her beam, which was 29 feet. Serious +misgivings were thrown out as to whether she would ever stand a heavy +sea. Vessels of such proportions were thought to be crank, and even +dangerous. Nevertheless, she seemed to my mind a great success. From +that time, I began to think and work out the advantages and +disadvantages of such a vessel, from an owner's as well as from a +builder's point of view. The result was greatly in favour of the +owner, though entailing difficulties in construction as regards the +builder. These difficulties, however. I thought might easily be +overcome. + +In the first steamers ordered of me by the Messrs. Bibby, I thought it +more prudent to simply build to the dimensions furnished, although they +were even longer than usual. But, prior to the precise dimensions +being fixed for the second order, I with confidence proposed my theory +of the greater carrying power and accommodation, both for cargo and +passengers, that would be gained by constructing the new vessels of +increased length, without any increase of beam. I conceived that they +would show improved qualities in a sea-way, and that, notwithstanding +the increased accommodation, the same speed with the same power would +be obtained, by only a slight increase in the first cost. The result +was, that I was allowed to settle the dimensions; and the following +were then decided on: Length, 310 feet; beam, 34 feet; depth of hold, +24 feet 9 inches; all of which were fully compensated for by making the +upper deck entirely of iron. In this way, the hull of the ship was +converted into a box girder of immensely increased strength, and was, I +believe, the first ocean steamer ever so constructed. The rig too was +unique. The four masts were made in one continuous length, with +fore-and-aft sails, but no yards,--thereby reducing the number of hands +necessary to work them. And the steam winches were so arranged as to +be serviceable for all the heavy hauls, as well as for the rapid +handling of the cargo. + +In the introduction of so many novelties, I was well supported by Mr. +F. Leyland, the junior partner of Messrs. Bibby's firm, and by the +intelligent and practical experience of Captain Birch, the overlooker, +and Captain George Wakeham, the Commodore of the company. Unsuccessful +attempts had been made many years before to condense the steam from the +engines by passing it into variously formed chambers, tubes, &c., to be +there condensed by surfaces kept cold by the circulation of sea-water +round them, so as to preserve the pure water and return it to the +boilers free of salt. In this way, "salting up" was avoided, and a +considerable saving of fuel and expenses in repairs was effected. + +Mr. Spencer had patented an improvement on Hall's method of surface +condensation, by introducing indiarubber rings at each end of the +tubes. This had been tried as an experiment on shore, and we advised +that it should be adopted in one of Messrs. Bibby's smallest steamers, +the Frankfort. The results were found perfectly satisfactory. Some 20 +per cent. of fuel was saved; and, after the patent right had been +bought, the method was adopted in all the vessels of the company. + +When these new ships were first seen at Liverpool, the "old salts" held +up their hands. They were too long! they were too sharp! they would +break their backs! They might, indeed, get out of the Mersey, but they +would never get back! The ships, however, sailed; and they made rapid +and prosperous voyages to and from the Mediterranean. They fulfilled +all the promises which had been made. They proved the advantages of +our new build of ships; and the owners were perfectly satisfied with +their superior strength, speed, and accommodation. The Bibbys were +wise men in their day and generation. They did not stop, but went on +ordering more ships. After the Grecian and the Italian had made two or +three voyages to Alexandria, they sent us an order for three more +vessels. By our advice, they were made twenty feet longer than the +previous ones, though of no greater beam; in other respects, they were +almost identical. This was too much for "Jack." "What!" he exclaimed, +"more Bibby's coffins?" Yes, more and more; and in the course of time, +most shipowners followed our example. + +To a young firm, a repetition of orders like these was a great +advantage,--not only because of the novel design of the ships, but also +because of their constructive details. We did our best to fit up the +Egyptian, Dalmatian, and Arabian, as first-rate vessels. Those engaged +in the Mediterranean trade finding them to be serious rivals, partly +because of the great cargos which they carried, but principally from +the regularity with which they made their voyages with such +surprisingly small consumption of coal. They were not, however, what +"Jack" had been accustomed to consider "dry ships." The ship built +Dutchman fashion, with her bluff ends, is the driest of all ships, but +the least steady, because she rises to every sea. But the new ships, +because of their length and sharpness, precluded this; for, though they +rose sufficiently to an approaching wave for all purposes of safety, +they often went through the crest of it, and, though shipping a little +water, it was not only easier for the vessel, but the shortest road. + +Nature seems to have furnished us with the finest design for a vessel +in the form of the fish: it presents such fine lines--is so clean, so +true, and so rapid in its movements. The ship, however, must float; +and to hit upon the happy medium of velocity and stability seems to me +the art and mystery of shipbuilding. In order to give large carrying +capacity, we gave flatness of bottom and squareness of bilge. This +became known in Liverpool as the "Belfast bottom;" and it has been +generally adopted. This form not only serves to give stability, but +also increases the carrying power without lessening the speed. + +While Sailor Jack and our many commercial rivals stood aghast and +wondered, our friends gave us yet another order for a still longer +ship, with still the same beam and power. The vessel was named the +Persian; she was 360 feet long, 34 feet beam, 24 feet 9 inches hold. +More cargo was thus carried, at higher speed. It was only a further +development of the fish form of structure. Venice was an important port +to call at. The channel was difficult to navigate, and the Venetian +class (270 feet long) was supposed to be the extreme length that could +be handled here. But what with the straight stem,--by cutting the +forefoot away, and by the introduction of powerful steering-gear, +worked amidships,--the captain was able to navigate the Persian, 90 +feet longer than the Venetian, with much less anxiety and inconvenience. + +Until the building of the Persian, we had taken great pride in the +modelling and finish of the old style of cutwater and figurehead, with +bowsprit and jib-boom; but in urging the advantages of greater length +of hull, we were met by the fact of its being simply impossible in +certain docks to swing vessels of any greater length than those already +constructed. Not to be beaten, we proposed to do away with all these +overhanging encumbrances, and to adopt a perpendicular stem. In this +way the hull might be made so much longer; and this was, I believe, the +first occasion of its being adopted in this country in the case of an +ocean steamer; though the once celebrated Collins Line of paddle +steamers had, I believe, such stems. The iron decks, iron bulwarks, +and iron rails, were all found very serviceable in our later vessels, +there being no leaking, no caulking of deck-planks or waterways, nor +any consequent damaging of cargo. Having found it impossible to +combine satisfactorily wood with iron, each being so differently +affected by temperature and moisture, I secured some of these novelties +of construction in a patent, by which filling in the spaces between +frames, &c., with Portland cement, instead of chocks of wood, and +covering the iron plates with cement and tiles, came into practice, and +this has since come into very general use. + +The Tiber, already referred to, was 235 feet in length when first +constructed by Read, of Glasgow, and was then thought too long; but she +was now placed in our hands to be lengthened 39 feet, as well as to +have an iron deck added, both of which greatly improved her. We also +lengthened the Messrs. Bibby's Calpe--also built by Messrs. Thomson +while I was there--by no less than 93 feet. The advantage of +lengthening ships, retaining the same beam and power, having become +generally recognised, we were in trusted by the Cunard Company to +lengthen the Hecla, Olympus, Atlas, and Marathon, each by 63 feet. The +Royal Consort P.S., which had been lengthened first at Liverpool, was +again lengthened by us at Belfast. + +The success of all this heavy work, executed for successful owners, put +a sort of backbone into the Belfast shipbuilding yard. While other +concerns were slack, we were either lengthening or building steamers as +well as sailing-ships for firms in Liverpool, London, and Belfast. +Many acres of ground were added to the works. The Harbour +Commissioners had now made a fine new graving-dock, and connected the +Queen's Island with the mainland. The yard, thus improved and +extended, was surveyed by the Admiralty, and placed on the first-class +list. We afterwards built for the Government the gun vessels Lynx and +Algerine, as well as the store and torpedo ship Hecla, of 3360 tons. + +The Suez Canal being now open, our friends the Messrs. Bibby gave us an +order for three steamers of very large tonnage, capable of being +adapted for trade with the antipodes if necessary. In these new +vessels there was no retrograde step as regards length, for they were +390 feet keel by 37 feet beam, square-rigged on three of the masts, +with the yards for the first time fitted on travellers, as to enable +them to be readily sent down; thus forming a unique combination of big +fore-and-aft sails, with handy square sails. These ships were named +the Istrian, Iberian, and Illyrian, and in 1868 they went to sea; soon +after to be followed by three more ships--the Bavarian, Bohemian, and +Bulgarian--in most respects the same, though ten feet longer, with the +same beam. They were first placed in the Mediterranean trade, but were +afterwards transferred to the Liverpool and Boston trade, for cattle +and emigrants. These, with three smaller steamers for the Spanish +cattle trade, and two larger steamers for other trades, made together +twenty steam-vessels constructed for the Messrs. John Bibby, Sons, & +Co.; and it was a matter of congratulation that, after a great deal of +heavy and constant work, not one of them had exhibited the slightest +indication of weakness,--all continuing in first-rate working order. + +The speedy and economic working of the Belfast steamers, compared with +those of the ordinary type, having now become well known, a scheme was +set on foot in 1869 for employing similar vessels, though of larger +size, for passenger and goods accommodation between England and +America. Mr. T. H. Ismay, of Liverpool, the spirited shipowner, then +formed, in conjunction with the late Mr. G. H. Fletcher, the Oceanic +Steam Navigation Company, Limited; and we were commissioned by them to +build six large Transatlantic steamers, capable of carrying a heavy +cargo of goods, as well as a full complement of cabin and steerage +passengers, between Liverpool and New York, at a speed equal, if not +superior, to that of the Cunard and Inman lines. The vessels were to +be longer than any we had yet constructed, being 420 feet keel and 41 +feet beam, with 32 feet hold. + +This was a great opportunity, and we eagerly embraced it. The works +were now up to the mark in point of extent and appliances. The men in +our employment were mostly of our own training: the foremen had been +promoted from the ranks; the manager, Mr. W. H. Wilson, and the head +draughtsman, Mr. W. J. Pirrie (since become partners), having, as +pupils, worked up through all the departments, and ultimately won their +honourable and responsible positions by dint of merit only--by +character, perseverance, and ability. We were therefore in a position +to take up an important contract of this kind, and to work it out with +heart and soul. + +As everything in the way of saving of fuel was of first-rate +importance, we devoted ourselves to that branch of economic working. +It was necessary that buoyancy or space should be left for cargo, at +the same time that increased speed should be secured, with as little +consumption of coal as possible. The Messrs. Elder and Co., of +Glasgow, had made great strides in this direction with the paddle +steam-engines which they had constructed for the Pacific Company on the +compound principle. They had also introduced them on some of their +screw steamers, with more or less success. Others were trying the same +principle in various forms, by the use of high-pressure cylinders, and +so on; the form of the boilers being varied according to circumstances, +for the proper economy of fuel. The first thing absolutely wanted was, +perfectly reliable information as to the actual state of the compound +engine and boiler up to the date of our inquiry. To ascertain the +facts by experience, we dispatched Mr. Alexander Wilson, younger +brother of the manager who had been formerly a pupil of Messrs. Macnab +and Co., of Greenock, and was thoroughly able for the work--to make a +number of voyages in steam vessels fitted with the best examples of +compound engines. + +The result of this careful inquiry was the design of the machinery and +boilers of the Oceanic and five sister-ships. They were constructed on +the vertical overhead "tandem" type, with five-feet stroke (at that +time thought excessive), oval single-ended transverse boilers, with a +working pressure of sixty pounds. We contracted with Messrs. Maudslay, +Sons, and Field, of London, for three of these sets, and with Messrs. +George Forrester and Co., of Liverpool, for the other three; and as we +found we could build the six vessels in the same time as the machinery +was being constructed; and, as all this machinery had to be conveyed to +Belfast to be there fitted on board, whilst the vessels were being +otherwise finished, we built a little screw-steamer, the Camel, of +extra strength, with very big hatchways, to receive these large masses +of iron; and this, in course of time, was found to work with great +advantage; until eventually we constructed our own machinery. + +We were most fortunate in the type of engine we had fixed upon, for it +proved both economical and serviceable in all ways; and, with but +slight modifications, we repeated it in the many subsequent vessels +which we built for the White Star Company. Another feature of novelty +in these vessels consisted in placing the first-class accommodation +amidships, with the third-class aft and forward. In all previous ocean +steamers, the cabin passengers had been berthed near the stern, where +the heaving motion of the vessel was far greater than in the centre, +and where that most disagreeable vibration inseparable from proximity +to the propeller was ever present. The unappetising smells from the +galley were also avoided. And last, but not least, a commodious +smoking-saloon was fitted up amidships, contrasting most favourably +with the scanty accommodation provided in other vessels. The saloon, +too, presented the novelty of extending the full width of the vessel, +and was lighted from each side. Electric bells were for the first time +fitted on board ship. The saloon and entire range of cabins were +lighted by gas, made on board, though this has since given place to the +incandescent electric light. A fine promenade deck was provided over +the saloon, which was accessible from below in all weathers by the +grand staircase. + +These, and other arrangements, greatly promoted the comfort and +convenience of the cabin passengers; while those in the steerage found +great improvements in convenience, sanitation, and accommodation. +"Jack" had his forecastle well ventilated and lighted, and a +turtle-back over his head when on deck, with winches to haul for him, +and a steam-engine to work the wheel; while the engineers and firemen +berthed as near their work as possible, never needing to wet a jacket +or miss a meal. In short, for the first time perhaps, ocean-voyaging, +even in the North Atlantic, was made not only less tedious and dreadful +to all, but was rendered enjoyable and even delightful to many. Before +the Oceanic, the pioneer of the new line, was even launched, rival +companies had already consigned her to the deepest place in the ocean. +Her first appearance in Liverpool was therefore regarded with much +interest. Mr. Ismay, during the construction of the vessel, took every +pains to suggest improvements and arrangements with a view to the +comfort and convenience of the travelling public. He accompanied the +vessel on her first voyage to New York in March, 1871, under command of +Captain, now Sir Digby Murray, Brt. Although severe weather was +experienced, the ship made a splendid voyage, with a heavy cargo of +goods and passengers. The Oceanic thus started the Transatlantic +traffic of the Company, with the house-flag of the White Star proudly +flying on the main. + +It may be mentioned that the speed of the Oceanic was at least a knot +faster per hour than had been heretofore accomplished across the +Atlantic. The motion of the vessel was easy, without any indication of +weakness or straining, even in the heaviest weather. The only +inducement to slow was when going head to it (which often meant head +through it), to avoid the inconvenience of shipping a heavy body of +"green sea" on deck forward. A turtle-back was therefore provided to +throw it off, which proved so satisfactory, as it had done on the +Holyhead and Kingstown boats, that all the subsequent vessels were +similarly constructed. Thus, then, as with the machinery, so was the +hull of the Oceanic, a type of the succeeding vessels, which after +intervals of a few months took up their stations on the Transatlantic +line. + +Having often observed, when at sea in heavy weather, how the pitching +of the vessel caused the weights on the safety-valves to act +irregularly, thus letting puffs of steam escape at every heave, and as +high pressure steam was too valuable a commodity to be so wasted, we +determined to try direct-acting spiral springs, similar to those used +in locomotives, in connection with the compound engine. But as no such +experiment was possible in any vessels requiring the Board of Trade +certificate, the alternative of using the Camel as an experimental +vessel was adopted. The spiral springs were accordingly fitted upon +the boiler of that vessel, and with such a satisfactory result that the +Board of Trade allowed the use of the same contrivance on all the +boilers of the Oceanic and every subsequent steamer, and the +contrivance has now come into general use. + +It would be too tedious to mention in detail the other ships built for +the White Star line. The Adriatic and Celtic were made 17 feet 6 +inches longer than the Oceanic, and a little sharper, being 437 feet 6 +inches keel, 41 feet beam, and 32 feet hold. The success of the Company +had been so great under the able management of Ismay, Imrie and Co., +and they had secured so large a share of the passengers and cargo, as +well as of the mails passing between Liverpool and New York, that it +was found necessary to build two still larger and faster vessels--the +Britannic and Germanic: these were 455 feet in length; 45 feet in beam; +and of 5000 indicated horse-power. The Britannic was in the first +instance constructed with the propeller fitted to work below the line +of keel when in deep water, by which means the "racing" of the engines +was avoided. When approaching shallow water, the propeller was raised +by steam-power to the ordinary position without any necessity for +stopping the engines during the operation. Although there was an +increase of speed by this means through the uniform revolutions of the +machinery in the heaviest sea, yet there was an objectionable amount of +vibration at certain parts of the vessel, so that we found it necessary +to return to the ordinary fixed propeller, working in the line of +direction of the vessel. Comfort at sea is of even more importance +than speed; and although we had succeeded in four small steamers +working on the new principle, it was found better to continue in the +larger ships to resort to the established modes of propulsion. It may +happen that at some future period the new method may yet be adopted +with complete success. + +Meanwhile competition went on with other companies. Monopoly cannot +exist between England and America. Our plans were followed; and +sharper boats and heavier power became the rule of the day. But +increase of horse-power of engines means increase of heating surface +and largely increased boilers, when we reach the vanishing point of +profit, after which there is nothing left but speed and expense. It +may be possible to fill a ship with boilers, and to save a few hours in +the passage from Liverpool to New York by a tremendous expenditure of +coal; but whether that will answer the purpose of any body of +shareholders must be left for the future to determine. + +"Brute force" may be still further employed. It is quite possible that +recent "large strides" towards a more speedy transit across the +Atlantic may have been made "in the dark." + +The last ships we have constructed for Ismay, Imrie and Co. have been +of comparatively moderate dimensions and power--the Arabic and Coptic, +430 feet long; and the Ionic and Boric, 440 feet long, all of 2700 +indicated horse-power. These are large cargo steamers, with a moderate +amount of saloon accommodation, and a large space for emigrants. Some +of these are now engaged in crossing the Pacific, whilst others are +engaged in the line from London to New Zealand; the latter being +specially fitted up for carrying frozen meat. + +To return to the operations of the Belfast shipbuilding yard. A +serious accident occurred in the autumn of 1867 to the mail +paddle-steamer the Wolf, belonging to the Messrs. Burns, of Glasgow. +When passing out of the Lough, about eight miles from Belfast, she was +run into by another steamer. She was cut down and sank, and there she +lay in about seven fathoms of water; the top of her funnel and masts +being only visible at low tide. She was in a dangerous position for +all vessels navigating the entrance to the port, and it was necessary +that she should be removed, either by dynamite, gunpowder, or some +other process. Divers were sent down to examine the ship, and the +injury done to her being found to be slight, the owners conferred with +us as to the possibility of lifting her and bringing her into port. +Though such a process had never before been accomplished, yet knowing +her structure well, and finding that we might rely upon smooth water +for about a week or two in summer, we determined to do what we could to +lift the sunken vessel to the surface. + +We calculated the probable weight of the vessel, and had a number of +air-tanks expressly built for her floatation. These were secured to +the ship with chains and hooks, the latter being inserted through the +side lights in her sheer strake. Early in the following summer +everything was ready. The air-tanks were prepared and rafted together. +Powerful screws were attached to each chain, with hand-pumps for +emptying the tanks, together with a steam tender fitted with cooking +appliances, berths and stores, for all hands engaged in the enterprise. +We succeeded in attaching the hooks and chains by means of divers; the +chains being ready coiled on deck. But the weather, which before +seemed to be settled, now gave way. No sooner had we got the pair of +big tanks secured to the after body, than a fierce north-north-easterly +gale set in, and we had to run for it, leaving the tanks partly filled, +in order to lessen the strain on everything. + +When the gale had settled, we returned again, and found that no harm +had been done. The remainder of the hooks were properly attached to +the rest of the tanks, the chains were screwed tightly up, and the +tanks were pumped clear. Then the tide rose; and before high water we +had the great satisfaction of getting the body of the vessel under +weigh, and towing her about a cable's length from her old bed. At each +tide's work she was lifted higher and higher, and towed into shallower +water towards Belfast; until at length we had her, after eight days, +safely in the harbour, ready to enter the graving dock,--not more +ready, however, than we all were for our beds, for we had neither +undressed nor shaved during that anxious time. Indeed, our friends +scarcely recognised us on our return home. + +The result of the enterprise was this. The clean cut made into the bow +of the ship by the collision was soon repaired. The crop of oysters +with which she was incrusted gave place to the scraper and the +paintbrush. The Wolf came out of the dock to the satisfaction both of +the owners and underwriters; and she was soon "ready for the road," +nothing the worse for her ten months' immersion.[2] + +Meanwhile the building of new iron ships went on in the Queen's Island. +We were employed by another Liverpool Company--the British Shipowners' +Company, Limited--to supply some large steamers. The British Empire, +of 3361 gross tonnage, was the same class of vessel as those of the +White Star line, but fuller, being intended for cargo. Though +originally intended for the Eastern trade, this vessel was eventually +placed on the Liverpool and Philadelphia line; and her working proved +so satisfactory that five more vessels were ordered like her, which +were chartered to the American Company. + +The Liverpool agents, Messrs. Richardson, Spence, and Co., having +purchased the Cunard steamer Russia, sent her over to us to be +lengthened 70 feet, and entirely refitted--another proof of the rapid +change which owners of merchant ships now found it necessary to adopt +in view of the requirements of modern traffic. + +Another Liverpool firm, the Messrs. T. and J. Brocklebank, of +world-wide repute for their fine East Indiamen, having given up +building for themselves at their yard at Whitehaven, commissioned us to +build for them the Alexandria, and Baroda, which were shortly followed +by the Candahar and Tenasserim. And continuing to have a faith in the +future of big iron sailing ships, they further employed us to build for +them two of yet greater tonnage, the Belfast and the Majestic. + +Indeed, there is a future for sailing ships, notwithstanding the recent +development of steam power. Sailing ships can still hold their own, +especially in the transport of heavy merchandise for great distances. +They can be built more cheaply than steamers; they can be worked more +economically, because they require no expenditure on coal, nor on wages +of engineers; besides, the space occupied in steamers by machinery is +entirely occupied by merchandise, all of which pays its quota of +freight. Another thing may be mentioned: the telegraph enables the +fact of the sailing of a vessel, with its cargo on board, to be +communicated from Calcutta or San Francisco to Liverpool, and from that +moment the cargo becomes as marketable as if it were on the spot. +There are cases, indeed, where the freight by sailing ship is even +greater than by steamer, as the charge for warehousing at home is +saved, and in the meantime the cargo while at sea is negotiable. + +We have accordingly, during the last few years, built some of the +largest iron and steel sailing ships that have ever gone to sea. The +aim has been to give them great carrying capacity and fair speed, with +economy of working; and the use of steel, both in the hull and the +rigging, facilitates the attainment of these objects. In 1882 and +1883, we built and launched four of these steel and iron sailing +ships--the Waiter H. Wilson, the W. J. Pirrie, the Fingal, and the Lord +Wolseley--each of nearly 3000 tons register, with four masts,--the +owners being Mr. Lawther, of Belfast; Mr. Martin, of Dublin; and the +Irish Shipowners Company. + +Besides these and other sailing ships, we have built for Messrs. Ismay, +Imrie and Co. the Garfield, of 2347 registered tonnage; for Messrs. +Thomas Dixon and Son, the Lord Downshire (2322); and for Messrs. +Bullock's Bay Line, the Bay of Panama (2365). + +In 1880 we took in another piece of the land reclaimed by the Belfast +Harbour Trust; and there, in close proximity to the ship-yard, we +manufacture all the machinery required for the service of the steamers +constructed by our firm. In this way we are able to do everything +"within ourselves"; and the whole land now occupied by the works +comprises about forty acres, with ten building slips suitable for the +largest vessels. + +It remains for me to mention a Belfast firm, which has done so much for +the town. I mean the Messrs. J.P. Corry and Co., who have always been +amongst our best friends. We built for them their first iron sailing +vessel, the Jane Porter, in 1860, and since then they have never failed +us. They successfully established their "Star" line of sailing +clippers from London to Calcutta, all of which were built here. They +subsequently gave us orders for yet larger vessels, in the Star of +France and the Star of Italy. In all, we have built for that firm +eleven of their well-known "Star" ships. + +We have built five ships for the Asiatic Steam Navigation Company, +Limited, each of from 1650 to 2059 tons gross; and we are now building +for them two ships, each of about 3000 tons gross. In 1883 we launched +thirteen iron and steel vessels, of a registered tonnage of over 30,000 +tons. Out of eleven ships now building, seven are of steel. + +Such is a brief and summary account of the means by which we have been +enabled to establish a new branch of industry in Belfast. It has been +accomplished simply by energy and hard work. We have been +well-supported by the skilled labour of our artisans; we have been +backed by the capital and the enterprise of England; and we believe +that if all true patriots would go and do likewise, there would be +nothing to fear for the prosperity and success of Ireland. + + +Footnotes for Chapter XI. + +[1] Although Mr. Harland took no further steps with his lifeboat, the +project seems well worthy of a fair trial. We had lately the pleasure +of seeing the model launched and tried on the lake behind Mr. Harland's +residence at Ormiston, near Belfast. The cylindrical lifeboat kept +perfectly water-tight, and though thrown into the water in many +different positions--sometimes tumbled in on its prow, at other times +on its back (the deck being undermost), it invariably righted itself. +The screws fore and aft worked well, and were capable of being turned +by human labour or by steam power. Now that such large freights of +passengers are carried by ocean-going ships, it would seem necessary +that some such method should be adopted of preserving life at sea; for +ordinary lifeboats, which are so subject to destructive damage, are +often of little use in fires or shipwrecks, or other accidents on the +ocean. + +[2] A full account is given in the Illustrated London News of the 21st +of October, 1868, with illustrations, of the raising of the Wolf; and +another, more scientific, is given in the Engineer of the 16th of +October, of the same year. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +ASTRONOMERS AND STUDENTS IN HUMBLE LIFE: + +A NEW CHAPTER IN THE 'PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE UNDER DIFFICULTIES.' + +"I first learnt to read when the masons were at work in your house. I +approached them one day, and observed that the architect used a rule +and compass, and that he made calculations. I inquired what might be +the meaning and use of these things, and I was informed that there was +a science called Arithmetic. I purchased a book of arithmetic, and I +learned it. I was told there was another science called Geometry; I +bought the necessary books, and I learned Geometry. By reading, I +found there were good books in these two sciences in Latin; I bought a +dictionary, and I learned Latin. I understood, also, that there were +good books of the same kind in French; I bought a dictionary, and I +learned French. It seems to me that one does not need to know anything +more than the twenty-four letters to learn everything else that one +wishes."--Edmund Stone to the Duke of Argyll. ('Pursuit of Knowledge +under Difficulties.') + +"The British Census proper reckons twenty-seven and a half million in +the home countries. What makes this census important is the quality of +the units that compose it. They are free forcible men, in a country +where life is safe, and has reached the greatest value. They give the +bias to the current age; and that not by chance or by mass, but by +their character, and by the number of individuals among them of +personal ability."--Emerson: English Traits. + +From Belfast to the Highlands of Scotland is an easy route by steamers +and railways. While at Birnam, near Dunkeld, I was reminded of some +remarkable characters in the neighbourhood. After the publication of +the 'Scotch Naturalist' and 'Robert Dick,' I received numerous letters +informing me of many self-taught botanists and students of nature, +quite as interesting as the subjects of my memoirs. Among others, +there was John Duncan, the botanist weaver of Aberdeen, whose +interesting life has since been done justice to by Mr. Jolly; and John +Sim of Perth, first a shepherd boy, then a soldier, and towards the +close of his life a poet and a botanist, whose life, I was told, was +"as interesting as a romance." + +There was also Alexander Croall, Custodian of the Smith Institute at +Stirling, an admirable naturalist and botanist. He was originally a +hard-working parish schoolmaster, near Montrose. During his holiday +wanderings he collected plants for his extensive herbarium. His +accomplishments having come under the notice of the late Sir William +Hooker, he was selected by that gentleman to prepare sets of the Plants +of Braemar for the Queen and Prince Albert, which he did to their +entire satisfaction. He gave up his school-mastership for an ill-paid +but more congenial occupation, that of Librarian to the Derby Museum +and Herbarium. Some years ago, he was appointed to his present position +of Custodian to the Smith Institute--perhaps the best provincial museum +and art gallery in Scotland. + +I could not, however, enter into the history of these remarkable +persons; though I understand there is a probability of Mr. Croall +giving his scientific recollections to the world. He has already +brought out a beautiful work, in four volumes, 'British Seaweeds, +Nature-printed;' and anything connected with his biography will be +looked forward to with interest. + +Among the other persons brought to my notice, years ago, were +Astronomers in humble life. For instance, I received a letter from +John Grierson, keeper of the Girdleness Lighthouse, near Aberdeen, +mentioning one of these persons as "an extraordinary character." +"William Ballingall," he said, "is a weaver in the town of Lower Largo, +Fifeshire; and from his early days he has made astronomy the subject of +passionate study. I used to spend my school vacation at Largo, and +have frequently heard him expound upon his favourite subject. I +believe that very high opinions have been expressed by scientific +gentlemen regarding Ballingall's attainments. They were no doubt +surprised that an individual with but a very limited amount of +education, and whose hours of labour were from five in the morning +until ten or eleven at night, should be able to acquire so much +knowledge on so profound a subject. Had he possessed a fair amount of +education, and an assortment of scientific instruments and books, the +world would have heard more about him. Should you ever find yourself," +my correspondent concludes, "in his neighbourhood, and have a few hours +to spare, you would have no reason to regret the time spent in his +company." I could not, however, arrange to pay the proposed visit to +Largo; but I found that I could, without inconvenience, visit another +astronomer in the neighbourhood of Dunkeld. + +In January 1879 I received a letter from Sheriff Barclay, of Perth, to +the following effect: "Knowing the deep interest you take in genius +and merit in humble ranks, I beg to state to you an extraordinary case. +John Robertson is a railway porter at Coupar Angus station. From early +youth he has made the heavens his study. Night after night he looks +above, and from his small earnings he has provided himself with a +telescope which cost him about 30L. He sends notices of his +observations to the scientific journals, under the modest initials of +'J.R.' He is a great favourite with the public; and it is said that he +has made some observations in celestial phenomena not before noticed. +It does occur to me that he should have a wider field for his favourite +study. In connection with an observatory, his services would be +invaluable." + +Nearly five years had elapsed since the receipt of this letter, and I +had done nothing to put myself in communication with the Coupar Angus +astronomer. Strange to say, his existence was again recalled to my +notice by Professor Grainger Stewart, of Edinburgh. He said that if I +was in the neighbourhood I ought to call upon him, and that he would +receive me kindly. His duty, he said, was to act as porter at the +station, and to shout the name of the place as the trains passed. I +wrote to John Robertson accordingly, and received a reply stating that +he would be glad to see me, and inclosing a photograph, in which I +recognised a good, honest, sensible face, with his person inclosed in +the usual station porter's garb, "C.R. 1446." + +I started from Dunkeld, and reached Coupar Angus in due time. As I +approached the station, I heard the porter calling out, "Coupar Angus! +change here for Blairgowrie!"[1] It was the voice of John Robertson. + +I descended from the train, and addressed him at once: after the +photograph there could be no mistaking him. An arrangement for a +meeting was made, and he called upon me in the evening. I invited him +to such hospitality as the inn afforded; but he would have nothing. "I +am much obliged to you," he said; "but it always does me harm." I knew +at once what the "it" meant. Then he invited me to his house in +Causewayend Street. I found his cottage clean and comfortable, +presided over by an evidently clever wife. He took me into his +sitting-room, where I inspected his drawings of the sun-spots, made in +colour on a large scale. In all his statements he was perfectly modest +and unpretending. The following is his story, so far as I can +recollect, in his own words:-- + +"Yes; I certainly take a great interest in astronomy, but I have done +nothing in it worthy of notice. I am scarcely worthy to be called a +day labourer in the science. I am very well known hereabouts, +especially to the travelling public; but I must say that they think a +great deal more of me than I deserve. + +"What made me first devote my attention to the subject of astronomy? +Well, if I can trace it to one thing more than another, it was to some +evening lectures delivered by the late Dr. Dick, of Broughty Ferry, to +the men employed at the Craigs' Bleachfield Works, near Montrose, where +I then worked, about the year 1848. Dr. Dick was an excellent +lecturer, and I listened to him with attention. His instructions were +fully impressed upon our minds by Mr. Cooper, the teacher of the +evening school, which I attended. After giving the young lads employed +at the works their lessons in arithmetic, he would come out with us +into the night--and it was generally late when we separated--and show +us the principal constellations, and the planets above the horizon. It +was a wonderful sight; yet we were told that these hundreds upon +hundreds of stars, as far as the eye could see, were but a mere vestige +of the creation amidst which we lived. I got to know the names of some +of the constellations the Greater Bear, with 'the pointers' which +pointed to the Pole Star, Orion with his belt, the Twins, the Pleiades, +and other prominent objects in the heavens. It was a source of +constant wonder and surprise. + +"When I left the Bleachfield Works, I went to Inverury, to the North of +Scotland Railway, which was then in course of formation; and for many +years, being immersed in work, I thought comparatively little of +astronomy. It remained, however, a pleasant memory. It was only after +coming to this neighbourhood in 1854, when the railway to Blairgowrie +was under construction, that I began to read up a little, during my +leisure hours, on the subject of astronomy. I got married the year +after, since which time I have lived in this house. + +"I became a member of a reading-room club, and read all the works of +Dr. Dick that the library contained: his 'Treatise on the Solar +System,' his 'Practical Astronomer,' and other works. There were also +some very good popular works to which I was indebted for amusement as +well as instruction: Chambers's 'Information for the People,' +Cassell's 'Popular Educator,' and a very interesting series of articles +in the 'Leisure Hour,' by Edwin Dunkin of the Royal Observatory, +Greenwich. These last papers were accompanied by maps of the chief +constellations, so that I had a renewed opportunity of becoming a +little better acquainted with the geography of the heavens. + +"I began to have a wish for a telescope, by means of which I might be +able to see a little more than with my naked eyes. But I found that I +could not get anything of much use, short of 20L. I could not for a +long time feel justified in spending so much money for my own personal +enjoyment. My children were then young and dependent upon me. They +required to attend school--for education is a thing that parents must +not neglect, with a view to the future. However, about the year 1875, +my attention was called to a cheap instrument advertised by +Solomon--what he called his '5L. telescope.' I purchased one, and it +tantalised me; for the power of the instrument was such as to teach me +nothing of the surface of the planets. After using it for about two +years, I sold it to a student, and then found that I had accumulated +enough savings to enable me to buy my present instrument. Will you +come into the next room and look at it?" + +I went accordingly into the adjoining room, and looked at the new +telescope. It was taken from its case, put upon its tripod, and looked +in beautiful condition. It is a refractor, made by Cooke and Sons of +York. The object glass is three inches; the focal length forty-three +inches; and the telescope, when drawn out, with the pancratic eyepiece +attached, is about four feet. It was made after Mr. Robertson's +directions, and is a sort of combination of instruments. + +"Even that instrument," he proceeded, "good as it is for the money, +tantalises me yet. A look through a fixed equatorial, such as every +large observatory is furnished with is a glorious view. I shall never +forget the sight that I got when at Dunecht Observatory, to which I was +invited through the kindness of Dr. Copeland, the Earl of Crawford and +Balcarres' principal astronomer. + +"You ask me what I have done in astronomical research? I am sorry to +say I have been able to do little except to gratify my own curiosity; +and even then, as I say, I have been much tantalised. I have watched +the spots on the sun from day to day through obscured glasses, since +the year 1878, and made many drawings of them. Mr. Rand Capron, the +astronomer, of Guildown, Guildford, desired to see these drawings, and +after expressing his satisfaction with them, he sent them to Mr. +Christie, Astronomer Royal, Greenwich. Although photographs of the +solar surface were preferred, Mr. Capron thought that my sketches might +supply gaps in the partially cloudy days, as well as details which +might not appear on the photographic plates. I received a very kind +letter from Mr. Christie, in which he said that it would be very +difficult to make the results obtained from drawings, however accurate, +at all comparable with those derived from photographs; especially as +regards the accurate size of the spots as compared with the diameter of +the sun. And no doubt he is right. + +"What, do I suppose, is the cause of these spots in the sun? Well, that +is a very difficult question to answer. Changes are constantly going +on at the sun's surface, or, I may rather say, in the sun's interior, +and making themselves apparent at the surface. Sometimes they go on +with enormous activity; at other times they are more quiet. They recur +alternately in periods of seven or eight weeks, while these again are +also subject to a period of about eleven years--that is, the short +recurring outbursts go on for some years, when they attain a maximum, +from which they go on decreasing. I may say that we are now (August +1883) at, or very near, a maximum epoch. There is no doubt that this +period has an intimate connection with our auroral displays; but I +don't think that the influence sun-spots have on light or heat is +perceptible. Whatever influence they possess would be felt alike on +the whole terrestrial globe. We have wet, dry, cold, and warm years, +but they are never general. The kind of season which prevails in one +country is often quite reversed in another perhaps in the adjacent one. +Not so with our auroral displays. They are universal on both sides of +the globe; and from pole to pole the magnetic needle trembles during +their continuance. Some authorities are of opinion that these +eleven-year cycles are subject to a larger cycle, but sun-spot +observations have not existed long enough to determine this point. For +myself, I have a great difficulty in forming an opinion. I have very +little doubt that the spots are depressions on the surface of the sun. +This is more apparent when the spot is on the limb. I have often seen +the edge very rugged and uneven when groups of large spots were about +to come round on the east side. I have communicated some of my +observations to 'The Observatory,' the monthly review of astronomy, +edited by Mr. Christie, now Astronomer Royal,[2] as well as to The +Scotsmam, and some of our local papers.[3] + +"I have also taken up the observation of variable stars in a limited +portion of the heavens. That, and 'hunting for comets' is about all +the real astronomical work that an amateur can do nowadays in our +climate, with a three-inch telescope. I am greatly indebted to the +Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, who regularly sends me circulars of all +astronomical discoveries, both in this and foreign countries. I will +give an instance of the usefulness of these circulars. On the morning +of the 4th of October, 1880, a comet was discovered by Hartwig, of +Strasburg, in the constellation of Corona. He telegraphed it to +Dunecht Observatory, fifteen miles from Aberdeen. The circulars +announcing the discovery were printed and despatched by post to various +astronomers. My circular reached me by 7 P.M., and, the night being +favourable, I directed my telescope upon the part of the heavens +indicated, and found the comet almost at once--that is, within fifteen +hours of the date of its discovery at Strasburg. + +"In April, 1878, a large meteor was observed in broad daylight, passing +from south to north, and falling it was supposed, about twenty miles +south of Ballater. Mr. A. S. Herschel, Professor of Physics in the +College of Science, 'Newcastle-on-Tyne, published a letter in The +Scotsmam, intimating his desire to be informed of the particulars of +the meteor's flight by those who had seen it. As I was one of those who +had observed the splendid meteor flash northwards almost under the face +of the bright sun (at 10.25 A.M.), I sent the Professor a full account +of what I had seen, for which he professed his strong obligations. +This led to a very pleasant correspondence with Professor Herschel. +After this, I devoted considerable attention to meteors, and sent many +contributions to 'The Observatory' on the subject.[4] + +"You ask me what are the hours at which I make my observations? I am +due at the railway station at six in the morning, and I leave at six in +the evening; but I have two hours during the day for meals and rest. +Sometimes I get a glance at the heavens in the winter mornings when the +sky is clear, hunting for comets. My observations on the sun are +usually made twice a day during my meal hours, or in the early morning +or late at evening in summer, while the sun is visible. Yes, you are +right; I try and make the best use of my time. It is much too short +for all that I propose to do. My evenings are my own. When the +heavens are clear, I watch them; when obscured, there are my books and +letters. + +"Dr. Alexander Brown, of Arbroath, is one of my correspondents. I have +sent him my drawings of the rings of Saturn, of Jupiter's belt and +satellites. Dr. Ralph Copeland, of Dunecht, is also a very good friend +and adviser. Occasionally, too, I send accounts of solar disturbances, +comet a within sight, eclipses, and occultations, to the Scotsman, the +Dundee Evening Telegraph and Evening News, or to the Blairgowrie +Advertiser. Besides, I am the local observer of meteorology, and +communicate regularly with Mr. Symons. These things entirely fill up +my time. + +"Do I intend always to remain a railway porter? Oh, yes; I am very +comfortable! The company are very kind to me, and I hope I serve them +faithfully. It is true Sheriff Barclay has, without my knowledge, +recommended me to several well-known astronomers as an observer. But +at my time of life changes are not to be desired. I am quite satisfied +to go on as I am doing. My young people are growing up, and are +willing to work for themselves. But come, sir," he concluded, "come +into the garden, and look at the moon through my telescope." + +We went into the garden accordingly, but a cloud was over the moon, and +we could not see it. At the top of the garden was the self-registering +barometer, the pitcher to measure the rainfall, and the other apparatus +necessary to enable the "Diagram of barometer, thermometer, rain, and +wind" to be conducted, so far as Coupar Angus is concerned. This Mr. +Robertson has done for four years past. As the hour was late, and as I +knew that my entertainer must be up by six next morning, I took my +leave. + +A man's character often exhibits itself in his amusements. One must +have a high respect for the character of John Robertson, who looks at +the manner in which he spends his spare time. His astronomical work is +altogether a labour of love. It is his hobby; and the working man may +have his hobby as well as the rich. In his case he is never less idle +than when idle. Some may think that he is casting his bread upon the +waters, and that he may find it after many days. But it is not with +this object that he carries on his leisure-hour pursuits. Some have +tried--sheriff Barclay among others[5]--to obtain appointments for him +in connection with astronomical observation; others to secure +advancement for him in his own line. But he is a man who is satisfied +with his lot--one of the rarest things on earth. Perhaps it is by +looking so much up to the heavens that he has been enabled to obtain +his portion of contentment. + +Next morning I found him busy at the station, making arrangements for +the departure of the passenger train for Perth, and evidently upon the +best of terms with everybody. And here I leave John Robertson, the +contented Coupar Angus astronomer. + +Some years ago I received from my friend Mr. Nasmyth a letter of +introduction to the late Mr. Cooke of York, while the latter was still +living. I did not present it at the time; but I now proposed to visit, +on my return homewards, the establishment which he had founded at York +for the manufacture of telescopes and other optical instruments. +Indeed, what a man may do for himself as well as for science, cannot be +better illustrated than by the life of this remarkable man. + +Mr. Nasmyth says that he had an account from Cooke himself of his small +beginnings. He was originally a shoemaker in a small country village. +Many a man has risen to distinction from a shoemaker's seat. Bulwer, +in his 'What will He do with It?' has discussed the difference between +shoemakers and tailors. "The one is thrown upon his own resources, the +other works in the company of his fellows: the one thinks, the other +communicates. Cooke was a man of natural ability, and he made the best +use of his powers. Opportunity, sooner or later, comes to nearly all +who work and wait, and are duly persevering. Shoemaking was not found +very productive; and Cooke, being fairly educated as well as +self-educated, opened a village school. He succeeded tolerably well. +He taught himself geometry and mathematics, and daily application made +him more perfect in his studies. In course of time an extraordinary +ambition took possession of him: no less than the construction of a +reflecting telescope of six inches diameter. The idea would not let +him rest until he had accomplished his purpose. He cast and polished +the speculum with great labour; but just as he was about to finish it, +the casting broke! What was to be done? About one-fifth had broken +away, but still there remained a large piece, which he proceeded to +grind down to a proper diameter. His perseverance was rewarded by the +possession of a 3 1/2 inch speculum, which by his rare skill he worked +into a reflecting telescope of very good quality. + +He was, however, so much annoyed by the treacherously brittle nature of +the speculum metal that he abandoned its use, and betook himself to +glass. He found that before he could make a good achromatic telescope +it was necessary that he should calculate his curves from data +depending upon the nature of the glass. He accordingly proceeded to +study the optical laws of refraction, in which his knowledge of +geometry and mathematics greatly helped him. And in course of time, by +his rare and exquisite manipulative skill, he succeeded in constructing +a four-inch refractor, or achromatic telescope, of admirable defining +power. + +The excellence of his first works became noised abroad. Astronomical +observers took an interest in him; and friends began to gather round +him, amongst others the late Professor Phillips and the Rev. Vernon +Harcourt, Dean of York. Cooke received an order for a telescope like +his own; then he received other orders. At last he gave up teaching, +and took to telescope making. He advanced step by step; and like a +practical, thoughtful man, he invented special tools and machinery for +the purpose of grinding and polishing his glasses. He opened a shop in +York, and established himself as a professed maker of telescopes. He +added to this the business of a general optician, his wife attending to +the sale in the shop, while he himself attended to the workshop. + +Such was the excellence of his work that the demand for his telescopes +largely increased. They were not only better manufactured, but greatly +cheaper than those which had before been in common use. Three of the +London makers had before possessed a monopoly of the business; but now +the trade was thrown open by the enterprise of Cooke of York. He +proceeded to erect a complete factory--the Buckingham Street works. +His brother took charge of the grinding and polishing of the lenses, +while his sons attended to the mechanism of the workshop; but Cooke +himself was the master spirit of the whole concern. Everything that he +did was good and accurate. His clocks were about the best that could +be made. He carried out his clock-making business with the same zeal +that he devoted to the perfection of his achromatic telescopes. His +work was always first-rate. There was no scamping about it. +Everything that he did was thoroughly good and honest. His 4 1/4-inch +equatorials are perfect gems; and his admirable achromatics, many of +them of the largest class, are known all over the world. Altogether, +Thomas Cooke was a remarkable instance of the power of Self-Help. + +Such was the story of his Life, as communicated by Mr. Nasmyth. I was +afterwards enabled, through the kind assistance of his widow, Mrs. +Cooke, whom I saw at Saltburn, in Yorkshire, to add a few particulars +to his biography. + +"My husband," she said, "was the son of a working shoemaker at +Pocklington, in the East Riding. He was born in 1807. His father's +circumstances were so straitened that he was not able to do much for +him; but he sent him to the National school, where he received some +education. He remained there for about two years, and then he was put +to his father's trade. But he greatly disliked shoemaking, and longed +to get away from it. He liked the sun, the sky, and the open air. He +was eager to be a sailor, and, having heard of the voyages of Captain +Cook, he wished to go to sea. He spent his spare hours in learning +navigation, that he might be a good seaman. But when he was ready to +set out for Hull, the entreaties and tears of his mother prevailed on +him to give up the project; and then he had to consider what he should +do to maintain himself at home. + +"He proceeded with his self-education, and with such small aids as he +could procure, he gathered together a good deal of knowledge. He +thought that he might be able to teach others. Everybody liked him, for +his diligence, his application, and his good sense. At the age of +seventeen he was employed to teach the sons of the neighbouring +farmers. He succeeded so well that in the following year he opened a +village school at Beilby. He went on educating himself, and learnt a +little of everything. He next removed his school to Kirpenbeck, near +Stamford Bridge; and it was there," proceeded Mrs. Cooke, "that I got +to know him, for I was one of his pupils." + +"He first learned mathematics by buying an old volume at a bookstall, +with a spare shilling. That was before he began to teach. He also got +odd sheets, and read other books about geometry and mathematics, before +he could buy them; for he had very little to spare. He studied and +learnt as much as he could. + +He was very anxious to get an insight into knowledge. He studied +optics before he had any teaching. Then he tried to turn his knowledge +to account. While at Kirpenbeck he made his first object-glass out of +a thick tumbler bottom. He ground the glass cleverly by hand; then he +got a piece of tin and soldered it together, and mounted the +object-glass in it so as to form a telescope. + +"He next got a situation at the Rev. Mr. Shapkley's school in +Micklegate, York, where he taught mathematics. He also taught in +ladies' schools in the city, and did what he could to make a little +income. Our intimacy had increased, and we had arranged to get +married. He was twenty-four, and I was nineteen, when we were happily +united. I was then his pupil for life. + +"Professor Phillips saw his first telescope, with the object-glass made +out of the thick tumbler bottom, and he was so much pleased with it +that my husband made it over to him. But he also got an order for +another, from Mr. Gray, solicitor, more by way of encouragement than +because Mr. Gray wanted it, for he was a most kind man. The +object-glass was of four-inch aperture, and when mounted the defining +power was found excellent. My husband was so successful with his +telescopes that he went on from smaller to greater, and at length he +began to think of devoting himself to optics altogether. His knowledge +of mathematics had led him on, and friends were always ready to +encourage him in his pursuits. + +"During this time he had continued his teaching at the school in the +day-time; and he also taught on his own account the sons of gentlemen +in the evening: amongst others the sons of Dr. Wake and Dr. Belcomb, +both medical men. He was only making about 100L. a year, and his +family was increasing. It was necessary to be very economical, and I +was careful of everything. At length my uncle Milner agreed to advance +about 100L. as a loan. A shop was taken in Stonegate in 1836, and +provided with optical instruments. I attended to the shop, while my +husband worked in the back premises. To bring in a little ready money, +I also took in lodgers. + +"My husband now devoted himself entirely to telescope making and +optics. But he took in other work. His pumps were considered +excellent; and he furnished all those used at the pump-room, Harrogate. +His clocks, telescope-driving[6] and others, were of the best. He +commenced turret-clock making in 1852, and made many improvements in +them. We had by that time removed to Coney Street; and in 1855 the +Buckingham Works were established, where a large number of first-rate +workmen were employed. A place was also taken in Southampton Street, +London, in 1868, for the sale of the instruments manufactured at York." + +Thus far Mrs. Cooke. It may be added that Thomas Cooke revived the art +of making refracting telescopes in England. Since the discovery by +Dollond, in 1758, of the relation between the refractive and dispersive +powers of different kinds of glass, and the invention by that +distinguished optician of the achromatic telescope, the manufacture of +that instrument had been confined to England, where the best flint +glass was made. But through the short-sighted policy of the +Government, an exorbitant duty was placed upon the manufacture of flint +glass, and the English trade was almost entirely stamped out. We had +accordingly to look to foreign countries for the further improvement of +the achromatic telescope, which Dollond had so much advanced. + +A humble mechanic of Brenetz, in the Canton of Neufchatel, Switzerland, +named Guinaud, having directed his attention to the manufacture of +flint glass towards the close of last century, at length succeeded, +after persevering efforts, in producing masses of that substance +perfectly free from stain, and therefore adapted for the construction +of the object-glasses of telescopes. + +Frauenhofer, the Bavarian optician, having just begun business, heard +of the wonderful success of Guinaud, and induced the Swiss mechanic to +leave Brenetz and enter into partnership with him at Munich in 1805. + +The result was perfectly successful; and the new firm turned out some +of the largest object-glasses which had until then been made. With one +of these instruments, having an aperture of 9.9 inches, Struve, the +Russian astronomer, made some of his greatest discoveries. Frauenhofer +was succeeded by Merz and Mahler, who carried out his views, and turned +out the famous refractors of Pulkowa Observatory in Russia, and of +Harvard University in the United States. These last two telescopes +contained object-glasses of fifteen inches aperture. + +The pernicious impost upon flint glass having at length been removed by +the English Government, an opportunity was afforded to our native +opticians to recover the supremacy which they had so long lost. It is +to Thomas Cooke, more than to any other person, that we owe the +recovery of this manufacture. Mr. Lockyer, writing in 1878, says: "The +two largest and most perfectly mounted refractors on the German form at +present in existence are those at Gateshead and Washington, U.S. The +former belongs to Mr. Newall, a gentleman who, connected with those who +were among the first to recognise the genius of our great English +optician, Cooke, did not hesitate to risk thousands of pounds in one +great experiment, the success of which will have a most important +bearing upon the astronomy of the future."[7] + +The progress which Mr. Cooke made in his enterprise was slow but +steady. Shortly after he began business as an optician, he became +dissatisfied with the method of hand-polishing, and made arrangements +to polish the object-glasses by machinery worked by steam power. By +this means he secured perfect accuracy of figure. He was also able to +turn out a large quantity of glasses, so as to furnish astronomers in +all parts of the world with telescopes of admirable defining power, at +a comparatively moderate price. In all his works he endeavoured to +introduce simplicity. He left his mark on nearly every astronomical +instrument. He found the equatorial comparatively clumsy; he left it +nearly perfect. His beautiful "dividing machine," for marking +divisions on the circles, four feet in diameter and altogether +self-acting--which divides to five minutes and reads off to five +seconds is not the least of his triumphs. + +The following are some of his more important achromatic telescopes. In +1850, when he had been fourteen years in business, he furnished his +earliest patron, Professor Phillips, with an equatorial telescope of 6 +1/4 inches aperture. His second (of 6 1/8) was supplied two years +later, to James Wigglesworth of Wakefield. William Gray, Solicitor, of +York, one of his earliest friends, bought a 6 1/2-inch telescope in +1853. In the following year, Professor Pritchard of Oxford was supplied +with a 6 1/2-inch. The other important instruments were as follows: in +1854, Dr. Fisher, Liverpool, 6 inches; in 1855, H. L. Patterson, +Gateshead, 7 1/4 inches; in 1858, J. G. Barclay, Layton, Essex, 7 1/4 +inches; in 1857, Isaac Fletcher, Cockermouth, 9 1/4 inches; in 1858, +Sir W. Keith Murray, Ochtertyre, Crieff, 9 inches; in 1859, Captain +Jacob, 9 inches; in 1860, James Nasmyth, Penshurst, 8 inches; in 1861, +another telescope to J. G. Barclay, 10 inches; in 1864, the Rev. W. R. +Dawes, Haddenham, Berks, 8 inches; and in 1867, Edward Crossley, +Bermerside, Halifax, 9 3/8 inches. + +In 1855 Mr. Cooke obtained a silver medal at the first Paris Exhibition +for a six-inch equatorial telescope.[8] This was the highest prize +awarded. A few years later he was invited to Osborne by the late +Prince Albert, to discuss with his Royal Highness the particulars of an +equatorial mounting with a clock movement, for which he subsequently +received the order. On its completion he superintended the erection of +the telescope, and had the honour of directing it to several of the +celestial objects for the Queen and the Princess Alice, and answered +their many interesting questions as to the stars and planets within +sight. + +Mr. Cooke was put to his mettle towards the close of his life. A +contest had long prevailed among telescope makers as to who should turn +out the largest refracting instrument. The two telescopes of fifteen +inches aperture, prepared by Merz and Mahler, of Munich, were the +largest then in existence. Their size was thought quite extraordinary. +But in 1846, Mr. Alvan Clark, of Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, U.S., +spent his leisure hour's in constructing small telescopes.[9] He was +not an optician, nor a mathematician, but a portrait painter. He +possessed, however, enough knowledge of optics and of mechanics, to +enable him to make and judge a telescope. He spent some ten years in +grinding lenses, and was at length enabled to produce objectives equal +in quality to any ever made. + +In 1853, the Rev. W. E. Dawes--one of Mr. Cooke's customers--purchased +an object-glass from Mr. Clark. It was so satisfactory that he ordered +several others, and finally an entire telescope. The American artist +then began to be appreciated in his own country. In 1860 he received +an order for a refractor of eighteen inches aperture, three inches +greater than the largest which had up to that time been made. This +telescope was intended for the Observatory of Mississippi; but the +Civil War prevented its being removed to the South; and the telescope +was sold to the Astronomical Society of Chicago and mounted in the +Observatory of that city. + +And now comes in the rivalry of Mr. Cooke of York, or rather of his +patron, Mr. Newall of Gateshead. At the Great Exhibition of London, in +1862, two large circular blocks of glass, about two inches thick and +twenty-six inches in diameter, were shown by the manufacturers, Messrs. +Chance of Birmingham. These discs were found to be of perfect quality, +and suitable for object-glasses of the best kind. At the close of the +Exhibition, they were purchased by Mr. Newall, and transferred to the +workshops of Messrs. Cooke and Sons at York. To grind and polish and +mount these discs was found a work of great labour and difficulty. Mr. +Lockyer says, "such an achievement marks an epoch in telescopic +astronomy, and the skill of Mr. Cooke and the munificence of Mr. Newall +will long be remembered." + +When finished, the object-glass had an aperture of nearly twenty-five +inches, and was of much greater power than the eighteen-inch Chicago +instrument. The length of the tube was about thirty-two feet. The +cast-iron pillar supporting the whole was nineteen feet in height from +the ground, and the weight of the whole instrument was about six tons. +In preparing this telescope, nearly everything, from its extraordinary +size, had to be specially arranged.[10] The great anxiety involved in +these arrangements, and the constant study and application told heavily +upon Mr. Cooke, and though the instrument wanted only a few touches to +make it complete, his health broke down, and he died on the 19th of +October, 1868, at the comparatively early age of sixty-two. + +Mr. Cooke's death was felt, in a measure, to be a national loss. His +science and skill had restored to England the prominent position she +had held in the time of Dollond; and, had he lived, even more might +have been expected from him. We believe that the Gold Medal and +Fellowship of the Royal Society were waiting for him; but, as one of +his friends said to his widow, "neither worth nor talent avails when +the great ordeal is presented to us." In a letter from Professor +Pritchard, he said: "Your husband has left his mark upon his age. No +optician of modern times has gained a higher reputation; and I for one +do not hesitate to call his loss national; for he cannot be replaced at +present by any one else in his own peculiar line. I shall carry the +recollection of the affectionate esteem in which I held Thomas Cooke +with me to my grave. Alas! that he should be cut off just at the +moment when he was about to reap the rewards due to his unrivalled +excellence. I have said that F.R.S. and medals were to be his. But he +is, we fondly trust, in a better and higher state than that of earthly +distinction. Best assured, your husband's name must ever be associated +with the really great men of his day. Those who knew him will ever +cherish his memory." + +Mr. Cooke left behind him the great works which he founded in +Buckingham Street, York. They still give employment to a large number +of skilled and intelligent artizans. There I found many important +works in progress,--the manufacture of theodolites, of prismatic +compasses (for surveying), of Bolton's range finder, and of telescopes +above all. In the factory yard was the commencement of the Observatory +for Greenwich, to contain the late Mr. Lassell's splendid two feet +Newtonian reflecting telescope, which has been presented to the nation. +Mr. Cooke's spirit still haunts the works, which are carried on with +the skill, the vigour, and the perseverance, transmitted by him to his +sons. + +While at York, I was informed by Mr. Wigglesworth, the partner of +Messrs. Cooke, of an energetic young astronomer at Bainbridge, in the +mountain-district of Yorkshire, who had not only been able to make a +telescope of his own, but was an excellent photographer. He was not yet +thirty years of age, but had encountered and conquered many +difficulties. This is a sort of character which is more often to be +met with in remote country places than in thickly-peopled cities. In +the country a man is more of an individual; in a city he is only one of +a multitude. The country boy has to rely upon himself, and has to work +in comparative solitude, while the city boy is distracted by +excitements. Life in the country is full of practical teachings; +whereas life in the city may be degraded by frivolities and pleasures, +which are too often the foes of work. Hence we have usually to go to +out-of-the-way corners of the country for our hardest brain-workers. +Contact with the earth is a great restorer of power; and it is to the +country folks that we must ever look for the recuperative power of the +nation as regards health, vigour, and manliness. + +Bainbridge is a remote country village, situated among the high lands +or Fells on the north-western border of Yorkshire. The mountains there +send out great projecting buttresses into the dales; and the waters +rush down from the hills, and form waterfalls or Forces, which Turner +has done so much to illustrate. The river Bain runs into the Yore at +Bainbridge, which is supposed to be the site of an old Roman station. +Over the door of the Grammar School is a mermaid, said to have been +found in a camp on the top of Addleborough, a remarkable limestone hill +which rises to the south-east of Bainbridge. It is in this +grammar-school that we find the subject of this little autobiography. +He must be allowed to tell the story of his life--which he describes as +'Work: Good, Bad, and Indifferent--in his own words: + +"I was born on November 20th, 1853. In my childhood I suffered from +ill-health. My parents let me play about in the open air, and did not +put me to school until I had turned my sixth year. One day, playing in +the shoemaker's shop, William Farrel asked me if I knew my letters. I +answered 'No.' He then took down a primer from a shelf, and began to +teach me the alphabet, at the same time amusing me by likening the +letters to familiar objects in his shop. I soon learned to read, and +in about six weeks I surprised my father by reading from an easy book +which the shoemaker had given me. + +"My father then took me into the school, of which he was master, and my +education may be said fairly to have begun. My progress, however, was +very slow partly owing to ill-health, but more, I must acknowledge, to +carelessness and inattention. In fact, during the first four years I +was at school, I learnt very little of anything, with the exception of +reciting verses, which I seemed to learn without any mental effort. My +memory became very retentive. I found that by attentively reading half +a page of print, or more, from any of the school-books, I could repeat +the whole of it without missing a word. I can scarcely explain how I +did it; but I think it was by paying strict attention to the words as +words, and forming a mental picture of the paragraphs as they were +grouped in the book. Certain, I am, that their sense never made much +impression on me, for, when questioned by the teacher, I was always +sent to the bottom of the class, though apparently I had learned my +exercise to perfection. + +"When I was twelve years old, I made the acquaintance of a very +ingenious boy, who came to our school. Samuel Bridge was a born +mechanic. Though only a year older than myself, such was his ability +in the use of tools, that he could construct a model of any machine +that he saw. He awakened in me a love of mechanical construction, and +together we made models of colliery winding-frames, iron-rolling mills, +trip-hammers, and water-wheels. Some of them were not mere toys, but +constructed to scale, and were really good working models. This love +of mechanical construction has never left me, and I shall always +remember with affection Samuel Bridge, who first taught me to use the +hammer and file. The last I heard of him was in 1875, when he passed +his examination as a schoolmaster, in honours, and was at the head of +his list. + +"During the next two years, when between twelve and fourteen, I made +comparatively slow progress at school. I remember having to write out +the fourth commandment from memory. The teacher counted twenty-three +mistakes in ten lines of my writing. It will be seen from this, that, +as regards learning, I continued heedless and backward. About this +time, my father, who was a good violinist, took me under his tuition. +He made me practice on the violin about an hour and a half a day. I +continued this for a long time. But the result was failure. I hated +the violin, and would never play unless compelled to do so. I suppose +the secret was that I had no 'ear.' + +"It was different with subjects more to my mind. Looking over my +father's books one day, I came upon Gregory's 'Handbook of Inorganic +Chemistry,' and began reading it. I was fascinated with the book, and +studied it morning, noon, and night--in fact, every time when I could +snatch a few minutes. I really believe that at one time I could have +repeated the whole of the book from memory. Now I found the value of +arithmetic, and set to work in earnest on proportion, vulgar and +decimal fractions, and, in fact, everything in school work that I could +turn to account in the science of chemistry. The result of this sudden +application was that I was seized with an illness. For some months I +had incessant headache; my hair became dried up, then turned grey, and +finally came off. Weighing myself shortly after my recovery, at the +age of fifteen, I found that I just balanced fifty-six pounds. I took +up mensuration, then astronomy, working at them slowly, but giving the +bulk of my spare time to chemistry. + +"In the year 1869, when I was sixteen years old, I came across Cuthbert +Bede's book, entitled 'Photographic Pleasures.' It is an amusing book, +giving an account of the rise and progress of photography, and at the +same time having a good-natured laugh at it. I read the book +carefully, and took up photography as an amusement, using some +apparatus which belonged to my father, who had at one time dabbled in +the art. I was soon able to take fair photographs. I then decided to +try photography as a business. I was apprenticed to a photographer, +and spent four years with him--one year at Northallerton, and three at +Darlington. When my employer removed to Darlington, I joined the +School of Art there. + +"Having read an account of the experiments of M. E. Becquerel, a French +savant, on photographing in the colours of nature, my curiosity was +awakened. I carefully repeated his experiments, and convinced myself +that he was correct. I continued my experiments in heliochromy for a +period of about two years, during which time I made many photographs in +colours, and discovered a method of developing the coloured image, +which enabled me to shorten the exposure to one-fortieth of the +previously-required time. During these experiments, I came upon some +curious results, which, I think, might puzzle our scientific men to +account for. For instance, I proved the existence of black light, or +rays of such a nature as to turn the rose-coloured surface of the +sensitive-plate black--that is, rays reflected from the black paint of +drapery, produced black in the picture, and not the effect of darkness. +I was, like Becquerel, unable to fix the coloured image without +destroying the colours; though the plates would keep a long while in +the dark, and could be examined in a subdued, though not in a strong +light. The coloured image was faint, but the colours came out with +great truth and delicacy. + +"I began to attend the School of Art at Darlington on the 6th of March, +1872. I found, on attempting to draw, that I had naturally a correct +eye and hand; and I made such progress, that when the students' +drawings were examined, previously to sending them up to South +Kensington, all my work was approved. I was then set to draw from the +cast in chalk, although I had only been at the school for a month. I +tried for all the four subjects at the May examination, and was +fortunate enough to pass three of them, and obtained as a prize +Packett's 'Sciography.' I worked hard during the next year, and sent up +seventeen works; for one of these, the 'Venus de Milo,' I gained a +studentship. + +"I then commenced the study of human anatomy, and began water-colour +painting, reading all the works upon art on which I could lay my hand. +At the May examination of 1873, I completed my second-grade +certificate, and at the end of the year of my studentship, I accepted +the office of teacher in the School of Art. This art-training created +in me a sort of disgust for photography, as I saw that the science of +photography had really very little genuine art in it, and was more +allied to a mechanical pursuit than to an artistic one. Now, when I +look back on my past ideas, I clearly see that a great deal of this +disgust was due to my ignorance and self-conceit. + +"In 1874, I commenced painting in tempora, and then in oil, copying the +pictures lent to the school from the South Kensington Art Library. I +worked also from still life, and began sketching from nature in oil and +water-colours, sometimes selling my work to help me to buy materials +for art-work and scientific experiments. I was, however, able to do +very little in the following year, as I was at home suffering from +sciatica. For nine months I could not stand erect, but had to hobble +about with a stick. This illness caused me to give up my teachership. + +"Early in 1876 I returned to Darlington. I went on with my art studies +and the science of chemistry; though I went no further in heliochromy. +I pushed forward with anatomy. I sent about fifteen works to South +Kensington, and gained as my third-grade prize in list A the +'Dictionary of Terms used in Art' by Thomas Fairholt, which I found a +very useful work. Towards the end of the year, my father, whose health +was declining, sent for me home to assist him in the school. I now +commenced the study of Algebra and Euclid in good earnest, but found it +tough work. My father, though a fair mathematician, was unable to give +me any instruction; for he had been seized with paralysis, from which +he never recovered. Before he died, he recommended me to try for a +schoolmaster's certificate; and I promised him that I would. I +obtained a situation as master of a small village school, not under +Government inspection; and I studied during the year, and obtained a +second class certificate at the Durham Diocesan College at Christmas, +1877. Early in the following year, the school was placed under +Government inspection, and became a little more remunerative. + +"I now went on with chemical analysis, making my own apparatus. +Requiring an intense heat on a small scale, I invented a furnace that +burnt petroleum oil. It was blown by compressed air. After many +failures, I eventually succeeded in bringing it to such perfection that +in 7 1/2 minutes it would bring four ounces of steel into a perfectly +liquefied state. I next commenced the study of electricity and +magnetism; and then acoustics, light, and heat. I constructed all my +apparatus myself, and acquired the art of glass-blowing, in order to +make my own chemical apparatus, and thus save expense. + +"I then went on with Algebra and Euclid, and took up plane +trigonometry; but I devoted most of my time to electricity and +magnetism. I constructed various scientific apparatus--a syren, +telephones, microphones, an Edison's megaphone, as well as an +electrometer, and a machine for covering electric wire with cotton or +silk. A friend having lent me a work on artificial memory, I began to +study it; but the work led me into nothing but confusion, and I soon +found that if I did not give it up, I should be left with no memory at +all. I still went an sketching from Nature, not so much as a study, +but as a means of recruiting my health, which was far from being good. +At the beginning of 1881 I obtained my present situation as assistant +master at the Yorebridge Grammar School, of which the Rev. W. +Balderston, M.A., is principal. + +"Soon after I became settled here, I spent some of my leisure time in +reading Emerson's 'Optics,' a work I bought at an old bookstall. I was +not very successful with it, owing to my deficient mathematical +knowledge. On the May Science Examinations of 1881 taking place at +Newcastle-on-Tyne, applied for permission to sit, and obtained four +tickets for the following subjects:--Mathematics, Electricity and +Magnetism, Acoustics, Light and Heat, and Physiography. During the +preceding month I had read up the first three subjects, but, being +pressed for time, I gave up the idea of taking physiography. However, +on the last night of the examinations, I had some conversation with one +of the students as to the subjects required for physiography. He said, +'You want a little knowledge of everything in a scientific way, and +nothing much of anything.' I determined to try, for 'nothing much of +anything' suited me exactly. I rose early next morning, and as soon as +the shops were open I went and bought a book on the subject, 'Outlines +of Physiography,' by W. Lawson, F.R.G.S. I read it all day, and at +night sat for the examination. The results of my examinations were, +failure in mathematics, but second class advanced grade certificates in +all the others. I do not attach any credit to passing in physiography, +but merely relate the circumstance as curiously showing what can be +done by a good 'cram.' + +"The failure in mathematics caused me to take the subject 'by the +horns,' to see what I could do with it. I began by going over +quadratic equations, and I gradually solved the whole of those given in +Todhunter's larger 'Algebra.' Then I re-read the progressions, +permutations, combinations; the binomial theorem, with indices and +surds; the logarithmic theorem and series, converging and diverging. I +got Todhunter's larger 'Plane Trigonometry,' and read it, with the +theorems contained in it; then his 'Spherical Trigonometry;' his +'Analytical Geometry, of Two Dimensions,' and 'Conics.' I next obtained +De Morgan's 'Differential and Integral Calculus,' then Woolhouse's, and +lastly, Todhunter's. I found this department of mathematics difficult +and perplexing to the last degree; but I mastered it sufficiently to +turn it to some account. This last mathematical course represents +eighteen months of hard work, and I often sat up the whole night +through. One result of the application was a permanent injury to my +sight. + +"Wanting some object on which to apply my newly-acquired mathematical +knowledge, I determined to construct an astronomical telescope. I got +Airy's 'Geometrical Optics,' and read it through. Then I searched +through all my English Mechanic (a scientific paper that I take), and +prepared for my work by reading all the literature on the subject that +I could obtain. I bought two discs of glass, of 6 1/2 inches diameter, +and began to grind them to a spherical curve 12 feet radius. I got +them hollowed out, but failed in fining them through lack of skill. +This occurred six times in succession; but at the seventh time the +polish came up beautifully, with scarcely a scratch upon the surface. +Stopping my work one night, and it being starlight, I thought I would +try the mirror on a star. I had a wooden frame ready for the purpose, +which the carpenter had made for me. Judge of my surprise and delight +when I found that the star disc enlarged nearly in the same manner from +each side of the focal point, thus making it extremely probable that I +had accidentally hit on a near approach to the parabola in the curve of +my mirror. And such proved to be the case. I have the mirror still, +and its performance is very good indeed. + +"I went no further with this mirror, for fear or spoiling it. It is +very slightly grey in the centre, but not sufficiently so as to +materially injure its performance. I mounted it in a wooden tube, +placed it on a wooden stand, and used it for a time thus mounted; but +getting disgusted with the tremor and inconvenience I had to put up +with, I resolved to construct for it an iron equatorial stand. I made +my patterns, got them cast, turned and fitted them myself, grinding all +the working parts together with emery and oil, and fitted a +tangent-screw motion to drive the instrument in right ascension. Now I +found the instrument a pleasure to use; and I determined to add to it +divided circles, and to accurately adjust it to the meridian. I made +my circles of well-seasoned mahogany, with slips of paper on their +edges, dividing them with my drawing instruments, and varnishing them +to keep out the wet. I shall never forget that sunny afternoon upon +which I computed the hour-angle for Jupiter, and set the instrument so +that by calculation Jupiter should pass through the field of the +instrument at 1h. 25m. 15s. With my watch in my hand, and my eye to +the eye-piece, I waited for the orb. When his glorious face appeared, +almost in a direct line for the centre of the field, I could not +contain my joy, but shouted out as loudly as I could,--greatly to the +astonishment of old George Johnson, the miller, who happened to be in +the field where I had planted my stand! + +"Now, though I had obtained what I wanted--a fairly good +instrument,--still I was not quite satisfied; as I had produced it by a +fortunate chance, and not by skill alone. I therefore set to work +again on the other disc of glass, to try if I could finish it in such a +way as to excel the first one. After nearly a year's work I found that +I could only succeed in equalling it. But then, during this time, I had +removed the working of mirrors from mere chance to a fair amount of +certainty. By bringing my mathematical knowledge to bear on the +subject, I had devised a method of testing and measuring my work which, +I am happy to say, has been fairly successful, and has enabled me to +produce the spherical, elliptic, parabolic, or hyperbolic curve in my +mirrors, with almost unvarying success. The study of the practical +working of specula and lenses has also absorbed a good deal of my spare +time during the last two years, and the work involved has been scarcely +less difficult. Altogether, I consider this last year (1882-3) to mark +the busiest period of my life. + +"It will be observed that I have only given an account of those +branches of study in which I have put to practical test the deductions +from theoretical reasoning. I am at present engaged on the theory of +the achromatic object-glass, with regard to spherical chromatism--a +subject upon which, I believe, nearly all our text-books are silent, +but one nevertheless of vital importance to the optician. I can only +proceed very slowly with it, on account of having to grind and figure +lenses for every step of the theory, to keep myself in the right track; +as mere theorizing is apt to lead one very much astray, unless it be +checked by constant experiment. For this particular subject, lenses +must be ground firstly to spherical, and then to curves of conic +sections, so as to eliminate spherical aberration from each lens; so +that it will be observed that this subject is not without its +difficulties. + +"About a month ago (September, 1883), I determined to put to the test +the statement of some of our theorists, that the surface of a rotating +fluid is either a parabola or a hyperbola. I found by experiment that +it is neither, but an approximation to the tractrix (a modification of +the catenary), if anything definite; as indeed one, on thinking over +the matter, might feel certain it would be--the tractrix being the +curve of least friction. + +"In astronomy, I have really done very little beyond mere algebraical +working of the fundamental theorems, and a little casual observation of +the telescope. So far, I must own, I have taken more pleasure in the +theory and construction of the telescope, than in its use." + +Such is Samuel Lancaster's history of the growth and development of his +mind. I do not think there is anything more interesting in the +'Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties.' His life has been a gallant +endeavour to win further knowledge, though too much at the expense of a +constitution originally delicate. He pursues science with patience and +determination, and wooes truth with the ardour of a lover. Eulogy of +his character would here be unnecessary; but, if he takes due care of +his health, we shall hear more of him.[11] + +More astronomers in humble life! There seems to to be no end of them. +There must be a great fascination in looking up to the heavens, and +seeing those wondrous worlds careering in the far-off infinite. Let me +look back to the names I have introduced in this chapter of +autobiography. First, there was my worthy porter friend at Coupar +Angus station, enjoying himself with his three-inch object-glass. Then +there was the shoemaker and teacher, and eventually the first-rate +maker of achromatic instruments. Look also at the persons whom he +supplied with his best telescopes. Among them we find princes, +baronets, clergymen, professors, doctors, solicitors, manufacturers, +and inventors. Then we come to the portrait painter, who acquired the +highest supremacy in the art of telescope making; then to Mr. Lassell, +the retired brewer, whose daughters presented his instrument to the +nation; and, lastly, to the extraordinary young schoolmaster of +Bainbridge, in Yorkshire. And now before I conclude this last chapter, +I have to relate perhaps the most extraordinary story of all--that of +another astronomer in humble life, in the person of a slate counter at +Port Penrhyn, Bangor, North Wales. + +While at Birnam, I received a letter from my old friend the Rev. +Charles Wicksteed, formerly of Leeds, calling my attention to this +case, and inclosing an extract from the letter of a young lady, one of +his correspondents at Bangor. In that letter she said: "What you write +of Mr. Christmas Evans reminds me very much of a visit I paid a few +evenings ago to an old man in Upper Bangor. He works on the Quay, but +has a very decided taste for astronomy, his leisure time being spent in +its study, with a great part of his earnings. I went there with some +friends to see an immense telescope, which he has made almost entirely +without aid, preparing the glasses as far as possible himself, and +sending them away merely to have their concavity changed. He showed us +all his treasures with the greatest delight, explaining in English, but +substituting Welsh when at a loss. He has scarcely ever been at +school, but has learnt English entirely from books. Among other things +he showed us were a Greek Testament and a Hebrew Bible, both of which +he can read. His largest telescope, which is several yards long, he +has named 'Jumbo,' and through it he told us he saw the snowcap on the +pole of Mars. He had another smaller telescope, made by himself, and +had a spectroscope in process of making. He is now quite old, but his +delight in his studies is still unbounded and unabated. It seems so sad +that he has had no right opportunity for developing his talent." + +Mr. Wicksteed was very much interested in the case, and called my +attention to it, that I might add the story to my repertory of +self-helping men. While at York I received a communication from Miss +Grace Ellis, the young lady in question, informing me of the name of +the astronomer--John Jones, Albert Street, Upper Bangor--and intimating +that he would be glad to see me any evening after six. As railways +have had the effect of bringing places very close together in point of +time--making of Britain, as it were, one great town--and as the autumn +was brilliant, and the holiday season not at an end, I had no +difficulty in diverging from my journey, and taking Bangor on my way +homeward. Starting from York in the morning, and passing through Leeds, +Manchester, and Chester, I reached Bangor in the afternoon, and had my +first interview with Mr. Jones that very evening. + +I found him, as Miss Grace Ellis had described, active, vigorous, and +intelligent; his stature short, his face well-formed, his eyes keen and +bright. I was first shown into his little parlour downstairs, +furnished with his books and some of his instruments; I was then taken +to his tiny room upstairs, where he had his big reflecting telescope, +by means of which he had seen, through the chamber window, the snowcap +of Mars. He is so fond of philology that I found he had no fewer than +twenty-six dictionaries, all bought out of his own earnings. "I am +fond of all knowledge," he said--"of Reuben, Dan, and Issachar; but I +have a favourite, a Benjamin, and that is Astronomy. I would sell all +of them into Egypt, but preserve my Benjamin." His story is briefly as +follows:-- + +"I was born at Bryngwyn Bach, Anglesey, in 1818, and I am sixty-five +years old. I got the little education I have, when a boy. Owen Owen, +who was a cousin of my mother's, kept a school at a chapel in the +village of Dwyrain, in Anglesey. It was said of Owen that he never had +more than a quarter of a year's schooling, so that he could not teach +me much. I went to his school at seven, and remained with him about a +year. Then he left; and some time afterwards I went for a short period +to an old preacher's school, at Brynsieneyn chapel. There I learnt but +little, the teacher being negligent. He allowed the children to play +together too much, and he punished them for slight offences, making +them obstinate and disheartened. But I remember his once saying to the +other children, that I ran through my little lesson 'like a coach.' +However, when I was about twelve years old, my father died, and in +losing him I lost almost all the little I had learnt during the short +periods I had been at school. Then I went to work for the farmers. + +"In this state of ignorance I remained for years, until the time came +when on Sunday I used to saddle the old black mare for Cadwalladr +Williams, the Calvinist Methodist preacher, at Pen Ceint, Anglesey; and +after he had ridden away, I used to hide in his library during the +sermon, and there I learnt a little that I shall not soon forget. In +that way I had many a draught of knowledge, as it were, by stealth. +Having a strong taste for music, I was much attracted by choral +singing; and on Sundays and in the evenings I tried to copy out airs +from different books, and accustomed my hand a little to writing. This +tendency was, however, choked within me by too much work with the +cattle, and by other farm labour. In a word, I had but little fair +weather in my search for knowledge. One thing enticed me from another, +to the detriment of my plans; some fair Eve often standing with an +apple in hand, tempting me to taste of that. + +"The old preacher's books at Pen Ceint were in Welsh. I had not yet +learned English, but tried to learn it by comparing one line in the +English New Testament with the same line in the Welsh. This was the +Hamiltonian method, and the way in which I learnt most languages. I +first got an idea of astronomy from reading 'The Solar System,' by Dr. +Dick, translated into Welsh by Eleazar Roberts of Liverpool. That book +I found on Sundays in the preacher's library; and many a sublime +thought it gave me. It was comparatively easy to understand. + +"When I was about thirty I was taken very ill, and could no longer +work. I then went to Bangor to consult Dr. Humphrys. After I got +better I found work at the Port at 12s. a week. I was employed in +counting the slates, or loading the ships in the harbour from the +railway trucks. I lodged in Fwn Deg, near where Hugh Williams, +Gatehouse, then kept a navigation school for young sailors. I learnt +navigation, and soon made considerable progress. I also learnt a +little arithmetic. At first nearly all the young men were more +advanced than myself; but before I left matters were different, and the +Scripture words became verified--"the last shall be first." I remained +with Hugh Williams six months and a half. During that time I went +twice through the 'Tutor's Assistant,' and a month before I left I was +taught mensuration. That is all the education I received, and the +greater part of it was during my by-hours. + +"I got to know English pretty well, though Welsh was the language of +those about me. From easy books I went to those more difficult. I was +helped in my pronunciation of English by comparing the words with the +phonetic alphabet, as published by Thomas Gee of Denbigh, in 1853. +With my spare earnings I bought books, especially when my wages began +to rise. Mr. Wyatt, the steward, was very kind, and raised my pay from +time to time at his pleasure. I suppose I was willing, correct, and +faithful. I improved my knowledge by reading books on astronomy. I +got, amongst others, 'The Mechanism of the Heavens,' by Denison +Olmstead, an American; a very understandable book. Learning English, +which was a foreign language to me, led me to learn other languages. I +took pleasure in finding out the roots or radixes of words, and from +time to time I added foreign dictionaries to my little library. But I +took most pleasure in astronomy. + +"The perusal of Sir John Herschel's 'Outlines of Astronomy,' and of his +'Treatise on the Telescope,' set my mind on fire. I conceived the idea +of making a telescope of my own, for I could not buy one. While +reading the Mechanics' Magazine I observed the accounts of men who made +telescopes. Why should not I do the same? Of course it was a matter +of great difficulty to one who knew comparatively little of the use of +tools. But I had a willing mind and willing hands. So I set to work. +I think I made my first telescope about twenty years ago. It was +thirty-six inches long, and the tube was made of pasteboard. I got the +glasses from Liverpool for 4s. 6d. Captain Owens, of the ship Talacra, +bought them. He also bought for me, at a bookstall, the Greek Lexicon +and the Greek New Testament, for which he paid 7s. 6d. With my new +telescope I could see Jupiter's four satellites, the craters on the +moon, and some of the double stars. It was a wonderful pleasure to me. + +"But I was not satisfied with the instrument. I wanted a bigger and a +more perfect one. I sold it and got new glasses from Solomon of +London, who was always ready to trust me. I think it was about the +year 1868 that I began to make a reflecting telescope. I got a rough +disc of glass, from St. Helens, of ten inches diameter. It took me +from nine to ten days to grind and polish it ready for parabolising and +silvering. I did this by hand labour with the aid of emery, but +without a lathe. I finally used rouge instead of emery in grinding +down the glass, until I could see my face in the mirror quite plain. I +then sent the 8 3/16 inch disc to Mr. George Calver, of Chelmsford, to +turn my spherical curve to a parabolic curve, and to silver the mirror, +for which I paid him 5L. I mounted this in my timber tube; the focus +was ten feet. When everything was complete I tried my instrument on +the sky, and found it to have good defining power. The diameter of the +other glass I have made is a little under six inches. + +"You ask me if their performance satisfies me? Well; I have compared +my six-inch reflector with a 4 1/4 inch refractor, through my window, +with a power of 100 and 140. I can't say which was the best. But if +out on a clear night I think my reflector would take more power than +the refractor. However that may be, I saw the snowcap on the planet +Mars quite plain; and it is satisfactory to me so far. With respect to +the 8 3/16 inch glass, I am not quite satisfied with it yet; but I am +making improvements, and I believe it will reward my labour in the end." + +Besides these instruments John Jones has an equatorial which is mounted +on a tripod stand, made by himself. It contains the right ascension, +declination, and azimuth index, all neatly carved upon slate. In his +spectroscope he makes his prisms out of the skylights used in vessels. +These he grinds down to suit his purpose. I have not been able to go +into the complete detail of the manner in which he effects the grinding +of his glasses. It is perhaps too technical to be illustrated in words, +which are full of focuses, parabolas, and convexities. But enough may +be gathered from the above account to give an idea of the wonderful +tenacity of this aged student, who counts his slates into the ships by +day, and devotes his evenings to the perfecting of his astronomical +instruments. But not only is he an astronomer and a philologist; he is +also a bard, and his poetry is much admired in the district. He writes +in Welsh, not in English, and signs himself "Ioan, of Bryngwyn Bach," +the place where he was born. Indeed, he is still at a loss for words +when he speaks in English. He usually interlards his conversation with +passages in Welsh, which is his mother-tongue. A friend has, however, +done me the favour to translate two of John Jones's poems into English. +The first is 'The Telescope':-- + + "To Heaven it points, where rules the Sun + In golden gall'ries bright; + And the pale Moon in silver rays + Makes dalliance in the night. + + "It sweeps with eagle glances + The sky, its myriad throng, + That myriad throng to marshal + And bring to us their song. + + "Orb upon orb it follows + As oft they intertwine, + And worlds in vast processions + As if in battle line. + + "It loves all things created, + To follow and to trace; + And never fears to penetrate + The dark abyss of space." + + +The next is to 'The Comet':-- + + "A maiden fair, with light of stars bedecked, + Starts out of space at Jove's command; + With visage wild, and long dishevelled hair, + Speeds she along her starry course; + The hosts of heaven regards she not,-- + Fain would she scorn them all except her father Sol, + Whose mighty influence her headlong course doth all control." + + +The following translation may also be given: it shows that the bard is +not without a spice of wit. A fellow-workman teased him to write some +lines; when John Jones, in a seemingly innocent manner, put some +questions, and ascertained that he had once been a tailor. Accordingly +this epigram was written, and appeared in the local paper the week +after: "To a quondam Tailor, now a Slate-teller":-- + + "To thread and needle now good-bye, + With slates I aim at riches; + The scissors will I ne'er more ply, + Nor make, but order, breeches."[12] + + +The bi-lingual speech is the great educational difficulty of Wales. To +get an entrance into literature and science requires a knowledge of +English; or, if not of English, then of French or German. But the +Welsh language stands in the way. Few literary or scientific works are +translated into Welsh. Hence the great educational difficulty +continues, and is maintained from year to year by patriotism and +Eisteddfods. + +Possibly the difficulties to be encountered may occasionally evoke +unusual powers of study; but this can only occur in exceptional cases. +While at Bangor Mr. Cadwalladr Davies read to me the letter of a +student and professor, whose passion for knowledge is of an +extraordinary character. While examined before the Parliamentary +Committee appointed to inquire into the condition of intermediate and +higher education in Wales and Monmouthshire, Mr. Davies gave evidence +relating to this and other remarkable cases, of which the following is +an abstract, condensed by himself:-- + +"The night schools in the quarry districts have been doing a very great +work; and, if the Committee will allow me, I will read an extract from +a letter which I received from Mr. Bradley Jones, master of the Board +Schools at Llanarmon, near Mold, Flintshire, who some years ago kept a +very flourishing night school in the neighbourhood. He says: 'During +the whole of the time (fourteen years) that I was at Carneddi, I +carried on these schools, and I believe I have had more experience of +such institutions than any teacher in North Wales. For several years +about 120 scholars used to attend the Carneddi night school in the +winter months, four evenings a week. Nearly all were quarrymen, from +fourteen to twenty-one years of age, and engaged at work from 7 A.M. to +5.30 P.M. So intense was their desire for education that some of them +had to walk a distance of two or even three miles to school. These, +besides working hard all day, had to walk six miles in the one case and +nine in the other before school-time, in addition to the walk home +afterwards. Several of them used to attend all the year round, even +coming to me for lessons in summer before going to work, as well as in +the evening. Indeed, so anxious were some of them, that they would +often come for lessons as early as five o'clock in the morning. This +may appear almost incredible, but any of the managers of the Carneddi +School could corroborate the statement.' + +"I have now in my mind's eye," continues Mr. Bradley, "several of these +young men, who, by dint of indefatigable labour and self-denial, +ultimately qualified themselves for posts in which a good education is +a sine qua non. Some of them are to-day quarry managers, professional +men, certificated teachers, and ministers of the Gospel. Five of them +are at the present time students at Bala College. One got a situation +in the Glasgow Post Office as letter-carrier. During his leisure hours +he attended the lectures at one of the medical schools of that city, +and in course of time gained his diploma. He is now practising as a +surgeon, and I understand with signal success. This gentleman worked +in the Penrhyn Quarry until he was twenty years old. I could give many +more instances of the resolute and self-denying spirit with which the +young quarrymen of Bethesda sought to educate themselves. The teachers +of the other schools in that neighbourhood could give similar examples, +for during the winter months there used to be no less than 300 evening +scholars under instruction in the different schools. The Bethesda +booksellers could tell a tale that would surprise our English friends. +I have been informed by one of them that he has sold to young quarrymen +an immense number of such works as Lord Macaulay's, Stuart Mill's, and +Professor Fawcett's; and it is no uncommon sight to find these and +similar works read and studied by the young quarrymen during the dinner +hour." + +"I can give," proceeds Mr. Cadwalladr Davies, "one remarkable instance +to show the struggles which young Welshmen have to undertake in order +to get education. The boy in question, the son of 'poor but honest +parents,' left the small national school of his native village when he +was 12 1/2 years of age, and then followed his father's occupation of +shoemaking until he was 16 1/2 years of age. After working hard at his +trade for four years, he, his brother, and two fellow apprentices, +formed themselves into a sort of club to learn shorthand, the whole +matter being kept a profound secret. They had no teachers, and they +met at the gas-works, sitting opposite the retorts on a bench supported +at each end with bricks. They did not penetrate far into the mysteries +of Welsh shorthand; they soon abandoned the attempt, and induced the +village schoolmaster to open a night school. + +"This, however, did not last long. The young Crispin was returning +late one night from Llanrwst in company with a lad of the same age, and +both having heard much of the blessings of education from a Scotch lady +who took a kindly interest in them, their ambition was inflamed, and +they entered into a solemn compact that they would thenceforward devote +themselves body and soul to the attainment of an academical degree. +Yet they were both poor. One was but a shoemaker's apprentice, while +the other was a pupil teacher earning but a miserable weekly pittance. +One could do the parts of speech; the other could not. One had +struggled with the pans asinorum; the other had never seen it. I may +mention that the young pupil teacher is now a curate in the Church of +England. He is a graduate of Cambridge University and a prizeman of +Clare College. But to return to the little shoemaker. + +"After returning home from Llanrwst, he disburthened his heart to his +mother, and told her that shoemaking, which until now he had pursued +with extraordinary zest, could no longer interest him. His mother, who +was equal to the emergency, sent the boy to a teacher of the old +school, who had himself worked his way from the plough. After the +exercise of considerable diplomacy, an arrangement was arrived at +whereby the youth was to go to school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and +Fridays, and make shoes during the remaining days of the week. This +suited him admirably. That very night he seized upon a geography, and +began to learn the counties of England and Wales. The fear of failure +never left him for two hours together, except when he slept. The plan +of work was faithfully kept; though by this time shoemaking had lost +its charms. He shortened his sleeping hours, and rose at any moment +that he awoke--at two, three, or four in the morning. He got his +brother, who had been plodding with him over shorthand, to study +horticulture, and fruit and vegetable culture; and that brother shortly +after took a high place in an examination held by the Royal +Horticultural Society. For a time, however, they worked together; and +often did their mother get up at four o'clock in the depth of winter, +light their fire, and return to bed after calling them up to the work +of self-culture. Even this did not satisfy their devouring ambition. +There was a bed in the workshop, and they obtained permission to sleep +there. Then they followed their own plans. The young gardener would +sit up till one or two in the morning, and wake his brother, who had +gone to bed as soon as he had given up work the night before. + +Now he got up and studied through the small hours of the morning until +the time came when he had to transfer his industry to shoemaking, or go +to school on the appointed days after the distant eight o'clock had +come. His brother had got worn out. Early sleep seemed to be the best. +They then both went to bed about eight o'clock, and got the policeman +to call them up before retiring himself. + +"So the struggle went on, until the faithful old schoolmaster thought +that his young pupil might try the examination at the Bangor Normal +College. He was now eighteen years of age; and it was eighteen months +since the time when he began to learn the counties of England and +Wales. He went to Bangor, rigged out in his brother's coat and +waistcoat, which were better than his own; and with his brother's watch +in his pocket to time himself in his examinations. He went through his +examination, but returned home thinking he had failed. Nevertheless, +he had in the meantime, on the strength of a certificate which he had +obtained six months before, in an examination held by the Society of +Arts and Sciences in Liverpool, applied for a situation as teacher in a +grammar-school at Ormskirk in Lancashire. He succeeded in his +application, and had been there for only eight days when he received a +letter from Mr. Rowlands, Principal of the Bangor Normal College, +informing him that he had passed at the head of the list, and was the +highest non-pupil teacher examined by the British and Foreign Society. +Having obtained permission from his master to leave, he packed his +clothes and his few books. He had not enough money to carry him home; +but, unasked, the master of the school gave him 10s. He arrived home +about three o'clock on a Sunday morning, after a walk of eleven miles +over a lonely road from the place where the train had stopped. He +reeled on the way, and found the country reeling too. He had been +sleeping eight nights in a damp bed. Six weeks of the Bangor Session +passed, and during that time he had been delirious, and was too weak to +sit up in bed. But the second time he crossed the threshold of his +home he made for Bangor and got back his "position," which was all +important to him, and he kept it all through. + +"Having finished his course at Bangor he went to keep a school at +Brynaman; he endeavoured to study but could not. After two years he +gave up the school, and with 60L. saved he faced the world once more. +There was a scholarship of the value of 40L. a year, for three years, +attached to one of the Scotch Universities, to be competed for. He +knew the Latin Grammar, and had, with help, translated one of the books +of Caesar. Of Greek he knew nothing, save the letters and the first +declension of nouns; but in May he began to read in earnest at a +farmhouse. He worked every day from 6 A.M. to 12 P.M. with only an +hour's intermission. He studied the six Latin and two Greek books +prescribed; he did some Latin composition unaided; brushed up his +mathematics; and learnt something of the history of Greece and Rome. +In October, after five months of hard work, he underwent an examination +for the scholarship, and obtained it; beating his opponent by +twenty-eight marks in a thousand. He then went up to the Scotch +University and passed all the examinations for his ordinary M.A. degree +in two years and a half. On his first arrival at the University he +found that he could not sleep; but he wearily yet victoriously plodded +on; took a prize in Greek, then the first prize in philosophy, the +second prize in logic, the medal in English literature, and a few other +prizes. + +"He had 40L. when he first arrived in Scotland; and he carried away +with him a similar sum to Germany, whither he went to study for honours +in philosophy. He returned home with little in his pocket, borrowing +money to go to Scotland, where he sat for honours and for the +scholarship. He got his first honours, and what was more important at +the time, money to go on with. He now lives on the scholarship which +he took at that time; is an assistant professor; and, in a fortnight, +will begin a course of lectures for ladies in connection with his +university. Writing to me a few days ago,[13] he says, 'My health, +broken down with my last struggle, is quite restored, and I live with +the hope of working on. Many have worked more constantly, but few have +worked more intensely. I found kindness on every hand always, but had +I failed in a single instance I should have met with entire bankruptcy. +The failure would have been ruinous.... I thank God for the struggle, +but would not like to see a dog try it again. There are droves of lads +in Wales that would creep up but they cannot. Poverty has too heavy a +hand for them.'" + +The gentleman whose brief history is thus summarily given by Mr. +Davies, is now well known as a professor of philosophy; and, if his +health be spared, he will become still better known. He is the author +of several important works on 'Moral Philosophy,' published by a +leading London firm; and more works are announced from his pen. The +victorious struggle for knowledge which we have recounted might +possibly be equalled, but it could not possibly be surpassed. There +are, however, as Mr. Davies related to the Parliamentary Committee, +many instances of Welsh students--most of them originally +quarrymen--who keep themselves at school by means of the savings +effected from manual labour, "in frequent cases eked out and helped by +the kindness of friends and neighbours," who struggle up through many +difficulties, and eventually achieve success in the best sense of the +term. "One young man"--as the teacher of a grammar-school, within two +miles of Bangor, related to Mr. Davies--"who came to me from the quarry +some time ago, was a gold medallist at Edinburgh last winter;" and +contributions are readily made by the quarrymen to help forward any +young man who displays an earnest desire for knowledge in science and +literature. + +It is a remarkable fact that the quarrymen of Carnarvonshire have +voluntarily contributed large sums of money towards the establishment +of the University College in North Wales--the quarry districts in that +county having contributed to that fund, in the course of three years, +mostly in half-crown subscriptions, not less than 508L. 4s. 4d.--"a +fact," says Mr. Davies, "without its parallel in the history of the +education of any country;" the most striking feature being, that these +collections were made in support of an institution from which the +quarrymen could only very remotely derive any benefit. + +While I was at Bangor, on the 24th of August, 1883, the news arrived +that the Committee of Selection had determined that Bangor should be +the site for the intended North Wales University College. The news +rapidly spread, and great rejoicings prevailed throughout the borough, +which had just been incorporated. The volunteer band played through +the streets; the church bells rang merry peals; and gay flags were +displayed from nearly every window. There never was such a triumphant +display before in the cause of University education. + +As Mr. Cadwalladr Davies observed at the banquet, which took place on +the following day: "The establishment of the new institution will mark +the dawn of a new era in the history of the Welsh people. He looked to +it, not only as a means of imparting academical knowledge to the +students within its walls, but also as a means of raising the +intellectual and moral tone of the whole people. They were fond of +quoting the saying of a great English writer, that there was something +Grecian in the Celtic race, and that the Celtic was the refining +element in the British character; but such remarks, often accompanied +as they were with offensive comparisons from Eisteddfod platforms, +would in future be put to the test, for they would, with their new +educational machinery, be placed on a footing of perfect equality with +the Scotch and the Irish people." + +And here must come to an end the character history of my autumn tour in +Ireland, Scotland, Yorkshire, and Wales. I had not the remotest +intention when setting out of collecting information and writing down +my recollections of the journey. But the persons I met, and the +information I received, were of no small interest--at least to myself; +and I trust that the reader will derive as much pleasure from perusing +my observations as I have had in collecting and writing them down. I +do think that the remarkable persons whose history and characters I +have endeavoured, however briefly, to sketch, will be found to afford +many valuable and important lessons of Self-Help; and to illustrate how +the moral and industrial foundations of a country may be built up and +established. + + +Footnotes for Chapter XII. + +[1] A "poet," who dates from "New York, March 1883," has published +seven stanzas, entitled "Change here for Blairgowrie," from which we +take the following:-- + + "From early morn till late at e'en, + John's honest face is to be seen, + Bustling about the trains between, + Be 't sunshine or be 't showery; + And as each one stops at his door, + He greets it with the well-known roar + Of 'Change here for Blairgowrie.' + Even when the still and drowsy night + Has drawn the curtains of our sight, + John's watchful eyes become more bright, + And take another glow'r aye + Thro' yon blue dome of sparkling stars + Where Venus bright and ruddy Mars + Shine down upon Blairgowrie. + He kens each jinkin' comet's track, + And when it's likely to come back, + When they have tails, and when they lack-- + In heaven the waggish power aye; + When Jupiter's belt buckle hings, + And the Pyx mark on Saturn's rings, + He sees from near Blairgowrie." + +[2] The Observatory, No. 61, p. 146; and No. 68, p. 371. + +[3] In an article on the subject in the Dundee Evening Telegraph, Mr. +Robertson observes: "If our finite minds were more capable of +comprehension, what a glorious view of the grandeur of the Deity would +be displayed to us in the contemplation of the centre and source of +light and heat to the solar system. The force requisite to pour such +continuous floods to the remotest parts of the system must ever baffle +the mind of man to grasp. But we are not to sit down in indolence: our +duty is to inquire into Nature's works, though we can never exhaust the +field. Our minds cannot imagine motion without some Power moving +through the medium of some subordinate agency, ever acting on the sun, +to send such floods of light and heat to our otherwise cold and dark +terrestrial ball; but it is the overwhelming magnitude of such power +that we are incapable of comprehending. The agency necessary to throw +out the floods of flame seen during the few moments of a total eclipse +of the sun, and the power requisite to burst open a cavity in its +surface, such as could entirely engulph our earth, will ever set all +the thinking capacity of man at nought." + +[4] The Observatory, Nos. 34, 42, 45, 49, and 58. + +[5] We regret to say that Sheriff Barclay died a few months ago, +greatly respected by all who knew him. + +[6] Sir E. Denison Beckett, in his Rudimentary Treatise on clocks and +Watches and Bells, has given an instance or the telescope-driving +clock, invented by Mr. Cooke (p. 213). + +[7] J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S.--Stargazing, Past and Present, p. 302. + +[8] This excellent instrument is now in the possession of my +son-in-law, Dr. Hartree, of Leigh, near Tunbridge. + +[9] An interesting account of Mr. Alvan Clark is given in Professor +Newcomb's 'Popular Astronomy,' p. 137. + +[10] A photographic representation of this remarkable telescope is +given as the frontispiece to Mr. Lockyer's Stargazing, Past and +Present; and a full description of the instrument is given in the text +of the same work. This refracting telescope did not long remain the +largest. Mr. Alvan Clark was commissioned to erect a larger equatorial +for Washington Observatory; the object-glass (the rough disks of which +were also furnished by Messrs. Chance of Birmingham) exceeding in +aperture that of Mr. Cooke's by only one inch. This was finished and +mounted in November, 1873. Another instrument of similar size and +power was manufactured by Mr. Clark for the University of Virginia. +But these instruments did not long maintain their supremacy. In 1881, +Mr. Howard Grubb, of Dublin, manufactured a still larger instrument for +the Austrian Government--the object-glass being of twenty-seven inches +aperture. But Mr. Alvan Clark was not to be beaten. In 1882, he +supplied the Russian Government with the largest refracting telescope +in existence the object-glass being of thirty inches diameter. Even +this, however, is to be surpassed by the lens which Mr. Clark has in +hand for the Lick Observatory (California), which is to have a clear +aperture of three feet in diameter. + +[11] Since the above passage was written and in type, I have seen (in +September 1884) the reflecting telescope referred to at pp. 357-8. It +was mounted on its cast-iron equatorial stand, and at work in the field +adjoining the village green at Bainbridge, Yorkshire. The mirror of +the telescope is 8 inches in diameter; its focal length, 5 feet; and +the tube in which it is mounted, about 6 feet long. The instrument +seemed to me to have an excellent defining power. + +But Mr. Lancaster, like every eager astronomer, is anxious for further +improvements. He considers the achromatic telescope the king of +instruments, and is now engaged in testing convex optical surfaces, +with a view to achieving a telescope of that description. The chief +difficulty is the heavy charge for the circular blocks of flint glass +requisite for the work which he meditates. "That," he says, "is the +great difficulty with amateurs of my class." He has, however, already +contrived and constructed a machine for grinding and polishing the +lenses in an accurate convex form, and it works quite satisfactorily. +Mr. Lancaster makes his own tools. From the raw material, whether of +glass or steel, he produces the work required. As to tools, all that +he requires is a bar of steel and fire; his fertile brain and busy +hands do the rest. I looked into the little workshop behind his +sitting-room, and found it full of ingenious adaptations. The turning +lathe occupies a considerable part of it; but when he requires more +space, the village smith with his stithy, and the miller with his +water-power, are always ready to help him. His tools, though not +showy, are effective. His best lenses are made by himself: those +which he buys are not to be depended upon. The best flint glass is +obtained from Paris in blocks, which he divides, grinds, and polishes +to perfect form. + +I was attracted by a newly made machine, placed on a table in the +sitting-room; and on inquiry found that its object was to grind and +polish lenses. Mr. Lancaster explained that the difficulty to be +overcome in a good machine, is to make the emery cut the surface +equally from centre to edge of the lens, so that the lens will neither +lengthen nor shorten the curve during its production. To quote his +words: "This really involves the problem of the 'three bodies,' or +disturbing forces so celebrated in dynamical mathematics, and it is +further complicated by another quantity, the 'coefficient of +attrition,' or work done by the grinding material, as well as the +mischief done by capillary attraction and nodal points of superimposed +curves in the path of the tool. These complications tend to cause +rings or waves of unequal wear in the surface of the glass, and ruin +the defining power of the lens, which depends upon the uniformity of +its curve. As the outcome of much practical experiment, combined with +mathematical research, I settled upon the ratio of speed between the +sheave of the lens-tool guide and the turn-table; between whose limits +the practical equalization of wear (or cut of the emery) might with the +greater facility be adjusted, by means of varying the stroke and +eccentricity of the tool. As the result of these considerations in the +construction of the machine, the surface of the glass 'comes up' +regularly all over the lens; and the polishing only takes a few +minutes' work--thus keeping the truth of surface gained by using a +rigid tool." + +The machine in question consists of a revolving sheave or ring, with a +sliding strip across its diameter; the said strip having a slot and +clamping screw at one end, and a hole towards the other, through which +passes the axis of the tool used in forming the lens,--the slot in the +strip allowing the tool to give any stroke from 0 to 1.25 inch. The +lens is carried on a revolving turn-table, with an arrangement to allow +the axis of the lens to coincide with the axis of the table. The ratio +of speed between the sheave and turn-table is arranged by belt and +properly sized pulleys, and the whole can be driven either by hand or +by power. The sheave merely serves as a guide to the tool in its path, +and the lens may either be worked on the turn-table or upon a chuck +attached to the tool rod. The work upon the lens is thus to a great +extent independent of the error of the machine through shaking, or bad +fitting, or wear; and the only part of the machine which requires +really first-class work is the axis of the turn-table, which (in this +machine) is a conical bearing at top, with steel centre below,--the +bearing turned, hardened, and then ground up true, and run in +anti-friction metal. Other details might be given, but these are +probably enough for present purposes. We hope, at some future time, +for a special detail of Mr. Lancaster's interesting investigations, +from his own mind and pen. + +[12] The translations are made by W. Cadwalladr Davies, Esq. + +[13] This evidence was given by Mr. W. Cadwalladr Davies on the 28th +October, 1880. + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Men of Invention and Industry, by Samuel Smiles + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEN OF INVENTION AND INDUSTRY *** + +***** This file should be named 725.txt or 725.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/7/2/725/ + +Produced by Eric Hutton. 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Such men +have worked the deliverance of nations and their own greatness. +Their hearts are their books; events are their tutors; great +actions are their eloquence."--MACAULAY. + +Contents. + +Preface + +CHAPTER I Phineas Pett: + Beginings of English Shipbuilding + +CHAPTER II Francis Pettit Smith: + Practical introducer of the Screw Propeller + +CHAPTER III John Harrison: + Inventor of the Marine Chronometer + +CHAPTER IV John Lombe: + Introducer of the Silk Industry into England + +CHAPTER V William Murdock: + His Life and Inventions + +CHAPTER VI Frederick Koenig: + Inventor of the Steam-printing Machine + +CHAPTER VII The Walters of 'The Times': + Inventor of the Walter Press + +CHAPTER VIII William Clowes: + Book-printing by Steam + +CHAPTER IX Charles Bianconi: + A lession of Self-Help in Ireland + +CHAPTER X Industry in Ireland: + Through Connaught and Ulster to Belfast + +CHAPTER XI Shipbuilding in Belfast: + By Sir E. J. Harland, Engineer and Shipbuilder + +CHAPTER XII Astronomers and students in humble life: + A new Chapter in the 'Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties' + + +PREFACE + +I offer this book as a continuation of the memoirs of men of +invention and industry published some years ago in the 'Lives of +Engineers,' 'Industrial Biography,' and 'Self-Help.' + +The early chapters relate to the history of a very important +branch of British industry--that of Shipbuilding. A later +chapter, kindly prepared by Sir Edward J. Harland, of Belfast, +relates to the origin and progress of shipbuilding in Ireland. + +Many of the facts set forth in the Life and Inventions of William +Murdock have already been published in my 'Lives of Boulton and +Watt;" but these are now placed in a continuous narrative, and +supplemented by other information, more particularly the +correspondence between Watt and Murdock, communicated to me by +the present representative of the family, Mr. Murdock, C.E, of +Gilwern, near Abergavenny. + +I have also endeavoured to give as accurate an account as +possible of the Invention of the Steam-printing Press, and its +application to the production of Newspapers and Books,--an +invention certainly of great importance to the spread of +knowledge, science, and literature, throughout the world. + +The chapter on the "Industry of Ireland" will speak for itself. +It occurred to me, on passing through Ireland last year, that +much remained to be said on that subject; and, looking to the +increasing means of the country, and the well-known industry of +its people, it seems reasonable to expect, that with peace, +security, energy, and diligent labour of head and hand, there is +really a great future before Ireland. + +The last chapter, on "Astronomers in Humble Life," consists for +the most part of a series of Autobiographies. It may seem, at +first sight, to have little to do with the leading object of the +book; but it serves to show what a number of active, earnest, and +able men are comparatively hidden throughout society, ready to +turn their hands and heads to the improvement of their own +characters, if not to the advancement of the general community +of which they form a part. + +In conclusion, I say to the reader, as Quarles said in the +preface to his 'Emblems,' "I wish thee as much pleasure in the +reading as I had in the writing." In fact, the last three +chapters were in some measure the cause of the book being +published in its present form. + +London, November, 1884. + + +CHAPTER I. + +PHINEAS PETT: BEGINNINGS OF ENGLISH SHIP-BUILDING. + +"A speck in the Northern Ocean, with a rocky coast, an ungenial +climate, and a soil scarcely fruitful,--this was the material +patrimony which descended to the English race--an inheritance +that would have been little worth but for the inestimable moral +gift that accompanied it. Yes; from Celts, Saxons, Danes, +Normans--from some or all of them--have come down with English +nationality a talisman that could command sunshine, and plenty, +and empire, and fame. The 'go' which they transmitted to us--the +national vis--this it is which made the old Angle-land a glorious +heritage. Of this we have had a portion above our brethren--good +measure, running over. Through this our island-mother has +stretched out her arms till they enriched the globe of the +earth....Britain, without her energy and enterprise, what would +she be in Europe?"--Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (1870). + +In one of the few records of Sir Isaac Newton's life which he +left for the benefit of others, the following comprehensive +thought occurs: + +"It is certainly apparent that the inhabitants of this world are +of a short date, seeing that all arts, as letters, ships, +printing, the needle, &c., were discovered within the memory of +history." + +If this were true in Newton's time, how much truer is it now. +Most of the inventions which are so greatly influencing, as well +as advancing, the civilization of the world at the present time, +have been discovered within the last hundred or hundred and fifty +years. We do not say that man has become so much wiser during +that period; for, though he has grown in Knowledge, the most +fruitful of all things were said by "the heirs of all the ages" +thousands of years ago. + +But as regards Physical Science, the progress made during the +last hundred years has been very great. Its most recent triumphs +have been in connection with the discovery of electric power and +electric light. Perhaps the most important invention, however, +was that of the working steam engine, made by Watt only about a +hundred years ago. The most recent application of this form of +energy has been in the propulsion of ships, which has already +produced so great an effect upon commerce, navigation, and the +spread of population over the world. + +Equally important has been the influence of the Railway--now the +principal means of communication in all civilized countries. +This invention has started into full life within our own time. +The locomotive engine had for some years been employed in the +haulage of coals; but it was not until the opening of the +Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830, that the importance of +the invention came to be acknowledged. The locomotive railway +has since been everywhere adopted throughout Europe. In America, +Canada, and the Colonies, it has opened up the boundless +resources of the soil, bringing the country nearer to the towns, +and the towns to the country. It has enhanced the celerity of +time, and imparted a new series of conditions to every rank of +life. + +The importance of steam navigation has been still more recently +ascertained. When it was first proposed, Sir Joseph Banks, +President of the Royal Society, said: "It is a pretty plan, but +there is just one point overlooked: that the steam-engine +requires a firm basis on which to work." Symington, the +practical mechanic, put this theory to the test by his successful +experiments, first on Dalswinton Lake, and then on the Forth and +Clyde Canal. Fulton and Bell afterwards showed the power of +steamboats in navigating the rivers of America and Britain. + +After various experiments, it was proposed to unite England and +America by steam. Dr. Lardner, however, delivered a lecture +before the Royal Institution in 1838, "proving" that steamers +could never cross the Atlantic, because they could not carry +sufficient coal to raise steam enough during the voyage. But +this theory was also tested by experience in the same year, when +the Sirius, of London, left Cork for New York, and made the +passage in nineteen days. Four days after the departure of the +Sirius, the Great Western left Bristol for New York, and made the +passage in thirteen days five hours.[1] The problem was solved; +and great ocean steamers have ever since passed in continuous +streams between the shores of England and America. + +In an age of progress, one invention merely paves the way for +another. The first steamers were impelled by means of paddle +wheels; but these are now almost entirely superseded by the +screw. And this, too, is an invention almost of yesterday. It +was only in 1840 that the Archimedes was fitted as a screw yacht. + +A few years later, in 1845, the Great Britain, propelled by the +screw, left Liverpool for New York, and made the voyage in +fourteen days. The screw is now invariably adopted in all long +ocean voyages. + +It is curious to look back, and observe the small beginnings of +maritime navigation. As regards this country, though its +institutions are old, modern England is still young. As respects +its mechanical and scientific achievements, it is the youngest of +all countries. Watt's steam engine was the beginning of our +manufacturing supremacy; and since its adoption, inventions and +discoveries in Art and Science, within the last hundred years, +have succeeded each other with extraordinary rapidity. In 1814 +there was only one steam vessel in Scotland; while England +possessed none at all. Now, the British mercantile steam-ships +number about 5000, with about 4 millions of aggregate tonnage.[2] + +In olden times this country possessed the materials for great +things, as well as the men fitted to develope them into great +results. But the nation was slow to awake and take advantage of +its opportunities. There was no enterprise, no commerce--no "go" +in the people. The roads were frightfully bad; and there was +little communication between one part of the country and another. + +If anything important had to be done, we used to send for +foreigners to come and teach us how to do it. We sent for them +to drain our fens, to build our piers and harbours, and even to +pump our water at London Bridge. Though a seafaring population +lived round our coasts, we did not fish our own seas, but left it +to the industrious Dutchmen to catch the fish, and supply our +markets. It was not until the year 1787 that the Yarmouth people +began the deep-sea herring fishery; and yet these were the most +enterprising amongst the English fishermen. + +English commerce also had very slender beginnings. At the +commencement of the fifteenth century, England was of very little +account in the affairs of Europe. Indeed, the history of modern +England is nearly coincident with the accession of the Tudors to +the throne. With the exception of Calais and Dunkirk, her +dominions on the Continent had been wrested from her by the +French. The country at home had been made desolate by the Wars +of the Roses. The population was very small, and had been kept +down by war, pestilence, and famine.[3] The chief staple was +wool, which was exported to Flanders in foreign ships, there to +be manufactured into cloth. Nearly every article of importance +was brought from abroad; and the little commerce which existed +was in the hands of foreigners. The seas were swept by +privateers, little better than pirates, who plundered without +scruple every vessel, whether friend or foe, which fell in their +way. + +The British navy has risen from very low beginnings. The English +fleet had fallen from its high estate since the reign of Edward +III., who won a battle from the French and Flemings in 1340, with +260 ships; but his vessels were all of moderate size, being +boats, yachts, and caravels, of very small tonnage. According to +the contemporary chronicles, Weymouth, Fowey, Sandwich, and +Bristol, were then of nearly almost as much importance as +London;[4] which latter city only furnished twenty-five vessels, +with 662 mariners. + +The Royal Fleet began in the reign of Henry VII. Only six or +seven vessels then belonged to the King, the largest being the +Grace de Dieu, of comparatively small tonnage. The custom then +was, to hire ships from the Venetians, the Genoese, the Hanse +towns, and other trading people; and as soon as the service for +which the vessels so hired was performed, they were dismissed. + +When Henry VIII. ascended the throne in 1509, he directed his +attention to the state of the navy. Although the insular +position of England was calculated to stimulate the art of +shipbuilding more than in most continental countries, our best +ships long continued to be built by foreigners. Henry invited +from abroad, especially from Italy, where the art of shipbuilding +had made the greatest progress, as many skilful artists and +workmen as he could procure, either by the hope of gain, or the +high honours and distinguished countenance which he paid them. +"By incorporating," says Charnock, "these useful persons among +his own subjects, he soon formed a corps sufficient to rival +those states which had rendered themselves most distinguished by +their knowledge in this art; so that the fame of Genoa and +Venice, which had long excited the envy of the greater part of +Europe, became suddenly transferred to the shores of Britain."[5] + +In fitting out his fleet, we find Henry disbursing large sums to +foreigners for shipbuilding, for "harness" or armour, and for +munitions of all sorts. The State Papers[6] particularize the +amounts paid to Lewez de la Fava for "harness;" to William Gurre, +"bregandy-maker;" and to Leonard Friscobald for "almayn ryvetts." + +Francis de Errona, a Spaniard, supplied the gunpowder. Among the +foreign mechanics and artizans employed were Hans Popenruyter, +gunfounder of Mechlin; Robert Sakfeld, Robert Skorer, Fortuno de +Catalenago, and John Cavelcant. On one occasion 2,797L. 19s. 4 +1/2d. was disbursed for guns and grindstones. This sum must be +multiplied by about four, to give the proper present value. +Popenruyter seems to have been the great gunfounder of the age; +he supplied the principal guns and gun stores for the English +navy, and his name occurs in every Ordnance account of the +series, generally for sums of the largest amounts. + +Henry VIII. was the first to establish Royal dockyards, first at +Woolwich, then at Portsmouth, and thirdly at Deptford, for the +erection and repair of ships. Before then, England had been +principally dependent upon Dutchmen and Venetians, both for ships +of war and merchantmen. The sovereign had neither naval arsenals +nor dockyards, nor any regular establishment of civil or naval +affairs to provide ships of war. Sir Edward Howard, Lord High +Admiral of England, at the accession of Henry VIII., actually +entered into a "contract" with that monarch to fight his enemies. + +This singular document is still preserved in the State Paper +office. Even after the establishment of royal dockyards, the +sovereign--as late as the reign of Elizabeth--entered into formal +contracts with shipwrights for the repair and maintenance of +ships, as well as for additions to the fleet. + +The King, having made his first effort at establishing a royal +navy, sent the fleet to sea against the ships of France. The +Regent was the ship royal, with Sir Thomas Knivet, Master of the +Horse, and Sir John Crew of Devonshire, as Captains. The fleet +amounted to twenty-five well furnished ships. The French fleet +were thirty-nine in number. They met in Brittany Bay, and had a +fierce fight. The Regent grappled with a great carack of Brest; +the French, on the English boarding their ship, set fire to the +gunpowder, and both ships were blown up, with all their men. The +French fleet fled, and the English kept the seas. The King, +hearing of the loss of the Regent, caused a great ship to be +built, the like of which had never before been seen in England, +and called it Harry Grace de Dieu. + +This ship was constructed by foreign artizans, principally by +Italians, and was launched in 1515. She was said to be of a +thousand tons portage --the largest ship in England. The vessel +was four-masted, with two round tops on each mast, except the +shortest mizen. She had a high forecastle and poop, from which +the crew could shoot down upon the deck or waist of another +vessel. The object was to have a sort of castle at each end of +the ship. This style of shipbuilding was doubtless borrowed from +the Venetians, then the greatest naval power in Europe. The +length of the masts, the height of the ship above the water's +edge, and the ornaments and decorations, were better adapted for +the stillness of the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas, than for +the boisterous ocean of the northern parts of Europe.[7] The +story long prevailed that "the Great Harry swept a dozen flocks +of sheep off the Isle of Man with her bob-stay." An American +gentleman (N.B. Anderson, LL.D., Boston) informed the present +author that this saying is still proverbial amongst the United +States sailors. + +The same features were reproduced in merchant ships. Most of +them were suited for defence, to prevent the attacks of pirates, +which swarmed the seas round the coast at that time. +Shipbuilding by the natives in private shipyards was in a +miserable condition. Mr. Willet, in his memoir relative to the +navy, observes: "It is said, and I believe with truth, that at +this time (the middle of the sixteenth century) there was not a +private builder between London Bridge and Gravesend, who could +lay down a ship in the mould left from a Navy Board's draught, +without applying to a tinker who lived in Knave's Acre."[8] + +Another ship of some note built at the instance of Henry VIII. +was the Mary Rose, of the portage of 500 tons. We find her in +the "pond at Deptford" in 1515. Seven years later, in the +thirtieth year of Henry VIII.'s reign, she was sent to sea, with +five other English ships of war, to protect such commerce as then +existed from the depredations of the French and Scotch pirates. +The Mary Rose was sent many years later (in 1544) with the +English fleet to the coast of France, but returned with the rest +of the fleet to Portsmouth without entering into any engagement. +While laid at anchor, not far from the place where the Royal +George afterwards went down, and the ship was under repair, her +gun-ports being very low when she was laid over, "the shipp +turned, the water entered, and sodainly she sanke." + +What was to be done? There were no English engineers or workmen +who could raise the ship. Accordingly, Henry VIII. sent to +Venice for assistance, and when the men arrived, Pietro de +Andreas was dispatched with the Venetian marines and carpenters +to raise the Mary Rose. Sixty English mariners were appointed to +attend upon them. The Venetians were then the skilled "heads," +the English were only the "hands." Nevertheless they failed with +all their efforts; and it was not until the year 1836 that Mr. +Dean, the engineer, succeeded in raising not only the Royal +George, but the Mary Rose, and cleared the roadstead at +Portsmouth of the remains of the sunken ships. + +When Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1558, the commerce and +navigation of England were still of very small amount. The +population of the kingdom amounted to only about five +millions--not much more than the population of London is now. +The country had little commerce, and what it had was still mostly +in the hands of foreigners. The Hanse towns had their large +entrepot for merchandise in Cannon Street, on the site of the +present Cannon Street Station. The wool was still sent abroad to +Flanders to be fashioned into cloth, and even garden produce was +principally imported from Holland. Dutch, Germans, Flemings, +French, and Venetians continued to be our principal workmen. Our +iron was mostly obtained from Spain and Germany. The best arms +and armour came from France and Italy. Linen was imported from +Flanders and Holland, though the best came from Rheims. Even the +coarsest dowlas, or sailcloth, was imported from the Low +Countries. + +The royal ships continued to be of very small burthen, and the +mercantile ships were still smaller. The Queen, however, did +what she could to improve the number and burthen of our ships. +"Foreigners," says Camden, "stiled her the restorer of naval +glory and Queen of the Northern Seas." In imitation of the +Queen, opulent subjects built ships of force; and in course of +time England no longer depended upon Hamburg, Dantzic, Genoa, and +Venice, for her fleet in time of war. + +Spain was then the most potent power in Europe, and the +Netherlands, which formed part of the dominions of Spain, was the +centre of commercial prosperity. Holland possessed above 800 +good ships, of from 200 to 700 tons burthen, and above 600 busses +for fishing, of from 100 to 200 tons. Amsterdam and Antwerp were +in the heyday of their prosperity. Sometimes 500 great ships +were to be seen lying together before Amsterdam;[9] whereas +England at that time had not four merchant ships of 400 tons +each! Antwerp, however, was the most important city in the Low +Countries. It was no uncommon thing to see as many as 2500 ships +in the Scheldt, laden with merchandize. Sometimes 500 ships +would come and go from Antwerp in one day, bound to or returning +from the distant parts of the world. The place was immensely +rich, and was frequented by Spaniards, Germans, Danes, English, +Italians, and Portuguese the Spaniards being the most numerous. +Camden, in his history of Queen Elizabeth, relates that our +general trade with the Netherlands in 1564 amounted to twelve +millions of ducats, five millions of which was for English cloth +alone. + +The religious persecutions of Philip II. of Spain and of Charles +IX. of France shortly supplied England with the population of +which she stood in need--active, industrious, intelligent +artizans. Philip set up the Inquisition in Flanders, and in a +few years more than 50,000 persons were deliberately murdered. +The Duchess of Parma, writing to Philip II. in 1567, informed him +that in a few days above 100,000 men had already left the country +with their money and goods, and that more were following every +day. They fled to Germany, to Holland, and above all to England, +which they hailed as Asylum Christi. The emigrants settled in +the decayed cities and towns of Canterbury, Norwich, Sandwich, +Colchester, Maidstone, Southampton, and many other places, where +they carried on their manufactures of woollen, linen, and silk, +and established many new branches of industry.[10] + +Five years later, in 1572, the massacre of St. Bartholomew took +place in France, during which the Roman Catholic Bishop Perefixe +alleges that 100,000 persons were put to death because of their +religions opinions. All this persecution, carried on so near the +English shores, rapidly increased the number of foreign fugitives +into England, which was followed by the rapid advancement of the +industrial arts in this country. + +The asylum which Queen Elizabeth gave to the persecuted +foreigners brought down upon her the hatred of Philip II. and +Charles IX. When they found that they could not prevent her +furnishing them with an asylum, they proceeded to compass her +death. She was excommunicated by the Pope, and Vitelli was hired +to assassinate her. Philip also proceeded to prepare the Sacred +Armada for the subjugation of the English nation, and he was +master of the most powerful army and navy in the world. + +Modern England was then in the throes of her birth. She had not +yet reached the vigour of her youth, though she was full of life +and energy. She was about to become the England of free thought, +commerce, and manufactures; to plough the ocean with her navies, +and to plant her colonies over the earth. Up to the accession of +Elizabeth, she had done little, but now she was about to do much. + +It was a period of sudden emancipation of thought, and of immense +fertility and originality. The poets and prose writers of the +time united the freshness of youth with the vigour of manhood. +Among these were Spenser, Shakespeare, Sir Philip Sidney, the +Fletchers, Marlowe, and Ben Jonson. Among the statesmen of +Elizabeth were Burleigh, Leicester, Walsingham, Howard, and Sir +Nicholas Bacon. But perhaps greatest of all were the sailors, +who, as Clarendon said, "were a nation by themselves;" and their +leaders--Drake, Frobisher, Cavendish, Hawkins, Howard, Raleigh, +Davis, and many more distinguished seamen. + +They were the representative men of their time, the creation in a +great measure of the national spirit. They were the offspring of +long generations of seamen and lovers of the sea. They could not +have been great but for the nation which gave them birth, and +imbued them with their worth and spirit. The great sailors, for +instance, could not have originated in a nation of mere landsmen. + +They simply took the lead in a country whose coasts were fringed +with sailors. Their greatness was but the result of an +excellence in seamanship which prevailed widely around them. + +The age of English maritime adventure only began in the reign of +Elizabeth. England had then no colonies--no foreign possessions +whatever. The first of her extensive colonial possessions was +established in this reign. "Ships, colonies, and commerce "began +to be the national motto--not that colonies make ships and +commerce, but that ships and commerce make colonies. Yet what +cockle-shells of ships our pioneer navigators first sailed in! + +Although John Cabot or Gabota, of Bristol, originally a citizen +of Venice, had discovered the continent of North America in 1496, +in the reign of Henry VII., he made no settlement there, but +returned to Bristol with his four small ships. Columbus did not +see the continent of America until two years later, in 1498, his +first discoveries being the islands of the West Indies. + +It was not until the year 1553 that an attempt was made to +discover a North-west passage to Cathaya or China. Sir Hugh +Willonghby was put in command of the expedition, which consisted +of three ships,--the Bona Esperanza, the Bona Ventura (Captain +Chancellor), and the Bona Confidentia (Captain Durforth),--most +probably ships built by Venetians. Sir Hugh reached 72 degrees +of north latitude, and was compelled by the buffeting of the +winds to take refuge with Captain Durforth's vessel at Arcina +Keca, in Russian Lapland, where the two captains and the crews of +these ships, seventy in number, were frozen to death. In the +following year some Russian fishermen found Sir John Willonghby +sitting dead in his cabin, with his diary and other papers beside +him. + +Captain Chancellor was more fortunate. He reached Archangel in +the White Sea, where no ship had ever been seen before. He +pointed out to the English the way to the whale fishery at +Spitzbergen, and opened up a trade with the northern parts of +Russia. Two years later, in 1556, Stephen Burroughs sailed with +one small ship, which entered the Kara Sea; but he was compelled +by frost and ice to return to England. The strait which he +entered is still called "Burrough's Strait." + +It was not, however, until the reign of Elizabeth that great +maritime adventures began to be made. Navigators were not so +venturous as they afterwards became. Without proper methods of +navigation, they were apt to be carried away to the south, across +an ocean without limit. In 1565 a young captain, Martin +Frobisher, came into notice. At the age of twenty-five he +captured in the South Seas the Flying Spirit, a Spanish ship +laden with a rich cargo of cochineal. Four years later, in 1569, +he made his first attempt to discover the north-west passage to +the Indies, being assisted by Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick. +The ships of Frobisher were three in number, the Gabriel, of from +15 to 20 tons; the Michael, of from 20 to 25 tons, or half the +size of a modern fishing-boat; and a pinnace, of from 7 to 10 +tons! The aggregate of the crews of the three ships was only +thirty-five, men and boys. Think of the daring of these early +navigators in attempting to pass by the North Pole to Cathay +through snow, and storm, and ice, in such miserable little +cockboats! The pinnace was lost; the Michael, under Owen +Griffith, a Welsh-man, deserted; and Martin Frobisher in the +Gabriel went alone into the north-western sea! + +He entered the great bay, since called Hudson's Bay, by +Frobisher's Strait. He returned to England without making the +discovery of the Passage, which long remained the problem of +arctic voyagers. Yet ten years later, in 1577, he made another +voyage, and though he made his second attempt with one of Queen +Elizabeth's own ships, and two barks, with 140 persons in all, he +was as unsuccessful as before. He brought home some supposed +gold ore; and on the strength of the stones containing gold, a +third expedition went out in the following year. After losing +one of the ships, consuming the provisions, and suffering greatly +from ice and storms, the fleet returned home one by one. The +supposed gold ore proved to be only glittering sand. + +While Frobisher was seeking El-Dorado in the North, Francis Drake +was finding it in the South. He was a sailor, every inch of him. + +"Pains, with patience in his youth," says Fuller, "knit the +joints of his soul, and made them more solid and compact." At an +early age, when carrying on a coasting trade, his imagination was +inflamed by the exploits of his protector Hawkins in the New +World, and he joined him in his last unfortunate adventure on the +Spanish Main. He was not, however, discouraged by his first +misfortune, but having assembled about him a number of seamen who +believed in him, he made other adventures to the West Indies, and +learnt the navigation of that part of the ocean. In 1570, he +obtained a regular commission from Queen Elizabeth, though he +sailed his own ships, and made his own ventures. Every +Englishman, who had the means, was at liberty to fit out his own +ships; and with tolerable vouchers, he was able to procure a +commission from the Court, and proceed to sea at his own risk and +cost. Thus, the naval enterprise and pioneering of new countries +under Elizabeth, was almost altogether a matter of private +enterprise and adventure. + +In 1572, the butchery of the Hugnenots took place at Paris and +throughout France; while at the same time the murderous power of +Philip II. reigned supreme in the Netherlands. The sailors knew +what they had to expect from the Spanish king in the event of his +obtaining his threatened revenge upon England; and under their +chosen chiefs they proceeded to make war upon him. In the year +of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, Drake set sail for the +Spanish Main in the Pasha, of seventy tons, accompanied by the +Swan, of twenty-five tons; the united crews of the vessels +amounting to seventy-three men and boys. With this insignificant +force, Drake made great havoc amongst the Spanish shipping at +Nombre de Dios. He partially crossed the Isthmus of Darien, and +obtained his first sight of the great Pacific Ocean. He returned +to England in August 1573, with his frail barks crammed with +treasure. + +A few years later, in 1577, he made his ever-memorable +expedition. Charnock says it was "an attempt in its nature so +bold and unprecedented, that we should scarcely know whether to +applaud it as a brave, or condemn it as a rash one, but for its +success." The squadron with which he sailed for South America +consisted of five vessels, the largest of which, the Pelican, was +only of 100 tons burthen; the next, the Elizabeth, was of 80; the +third, the Swan, a fly-boat, was of 50; the Marygold bark, of 30; +and the Christopher, a pinnace, of 15 tons. The united crews of +these vessels amounted to only 164, gentlemen and sailors. + +The gentlemen went with Drake "to learn the art of navigation." +After various adventures along the South American coast, the +little fleet passed through the Straits of Magellan, and entered +the Pacific Ocean. Drake took an immense amount of booty from +the Spanish towns along the coast, and captured the royal +galleon, the Cacafuego, laden with treasure. After trying in +vain to discover a passage home by the North-eastern ocean, +though what is now known as Behring Straits, he took shelter in +Port San Francisco, which he took possession of in the name of +the Queen of England, and called New Albion. He eventually +crossed the Pacific for the Moluccas and Java, from which he +sailed right across the Indian Ocean, and by the Cape of Good +Hope to England, thus making the circumnavigation of the world. +He was absent with his little fleet for about two years and ten +months. + +Not less extraordinary was the voyage of Captain Cavendish, who +made the circumnavigation of the globe at his own expense. He +set out from Plymouth in three small vessels on the 21st July, +1586. One vessel was of 120 tons, the second of 60 tons, and the +third of 40 tons--not much bigger than a Thames yacht. The +united crews, of officers, men, and boys, did not exceed 123! +Cavendish sailed along the South American continent, and made +through the Straits of Magellan, reaching the Pacific Ocean. He +burnt and plundered the Spanish settlements along the coast, +captured some Spanish ships, and took by boarding the galleon St. +Anna, with 122,000 Spanish dollars on board. He then sailed +across the Pacific to the Ladrone Islands, and returned home +through the Straits of Java and the Indian Archipelago by the +Cape of Good Hope, and reached England after an absence of two +years and a month. + +The sacred and invincible Armada was now ready, Philip II. was +determined to put down those English adventurers who had swept +the coasts of Spain and plundered his galleons on the high seas. +The English sailors knew that the sword of Philip was forged in +the gold mines of South America, and that the only way to defend +their country was to intercept the plunder on its voyage home to +Spain. But the sailors and their captains--Drake, Hawkins, +Frobisher, Howard, Grenville, Raleigh, and the rest--could not +altogether interrupt the enterprise of the King of Spain. The +Armada sailed, and came in sight of the English coast on the 20th +of July, 1588. + +The struggle was of an extraordinary character. On the one side +was the most powerful naval armament that had ever put to sea. +It consisted of six squadrons of sixty fine large ships, the +smallest being of 700 tons. Besides these were four gigantic +galleasses, each carrying fifty guns, four large armed galleys, +fifty-six armed merchant ships, and twenty caravels--in all, 149 +vessels. On board were 8000 sailors, 20,000 soldiers, and a +large number of galley-slaves. The ships carried provisions +enough for six months' consumption; and the supply of ammunition +was enormous. + +On the other side was the small English fleet under Hawkins and +Drake. The Royal ships were only thirteen in number. The rest +were contributed by private enterprize, there being only +thirty-eight vessels of all sorts and sizes, including cutters +and pinnaces, carrying the Queen's flag. The principal armed +merchant ships were provided by London, Southampton, Bristol, and +the other southern ports. Drake was followed by some privateers; +Hawkins had four or five ships, and Howard of Effingham two. The +fleet was, however, very badly found in provisions and +ammunition. There was only a week's provisions on board, and +scarcely enough ammunition for one day's hard fighting. But the +ships, small though they were, were in good condition. They +could sail, whether in pursuit or in flight, for the men who +navigated them were thorough sailors. + +The success of the defence was due to tact, courage, and +seamanship. At the first contact of the fleets, the Spanish +towering galleons wished to close, to grapple with their +contemptuous enemies, and crush them to death. "Come on!" said +Medina Sidonia. Lord Howard came on with the Ark and three other +ships, and fired with immense rapidity into the great floating +castles. The Sam Mateo luffed, and wanted them to board. "No! +not yet!" The English tacked, returned, fired again, riddled the +Spaniards, and shot away in the eye of the wind. To the +astonishment of the Spanish Admiral, the English ships approached +him or left him just as they chose. "The enemy pursue me," wrote +the Spanish Admiral to the Prince of Parma; "they fire upon me +most days from morning till nightfall, but they will not close +and grapple, though I have given them every opportunity." The +Capitana, a galleon of 1200 tons, dropped behind, struck her flag +to Drake, and increased the store of the English fleet by some +tons of gunpowder. Another Spanish ship surrendered, and another +store of powder and shot was rescued for the destruction of the +Armada. And so it happened throughout, until the Spanish fleet +was driven to wreck and ruin, and the remaining ships were +scattered by the tempests of the north. After all, Philip proved +to be, what the sailors called him, only "a Colossus stuffed with +clouts." + +The English sailors followed up their advantage. They went on +"singeing the Ring of Spain's beard." Private adventurers fitted +up a fleet under the command of Drake, and invaded the mainland +of Spain. They took the lower part of the town of Corunna; +sailed to the Tagus, and captured a fleet of ships laden with +wheat and warlike stores for a new Armada. They next sacked +Vigo, and returned to England with 150 pieces of cannon and a +rich booty. The Earl of Cumberland sailed to the West Indies on +a private adventure, and captured more Spanish prizes. In 1590, +ten English merchantmen, returning from the Levant, attacked +twelve Spanish galleons, and after six hours' contest, put them +to flight with great loss. In the following year, three merchant +ships set sail for the East Indies, and in the course of their +voyage took several Portuguese vessels. + +A powerful Spanish fleet still kept the seas, and in 1591 they +conquered the noble Sir Richard Grenville at the Azores--fifteen +great Spanish galleons against one Queen's ship, the Revenge. In +1593, two of the Queen's ships, accompanied by a number of +merchant ships, sailed for the West Indies, under Burroughs, +Frobisher, and Cross, and amongst their other captures they took +the greatest of all the East India caracks, a vessel of 1600 +tons, 700 men, and 36 brass cannon, laden with a magnificent +cargo. She was taken to Dartmouth, and surprised all who saw +her, being the largest ship that had ever been seen in England. +In 1594, Captain James Lancaster set sail with three ships upon a +voyage of adventure. He was joined by some Dutch and French +privateers. The result was, that they captured thirty-nine of +the Spanish ships. Sir Amias Preston, Sir John Hawkins, and Sir +Francis Drake, also continued their action upon the seas. Lord +Admiral Howard and the Earl of Essex made their famous attack +upon Cadiz for the purpose of destroying the new Armada; they +demolished all the forts; sank eleven of the King of Spain's best +ships, forty-four merchant ships, and brought home much booty. + +Nor was maritime discovery neglected. The planting of new +colonies began, for the English people had already begun to +swarm. In 1578, Sir Humphrey Gilbert planted Newfoundland for +the Queen. In 1584, Sir Waiter Raleigh planted the first +settlement in Virginia. Nor was the North-west passage +neglected; for in 1580, Captain Pett (a name famous on the +Thames) set sail from Harwich in the George, accompanied by +Captain Jackman in the William. They reached the ice in the +North Sea, but were compelled to return without effecting their +purpose! Will it be believed that the George was only of 40 tons, +and that its crew consisted of nine men and a boy; and that the +William was of 20 tons, with five men and a boy? The wonder is +that these little vessels could resist the terrible icefields, +and return to England again with their hardy crews. + +Then in 1585, another of our adventurous sailors, John Davis, of +Sandridge on the Dart, set sail with two barks, the Sunshine and +the Moonshine, of 50 and 35 tons respectively, and discovered in +the far North-west the Strait which now bears his name. He was +driven back by the ice; but, undeterred by his failure, he set +out on a second, and then on a third voyage of discovery in the +two following years. But he never succeeded in discovering the +North-west passage. It all reads like a mystery--these repeated, +determined, and energetic attempts to discover a new way of +reaching the fabled region of Cathay. + +In these early times the Dutch were not unworthy rivals of the +English. After they had succeeded in throwing off the Spanish +yoke and achieved their independence, they became one of the most +formidable of maritime powers. In the course of another century +Holland possessed more colonies, and had a larger share of the +carrying trade of the world than Britain. It was natural +therefore that the Dutch republic should take an interest in the +North-west passage; and the Dutch sailors, by their enterprise +and bravery, were among the first to point the way to Arctic +discovery. Barents and Behring, above all others, proved the +courage and determination of their heroic ancestors. + +The romance of the East India Company begins with an +advertisement in the London Gazette of 1599, towards the end of +the reign of Queen Elizabeth. As with all other enterprises of +the nation, it was established by private means. The Company was +started with a capital of 72,000L. in 50L. shares. The +adventurers bought four vessels of an average burthen of 350 +tons. These were stocked with provisions, "Norwich stuffs," and +other merchandise. The tiny fleet sailed from Billingsgate on +the 13th February, 1601. It went by the Cape of Good Hope to the +East Indies, under the command of Captain James Lancaster. It +took no less than sixteen months to reach the Indian Archipelago. + +The little fleet reached Acheen in June, 1602. The king of the +territory received the visitors with courtesy, and exchanged +spices with them freely. The four vessels sailed homeward, +taking possession of the island of St. Helena on their way back; +having been absent exactly thirty-one months. The profits of the +first voyage proved to be about one hundred per cent. Such was +the origin of the great East India Company--now expanded into an +empire, and containing about two hundred millions of people. + +To return to the shipping and the mercantile marine of the time +of Queen Elizabeth. The number of Royal ships was only thirteen, +the rest of the navy consisting of merchant ships, which were +hired and discharged when their purpose was served.[11] +According to Wheeler, at the accession of the Queen, there were +not more than four ships belonging to the river Thames, excepting +those of the Royal Navy, which were over 120 tons in burthen;[12] +and after forty years, the whole of the merchant ships of +England, over 100 tons, amounted to 135; only a few of these +being of 500 tons. In 1588, the number had increased to 150, "of +about 150 tons one with another, employed in trading voyages to +all parts and countries." The principal shipping which frequented +the English ports still continued to be foreign--Italian, +Flemish, and German. + +Liverpool, now possessing the largest shipping tonnage in the +world, had not yet come into existence. It was little better +than a fishing village. The people of the place presented a +petition to the Queen, praying her to remit a subsidy which had +been imposed upon them, and speaking of their native place as +"Her Majesty's poor decayed town of Liverpool." In 1565, seven +years after Queen Elizabeth began to reign, the number of vessels +belonging to Liverpool was only twelve. The largest was of forty +tons burthen, with twelve men; and the smallest was a boat of six +tons, with three men.[13] + +James I., on his accession to the throne of England in 1603, +called in all the ships of war, as well as the numerous +privateers which had been employed during the previous reign in +waging war against the commerce of Spain, and declared himself to +be at peace with all the world. James was as peaceful as a +Quaker. He was not a fighting King;- and, partly on this +account, he was not popular. He encouraged manufactures in wool, +silk, and tapestry. He gave every encouragement to the +mercantile and colonizing adventurers to plant and improve the +rising settlements of Virginia, New England, and Newfoundland. +He also promoted the trade to the East Indies. Attempts +continued to be made, by Hudson, Poole, Button, Hall, Baffin, and +other courageous seamen, to discover the North-West passage, but +always without effect. + +The shores of England being still much infested by Algerine and +other pirates,[14] King James found it necessary to maintain the +ships of war in order to protect navigation and commerce. He +nearly doubled the ships of the Royal Navy, and increased the +number from thirteen to twenty-four. Their size, however, +continued small, both Royal and merchant ships. Sir William +Monson says, that at the accession of James I. there were not +above four merchant ships in England of 400 tons burthen.[15] +The East Indian merchants were the first to increase the size. +In 1609, encouraged by their Charter, they built the Trade's +Increase, of 1100 tons burthen, the largest merchant ship that +had ever been built in England. As it was necessary that, the +crew of the ship should be able to beat off the pirates, she was +fully armed. The additional ships of war were also of heavier +burthen. In the same year, the Prince, of 1400 tons burthen, was +launched; she carried sixty-four cannon, and was superior to any +ship of the kind hitherto seen in England. + +And now we arrive at the subject of this memoir. The Petts were +the principal ship-builders of the time. They had long been +known upon the Thames, and had held posts in the Royal Dockyards +since the reign of Henry VII. They were gallant sailors, too; +one of them, as already mentioned, having made an adventurous +voyage to the Arctic Ocean in his little bark, the George, of +only 40 tons burthen. Phineas Pett was the first of the great +ship-builders. His father, Peter Pett, was one of the Queen's +master shipwrights. Besides being a ship-builder, he was also a +poet, being the author of a poetical piece entitled, "Time's +Journey to seek his daughter Truth,"[16] a very respectable +performance. Indeed, poetry is by no means incompatible with +ship-building--the late Chief Constructor of the Navy being, +perhaps, as proud of his poetry as of his ships. Pett's poem was +dedicated to the Lord High Admiral, Howard, Earl of Nottingham; +and this may possibly have been the reason of the singular +interest which he afterwards took in Phineas Pett, the poet +shipwright's son. + +Phineas Pett was the second son of his father. He was born at +Deptford, or "Deptford Strond," as the place used to be called, +on the 1st of November, 1570. At nine years old, he was sent to +the free-school at Rochester, and remained there for four years. +Not profiting much by his education there, his father removed him +to a private school at Greenwich, kept by a Mr. Adams. Here he +made so much progress, that in three years time he was ready for +Cambridge. He was accordingly sent to that University at +Shrovetide, l586, and was entered at Emmanuel College, under +charge of Mr. Charles Chadwick, the president. His father +allowed him 20L. per annum, besides books, apparel, and other +necessaries. + +Phineas remained at Cambridge for three years. He was obliged to +quit the University by the death of his "reverend, ever-loving +father," whose loss, he says, "proved afterwards my utter undoing +almost, had not God been more merciful to me." His mother +married again, "a most wicked husband," says Pett in his +autobiography,[17] "one, Mr. Thomas Nunn, a minister," but of +what denomination he does not state. His mother's imprudence +wholly deprived him of his maintenance, and having no hopes of +preferment from his friends, he necessarily abandoned his +University career, "presently after Christmas, 1590." + +Early in the following year, he was persuaded by his mother to +apprentice himself to Mr. Richard Chapman, of Deptford Strond, +one of the Queen's Master shipwrights, whom his late father had +"bred up from a child to that profession." He was allowed 2L. +6s. 8d. per annum, with which he had to provide himself with +tools and apparel. Pett spent two years in this man's service to +very little purpose; Chapman then died, and the apprentice was +dismissed. Pett applied to his elder brother Joseph, who would +not help him, although he had succeeded to his father's post in +the Royal Dockyard. He was accordingly "constrained to ship +himself to sea upon a desperate voyage in a man-of-war." He +accepted the humble place of carpenter's mate on board the +galleon Constance, of London. Pett's younger brother, Peter, +then living at Wapping, gave him lodging, meat, and drink, until +the ship was ready to sail. But he had no money to buy clothes. +Fortunately one William King, a yoeman in Essex, taking pity upon +the unfortunate young man, lent him 3L. for that purpose; which +Pett afterwards repaid. + +The Constance was of only 200 tons burden. She set sail for the +South a few days before Christmas, 1592. There is no doubt that +she was bound upon a piratical adventure. Piracy was not thought +dishonourable in those days. Four years had elapsed since the +Armada had approached the English coast; and now the English and +Dutch ships were scouring the seas in search of Spanish galleons. + +Whoever had the means of furnishing a ship, and could find a +plucky captain to command her, sent her out as a privateer. Even +the Companies of the City of London clubbed their means together +for the purpose of sending out Sir Waiter Raleigh to capture +Spanish ships, and afterwards to divide the plunder; as any one +may see on referring to the documents of the London +Corporation.[18] + +The adventure in which Pett was concerned did not prove very +fortunate. He was absent for about twenty months on the coasts +of Spain and Barbary, and in the Levant, enduring much misery for +want of victuals and apparel, and "without taking any purchase of +any value." The Constance returned to the Irish coast, "extreme +poorly." The vessel entered Cork harbour, and then Pett, +thoroughly disgusted with privateering life, took leave of both +ship and voyage. With much difficulty, he made his way across +the country to Waterford, from whence he took ship for London. +He arrived there three days before Christmas, 1594, in a beggarly +condition, and made his way to his brother Peter's house at +Wapping, who again kindly entertained him. The elder brother +Joseph received him more coldly, though he lent him forty +shillings to find himself in clothes. At that time, the fleet +was ordered to be got ready for the last expedition of Drake and +Hawkins to the West Indies. The Defiance was sent into Woolwich +dock to be sheathed; and as Joseph Pett was in charge of the job, +he allowed his brother to be employed as a carpenter. + +In the following year, Phineas succeeded in attracting the notice +of Matthew Baker, who was commissioned to rebuild Her Majesty's +Triumph. Baker employed Pett as an ordinary workman; but he had +scarcely begun the job before Baker was ordered to proceed with +the building of a great new ship at Deptford, called the Repulse. + +Phineas wished to follow the progress of the Triumph, but finding +his brother Joseph unwilling to retain him in his employment, he +followed Baker to Deptford, and continued to work at the Repulse +until she was finished, launched, and set sail on her voyage, at +the end of April, 1596. This was the leading ship of the +squadron which set sail for Cadiz, under the command of the Earl +of Essex and the Lord Admiral Howard, and which did so much +damage to the forts and shipping of Philip II. of Spain. + +During the winter months, while the work was in progress, Pett +spent the leisure of his evenings in perfecting himself in +learning, especially in drawing, cyphering, and mathematics, for +the purpose, as he says, of attaining the knowledge of his +profession. His master, Mr. Baker, gave him every encouragement, +and from his assistance, he adds, "I must acknowledge I received +my greatest lights." The Lord Admiral was often present at +Baker's house. Pett was importuned to set sail with the ship +when finished, but he preferred remaining at home. The principal +reason, no doubt, that restrained him at this moment from seeking +the patronage of the great, was the care of his two sisters,[19] +who, having fled from the house of their barbarous stepfather, +could find no refuge but in that of their brother Phineas. +Joseph refused to receive them, and Peter of Wapping was perhaps +less able than willing to do so. + +In April, 1597, Pett had the advantage of being introduced to +Howard, Earl of Nottingham, then Lord High Admiral of England. +This, he says, was the first beginning of his rising. Two years +later, Howard recommended him for employment in purveying plank +and timber in Norfolk and Suffolk for shipbuilding purposes. +Pett accomplished his business satisfactorily, though he had some +malicious enemies to contend against. In his leisure, he began +to prepare models of ships, which he rigged and finished +complete. He also proceeded with the study of mathematics. The +beginning of the year 1600 found Pett once more out of +employment; and during his enforced idleness, which continued for +six months, he seriously contemplated abandoning his profession +and attempting to gain "an honest and convenient maintenance" by +joining a friend in purchasing a caravel (a small vessel), and +navigating it himself. + +He was, however, prevented from undertaking this enterprise by a +message which he received from the Court, then stationed at +Greenwich. The Lord High Admiral desired to see him; and after +many civil compliments, he offered him the post of keeper of the +plankyard at Chatham. Pett was only too glad to accept this +offer, though the salary was small. He shipped his furniture on +board a hoy of Rainham, and accompanied it down the Thames to the +junction with the Medway. There he escaped a great danger--one +of the sea perils of the time. The mouths of navigable rivers +were still infested with pirates; and as the hoy containing Pett +approached the Nore about three o'clock in the morning, and while +still dark, she came upon a Dunkirk picaroon, full of men. +Fortunately the pirate was at anchor; she weighed and gave chase, +and had not the hoy set full sail, and been impelled up the Swale +by a fresh wind, Pett would have been taken prisoner, with all +his furniture.[20] + +Arrived at Chatham, Pett met his brother Joseph, became +reconciled to him, and ever after they lived together as loving +brethren. At his brother's suggestion, Pett took a lease of the +Manor House, and settled there with his sisters. He was now in +the direct way to preferment. Early in the following year +(March, 1601) he succeeded to the place of assistant to the +principal master shipwright at Chatham, and undertook the repairs +of Her Majesty's ship The Lion's Whelp, and in the next year he +new-built the Moon enlarging her both in length and breadth. + +At the accession of James I. in 1603, Pett was commanded by the +Lord High Admiral with all possible speed to build a little +vessel for the young Prince Henry, eldest son of His Majesty. It +was to be a sort of copy of the Ark Royal, which was the flagship +of the Lord High Admiral when he defeated the Spanish Armada. +Pett proceeded to accomplish the order with all dispatch. The +little ship was in length by the keel 28 feet, in breadth 12 +feet, and very curiously garnished within and without with +painting and carving. After working by torch and candle light, +night and day, the ship was launched, and set sail for the +Thames, with the noise of drums, trumpets, and cannon, at the +beginning of March, 1604. After passing through a great storm at +the Nore, the vessel reached the Tower, where the King and the +young Prince inspected her with delight. She was christened +Disdain by the Lord High Admiral, and Pett was appointed captain +of the ship. + +After his return to Chatham, Pett, at his own charge, built a +small ship at Gillingham, of 300 tons, which he launched in the +same year, and named the Resistance. The ship was scarcely out +of hand, when Pett was ordered to Woolwich, to prepare the Bear +and other vessels for conveying his patron, the Lord High +Admiral, as an Ambassador Extraordinary to Spain, for the purpose +of concluding peace, after a strife of more than forty years. +The Resistance was hired by the Government as a transport, and +Pett was put in command. He seems to have been married at this +time, as he mentions in his memoir that he parted with his wife +and children at Chatham on the 24th of March, 1605, and that he +sailed from Queenborough on Easter Sunday. + +During the voyage to Lisbon the Resistance became separated from +the Ambassador's squadron, and took refuge in Corunna. She then +set sail for Lisbon, which she reached on the 24th of April; and +afterwards for St. Lucar, on the Guadalquiver, near Seville, +which she reached on the 11th of May following. After revisiting +Corunna, "according to instructions," on the homeward voyage, +Pett directed his course for England, and reached Rye on the 26th +of June, "amidst much rain, thunder, and lightning." In the +course of the same year, his brother Joseph died, and Phineas +succeeded to his post as master shipbuilder at Chatham. He was +permitted, in conjunction with one Henry Farvey and three others, +to receive the usual reward of 5s. per ton for building five new +merchant ships,[21] most probably for East Indian commerce, now +assuming large dimensions. He was despatched by the Government +to Bearwood, in Hampshire, to make a selection of timber from the +estate of the Earl of Worcester for the use of the navy, and on +presenting his report 3000 tons were purchased. What with his +building of ships, his attendance on the Lord Admiral to Spain, +and his selection of timber for the Government, his hands seem to +have been kept very full during the whole of 1605. + +In July, 1606, Pett received private instructions from the Lord +High Admiral to have all the King's ships "put into comely +readiness" for the reception of the King of Denmark, who was +expected on a Royal visit. "Wherein," he says, "I strove +extraordinarily to express my service for the honour of the +kingdom; but by reason the time limited was short, and the +business great, we laboured night and day to effect it, which +accordingly was done, to the great honour of our sovereign king +and master, and no less admiration of all strangers that were +eye-witnesses to the same." The reception took place on the 10th +of August, 1606. + +Shortly after the departure of His Majesty of Denmark, four of +the Royal ships--the Ark, Victory, Golden Lion, and +Swiftsure--were ordered to be dry-docked; the two last mentioned +at Deptford, under charge of Matthew Baker; and the two former at +Woolwich, under that of Pett. For greater convenience, Pett +removed his family to Woolwich. After being elected and sworn +Master of the Company of Shipwrights, he refers in his +manuscript, for the first time, to his magnificent and original +design of the Prince Royal.[22] + +"After settling at Woolwich," he says, "I began a curious model +for the prince my master, most part whereof I wrought with my own +hands." After finishing the model, he exhibited it to the Lord +High Admiral, and, after receiving his approval and commands, he +presented it to the young prince at Richmond. "His Majesty (who +was present) was exceedingly delighted with the sight of the +model, and passed some time in questioning the divers material +things concerning it, and demanded whether I could build the +great ship in all parts like the same; for I will, says His +Majesty, compare them together when she shall be finished. Then +the Lord Admiral commanded me to tell His Majesty the story of +the Three Ravens[23] I had seen at Lisbon, in St. Vincent's +Church; which I did as well as I could, with my best expressions, +though somewhat daunted at first at His Majesty's presence, +having never before spoken before any King." + +Before, however, he could accomplish his purpose, Pett was +overtaken by misfortunes. His enemies, very likely seeing with +spite the favour with which he had been received by men in high +position, stirred up an agitation against him. There may, and +there very probably was, a great deal of jobbery going on in the +dockyards. It was difficult, under the system which prevailed, +to have any proper check upon the expenditure for the repair and +construction of ships. At all events, a commission was appointed +for the purpose of inquiring into the abuses and misdemeanors of +those in office; and Pett's enemies took care that his past +proceedings should be thoroughly overhauled,--together with those +of Sir Robert Mansell, then Treasurer to the Navy; Sir John +Trevor, surveyor; Sir Henry Palmer, controller; Sir Thomas +Bluther, victualler; and many others. + +While the commission was still sitting and holding what Pett +calls their "malicious proceedings," he was able to lay the keel +of his new great ship upon the stocks in the dock at Woolwich on +the 20th of October, 1608. He had a clear conscience, for his +hands were clean. He went on vigorously with his work, though he +knew that the inquisition against him was at its full height. +His enemies reported that he was "no artist, and that he was +altogether insufficient to perform such a service" as that of +building his great ship. Nevertheless, he persevered, believing +in the goodness of his cause. Eventually, he was enabled to turn +the tables upon his accusers, and to completely justify himself +in all his transactions with the king, the Lord Admiral, and the +public officers, who were privy to all his transactions. Indeed, +the result of the enquiry was not only to cause a great trouble +and expense to all the persons accused, but, as Pett says in his +Memoir, "the Government itself of that royal office was so shaken +and disjoined as brought almost ruin upon the whole Navy, and a +far greater charge to his Majesty in his yearly expense than ever +was known before."[24] + +In the midst of his troubles and anxieties, Pett was unexpectedly +cheered with the presence of his "Master" Prince Henry, who +specially travelled out of his way from Essex to visit him at +Woolwich, to see with his own eyes what progress he was making +with the great ship. After viewing the dry dock, which had been +constructed by Pett, and was one of the first, if not the very +first in England,--his Highness partook of a banquet which the +shipbuilder had hastily prepared for him in his temporary +lodgings. + +One of the circumstances which troubled Pett so much at this +time, was the strenuous opposition of the other shipbuilders to +his plans of the great ship. There never had been such a +frightful innovation. The model was all wrong. The lines were +detestable. The man who planned the whole thing was a fool, a +"cozener" of the king, and the ship, suppose it to be made, was +"unfit for any other use but a dung-boat!" This attack upon his +professional character weighed very heavily upon his mind. + +He determined to put his case in a staightforward manner before +the Lord High Admiral. He set down in writing in the briefest +manner everything that he had done, and the plots that had been +hatched against him; and beseeched his lordship, for the honour +of the State, and the reputation of his office, to cause the +entire matter to be thoroughly investigated "by judicious and +impartial persons." After a conference with Pett, and an +interview with his Majesty, the Lord High Admiral was authorised +by the latter to invite the Earls of Worcester and Suffolk to +attend with him at Woolwich, and bring all the accusers of Pett's +design of the great ship before them for the purpose of +examination, and to report to him as to the actual state of +affairs. Meanwhile Pett's enemies had been equally busy. They +obtained a private warrant from the Earl of Northampton[25] to +survey the work; "which being done," says Pett, "upon return of +the insufficiency of the same under their hands, and confirmation +by oath, it was resolved amongst them I should be turned out, and +for ever disgraced." + +But the lords appointed by the King now interfered between Pett +and his adversaries. They first inspected the ship, and made a +diligent survey of the form and manner of the work and the +goodness of the materials, and then called all the accusers +before them to hear their allegations. They were examined +separately. First, Baker the master shipbuilder was called. He +objected to the size of the ship, to the length, breadth, depth, +draught of water, height of jack, rake before and aft, breadth of +the floor, scantling of the timber, and so on. Then another of +the objectors was called; and his evidence was so clearly in +contradiction to that which had already been given, that either +one or both must be wrong. The principal objector, Captain +Waymouth, next gave his evidence; but he was able to say nothing +to any purpose, except giving their lordships "a long, tedious +discourse of proportions, measures, lines, and an infinite rabble +of idle and unprofitable speeches, clean from the matter." + +The result was that their lordships reported favourably of the +design of the ship, and the progress which had already been made. + +The Earl of Nottingham interposed his influence; and the King +himself, accompanied by the young Prince, went down to Woolwich, +and made a personal examination.[26] A great many witnesses were +again examined, twenty-four on one side, and twenty-seven on the +other. The King then carefully examined the ship himself: "the +planks, the tree-nails, the workmanship, and the cross-grained +timber." "The cross-grain," he concluded, "was in the men and +not in the timber." After all the measurements had been made and +found correct, "his Majesty," says Pett, "with a loud voice +commanded the measurers to declare publicly the very truth; which +when they had delivered clearly on our side, all the whole +multitude heaved up their hats, and gave a great and loud shout +and acclamation. And then the Prince, his Highness, called with +a high voice in these words: 'Where be now these perjured +fellows that dare thus abuse his Majesty with these false +accusations? Do they not worthily deserve hanging?"' + +Thus Pett triumphed over all his enemies, and was allowed to +finish the great ship in his own way. By the middle of September +1610, the vessel was ready to be "strucken down upon her ways"; +and a dozen of the choice master carpenters of his Majesty's navy +came from Chatham to assist in launching her. The ship was +decorated, gilded, draped, and garlanded; and on the 24th the +King, the Queen, and the Royal family came from the palace at +Theobald's to witness the great sight. Unfortunately, the day +proved very rough; and it was little better than a neap tide. +The ship started very well, but the wind "overblew the tide"; she +caught in the dock-gates, and settled hard upon the ground, so +that there was no possibility of launching her that day. + +This was a great disappointment. The King retired to the palace +at Greenwich, though the Prince lingered behind. When he left, +he promised to return by midnight, after which it was proposed to +make another effort to set the ship afloat. When the time +arrived, the Prince again made his appearance, and joined the +Lord High Admiral, and the principal naval officials. It was +bright moonshine. After midnight the rain began to fall, and the +wind to blow from the southwest. But about two o'clock, an hour +before high water, the word was given to set all taut, and the +ship went away without any straining of screws and tackles, till +she came clear afloat into the midst of the Thames. The Prince +was aboard, and amidst the blast of trumpets and expressions of +joy, he performed the ceremony of drinking from the great +standing cup, and throwing the rest of the wine towards the +half-deck, and christening the ship by the name of the Prince +Royal.[27] + +The dimensions of the ship may be briefly described. Her keel +was 114 feet long, and her cross-beam 44 feet. She was of 1400 +tons burthen, and carried 64 pieces of great ordnance. She was +the largest ship that had yet been constructed in England. + +The Prince Royal was, at the time she was built, considered one +of the most wonderful efforts of human genius. Mr. Charnock, in +his 'Treatise on Marine Architecture,' speaks of her as abounding +in striking peculiarities. Previous to the construction of this +ship, vessels were built in the style of the Venetian galley, +which although well adapted for the quiet Mediterranean, were not +suited for the stormy northern ocean. The fighting ships also of +the time of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth were too full of +"top-hamper" for modern navigation. They were oppressed by high +forecastles and poops. Pett struck out entirely new ideas in the +build and lines of his new ship; and the course which he adopted +had its effect upon all future marine structures. The ship was +more handy, more wieldy, and more convenient. She was +unquestionably the first effort of English ingenuity in the +direction of manageableness and simplicity. "The vessel in +question," says Charnock, "may be considered the parent of the +class of shipping which continues in practice even to the present +moment." + +It is scarcely necessary to pursue in detail the further history +of Phineas Pett. We may briefly mention the principal points. +In 1612, the Prince Royal was appointed to convey the Princess +Elizabeth and her husband, The Palsgrave, to the Continent. Pett +was on board the ship, and found that "it wrought exceedingly +well, and was so yare of conduct that a foot of helm would steer +her." While at Flushing, "such a multitude of people, men, +women, and children, came from all places in Holland to see the +ship, that we could scarce have room to go up and down till very +night." + +About the 27th of March, 1616, Pett bargained with Sir Waiter +Raleigh to build a vessel of 500 tons,[28] and received 500L. +from him on account. The King, through the interposition of the +Lord Admiral, allowed Pett to lay her keel on the galley dock at +Woolwich. In the same year he was commissioned by the Lord +Zouche, now Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, to construct a +pinnace of 40 tons, in respect of which Pett remarks, "towards +the whole of the hull of the pinnace, and all her rigging, I +received only 100L. from the Lord Zouche, the rest Sir Henry +Mainwaring (half-brother to Raleigh) cunningly received on my +behalf, without my knowledge, which I never got from him but by +piecemeal, so that by the bargain I was loser 100L. at least." + +Pett fared much worse at the hands of Raleigh himself. His great +ship, the Destiny, was finished and launched in December, 1616. +"I delivered her to him," says Pett, "on float, in good order and +fashion; by which business I lost 700L., and could never get any +recompense at all for it; Sir Walter going to sea and leaving me +unsatisfied."[29] Nor was this the only loss that Pett met with +this year. The King, he states, "bestowed upon me for the supply +of my present relief the making of a knight-baronet," which +authority Pett passed to a recusant, one Francis Ratcliffe, for +700L.; but that worthy defrauded him, so that he lost 30L. by the +bargain. + +Next year, Pett was despatched by the Government to the New +Forest in Hampshire, "where," he says, "one Sir Giles +Mompesson[30] had made a vast waste in the spoil of his Majesty's +timber, to redress which I was employed thither, to make choice +out of the number of trees he had felled of all such timber as +was useful for shipping, in which business I spent a great deal +of time, and brought myself into a great deal of trouble." About +this period, poor Pett's wife and two of his children lay for +some time at death's door. Then more enquiries took place into +the abuses of the dockyards, in which it was sought to implicate +Pett. During the next three years (1618-20) he worked under the +immediate orders of the Commissioners in the New Dock at Chatham. + +In 1620, Pett's friend Sir Robert Mansell was appointed General +of the Fleet destined to chastise the Algerine pirates, who still +continued their depredations on the shipping in the Channel, and +the King thereupon commissioned Pett to build with all dispatch +two pinnaces, of 120 and 80 tons respectively. "I was myself," +he says, "to serve as Captain in the voyage"--being glad, no +doubt, to escape from his tormentors. The two pinnaces were +built at Ratcliffe, and were launched on the 16th and l8th of +October, 1620. On the 30th, Pett sailed with the fleet, and +after driving the pirates out of the Channel, he returned to port +after an absence of eleven months. + +His enemies had taken advantage of his absence from England to +get an order for the survey of the Prince Royal, his masterpiece; +the result of which was, he says, that "they maliciously +certified the ship to be unserviceable, and not fit to +continue--that what charges should be bestowed upon her would be +lost." Nevertheless, the Prince Royal was docked, and fitted for +a voyage to Spain. She was sent thither with Charles Prince of +Wales and the Duke of Buckingham, the former going in search of a +Spanish wife. Pett, the builder of the ship, was commanded to +accompany the young Prince and the Duke. + +The expedition sailed on the 24th of August, 1623, and returned +on the l4th of October. Pett was entertained on board the Prince +Royal, and rendered occasional services to the officers in +command, though nothing of importance occurred during the voyage. + +The Prince of Wales presented him with a valuable gold chain as a +reward for his attendance. In 1625, Pett, after rendering many +important services to the Admiralty, was ordered again to prepare +the Prince Royal for sea. She was to bring over the Prince of +Wales's bride from France. While the preparations were making +for the voyage, news reached Chatham of the death of King James. +Pett was afterwards commanded to go forward with the work of +preparing the Prince Royal, as well as the whole fleet, which was +intended to escort the French Princess, or rather the Queen, to +England. The expedition took place in May, and the young Queen +landed at Dover on the 12th of that month. + +Pett continued to be employed in building and repairing ships, as +well as in preparing new designs, which he submitted to the King +and the Commissioners of the Navy. In 1626, he was appointed a +joint commissioner, with the Lord High Admiral, the Lord +Treasurer Marlborough, and others, "to enquire into certain +alleged abuses of the Navy, and to view the state thereof, and +also the stores thereof," clearly showing that he was regaining +his old position. He was also engaged in determining the best +mode of measuring the tonnage of ships.[31] Four years later he +was again appointed a commissioner for making "a general survey +of the whole navy at Chatham." For this and his other services +the King promoted Pett to be a principal officer of the Navy, +with a fee of 200L. per annum. His patent was sealed on the 16th +of January, 1631. In the same year the King visited Woolwich to +witness the launching of the Vanguard, which Pett had built; and +his Majesty honoured the shipwright by participating in a banquet +at his lodgings. + +From this period to the year 1637, Pett records nothing of +particular importance in his autobiography. He was chiefly +occupied in aiding his son Peter--who was rapidly increasing his +fame as a shipwright--in repairing and building first-class ships +of war. As Pett had, on an early occasion in his life, prepared +a miniature ship for Prince Henry, eldest son of James I., he now +proceeded to prepare a similar model for the Prince of Wales, the +King's eldest son, afterwards Charles II. This model was +presented to the Prince at St. James's, "who entertained it with +great joy, being purposely made to disport himself withal." On +the next visit of his Majesty to Woolwich, he inspected the +progress made with the Leopard, a sloop-of-war built by Peter +Pett. While in the hold of the vessel, the King called Phineas +to one side, and told him of his resolution to have a great new +ship built, and that Phineas must be the builder. This great new +ship was The Sovereign of the Seas, afterwards built by Phineas +and Peter Pett. Some say that the model was prepared by the +latter; but Phineas says that it was prepared by himself, and +finished by the 29th of October, 1634. As a compensation for his +services, his Majesty renewed his pension of 40L. (which had been +previously stopped), with orders for all the arrears due upon it +to be paid. + +To provide the necessary timber for the new ship, Phineas and his +son went down into the North to survey the forests. They went +first by water to Whitby; from thence they proceeded on horseback +to Gisborough and baited; then to Stockton, where they found but +poor entertainment, though they lodged with the Mayor, whose +house "was only a mean thatched cottage!" Middlesborough and the +great iron district of the North had not yet come into existence. + +Newcastle, already of some importance, was the principal scene of +their labours. The timber for the new ship was found in Chapley +Wood and Bracepeth Park. The gentry did all they could to +facilitate the object of Pett. On his journey homewards (July, +1635), he took Cambridge on his way, where, says he, "I lodged at +the Falcon, and visited Emmanuel College, where I had been a +scholar in my youth." + +The Sovereign of the Seas was launched on the l2th of October, +1637, having been about two years in building. Evelyn in his +diary says of the ship (l9th July, 1641):- "We rode to Rochester +and Chatham to see the Soveraigne, a monstrous vessel so called, +being for burthen, defence, and ornament, the richest that ever +spread cloth before the wind. She carried 100 brass cannon, and +was 1600 tons, a rare sailer, the work of the famous Phineas +Pett." Rear-Admiral Sir William Symonds says that she was +afterwards cut down, and was a safe and fast ship.[32] + +The Sovereign continued for nearly sixty years to be the finest +ship in the English service. Though frequently engaged in the +most injurious occupations, she continued fit for any services +which the exigencies of the State might require. She fought all +through the wars of the Commonwealth; she was the leading ship of +Admiral Blake, and was in all the great naval engagements with +France and Holland. The Dutch gave her the name of The Golden +Devil. In the last fight between the English and French, she +encountered the Wonder of the World, and so warmly plied the +French Admiral, that she forced him out of his three-decked +wooden castle, and chasing the Royal Sun, before her, forced her +to fly for shelter among the rocks, where she became a prey to +lesser vessels, and was reduced to ashes. At last, in the reign +of William III., the Sovereign became leaky and defective with +age; she was laid up at Chatham, and being set on fire by +negligence or accident, she burnt to the water's edge. + +To return to the history of Phineas Pett. As years approached, +he retired from office, and "his loving son," as he always +affectionately designates Peter, succeeded him as principal +shipwright, Charles I. conferring upon him the honour of +knighthood. Phineas lived for ten years after the Sovereign of +the Seas was launched. In the burial register of the parish of +Chatham it is recorded, "Phineas Pett, Esqe. and Capt., was +buried 21st August, l647."[33] + +Sir Peter Pett was almost as distinguished as his father. He was +the builder of the first frigate, The Constant Warwick. Sir +William Symonds says of this vessel:-- "She was an incomparable +sailer, remarkable for her sharpness and the fineness of her +lines; and many were built like her." Pett "introduced convex +lines on the immersed part of the hull, with the studding and +sprit sails; and, in short, he appears to have fully deserved his +character of being the best ship architect of his time."[34] Sir +Peter Pett's monument in Deptford Old Church fully records his +services to England's naval power. + +The Petts are said to have been connected with shipbuilding in +the Thames for not less than 200 years. Fuller, in his 'Worthies +of England,' says of them--"I am credibly informed that that +mystery of shipwrights for some descents hath been preserved +faithfully in families, of whom the Petts about Chatham are of +singular regard. Good success have they with their skill, and +carefully keep so precious a pearl, lest otherwise amongst many +friends some foes attain unto it." + +The late Peter Bolt, member for Greenwich, took pride in being +descended from the Petts; but so far as we know, the name itself +has died out. In 1801, when Charnock's 'History of Marine +Architecture' was published, Mr. Pett, of Tovil, near Maidstone, +was the sole representative of the family. + + +Footnotes for Chapter I. + +[1] This was not the first voyage of a steamer between England +and America. The Savannah made the passage from New York to +Liverpool as early as 1819; but steam was only used occasionally +during the voyage, In 1825, the Enterprise, with engines by +Maudslay, made the voyage from Falmouth to Calcutta in 113 days; +and in 1828, the Curacoa made the voyage between Holland and the +Dutch West Indies. But in all these cases, steam was used as an +auxiliary, and not as the one essential means of propulsion, as +in the case of the Sirius and the Great Western, which were steam +voyages only. + +[2] "In 1862 the steam tonnage of the country was 537,000 tons; +in 1872, it was 1,537,000 tons; and in 1882, it had reached +3,835,000 tons."--Mr. Chamberlain's speech, House of Commons, +19th May, 1884. + +[3] The last visit of the plague was in 1665. + +[4] Roll of Edward the Third's Fleet. Cotton's Library, British +Museum. + +[5] Charnock's History Of Marine Architecture, ii. 89. + +[6] State Papers. Henry VIII. Nos. 3496, 3616, 4633. The +principal kinds of ordnance at that time were these:--The +"Apostles," so called from the head of an Apostle which they +bore; "Curtows," or "Courtaulx"; "Culverins" and "Serpents"; +"Minions," and "Potguns"; "Nurembergers," and "Bombards" or +mortars. + +[7] The sum of all costs of the Harry Grace de Dieu and three +small galleys, was 7708L. 5s. 3d. (S.P.O. No. 5228, Henry VIII.) + +[8] Charnock, ii. 47 (note). + +[9] Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, ii. 126. + +[10] The Huguenots: their Settlements, Churches, and Industries, +in England and Ireland, ch. iv. + +[11] Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, ii. 156. + +[12] Ibid. ii. 85. + +[13] Picton's Selections from the Municipal Archives and Records +of Liverpool, p. 90. About a hundred years later, in 1757, the +gross customs receipts of Liverpool had increased to 198,946L.; +whilst those of Bristol were as much as 351,211L. In 1883, the +amount of tonnage of Liverpool, inwards and outwards, was +8,527,531 tons, and the total dock revenue for the year was +1,273,752L.! + +[14] There were not only Algerine but English pirates scouring +the seas. Keutzner, the German, who wrote in Elizabeth's reign, +said, "The English are good sailors and famous pirates (sunt boni +nautae et insignis pyratae)." Roberts, in his Social History of +the Southern Counties (p. 93), observes, "Elizabeth had employed +many English as privateers against the Spaniard. After the war, +many were loth to lead an inactive life. They had their +commissions revoked, and were proclaimed pirates. The public +looked upon them as gallant fellows; the merchants gave them +underhand support; and even the authorities in maritime towns +connived at the sale of their plunder. In spite of +proclamations, during the first five years after the accession of +James I., there were continual complaints. This lawless way of +life even became popular. Many Englishmen furnished themselves +with good ships and scoured the seas, but little careful whom +they might plunder." It was found very difficult to put down +piracy. According to Oliver's History of the city of Exeter, not +less than "fifteen sail of Turks" held the English Channel, +snapping up merchantmen, in the middle of the seventeenth +century! The harbours in the south-west were infested by Moslem +pirates, who attacked and plundered the ships, and carried their +crews into captivity. The loss, even to an inland port like +Exeter, in ships, money, and men, was enormous. + +[15] Naval Tracts, p. 294. + +[16] This poem is now very rare. It is not in the British +Museum. + +[17] There are three copies extant of the autobiography, all of +which are in the British Museum. In the main, they differ but +slightly from each other. Not one of them has been published in +extenso. In December, 1795, and in February, 1796, Dr. Samuel +Denne communicated to the Society of Antiquaries particulars of +two of these MSS., and subsequently published copious extracts +from them in their transactions (Archae. xii. anno 1796), in a +very irregular and careless manner. It is probable that Dr. +Denne never saw the original manuscript, but only a garbled copy +of it. The above narrative has been taken from the original, and +collated with the documents in the State Paper Office. + +[18] See, for instance, the Index to the Journals of Records of +the Corporation of the City of London (No. 2, p. 346, 15901694) +under the head of "Sir Walter Raleigh." There is a document +dated the 15th November, 1593, in the 35th of Elizabeth, which +runs as follows:-- "Committee appointed on behalf of such of the +City Companies as have ventured in the late Fleet set forward by +Sir Walter Raleigh, Knight, and others, to join with such +honourable personages as the Queen hath appointed, to take a +perfect view of all such goods, prizes, spices, jewels, pearls, +treasures, &c., lately taken in the Carrack, and to make sale and +division (Jor. 23, p. 156). Suit to be made to the Queen and +Privy Council for the buying of the goods, &c., lately taken at +sea in the Carrack; a committee appointed to take order +accordingly; the benefit or loss arising thereon to be divided +and borne between the Chamber [of the Corporation of the City] +and the Companies that adventured (157). The several Companies +that adventured at sea with Sir Waiter Raleigh to accept so much +of the goods taken in the Carrack to the value of 12,000L. +according to the Queen's offer. A committee appointed to +acquaint the Lords of the Council with the City's acceptance +thereof (167). Committee for sale of the Carrack goods appointed +(174). Bonds for sale to be sealed (196).... Committee to audit +accounts of a former adventure (224 b.)." + +[19] There were three sisters in all, the eldest of whom +(Abigail) fell a victim to the cruelty of Nunn, who struck her +across the head with the fire-tongs, from the effects of which +she died in three days. Nunn was tried and convicted of +manslaughter. He died shortly after. Mrs. Nunn, Phineas's +mother, was already dead. + +[20] It would seem, from a paper hereafter to be more +particularly referred to, that the government encouraged the +owners of ships and others to clear the seas of these pirates, +agreeing to pay them for their labours. In 1622, Pett fitted out +an expedition against these pests of navigation, but experienced +some difficulty in getting his expenses repaid. + +[21] See grant S.P.O., 29th May, 1605. + +[22] An engraving of this remarkable ship is given in Charnock's +History of Marine Architecture, ii. p. 199. + +[23] The story of the Three, or rather Two Ravens, is as +follows:-- The body of St. Vincent was originally deposited at +the Cape, which still bears his name, on the Portuguese coast; +and his tomb, says the legend, was zealously guarded by a couple +of ravens. When it was determined, in the 12th century, to +transport the relics of the Saint to the Cathedral of Lisbon, the +two ravens accompanied the ship which contained them, one at its +stem and the other at its stern. The relics were deposited in +the Chapel of St. Vincent, within the Cathedral, and there the +two ravens have ever since remained. The monks continued to +support two such birds in the cloisters, and till very lately the +officials gravely informed the visitor to the Cathedral that they +were the identical ravens which accompanied the Saint's relics to +their city. The birds figure in the arms of Lisbon. + +[24] The evidence taken by the Commissioners is embodied in a +voluminous report. State Paper Office, Dom. James I., vol. xli. +1608. + +[25] The Earl of Northampton, Privy Seal, was Lord Warden of the +Cinque Ports; hence his moving in the matter. Pett says he was +his "most implacable enemy." It is probable that the earl was +jealous of Pett, because he had received his commission to build +the great ship directly from the sovereign, without the +intervention of his lordship + +[26] This Royal investigation took place at Woolwich on the 8th +May, 1609. The State Paper Office contains a report of the same +date, most probably the one presented to the King, signed by six +ship-builders and Captain Waymouth, and counter signed by +Northampton and four others. The Report is headed "The Prince +Royal: imperfections found upon view of the new work begun at +Woolwich." It would occupy too much space to give the results +here. + +[27] Alas! for the uncertainties of life! This noble young +prince--the hope of England and the joy of his parents, from whom +such great things were anticipated--for he was graceful, frank, +brave, active, and a lover of the sea,--was seized with a serious +illness, and died in his eighteenth year, on the 16th November, +1612. + +[28] Pett says she was to be 500 tons, but when he turned her out +her burthen was rated at 700 tons. + +[29] This conduct of Raleigh's was the more inexcusable, as there +is in the State Paper Office a warrant dated 16th Nov., 1617, for +the payment to Pett of 700 crowns "for building the new ship, the +Destiny of London, of 700 tons burthen." The least he could have +done was to have handed over to the builder his royal and usual +reward. In the above warrant, by the way, the title "our +well-beloved subject," the ordinary prefix to such grants, has +either been left blank or erased (it is difficult to say which), +but was very significant of the slippery footing of Raleigh at +Court. + +[30] Sir Giles Overreach, in the play of "A new way to pay old +debts," by Philip Massinger. It was difficult for the poet, or +any other person, to libel such a personage as Mompesson. + +[31] Pett's method is described in a paper contained in the +S.P.O., dated 21st Oct., 1626. The Trinity Corporation adopted +his method. + +[32] Memoirs of the Life and Services of Rear-Admiral Sir William +Symonds, Kt., p. 94. + +[33] Pett's dwelling-house at Rochester is thus described in an +anonymous history of that town (p. 337, ed. l817):-- "Beyond the +Victualling Office, on the same side of the High Street, at +Rochester, is an old mansion, now occupied by a Mr. Morson, an +attorney, which formerly belonged to the Petts, the celebrated +ship-builders. The chimney-piece in the principal room is of +wood, curiously carved, the upper part being divided into +compartments by caryatydes. The central compartment contains the +family arms, viz., Or, on a fesse, gu., between three pellets, a +lion passant gardant of the field. On the back of the grate is a +cast of Neptune, standing erect in his car, with Triton blowing +conches, &c., and the date 1650." + +[34] Symonds, Memoirs of Life and Services, 94. + + +CHAPTER II. + +FRANCIS PETTIT SMITH: PRACTICAL INTRODUCER OF THE SCREW +PROPELLER. + +"The spirit of Paley's maxim that 'he alone discovers who +proves,' is applicable to the history of inventions and +discoveries; for certainly he alone invents to any good purpose, +who satisfies the world that the means he may have devised have +been found competent to the end proposed."--Dr. Samuel Brown. + +"Too often the real worker and discoverer remains unknown, and an +invention, beautiful but useless in one age or country, can be +applied only in a remote generation, or in a distant land. +Mankind hangs together from generation to generation; easy labour +is but inherited skill; great discoveries and inventions are +worked up to by the efforts of myriads ere the goal is +reached."--H. M. Hyndman. + +Though a long period elapsed between the times of Phineas Pett +and "Screw" Smith, comparatively little improvement had been +effected in the art of shipbuilding. The Sovereign of the Seas +had not been excelled by any ship of war built down to the end of +last century.[1] At a comparatively recent date, ships continued +to be built of timber and plank, and impelled by sails and oars, +as they had been for thousands of years before. + +But this century has witnessed many marvellous changes. A new +material of construction has been introduced into shipbuilding, +with entirely new methods of propulsion. Old things have been +displaced by new; and the magnitude of the results has been +extraordinary. The most important changes have been in the use +of iron and steel instead of wood, and in the employment of the +steam-engine in impelling ships by the paddle or the screw. + +So long as timber was used for the construction of ships, the +number of vessels built annually, especially in so small an +island as Britain, must necessarily have continued very limited. +Indeed, so little had the cultivation of oak in Great Britain +been attended to, that all the royal forests could not have +supplied sufficient timber to build one line-of-battle ship +annually; while for the mercantile marine, the world had to be +ransacked for wood, often of a very inferior quality. + +Take, for instance, the seventy-eight gun ship, the Hindostan, +launched a few years ago. It would have required 4200 loads of +timber to build a ship of that description, and the growth of the +timber would have occupied seventy acres of ground during eighty +years.[2] It would have needed something like 800,000 acres of +land on which to grow the timber for the ships annually built in +this country for commercial purposes. And timber ships are by no +means lasting. The average durability of ships of war employed +in active service, has been calculated to be about thirteen +years, even when built of British oak. + +Indeed, years ago, the building of shipping in this country was +much hindered by the want of materials. + +The trade was being rapidly transferred to Canada and the United +States. Some years since, an American captain said to an +Englishman, Captain Hall, when in China, "You will soon have to +come to our country for your ships: your little island cannot +grow wood enough for a large marine." "Oh!" said the Englishman, +"we can build ships of iron!" "Iron?" replied the American in +surprise, "why, iron sinks; only wood can float!" "Well! you +will find I am right." The prophecy was correct. The Englishman +in question has now a fleet of splendid iron steamers at sea. + +The use of iron in shipbuilding had small beginnings, like +everything else. The established prejudice--that iron must +necessarily sink in water--long continued to prevail against its +employment. The first iron vessel was built and launched about a +hundred years since by John Wilkinson, of Bradley Forge, in +Staffordshire. In a letter of his, dated the 14th July, 1787, +the original of which we have seen, he writes: "Yesterday week +my iron boat was launched. It answers all my expectations, and +has convinced the unbelievers, who were 999 in 1000. It will be +only a nine days' wonder, and afterwards a Columbus's egg." It +was, however, more than a nine days' wonder; for wood long +continued to be thought the only material capable of floating. + +Although Wilkinson's iron vessels continued to ply upon the +Severn, more than twenty years elapsed before another shipbuilder +ventured to follow his example. But in 1810, Onions and Son, of +Brosely, built several iron vessels, also for use upon the +Severn. Then, in 1815, Mr. Jervons, of Liverpool, built a small +iron boat for use on the Mersey. Six years later, in 1821, Mr. +Aaron Manby designed an iron steam vessel, which was built at the +Horsley Company's Works, in Staffordshire. She sailed from +London to Havre a few years later, under the command of Captain +(afterwards Sir Charles) Napier, RN. She was freighted with a +cargo of linseed and iron castings, and went up the Seine to +Paris. It was some time, however, before iron came into general +use. Ten years later, in 1832, Maudslay and Field built four +iron vessels for the East India Company. In the course of about +twenty years, the use of iron became general, not only for ships +of war, but for merchant ships plying to all parts of the world. + +When ships began to be built of iron, it was found that they +could be increased without limit, so long as coal, iron, +machinery, and strong men full of skill and industry, were +procurable. The trade in shipbuilding returned to Britain, where +iron ships are now made and exported in large numbers; the +mercantile marine of this country exceeding in amount and tonnage +that of all the other countries of the world put together. The +"wooden walls"[3] of England exist no more, for iron has +superseded wood. Instead of constructing vessels from the +forest, we are now digging new navies out of the bowels of the +earth, and our "walls," instead of wood, are now of iron and +steel. + +The attempt to propel ships by other means than sails and oars +went on from century to century, and did not succeed until almost +within our own time. It is said that the Roman army under +Claudius Codex was transported into Sicily in boats propelled by +wheels moved by oxen. Galleys, propelled by wheels in paddles, +were afterwards attempted. The Harleian MS. contains an Italian +book of sketches, attributed to the 15th century, in which there +appears a drawing of a paddle-boat, evidently intended to be +worked by men. Paddle-boats, worked by horse-power, were also +tried. Blasco Garay made a supreme effort at Barcelona in 1543. +His vessel was propelled by a paddle-wheel on each side, worked +by forty men. But nothing came of the experiment. + +Many other efforts of a similar kind were made,--by Savery among +others,[4]--until we come down to Patrick Miller, of Dalswinton, +who, in 1787, invented a double-hulled boat, which he caused to +be propelled on the Firth of Forth by men working a capstan which +drove the paddles on each side. The men soon became exhausted, +and on Miller mentioning the subject to William Symington, who +was then exhibiting his road locomotive in Edinburgh, Symington +at once said, "Why don't you employ steam-power?" + +There were many speculations in early times as to the application +of steam-power for propelling vessels through the water. David +Ramsay in 1618, Dr. Grant in 1632, the Marquis of Worcester in +1661, were among the first in England to publish their views upon +the subject. But it is probable that Denis Papin, the banished +Hugnenot physician, for some time Curator of the Royal Society, +was the first who made a model steam-boat. Daring his residence +in England, he was elected Professor of Mathematics in the +University of Marburg. It was while at that city that he +constructed, in 1707, a small steam-engine, which he fitted in a +boat--une petite machine d'un, vaisseau a roues--and despatched +it to England for the purpose of being tried upon the Thames. +The little vessel never reached England. At Munden, the boatmen +on the River Weser, thinking that, if successful, it would +destroy their occupation, seized the boat, with its machine, and +barbarously destroyed it. Papin did not repeat his experiment, +and died a few years later. + +The next inventor was Jonathan Hulls, of Campden, in +Gloucestershire. He patented a steamboat in 1736, and worked the +paddle-wheel placed at the stern of the vessel by means of a +Newcomen engine. He tried his boat on the River Avon, at +Evesham, but it did not succeed, and the engine was taken on +shore again. A local poet commemorated his failure in the +following lines, which were remembered long after his steamboat +experiment had been forgotten:-- + +"Jonathan Hull, +With his paper skull, +Tried hard to make a machine +That should go against wind and tide; +But he, like an ass, +Couldn't bring it to pass, +So at last was ashamed to be seen." + +Nothing of importance was done in the direction of a steam-engine +able to drive paddles, until the invention by James Watt, in +1769, of his double-acting engine--the first step by which steam +was rendered capable of being successfully used to impel a +vessel. But Watt was indifferent to taking up the subject of +steam navigation, as well as of steam locomotion. He refused +many invitations to make steam-engines for the propulsion of +ships, preferring to confine himself to his "regular established +trade and manufacture," that of making condensing steam-engines, +which had become of great importance towards the close of his +life. + +Two records exist of paddle-wheel steamboats having been early +tried in France--one by the Comte d'Auxiron and M. Perrier in +1774, the other by the Comte de Jouffroy in 1783--but the notices +of their experiments are very vague, and rest on somewhat +doubtful authority. + +The idea, however, had been born, and was not allowed to die. +When Mr. Miller of Dalswinton had revived the notion of +propelling vessels by means of paddle-wheels, worked, as Savery +had before worked them, by means of a capstan placed in the +centre of the vessel, and when he complained to Symington of the +fatigue caused to the men by working the capstan, and Symington +had suggested the use of steam, Mr. Miller was impressed by the +idea, and proceeded to order a steam-engine for the purpose of +trying the experiment. The boat was built at Edinburgh, and +removed to Dalswinton Lake. It was there fitted with Symington's +steam-engine, and first tried with success on the 14th of +October, 1788, as has been related at length in Mr. Nasmyth's +'Autobiography.' The experiment was repeated with even greater +success in the charlotte Dundas in 1801, which was used to tow +vessels along the Forth and Clyde Canal, and to bring ships up +the Firth of Forth to the canal entrance at Grangemouth. + +The progress of steam navigation was nevertheless very slow. +Symington's experiments were not renewed. The Charlotte Dundas +was withdrawn from use, because of the supposed injury to the +banks of the Canal, caused by the swell from the wheel. The +steamboat was laid up in a creek at Bainsford, where it went to +ruin, and the inventor himself died in poverty. Among those who +inspected the vessel while at work were Fulton, the American +artist, and Henry Bell, the Glasgow engineer. The former had +already occupied himself with model steamboats, both at Paris and +in London; and in 1805 he obtained from Boulton and Watt, of +Birmingham, the steam-engine required for propelling his paddle +steamboat on the Hudson. The Clermont was first started in +August, 1807, and attained a speed of nearly five miles an hour. +Five years later, Henry Bell constructed and tried his first +steamer on the Clyde. + +It was not until 1815 that the first steamboat was seen on the +Thames. This was the Richmond packet, which plied between London +and Richmond. The vessel was fitted with the first marine engine +Henry Maudslay ever made. During the same year, the Margery, +formerly employed on the Firth of Forth, began plying between +Gravesend and London; and the Thames, formerly the Argyll, came +round from the Clyde, encountering rough seas, and making the +voyage of 758 miles in five days and two hours. This was thought +extraordinarily rapid--though the voyage of about 3000 miles, +from Liverpool to New York, can now be made in only about two +days' more time. + +In nearly all seagoing vessels, the Paddle has now almost +entirely given place to the Screw. It was long before this +invention was perfected and brought into general use. It was not +the production of one man, but of several generations of +mechanical inventors. A perfected invention does not burst forth +from the brain like a poetic thought or a fine resolve. It has +to be initiated, laboured over, and pursued in the face of +disappointments, difficulties, and discouragements. + +Sometimes the idea is born in one generation, followed out in the +next, and perhaps perfected in the third. In an age of progress, +one invention merely paves the way for another. What was the +wonder of yesterday, becomes the common and unnoticed thing of +to-day. + +The first idea of the screw was thrown out by James Watt more +than a century ago. Matthew Boulton, of Birmingham, had proposed +to move canal boats by means of the steam-engine; and Dr. Small, +his friend, was in communication with James Watt, then residing +at Glasgow, on the subject. In a letter from Watt to Small, +dated the 30th September, 1770, the former, after speaking of the +condenser, and saying that it cannot be dispensed with, proceeds: +"Have you ever considered a spiral oar for that purpose +[propulsion of canal boats], or are you for two wheels?" Watt +added a pen-and-ink drawing of his spiral oar, greatly resembling +the form of screw afterwards patented. Nothing, however, was +actually done, and the idea slept. + +It was revived again in 1785, by Joseph Bramah, a wonderful +projector and inventor.[5] He took out a patent, which included +a rotatory steam-engine, and a mode of propelling vessels by +means either of a paddle-wheel or a "screw propeller." This +propeller was "similar to the fly of a smoke-jack"; but there is +no account of Bramah having practically tried this method of +propulsion. + +Austria, also, claims the honour of the invention of the screw +steamer. At Trieste and Vienna are statues erected to Joseph +Ressel, on whose behalf his countrymen lay claim to the +invention; and patents for some sort of a screw date back as far +as 1794. + +Patents were also taken out in England and America--by W. +Lyttleton in 1794; by E. Shorter in 1799; by J. C. Stevens, of +New Jersey, in 1804; by Henry James in 1811--but nothing +practical was accomplished. Richard Trevethick, the anticipator +of many things, also took out a patent in 1815, and in it he +describes the screw propeller with considerable minuteness. +Millington, Whytock, Perkins, Marestier, and Brown followed, with +no better results. + +The late Dr. Birkbeck, in a letter addressed to the 'Mechanics' +Register,' in the year 1824, claimed that John Swan, of 82, +Mansfield Street, Kingsland Road, London, was the practical +inventor of the screw propeller. John Swan was a native of +Coldingham, Berwickshire. He had removed to London, and entered +the employment of Messrs. Gordon, of Deptford. Swan fitted up a +boat with his propeller, and tried it on a sheet of water in the +grounds of Charles Gordon, Esq., of Dulwich Hill. "The velocity +and steadiness of the motion," said Dr. Birkbeck in his letter, +"so far exceeded that of the same model when impelled by +paddle-wheels driven by the same spring, that I could not doubt +its superiority; and the stillness of the water was such as to +give the vessel the appearance of being moved by some magical +power." + +Then comes another claimant--Mr. Robert Wilson, then of Dunbar +(not far from Coldingham), but afterwards of the Bridgewater +Foundry, Patricroft. In his pamphlet, published a few years ago, +he states that he had long considered the subject, and in 1827 he +made a small model, fitted with "revolving skulls," which he +tried on a sheet of water in the presence of the Hon. Capt. +Anthony Maitland, son of the Earl of Lauderdale. The experiment +was successful--so successful, that when the "stern paddles" were +in 1828 used at Leith in a boat twenty-five feet long, with two +men to work the machinery, the boat was propelled at an average +speed of about ten miles an hour; and the Society of Arts +afterwards, in October, 1882, awarded Mr. Wilson their silver +medal for the "description, drawing, and models of stern paddles +for propelling steamboats, invented by him." The subject was, in +1833, brought by Sir John Sinclair under the consideration of the +Board of Admiralty; but the report of the officials (Oliver Lang, +Abethell, Lloyd, and Kingston) was to the effect that "the plan +proposed (independent of practical difficulties) is +objectionable, as it involves a greater loss of power than the +common mode of applying the wheels to the side." And here ended +the experiment, so far as Mr. Wilson's "stern paddles" were +concerned. + +It will be observed, from what has been said, that the idea of a +screw propeller is a very old one. Watt, Bramah, Trevethick, and +many more, had given descriptions of the screw. Trevethick +schemed a number of its forms and applications, which have been +the subject of many subsequent patents. It has been so with many +inventions. It is not the man who gives the first idea of a +machine who is entitled to the merit of its introduction, or the +man who repeats the idea, and re-repeats it, but the man who is +so deeply impressed with the importance of the discovery, that he +insists upon its adoption, will take no denial, and at the risk +of fame and fortune, pushes through all opposition, and is +determined that what he thinks he has discovered shall not perish +for want of a fair trial. And that this was the case with the +practical introducer of the screw propeller will be obvious from +the following statement. + +Francis Pettit Smith was born at Hythe, in the county of Kent, in +1808. His father was postmaster of the town, and a person of +much zeal and integrity. The boy was sent to school at Ashford, +and there received a fair amount of education, under the Rev. +Alexander Power. Young Smith displayed no special characteristic +except a passion for constructing models of boats. When he +reached manhood, he adopted the business of a grazing farmer on +Romney Marsh. He afterwards removed to Hendon, north of London, +where he had plenty of water on which to try his model boats. +The reservoir of the Old Welsh Harp was close at hand--a place +famous for its water-birds and wild fowl. + +Smith made many models of boats, his experiments extending over +many years. In 1834, he constructed a boat propelled by a wooden +screw driven by a spring, the performance of which was thought +extraordinary. Where he had got his original idea is not known. +It was floating about in many minds, and was no special secret. +Smith, however, arrived at the conclusion that his method of +propelling steam vessels by means of a screw was much superior to +paddles--at that time exclusively employed. In the following +year, 1835, he constructed a superior model, with which he +performed a number of experiments at Hendon. In May 1836, he +took out a patent for propelling vessels by means of a screw +revolving beneath the water at the stern. He then openly +exhibited his invention at the Adelaide Gallery in London. Sir +John Barrow, Secretary to the Admiralty, inspected the model, and +was much impressed by its action. During the time it was +publicly exhibited, an offer was made to purchase the invention +for the Pacha of Egypt; but the offer was declined. + +At this stage of his operations, Smith was joined by Mr. Wright, +banker, and Mr. C. A. Caldwell, who had the penetration to +perceive that the invention was one of much promise, and were +desirous of helping its introduction to general use. They +furnished Smith with the means of constructing a more complete +model. In the autumn of 1836, a small steam vessel of 10 tons +burthen and six horse-power was built, further to test the +advantages of the invention. This boat was fitted with a wooden +screw of two whole turns. On the 1st of November the vessel was +exhibited to the public on the Paddington Canal, as well as on +the Thames, where she continued to ply until the month of +September 1837. + +During the trips upon the Thames, a happy accident occurred, +which first suggested the advantage of reducing the length of the +screw. The propeller having struck upon some obstacle in the +water, about one-half of the length of the screw was broken off, +and it was found that; the vessel immediately shot ahead and +attained a much greater speed than before. In consequence of +this discovery, a new screw of a single turn was fitted to her, +after which she was found to work much better. + +Having satisfied himself as to the eligibility of the propeller +in smooth water, Mr. Smith then resolved to take his little +vessel to the open sea, and breast the winds and the waves. +Accordingly, one Saturday in the month of September 1837, he +proceeded in his miniature boat, down the river, from Blackwall +to Gravesend. There he took a pilot on board, and went on to +Ramsgate. He passed through the Downs, and reached Dover in +safety. A trial of the vessel's performance was made there in +the presence of Mr. Wright, the banker, and Mr. Peake, the civil +engineer. From Dover the vessel went on to Folkestone and Hythe, +encountering severe weather. Nevertheless, the boat behaved +admirably, and attained a speed of over seven miles an hour. + +Though the weather had become stormy and boisterous, the little +vessel nevertheless set out on her return voyage to London. +Crowds of people assembled to witness her departure, and many +nautical men watched her progress with solicitude as she steamed +through the waves under the steep cliffs of the South Foreland. +The courage of the undertaking, and the unexpected good +performance of the little vessel, rendered her an object of great +interest and excitement as she "screwed" her way along the coast. + +The tiny vessel reached her destination in safety. Surely the +difficulty of a testing trial, although with a model screw, had +at length been overcome. But no! The paddle still possessed the +ascendency; and a thousand interests--invested capital, use and +wont, and conservative instincts--all stood in the way. + +Some years before--indeed, about the time that Smith took out his +patent--Captain Ericsson, the Swede, invented a screw propeller. +Smith took out his patent in May, 1836; and Ericsson in the +following July. Ericsson was a born inventor. While a boy in +Sweden, he made saw mills and pumping engines, with tools +invented by himself. He learnt to draw, and his mechanical +career began. When only twelve years old, he was appointed a +cadet in the Swedish corps of mechanical engineers, and in the +following year he was put in charge of a section of the Gotha +Ship Canal, then under construction. Arrived at manhood, +Ericsson went over to England, the great centre of mechanical +industry. He was then twenty-three years old. He entered into +partnership with John Braithwaite, and with him constructed the +Novelty, which took part in the locomotive competition at +Rainhill on the 6th October, 1829. The prize was awarded to +Stephenson's Rocket on the 14th; but it was acknowledged by The +Times of the day that the Novelty was Stephenson's sharpest +competitor. + +Ericsson had a wonderfully inventive brain, a determined purpose, +and a great capacity for work. When a want was felt, he was +immediately ready with an invention. The records of the Patent +Office show his incessant activity. He invented pumping engines, +steam engines, fire engines, and caloric engines. His first +patent for a "reciprocating propeller" was taken out in October +1834. To exhibit its action, he had a small boat constructed of +only about two feet long. It was propelled by means of a screw; +and was shown at work in a circular bath in London. It performed +its voyage round the basin at the rate of about three miles an +hour. His patent for a "spiral propeller," was taken out in July +1836. This was the invention, to exhibit which he had a vessel +constructed, of about 40 feet long, with two propellers, each of +5 feet 3 inches diameter. + +This boat, the Francis B. Ogden, proved extremely successful. +She moved at a speed of about ten miles an hour. She was able to +tow vessels of 140 tons burthen at the rate of seven miles an +hour. Perceiving the peculiar and admirable fitness of the +screw-propeller for ships of war, Ericsson invited the Lords of +the Admiralty to take an excursion in tow of his experimental +boat. "My Lords" consented; and the Admiralty barge contained on +this occasion, Sir Charles Adam, senior Lord, Sir William +Symonds, surveyor, Sir Edward Parry, of Polar fame, Captain +Beaufort, hydrographer, and other men of celebrity. This +distinguished company embarked at Somerset House, and the little +steamer, with her precious charge, proceeded down the river to +Limehouse at the rate of about ten miles an hour. After visiting +the steam-engine manufactory of Messrs. Seawood, where their +Lordships' favourite apparatus, the Morgan paddle-wheel, was in +course of construction, they re-embarked, and returned in safety +to Somerset House. + +The experiment was perfectly successful, and yet the result was +disappointment. A few days later, a letter from Captain Beaufort +informed Mr. Ericsson that their Lordships had certainly been +"very much disappointed with the result of the experiment." The +reason for the disappointment was altogether inexplicable to the +inventor. It afterwards appeared, however, that Sir William +Symonds, then Surveyor to the Navy, had expressed the opinion +that "even if the propeller had the power of propelling a vessel, +it would be found altogether useless in practice, because the +power being applied at the stern, it would be absolutely +impossible to make the vessel steer!" It will be remembered that +Francis Pettit Smith's screw vessel went to sea in the course of +the same year; and not only faced the waves, but was made to +steer in a perfectly successful manner. + +Although the Lords of the Admiralty would not further encourage +the screw propeller of Ericsson, an officer of the United States +Navy, Capt. R. F. Stockton, was so satisfied of its success, that +after making a single trip in the experimental steamboat from +London Bridge to Greenwich, he ordered the inventor to build for +him forthwith two iron boats for the United States, with steam +machinery and a propeller on the same plan. One of these +vessels--the Robert F. Stockton--seventy feet in length, was +constructed by Laird and Co., of Birkenhead, in 1838, and left +England for America in April 1839. Capt. Stockton so fully +persuaded Ericsson of his probable success in America, that the +inventor at once abandoned his professional engagements in +England, and set out for the United States. It is unnecessary to +mention the further important works of this great engineer. + +We may, however, briefly mention that in 1844, Ericsson +constructed for the United States Government the Princeton screw +steamer--though he was never paid for his time, labour, and +expenditure.[6] Undeterred by their ingratitude, Ericsson +nevertheless constructed for the same government, when in the +throes of civil war, the famous Monitor, the iron-clad cupola +vessel, and was similarly rewarded! He afterwards invented the +torpedo ship--the Destroyer--the use of which has fortunately not +yet been required in sea warfare. Ericsson still +lives--constantly planning and scheming--in his house in Beach +Street, New York. He is now over eighty years old having been +born in 1803. He is strong and healthy. How has he preserved +his vigorous constitution? The editor of Scribner gives the +answer: "The hall windows of his house are open, winter and +summer, and none but open grate-fires are allowed. Insomnia +never troubles him, for he falls asleep as soon as his head +touches the pillow. His appetite and digestion are always good, +and he has not lost a meal in ten years. What an example to the +men who imagine it is hard work that is killing them in this +career of unremitting industry!" + +To return to "Screw" Smith, after the successful trial of his +little vessel at sea in the autumn of 1837. He had many +difficulties yet to contend with. There was, first, the +difficulty of a new invention, and the fact that the paddle-boat +had established itself in public estimation. The engineering and +shipbuilding world were dead against him. They regarded the +project of propelling a vessel by means of a screw as visionary +and preposterous. There was also the official unwillingness to +undertake anything novel, untried, and contrary to routine. +There was the usual shaking of the head and the shrugging of the +shoulders, as if the inventor were either a mere dreamer or a +projector eager to lay his hands upon the public purse. The +surveyor of the navy was opposed to the plan, because of the +impossibility of making a vessel steer which was impelled from +the stern. "Screw" Smith bided his time; he continued undaunted, +and was determined to succeed. He laboured steadily onward, +maintaining his own faith unshaken, and upholding the faith of +the gentlemen who had become associated with him in the +prosecution of the invention. + +At the beginning of 1838 the Lords of the Admiralty requested Mr. +Smith to allow his vessel to be tried under their inspection. +Two trials were accordingly made, and they gave so much +satisfaction that the adoption of the propeller for naval +purposes was considered as a not improbable contingency. Before +deciding finally upon its adoption, the Lords of the Admiralty +were anxious to see an experiment made with a vessel of not less +than 200 tons. Mr. Smith had not the means of accomplishing this +by himself, but with the improved prospects of the invention, +capitalists now came to his aid. One of the most effective and +energetic of these was Mr. Henry Currie, banker; and, with the +assistance of others, the "Ship Propeller Company" was formed, +and proceeded to erect the test ship proposed by the Admiralty. + +The result was the Archimedes, a wooden vessel of 237 tons +burthen. She was designed by Mr. Pasco, laid down by Mr. +Wimshurst in the spring of 1838, was launched on the 18th of +October following, and made her first trip in May 1839. She was +fitted with a screw of one turn placed in the dead wood, and +propelled by a pair of engines of 80-horse power. The vessel was +built under the persuasion that her performance would be +considered satisfactory if a speed was attained of four or five +knots an hour, where as her actual speed was nine and a half +knots. The Lords of the Admiralty were invited to inspect the +ship. At the second trial Sir Edward Parry, Sir William Symonds, +Captain Basil Hall, and other distinguished persons were present. + +The results were again satisfactory. The success of the +Archimedes astonished the engineering world. Even the Surveyor +of the Royal Navy found that the vessel could steer! The Lords +of the Admiralty could no longer shut their eyes. But the +invention could not at once be adopted. It must be tested by the +best judges. The vessel was sent to Dover to be tried with the +best packets between Dover and Calais. Mr. Lloyd, the chief +engineer of the Navy, conducted the investigation, and reported +most favourably as to the manner of her performance. Yet several +years elapsed before the screw was introduced into the service. + +In 1840 the Archimedes was placed at the disposal of Captain +Chappell, of the Royal Navy, who, accompanied by Mr. Smith, +visited every principal port in Great Britain. She was thus seen +by shipowners, marine engineers, and shipbuilders in every part +of the kingdom. They regarded her with wonder and admiration; +yet the new mode of navigation was not speedily adopted. The +paddle-wheel still held its own. The sentiment, if not the plant +and capital, of the engineering world, were against the +introduction of the screw. After the vessel had returned from +her circumnavigation of Great Britain, she was sent to Oporto, +and performed the voyage in sixty-eight and a half hours, then +held to be the quickest voyage on record. She was then sent to +the Texel at the request of the Dutch Government. She went +through the North Holland Canal, visited Amsterdam, Antwerp, and +other ports; and everywhere left the impression that the screw +was an efficient and reliable power in the propulsion of vessels +at sea. + +Shipbuilders, however, continued to "fight shy" of the screw. +The late Isambard Kingdon Brunel is entitled to the credit of +having first directed the attention of shipbuilders to this +important invention. He was himself a man of original views, +free from bias, and always ready to strike out a fresh path in +engineering works. He was building a large new iron steamer at +Bristol, the Great Britain, for passenger traffic between England +and America. He had intended to construct her as a paddle +steamer; but hearing of the success of the Archimedes, he +inspected the vessel, and was so satisfied with the performance +of the screw that he recommended his directors to adopt this +method for propelling the Great Britain. His advice was adopted, +and the vessel was altered so as to adapt her for the reception +of the screw. The vessel was found perfectly successful, and on +her first voyage to London she attained the speed of ten knots an +hour, though the wind and balance of tides were against her. A +few other merchant ships were built and fitted with the screw; +the Princess Royal at Newcastle in 1840, the Margaret and Senator +at Hull, and the Great Northern at Londonderry, in 1841. + +The Lords of the Admiralty made slow progress in adapting the +screw for the Royal Navy. Sir William Symonds, the surveyor and +principal designer of Her Majesty's ships, was opposed to all new +projects. He hated steam power, and was utterly opposed to iron +ships. He speaks of them in his journal as "monstrous."[7] So +long as he remained in office everything was done in a +perfunctory way. A small vessel named the Bee was built at +Chatham in 1841, and fitted with both paddles and the screw for +the purposes of experiment. In the same year the Rattier, the +first screw vessel built for the navy, was laid down at +Sheerness. Although of only 888 tons burthen, she was not +launched until the spring of 1843. She was then fitted with the +same kind of screw as the Archimedes,that is, a double-headed +screw of half a convolution. Experiments went on for about three +years, so as to determine the best proportions of the screw, and +the proportions then ascertained have since been the principal +guides of engineering practice. + +The Rattler was at length tried in a water tournament with the +paddle-steamer Alecto, and signally defeated her. Francis Pettit +Smith, like Gulliver, may be said to have dragged the whole +British fleet after him. Were the paddle our only means of +propulsion, our whole naval force would be reduced to a nullity. +Hostile gunners would wing a paddle-steamer as effectuaily as a +sportsman wings a bird, and all the plating in the world would +render such a ship a mere helpless log on the water. + +The Admiralty could no longer defer the use of this important +invention. Like all good things, it made its way slowly and by +degrees. The royal naval authorities, who in 1833 backed the +side paddles, have since adopted the screw in most of the +ships-of-war. In all long sea-going voyages, also, the screw is +now the favourite mode of propulsion. Screw ships of prodigious +size are now built and launched in all the ship-building ports of +Britain, and are sent out to navigate in every part of the world. + +The introduction of iron as the material for shipbuilding has +immensely advanced the interests of steam navigation, as it +enables the builders to construct vessels of great size with the +finest lines, so as to attain the highest rates of speed. + +One might have supposed that Francis Pettit Smith would derive +some substantial benefit from his invention, or at least that the +Ship Propeller Company would distribute large dividends among +their proprietors. Nothing of the kind. Smith spent his money, +his labour, and his ingenuity in conferring a great public +benefit without receiving any adequate reward; and the company, +instead of distributing dividends, lost about 50,000L. in +introducing this great invention; after which, in 1856, the +patent-right expired. Three hundred and twenty-seven ships and +vessels of all classes in the Royal Navy had then been fitted +with the screw propeller, and a much larger number in the +merchant service; but since that time the number of screw +propellers constructed is to be counted by thousands. + +In his comparatively impoverished condition it was found +necessary to do something for the inventor. The Civil Engineers, +with Robert Stephenson, M.P., in the chair, entertained him at a +dinner and presented him with a handsome salver and claret jug. +And that he might have something to put upon his salver and into +his claret jug, a number of his friends and admirers subscribed +over 2000L. as a testimonial. The Government appointed him +Curator of the Patent Museum at South Kensington; the Queen +granted him a pension on the Civil List for 200L. a year; he was +raised to the honour of knighthood in l87l, and three years later +he died. + +Francis Pettit Smith was not a great inventor. He had, like many +others, invented a screw propeller. But, while those others had +given up the idea of prosecuting it to its completion, Smith +stuck to his invention with determined tenacity, and never let it +go until he had secured for it a complete triumph. As Mr. +Stephenson observed at the engineer's meeting: "Mr. Smith had +worked from a platform which might have been raised by others, as +Watt had done, and as other great men had done; but he had made a +stride in advance which was almost tantamount to a new invention. + +It was impossible to overrate the advantages which this and other +countries had derived from his untiring and devoted patience in +prosecuting the invention to a successful issue." Baron Charles +Dupin compared the farmer Smith with the barber Arkwright: "He +had the same perseverance and the same indomitable courage. +These two moral qualities enabled him to triumph over every +obstacle." This was the merit of "Screw" Smith--that he was +determined to realize what his predecessors had dreamt of +achieving; and he eventually accomplished his great purpose. + + +Footnotes for Chapter II. + +[1] In the Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects +for 1860, it was pointed out that the general dimensions and form +of bottom of this ship were very similar to the most famous +line-of-battle ships built down to the end of last century, some +of which were then in existence. + +[2] According to the calculation of Mr. Chatfield, of Her +Majesty's dockyard at Plymouth, in a paper read before the +British Association in 1841 on shipbuilding. + +[3] The phrase "wooden walls" is derived from the Greek. When +the city of Athens was once in danger of being attacked and +destroyed, the oracle of Delphi was consulted. The inhabitants +were told that there was no safety for them but in their "wooden +walls,"--that is their shipping. As they had then a powerful +fleet, the oracle gave them rational advice, which had the effect +of saving the Athenian people. + +[4] An account of these is given by Bennet Woodcraft in his +Sketch of the Origin and Progress of Steam Navigation, London, +1848. + +[5] See Industrial Biography, pp. 183-197, + +[6] The story is told in Scribner's Monthly Illustrated Magazine, +for April 1879. Ericsson's modest bill was only $15,000 for two +years' labour. He was put off from year to year, and at length +the Government refused to pay the amount. "The American +Government," says the editor of Scribner, "will not appropriate +the money to pay it, and that is all. It is said to be the +nature of republics to be ungrateful; but must they also be +dishonest?" + +[7] Memoirs of the Life and Services of Rear-Admiral Sir William +Symonds, Kt., p. 332. + + +CHAPTER III.[1] + +JOHN HARRISON: INVENTOR OF THE MARINE CHRONOMETER. + +No man knows who invented the mariner's compass, or who first +hollowed out a canoe from a log. The power to observe accurately +the sun, moon, and planets, so as to fix a vessel's actual +position when far out of sight of land, enabling long voyages to +be safely made; the marvellous improvements in ship-building, +which shortened passages by sailing vessels, and vastly reduced +freights even before steam gave an independent force to the +carrier--each and all were done by small advances, which together +contributed to the general movement of mankind.... Each owes all +to the others. The forgotten inventors live for ever in the +usefulness of the work they have done and the progress they have +striven for."--H. M. Hyndman. + +One of the most extraordinary things connected with Applied +Science is the method by which the Navigator is enabled to find +the exact spot of sea on which his ship rides. There may be +nothing but water and sky within his view; he may be in the midst +of the ocean, or gradually nearing the land; the curvature of the +globe baffles the search of his telescope; but if he have a +correct chronometer, and can make an astronomical observation, he +may readily ascertain his longitude, and know his approximate +position--how far he is from home, as well as from his intended +destination. He is even enabled, at some special place, to send +down his grappling-irons into the sea, and pick up an electrical +cable for examination and repair. + +This is the result of a knowledge of Practical Astronomy. "Place +an astronomer," says Mr. Newcomb, "on board a ship; blindfold +him; carry him by any route to any ocean on the globe, whether +under the tropics or in one of the frigid zones; land him on the +wildest rock that can be found; remove his bandage, and give him +a chronometer regulated to Greenwich or Washington time, a +transit instrument with the proper appliances, and the necessary +books and tables, and in a single clear night he can tell his +position within a hundred yards by observations of the stars. +This, from a utilitarian point of view, is one of the most +important operations of Practical Astronomy."[2] + +The Marine Chronometer was the outcome of the crying want of the +sixteenth century for an instrument that should assist the +navigator to find his longitude on the pathless ocean. Spain was +then the principal naval power; she was the most potent monarchy +in Europe, and held half America under her sway. Philip III. +offered 100,000 crowns for any discovery by means of which the +longitude might be determined by a better method than by the log, +which was found very defective. Holland next became a great +naval power, and followed the example of Spain in offering 30,000 +florins for a similar discovery. But though some efforts were +made, nothing practical was done, principally through the +defective state of astronomical instruments. England succeeded +Spain and Holland as a naval power; and when Charles II. +established the Greenwich Observatory, it was made a special +point that Flamsteed, the Astronomer-Royal, should direct his +best energies to the perfecting of a method for finding the +longitude by astronomical observations. But though Flamsteed, +together with Halley and Newton, made some progress, they were +prevented from obtaining ultimate success by the want of +efficient chronometers and the defective nature of astronomical +instruments. + +Nothing was done until the reign of Queen Anne, when a petition +was presented to the Legislature on the 25th of May, 1714, by +"several captains of Her Majesty's ships, merchants in London, +and commanders of merchantmen, in behalf of themselves, and of +all others concerned in the navigation of Great Britain," setting +forth the importance of the accurate discovery of the longitude, +and the inconvenience and danger to which ships were subjected +from the want of some suitable method of discovering it. The +petition was referred to a committee, which took evidence on the +subject. It appears that Sir Isaac Newton, with his +extraordinary sagacity, hit the mark in his report. "One is," he +said, "by a watch to keep time exactly; but, by reason of the +motion of a ship, and the variation of heat and cold, wet and +dry, and the difference of gravity in different latitudes, such a +watch hath not yet been made." + +An Act was however passed in the Session of 1714, offering a very +large public reward to inventors: 10,000L. to any one who should +discover a method of determining the longitude to one degree of a +great circle, or 60 geographical miles; 15,000L. if it determined +the same to two-thirds of that distance, or 40 geographical +miles; and 20,000L. if it determined the same to one-half of the +same distance, or 30 geographical miles. Commissioners were +appointed by the same Act, who were instructed that "one moiety +or half part of such reward shall be due and paid when the said +commissioners, or the major part of them, do agree that any such +method extends to the security of ships within 80 geographical +miles of the shore, which are places of the greatest danger; and +the other moiety or half part when a ship, by the appointment of +the said commissioners, or the major part of them, shall actually +sail over the ocean, from Great Britain to any such port in the +West Indies as those commissioners, or the major part of them, +shall choose or nominate for the experiment, without losing the +longitude beyond the limits before mentioned." + +The terms of this offer indicate how great must have been the +risk and inconvenience which it was desired to remedy. Indeed, +it is almost inconceivable that a reward so great could be held +out for a method which would merely afford security within eighty +geographical miles! + +This splendid reward for a method of discovering the longitude +was offered to the world--to inventors and scientific men of all +countries --without restriction of race, or nation, or language. +As might naturally be expected, the prospect of obtaining it +stimulated many ingenious men to make suggestions and contrive +experiments; but for many years the successful construction of a +marine time-keeper seemed almost hopeless. At length, to the +surprise of every one, the prize was won by a village +carpenter--a person of no school, or university, or college +whatever. + +Even so distinguished an artist and philosopher as Sir +Christopher Wren was engaged, as late in his life as the year +1720, in attempting to solve this important problem. As has been +observed, in the memoir of him contained in the 'Biographia +Britannica,'[3] "This noble invention, like some others of the +most useful ones to human life, seems to be reserved for the +peculiar glory of an ordinary mechanic, who, by indefatigable +industry, under the guidance of no ordinary sagacity, hath +seemingly at last surmounted all difficulties, and brought it to +a most unexpected degree of perfection." Where learning and +science failed, natural genius seems to have triumphed. + +The truth is, that the great mechanic, like the great poet, is +born, not made; and John Harrison, the winner of the famous +prize, was a born mechanic. He did not, however, accomplish his +object without the exercise of the greatest skill, patience, and +perseverance. His efforts were long, laborious, and sometimes +apparently hopeless. Indeed, his life, so far as we can +ascertain the facts, affords one of the finest examples of +difficulties encountered and triumphantly overcome, and of +undaunted perseverance eventually crowned by success, which is to +be found in the whole range of biography. + +No complete narrative of Harrison's career was ever written. +Only a short notice of him appears in the 'Biographia +Britannica,' published in 1766, during his lifetime'--the facts +of which were obtained from himself. A few notices of him appear +in the 'Annual Register,' also published during his lifetime. +The final notice appeared in the volume published in 1777, the +year after his death. No Life of him has since appeared. Had he +been a destructive hero, and fought battles by land or sea, we +should have had biographies of him without end. But he pursued a +more peaceful and industrious course. His discovery conferred an +incalculable advantage on navigation, and enabled innumerable +lives to be saved at sea; it also added to the domains of science +by its more exact measurement of time. But his memory has been +suffered to pass silently away, without any record being left for +the benefit and advantage of those who have succeeded him. The +following memoir includes nearly all that is known of the life +and labours of John Harrison. + +He was born at Foulby, in the parish of Wragby, near Pontefract, +Yorkshire, in March, 1693. His father, Henry Harrison, was +carpenter and joiner to Sir Rowland Winn, owner of the Nostell +Priory estate. The present house was built by the baronet on the +site of the ancient priory. Henry Harrison was a sort of +retainer of the family, and long continued in their Service. + +Little is known of the boy's education. It was certainly of a +very inferior description. Like George Stephenson, Harrison +always had a great difficulty in making himself understood, +either by speech or writing. Indeed, every board-school boy now +receives a better education than John Harrison did a hundred and +eighty years ago. But education does not altogether come by +reading and writing. The boy was possessed of vigorous natural +abilities. He was especially attracted by every machine that +moved upon wheels. The boy was 'father to the man.' When six +years old, and lying sick of small-pox, a going watch was placed +upon his pillow, which afforded him infinite delight. + +When seven years old he was taken by his father to Barrow, near +Barton-on-Humber, where Sir Rowland Winn had another residence +and estate. Henry Harrison was still acting as the baronet's +carpenter and joiner. In course of time young Harrison joined +his father in the workshop, and proved of great use to him. His +opportunities for acquiring knowledge were still very few, but he +applied his powers of observation and his workmanship upon the +things which were nearest him. He worked in wood, and to wood he +first turned his attention. + +He was still fond of machines going upon wheels. He had enjoyed +the sight of the big watch going upon brass wheels when he was a +boy; but, now that he was a workman in wood, he proposed to make +an eight-day clock, with wheels of this material. He made the +clock in 1713, when he was twenty years old,[4] so that he must +have made diligent use of his opportunities. He had of course +difficulties to encounter, and nothing can be accomplished +without them; for it is difficulties that train the habits of +application and perseverance. But he succeeded in making an +effective clock, which counted the time with regularity. This +clock is still in existence. It is to be seen at the Museum of +Patents, South Kensington; and when we visited it a few months +ago it was going, and still marking the moments as they passed. +It is contained in a case about six feet high, with a glass +front, showing a pendulum and two weights. Over the clock is the +following inscription: + +"This clock was made at Barrow, Lincolnshire, in the year 1715, +by John Harrison, celebrated as the inventor of a nautical +timepiece, or chronometer, which gained the reward of 20,000L., +offered by the Board of Longitude, A.D. 1767. + +"This clock strikes the hour, indicates the day of the month, and +with one exception (the escapement) the wheels are entirely made +of wood." + +This, however, was only a beginning. Harrison proceeded to make +better clocks; and then he found it necessary to introduce metal, +which was more lasting. He made pivots of brass, which moved +more conveniently in sockets of wood with the use of oil. He +also caused the teeth of his wheels to run against cylindrical +rollers of wood, fixed by brass pins, at a proper distance from +the axis of the pinions; and thus to a considerable extent +removed the inconveniences of friction. + +In the meantime Harrison eagerly improved every incident from +which he might derive further information. There was a clergyman +who came every Sunday to the village to officiate in the +neighbourhood; and having heard of the sedulous application of +the young carpenter, he lent him a manuscript copy of Professor +Saunderson's discourses. That blind professor had prepared +several lectures on natural philosophy for the use of his +students, though they were not intended for publication. Young +Harrison now proceeded to copy them out, together with the +diagrams. Sometimes, indeed, he spent the greater part of the +night in writing or drawing. + +As part of his business, he undertook to survey land, and to +repair clocks and watches, besides carrying on his trade of a +carpenter. He soon obtained a considerable knowledge of what had +been done in clocks and watches, and was able to do not only what +the best professional workers had done, but to strike out +entirely new lights in the clock and watch-making business. He +found out a method of diminishing friction by adding a joint to +the pallets of the pendulum, whereby they were made to work in +the nature of rollers of a large radius, without any sliding, as +usual, upon the teeth of the wheel. He constructed a clock on +the recoiling principle, which went perfectly, and never lost a +minute within fourteen years. Sir Edmund Denison Beckett says +that he invented this method in order to save himself the trouble +of going so frequently to oil the escapement of a turret clock, +of which he had charge; though there were other influences at +work besides this. + +But his most important invention, at this early period of his +life, was his compensation pendulum. Every one knows that metals +expand with heat and contract by cold. The pendulum of the clock +therefore expanded in summer and contracted in winter, thereby +interfering with the regular going of the clock. Huygens had by +his cylindrical checks removed the great irregularity arising +from the unequal lengths of the oscillations; but the pendulum +was affected by the tossing of a ship at sea, and was also +subject to a variation in weight, depending on the parallel of +latitude. Graham, the well-known clock-maker, invented the +mercurial compensation pendulum, consisting of a glass or iron +jar filled with quicksilver and fixed to the end of the pendulum +rod. When the rod was lengthened by heat, the quicksilver and +the jar which contained it were simultaneously expanded and +elevated, and the centre of oscillation was thus continued at the +same distance from the point of suspension. + +But the difficulty, to a certain extent, remained unconquered +until Harrison took the matter in hand. He observed that all +rods of metal do not alter their lengths equally by heat, or, on +the contrary, become shorter by cold, but some more sensibly than +others. After innumerable experiments Harrison at length +composed a frame somewhat resembling a gridiron, in which the +alternate bars were of steel and of brass, and so arranged that +those which expanded the most were counteracted by those which +expanded the least. By this means the pendulum contained the +power of equalising its own action, and the centre of oscillation +continued at the same absolute distance from the point of +suspension through all the variations of heat and cold during the +year.[5] + +Thus by the year 1726, when he was only thirty-three years old, +Harrison had furnished himself with two compensation clocks, in +which all the irregularities to which these machines were +subject, were either removed or so happily balanced, one metal +against the other, that the two clocks kept time together in +different parts of his house, without the variation of more than +a single second in the month. One of them, indeed, which he kept +by him for his own use, and constantly compared with a fixed +star, did not vary so much as one whole minute during the ten +years that he continued in the country after finishing the +machine.[6] + +Living, as he did, not far from the sea, Harrison next +endeavoured to arrange his timekeeper for purposes of navigation. + +He tried his clock in a vessel belonging to Barton-on-Humber; but +his compensating pendulum could there be of comparatively little +use; for it was liable to be tossed hither or thither by the +sudden motions of the ship. He found it necessary, therefore, to +mount a chronometer, or portable timekeeper, which might be taken +from place to place, and subjected to the violent and irregular +motion of a ship at sea, without affecting its rate of going. It +was evident to him that the first mover must be changed from a +weight and pendulum to a spring wound up and a compensating +balance. + +He now applied his genius in this direction. After pondering +over the subject, he proceeded to London in 1728, and exhibited +his drawings to Dr. Halley, then Astronomer-Royal. The Doctor +referred him to Mr. George Graham, the distinguished horologer, +inventor of the dead-beat escapement and the mercurial pendulum. +After examining the drawings and holding some converse with +Harrison, Graham perceived him to be a man of uncommon merit, and +gave him every encouragement. He recommended him, however, to +make his machine before again applying to the Board of Longitude. + +Harrison returned home to Barrow to complete his task, and many +years elapsed before he again appeared in London to present his +first chronometer. + +The remarkable success which Harrison had achieved in his +compensating pendulum could not but urge him on to further +experiments. He was no doubt to a certain extent influenced by +the reward of 20,000L. which the English Government had offered +for an instrument that should enable the longitude to be more +accurately determined by navigators at sea than was then +possible; and it was with the object of obtaining pecuniary +assistance to assist him in completing his chronometer that +Harrison had, in 1728, made his first visit to London to exhibit +his drawings. + +The Act of Parliament offering this superb reward was passed in +1714, fourteen years before, but no attempt had been made to +claim it. It was right that England, then rapidly advancing to +the first position as a commercial nation, should make every +effort to render navigation less hazardous. Before correct +chronometers were invented, or good lunar tables were +prepared,[7] the ship, when fairly at sea, out of sight of land, +and battling with the winds and tides, was in a measure lost. No +method existed for accurately ascertaining the longitude. The +ship might be out of its course for one or two hundred miles, for +anything that the navigator knew; and only the wreck of his ship +on some unknown coast told of the mistake that he had made in his +reckoning. + +It may here be mentioned that it was comparatively easy to +determine the latitude of a ship at sea every day when the sun +was visible. The latitude--that is, the distance of any spot +from the equator and the pole--might be found by a simple +observation with the sextant. The altitude of the sun at noon is +found, and by a short calculation the position of the ship can be +ascertained. + +The sextant, which is the instrument universally used at sea, was +gradually evolved from similar instruments used from the earliest +times. The object of this instrument has always been to find the +angular distance between two bodies--that is to say, the angle +contained by two straight lines, drawn from those bodies to meet +in the observer's eye. The simplest instrument of this kind may +be well represented by a pair of compasses. If the hinge is held +to the eye, one leg pointed to the distant horizon, and the other +leg pointed to the sun, the position of the two legs will show +the angular distance of the sun from the horizon at the moment of +observation. + +Until the end of the seventeenth century, the instrument used was +of this simple kind. It was generally a large quadrant, with one +or two bars moving on a hinge,--to all intents and purposes a +huge pair of compasses. The direction of the sight was fixed by +the use of a slit and a pointer, much as in the ordinary rifle. +This instrument was vastly improved by the use of a telescope, +which not only allowed fainter objects to be seen, but especially +enabled the sight to be accurately directed to the object +observed. + +The instruments of the pre-telescopic age reached their glory in +the hands of Tycho Brahe. He used magnificent instruments of the +simple "pair of compasses" kind--circles, quadrants, and +sextants. These were for the most part ponderous fixed +instruments of little or no use for the purposes of navigation. +But Tycho Brahe's sextant proved the forerunner of the modern +instrument. The general structure is the same; but the vast +improvement of the modern sextant is due, firstly, to the use of +the reflecting mirror, and, secondly, to the use of the telescope +for accurate sighting. These improvements were due to many +scientific men--to William Gascoigne, who first used the +telescope, about 1640; to Robert Hooke, who, in 1660, proposed to +apply it to the quadrant; to Sir Isaac Newton, who designed a +reflecting quadrant;[8] and to John Hadley, who introduced it. +The modern sextant is merely a modification of Newton's or +Badley's quadrant, and its present construction seems to be +perfect. + +It therefore became possible accurately to determine the position +of a ship at sea as regarded its latitude. But it was quite +different as regarded the longitude that is, the distance of any +place from a given meridian, eastward or westward. In the case +of longitude there is no fixed spot to which reference can be +made. The rotation of the earth makes the existence of such a +spot impossible. The question of longitude is purely a question +of TIME. The circuit of the globe, east and west, is simply +represented by twenty-four hours. Each place has its own time. +It is very easy to determine the local time at any spot by +observations made at that spot. But, as time is always changing, +the knowledge of the local time gives no idea of the actual +position; and still less of a moving object--say, of a ship at +sea. But if, in any locality, we know the local time, and also +the local time of some other locality at that moment--say, of the +Observatory at Greenwich we can, by comparing the two local +times, determine the difference of local times, or, what is the +same thing, the difference of longitude between the two places. +It was necessary therefore for the navigator to be in possession +of a first-rate watch or chronometer, to enable him to determine +accurately the position of his ship at sea, as respected the +longitude. + +Before the middle of the eighteenth century good watches were +comparatively unknown. The navigator mainly relied, for his +approximate longitude, upon his Dead Reckoning, without any +observation of the heavenly bodies. He depended upon the +accuracy of the course which he had steered by the compass, and +the mensuration of the ship's velocity by an instrument called +the Log, as well as by combining and rectifying all the +allowances for drift, lee-way, and so on, according to the trim +of the ship; but all of these were liable to much uncertainty, +especially when the sea was in a boisterous condition. There was +another and independent course which might have been +adopted--that is, by observation of the moon, which is constantly +moving amongst the stars from west to east. But until the middle +of the eighteenth century good lunar tables were as much unknown +as good watches. + +Hence a method of ascertaining the longitude, with the same +degree of accuracy which is attainable in respect of latitude, +had for ages been the grand desideratum for men "who go down to +the sea in ships." Mr. Macpherson, in his important work +entitled 'The Annals of Commerce,' observes, "Since the year +1714, when Parliament offered a reward of 20,000L. for the best +method of ascertaining the longitude at sea, many schemes have +been devised, but all to little or no purpose, as going generally +upon wrong principles, till that heaven-taught artist Mr. John +Harrison arose;" and by him, as Mr. Macpherson goes on to say, +the difficulty was conquered, having devoted to it "the assiduous +studies of a long life." + +The preamble of the Act of Parliament in question runs as +follows: "Whereas it is well known by all that are acquainted +with the art of navigation that nothing is so much wanted and +desired at sea as the discovery of the longitude, for the safety +and quickness of voyages, the preservation of ships and the lives +of men," and so on. The Act proceeds to constitute certain +persons commissioners for the discovery of the longitude, with +power to receive and experiment upon proposals for that purpose, +and to grant sums of money not exceeding 2000L. to aid in such +experiments. It will be remembered from what has been above +stated, that a reward of 10,000L. was to be given to the person +who should contrive a method of determining the longitude within +one degree of a great circle, or 60 geographical miles; 15,000L. +within 40 geographical miles; and 20,000L. within 30 geographical +miles. + +It will, in these days, be scarcely believed that little more +than a hundred and fifty years ago a prize of not less than ten +thousand pounds should have been offered for a method of +determining the longitude within sixty miles, and that double the +amount should have been offered for a method of determining it +within thirty miles! The amount of these rewards is sufficient +proof of the fearful necessity for improvement which then existed +in the methods of navigation. And yet, from the date of the +passing of the Act in 1714 until the year 1736, when Harrison +finished his first timepiece, nothing had been done towards +ascertaining the longitude more accurately, even within the wide +limits specified by the Act of Parliament. Although several +schemes had been projected, none of them had proved successful, +and the offered rewards therefore still remained unclaimed. + +To return to Harrison. After reaching his home at Barrow, after +his visit to London in 1728, he began his experiments for the +construction of a marine chronometer. The task was one of no +small difficulty. It was necessary to provide against +irregularities arising from the motion of a ship at sea, and to +obviate the effect of alternations of temperature in the machine +itself, as well as the oil with which it was lubricated. A +thousand obstacles presented themselves, but they were not enough +to deter Harrison from grappling with the work he had set himself +to perform. + +Every one knows the beautiful machinery of a timepiece, and the +perfect tools required to produce such a machine. Some of these +tools Harrison procured in London, but the greater number he +provided for himself; and many entirely new adaptations were +required for his chronometer. As wood could no longer be +exclusively employed, as in his first clock, he had to teach +himself to work accurately and minutely in brass and other +metals. Having been unable to obtain any assistance from the +Board of Longitude, he was under the necessity, while carrying +forward his experiments, of maintaining himself by still working +at his trade of a carpenter and joiner. This will account for +the very long period that elapsed before he could bring his +chronometer to such a state as that it might be tried with any +approach to certainty in its operations. + +Harrison, besides his intentness and earnestness, was a cheerful +and hopeful man. He had a fine taste for music, and organised +and led the choir of the village church, which attained a high +degree of perfection. He invented a curious monochord, which was +not less accurate than his clocks in the mensuration of time. +His ear was distressed by the ringing of bells out of tune, and +he set himself to remedy them. At the parish church of Hull, for +instance, the bells were harsh and disagreeable, and by the +authority of the vicar and churchwardens he was allowed to put +them into a state of exact tune, so that they proved entirely +melodious. + +But the great work of his life was his marine chronometer. He +found it necessary, in the first place, to alter the first mover +of his clock to a spring wound up, so that the regularity of the +motion might be derived from the vibrations of balances, instead +of those of a pendulum as in a standing clock. Mr. Folkes, +President of the Royal Society, when presenting the gold medal to +Harrison in 1749, thus describes the arrangement of his new +machine. The details were obtained from Harrison himself, who +was present. He had made use of two balances situated in the +same plane, but vibrating in contrary directions, so that the one +of these being either way assisted by the tossing of the ship, +the other might constantly be just so much impeded by it at the +same time. As the equality of the times of the vibrations of the +balance of a pocket-watch is in a great measure owing to the +spiral spring that lies under it, so the same was here performed +by the like elasticity of four cylindrical springs or worms, +applied near the upper and lower extremities of the two balances +above described. + +Then came in the question of compensation. Harrison's experience +with the compensation pendulum of his clock now proved of service +to him. He had proceeded to introduce a similar expedient in his +proposed chronometer. As is well known to those who are +acquainted with the nature of springs moved by balances, the +stronger those springs are, the quicker the vibrations of the +balances are performed, and vice versa; hence it follows that +those springs, when braced by cold, or when relaxed by heat, must +of necessity cause the timekeeper to go either faster or slower, +unless some method could be found to remedy the inconvenience. + +The method adopted by Harrison was his compensation balance, +doubtless the backbone of his invention. His "thermometer kirb," +he himself says, "is composed of two thin plates of brass and +steel, riveted together in several places, which, by the greater +expansion of brass than steel by heat and contraction by cold, +becomes convex on the brass side in hot weather and convex on the +steel side in cold weather; whence, one end being fixed, the +other end obtains a motion corresponding with the changes of heat +and cold, and the two pins at the end, between which the balance +spring passes, and which it alternately touches as the spring +bends and unbends itself, will shorten or lengthen the spring, as +the change of heat or cold would otherwise require to be done by +hand in the manner used for regulating a common watch." Although +the method has since been improved upon by Leroy, Arnold, and +Earnshaw, it was the beginning of all that has since been done in +the perfection of marine chronometers. Indeed, it is amazing to +think of the number of clever, skilful, and industrious men who +have been engaged for many hundred years in the production of +that exquisite fabric--so useful to everybody, whether scientific +or otherwise, on land or sea the modern watch. + +It is unnecessary here to mention in detail the particulars of +Harrison's invention. These were published by himself in his +'Principles of Mr. Harrison's Timekeeper.' It may, however, be +mentioned that he invented a method by which the chronometer +might be kept going without losing any portion of time. This was +during the process of winding up, which was done once in a day. +While the mainspring was being wound up, a secondary one +preserved the motion of the wheels and kept the machine going. + +After seven years' labour, during which Harrison encountered and +overcame numerous difficulties, he at last completed his first +marine chronometer. He placed it in a sort of moveable frame, +somewhat resembling what the sailors call a 'compass jumble,' but +much more artificially and curiously made and arranged. In this +state the chronometer was tried from time to time in a large +barge on the river Humber, in rough as well as in smooth weather, +and it was found to go perfectly, without losing a moment of +time. + +Such was the condition of Harrison's chronometer when he arrived +with it in London in 1735, in order to apply to the commissioners +appointed for providing a public reward for the discovery of the +longitude at sea. He first showed it to several members of the +Royal Society, who cordially approved of it. Five of the most +prominent members--Dr. Bailey, Dr. Smith, Dr. Bradley, Mr. John +Machin, and Mr. George Graham--furnished Harrison with a +certificate, stating that the principles of his machine for +measuring time promised a very great and sufficient degree of +exactness. In consequence of this certificate, the machine, at +the request of the inventor, and at the recommendation of the +Lords of the Admiralty, was placed on board a man-of-war. + +Sir Charles Wager, then first Lord of the Admiralty, wrote to the +captain of the Centurion, stating that the instrument had been +approved by mathematicians as the best that had been made for +measuring time; and requesting his kind treatment of Mr. +Harrison, who was to accompany it to Lisbon. Captain Proctor +answered the First Lord from Spithead, dated May l7th, 1736, +promising his attention to Harrison's comfort, but intimating his +fear that he had attempted impossibilities. It is always so with +a new thing. The first steam-engine, the first gaslight, the +first locomotive, the first steamboat to America, the first +electric telegraph, were all impossibilities! + +This first chronometer behaved very well on the outward voyage in +the Centurion. It was not affected by the roughest weather, or +by the working of the ship through the rolling waves of the Bay +of Biscay. It was brought back, with Harrison, in the Orford +man-of-war, when its great utility was proved in a remarkable +manner, although, from the voyage being nearly on a meridian, the +risk of losing the longitude was comparatively small. Yet the +following was the certificate of the captain of the ship, dated +the 24th June, 1737: "When we made the land, the said land, +according to my reckoning (and others), ought to have been the +Start; but, before we knew what land it was, John Harrison +declared to me and the rest of the ship's company that, according +to his observations with his machine, it ought to be the +Lizard--the which, indeed, it was found to be, his observation +showing the ship to be more west than my reckoning, above one +degree and twenty-six miles,"--that is, nearly ninety miles out +of its course! + +Six days later--that is, on the 30th June--the Board of Longitude +met, when Harrison was present, and produced the chronometer with +which he had made the voyage to Lisbon and back. The minute +states: "Mr. John Harrison produced a new invented machine, in +the nature of clockwork, whereby he proposes to keep time at sea +with more exactness than by any other instrument or method +hitherto contrived, in order to the discovery of the longitude at +sea; and proposes to make another machine of smaller dimensions +within the space of two years, whereby he will endeavour to +correct some defects which he hath found in that already +prepared, so as to render the same more perfect; which machine, +when completed, he is desirous of having tried in one of His +Majesty's ships that shall be bound to the West Indies; but at +the same time represented that he should not be able, by reason +of his necessitous circumstances, to go on and finish his said +machine without assistance, and requested that he may be +furnished with the sum of 500L., to put him in a capacity to +perform the same, and to make a perfect experiment thereof." + +The result of the meeting was that 500L. was ordered to be paid +to Harrison, one moiety as soon as convenient, and the other when +he has produced a certificate from the captain of one of His +Majesty's ships that he has put the machine on board into the +captain's possession. Mr. George Graham, who was consulted, +urged that the Commissioners should grant Harrison at least +1000L., but they only awarded him half the sum, and at first only +a moiety of the amount voted. At the recommendation of Lord +Monson, who was present, Harrison accepted the 250L. as a help +towards the heavy expenses which he had already incurred, and was +again about to incur, in perfecting the invention. He was +instructed to make his new chronometer of less dimensions, as the +one exhibited was cumbersome and heavy, and occupied too much +space on board. + +He accordingly proceeded to make his second chronometer. It +occupied a space of only about half the size of the first. He +introduced several improvements. He lessened the number of the +wheels, and thereby diminished friction. But the general +arrangement remained the same. This second machine was finished +in 1739. It was more simple in its arrangement, and less +cumbrous in its dimensions. It answered even better than the +first, and though it was not tried at sea its motions were +sufficiently exact for finding the longitude within the nearest +limits proposed by Act of Parliament. + +Not satisfied with his two machines, Harrison proceeded to make a +third. This was of an improved construction, and occupied still +less space, the whole of the machine and its apparatus standing +upon an area of only four square feet. It was in such +forwardness in January, 1741, that it was exhibited before the +Royal Society, and twelve of the most prominent members signed a +certificate of "its great and excellent use, as well for +determining the longitude at sea as for correcting the charts of +the coasts." The testimonial concluded: "We do recommend Mr. +Harrison to the favour of the Commissioners appointed by Act of +Parliament as a person highly deserving of such further +encouragement and assistance as they shall judge proper and +sufficient to finish his third machine." The Commissioners +granted him a further sum of 500L. Harrison was already reduced +to necessitous circumstances by his continuous application to the +improvement of the timekeepers. He had also got into debt, and +required further assistance to enable him to proceed with their +construction; but the Commissioners would only help him by +driblets. + +Although Harrison had promised that the third machine would be +ready for trial on August 1, 1743, it was not finished for some +years later. In June, 1746, we find him again appearing before +the Board, asking for further assistance. While proceeding with +his work he found it necessary to add a new spring, "having spent +much time and thought in tempering them." Another 500L. was +voted to enable him to pay his debts, to maintain himself and +family, and to complete his chronometer. + +Three years later he exhibited his third machine to the Royal +Society, and on the 30th of November, 1749, he was awarded the +Gold Medal for the year. In presenting it, Mr. Folkes, the +President, said to Mr. Harrison, "I do here, by the authority and +in the name of the Royal Society of London for the improving of +natural knowledge, present you with this small but faithful token +of their regard and esteem. I do, in their name congratulate you +upon the successes you have already had, and I most sincerely +wish that all your future trials may in every way prove +answerable to these beginnings, and that the full accomplishment +of your great undertaking may at last be crowned with all the +reputation and advantage to yourself that your warmest wishes may +suggest, and to which so many years so laudably and so diligently +spent in the improvement of those talents which God Almighty has +bestowed upon you, will so justly entitle your constant and +unwearied perseverance." + +Mr. Folkes, in his speech, spoke of Mr. Harrison as "one of the +most modest persons he had ever known. In speaking," he +continued, "of his own performances, he has assured me that, from +the immense number of diligent and accurate experiments he has +made, and from the severe tests to which he has in many ways put +his instrument, he expects he shall be able with sufficient +certainty, through all the greatest variety of seasons and the +most irregular motions of the sea, to keep time constantly, +without the variation of so much as three seconds in a week, --a +degree of exactness that is astonishing and even stupendous, +considering the immense number of difficulties, and those of very +different sorts, which the author of these inventions must have +had to encounter and struggle withal." + +Although it is common enough now to make first-rate +chronometers-- sufficient to determine the longitude with almost +perfect accuracy in every clime of the world--it was very +different at that time, when Harrison was occupied with his +laborious experiments. Although he considered his third machine +to be the ne plus ultra of scientific mechanism, he nevertheless +proceeded to construct a fourth timepiece, in the form of a +pocket watch about five inches in diameter. He found the +principles which he had adopted in his larger machines applied +equally well in the smaller, and the performances of the last +surpassed his utmost expectations. But in the meantime, as his +third timekeeper was, in his opinion, sufficient to supply the +requirements of the Board of Longitude as respected the highest +reward offered, he applied to the Commissioners for leave to try +that instrument on board a royal ship to some port in the West +Indies, as directed by the statute of Queen Anne. + +Though Harrison's third timekeeper was finished about the year +1758, it was not until March 12, 1761, that he received orders +for his son William to proceed to Portsmouth, and go on board the +Dorsetshire man-of-war, to proceed to Jamaica. But another +tedious delay occurred. The ship was ordered elsewhere, and +William Harrison, after remaining five months at Portsmouth, +returned to London. By this time, John Harrison had finished his +fourth timepiece--the small one, in the form of a watch. At +length William Harrison set sail with this timekeeper from +Portsmouth for Jamaica, on November 18th, 1761, in the Deptford +man-of-war. The Deptford had forty-three ships in convoy, and +arrived at Jamaica on the l9th of January, 1762, three days +before the Beaver, another of His Majesty's ships-of-war, which +had sailed from Portsmouth ten days before the Deptford, but had +lost her reckoning and been deceived in her longitude, having +trusted entirely to the log. Harrison's timepiece had corrected +the log of the Deptford to the extent of three degrees of +longitude, whilst several of the ships in the fleet lost as much +as five degrees! This shows the haphazard way in which +navigation was conducted previous to the invention of the marine +chronometer. + +When the Deptford arrived at Port Royal, Jamaica, the timekeeper +was found to be only five and one tenth seconds in error; and +during the voyage of four months, on its return to Portsmouth on +March 26th, 1762, it was found (after allowing for the rate of +gain or loss) to have erred only one minute fifty-four and a half +seconds. In the latitude of Portsmouth this only amounted to +eighteen geographical miles, whereas the Act had awarded that the +prize should be given where the longitude was determined within +the distance of thirty geographical miles. One would have +thought that Harrison was now clearly entitled to his reward of +20,000L. + +Not at all! The delays interposed by Government are long and +tedious, and sometimes insufferable. Harrison had accomplished +more than was needful to obtain the highest reward which the +Board of Longitude had publicly offered. But they would not +certify that he had won the prize. On the contrary, they started +numerous objections, and continued for years to subject him to +vexatious delays and disappointments. They pleaded that the +previous determination of the longitude of Jamaica by +astronomical observation was unsatisfactory; that there was no +proof of the chronometer having maintained a uniform rate during +the voyage; and on the 17th of August, 1762, they passed a +resolution, stating that they "were of opinion that the +experiments made of the watch had not been sufficient to +determine the longitude at sea." + +It was accordingly necessary for Harrison to petition Parliament +on the subject. Three reigns had come and gone since the Act of +Parliament offering the reward had been passed. Anne had died; +George I. and George II. had reigned and died; and now, in the +reign of George III.--thirty-five years after Harrison had begun +his labours, and after he had constructed four several marine +chronometers, each of which was entitled to win the full +prize,--an Act of Parliament was passed enabling the inventor to +obtain the sum of 5000L. as part of the reward. But the +Commissioners still hesitated. They differed about the tempering +of the springs. They must have another trial of the timekeeper, +or anything with which to put off a settlement of the claim. +Harrison was ready for any further number of trials; and in the +meantime the Commissioners merely paid him a further sum on +account. + +Two more dreary years passed. Nothing was done in 1763 except a +quantity of interminable talk at the Board of Commissioners. At +length, on the 28th of March, 1764, Harrison's son again departed +with the timekeeper on board the ship Tartar for Barbadoes. He +returned in about four months, during which time the instrument +enabled the longitude to be ascertained within ten miles, or +one-third of the required geographical distance. Harrison +memorialised the Commissioners again and again, in order that he +might obtain the reward publicly offered by the Government. + +At length the Commissioners could no longer conceal the truth. +In September,1764, they virtually recognised Harrison's claim by +paying him 1000L. on account; and, on the 9th of February,1765, +they passed a resolution setting forth that they were +"unanimously of opinion that the said timekeeper has kept its +time with sufficient correctness, without losing its longitude in +the voyage from Portsmouth to Barbadoes beyond the nearest limit +required by the Act l2th of Queen Anne, but even considerably +within the same." Yet they would not give Harrison the necessary +certificate, though they were of opinion that he was entitled to +be paid the full reward! + +It is pleasant to contrast the generous conduct of the King of +Sardinia with the procrastinating and illiberal spirit which +Harrison met with in his own country. During the same year in +which the above resolution was passed, the Sardinian minister +ordered four of Harrison's timekeepers at the price of 1000L. +each, at the special instance of the King of Sardinia "as an +acknowledgement of Mr. Harrison's ingenuity, and as some +recompense for the time spent by him for the general good of +mankind." This grateful attention was all the more praiseworthy, +as Sardinia could not in any way be regarded as a great maritime +power. + +Harrison was now becoming old and feeble. He had attained the +age of seventy-four. He had spent forty long years in working +out his invention. He was losing his eyesight, and could not +afford to wait much longer. Still he had to wait. + +"Full little knowest thou, who hast not tried, +What hell it is in suing long to bide; +To lose good days, that might be better spent; +To waste long nights in pensive discontent; +To spend to-day, to be put back to-morrow, +To feed on hope, to pine with fear and sorrow." + +But Harrison had not lost his spirit. On May 30th, 1765, he +addressed another remonstrance to the Board, containing much +stronger language than he had yet used. "I cannot help +thinking," he said, "that I am extremely ill-used by gentlemen +from whom I might have expected a different treatment; for, if +the Act of the l2th of Queen Anne be deficient, why have I so +long been encouraged under it, in order to bring my invention to +perfection? And, after the completion, why was my son sent twice +to the West Indies? Had it been said to my son, when he received +the last instruction, 'There will, in case you succeed, be a new +Act on your return, in order to lay you under new restrictions, +which were not thought of in the Act of the l2th of Queen Anne,' +--I say, had this been the case, I might have expected some such +treatment as that I now meet with. + +"It must be owned that my case is very hard; but I hope I am the +first, and for my country's sake I hope I shall be the last, to +suffer by pinning my faith upon an English Act of Parliament. +Had I received my just reward--for certainly it may be so called +after forty years' close application of the talent which it has +pleased God to give me--then my invention would have taken the +course which all improvements in this world do; that is, I must +have instructed workmen in its principles and execution, which I +should have been glad of an opportunity of doing. But how widely +different this is from what is now proposed, viz., for me to +instruct people that I know nothing of, and such as may know +nothing of mechanics; and, if I do not make them understand to +their satisfaction, I may then have nothing! + +"Hard fate indeed to me, but still harder to the world, which may +be deprived of this my invention, which must be the case, except +by my open and free manner in describing all the principles of it +to gentlemen and noblemen who almost at all times have had free +recourse to my instruments. And if any of these workmen have +been so ingenious as to have got my invention, how far you may +please to reward them for their piracy must be left for you to +determine; and I must set myself down in old age, and thank God I +can be more easy in that I have the conquest, and though I have +no reward, than if I had come short of the matter and by some +delusion had the reward!" + +The Right Honourable the Earl of Egmont was in the chair of the +Board of Longitude on the day when this letter was read--June 13, +1765. The Commissioners were somewhat startled by the tone which +the inventor had taken. Indeed, they were rather angry. Mr. +Harrison, who was in waiting, was called in. After some rather +hot speaking, and after a proposal was made to Harrison which he +said he would decline to accede to "so long as a drop of English +blood remained in his body," he left the room. Matters were at +length arranged. The Act of Parliament (5 Geo. III. cap. 20) +awarded him, upon a full discovery of the principles of his +time-keeper, the payment of such a sum, as with the 2500L. he had +already received, would make one half of the reward; and the +remaining half was to be paid when other chronometers had been +made after his design, and their capabilities fully proved. He +was also required to assign his four chronometers--one of which +was styled a watch--to the use of the public. + +Harrison at once proceeded to give full explanations of the +principles of his chronometer to Dr. Maskelyne, and six other +gentlemen, who had been appointed to receive them. He took his +timekeeper to pieces in their presence, and deposited in their +hands correct drawings of the same, with the parts, so that other +skilful makers might construct similar chronometers on the same +principles. Indeed, there was no difficulty in making them; +after his explanations and drawings had been published. An exact +copy of his last watch was made by the ingenious Mr. Kendal; and +was used by Captain Cook in his three years' circumnavigation of +the world, to his perfect satisfaction. + +England had already inaugurated that series of scientific +expeditions which were to prove so fruitful of results, and to +raise her naval reputation to so great a height. In these +expeditions, the officers, the sailors, and the scientific men, +were constantly brought face to face with unforeseen difficulties +and dangers, which brought forth their highest qualities as men. +There was, however, some intermixture of narrowness in the minds +of those who sent them forth. For instance, while Dr. Priestley +was at Leeds, he was asked by Sir Joseph Banks to join Captain +Cook's second expedition to the Southern Seas, as an astronomer. +Priestley gave his assent, and made arrangements to set out. But +some weeks later, Banks informed him that his appointment had +been cancelled, as the Board of Longitude objected to his +theology. Priestley's otherwise gentle nature was roused. "What +I am, and what they are, in respect of religion," he wrote to +Banks, in December, 1771, "might easily have been known before +the thing was proposed to me at all. Besides, I thought that +this had been a business of philosophy, and not of divinity. If, +however, this be the case, I shall hold the Board of Longitude in +extreme contempt." + +Captain Cook was appointed to the command of the Resolution, and +Captain Wallis to the command of the Adventure, in November, +1771. They proceeded to equip the ships; and amongst the other +instruments taken on board Captain Cook's ship, were two +timekeepers, one made by Mr. Larcum Kendal, on Mr. Harrison's +principles, and the other by Mr. John Arnold, on his own. The +expedition left Deptford in April, 1772; and shortly afterwards +sailed for the South Seas. "Mr. Kendal's watch" is the subject +of frequent notices in Captain Cook's account. At the Cape of +Good Hope, it is said to have "answered beyond all expectation." +Further south, in the neighbourhood of Cape Circumcision, he +says, "the use of the telescope is found difficult at first, but +a little practice will make it familiar. By the assistance of +the watch we shall be able to discover the greatest error this +method of observing the longitude at sea is liable to." It was +found that Harrison's watch was more correct than Arnold's, and +when near Cape Palliser in New Zealand, Cook says, "this day at +noon, when we attended the winding-up of the watches, the fusee +of Mr. Arnold's would not turn round, so that after several +unsuccessful trials we were obliged to let it go down." From +this time, complete reliance was placed upon Harrison's +chronometer. Some time later, Cook says, "I must here take +notice that our longitude can never be erroneous while we have so +good a guide as Mr. Kendal's watch." It may be observed, that at +the beginning of the voyage, observations were made by the lunar +tables; but these, being found unreliable, were eventually +discontinued. + +To return to Harrison. He continued to be worried by official +opposition. His claims were still unsatisfied. His watch at +home underwent many more trials. Dr. Maskelyne, the Royal +Astronomer, was charged with being unfavourable to the success of +chronometers, being deeply interested in finding the longitude by +lunar tables; although this method is now almost entirely +superseded by the chronometer. Harrison accordingly could not +get the certificate of what was due to him under the Act of +Parliament. Years passed before he could obtain the remaining +amount of his reward. It was not until the year 1773, or +forty-five years after the commencement of his experiments, that +he succeeded in obtaining it. The following is an entry in the +list of supplies granted by Parliament in that year: "June 14. +To John Harrison, as a further reward and encouragement over and +above the sums already received by him, for his invention of a +timekeeper for ascertaining the longitude at sea, and his +discovery of the principles upon which the same was constructed, +8570 pounds 0s. 0d. + +John Harrison did not long survive the settlement of his claims; +for he died on the 24th of March, 1776, at the age of +eighty-three. He was buried at the south-west corner of +Hampstead parish churchyard, where a tombstone was erected to his +memory, and an inscription placed upon it commemorating his +services. His wife survived him only a year; she died at +seventy-two, and was buried in the same tomb. His son, William +Harrison, F.R.S., a deputy-lientenant of the counties of Monmouth +and Middlesex, died in 1815, at the ripe age of eighty-eight, and +was also interred there. The tomb having stood for more than a +century, became somewhat dilapidated; when the Clock-makers' +Company of the City of London took steps in 1879 to reconstruct +it, and recut the inscriptions. An appropriate ceremony took +place at the final uncovering of the tomb. + +But perhaps the most interesting works connected with John +Harrison and the great labour of his life, are the wooden clock +at the South Kensington Museum, and the four chronometers made by +him for the Government, which are still preserved at the Royal +Observatory, Greenwich. The three early ones are of great +weight, and can scarcely be moved without some bodily labour. +But the fourth, the marine chronometer or watch, is of small +dimensions, and is easily handled. It still possesses the power +of going accurately; as does "Mr. Kendal's watch," which was made +exactly after it. These will always prove the best memorials of +this distinguished workman. + +Before concluding this brief notice of the life and labours of +John Harrison, it becomes me to thank most cordially Mr. +Christie, Astronomer-Royal, for his kindness in exhibiting the +various chronometers deposited at the Greenwich Observatory, and +for his permission to inspect the minutes of the Board of +Longitude, where the various interviews between the inventor and +the commissioners, extending over many years, are faithfully but +too procrastinatingly recorded. It may be finally said of John +Harrison, that by his invention of the chronometer--the +ever-sleepless and ever-trusty friend of the mariner --he +conferred an incalculable benefit on science and navigation, and +established his claim to be regarded as one of the greatest +benefactors of mankind. + +POstscript.--In addition to the information contained in this +chapter, I have been recently informed by the Rev. Mr. Sankey, +vicar of Wragby, that the family is quite extinct in the parish, +except the wife of a plumber, who claims relationship with +Harrison. The representative of the Winn family was created Lord +St. Oswald in 1885. Harrison is not quite forgotten at Foulby. +The house in which he was born was a low thatched cottage, with +two rooms, one used as a living room, and the other as a sleeping +room. The house was pulled down about forty years ago; but the +entrance door, being of strong, hard wood, is still preserved. +The vicar adds that young Harrison would lie out on the grass all +night in summer time, studying the details of his wooden clock. + + +Footnotes to Chapter III. + +[1] Originally published in Longmam's Magazine, but now rewritten +and enlarged. + +[2] Popular Astronomy. By Simon Newcomb, LL.D., Professor U.S. +Naval Observatory. + +[3] Biographia Britannica, vol. vi. part 2, p. 4375. This volume +was published in 1766, before the final reward had been granted +to Harrison. + +[4] This clock is in the possession of Abraham Riley, of Bromley, +near Leeds. He informs us that the clock is made of wood +throughout, excepting the escapement and the dial, which are made +of brass. It bears the mark of "John Harrison, 1713." + +[5] Harrison's compensation pendulum was afterwards improved by +Arnold, Earnshaw, and other English makers. Dent's prismatic +balance is now considered the best. + +[6] See Mr. Folkes's speech to the Royal Soc., 30th Nov., 1749. + +[7] No trustworthy lunar tables existed at that time. It was not +until the year 1753 that Tobias Mayer, a German, published the +first lunar tables which could be relied upon. For this, the +British Government afterwards awarded to Mayer's widow the sum of +5000L. + +[8] Sir Isaac Newton gave his design to Edmund Halley, then +Astronomer-Royal. Halley laid it on one side, and it was found +among his papers after his death in 1742, twenty-five years after +the death of Newton. A similar omission was made by Sir G. B. +Airy, which led to the discovery of Neptune being attributed to +Leverrier instead of to Adams. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +JOHN LOMBE: INTRODUCER OF THE SILK INDUSTRY INTO ENGLAND. + +"By Commerce are acquired the two things which wise men accompt +of all others the most necessary to the well-being of a +Commonwealth: That is to say, a general Industry of Mind and +Hardiness of Body, which never fail to be accompanyed with Honour +and Plenty. So that, questionless, when Commerce does not +flourish, as well as other Professions, and when Particular +Persons out of a habit of Laziness neglect at once the noblest +way of employing their time and the fairest occasion for +advancing their fortunes, that Kingdom, though otherwise never so +glorious, wants something of being compleatly happy."--A Treatise +touching the East India Trade (1695). + +Industry puts an entirely new face upon the productions of +nature. By labour man has subjugated the world, reduced it to +his dominion, and clothed the earth with a new garment. The +first rude plough that man thrust into the soil, the first rude +axe of stone with which he felled the pine, the first rude canoe +scooped by him from its trunk to cross the river and reach the +greener fields beyond, were each the outcome of a human faculty +which brought within his reach some physical comfort he had never +enjoyed before. + +Material things became subject to the influence of labour. From +the clay of the ground, man manufactured the vessels which were +to contain his food. Out of the fleecy covering of sheep, he +made clothes for himself of many kinds; from the flax plant he +drew its fibres, and made linen and cambric; from the hemp plant +he made ropes and fishing nets; from the cotton pod he fabricated +fustians, dimities, and calicoes. From the rags of these, or +from weed and the shavings of wood, he made paper on which books +and newspapers were printed. Lead was formed by him into +printer's type, for the communication of knowledge without end. + +But the most extraordinary changes of all were made in a heavy +stone containing metal, dug out of the ground. With this, when +smelted by wood or coal, and manipulated by experienced skill, +iron was produced. From this extraordinary metal, the soul of +every manufacture, and the mainspring perhaps of civilised +society--arms, hammers, and axes were made; then knives, +scissors, and needles; then machinery to hold and control the +prodigious force of steam; and eventually railroads and +locomotives, ironclads propelled by the screw, and iron and steel +bridges miles in length. + +The silk manufacture, though originating in the secretion of a +tiny caterpillar, is perhaps equally extraordinary. Hundreds of +thousands of pounds weight of this slender thread, no thicker +than the filaments spun by a spider, give employment to millions +of workers throughout the world. Silk, and the many textures +wrought from this beautiful material, had long been known in the +East; but the period cannot be fixed when man first divested the +chrysalis of its dwelling, and discovered that the little yellow +ball which adhered to the leaf of the mulberry tree, could be +evolved into a slender filament, from which tissues of endless +variety and beauty could be made. The Chinese were doubtless +among the first who used the thread spun by the silkworm for the +purposes of clothing. The manufacture went westward from China +to India and Persia, and from thence to Europe. Alexander the +Great brought home with him a store of rich silks from Persia +Aristotle and Pliny give descriptions of the industrious little +worm and its productions. Virgil is the first of the Roman +writers who alludes to the production of silk in China; and the +terms he employs show how little was then known about the +article. It was introduced at Rome about the time of Julius +Caesar, who displayed a profusion of silks in some of his +magnificent theatrical spectacles. Silk was so valuable that it +was then sold for an equal weight of gold. Indeed, a law was +passed that no man should disgrace himself by wearing a silken +garment. The Emperor Heliogabalus despised the law, and wore a +dress composed wholly of silk. The example thus set was followed +by wealthy citizens. A demand for silk from the East soon became +general. + +It was not until about the middle of the sixth century that two +Persian monks, who had long resided in China, and made themselves +acquainted with the mode of rearing the silkworm, succeeded in +carrying the eggs of the insect to Constantinople. Under their +direction they were hatched and fed. A sufficient number of +butterflies were saved to propagate the race, and mulberry trees +were planted to afford nourishment to the rising generations of +caterpillars. Thus the industry was propagated. It spread into +the Italian peninsula; and eventually manufactures of silk +velvet, damask, and satin became established in Venice, Milan, +Florence, Lucca, and other places. + +Indeed, for several centuries the manufacture of silk in Europe +was for the most part confined to Italy. The rearing of +silkworms was of great importance in Modena, and yielded a +considerable revenue to the State. The silk produced there was +esteemed the best in Lombardy. Until the beginning of the +sixteenth century, Bologna was the only city which possessed +proper "throwing" mills, or the machinery requisite for twisting +and preparing silken fibres for the weaver. Thousands of people +were employed at Florence and Genoa about the same time in the +silk manufacture. And at Venice it was held in such high esteem, +that the business of a silk factory was considered a noble +employment.[1] + +It was long before the use of silk became general in England. +"Silk," said an old writer, "does not immediately come hither +from the Worm that spins and makes it, but passes many a Climate, +travels many a Desert, employs many a Hand, loads many a Camel, +and freights many a Ship before it arrives here; and when at last +it comes, it is in return for other manufactures, or in exchange +for our money."[2] It is said that the first pair of silk +stockings was brought into England from Spain, and presented to +Henry VIII. He had before worn hose of cloth. In the third year +of Queen Elizabeth's reign, her tiring woman, Mrs. Montagu, +presented her with a pair of black silk stockings as a New Year's +gift; whereupon her Majesty asked if she could have any more, in +which case she would wear no more cloth stockings. When James +VI. of Scotland received the ambassadors sent to congratulate him +upon his accession to the throne of Great Britain, he asked one +of his lords to lend him his pair of silken hose, that he "might +not appear a scrub before strangers." From these circumstances +it will be observed how rare the wearing of silk was in England. + +Shortly after becoming king, James I. endeavoured to establish +the silk manufacture in England, as had already been successfully +done in France. He gave every encouragement to the breeding of +silkworms. He sent circular letters to all the counties of +England, strongly recommending the inhabitants to plant mulberry +trees. The trees were planted in many places, but the leaves did +not ripen in sufficient time for the sustenance of the silkworms. + +The same attempt was made at Inneshannon, near Bandon, in +Ireland, by the Hugnenot refugees, but proved abortive. The +climate proved too cold or damp for the rearing of silkworms with +advantage. All that remains is "The Mulberry Field," which still +retains its name. Nevertheless the Huguenots successfully +established the silk manufacture at London and Dublin, obtaining +the spun silk from abroad. + +Down to the beginning of last century, the Italians were the +principal producers of organzine or thrown silk; and for a long +time they succeeded in keeping their art a secret. Although the +silk manufacture, as we have seen, was introduced into this +country by the Huguenot artizans, the price of thrown silk was so +great that it interfered very considerably with its progress. +Organzine was principally made within the dominions of Savoy, by +means of a large and curious engine, the like of which did not +exist elsewhere. The Italians, by the most severe laws, long +preserved the mystery of the invention. The punishment +prescribed by one of their laws to be inflicted upon anyone who +discovered the secret, or attempted to carry it out of the +Sardinian dominions, was death, with the forfeiture of all the +goods the delinquent possessed; and the culprit was "to be +afterwards painted on the outside of the prison walls, hanging to +the gallows by one foot, with an inscription denoting the name +and crime of the person, there to be continued for a perpetual +mark of infamy."[3] + +Nevertheless, a bold and ingenious man was found ready to brave +all this danger in the endeavour to discover the secret. It may +be remembered with what courage and determination the founder of +the Foley family introduced the manufacture of nails into +England. He went into the Danemora mine district, near Upsala in +Sweden, fiddling his way among the miners; and after making two +voyages, he at last wrested from them the secret of making nails, +and introduced the new industry into the Staffordshire +district.[4] The courage of John Lombe, who introduced the +thrown-silk industry into England, was equally notable. He was a +native of Norwich. Playfair, in his 'Family Antiquity' (vii. +312), says his name "may have been taken from the French Lolme, +or de Lolme," as there were many persons of French and Flemish +origin settled at Norwich towards the close of the sixteenth +century; but there is no further information as to his special +origin. + +John Lombe's father, Henry Lombe, was a worsted weaver, and was +twice married. By his first wife he had two sons, Thomas and +Henry; and by his second, he had also two sons, Benjamin and +John. At his death in 1695, he left his two brothers his +"supervisors," or trustees, and directed them to educate his +children in due time to some useful trade. Thomas, the eldest +son, went to London. He was apprenticed to a trade, and +succeeded in business, as we find him Sheriff of London and +Middlesex in 1727, when in his forty-second year. He was also +knighted in the same year, most probably on the accession of +George II. to the throne. + +John, the youngest son of the family, and half-brother of Thomas, +was put an apprentice to a trade. In 1702, we find him at Derby, +working as a mechanic with one Mr. Crotchet. This unfortunate +gentleman started a small silk-mill at Derby, with the object of +participating in the profits derived from the manufacture. + +"The wear of silks," says Hutton, in his 'History of Derby,' "was +the taste of the ladies, and the British merchant was obliged to +apply to the Italian with ready money for the article at an +exorbitant price." Crotchet did not succeed in his undertaking. +"Three engines were found necessary for the process: he had but +one. An untoward trade is a dreadful sink for money; and an +imprudent tradesman is still more dreadfuL. We often see +instances where a fortune would last a man much longer if he +lived upon his capital, than if he sent it into trade. Crotchet +soon became insolvent." + +John Lombe, who had been a mechanic in Crotchet's silk mill, lost +his situation accordingly. But he seems to have been possessed +by an intense desire to ascertain the Italian method of +silk-throwing. He could not learn it in England. There was no +other method but going to Italy, getting into a silk mill, and +learning the secret of the Italian art. He was a good mechanic +and a clever draughtsman, besides being intelligent and fearless. + +But he had not the necessary money wherewith to proceed to Italy. + +His half-brother Thomas, however, was doing well in London, and +was willing to help him with the requisite means. Accordingly, +John set out for Italy, not long after the failure of Crotchet. + +John Lombe succeeded in getting employment in a silk mill in +Piedmont, where the art of silk-throwing was kept a secret. He +was employed as a mechanic, and had thus an opportunity, in +course of time, of becoming familiar with the operation of the +engine. Hutton says that he bribed the workmen; but this would +have been a dangerous step, and would probably have led to his +expulsion, if not to his execution. Hutton had a great +detestation of the first silk factory at Derby, where he was +employed when a boy; and everything that he says about it must be +taken cum grano salis. When the subject of renewing the patent +was before Parliament in 1731, Mr. Perry, who supported the +petition of Sir Thomas Lombe, said that "the art had been kept so +secret in Piedmont, that no other nation could ever yet come at +the invention, and that Sir Thomas and his brother resolved to +make an attempt for the bringing of this invention into their own +country. They knew that there would be great difficulty and +danger in the undertaking, because the king of Sardinia had made +it death for any man to discover this invention, or attempt to +carry it out of his dominions. The petitioner's brother, +however, resolved to venture his person for the benefit and +advantage of his native country, and Sir Thomas was resolved to +venture his money, and to furnish his brother with whatever sums +should be necessary for executing so bold and so generous a +design. His brother went accordingly over to Italy; and after a +long stay and a great expense in that country, he found means to +see this engine so often, and to pry into the nature of it so +narrowly, that he made himself master of the whole invention and +of all the different parts and motions belonging to it." + +John Lombe was absent from England for several years. While +occupied with his investigations and making his drawings, it is +said that it began to be rumoured that the Englishman was prying +into the secret of the silk mill, and that he had to fly for his +life. However this may be, he got on board an English ship, and +returned to England in safety. He brought two Italian workmen +with him, accustomed to the secrets of the silk trade. He +arrived in London in 1716, when, after conferring with his +brother, a specification was prepared and a patent for the +organzining of raw silk was taken out in 1718. The patent was +granted for fourteen years. + +In the meantime, John Lombe arranged with the Corporation of the +town of Derby for taking a lease of the island or swamp on the +river Derwent, at a ground rental of 8L. a year. The island, +which was well situated for water-power, was 500 feet long and 52 +feet wide. Arrangements were at once made for erecting a silk +mill thereon, the first large factory in England. It was +constructed entirely at the expense of his brother Thomas. While +the building was in progress, John Lombe hired various rooms in +Derby, and particularly the Town Hall, where he erected temporary +engines turned by hand, and gave employment to a large number of +poor people. + +At length, after about three years' labour, the great silk mill +was completed. It was founded upon huge piles of oak, from 16 to +20 feet long, driven into the swamp close to each other by an +engine made for the purpose. The building was five stories high, +contained eight large apartments, and had no fewer than 468 +windows. The Lombes must have had great confidence in their +speculation, as the building and the great engine for making the +organzine silk, together with the other fittings, cost them about +30,000L. + +One effect of the working of the mill was greatly to reduce the +price of the thrown-silk, and to bring it below the cost of the +Italian production. The King of Sardinia, having heard of the +success of the Lombe's undertaking, prohibited the exportation of +Piedmontese raw silk, which interrupted the course of their +prosperity, until means were taken to find a renewed supply +elsewhere. + +And now comes the tragic part of the story, for which Mr. Hutton, +the author of the 'History of Derby,' is responsible. As he +worked in the silk mill when a boy, from 1730 to 1737, he +doubtless heard it from the mill-hands, and there may be some +truth in it, though mixed with a little romance. It is this:- +Hutton says of John Lombe, that he "had not pursued this +lucrative commerce more than three or four years when the +Italians, who felt the effects from their want of trade, +determined his destruction, and hoped that that of his works +would follow. An artful woman came over in the character of a +friend, associated with the parties, and assisted in the +business. She attempted to gain both the Italian workmen, and +succeeded with one. By these two slow poison was supposed, and +perhaps justly, to have been administered to John Lombe, who +lingered two or three years in agony, and departed. The Italian +ran away to his own country; and Madam was interrogated, but +nothing transpired, except what strengthened suspicion." A +strange story, if true. + +Of the funeral, Hutton says:-- "John Lombe's was the most superb +ever known in Derby. A man of peaceable deportment, who had +brought a beneficial manufactory into the place, employed the +poor, and at advanced wages, could not fail meeting with respect, +and his melancholy end with pity. Exclusive of the gentlemen who +attended, all the people concerned in the works were invited. +The procession marched in pairs, and extended the length of Full +Street, the market-place, and Iron-gate; so that when the corpse +entered All Saints, at St. Mary's Gate, the last couple left the +house of the deceased, at the corner of Silk-mill Lane." + +Thus John Lombe died and was buried at the early age of +twenty-nine; and Thomas, the capitalist, continued the owner of +the Derby silk mill. Hutton erroneously states that William +succeeded, and that he shot himself. The Lombes had no brother +of the name of William, and this part of Hutton's story is a +romance. + +The affairs of the Derby silk mill went on prosperously. Enough +thrown silk was manufactured to supply the trade, and the weaving +of silk became a thriving business. Indeed, English silk began +to have a European reputation. In olden times it was said that +"the stranger buys of the Englishman the case of the fox for a +groat, and sells him the tail again for a shilling." But now the +matter was reversed, and the saying was, "The Englishman buys +silk of the stranger for twenty marks, and sells him the same +again for one hundred pounds." + +But the patent was about to expire. It had been granted for only +fourteen years; and a long time had elapsed before the engine +could be put in operation, and the organzine manufactured. It +was the only engine in the kingdom. Joshua Gee, writing in 1731, +says: "As we have but one Water Engine in the kingdom for +throwing silk, if that should be destroyed by fire or any other +accident, it would make the continuance of throwing fine silk +very precarious; and it is very much to be doubted whether all +the men now living in the kingdom could make another." Gee +accordingly recommended that three or four more should be erected +at the public expense, "according to the model of that at +Derby."[5] + +The patent expired in 1732. The year before, Sir Thomas Lombe, +who had been by this time knighted, applied to Parliament for a +prolongation of the patent. The reasons for his appeal were +principally these: that before he could provide for the full +supply of other silk proper for his purpose (the Italians having +prohibited the exportation of raw silk), and before he could +alter his engine, train up a sufficient number of workpeople, and +bring the manufacture to perfection, almost all the fourteen +years of his patent right would have expired. "Therefore," the +petition to Parliament concluded, "as he has not hitherto +received the intended benefit of the aforesaid patent, and in +consideration of the extraordinary nature of this undertaking, +the very great expense, hazard, and difficulty he has undergone, +as well as the advantage he has thereby procured to the nation at +his own expense, the said Sir Thomas Lombe humbly hopes that +Parliament will grant him a further term for the sole making and +using his engines, or such other recompense as in their wisdom +shall seem meet."[6] + +The petition was referred to a Committee. After consideration, +they recommended the House of Commons to grant a further term of +years to Sir Thomas Lombe. The advisers of the King, however, +thought it better that the patent should not be renewed, but that +the trade in silk should be thrown free to all. Accordingly the +Chancellor of the Exchequer acquainted the House (14th March, +1731) that "His Majesty having been informed of the case of Sir +Thomas Lombe, with respect to his engine for making organzine +silk, had commanded him to acquaint this House, that His Majesty +recommended to their consideration the making such provision for +a recompense to Sir Thomas Lombe as they shall think proper." + +The result was, that the sum of 14,000L. was voted and paid to +Sir Thomas Lombe as "a reward for his eminent services done to +the nation, in discovering with the greatest hazard and +difficulty the capital Italian engines, and introducing and +bringing the same to full perfection in this kingdom, at his own +great expense."[7] The trade was accordingly thrown open. Silk +mills were erected at Stockport and elsewhere; Hutton says that +divers additional mills were erected in Derby; and a large and +thriving trade was established. In 1850, the number employed in +the silk manufacture exceeded a million persons. The old mill +has recently become disused. Although supported by strong wooden +supports, it showed signs of falling; and it was replaced by a +larger mill, more suitable to modern requirements. + + +Footnotes for Chapter IV. + +[1] "This was equally the case with two other trades;-- those of +glass-maker and druggist, which brought no contamination upon +nobility in Venice. In a country where wealth was concentrated +in the hands of the powerful, it was no doubt highly judicious +thus to encourage its employment for objects of public advantage. + +A feeling, more or less powerful, has always existed in the minds +of the high-born, against the employment of their time and wealth +to purposes of commerce or manufactures. All trades, save only +that of war, seem to have been held by them as in some sort +degrading, and but little comporting with the dignity of +aristocratic blood." Cabinet Cyclopedia--Silk Manufacture, p. 20. + +[2] A Brief State of the Inland or Home Trade. (Pamphlet.) 1730. + +[3] A Brief State of the Case relating to the Machine erected at +Derby for making Italian Organzine Silk, which was discovered and +brought into England with the utmost difficulty and hazard, and +at the Sole Expense of Sir Thomas Lombe. House of Commons Paper, +28th January, 1731. + +[4] Self-Help, p. 205. + +[5] The Trade and Navigation of Great Britain considered, p. 94. + +[6] The petition sets forth the merits of the machine at Derby +for making Italian organzine silk--"a manufacture made out of +fine raw silk, by reducing it to a hard twisted fine and even +thread. This silk makes the warp, and is absolutely necessary to +mix with and cover the Turkey and other coarser silks thrown +here, which are used for Shute,--so that, without a constant +supply of this fine Italian organzine silk, very little of the +said Turkey or other silks could be used, nor could the silk +weaving trade be carried on in England. This Italian organzine +(or thrown) silk has in all times past been bought with our +money, ready made (or worked) in Italy, for want of the art of +making it here. Whereas now, by making it ourselves out of fine +Italian raw silk, the nation saves near one-third part; and by +what we make out of fine China raw silk, above one-half of the +price we pay for it ready worked in Italy. The machine at Derby +contains 97,746 wheels, movements, and individual parts (which +work day and night), all which receive their motion from one +large water-wheel, are governed by one regulator, and it employs +about 300 persons to attend and supply it with work." In Bees +Cyclopaedia (art. 'Silk Manufacture') there is a full description +of the Piedmont throwing machine introduced to England by John +Lombe, with a good plate of it. + +[7] Sir Thomas Lombe died in 1738. He had two daughters. The +first, Hannah, was married to Sir Robert Clifton, of Clifton, co. + +Notts; the second, Mary Turner, was married to James, 7th Earl of +Lauderdale. In his will, he "recommends his wife, at the +conclusion of the Darby concern," to distribute among his +"principal servants or managers five or six hundred pounds." + + +CHAPTER V. + +WILLIAM MURDOCK: HIS LIFE AND INVENTIONS. + +"Justice exacts, that those by whom we are most benefited +Should be most admired."--Dr. Johnson. + +"The beginning of civilization is the discovery of some useful +arts, by which men acquire property, comforts, or luxuries. The +necessity or desire of preserving them leads to laws and social +institutions... In reality, the origin as well as the progress +and improvement of civil society is founded on mechanical and +chemical inventions."--Sir Humphry Davy. + +At the middle of last century, Scotland was a very poor country. +It consisted mostly of mountain and moorland; and the little +arable land it contained was badly cultivated. Agriculture was +almost a lost art. "Except in a few instances," says a writer in +the 'Farmers' Magazine' of 1803, "Scotland was little better than +a barren waste." Cattle could with difficulty be kept alive; and +the people in some parts of the country were often on the brink +of starvation. The people were hopeless, miserable, and without +spirit, like the Irish in their very worst times. After the +wreck of the Darien expedition, there seemed to be neither skill, +enterprise, nor money left in the country. What resources it +contained were altogether undeveloped. There was little +communication between one place and another, and such roads as +existed were for the greater part of the year simply impassable. + +There were various opinions as to the causes of this frightful +state of things. Some thought it was the Union between England +and Scotland; and Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, "The Patriot," as +he was called, urged its Repeal. In one of his publications, he +endeavoured to show that about one-sixth of the population of +Scotland was in a state of beggary-- two hundred thousand +vagabonds begging from door to door, or robbing and plundering +people as poor as themselves.[1] Fletcher was accordingly as +great a repealer as Daniel O'Connell in after times. But he +could not get the people to combine. There were others who held +a different opinion. They thought that something might be done +by the people themselves to extricate the country from its +miserable condition. + +It still possessed some important elements of prosperity. The +inhabitants of Scotland, though poor, were strong and able to +work. The land, though cold and sterile, was capable of +cultivation. + +Accordingly, about the middle of last century, some important +steps were taken to improve the general condition of things. A +few public-spirited landowners led the way, and formed themselves +into a society for carrying out improvements in agriculture. +They granted long leases of farms as a stimulus to the most +skilled and industrious, and found it to their interest to give +the farmer a more permanent interest in his improvements than he +had before enjoyed. Thus stimulated and encouraged, farming made +rapid progress, especially in the Lothians; and the example +spread into other districts. Banks were established for the +storage of capital. Roads were improved, and communications +increased between one part of the country and another. Hence +trade and commerce arose, by reason of the facilities afforded +for the interchange of traffic. The people, being fairly +educated by the parish schools, were able to take advantage of +these improvements. Sloth and idleness gradually disappeared, +before the energy, activity, and industry which were called into +life by the improved communications. + +At the same time, active and powerful minds were occupied in +extending the domain of knowledge. Black and Robison, of +Glasgow, were the precursors of James Watt, whose invention of +the condensing steam-engine was yet to produce a revolution in +industrial operations, the like of which had never before been +known. Watt had hit upon his great idea while experimenting with +an old Newcomen model which belonged to the University of +Glasgow. He was invited by Mr. Roebuck of Kinneil to make a +working steam-engine for the purpose of pumping water from the +coal-pits at Boroughstoness; but his progress was stopped by want +of capital, as well as by want of experience. It was not until +the brave and generous Matthew Boulton of Birmingham took up the +machine, and backed Watt with his capital and his spirit, that +Watt's enterprise had the remotest chance of success. Even after +about twelve years' effort, the condensing steam-engine was only +beginning, though half-heartedly, to be taken up and employed by +colliery proprietors and cotton manufacturers. In developing its +powers, and extending its uses, the great merits of William +Murdock can never be forgotten. Watt stands first in its +history, as the inventor; Boulton second, as its promoter and +supporter; and Murdock third, as its developer and improver. + +William Murdock was born on the 21st of August, 1754, at Bellow +Mill, in the parish of Auchinleck, Ayrshire. His father, John, +was a miller and millwright, as well as a farmer. His mother's +maiden name was Bruce, and she used to boast of being descended +from Robert Bruce, the deliverer of Scotland. The Murdocks, or +Murdochs--for the name was spelt in either way--were numerous in +the neighbourhood, and they were nearly all related to each +other. They are supposed to have originally come into the +district from Flanders, between which country and Scotland a +considerable intercourse existed in the middle ages. Some of the +Murdocks took a leading part in the construction of the abbeys +and cathedrals of the North;[2] others were known as mechanics; +but the greater number were farmers. + +One of the best known members of the family was John Murdock, the +poet Burns' first teacher. Burns went to his school at Alloway +Mill, when he was six years old. There he learnt to read and +write. When Murdock afterwards set up a school at Ayr, Burns, +who was then fifteen, went to board with him. In a letter to a +correspondent, Murdock said: "In 1773, Robert Burns came to +board and lodge with me, for the purpose of revising his English +grammar, that he might be better qualified to instruct his +brothers and sisters at home. He was now with me day and night, +in school, at all meals, and in all my walks." The pupil even +shared the teacher's bed at night. Murdock lent the boy books, +and helped the cultivation of his mind in many ways. Burns soon +revised his English grammar, and learnt French, as well as a +little Latin. Some time after, Murdock removed to London, and +had the honour of teaching Talleyrand English during his +residence as an emigrant in this country. He continued to have +the greatest respect for his former pupil, whose poetry +commemorated the beauties of his native district. + +It may be mentioned that Bellow Mill is situated on the Bellow +Water, near where it joins the river Lugar. One of Burns' finest +songs begins:-- + + "Behind yon hills where Lugar flows." + +That was the scene of William Murdock's boyhood. When a boy, he +herded his father's cows along the banks of the Bellow; and as +there were then no hedges, it was necessary to have some one to +watch the cattle while grazing. The spot is still pointed out +where the boy, in the intervals of his herding, hewed a square +compartment out of the rock by the water side, and there burnt +the splint coal found on the top of the Black Band ironstone. +That was one of the undeveloped industries of Scotland; for the +Scotch iron trade did not arrive at any considerable importance +until about a century later.[3] The little cavern in which +Murdock burnt the splint coal was provided with a fireplace and +vent, all complete. It is possible that he may have there +derived, from his experiments, the first idea of Gas as an +illuminant. + +Murdock is also said to have made a wooden horse, worked by +mechanical power, which was the wonder of the district. On this +mechanical horse he rode to the village of Cumnock, about two +miles distant. His father's name is, however, associated with +his own in the production of this machine. Old John Murdock had +a reputation for intelligence and skill of no ordinary kind. +When at Carron ironworks, in 1760, he had a pinton cast after a +pattern which he had prepared. This is said to have been the +first piece of iron-toothed gearing ever used in mill work. When +I last saw it, the pinton was placed on the lawn in front of +William Murdock's villa at Handsworth. + +The young man helped his father in many ways. He worked in the +mill, worked on the farm, and assisted in the preparation of mill +machinery. In this way he obtained a considerable amount of +general technical knowledge. He even designed and constructed +bridges. He was employed to build a bridge over the river Nith, +near Dumfries, and it stands there to this day, a solid and +handsome structure. But he had an ambition to be something more +than a country mason. He had heard a great deal about the +inventions of James Watt; and he determined to try whether he +could not get "a job" at the famous manufactory at Soho. He +accordingly left his native place in the year 1777, in the +twenty-third year of his age; and migrated southward. He left +plenty of Murdocks behind him. There was a famous staff in the +family, originally owned by William Murdock's grandfather, which +bore the following inscription: "This staff I leave in pedigree +to the oldest Murdock after me, in the parish of Auchenleck, +1745." This staff was lately held by Jean Murdock, daughter of +the late William Murdock, joiner, cousin of the subject of this +biography. + +When William arrived at Soho in 1777 he called at the works to +ask for employment. Watt was then in Cornwall, looking after his +pumping engines; but he saw Boulton, who was usually accessible +to callers of every rank. In answer to Murdock's enquiry whether +he could have a job, Boulton replied that work was very slack +with them, and that every place was filled up. During the brief +conversation that took place, the blate young Scotchman, like +most country lads in the presence of strangers, had some +difficulty in knowing what to do with his hands, and +unconsciously kept twirling his hat with them. Boulton's +attention was attracted to the twirling hat, which seemed to be +of a peculiar make. It was not a felt hat, nor a cloth hat, nor +a glazed hat: but it seemed to be painted, and composed of some +unusual material. "That seems to be a curious sort of hat," said +Boulton, looking at it more closely; "what is it made of?" +"Timmer, sir," said Murdock, modestly. "Timmer? Do you mean to +say that it is made of wood?" "'Deed it is, sir." "And pray how +was it made?" "I made it mysel, sir, in a bit laithey of my own +contrivin'." "Indeed!" + +Boulton looked at the young man again. He had risen a hundred +degrees in his estimation. William was a good-looking +fellow--tall, strong, and handsome--with an open intelligent +countenance. Besides, he had been able to turn a hat for himself +with a lathe of his own construction. This, of itself, was a +sufficient proof that he was a mechanic of no mean skill. +"Well!" said Boulton, at last, "I will enquire at the works, and +see if there is anything we can set you to. Call again, my man." + + +"Thank you, sir," said Murdock, giving a final twirl to his hat. + +Such was the beginning of William Murdock's connection with the +firm of Boulton and Watt. When he called again he was put upon a +trial job, and then, as he was found satisfactory, he was engaged +for two years at 15s. a week when at home, 17s. when in the +country, and 18s. when in London. Boulton's engagement of +Murdock was amply justified by the result. Beginning as an +ordinary mechanic, he applied himself diligently and +conscientiously to his work, and gradually became trusted. More +responsible duties were confided to him, and he strove to perform +them to the best of his power. His industry, skilfulness, and +steady sobriety, soon marked him for promotion, and he rose from +grade to grade until he became Boulton and Watt's most trusted +co-worker and adviser in all their mechanical undertakings of +importance. + +Watt himself had little confidence in Scotchmen as mechanics. He +told Sir Waiter Scott that though many of them sought employment +at his works, he could never get any of them to become first-rate +workmen. They might be valuable as clerks and book-keepers, but +they had an insuperable aversion to toiling long at any point of +mechanism, so as to earn the highest wages paid to the +workmen.[4] The reason no doubt was, that the working-people of +Scotland were then only in course of education as practical +mechanics; and now that they have had a century's discipline of +work and technical training, the result is altogether different, +as the engine-shops and shipbuilding-yards of the Clyde +abundantly prove. Mechanical power and technical ability are the +result of training, like many other things. + +When Boulton engaged Murdock, as we have said, Watt was absent in +Cornwall, looking after the pumping-engines which had been +erected at several of the mines throughout that county. The +partnership had only been in existence for three years, and Watt +was still struggling with the difficulties which he had to +surmount in getting the steam engine into practical use. His +health was bad, and he was oppressed with frightful headaches. +He was not the man to fight the selfishness of the Cornish +adventurers. "A little more of this hurrying and vexation," he +said, "will knock me up altogether." Boulton went to his help +occasionally, and gave him hope and courage. And at length +William Murdock, after he had acquired sufficient knowledge of +the business, was able to undertake the principal management of +the engines in Cornwall. + +We find that in 1779, when he was only twenty-five years old, he +was placed in this important position. When he went into +Cornwall, he gave himself no rest until he had conquered the +defects of the engines, and put them into thorough working order. + +He devoted himself to his duties with a zeal and ability that +completely won Watt's heart. When he had an important job in +hand, he could scarcely sleep. One night at his lodgings at +Redruth, the people were disturbed by a strange noise in his +room. Several heavy blows were heard upon the floor. They +started from their beds, rushed to Murdock's room, and found him +standing in his shirt, heaving at the bedpost in his sleep, +shouting "Now she goes, lads! now she goes!" + +Murdock became a most popular man with the mine owners. He also +became friendly with the Cornish workmen and engineers. Indeed, +he fought his way to their affections. One day, some half-dozen +of the mining captains came into his engine-room at Chacewater, +and began to bully him. This he could not stand. He stript, +selected the biggest, and put himself into a fighting attitude. +They set to, and in a few minutes Murdock's powerful bones and +muscles enabled him to achieve the victory. The other men, who +had looked on fairly, without interfering, seeing the temper and +vigour of the man they had bullied, made overtures of +reconciliation. William was quite willing to be friendly. +Accordingly they shook hands all round, and parted the best of +friends. It is also said that Murdock afterwards fought a duel +with Captain Trevethick, because of a quarrel between Watt and +the mining engineer, in which Murdock conceived his master to +have been unfairly and harshly treated.[5] + +The uses of Watt's steam-engine began to be recognised as +available for manufacturing purposes. It was then found +necessary to invent some method by which continuous rotary motion +should be secured, so as to turn round the moving machinery of +mills. With this object Watt had invented his original +wheel-engine. But no steps were taken to introduce it into +practical use. At length he prepared a model, in which he made +use of a crank connected with the working beam of the engine, so +as to produce the necessary rotary motion. + +There was no originality in this application. The crank was one +of the most common of mechanical appliances. It was in daily use +in every spinning wheel, and in every turner's and +knife-grinder's foot-lathe. Watt did not take out a patent for +the crank, not believing it to be patentable. But another person +did so, thereby anticipating Watt in the application of the crank +for producing rotary motion. He had therefore to employ some +other method, and in the new contrivance he had the valuable help +of William Murdock. Watt devised five different methods of +securing rotary motion without using the crank, but eventually he +adopted the "Sun-and-planet motion," the invention of Murdock. +This had the singular property of going twice round for every +stroke of the engine, and might be made to go round much oftener +without additional machinery. The invention was patented in +February, 1782, five Years after Murdock had entered the service +of Boulton and Watt. + +Murdock continued for many years busily occupied in +superintending the Cornish steam-engines. We find him described +by his employers as "flying from mine to mine," putting the +engines to rights. If anything went wrong, he was immediately +sent for. He was active, quick-sighted, shrewd, sober, and +thoroughly trustworthy. Down to the year 1780, his wages were +only a pound a week; but Boulton made him a present of ten +guineas, to which the owners of the United Mines added another +ten, in acknowledgment of the admirable manner in which he bad +erected their new engine, the chairman of the company declaring +that he was "the most obliging and industrious workman he had +ever known." That he secured the admiration of the Cornish +engineers may be obvious from the fact of Mr. Boaze having +invited him to join in an engineering partnership; but Murdock +remained loyal to the Birmingham firm, and in due time he had his +reward. + +He continued to be the "right hand man" of the concern in +Cornwall. Boulton wrote to Watt, towards the end of 1782: +"Murdock hath been indefatigable ever since he began. He has +scarcely been in bed or taken necessary food. After slaving +night and day on Thursday and Friday, a letter came from Wheal +Virgin that he must go instantly to set their engine to work, or +they would let out the fire. He went and set the engine to work; +it worked well for the five or six hours he remained. He left +it, and returned to the Consolidated Mines about eleven at night, +and was employed about the engines till four this morning, and +then went to bed. I found him at ten this morning in Poldice +Cistern, seeking for pins and castors that had jumped out, when I +insisted on his going home to bed." + +On one occasion, when an engine superintended by Murdock stopped +through some accident, the water rose in the mine, and the +workmen were "drowned out." Upon this occurring, the miners went +"roaring at him" for throwing them out of work, and threatened to +tear him to pieces. Nothing daunted, he went through the midst +of the men, repaired the invalided engine, and started it afresh. + +When he came out of the engine-house, the miners cheered him +vociferously and insisted upon carrying him home upon their +shoulders in triumph! + +Steam was now asserting its power everywhere. It was pumping +water from the mines in Cornwall and driving the mills of the +manufacturers in Lancashire. Speculative mechanics began to +consider whether it might not be employed as a means of land +locomotion. The comprehensive mind of Sir Isaac Newton had long +before, in his 'Explanation of the Newtonian Philosophy,' thrown +out the idea of employing steam for this purpose; but no +practical experiment was made. Benjamin Franklin, while agent in +London for the United Provinces of America, had a correspondence +with Matthew Boulton, of Birmingham, and Dr. Darwin, of +Lichfield, on the same subject. Boulton sent a model of a +fire-engine to London for Franklin's inspection; but Franklin was +too much occupied at the time by grave political questions to +pursue the subject further. Erasmus Darwin's speculative mind +was inflamed by the idea of a "fiery chariot," and he urged his +friend Boulton to prosecute the contrivance of the necessary +steam machinery.[6] + +Other minds were at work. Watt, when only twenty-three years +old, at the instigation of his friend Robison, made a model +locomotive, provided with two cylinders of tin plate; but the +project was laid aside, and was never again taken up by the +inventor. Yet, in his patent of 1784, Watt included an +arrangement by means of which steam-power might be employed for +the purposes of locomotion. But no further model of the +contrivance was made. + +Meanwhile, Cugnot, of Paris, had already made a road engine +worked by steam power. It was first tried at the Arsenal in +1769; and, being set in motion, it ran against a stone wall in +its way and threw it down. The engine was afterwards tried in +the streets of Paris. In one of the experiments it fell over +with a crash, and was thenceforward locked up in the Arsenal to +prevent its doing further mischief. This first locomotive is now +to be seen at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers at Paris. + +Murdock had doubtless heard of Watt's original speculations, and +proceeded, while at Redruth, during his leisure hours, to +construct a model locomotive after a design of his own. This +model was of small dimensions, standing little more than a foot +and a half high, though it was sufficiently large to demonstrate +the soundness of the principle on which it was constructed. It +was supported on three wheels, and carried a small copper boiler, +heated by a spirit lamp, with a flue passing obliquely through +it. The cylinder, of 3/4 inch diameter and 2-inch stroke, was +fixed in the top of the boiler, the piston-rod being connected +with the vibratory beam attached to the connecting-rod which +worked the crank of the driving-wheel. This little engine worked +by the expansive force of steam only, which was discharged into +the atmosphere after it had done its work of alternately raising +and depressing the piston in the cylinder. + +Mr. Murdock's son, while living at Handsworth, informed the +present writer that this model was invented and constructed in +1781; but, after perusing the correspondence of Boulton and Watt, +we infer that it was not ready for trial until 1784. The first +experiment was made in Murdock's own house at Redruth, when the +little engine successfully hauled a model waggon round the +room,--the single wheel, placed in front of the engine and +working in a swivel frame, enabling it to run round in a circle. + +Another experiment was made out of doors, on which occasion, +small though the engine was, it fairly outran the speed of its +inventor. One night, after returning from his duties at the mine +at Redruth, Murdock went with his model locomotive to the avenue +leading to the church, about a mile from the town. The walk was +narrow, straight, and level. Having lit the lamp, the water soon +boiled, and off started the engine with the inventor after it. +Shortly after he heard distant shouts of terror. It was too dark +to perceive objects, but he found, on following up the machine, +that the cries had proceeded from the worthy vicar, who, while +going along the walk, had met the hissing and fiery little +monster, which he declared he took to be the Evil One in propria +persona! + +When Watt was informed of Murdock's experiments, he feared that +they might interfere with his regular duties, and advised their +discontinuance. Should Murdock still resolve to continue them, +Watt urged his partner Boulton, then in Cornwall, that, rather +than lose Murdock's services, they should advance him 100L.; and, +if he succeeded within a year in making an engine capable of +drawing a post-chaise carrying two passengers and the driver, at +the rate of four miles an hour, that a locomotive engine business +should be established, with Murdock as a partner. The +arrangement, however, never proceeded any further. Perhaps a +different attraction withdrew Murdock from his locomotive +experiments. He was then paying attention to a young lady, the +daughter of Captain Painter; and in l785 he married her, and +brought her home to his house in Cross Street, Redruth. + +In the following year,--September, 1786--Watt says, in a letter +to Boulton, "I have still the same opinion concerning the steam +carriage, but, to prevent more fruitless argument about it, I +have one of some size under hand. In the meantime, I wish +William could be brought to do as we do, to mind the business in +hand, and let such as Symington and Sadler throw away their time +and money in hunting shadows." In a subsequent letter Watt +expressed his gratification at finding "that William applies to +his business." From that time forward, Murdock as well as Watt, +dropped all further speculation on the subject, and left it to +others to work out the problem of the locomotive engine. +Murdock's model remained but a curious toy, which he took +pleasure in exhibiting to his intimate friends; and, though he +long continued to speculate about road locomotion, and was +persuaded of its practicability, he abstained from embodying his +ideas of the necessary engine in any complete working form. + +Murdock nevertheless continued inventing, for the man who is +given to invent, and who possesses the gift of insight, cannot +rest. He lived in the midst of inventors. Watt and Boulton were +constantly suggesting new things, and Murdock became possessed by +the same spirit. In 1791 he took out his first patent. It was +for a method of preserving ships' bottoms from foulness by the +use of a certain kind of chemical paint. Mr. Murdock's grandson +informs us that it was recently re-patented and was the cause of +a lawsuit, and that Hislop's patent for revivifying gas-lime +would have been an infringement, if it had not expired. + +Murdock is still better known by his invention of gas for +lighting purposes. Several independent inquirers into the +constituents of Newcastle coal had arrived at the conclusion that +nearly one-third of the substance was driven off in vapour by the +application of heat, and that the vapour so driven off was +inflammable. But no suggestion had been made to apply this +vapour for lighting purposes until Murdock took the matter in +hand. Mr. M. S. Pearse has sent us the following interesting +reminiscence: "Some time since, when in the West of Cornwall, I +was anxious to find out whether any one remembered Murdock. I +discovered one of the most respectable and intelligent men in +Camborne, Mr. William Symons, who not only distinctly remembered +Murdock, but had actually been present on one of the first +occasions when gas was used. Murdock, he says, was very fond of +children, and not unfrequently took them into his workshop to +show them what he was doing. Hence it happened that on one +occasion this gentleman, then a boy of seven or eight, was +standing outside Murdock's door with some other boys, trying to +catch sight of some special mystery inside, for Dr. Boaze, the +chief doctor of the place, and Murdock had been busy all the +afternoon. Murdock came out, and asked my informant to run down +to a shop near by for a thimble. On returning with the thimble, +the boy pretended to have lost it, and, whilst searching in every +pocket, he managed to slip inside the door of the workshop, and +then produced the thimble. He found Dr. Boaze and Murdock with a +kettle filled with coal. The gas issuing from it had been burnt +in a large metal case, such as was used for blasting purposes. +Now, however, they had applied a much smaller tube, and at the +end of it fastened the thimble, through the small perforations +made in which they burned a continuous jet for some time."[7] + +After numerous experiments, Murdock had his house in Cross Street +fitted up in 1792 for being lit by gas. The coal was subjected +to heat in an iron retort, and the gas was conveyed in pipes to +the offices and the different rooms of the house, where it was +burned at proper apertures or burners.[8] Portions of the gas +were also confined in portable vessels of tinned iron, from which +it was burned when required, thus forming a moveable gas-light. +Murdock had a gas lantern in regular use, for the purpose of +lighting himself home at night across the moors, from the mines +where he was working, to his home at Redruth. This lantern was +formed by filling a bladder with gas and fixing a jet to the +mouthpiece at the bottom of a glass lantern, with the bladder +hanging underneath. + +Having satisfied himself as to the superior economy of coal gas, +as compared with oils and tallow, for the purposes of artificial +illumination, Murdock mentioned the subject to Mr. James Watt, +jun., during a brief visit to Soho in 1794, and urged the +propriety of taking out a patent. Watt was, however, indifferent +to taking out any further patents, being still engaged in +contesting with the Cornish mine-owners his father's rights to +the user of the condensing steam-engine. Nothing definite was +done at the time. Murdock returned to Cornwall and continued his +experiments. At the end of the same year he exhibited to Mr. +Phillips and others, at the Polgooth mine, his apparatus for +extracting gases from coal and other substances, showed it in +use, lit the gas which issued from the burner, and showed its +"strong and beautiful light." He afterwards exhibited the same +apparatus to Tregelles and others at the Neath Abbey Company's +ironworks in Glamorganshire. + +Murdock returned to Soho in 1798, to take up his permanent +residence in the neighbourhood. When the mine owners heard of +his intention to leave Cornwall, they combined in offering him a +handsome salary provided he would remain in the county; but his +attachment to his friends at Soho would not allow him to comply +with their request. He again urged the firm of Boulton and Watt +to take out a patent for the use of gas for lighting purposes. +But being still embroiled in their tedious and costly lawsuit, +they were naturally averse to risk connection with any other +patent. Watt the younger, with whom Murdock communicated on the +subject, was aware that the current of gas obtained from the +distillation of coal in Lord Dundonald's tar-ovens had been +occasionally set fire to, and also that Bishop Watson and others +had burned gas from coal, after conducting it through tubes, or +after it had issued from the retort. Mr. Watt was, however, +quite satisfied that Murdock was the first person who had +suggested its economical application for public and private uses. + +But he was not clear, after the legal difficulties which had been +raised as to his father's patent rights, that it would be safe to +risk a further patent for gas. + +Mr. Murdock's suggestion, accordingly, was not acted upon. But +he went on inventing in other directions. He thenceforward +devoted himself entirely to mechanical pursuits. Mr. Buckle has +said of him:-- "The rising sun often found him, after a night +spent in incessant labour, still at the anvil or turning-lathe; +for with his own hands he would make such articles as he would +not intrust to unskilful ones." In 1799 he took out a patent +(No. 2340), embodying some very important inventions. First, it +included the endless screw working into a toothed-wheel, for +boring steam-cylinders, which is still in use. Second, the +casting of a steam-jacket in one cylinder, instead of being made +in separate segments bolted together with caulked joints, as was +previously done. Third, the new double-D slide-valve, by which +the construction and working of the steam-engine was simplified, +and the loss of steam saved, as well as the cylindrical valve for +the same purpose. And fourth, improved rotary engines. One of +the latter was set to drive the machines in his private workshop, +and continued in nearly constant work and in perfect use for +about thirty years. + +In 1801, Murdock sent his two sons William and John to the Ayr +Academy, for the benefit of Scotch education. In the summer-time +they spent their vacation at Bellow Mill, which their grandfather +still continued to occupy. They fished in the river, and "caught +a good many trout." The boys corresponded regularly with their +father at Birmingham. In 1804, they seem to have been in a state +of great excitement about the expected landing of the French in +Scotland. The volunteers of Ayr amounted to 300 men, the cavalry +to 150, and the riflemen to 50. "The riflemen," says John, "go +to the seashore every Saturday to shoot at a target. They stand +at 70 paces distant, and out of 100 shots they often put in 60 +bullets!" William says, "Great preparations are still making for +the reception of the French. Several thousand of pikes are +carried through the town every week; and all the volunteers and +riflemen have received orders to march at a moment's warning." +The alarm, however, passed away. At the end of 1804, the two +boys received prizes; William got one in arithmetic and another +in the Rector's composition class; and John also obtained two, +one in the mathematical class, and the other in French. + +To return to the application of gas for lighting purposes. In +1801, a plan was proposed by a M. Le Blond for lighting a part of +the streets of Paris with gas. Murdock actively resumed his +experiments; and on the occasion of the Peace of Amiens in March, +1802, he made the first public exhibition of his invention. The +whole of the works at Soho were brilliantly illuminated with gas. + +The sight was received with immense enthusiasm. There could now +be no doubt as to the enormous advantages of this method of +producing artificial light, compared with that from oil or +tallow. In the following year the manufacture of gas-making +apparatus was added to the other branches of Boulton and Watts' +business, with which Murdock was now associated,--and as much as +from 4000L. to 5000L. of capital were invested in the new works. +The new method of lighting speedily became popular amongst +manufacturers, from its superior safety, cheapness, and +illuminating power. The mills of Phillips and Lee of Manchester +were fitted up in 1805; and those of Burley and Kennedy, also of +Manchester, and of Messrs. Gott, of Leeds, in subsequent years. + +Though Murdock had made the uses of gas-lighting perfectly clear, +it was some time before it was proposed to light the streets by +the new method. The idea was ridiculed by Sir Humphry Davy, who +asked one of the projectors if he intended to take the dome of +St. Paul's for a gasometer! Sir Waiter Scott made many clever +jokes about those who proposed to "send light through the streets +in pipes;" and even Wollaston, a well known man of science, +declared that they "might as well attempt to light London with a +slice from the moon." It has been so with all new projects-- +with the steamboat, the locomotive, and the electric telegraph. +As John Wilkinson said of the first vessel of iron which he +introduced, "it will be only a nine days' wonder, and afterwards +a Columbus's egg." + +On the 25th of February, 1808, Murdock read a paper before the +Royal Society "On the Application of Gas from Coal to economical +purposes." He gave a history of the origin and progress of his +experiments, down to the time when he had satisfactorily lit up +the premises of Phillips and Lee at Manchester. The paper was +modest and unassuming, like everything he did. + +It concluded:-- "I believe I may, without presuming too much, +claim both the first idea of applying, and the first application +of this gas to economical purposes."[9] The Royal Society +awarded Murdock their large Rumford Gold Medal for his +communication. + +In the following year a German named Wintzer, or Winsor, appeared +as the promotor of a scheme for obtaining a royal charter with +extensive privileges, and applied for powers to form a +joint-stock company to light part of London and Westminster with +gas. Winsor claimed for his method of gas manufacture that it +was more efficacious and profitable than any then known or +practised. The profits, indeed, were to be prodigious. Winsor +made an elaborate calculation in his pamphlet entitled 'The New +Patriotic Imperial and National Light and Heat Company,' from +which it appeared that the net annual profits "agreeable to the +official experiments" would amount to over two hundred and +twenty-nine millions of pounds!--and that, giving over +nine-tenths of that sum towards the redemption of the National +Debt, there would still remain a total profit of 570L. to be paid +to the subscribers for every 5L. of deposit! Winsor took out a +patent for the invention, and the company, of which he was a +member, proceeded to Parliament for an Act. Boulton and Watt +petitioned against the Bill, and James Watt, junior, gave +evidence on the subject. Henry Brougham, who was the counsel for +the petitioners, made great fun of Winsor's absurd +speculations,[10] and the Bill was thrown out. + +In the following year the London and Westminster Chartered Gas +Light and Coke Company succeeded in obtaining their Act. They +were not very successful at first. Many prejudices existed +against the employment of the new light. It was popularly +supposed that the gas was carried along the pipes on fire, and +that the pipes must necessarily be intensely hot. When it was +proposed to light the House of Commons with gas, the architect +insisted on the pipes being placed several inches from the walls, +for fear of fire; and, after the pipes had been fixed, the +members might be seen applying their gloved hands to them to +ascertain their temperature, and afterwards expressing the +greatest surprise on finding that they were as cool as the +adjoining walls. + +The Gas Company was on the point of dissolution when Mr. Samuel +Clegg came to their aid. Clegg had been a pupil of Murdock's, at +Soho. He knew all the arrangements which Murdock had invented. +He had assisted in fitting up the gas machinery at the mills of +Phillips & Lee, Manchester, as well as at Lodge's Mill, Sowerby +Bridge, near Halifax. He was afterwards employed to fix the +apparatus at the Catholic College of Stoneyhurst, in Lancashire, +at the manufactory of Mr. Harris at Coventry, and at other +places. In 1813 the London and Westminster Gas Company secured +the services of Mr. Clegg, and from that time forwards their +career was one of prosperity. In 1814 Westminster Bridge was +first lighted with gas, and shortly after the streets of St. +Margaret's, Westminster. Crowds of people followed the +lamplighter on his rounds to watch the sudden effect of his flame +applied to the invisible stream of gas which issued from the +burner. The lamplighters became so disgusted with the new light +that they struck work, and Clegg himself had for a time to act as +lamplighter. + +The advantages of the new light, however, soon became generally +recognised, and gas companies were established in most of the +large towns. Glasgow was lit up by gas in 1817, and Liverpool +and Dublin in the following year. Had Murdock in the first +instance taken out a patent for his invention, it could not fail +to have proved exceedingly remunerative to him; but he derived no +advantage from the extended use of the new system of lighting +except the honour of having invented it.[11] He left the benefits +of his invention to the public, and returned to his labours at +Soho, which more than ever completely engrossed him. + +Murdock now became completely identified with the firm of Boulton +& Watt. He assigned to them his patent for the slide-valve, the +rotary engine, and other inventions "for a good and valuable +consideration." Indeed his able management was almost +indispensable to the continued success of the Soho foundry. Mr. +Nasmyth, when visiting the works about thirty years after Murdock +had taken their complete management in hand, recalled to mind the +valuable services of that truly admirable yet modest mechanic. +He observed the admirable system, which he had invented, of +transmitting power from one central engine to other small vacuum +engines attached to the several machines which they were employed +to work. "This vacuum method," he says, "of transmitting power +dates from the time of Papin; but it remained a dead contrivance +for about a century until it received the masterly touch of +Murdock." + +"The sight which I obtained" (Mr. Nasmyth proceeds) "of the vast +series of workshops of that celebrated establishment, fitted with +evidences of the presence and results of such master minds in +design and execution, and the special machine tools which I +believe were chiefly to be ascribed to the admirable inventive +power and common-sense genius of William Murdock, made me feel +that I was indeed on classic ground in regard to everything +connected with the construction of steam-engine machinery. The +interest was in no small degree enhanced by coming every now and +then upon some machine that had every historical claim to be +regarded as the prototype of many of our modern machine tools. +All these had William Murdock's genius stamped upon them, by +reason of their common-sense arrangements, which showed that he +was one of those original thinkers who had the courage to break +away from the trammels of traditional methods, and take short +cuts to accomplish his objects by direct and simple means." + +We have another recollection of William Murdock, from one who +knew him when a boy. This is the venerable Charles Manby, +F.R.S., still honorary secretary of the Institute of Civil +Engineers. He says (writing to us in September 1883), "I see +from the public prints that you have been presiding at a meeting +intended to do honour to the memory of William Murdock--a most +worthy man and an old friend of mine. When he found me working +the first slide valve ever introduced into an engine-building +establishment at Horsley, he patted me on the head, and said to +my father, 'Neighbour Manby, this is not the way to bring up a +good workman --merely turning a handle, without any shoulder +work.' He evidently did not anticipate any great results from my +engineering education. But we all know what machine tools are +doing now,--and where should we be without them?" + +Watt withdrew from the firm in 1800, on the expiry of his patent +for the condensing steam-engine; but Boulton continued until the +year 1809, when he died full of years and honours. Watt lived on +until 1819. The last part of his life was the happiest. During +the time that he was in the throes of his invention, he was very +miserable, weighed down with dyspepsia and sick headaches. But +after his patent had expired, he was able to retire with a +moderate fortune, and began to enjoy life. Before, he had +"cursed his inventions," now he could bless them. He was able to +survey them, and find out what was right and what was wrong. He +used his head and his hands in his private workshop, and found +many means of employing both pleasantly. Murdock continued to be +his fast friend, and they spent many agreeable hours together. +They made experiments and devised improvements in machines. Watt +wished to make things more simple. He said to Murdock, "it is a +great thing to know what to do without. We must have a book of +blots--things to be scratched out." One of the most interesting +schemes of Watt towards the end of his life was the contrivance +of a sculpture-making machine; and he proceeded so far with it as +to to able to present copies of busts to his friends as "the +productions of a young artist just entering his eighty-third +year." The machine, however, remained unfinished at his death, +and the remarkable fact is that it was Watt's only unfinished +work. + +The principle of the machine was to carry a guide-point at one +side over the bust or alto-relievo to be copied, and at the other +side to carry a corresponding cutting-tool or drill over the +alabaster, ivory, jet, or plaster of Paris to be executed. The +machine worked, as it were, with two hands, the one feeling the +pattern, the other cutting the material into the required form. +Many new alterations were necessary for carrying out this +ingenious apparatus, and Murdock was always at hand to give his +old friend and master his best assistance. We have seen many +original letters from Watt to Murdock, asking for counsel and +help. In one of these, written in 1808, Watt says: "I have +revived an idea which, if it answers, will supersede the frame +and upright spindle of the reducing machine, but more of this +when we meet. Meanwhile it will be proper to adhere to the +frame, etc., at present, until we see how the other alterations +answer." In another he says: "I have done a Cicero without any +plaits--the different segments meeting exactly. The fitting the +drills into the spindle by a taper of 1 in 6 will do. They are +perfectly stiff and will not unscrew easily. Four guide-pullies +answer, but there must be a pair for the other end, and to work +with a single hand, for the returning part is always cut upon +some part or other of the frame." + +These letters are written sometimes in the morning, sometimes at +noon, sometimes at night. There was a great deal of +correspondence about "pullies," which did not seem to answer at +first. "I have made the tablets," said Watt on one occasion, +"slide more easily, and can counterbalance any part of their +weight which may be necessary; but the first thing to try is the +solidity of the machine, which cannot be done till the pullies +are mounted." Then again: "The bust-making must be given up +until we get a more solid frame. I have worked two days at one +and spoiled it, principally from the want of steadiness." For +Watt, it must be remembered, was now a very old man. + +He then proceeded to send Murdock the drawing of a "parallel +motion for the machine," to be executed by the workmen at Soho. +The truss braces and the crosses were to be executed of steel, +according to the details he enclosed. "I have warmed up," he +concludes, "an old idea, and can make a machine in which the +pentagraph and the leading screw will all be contained in the +beam, and the pattern and piece to be cut will remain at rest +fixed upon a lath of cast iron or stout steel." Watt is very +particular in all his details: "I am sorry," he says in one note, +"to trouble you with so many things; but the alterations on this +spindle and socket [he annexes a drawing] may wait your +convenience." In a further note, Watt says. "The drawing for +the parallel lathe is ready; but I have been sadly puzzled about +the application of the leading screws to the cranes in the other. + +I think, however, I have now got the better of the difficulties, +and made it more certain, as well as more simple, than it was. I +have done an excellent head of John Hunter in hard white in +shorter time than usual. I want to show it you before I repair +it." + +At last Watt seems to have become satisfied: "The lathe," he +says, "is very much improved, and you seem to have given the +finishing blow to the roofed frame, which appears perfectly +stiff. I had some hours' intense thinking upon the machine last +night, and have made up my mind on it at last. The great +difficulty was about the application of the band, but I have +settled it to be much as at present." + +Watt's letters to Murdock are most particular in details, +especially as to screws, nuts, and tubes, with strengths and +dimensions, always illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings. And +yet all this was done merely for mechanical amusement, and not +for any personal pecuniary advantage. While Watt was making +experiments as to the proper substances to be carved and drilled, +he also desired Murdock to make similar experiments. "The +nitre," he said in one note, "seems to do harm; the fluor +composition seems the best and hardest. Query, what would some +calcined pipe-clay do? If you will calcine some fire-clay by a +red heat and pound it,--about a pound,--and send it to me, I +shall try to make you a mould or two in Henning's manner to cast +this and the sulphur acid iron in. I have made a screwing tool +for wood that seems to answer; also one of a one-tenth diameter +for marble, which does very well." In another note, Watt says: +"I find my drill readily makes 2400 turns per minute, even with +the large drill you sent last; if I bear lightly, a three-quarter +ferril would run about 3000, and by an engine that might be +doubled." + +The materials to be drilled into medallions also required much +consideration. "I am much obliged to you," said Watt, "for the +balls, etc., which answer as well as can be expected. They make +great progress in cutting the crust (Ridgways) or alabaster, and +also cut marble, but the harder sorts soon blunt them. At any +rate, marble does not do for the medallions, as its grain +prevents its being cut smooth, and its semi-transparence hurts +the effect. I think Bristol lime, or shell lime, pressed in your +manner, would have a good effect. When you are at leisure, I +shall thank you for a few pieces, and if some of them are made +pink or flesh colour, they will look well. I used the ball quite +perpendicular, and it cut well, as most of the cutting is +sideways. I tried a fine whirling point, but it made little +progress; another with a chisel edge did almost as well as the +balls, but did not work so pleasantly. I find a triangular +scraping point the best, and I think from some trials it should +be quite a sharp point. The wheel runs easier than it did, but +has still too much friction. I wished to have had an hour's +consultation with you, but have been prevented by sundry matters +among others by that plaguey stove, which is now in your hands." + +Watt was most grateful to Murdock for his unvarying assistance. +In January, 1813, when Watt was in his seventy-seventh year, he +wrote to Murdock, asking him to accept a present of a lathe "I +have not heard from you," he says, "in reply to my letter about +the lathe; and, presuming you are not otherwise provided, I have +bought it, and request your acceptance of it. At present, an +alteration for the better is making in the oval chuck, and a few +additional chucks, rest, etc., are making to the lathe. When +these are finished, I shall have it at Billinger's until you +return, or as you otherwise direct. I am going on with my +drawings for a complete machine, and shall be glad to see you +here to judge of them." + +The drawings were made, but the machine was never finished. +"Invention," said Watt, "goes on very slowly with me now." Four +years later, he was still at work; but death put a stop to his +"diminishing-machine." It is a remarkable testimony to the skill +and perseverance of a man who had already accomplished so much, +that it is almost his only unfinished work. Watt died in 1819, +in the eighty-third year of his age, to the great grief of +Murdock, his oldest and most attached friend and correspondent. + +Meanwhile, the firm of Boulton and Watt continued. The sons of +the two partners carried it on, with Murdock as their Mentor. He +was still full of work and inventive power. In 1802, he applied +the compressed air of the Blast Engine employed to blow the +cupolas of the Soho Foundry, for the purpose of driving the lathe +in the pattern shop. It worked a small engine, with a l2-inch +cylinder and 18-inch stroke, connected with the lathe, the speed +being regulated as required by varying the admission of the +blast. This engine continued in use for about thirty-five years. + +In 1803 Murdock experimented on the power of high-pressure steam +in propelling shot, and contrived a steam-engine with which he +made many trials at Soho, thereby anticipating the apparatus +contrived by Mr. Perkins many years later. + +In 1810 Murdock took out a patent for boring steam-pipes for +water, and cutting columns out of solid blocks of stone, by means +of a cylindrical crown saw. The first machine was used at Soho, +and afterwards at Mr. Rennie's Works in London, and proved quite +successful. Among his other inventions were a lift worked by +compressed air, which raised and lowered the castings from the +boring-mill to the level of the foundry and the canal bank. He +used the same kind of power to ring the bells in his house at +Sycamore Hill, and the contrivance was afterwards adopted by Sir +Walter Scott in his house at Abbotsford. + +Murdock was also the inventor of the well-known cast-iron cement, +so extensively used in engine and machine work. The manner in +which he was led to this invention affords a striking +illustration of his quickness of observation. Finding that some +iron-borings and sal-ammoniac had got accidently mixed together +in his tool-chest, and rusted his saw-blade nearly through, he +took note of the circumstance, mixed the articles in various +proportions, and at length arrived at the famous cement, which +eventually became an article of extensive manufacture at the Soho +Works. + +Murdock's ingenuity was constantly at work, even upon matters +which lay entirely outside his special vocation. The late Sir +William Fairbairn informed us that he contrived a variety of +curious machines for consolidating peat moss, finely ground and +pulverised, under immense pressure, and which, when consolidated, +could be moulded into beautiful medals, armlets, and necklaces. +The material took the most brilliant polish and had the +appearance of the finest jet. + +Observing that fish-skins might be used as an economical +substitute for isinglass, he went up to London on one occasion in +order to explain to brewers the best method of preparing and +using them. He occupied handsome apartments, and, little +regarding the splendour of the drawing-room, he hung the +fish-skins up against the walls. His landlady caught him one day +when he was about to bang up a wet cod's skin! He was turned out +at once, with all his fish. While in town on this errand, it +occurred to him that a great deal of power was wasted in treading +the streets of London! He conceived the idea of using the +streets and roadways as a grand tread-mill, under which the waste +power might be stored up by mechanical methods and turned to +account. He had also an idea of storing up the power of the +tides, and of running water, in the same way. The late Charles +Babbage, F.R.S., entertained a similar idea about using springs +of Ischia or of the geysers of Iceland as a power necessary for +condensing gases, or perhaps for the storage of electricity.[12] +The latter, when perfected, will probably be the greatest +invention of the next half century. + +Another of Murdock's' ingenious schemes, was his proposed method +of transmitting letters and packages through a tube exhausted by +an air-pump. This project led to the Atmospheric Railway, the +success of which, so far as it went, was due to the practical +ability of Murdock's pupil, Samuel Clegg. Although the +atmospheric railway was eventually abandoned, it is remarkable +that the original idea was afterwards revived and practised with +success by the London Pneumatic Dispatch Company. + +In 1815, while Murdock was engaged in erecting an apparatus of +his own invention for heating the water for the baths at +Leamington, a ponderous cast-iron plate fell upon his leg above +his ankle, and severely injured him. He remained a long while at +Leamington, and when it was thought safe to remove him, the +Birmingham Canal Company kindly placed their excursion boat at +his disposal, and he was conveyed safely homeward. So soon as he +was able, he was at work again at the Soho factory. + +Although the elder Watt had to a certain extent ignored the uses +of steam as applied to navigation, being too much occupied with +developing the powers of the pumping and rotary engine, the young +partners, with the stout aid of Murdock, took up the question. +They supplied Fulton in 1807 with his first engine, by means of +which the Clermont made her first voyage along the Hudson river. +They also supplied Fulton and Livingston with the next two +engines for the Car of Neptune and the Paragon. From that time +forward, Boulton and Watt devoted themselves to the manufacture +of engines for steamboats. Up to the year 1814, marine engines +had been all applied singly in the vessel; but in this year +Boulton and Watt first applied two condensing engines, connected +by cranks set at right angles on the shaft, to propel a steamer +on the Clyde. Since then, nearly all steamers are fitted with +two engines. In making this important improvement, the firm were +materially aided by the mechanical genius of William Murdock, and +also of Mr. Brown, then an assistant, but afterwards a member of +the firm. + +In order to carry on a set of experiments with respect to the +most improved form of marine engine, Boulton and Watt purchased +the Caledonia, a Scotch boat built on the Clyde by James Wood and +Co., of Port Glasgow. The engines and boilers were taken out. +The vessel was fitted with two side lever engines, and many +successive experiments were made with her down to August, 1817, +at an expense of about 10,000L. This led to a settled plan of +construction, by which marine engines were greatly improved. +James Watt, junior, accompanied the Caledonia to Holland and up +the Rhine. The vessel was eventually sold to the Danish +Government, and used for carrying the mails between Kiel and +Copenhagen. It is, however, unnecessary here to venture upon the +further history of steam navigation. + +In the midst of these repeated inventions and experiments, +Murdock was becoming an old man. Yet he never ceased to take an +interest in the works at Soho. At length his faculties +experienced a gradual decay, and he died peacefully at his house +at Sycamore Hill, on the l5th of November,1839, in his +eighty-fifth year. He was buried near the remains of the great +Boulton and Watt; and a bust by Chantrey served to perpetuate the +remembrance of his manly and intelligent countenance. + + +Footnotes for Chapter V. + +[1] Fletcher's Political Works, London, 1737, p. 149, + +[2] One of the Murdocks built the cathedral at Glasgow, as well +as others in Scotland. The famous school of masonry at Antwerp +sent out a number of excellent architects during the 11th, 12th, +and 13th centuries. One of these, on coming into Scotland, +assumed the name of Murdo. He was a Frenchman, born in Paris, as +we learn from the inscription left on Melrose Abbey, and he died +while building that noble work: it is as follows:-- + +"John Murdo sumtyme cait was I And born in Peryse certainly, An' +had in kepyng all mason wark Sanct Andrays, the Hye Kirk +o'Glasgo, Melrose and Paisley, Jedybro and Galowy. Pray to God +and Mary baith, and sweet Saint John, keep this Holy Kirk frae +scaith." + +[3] The discovery of the Black Band Ironstone by David Mushet in +1801, and the invention of the Hot Blast by James Beaumont +Neilson in 1828, will be found related in Industrial Biography, +pp. 141-161. + +[4] Note to Lockhart's Life of Scott. + +[5] This was stated to the present writer some years ago by +William Murdock's son; although there is no other record of the +event. + +[6] See Lives of Engineers (Boulton and Watt), iv. pp. 182-4. +Small edition, pp. 130-2. + +[7] Mr. Pearse's letter is dated 23rd April, 1867, but has not +before been published. He adds that "others remembered Murdock, +one who was an apprentice with him, and lived with him for some +time--a Mr. Vivian, of the foundry at Luckingmill." + +[8] Murdock's house still stands in Cross Street, Redruth; those +still live who saw the gas-pipes conveying gas from the retort in +the little yard to near the ceiling of the room, just over the +table; a hole for the pipe was made in the window frame. The old +window is now replaced by a new frame."--Life of Richard +Trevithick, i. 64. + +[9] Philosophical Transactions, 1808, pp. l24-l32. + +[10] Winsor's family evidently believed in his great powers; for +I am informed by Francis Galton, Esq., F.R.S., that there is a +fantastical monument on the right-hand side of the central avenue +of the Kensal Green Cemetery, about half way between the lodge +and the church, which bears the following inscription:--"Tomb of +Frederick Albert Winsor, son of the late Frederick Albert Winsor, +originator of public Gas-lighting, buried in the Cemetery of Pere +la Chaise, Paris. "At evening time it shall be light.--Zachariah +xiv. 7. "I am come a light into the world, that whoever +believeth in Me shall not abide in darkness.--John xii. 46." + +[11] Mr. Parkes, in his well known Chemical Essays (ed. 1841, p. +157), after referring to the successful lighting up by Murdock of +the manufactory of Messrs. Phillips and Lee at Manchester in +1805, "with coal gas issuing from nearly a thousand burners," +proceeds, "This grand application of the new principle satisfied +the public mind, not only of the practicability, but also of the +economy of the application; and as a mark of the high opinion +they entertained of his genius and perseverance, and in order to +put the question of priority of the discovery beyond all doubt, +the Council of the Royal Society in 1808 awarded to Mr. Murdock +the Gold Medal founded by the late Count Rumford." + +[12] "Thus," says Mr. Charles Babbage, "in a future age, power +may become the staple commodity of the Icelanders, and of the +inhabitants of other volcanic districts; and possibly the very +process by which they will procure this article of exchange for +the luxuries of happier climates may, in some measure, tame the +tremendous element which occasionally devastates their +provinces."--Economy of Manufactures. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +FREDERICK KOENIG: INVENTOR OF THE STEAM-PRINTING MACHINE. + +"The honest projector is he who, having by fair and plain +principles of sense, honesty, and ingenuity, brought any +contrivance to a suitable perfection, makes out what he pretends +to, picks nobody's pocket, puts his project in execution, and +contents himself with the real produce as the profit of his +invention."--De Foe. + +I published an article in 'Macmillan's Magazine' for December, +1869, under the above title. The materials were principally +obtained from William and Frederick Koenig, sons of the inventor. + +Since then an elaborate life has been published at Stuttgart, +under the title of "Friederich Koenig und die Erfindung Der +Schnellpresse, Ein Biographisches Denkmal. Von Theodor Goebel." +The author, in sending me a copy of the volume, refers to the +article published in 'Macmillan,' and says, "I hope you will +please to accept it as a small acknowledgment of the thanks, +which every German, and especially the sons of Koenig, in whose +name I send the book as well as in mine, owe to you for having +bravely taken up the cause of the much wronged inventor, their +father-- an action all the more praiseworthy, as you had to write +against the prejudices and the interests of your own countrymen." + +I believe it is now generally admitted that Koenig was entitled +to the merit of being the first person practically to apply the +power of steam to indefinitely multiplying the productions of the +printing-press; and that no one now attempts to deny him this +honour. It is true others, who followed him, greatly improved +upon his first idea; but this was the case with Watt, Symington, +Crompton, Maudslay, and many more. The true inventor is not +merely the man who registers an idea and takes a patent for it, +or who compiles an invention by borrowing the idea of another, +improving upon or adding to his arrangements, but the man who +constructs a machine such as has never before been made, which +executes satisfactorily all the functions it was intended to +perform. And this is what Koenig's invention did, as will be +observed from the following brief summary of his life and +labours. + +Frederick Koenig was born on the 17th of April, 1774, at +Eisleben, in Saxony, the birthplace also of a still more famous +person, Martin Luther. His father was a respectable peasant +proprietor, described by Herr Goebel as Anspanner. But this word +has now gone out of use. In feudal times it described the farmer +who was obliged to keep draught cattle to perform service due to +the landlord. The boy received a solid education at the +Gymnasium, or public school of the town. At a proper age he was +bound apprentice for five years to Breitkopf and Hartel, of +Leipzig, as compositor and printer; but after serving for four +and a quarter years, he was released from his engagement because +of his exceptional skill, which was an unusual occurrence. + +During the later years of his apprenticeship, Koenig was +permitted to attend the classes in the University, more +especially those of Ernst Platner, a physician, philosopher, and +anthropologist. After that he proceeded to the printing-office +of his uncle, Anton F. Rose, at Greifswald, an old seaport town +on the Baltic, where he remained a few years. He next went to +Halle as a journeyman printer,-- German workmen going about from +place to place, during their wanderschaft, for the purpose of +learning their business. After that, he returned to Breitkopf +and Hartel, at Leipzig, where he had first learnt his trade. +During this time, having saved a little money, he enrolled +himself for a year as a regular student at the University of +Leipzig. + +According to Koenig's own account, he first began to devise ways +and means for improving the art of printing in the year 1802, +when he was twenty-eight years old. Printing large sheets of +paper by hand was a very slow as well as a very laborious +process. One of the things that most occupied the young +printer's mind was how to get rid of this "horse-work," for such +it was, in the business of printing. He was not, however, +over-burdened with means, though he devised a machine with this +object. But to make a little money, he made translations for the +publishers. In 1803 Koenig returned to his native town of +Eisleben, where he entered into an arrangement with Frederick +Riedel, who furnished the necessary capital for carrying on the +business of a printer and bookseller. Koenig alleges that his +reason for adopting this step was to raise sufficient money to +enable him to carry out his plans for the improvement of +printing. + +The business, however, did not succeed, as we find him in the +following year carrying on a printing trade at Mayence. Having +sold this business, he removed to Suhl in Thuringia. Here he was +occupied with a stereotyping process, suggested by what he had +read about the art as perfected in England by Earl Stanhope. He +also contrived an improved press, provided with a moveable +carriage, on which the types were placed, with inking rollers, +and a new mechanical method of taking off the impression by flat +pressure. + +Koenig brought his new machine under the notice of the leading +printers in Germany, but they would not undertake to use it. The +plan seemed to them too complicated and costly. He tried to +enlist men of capital in his scheme, but they all turned a deaf +ear to him. He went from town to town, but could obtain no +encouragement whatever. Besides, industrial enterprise in +Germany was then in a measure paralysed by the impending war with +France, and men of capital were naturally averse to risk their +money on what seemed a merely speculative undertaking. + +Finding no sympathisers or helpers at home, Koenig next turned +his attention abroad. England was then, as now, the refuge of +inventors who could not find the means of bringing out their +schemes elsewhere; and to England he wistfully turned his eyes. +In the meantime, however, his inventive ability having become +known, an offer was made to him by the Russian Government to +proceed to St. Petersburg and organise the State printing-office +there. The invitation was accepted, and Koenig proceeded to St. +Petersburg in the spring of 1806. But the official difficulties +thrown in his way were very great, and so disgusted him, that he +decided to throw up his appointment, and try his fortune in +England. He accordingly took ship for London, and arrived there +in the following November, poor in means, but rich in his great +idea, then his only property. + +As Koenig himself said, when giving an account of his +invention:-- "There is on the Continent no sort of encouragement +for an enterprise of this description. + +The system of patents, as it exists in England, being either +unknown, or not adopted in the Continental States, there is no +inducement for industrial enterprise; and projectors are commonly +obliged to offer their discoveries to some Government, and to so +licit their encouragement. I need hardly add that scarcely ever +is an invention brought to maturity under such circumstances. +The well-known fact, that almost every invention seeks, as it +were, refuge in England, and is there brought to perfection, +though the Government does not afford any other protection to +inventors beyond what is derived from the wisdom of the laws, +seems to indicate that the Continent has yet to learn from her +the best manner of encouraging the mechanical arts. I had my +full share in the ordinary disappointments of Continental +projectors; and after having lost in Germany and Russia upwards +of two years in fruitless applications, I at last resorted to +England."[1] + +After arriving in London, Koenig maintained himself with +difficulty by working at his trade, for his comparative ignorance +of the English language stood in his way. But to work manually +at the printer's "case," was not Koenig's object in coming to +England. His idea of a printing machine was always uppermost in +his mind, and he lost no opportunity of bringing the subject +under the notice of master printers likely to take it up. He +worked for a time in the printing office of Richard Taylor, Shoe +Lane, Fleet Street, and mentioned the matter to him. Taylor +would not undertake the invention himself, but he furnished +Koenig with an introduction to Thomas Bensley, the well-known +printer of Bolt Court, Fleet Street. On the 11th of March, 1807, +Bensley invited Koenig to meet him on the subject of their recent +conversation about "the discovery;" and on the 31st of the same +month, the following agreement was entered into between Koenig +and Bensley:- + +"Mr. Koenig, having discovered an entire new Method of Printing +by Machinery, agrees to communicate the same to Mr. Bensley under +the following conditions:-- + +that, if Mr. Bensley shall be satisfied the Invention will answer +all the purposes Mr. Koenig has stated in the Particulars he has +delivered to Mr. Bensley, signed with his name, he shall enter +into a legal Engagement to purchase the Secret from Mr. Koenig, +or enter into such other agreement as may be deemed mutually +beneficial to both parties; or, should Mr. Bensley wish to +decline having any concern with the said Invention, then he +engages not to make any use of the Machinery, or to communicate +the Secret to any person whatsoever, until it is proved that the +Invention is made use of by any one without restriction of +Patent, or other particular agreement on the part of Mr. Koenig, +under the penalty of Six Thousand Pounds. + +"(Signed) T. Bensley, +"Friederich Konig. +"Witness--J. Hunneman." + +Koenig now proceeded to put his idea in execution. He prepared +his plans of the new printing machine. It seems, however, that +the progress made by him was very slow. Indeed, three years +passed before a working model could be got ready, to show his +idea in actual practice. In the meantime, Mr. Walter of The +Times had been seen by Bensley, and consulted on the subject of +the invention. On the 9th of August, 1809, more than two years +after the date of the above agreement, Bensley writes to Koenig: +"I made a point of calling upon Mr. Walter yesterday, who, I am +sorry to say, declines our proposition altogether, having (as he +says) so many engagements as to prevent him entering into more." + +It may be mentioned that Koenig's original plan was confined to +an improved press, in which the operation of laying the ink on +the types was to be performed by an apparatus connected with the +motions of the coffin, in such a manner as that one hand could be +saved. As little could be gained in expedition by this plan, the +idea soon suggested itself of moving the press by machinery, or +to reduce the several operations to one rotary motion, to which +the first mover might be applied. Whilst Koenig was in the +throes of his invention, he was joined by his friend Andrew F. +Bauer, a native of Stuttgart, who possessed considerable +mechanical power, in which the inventor himself was probably +somewhat deficient. At all events, these two together proceeded +to work out the idea, and to construct the first actual working +printing machine. + +A patent was taken out, dated the 29th of March, 1810, which +describes the details of the invention. The arrangement was +somewhat similar to that known as the platen machine; the +printing being produced by two flat plates, as in the common +hand-press. It also embodied an ingenious arrangement for inking +the type. Instead of the old-fashioned inking balls, which were +beaten on the type by hand labour, several cylinders covered with +felt and leather were used, and formed part of the machine +itself. Two of the cylinders revolved in opposite directions, so +as to spread the ink, which was then transferred by two other +inking cylinders alternately applied to the "forme" by the action +of spiral springs. The movement of all the parts of the machine +were to be derived from a steam-engine, or other first mover. + +"After many obstructions and delays," says Koenig himself, in +describing the history of his invention, "the first printing +machine was completed exactly upon the plan which I have +described in the specification of my first patent. It was set to +Work in April, 1811. The sheet (H) of the new Annual Register +for 1810, 'Principal Occurrences,' 3000 copies, was printed with +it; and is, I have no doubt, the first part of a book ever +printed with a machine. The actual use of it, however, soon +suggested new ideas, and led to the rendering it less complicated +and more powerful"[2] + +Of course! No great invention was ever completed at one effort. +It would have been strange if Koenig had been satisfied with his +first attempt. It was only a beginning, and he naturally +proceeded with the improvement of his machine. It took Watt more +than twenty years to elaborate his condensing steam-engine; and +since his day, owing to the perfection of self-acting tools, it +has been greatly improved. The power of the Steamboat and the +Locomotive also, as well as of all other inventions, have been +developed by the constantly succeeding improvements of a nation +of mechanical engineers. + +Koenig's experiment was only a beginning, and he naturally +proceeded with the improvement of his machine. Although the +platen machine of Koenig's has since been taken up a new, and +perfected, it was not considered by him sufficiently simple in +its arrangements as to be adapted for common use; and he had +scarcely completed it, when he was already revolving in his mind +a plan of a second machine on a new principle, with the object of +ensuring greater speed, economy, and simplicity. + +By this time, other well-known London printers, Messrs. Taylor +and Woodfall, had joined Koenig and Bensley in their partnership +for the manufacture and sale of printing machines. The idea +which now occurred to Koenig was, to employ a cylinder instead of +a flat Platen machine, for taking the impressions off the type, +and to place the sheet round the cylinder, thereby making it, as +it were, part of the periphery. As early as the year 1790, one +William Nicholson had taken out a patent for a machine for +printing "on paper, linen, cotton, woollen, and other articles," +by means of "blocks, forms, types, plates, and originals," which +were to be "firmly imposed upon a cylindrical surface in the same +manner as common letter is imposed upon a flat stone."[3] From +the mention of "colouring cylinder," and "paper-hangings, +floor-cloths, cottons, linens, woollens, leather, skin, and every +other flexible material," mentioned in the specification, it +would appear as if Nicholson's invention were adapted for +calico-printing and paper-hangings, as well as for the printing +of books. But it was never used for any of these purposes. It +contained merely the register of an idea, and that was all. It +was left for Adam Parkinson, of Manchester, to invent and make +practical use of the cylinder printing machine for calico in the +year 1805, and this was still further advanced by the invention +of James Thompson, of Clitheroe, in 1813; while it was left for +Frederick Koenig to invent and carry into practical operation the +cylinder printing press for newspapers. + +After some promising experiments, the plans for a new machine on +the cylindrical principle were proceeded with. Koenig admitted +throughout the great benefit he derived from the assistance of +his friend Bauer. "By the judgment and precision," he said, +"with which he executed my plans, he greatly contributed to my +success." A patent was taken out on October 30th, 1811; and the +new machine was completed in December, 1812. The first sheets +ever printed with an entirely cylindrical press, were sheets G +and X of Clarkson's 'Life of Penn.' The papers of the Protestant +Union were also printed with it in February and March, 1813. Mr. +Koenig, in his account of the invention, says that "sheet M of +Acton's 'Hortus Kewensis,' vol. v., will show the progress of +improvement in the use of the invention. Altogether, there are +about 160,000 sheets now in the hands of the public, printed with +this machine, which, with the aid of two hands, takes off 800 +impressions in the hour"[4] + +Koenig took out a further patent on July 23rd, 1813, and a fourth +(the last) on the 14th of March, 1814. The contrivance of these +various arrangements cost the inventor many anxious days and +nights of study and labour. But he saw before him only the end +he wished to compass, and thought but little of himself and his +toils. It may be mentioned that the principal feature of the +invention was the printing cylinder in the centre of the machine, +by which the impression was taken from the types, instead of by +flat plates as in the first arrangement. The forme was fixed in +a cast-iron plate which was carried to and fro on a table, being +received at either end by strong spiral springs. A double +machine, on the same principle,--the forme alternately passing +under and giving an impression at one of two cylinders at either +end of the press,--was also included in the patent of 1811. + +How diligently Koenig continued to elaborate the details of his +invention will be obvious from the two last patents which he took +out, in 1813 and 1814. In the first he introduced an important +improvement in the inking arrangement, and a contrivance for +holding and carrying on the sheet, keeping it close to the +printing cylinder by means of endless tapes; while in the second, +he added the following new expedients: a feeder, consisting of an +endless web,--an improved arrangement of the endless tapes by +inner as well as outer friskets,--an improvement of the register +(that is, one page falling exactly on the back of another), by +which greater accuracy of impression was also secured; and +finally, an arrangement by which the sheet was thrown out of the +machine, printed by the revolving cylinder on both sides. + +The partners in Koenig's Patents had established a manufactory in +Whitecross Street for the production of the new machines. The +workmen employed were sworn to secrecy. They entered into an +agreement by which they were liable to forfeit 100L. if they +communicated to others the secret of the machines, either by +drawings or description, or if they told by whom or for whom they +were constructed. This was to avoid the hostility of the +pressmen, who, having heard of the new invention, were up in arms +against it, as likely to deprive them of their employment. And +yet, as stated by Johnson in his 'Typographia,' the manual labour +of the men who worked at the hand press, was so severe and +exhausting, "that the stoutest constitutions fell a sacrifice to +it in a few years." The number of sheets that could be thrown off +was also extremely limited. + +With the improved press, perfected by Earl Stanhope, about 250 +impressions could be taken, or l25 sheets printed on both sides +in an hour. Although a greater number was produced in newspaper +printing offices by excessive labour, yet it was necessary to +have duplicate presses, and to set up duplicate forms of type, to +carry on such extra work; and still the production of copies was +quite inadequate to satisfy the rapidly increasing demand for +newspapers. The time was therefore evidently ripe for the +adoption of such a machine as that of Koenig. Attempts had been +made by many inventors, but every one of them had failed. +Printers generally regarded the steam-press as altogether +chimerical. + +Such was the condition of affairs when Koenig finished his +improved printing machine in the manufactory in Whitecross +Street. The partners in the invention were now in great hopes. +When the machine had been got ready for work, the proprietors of +several of the leading London newspapers were invited to witness +its performances. Amongst them were Mr. Perry of the Morning +chronicle, and Mr. Walter of The Times. Mr. Perry would have +nothing to do with the machine; he would not even go to see it, +for he regarded it as a gimcrack.[5] On the contrary, Mr. +Walter, though he had five years before declined to enter into +any arrangement with Bensley, now that he heard the machine was +finished, and at work, decided to go and inspect it. It was +thoroughly characteristic of the business spirit of the man. He +had been very anxious to apply increased mechanical power to the +printing of his newspaper. He had consulted Isambard Brunel--one +of the cleverest inventors of the day--on the subject; but +Brunel, after studying the subject, and labouring over a variety +of plans, finally gave it up. He had next tried Thomas Martyn, +an ingenious young compositor, who had a scheme for a self-acting +machine for working the printing press. But, although Mr. Walter +supplied him with the necessary funds, his scheme never came to +anything. Now, therefore, was the chance for Koenig! + +After carefully examining the machine at work, Mr. Walter was at +once satisfied as to the great value of the invention. He saw it +turning out the impressions with unusual speed and great +regularity. This was the very machine of which he had been in +search. But it turned out the impressions printed on one side +only. Koenig, however, having briefly explained the more rapid +action of a double machine on the same principle for the printing +of newspapers, Mr. Walter, after a few minutes' consideration, +and before leaving the premises, ordered two double machines for +the printing of The Times newspaper. Here, at last, was the +opportunity for a triumphant issue out of Koenig's difficulties. + +The construction of the first newspaper machine was still, +however, a work of great difficulty and labour. It must be +remembered that nothing of the kind had yet been made by any +other inventor. The single-cylinder machine, which Mr. Walter +had seen at work, was intended for bookwork only. Now Koenig had +to construct a double-cylinder machine for printing newspapers, +in which many of the arrangements must necessarily be entirely +new. With the assistance of his leading mechanic, Bauer, aided +by the valuable suggestions of Mr. Walter himself, Koenig at +length completed his plans, and proceeded with the erection of +the working machine. The several parts were prepared at the +workshop in Whitecross Street, and taken from thence, in as +secret a way as possible, to the premises in Printing House +Square, adjoining The Times office, where they were fitted +together and erected into a working machine. Nearly two years +elapsed before the press was ready for work. Great as was the +secrecy with which the operations were conducted, the pressmen of +The Times office obtained some inkling of what was going on, and +they vowed vengeance to the foreign inventor who threatened their +craft with destruction. There was, however, always this +consolation: every attempt that had heretofore been made to print +newspapers in any other way than by manual labour had proved an +utter failure! + +At length the day arrived when the first newspaper steam-press +was ready for use. The pressmen were in a state of great +excitement, for they knew by rumour that the machine of which +they had so long been apprehensive was fast approaching +completion. One night they were told to wait in the press-room, +as important news was expected from abroad. At six o'clock in +the morning of the 29th November, 1814, Mr. Walter, who had been +watching the working of the machine all through the night, +suddenly appeared among the pressmen, and announced that "The +Times is already printed by steam!" Knowing that the pressmen +had vowed vengeance against the inventor and his invention, and +that they had threatened "destruction to him and his traps," he +informed them that if they attempted violence, there was a force +ready to suppress it; but that if they were peaceable, their +wages should be continued to every one of them until they could +obtain similar employment. This proved satisfactory so far, and +he proceeded to distribute several copies of the newspaper +amongst them--the first newspaper printed by steam! That paper +contained the following memorable announcement:-- + +"Our Journal of this day presents to the Public the practical +result of the greatest improvement connected with printing since +the discovery of the art itself. The reader of this paragraph +now holds in his hand one of the many thousand impressions of The +Times newspaper which were taken off last night by a mechanical +apparatus. A system of machinery almost organic has been devised +and arranged, which, while it relieves the human frame of its +most laborious' efforts in printing, far exceeds all human powers +in rapidity and dispatch. That the magnitude of the invention +may be justly appreciated by its effects, we shall inform the +public, that after the letters are placed by the compositors, and +enclosed in what is called the forme, little more remains for man +to do than to attend upon and to watch this unconscious agent in +its operations. The machine is then merely supplied with paper: +itself places the forme, inks it, adjusts the paper to the forme +newly inked, stamps the sheet, and gives it forth to the hands of +the attendant, at the same time withdrawing the forme for a fresh +coat of ink, which itself again distributes, to meet the ensuing +sheet now advancing for impression; and the whole of these +complicated acts is performed with such a velocity and +simultaneousness of movement, that no less than 1100 sheets are +impressed in one hour. + +"That the completion of an invention of this kind, not the effect +of chance, but the result of mechanical combinations methodically +arranged in the mind of the artist, should be attended with many +obstructions and much delay, may be readily imagined. Our share +in this event has, indeed, only been the application of the +discovery, under an agreement with the patentees, to our own +particular business; yet few can conceive--even with this limited +interest--the various disappointments and deep anxiety to which +we have for a long course of time been subjected. + +"Of the person who made this discovery we have but little to add. + +Sir Christopher Wren's noblest monument is to be found in the +building which he erected; so is the best tribute of praise which +we are capable of offering to the inventor of the printing +machine, comprised in the preceding description, which we have +feebly sketched, of the powers and utility of his invention. It +must suffice to say further, that he is a Saxon by birth; that +his name is Koenig; and that the invention has been executed +under the direction of his friend and countryman, Bauer." + +The machine continued to work steadily and satisfactorily, +notwithstanding the doubters, the unbelievers, and the +threateners of vengeance. The leading article of The Times for +December 3rd, 1814, contains the following statement:-- + +"The machine of which we announced the discovery and our adoption +a few days ago, has been whirling on its course ever since, with +improving order, regularity, and even speed. The length of the +debates on Thursday, the day when Parliament was adjourned, will +have been observed; on such an occasion the operation of +composing and printing the last page must commence among all the +journals at the same moment; and starting from that moment, we, +with our infinitely superior circulation, were enabled to throw +off our whole impression many hours before the other respectable +rival prints. The accuracy and clearness of the impression will +likewise excite attention. + +"We shall make no reflections upon those by whom this wonderful +discovery has been opposed,--the doubters and unbelievers,-- +however uncharitable they may have been to us; were it not that +the efforts of genius are always impeded by drivellers of this +description, and that we owe it to such men as Mr. Koenig and his +Friend, and all future promulgators of beneficial inventions, to +warn them that they will have to contend with everything that +selfishness and conceited ignorance can devise or say; and if we +cannot clear their way before them, we would at least give them +notice to prepare a panoply against its dirt and filth. + +"There is another class of men from whom we receive dark and +anonymous threats of vengeance if we persevere in the use of this +machine. These are the Pressmen. They well know, at least +should well know, that such menace is thrown away upon us. There +is nothing that we will not do to assist and serve those whom we +have discharged. They themselves can seethe greater rapidity and +precision with which the paper is printed. What right have they +to make us print it slower and worse for their supposed benefit? +A little reflection, indeed, would show them that it is neither +in their power nor in ours to stop a discovery now made, if it is +beneficial to mankind; or to force it down if it is useless. +They had better, therefore, acquiesce in a result which they +cannot alter; more especially as there will still be employment +enough for the old race of pressmen, before the new method +obtains general use, and no new ones need be brought up to the +business; but we caution them seriously against involving +themselves and their families in ruin, by becoming amenable to +the laws of their country. It has always been matter of great +satisfaction to us to reflect, that we encountered and crushed +one conspiracy; and we should be sorry to find our work half +done. + +"It is proper to undeceive the world in one particular; that is, +as to the number of men discharged. We in fact employ only eight +fewer workmen than formerly; whereas more than three times that +number have been employed for a year and a half in building the +machine." + +On the 8th of December following, Mr. Koenig addressed an +advertisement "To the Public" in the columns of The Times, giving +an account of the origin and progress of his invention. We have +already cited several passages from the statement. After +referring to his two last patents, he says: "The machines now +printing The Times and Mail are upon the same principle; but they +have been contrived for the particular purpose of a newspaper of +extensive circulation, where expedition is the great object. + +"The public are undoubtedly aware, that never, perhaps, was a new +invention put to so severe a trial as the present one, by being +used on its first public introduction for the printing of +newspapers, and will, I trust, be indulgent with respect to the +many defects in the performance, though none of them are inherent +in the principle of the machine; and we hope, that in less than +two months, the whole will be corrected by greater adroitness in +the management of it, so far at least as the hurry of newspaper +printing will at all admit. + +"It will appear from the foregoing narrative, that it was +incorrectly stated in several newspapers, that I had sold my +interest to two other foreigners; my partners in this enterprise +being at present two Englishmen, Mr. Bensley and Mr. Taylor; and +it is gratifying to my feelings to avail myself of this +opportunity to thank those gentlemen publicly for the confidence +which they have reposed in me, for the aid of their practical +skill, and for the persevering support which they have afforded +me in long and very expensive experiments; thus risking their +fortunes in the prosecution of my invention. + +"The first introduction of the invention was considered by some +as a difficult and even hazardous step. The Proprietor of The +Times having made that his task, the public are aware that it is +in good hands." + +One would think that Koenig would now feel himself in smooth +water, and receive a share of the good fortune which he had so +laboriously prepared for others. Nothing of the kind! His +merits were disputed; his rights were denied; his patents were +infringed; and he never received any solid advantages for his +invention, until be left the country and took refuge in Germany. +It is true, he remained for a few years longer, in charge of the +manufactory in Whitecross Street, but they were years to him of +trouble and sorrow. + +In 1816, Koenig designed and superintended the construction of a +single cylinder registering machine for book-printing. This was +supplied to Bensley and Son, and turned out 1000 sheets, printed +on both sides, in the hour. Blumenbach's 'Physiology' was the +first entire book printed by steam, by this new machine. It was +afterwards employed, in l8l8, in working off the Literary +Gazette. A machine of the same kind was supplied to Mr. Richard +Taylor for the purpose of printing the 'Philosophical Magazine,' +and books generally. This was afterwards altered to a double +machine, and employed for printing the Weekly Dispatch. + +But what about Koenig's patents? They proved of little use to +him. They only proclaimed his methods, and enabled other +ingenious mechanics to borrow his adaptations. Now that he had +succeeded in making machines that would work, the way was clear +for everybody else to follow his footsteps. It had taken him +more than six years to invent and construct a successful steam +printing press; but any clever mechanic, by merely studying his +specification, and examining his machine at work, might arrive at +the same results in less than a week. + +The patents did not protect him. New specifications, embodying +some modification or alteration in detail, were lodged by other +inventors and new patents taken out. New printing machines were +constructed in defiance of his supposed legal rights; and he +found himself stripped of the reward that he had been labouring +for during so many long and toilsome years. He could not go to +law, and increase his own vexation and loss. He might get into +Chancery easy enough; but when would he get out of it, and in +what condition? + +It must also be added, that Koenig was unfortunate in his partner +Bensley. While the inventor was taking steps to push the sale of +his book-printing machines among the London printers, Bensley, +who was himself a book-printer, was hindering him in every way in +his negotiations. Koenig was of opinion that Bensley wished to +retain the exclusive advantage which the possession of his +registering book machine gave him over the other printers, by +enabling him to print more quickly and correctly than they could, +and thus give him an advantage over them in his printing +contracts. + +When Koenig, in despair at his position, consulted counsel as to +the infringement of his patent, he was told that he might +institute proceedings with the best prospect of success; but to +this end a perfect agreement by the partners was essential. +When, however, Koenig asked Bensley to concur with him in taking +proceedings in defence of the patent right, the latter positively +refused to do so. Indeed, Koenig was under the impression that +his partner had even entered into an arrangement with the +infringers of the patent to share with them the proceeds of their +piracy. + +Under these circumstances, it appeared to Koenig that only two +alternatives remained for him to adopt. One was to commence an +expensive, and it might be a protracted, suit in Chancery, in +defence of his patent rights, with possibly his partner, Bensley, +against him; and the other, to abandon his invention in England +without further struggle, and settle abroad. He chose the latter +alternative, and left England finally in August, 1817. + +Mr. Richard Taylor, the other partner in the patent, was an +honourable man; but he could not control the proceedings of +Bensley. In a memoir published by him in the 'Philosophical +Magazine,' "On the Invention and First Introduction of Mr. +Koenig's Printing Machine," in which he honestly attributes to +him the sole merit of the invention, he says, "Mr. Koenig left +England, suddenly, in disgust at the treacherous conduct of +Bensley, always shabby and overreaching, and whom he found to be +laying a scheme for defrauding his partners in the patents of all +the advantages to arise from them. Bensley, however, while he +destroyed the prospects of his partners, outwitted himself, and +grasping at all, lost all, becoming bankrupt in fortune as well +as in character."[6] + +Koenig was badly used throughout. His merits as an inventor were +denied. On the 3rd of January, 1818, after he had left England, +Bensley published a letter in the Literary Gazette, in which he +speaks of the printing machine as his own, without mentioning a +word of Koenig. The 'British Encyclopaedia,' in describing the +inventors of the printing machine, omitted the name of Koenig +altogether. The 'Mechanics Magazine,' for September, 1847, +attributed the invention to the Proprietors of The Times, though +Mr. Walter himself had said that his share in the event had been +"only the application of the discovery;" and the late Mr. Bennet +Woodcroft, usually a fair man, in his introductory chapter to +'Patents for Inventions in Printing,' attributes the merit to +William Nicholson's patent (No. 1748), which, he said, "produced +an entire revolution in the mechanism of the art." In other +publications, the claims of Bacon and Donkin were put forward, +while those of the real inventor were ignored. The memoir of +Koenig by Mr. Richard Taylor, in the 'Philosophical Magazine,' +was honest and satisfactory; and should have set the question at +rest. + +It may further be mentioned that William Nicholson,--who was a +patent agent, and a great taker out of patents, both in his own +name and in the names of others,--was the person employed by +Koenig as his agent to take the requisite steps for registering +his invention. When Koenig consulted him on the subject, +Nicholson observed that "seventeen years before he had taken out +a patent for machine printing, but he had abandoned it, thinking +that it wouldn't do; and had never taken it up again." Indeed, +the two machines were on different principles. Nor did Nicholson +himself ever make any claim to priority of invention, when the +success of Koenig's machine was publicly proclaimed by Mr. Walter +of The Times some seven years later. + +When Koenig, now settled abroad, heard of the attempts made in +England to deny his merits as an inventor, he merely observed to +his friend Bauer, "It is really too bad that these people, who +have already robbed me of my invention, should now try to rob me +of my reputation." Had he made any reply to the charges against +him, it might have been comprised in a very few words: "When I +arrived in England, no steam printing machine had ever before +been seen; when I left it, the only printing machines in actual +work were those which I had constructed." But Koenig never took +the trouble to defend the originality of his invention in +England, now that he had finally abandoned the field to others. + +There can be no question as to the great improvements introduced +in the printing machine by Mr. Applegath and Mr. Cowper; by +Messrs. Hoe and Sons, of New York; and still later by the present +Mr. Walter of The Times, which have brought the art of machine +printing to an extraordinary degree of perfection and speed. But +the original merits of an invention are not to be determined by a +comparison of the first machine of the kind ever made with the +last, after some sixty years' experience and skill have been +applied in bringing it to perfection. Were the first condensing +engine made at Soho--now to be seen at the Museum in South +Kensington--in like manner to be compared with the last improved +pumping-engine made yesterday, even the great James Watt might be +made out to have been a very poor contriver. It would be much +fairer to compare Koenig's steam-printing machine with the +hand-press newspaper printing machine which it superseded. +Though there were steam engines before Watt, and steamboats +before Fulton, and steam locomotives before Stephenson, there +were no steam printing presses before Koenig with which to +compare them, Koenig's was undoubtedly the first, and stood +unequalled and alone. + +The rest of Koenig's life, after he retired to Germany, was spent +in industry, if not in peace and quietness. He could not fail to +be cast down by the utter failure of his English partnership, and +the loss of the fruits of his ingenious labours. But instead of +brooding over his troubles, he determined to break away from +them, and begin the world anew. He was only forty-three when he +left England, and he might yet be able to establish himself +prosperously in life. He had his own head and hands to help him. + +Though England was virtually closed against him, the whole +continent of Europe was open to him, and presented a wide field +for the sale of his printing machines. + +While residing in England, Koenig had received many +communications from influential printers in Germany. Johann +Spencer and George Decker wrote to him in 1815, asking for +particulars about his invention; but finding his machine too +expensive,[7] the latter commissioned Koenig to send him a +Stanhope printing press--the first ever introduced into Germany +--the price of which was 95L. Koenig did this service for his +friend, for although he stood by the superior merits of his own +invention, he was sufficiently liberal to recognise the merits of +the inventions of others. Now that he was about to settle in +Germany, he was able to supply his friends and patrons on the +spot. + +The question arose, where was he to settle? He made enquiries +about sites along the Rhine, the Neckar, and the Main. At last +he was attracted by a specially interesting spot at Oberzell on +the Main, near Wurzburg. It was an old disused convent of the +Praemonstratensian monks. The place was conveniently situated +for business, being nearly in the centre of Germany. The +Bavarian Government, desirous of giving encouragement to so +useful a genius, granted Koenig the use of the secularised +monastery on easy terms; and there accordingly he began his +operations in the course of the following year. Bauer soon +joined him, with an order from Mr. Walter for an improved Times +machine; and the two men entered into a partnership which lasted +for life. + +The partners had at first great difficulties to encounter in +getting their establishment to work. Oberzell was a rural +village, containing only common labourers, from whom they had to +select their workmen. Every person taken into the concern had to +be trained and educated to mechanical work by the partners +themselves. With indescribable patience they taught these +labourers the use of the hammer, the file, the turning-lathe, and +other tools, which the greater number of them had never before +seen, and of whose uses they were entirely ignorant. The +machinery of the workshop was got together with equal difficulty +piece by piece, some of the parts from a great distance,--the +mechanical arts being then at a very low ebb in Germany, which +was still suffering from the effects of the long continental war. + +At length the workshop was fitted up, the old barn of the +monastery being converted into an iron foundry. + +Orders for printing machines were gradually obtained. The first +came from Brockhaus, of Leipzig. By the end of the fourth year +two other single-cylinder machines were completed and sent to +Berlin, for use in the State printing office. By the end of the +eighth year seven double-cylinder steam presses had been +manufactured for the largest newspaper printers in Germany. The +recognised excellence of Koenig and Bauer's book-printing +machines--their perfect register, and the quality of the work +they turned out--secured for them an increasing demand, and by +the year 1829 the firm had manufactured fifty-one machines for +the leading book printers throughout Germany. The Oberzell +manufactory was now in full work, and gave regular employment to +about 120 men. + +A period of considerable depression followed. As was the case in +England, the introduction of the printing machine in Germany +excited considerable hostility among the pressmen. In some of +the principal towns they entered into combinations to destroy +them, and several printing machines were broken by violence and +irretrievably injured. But progress could not be stopped; the +printing machine had been fairly born, and must eventually do its +work for mankind. These combinations, however, had an effect for +a time. They deterred other printers from giving orders for the +machines; and Koenig and Bauer were under the necessity of +suspending their manufacture to a considerable extent. To keep +their men employed, the partners proceeded to fit up a paper +manufactory, Mr. Cotta, of Stuttgart, joining them in the +adventure; and a mill was fitted up, embodying all the latest +improvements in paper-making. + +Koenig, however, did not live to enjoy the fruits or all his +study, labour, toil, and anxiety; for, while this enterprise was +still in progress, and before the machine trade had revived, he +was taken ill, and confined to bed. He became sleepless; his +nerves were unstrung; and no wonder. Brain disease carried him +off on the 17th of January, 1833; and this good, ingenious, and +admirable inventor was removed from all further care and trouble. + +He died at the early age of fifty-eight, respected and beloved by +all who knew him. + +His partner Bauer survived to continue the business for twenty +years longer. It was during this later period that the Oberzell +manufactory enjoyed its greatest prosperity. The prejudices of +the workmen gradually subsided when they found that machine +printing, instead of abridging employment, as they feared it +would do, enormously increased it; and orders accordingly flowed +in from Berlin, Vienna, and all the leading towns and cities of +Germany, Austria, Denmark, Russia, and Sweden. The six hundredth +machine, turned out in 1847, was capable of printing 6000 +impressions in the hour. In March, 1865, the thousandth machine +was completed at Oberzell, on the occasion of the celebration of +the fifty years' jubilee of the invention of the steam press by +Koenig. + +The sons of Koenig carried on the business; and in the biography +by Goebel, it is stated that the manufactory of Oberzell has now +turned out no fewer than 3000 printing machines. The greater +number have been supplied to Germany; but 660 were sent to +Russia, 61 to Asia, 12 to England, and 11 to America. The rest +were despatched to Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Holland, +and other countries. + +It remains to be said that Koenig and Bauer, united in life, were +not divided by death. Bauer died on February 27, 1860, and the +remains of the partners now lie side by side in the little +cemetery at Oberzell, close to the scene of their labours and the +valuable establishment which they founded. + + +Footnotes for Chapter VI. + +[1] Koenig's letter in The Times, 8th December, 1814 + +[2] Koenig's letter in The Times, 8th December, 1814. + +[3] Date of Patent, 29th April, 1790, No. 1748, + +[4] Koenig's letter in The Times, 8th December, 1814. + +[5] Mr. Richard Taylor, one of the partners in the patent, says, +"Mr. Perry declined, alleging that he did not consider a +newspaper worth so many years' purchase as would equal the cost +of the machine." + +[6] Mr. Richard Taylor, F.S.A., memoir in 'Philosophical +Magazine' for October 1847, p. 300. + +[7] The price of a single cylinder non-registering machine was +advertised at 900L.; of a double ditto, 1400L.; and of a cylinder +registering machine, 2000L.; added to which was 250L., 350L., and +500L. per annum for each of these machines so long as the patent +lasted, or an agreed sum to be paid down at once. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE WALTERS OF THE TIMES: INVENTION OF THE WALTER PRESS. + +"Intellect and industry are never incompatible. There is more +wisdom, and will be more benefit, in combining them than scholars +like to believe, or than the common world imagine. Life has time +enough for both, and its happiness will be increased by the +union." --SHARON TURNER. + +"I have beheld with most respect the man +Who knew himself, and knew the ways before him, +And from among them chose considerately, +With a clear foresight, not a blindfold courage; +And, having chosen, with a steadfast mind +Pursued his purpose." +HENRY TAYLOR--Philip van Artevelde. + +The late John Walter, who adopted Koenig's steam printing press +in printing The Times, was virtually the inventor of the modern +newspaper. The first John Walter, his father, learnt the art of +printing in the office of Dodsley, the proprietor of the 'Annual +Register.' He afterwards pursued the profession of an +underwriter, but his fortunes were literally shipwrecked by the +capture of a fleet of merchantmen by a French squadron. +Compelled by this loss to return to his trade, he succeeded in +obtaining the publication of 'Lloyd's List,' as well as the +printing of the Board of Customs. He also established himself as +a publisher and bookseller at No. 8, Charing Cross. But his +principal achievement was in founding The Times newspaper. + +The Daily Universal Register was started on the 1st of January, +1785, and was described in the heading as "printed +logographically." The type had still to be composed, letter by +letter, each placed alongside of its predecessor by human +fingers. Mr. Walter's invention consisted in using stereotyped +words and parts of words instead of separate metal letters, by +which a certain saving of time and labour was effected. The name +of the 'Register' did not suit, there being many other +publications bearing a similar title. Accordingly, it was +re-named The Times, and the first number was issued from Printing +House Square on the 1st of January, 1788. + +The Times was at first a very meagre publication. It was not +much bigger than a number of the old 'Penny Magazine,' containing +a single short leader on some current topic, without any +pretensions to excellence; some driblets of news spread out in +large type; half a column of foreign intelligence, with a column +of facetious paragraphs under the heading of "The Cuckoo;" while +the rest of each number consisted of advertisements. +Notwithstanding the comparative innocence of the contents of the +early numbers of the paper, certain passages which appeared in it +on two occasions subjected the publisher to imprisonment in +Newgate. The extent of the offence, on one occasion, consisted +in the publication of a short paragraph intimating that their +Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York had "so +demeaned themselves as to incur the just disapprobation of his +Majesty!" For such slight offences were printers sent to gaol in +those days. + +Although the first Mr. Walter was a man of considerable business +ability, his exertions were probably too much divided amongst a +variety of pursuits to enable him to devote that exclusive +attention to The Times which was necessary to ensure its success. + +He possibly regarded it, as other publishers of newspapers then +did, mainly as a means of obtaining a profitable business in +job-printing. Hence, in the elder Walter's hands, the paper was +not only unprofitable in itself, but its maintenance became a +source of gradually increasing expenditure; and the proprietor +seriously contemplated its discontinuance. + +At this juncture, John Walter, junior, who had been taken into +the business as a partner, entreated his father to entrust him +with the sole conduct of the paper, and to give it "one more +trial." This was at the beginning of 1803. The new editor and +conductor was then only twenty-seven years of age. He had been +trained to the manual work of a printer "at case," and passed +through nearly every department in the office, literary and +mechanical. But in the first place, he had received a very +liberal education, first at Merchant Taylors' School, and +afterwards at Trinity College, Oxford, where he pursued his +classical studies with much success. He was thus a man of +well-cultured mind; he had been thoroughly disciplined to work; +he was, moreover, a man of tact and energy, full of expedients, +and possessed by a passion for business. His father, urged by +the young man's entreaties, at length consented, although not +without misgivings, to resign into his hands the entire future +control of The Times. + +Young Walter proceeded forthwith to remodel the establishment, +and to introduce improvements into every department, as far as +the scanty capital at his command would admit. Before he assumed +the direction, The Times did not seek to guide opinion or to +exercise political influence. It was a scanty newspaper--nothing +more, Any political matters referred to were usually introduced +in "Letters to the Editor," in the form in which Junius's Letters +first appeared in the Public Advertiser. The comments on +political affairs by the Editor were meagre and brief, and +confined to a mere statement of supposed facts. + +Mr. Walter, very much to the dismay of his father, struck out an +entirely new course. He boldly stated his views on public +affairs, bringing his strong and original judgment to bear upon +the political and social topics of the day. He carefully watched +and closely studied public opinion, and discussed general +questions in all their bearings. He thus invented the modern +Leading Article. The adoption of an independent line of politics +necessarily led him to canvass freely, and occasionally to +condemn, the measures of the Government. Thus, he had only been +about a year in office as editor, when the Sidmouth +Administration was succeeded by that of Mr. Pitt, under whom Lord +Melville undertook the unfortunate Catamaran expedition. His +Lordship's malpractices in the Navy Department had also been +brought to light by the Commissioners of Naval Inquiry. On both +these topics Mr. Walter spoke out freely in terms of reprobation; +and the result was, that the printing for the Customs and the +Government advertisements were at once removed from The Times +office. + +Two years later Mr. Pitt died, and an Administration succeeded +which contained a portion of the political chiefs whom the editor +had formerly supported on his undertaking the management of the +paper. He was invited by one of them to state the injustice +which had been done to him by the loss of the Customs printing, +and a memorial to the Treasury was submitted for his signature, +with a view to its recovery. But believing that the reparation +of the injury in this manner was likely to be considered as a +favour, entitling those who granted it to a certain degree of +influence over the politics of the journal, Walter refused to +sign it, or to have any concern in presenting the memorial. He +did more; he wrote to those from whom the restoration of the +employment was expected to come, disavowing all connection with +the proceeding. The matter then dropped, and the Customs +printing was never restored to the office. + +This course was so unprecedented, and, as his father thought, was +so very wrong-headed, that young Walter had for some time +considerable difficulty in holding his ground and maintaining the +independent position he had assumed. But with great tenacity of +purpose he held on his course undismayed. He was a man who +looked far ahead,--not so much taking into account the results at +the end of each day or of each year, but how the plan he had laid +down for conducting the paper would work out in the long run. +And events proved that the high-minded course he had pursued with +so much firmness of purpose was the wisest course after all. + +Another feature in the management which showed clear-sightedness +and business acuteness, was the pains which the Editor took to +ensure greater celerity of information and dispatch in printing. +The expense which he incurred in carrying out these objects +excited the serious displeasure of his father, who regarded them +as acts of juvenile folly and extravagance. Another circumstance +strongly roused the old man's wrath. It appears that in those +days the insertion of theatrical puffs formed a considerable +source of newspaper income; and yet young Walter determined at +once to abolish them. It is not a little remarkable that these +earliest acts of Mr. Walter--which so clearly marked his +enterprise and high-mindedness--should have been made the subject +of painful comments in his father's will. + +Notwithstanding this serious opposition from within, the power +and influence of the paper visibly and rapidly grew. The new +Editor concentrated in the columns of his paper a range of +information such as had never before been attempted, or indeed +thought possible. His vigilant eye was directed to every detail +of his business. He greatly improved the reporting of public +meetings, the money market, and other intelligence,--aiming at +greater fulness and accuracy. In the department of criticism his +labours were unwearied. He sought to elevate the character of +the paper, and rendered it more dignified by insisting that it +should be impartial. He thus conferred the greatest public +service upon literature, the drama, and the fine arts, by +protecting them against the evil influences of venal panegyric on +the one hand, and of prejudiced hostility on the other. + +But the most remarkable feature of The Times that which +emphatically commended it to public support and ensured its +commercial success--was its department of foreign intelligence. +At the time that Walter undertook the management of the journal, +Europe was a vast theatre of war; and in the conduct of +commercial affairs--not to speak of political movements--it was +of the most vital importance that early information should be +obtained of affairs on the Continent. The Editor resolved to +become himself the purveyor of foreign intelligence, and at great +expense he despatched his agents in all directions, even in the +track of armies; while others were employed, under various +disguises and by means of sundry pretexts, in many parts of the +Continent. These agents collected information, and despatched it +to London, often at considerable risks, for publication in The +Times, where it usually appeared long in advance of the +government despatches. + +The late Mr. Pryme, in his 'Autobiographic Recollections,' +mentions a visit which he paid to Mr. Walter at his seat at +Bearwood. "He described to me," says Mr.Pryme, "the cause of the +large extension in the circulation of The Times. He was the +first to establish a foreign correspondent. This was Henry Crabb +Robinson, at a salary of 300L. a year.... Mr. Walter also +established local reporters, instead of copying from the country +papers. His father doubted the wisdom of such a large +expenditure, but the son prophesied a gradual and certain +success, which has actually been realised." + +Mr. Robinson has described in his Diary the manner in which he +became connected with the foreign correspondence. "In January, +1807," he says, "I received, through my friend J.D. Collier, a +proposal from Mr. Walter that I should take up my residence at +Altona, and become The Times correspondent. I was to receive +from the editor of the 'Hamburger Correspondenten' all the public +documents at his disposal, and was to have the benefit also of a +mass of information, of which the restraints of the German Press +did not permit him to avail himself. The honorarium I was to +receive was ample with my habits of life. I gladly accepted the +offer, and never repented having done so. My acquaintance with +Mr. Walter ripened into friendship, and lasted as long as he +lived."[1] + +Mr. Robinson was forced to leave Germany by the Battle of +Friedland and the Treaty of Tilsit, which resulted in the naval +coalition against England. Returning to London, he became +foreign editor of The Times until the following year, when he +proceeded to Spain as foreign correspondent. Mr. Walter had also +an agent in the track of the army in the unfortunate Walcheren +expedition; and The Times announced the capitulation of Flushing +forty-eight hours before the news had arrived by any other +channel. By this prompt method of communicating public +intelligence, the practice, which had previously existed, of +systematically retarding the publication of foreign news by +officials at the General Post Office, who made gain by selling +them to the Lombard Street brokers, was effectually extinguished. + +This circumstance, as well as the independent course which Mr. +Walter adopted in the discussion of foreign politics, explains in +some measure the opposition which he had to encounter in the +transmission of his despatches. As early as the year 1805, when +he had come into collision with the Government and lost the +Customs printing, The Times despatches were regularly stopped at +the outports, whilst those for the Ministerial journals were +allowed to proceed. This might have crushed a weaker man, but it +did not crush Walter. Of course he expostulated. He was +informed at the Home Secretary's office that he might be +permitted to receive his foreign papers as a favour. But as this +implied the expectation of a favour from him in return, the +proposal was rejected; and, determined not to be baffled, he +employed special couriers, at great cost, for the purpose of +obtaining the earliest transmission of foreign intelligence. + +These important qualities--enterprise, energy, business tact, and +public spirit--sufficiently account for his remarkable success. +To these, however, must be added another of no small importance-- +discernment and knowledge of character. Though himself the head +and front of his enterprise, it was necessary that he should +secure the services and co-operation of men of first-rate +ability; and in the selection of such men his judgment was almost +unerring. By his discernment and munificence, he collected round +him some of the ablest writers of the age. These were frequently +revealed to him in the communications of correspondents--the +author of the letters signed "Vetus" being thus selected to write +in the leading columns of the Paper. But Walter himself was the +soul of The Times. It was he who gave the tone to its articles, +directed its influence, and superintended its entire conduct with +unremitting vigilance. + +Even in conducting the mechanical arrangements of the paper--a +business of no small difficulty--he had often occasion to +exercise promptness and boldness of decision in cases of +emergency. Printers in those days were a rather refractory class +of work men, and not unfrequently took advantage of their +position to impose hard terms on their employers, especially in +the daily press, where everything must be promptly done within a +very limited time. Thus on one occasion, in 1810, the pressmen +made a sudden demand upon the proprietor for an increase of +wages, and insisted upon a uniform rate being paid to all hands, +whether good or bad. Walter was at first disposed to make +concessions to the men; but having been privately informed that a +combination was already entered into by the compositors, as well +as by the pressmen, to leave his employment suddenly, under +circumstances that would have stopped the publication of the +paper, and inflicted on him the most serious injury, he +determined to run all risks, rather than submit to what now +appeared to him in the light of an extortion. + +The strike took place on a Saturday morning, when suddenly, and +without notice, all the hands turned out. Mr. Walter had only a +few hours' notice of it, but he had already resolved upon his +course. He collected apprentices from half a dozen different +quarters, and a few inferior workmen, who were glad to obtain +employment on any terms. He himself stript to his shirt-sleeves, +and went to work with the rest; and for the next six-and-thirty +hours he was incessantly employed at case and at press. On the +Monday morning, the conspirators, who had assembled to triumph +over his ruin, to their inexpressible amazement saw The Times +issue from the publishing office at the usual hour, affording a +memorable example of what one man's resolute energy may +accomplish in a moment of difficulty. + +The journal continued to appear with regularity, though the +printers employed at the office lived in a state of daily peril. +The conspirators, finding themselves baffled, resolved upon +trying another game. They contrived to have two of the men +employed by Walter as compositors apprehended as deserters from +the Royal Navy. The men were taken before the magistrate; but +the charge was only sustained by the testimony of clumsy, +perjured witnesses, and fell to the ground. The turn-outs next +proceeded to assault the new hands, when Mr. Walter resolved to +throw around them the protection of the law. By the advice of +counsel, he had twenty-one of the conspirators apprehended and +tried, and nineteen of them were found guilty and condemned to +various periods of imprisonment. From that moment combination +was at an end in Printing House Square. + +Mr. Walter's greatest achievement was his successful application +of steam power to newspaper printing. Although he had greatly +improved the mechanical arrangements after he took command of the +paper, the rate at which the copies could be printed off remained +almost stationary. It took a very long time indeed to throw off, +by the hand-labour of pressmen, the three or four thousand copies +which then constituted the ordinary circulation of The Times. On +the occasion of any event of great public interest being reported +in the paper, it was found almost impossible to meet the demand +for copies. Only about 300 copies could be printed in the hour, +with one man to ink the types and another to work the press, +while the labour was very severe. Thus it took a long time to +get out the daily impression, and very often the evening papers +were out before The Times had half supplied the demand. + +Mr. Walter could not brook the tedium of this irksome and +laborious process. To increase the number of impressions, he +resorted to various expedients. The type was set up in +duplicate, and even in triplicate; several Stanhope presses were +kept constantly at work; and still the insatiable demands of the +newsmen on certain occasions could not be met. Thus the question +was early forced upon his consideration, whether he could not +devise machinery for the purpose of expediting the production of +newspapers. Instead of 300 impressions an hour, he wanted from +1500 to 2000. Although such a speed as this seemed quite as +chimerical as propelling a ship through the water against wind +and tide at fifteen miles an hour, or running a locomotive on a +railway at fifty, yet Mr. Walter was impressed with the +conviction that a much more rapid printing of newspapers was +feasible than by the slow hand-labour process; and he endeavoured +to induce several ingenious mechanical contrivers to take up and +work out his idea. + +The principle of producing impressions by means of a cylinder, +and of inking the types by means of a roller, was not new. We +have seen, in the preceding memoir, that as early as 1790 William +Nicholson had patented such a method, but his scheme had never +been brought into practical operation. Mr. Walter endeavoured to +enlist Marc Isambard Brunel--one of the cleverest inventors of +the day--in his proposed method of rapid printing by machinery; +but after labouring over a variety of plans for a considerable +time, Brunel finally gave up the printing machine, unable to make +anything of it. Mr. Walter next tried Thomas Martyn, an +ingenious young compositor, who had a scheme for a self-acting +machine for working the printing press. He was supplied with the +necessary funds to enable him to prosecute his idea; but Mr. +Walter's father was opposed to the scheme, and when the funds +became exhausted, this scheme also fell to the ground. + +As years passed on, and the circulation of the paper increased, +the necessity for some more expeditious method of printing became +still more urgent. Although Mr. Walter had declined to enter +into an arrangement with Bensley in 1809, before Koenig had +completed his invention of printing by cylinders, it was +different five years later, when Koenig's printing machine was +actually at work. In the preceding memoir, the circumstances +connected with the adoption of the invention by Mr. Walter are +fully related; as well as the announcement made in The Times on +the 29th of November, 1814--the day on which the first newspaper +printed by steam was given to the world. + +But Koenig's printing machine was but the beginning of a great +new branch of industry. After he had left this country in +disgust, it remained for others to perfect the invention; +although the ingenious German was entitled to the greatest credit +for having made the first satisfactory beginning. Great +inventions are not brought forth at a heat. They are begun by +one man, improved by another, and perfected by a whole host of +mechanical inventors. Numerous patents were taken out for the +mechanical improvement of printing. Donkin and Bacon contrived a +machine in 1813, in which the types were placed on a revolving +prism. One of them was made for the University of Cambridge, but +it was found too complicated; the inking was defective; and the +project was abandoned. + +In 1816, Mr. Cowper obtained a patent (No.3974) entitled," A +Method of Printing Paper for Paper Hangings, and Other Purposes." + +The principal feature of this invention consisted in the curving +or bending of stereotype plates for the purpose of being printed +in that form. A number of machines for printing in two colours, +in exact register, was made for the Bank of England, and four +millions of One Pound notes were printed before the Bank +Directors determined to abolish their further issue. The regular +mode of producing stereotype plates, from plaster of Paris +moulds, took so much time, that they could not then be used for +newspaper printing. + +Two years later, in 1818, Mr. Cowper invented and patented (No. +4194) his great improvements in printing. It may be mentioned +that he was then himself a printer, in partnership with Mr. +Applegath, his brother-in-law. His invention consisted in the +perfect distribution of the ink, by giving end motion to the +rollers, so as to get a distribution crossways, as well as +lengthways. This principle is at the very foundation of good +printing, and has been adopted in every machine since made. The +very first experiment proved that the principle was right. Mr. +Cowper was asked by Mr. Walter to alter Koenig's machine at The +Times office, so as to obtain good distribution. He adopted two +of Nicholson's single cylinders and flat formes of type. Two +"drums" were placed betwixt the cylinders to ensure accuracy in +the register,--over and under which the sheet was conveyed in it +s progress from one cylinder to the other,--the sheet being at +all times firmly held between two tapes, which bound it to the +cylinders and drums. This is commonly called, in the trade, a +"perfecting machine;" that is, it printed the paper on both sides +simultaneously, and is still much used for "book-work," whilst +single cylinder machines are often used for provincial +newspapers. + +After this, Mr. Cowper designed the four cylinder machine for The +Times,--by means of which from 4000 to 5000 sheets could be +printed from one forme in the hour. In 1823, Mr. Applegath +invented an improvement in the inking apparatus, by placing the +distributing rollers at an angle across the distributing table, +instead of forcing them endways by other means. + +Mr. Walter continued to devote the same unremitting attention to +his business as before. He looked into all the details, was +familiar with every department, and, on an emergency, was willing +to lend a hand in any work requiring more than ordinary despatch. + +Thus, it is related of him that, in the spring of 1833, shortly +after his return to Parliament as Member for Berkshire, he was at +The Times office one day, when an express arrived from Paris, +bringing the speech of the King of the French on the opening of +the Chambers. The express arrived at 10 A.M., after the day's +impression of the paper had been published, and the editors and +compositors had left the office. It was important that the +speech should be published at once; and Mr. Walter immediately +set to work upon it. He first translated the document; then, +assisted by one compositor, he took his place at the type-case, +and set it up. To the amazement of one of the staff, who dropped +in about noon, he "found Mr. Walter, M.P. for Berks, working in +his shirt-sleeves!" The speech was set and printed, and the +second edition was in the City by one o'clock. Had he not +"turned to" as he did, the whole expense of the express service +would have been lost. And it is probable that there was not +another man in the whole establishment who could have performed +the double work--intellectual and physical--which he that day +executed with his own head and hands. + +Such an incident curiously illustrates his eminent success in +life. It was simply the result of persevering diligence, which +shrank from no effort and neglected no detail; as well as of +prudence allied to boldness, but certainly not "of chance;" and, +above all, of highminded integrity and unimpeachable honesty. It +is perhaps unnecessary to add more as to the merits of Mr. Walter +as a man of enterprise in business, or as a public man and a +Member of Parliament. The great work of his life was the +development of his journal, the history of which forms the best +monument to his merits and his powers. + +The progressive improvement of steam printing machinery was not +affected by Mr. Walter's death, which occurred in 1847. He had +given it an impulse which it never lost. In 1846 Mr. Applegath +patented certain important improvements in the steam press. The +general disposition of his new machine was that of a vertical +cylinder 200 inches in circumference, holding on it the type and +distributing surfaces, and surrounded alternately by inking +rollers and pressing cylinders. Mr. Applegath estimated in his +specification that in his new vertical system the machine, with +eight cylinders, would print about 10,000 sheets per hour. The +new printing press came into use in 1848, and completely +justified the anticipations of its projector. + +Applegath's machine, though successfully employed at The Times +office, did not come into general use. It was, to a large +extent, superseded by the invention of Richard M. Hoe, of New +York. Hoe's process consisted in placing the types upon a +horizontal cylinder, against which the sheets were pressed by +exterior and smaller cylinders. The types were arranged in +segments of a circle, each segment forming a frame that could be +fixed on the cylinder. These printing machines were made with +from two to ten subsidiary cylinders. The first presses sent by +Messrs. Hoe & Co. to this country were for Lloyd's Weekly +Newspaper, and were of the six-cylinder size. These were +followed by two ten-cylinder machines, ordered by the present Mr. +Walter, for The Times. Other English newspaper proprietors--both +in London and the provinces--were supplied with the machines, as +many as thirty-five having been imported from America between +1856 and 1862. It may be mentioned that the two ten-cylinder +Hoes made for The Times were driven at the rate of thirty-two +revolutions per minute, which gives a printing rate of 19,200 per +hour, or about 16,000 including stoppages. + +Much of the ingenuity exercised both in the Applegath and Hoe +Machines was directed to the "chase," which had to hold securely +upon its curved face the mass of movable type required to form a +page. And now the enterprise of the proprietor of The Times +again came to the front. The change effected in the art of +newspaper-printing, by the process of stereotypes, is scarcely +inferior to that by which the late Mr. Walter applied steam-power +to the printing press, and certainly equal to that by which the +rotary press superseded the reciprocatory action of the flat +machine. + +Stereotyping has a curious history. Many attempts were made to +obtain solid printing-surfaces by transfer from similar surfaces, +composed, in the first place, of movable types. The first who +really succeeded was one Ged, an Edinburgh goldsmith, who, after +a series of difficult experiments, arrived at a knowledge of the +art of stereotyping. The first method employed was to pour +liquid stucco, of the consistency of cream, over the types; and +this, when solid, gave a perfect mould. Into this the molten +metal was poured, and a plate was produced, accurately resembling +the page of type. As long ago as 1730, Ged obtained a privilege +from the University of Cambridge for printing Bibles and +Prayer-books after this method. But the workmen were dead +against it, as they thought it would destroy their trade. The +compositors and the pressmen purposely battered the letters in +the absence of their employers. In consequence of this +interference Ged was ruined, and died in poverty. + +The art had, however, been born, and could not be kept down. It +was revived in France, in Germany, and in America. Fifty years +after the discovery of Ged, Tilloch and Foulis, of Glasgow, +patented a similar invention, without knowing anything of what +Ged had done; and after great labour and many experiments, they +produced plates, the impressions from which could not be +distinguished from those taken from the types from which they +were cast. Some years afterwards, Lord Stanhope, to whom the art +of printing is much indebted, greatly improved the art of +stereotyping, though it was still quite inapplicable to newspaper +printing. The merit of this latter invention is due to the +enterprise of the present proprietor of The Times. + +Mr. Walter began his experiments, aided by an ingenious Italian +founder named Dellagana, early in 1856. It was ascertained that +when papier-mache matrices were rapidly dried and placed in a +mould, separate columns might be cast in them with stereotype +metal, type high, planed flat, and finished with sufficient speed +to get up the duplicate of a forme of four pages fitted for +printing. Steps were taken to adapt these type-high columns to +the Applegath Presses, then worked with polygonal chases. When +the Hoe machines were introduced, instead of dealing with the +separate columns, the papier-mache matrix was taken from the +whole page at one operation, by roller-presses constructed for +the purpose. The impression taken off in this manner is as +perfect as if it had been made in the finest wax. The matrix is +rapidly dried on heating surfaces, and then accurately adjusted +in a casting machine curved to the exact circumference of the +main drum of the printing press, and fitted with a terra-cotta +top to secure a casting of uniform thickness. On pouring +stereotype metal into this mould, a curved plate was obtained, +which, after undergoing a certain amount of trimming at two +machines, could be taken to press and set to work within +twenty-five minutes from the time at which the process began. + +Besides the great advantages obtained from uniform sets of the +plates, which might be printed on different machines at the rate +of 50,000 impressions an hour, or such additional number as might +be required, there is this other great advantage, that there is +no wear and tear of type in the curved chases by obstructive +friction; and that the fount, instead of wearing out in two +years, might last for twenty; for the plates, after doing their +work for one day, are melted down into a new impression for the +next day's printing. At the same time, the original type-page, +safe from injury, can be made to yield any number of copies that +may be required by the exigencies of the circulation. It will be +sufficiently obvious that by the multiplication of stereotype +plates and printing machines, there is practically no limit to +the number of copies of a newspaper that may be printed within +the time which the process now usually occupies. + +This new method of newspaper stereotyping was originally employed +on the cylinders of the Applegath and Hoe Presses. But it is +equally applicable to those of the Walter Press, a brief +description of which we now subjoin. As the construction of the +first steam newspaper machine was due to the enterprise of the +late Mr. Walter, so the construction of this last and most +improved machine is due in like manner to the enterprise of his +son. The new Walter Press is not, like Applegath and Cowper's, +and Hoe's, the improvement of an existing arrangement, but an +almost entirely original invention. + +In the Reports of the Jurors on the "Plate, Letterpress, and +other modes of Printing," at the International Exhibition of +1862, the following passage occurs:-- "It is incumbent on the +reporters to point out that, excellent and surprising as are the +results achieved by the Hoe and Applegath Machines, they cannot +be considered satisfactory while those machines themselves are so +liable to stoppages in working. No true mechanic can contrast +the immense American ten-cylinder presses of The Times with the +simple calico-printing machine, without feeling that the latter +furnishes the true type to which the mechanism for newspaper +printing should as much as possible approximate." + +On this principle, so clearly put forward, the Inventors of the +Walter Press proceeded in the contrivance of the new machine. It +is true that William Nicholson, in his patent of 1790, prefigured +the possibility of printing on "paper, linen, cotton, woollen, +and other articles," by means of type fixed on the outer surface +of a revolving cylinder; but no steps were taken to carry his +views into effect. Sir Rowland Hill also, before he became +connected with Post Office reform, revived the contrivance of +Nicholson, and referred to it in his patent of 1835 (No. 6762); +and he also proposed to use continuous rolls of paper, which +Fourdrinier and Donkin had made practicable by their invention of +the paper-making machine about the year 1804; but both +Nicholson's and Hill's patents remained a dead letter.[2] + +It may be easy to conceive a printing machine, or even to make a +model of one; but to construct an actual working printing press, +that must be sure and unfailing in its operations, is a matter +surrounded with difficulties. At every step fresh contrivances +have to be introduced; they have to be tried again and again; +perhaps they are eventually thrown aside to give place to new +arrangements. Thus the head of the inventor is kept in a state +of constant turmoil. Sometimes the whole machine has to be +remodelled from beginning to end. One step is gained by degrees, +then another; and at last, after years of labour, the new +invention comes before the world in the form of a practical +working machine. + +In 1862 Mr. Walter began in The Times office, with tools and +machinery of his own, experiments for constructing a perfecting +press which should print the paper from rolls of paper instead of +from sheets. Like his father, Mr. Walter possessed an excellent +discrimination of character, and selected the best men to aid him +in his important undertaking. Numerous difficulties had, of +course, to be surmounted. Plans were varied from time to time; +new methods were tried, altered, and improved, simplification +being aimed at throughout. Six long years passed in this pursuit +of the possible. At length the clear light dawned. In 1868 Mr. +Walter ventured to order the construction of three machines on +the pattern of the first complete one which had been made. By +the end of 1869 these were finished and placed in a room by +themselves; and a fourth was afterwards added. There the +printing of The Times is now done, in less than half the time it +previously occupied, and with one-fifth the number of hands. + +The most remarkable feature in the Walter Press is its wonderful +simplicity of construction. Simplicity of arrangement is always +the beau ideal of the mechanical engineer. This printing press +is not only simple, but accurate, compact, rapid, and economical. + +While each of the ten-feeder Hoe Machines occupies a large and +lofty room, and requires eighteen men to feed and work it, the +new Walter Machine occupies a space of only about l4 feet by 5, +or less than any newspaper machine yet introduced; and it +requires only three lads to take away, with half the attention of +an overseer, who easily superintends two of the machines while at +work. The Hoe Machine turns out 7000 impressions printed on both +sides in the hour, whereas the Walter Machine turns out 12,000 +impressions completed in the same time. + +The new Walter Press does not in the least resemble any existing +printing machine, unless it be the calendering machine which +furnished its type. At the printing end it looks like a +collection of small cylinders or rollers. The first thing to be +observed is the continuous roll of paper four miles long, tightly +mounted on a reel, which, when the machine is going, flies round +with immense rapidity. The web of paper taken up by the first +roller is led into a series of small hollow cylinders filled with +water and steam, perforated with thousands of minute holes. By +this means the paper is properly damped before the process of +printing is begun. The roll of paper, drawn by nipping rollers, +next flies through to the cylinder on which the stereotype plates +are fixed, so as to form the four pages of the ordinary sheet of +The Times; there it is lightly pressed against the type and +printed; then it passes downwards round another cylinder covered +with cloth, and reversed; next to the second type-covered roller, +where it takes the impression exactly on the other side of the +remaining four pages. It next reaches one of the most ingenious +contrivances of the invention--the cutting machinery, by means of +which the paper is divided by a quick knife into the 5500 sheets +of which the entire web consists. The tapes hurry the now +completely printed newspaper up an inclined plane, from which the +divided sheets are showered down in a continuous stream by an +oscillating frame, where they are met by two boys, who adjust the +sheets as they fall. The reel of four miles long is printed and +divided into newspapers complete in about twenty-five minutes. + +The machine is almost entirely self-acting, from the pumping-up +of the ink into the ink-box out of the cistern below stairs, to +the registering of the numbers as they are printed in the +manager's room above. It is always difficult to describe a +machine in words. Nothing but a series of sections and diagrams +could give the reader an idea of the construction of this +unrivalled instrument. The time to see it and wonder at it is +when the press is in full work. And even then you can see but +little of its construction, for the cylinders are wheeling round +with immense velocity. The rapidity with which the machine works +may be inferred from the fact that the printing cylinders (round +which the stereotyped plates are fixed), while making their +impressions on the paper, travel at the surprising speed of 200 +revolutions a minute, or at the rate of about nine miles an hour! + +Contrast this speed with the former slowness. Go back to the +beginning of the century. Before the year 1814 the turn-out of +newspapers was only about 300 single impressions in an hour--that +is, impressions printed on only one side of the paper. Koenig by +his invention increased the issue to 1100 impressions. Applegath +and Cowper by their four-cylinder machine increased the issue to +4000, and by the eight-cylinder machine to 10,000 an hour. But +these were only impressions printed on one side of the paper. +The first perfecting press--that is, printing simultaneously the +paper on both sides--was the Walter, the speed of which has been +raised to 12,000, though, if necessary, it can produce excellent +work at the rate of 17,000 complete copies of an eight-page paper +per hour. Then, with the new method of stereotyping--by means of +which the plates can be infinitely multiplied and by the aid of +additional machines, the supply of additional impressions is +absolutely unlimited. + +The Walter Press is not a monopoly. It is manufactured at The +Times office, and is supplied to all comers. Among the other +daily papers printed by its means in this country are the Daily +News, the Scotsmam, and the Birmingham Daily Post. The first +Walter Press was sent to America in 1872, where it was employed +to print the Missouri Republican at St. Louis, the leading +newspaper of the Mississippi Valley. An engineer and a skilled +workman from The Times office accompanied the machinery. On +arriving at St. Louis--the materials were unpacked, lowered into +the machine-room, where they were erected and ready for work in +the short space of five days. + +The Walter Press was an object of great interest at the +Centennial Exhibition held at Philadelphia in 1876, where it was +shown printing the New Fork Times one of the most influential +journals in America. The press was surrounded with crowds of +visitors intently watching its perfect and regular action, "like +a thing of life." The New York Times said of it: "The Walter +Press is the most perfect printing press yet known to man; +invented by the most powerful journal of the Old World, and +adopted as the very best press to be had for its purposes by the +most influential journal of the New World.... It is an honour to +Great Britain to have such an exhibit in her display, and a +lasting benefit to the printing business, especially to +newspapers.... The first printing press run by steam was erected +in the year 1814 in the office of The Times by the father of him +who is the present proprietor of that world-famous journal. The +machine of 1814 was described in The Times of the 29th November +in that year, and the account given of it closed in these words: +'The whole of these complicated acts is performed with such a +velocity and simultaneonsness of movement that no less than 1100 +sheets are impressed in one hour.' Mirabile dictu! And the +Walter Press of to-day can run off 17,000 copies an hour printed +on both sides. This is not bad work for one man's lifetime." + +It is unnecessary to say more about this marvellous machine. Its +completion forms the crown of the industry which it represents, +and of the enterprise of the journal which it prints. + + +Footnotes for Chapter VII. + +[1] Diary, Reminiscences, and Correspondence of Henry Crabb +Robinson, Barrister-at-Law, F.S.A., i. 231. + +[2] After the appearance of my article on the Koenig and Walter +Presses in Macmillan's Magazine for December, 1869, I received +the following letter from Sir Rowland Hill:- + +"Hampstead" January 5th, 1870. + +"My dear sir, + +"In your very interesting article in Macmillan's Magazine on the +subject of the printing machine, you have unconsciously done me +some injustice. To convince yourself of this, you have only to +read the enclosed paper. The case, however, will be strengthened +when I tell you that as far back as the year 1856, that is, seven +years after the expiry of my patent, I pointed out to Mr. Mowbray +Morris, the manager of The Times, the fitness of my machine for +the printing of that journal, and the fact that serious +difficulties to its adoption had been removed. I also, at his +request, furnished him with a copy of the document with which I +now trouble you. Feeling sure that you would like to know the +truth on any subject of which you may treat, I should be glad to +explain the matter more fully, and for this purpose will, with +your permission, call upon you at any time you may do me the +favour to appoint. +"Faithfully yours, + +"Rowland Hill." + +On further enquiry I obtained the Patent No. 6762; but found that +nothing practical had ever come of it. The pamphlet enclosed by +Sir Rowland Hill in the above letter is entitled 'The Rotary +Printing Machine.' It is very clever and ingenious, like +everything he did. But it was still left for some one else to +work out the invention into a practical working printing-press. +The subject is fully referred to in the 'Life of Sir Rowland +Hill' (i. 224,525). In his final word on the subject, Sir +Rowland "gladly admits the enormous difficulty of bringing a +complex machine into practical use," a difficulty, he says, which +"has been most successfully overcome by the patentees of the +Walter Press." + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +WILLIAM CLOWES: INTRODUCER OF BOOK-PRINTING BY STEAM. + +"The Images of men's wits and knowledges remain in Books, +exempted from the wrong of time, and capable of perpetual +renovation. Neither are they fitly to be called Images, because +they generate still, and cast their seeds in the minds of others, +provoking and causing infinite actions and opinions in succeeding +ages; so that, if the invention of the Ship was thought so noble, +which carrieth riches and commodities from place to place, and +consociateth the most remote Regions in participation of their +Fruits, how much more are letters to be magnified, which, as +Ships, pass through the vast Seas of time, and make ages so +distant to participate of the wisdom, illuminations, and +inventions, the one of the other?"--Bacon, On the Proficience and +Advancement of Learning. + +Steam has proved as useful and potent in the printing of books as +in the printing of newspapers. Down to the end of last century, +"the divine art," as printing was called, had made comparatively +little progress. That is to say, although books could be +beautifully printed by hand labour, they could not be turned out +in any large numbers. + +The early printing press was rude. It consisted of a table, +along which the forme of type, furnished with a tympan and +frisket, was pushed by hand. The platen worked vertically +between standards, and was brought down for the impression, and +raised after it, by a common screw, worked by a bar handle. The +inking was performed by balls covered with skin pelts; they were +blacked with ink, and beaten down on the type by the pressman. +The inking was consequently irregular. + +In 1798, Earl Stanhope perfected the press that bears his name. +He did not patent it, but made his invention over to the public. +In 1818, Mr. Cowper greatly improved the inking of formes used in +the Stanhope and other presses, by the use of a hand roller +covered with a composition of glue and treacle, in combination +with a distributing table. The ink was thus applied in a more +even manner, and with a considerable decrease of labour. With +the Stanhope Press, printing was as far advanced as it could +possibly be by means of hand labour. About 250 impressions could +be taken off, on one side, in an hour. + +But this, after all, was a very small result. When books could +be produced so slowly, there could be no popular literature. +Books were still articles for the few, instead of for the many. +Steam power, however, completely altered the state of affairs. +When Koenig invented his steam press, he showed by the printing +of Clarkson's 'Life of Penn' --the first sheets ever printed with +a cylindrical press--that books might be printed neatly, as well +as cheaply, by the new machine. Mr. Bensley continued the +process, after Koenig left England; and in 1824, according to +Johnson in his 'Typographia,' his son was "driving an extensive +business." + +In the following year, 1825, Archibald Constable, of Edinburgh, +propounded his plan for revolutionising the art of bookselling. +Instead of books being articles of luxury, he proposed to bring +them into general consumption. He would sell them, not by +thousands, but by hundreds of thousands, "ay, by millions;" and +he would accomplish this by the new methods of multiplication--by +machine printing and by steam power. Mr. Constable accordingly +issued a library of excellent books; and, although he was +ruined--not by this enterprise, but the other speculations into +which he entered--he set the example which other enterprising +minds were ready to follow. Amongst these was Charles Knight, +who set the steam presses of William Clowes to work, for the +purposes of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. + +William Clowes was the founder of the vast printing establishment +from which these sheets are issued; and his career furnishes +another striking illustration of the force of industry and +character. He was born on the 1st of January, 1779. His father +was educated at Oxford, and kept a large school at Chichester; +but dying when William was but an infant, he left his widow, with +straitened means, to bring up her family. At a proper age +William was bound apprentice to a printer at Chichester; and, +after serving him for seven years, he came up to London, at the +beginning of 1802, to seek employment as a journeyman. He +succeeded in finding work at a small office on Tower Hill, at a +small wage. The first lodgings he took cost him 5s. a week; but +finding this beyond his means he hired a room in a garret at 2s. +6d., which was as much as he could afford out of his scanty +earnings. + +The first job he was put to, was the setting-up of a large +poster-bill--a kind of work which he had been accustomed to +execute in the country; and he knocked it together so expertly +that his master, Mr. Teape, on seeing what he could do, said to +him, "Ah! I find you are just the fellow for me." The young man, +however, felt so strange in London, where he was without a friend +or acquaintance, that at the end of the first month he thought of +leaving it; and yearned to go back to his native city. But he +had not funds enough to enable him to follow his inclinations, +and he accordingly remained in the great City, to work, to +persevere, and finally to prosper. He continued at Teape's for +about two years, living frugally, and even contriving to save a +little money. + +He then thought of beginning business on his own account. The +small scale on which printing was carried on in those days +enabled him to make a start with comparatively little capital. +By means of his own savings and the help of his friends, he was +enabled to take a little printing-office in Villiers Street, +Strand, about the end of 1803; and there he began with one +printing press, and one assistant. His stock of type was so +small, that he was under the necessity of working it from day to +day like a banker's gold. When his first job came in, he +continued to work for the greater part of three nights, setting +the type during the day, and working it off at night, in order +that the type might be distributed for resetting on the following +morning. He succeeded, however, in executing his first job to +the entire satisfaction of his first customer. + +His business gradually increased, and then, with his constantly +saved means, he was enabled to increase his stock of type, and to +undertake larger jobs. Industry always tells, and in the +long-run leads to prosperity. He married early, but he married +well. He was only twenty-four when he found his best fortune in +a good, affectionate wife. Through this lady's cousin, Mr. +Winchester, the young printer was shortly introduced to important +official business. His punctual execution of orders, the +accuracy of his work, and the despatch with which he turned it +out soon brought him friends, and his obliging and kindly +disposition firmly secured them. Thus, in a few years, the +humble beginner with one press became a printer on a large scale. + +The small concern expanded into a considerable printing-office in +Northumberland Court, which was furnished with many presses and a +large stock of type. The office was, unfortunately, burnt down; +but a larger office rose in its place. + +What Mr. Clowes principally aimed at, in carrying on his +business, was accuracy, speed, and quantity. He did not seek to +produce editions de luxe in limited numbers, but large +impressions of works in popular demand--travels, biographies, +histories, blue-books, and official reports, in any quantity. +For this purpose, he found the process of hand-printing too +tedious, as well as too costly; and hence he early turned his +attention to book printing by machine presses, driven by steam +power,--in this matter following the example of Mr. Walter of the +Times, who had for some years employed the same method for +newspaper printing. + +Applegath & Cowper's machines had greatly advanced the art of +printing. They secured perfect inking and register; and the +sheets were printed off more neatly, regularly, and +expeditiously; and larger sheets could be printed on both sides, +than by any other method. In 1823, accordingly, Mr. Clowes +erected his first steam presses, and he soon found abundance of +work for them. But to produce steam requires boilers and +engines, the working of which occasions smoke and noise. Now, as +the printing-office, with its steam presses, was situated in +Northumberland Court, close to the palace of the Duke of +Northumberland, at Charing Cross, Mr. Clowes was required to +abate the nuisance, and to stop the noise and dirt occasioned by +the use of his engines. This he failed to do, and the Duke +commenced an action against him. + +The case was tried in June, 1824, in the Court of Common Pleas. +It was ludicrous to hear the extravagant terms in which the +counsel for the plaintiff and his witnesses described the +nuisance--the noise made by the engine in the underground cellar, +some times like thunder, at other times like a thrashing-machine, +and then again like the rumbling of carts and waggons. The +printer had retained the Attorney-general, Mr. Copley, afterwards +Lord Lyndhurst, who conducted his case with surpassing ability. +The cross-examination of a foreign artist, employed by the Duke +to repaint some portraits of the Cornaro family by Titian, is +said to have been one of the finest things on record. The sly +and pungent humour, and the banter with which the counsel derided +and laughed down this witness, were inimitable. The printer won +his case; but he eventually consented to remove his steam presses +from the neighbourhood, on the Duke paying him a certain sum to +be determined by the award of arbitrators. + +It happened, about this period, that a sort of murrain fell upon +the London publishers. After the failure of Constable at +Edinburgh, they came down one after another, like a pack of +cards. Authors are not the only people who lose labour and money +by publishers; there are also cases where publishers are ruined +by authors. Printers also now lost heavily. In one week, Mr. +Clowes sustained losses through the failure of London publishers +to the extent of about 25,000L. Happily, the large sum which the +arbitrators awarded him for the removal of his printing presses +enabled him to tide over the difficulty; he stood his ground +unshaken, and his character in the trade stood higher than ever. + +In the following year Mr. Clowes removed to Duke Street, +Blackfriars, to premises until then occupied by Mr. Applegath, as +a printer; and much more extensive buildings and offices were now +erected. There his business transactions assumed a form of +unprecedented magnitude, and kept pace with the great demand for +popular information which set in with such force about fifty +years ago. In the course of ten years--as we find from the +'Encyclopaedia Metropolitana'--there were twenty of Applegath & +Cowper's machines, worked by two five-horse engines. From these +presses were issued the numerous admirable volumes and +publications of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful +Knowledge; the treatises on 'Physiology,' by Roget, and 'Animal +Mechanics,' by Charles Bell; the 'Elements of Physics,' by Neill +Arnott; 'The Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties,' by G. L. +Craik, a most fascinating book; the Library of Useful Knowledge; +the 'Penny Magazine,' the first illustrated publication; and the +'Penny Cyclopaedia,' that admirable compendium of knowledge and +science. + +These publications were of great value. Some of them were +printed in unusual numbers. The 'Penny Magazine,' of which +Charles Knight was editor, was perhaps too good, because it was +too scientific. Nevertheless, it reached a circulation of +200,000 copies. The 'Penny Cyclopaedia' was still better. It +was original, and yet cheap. The articles were written by the +best men that could be found in their special departments of +knowledge. The sale was originally 75,000 weekly; but, as the +plan enlarged, the price was increased from 1d. to 2d., and then +to 4d. At the end of the second year, the circulation had fallen +to 44,000; and at the end of the third year, to 20,000. + +It was unfortunate for Mr. Knight to be so much under the +influence of his Society. Had the Cyclopaedia been under his own +superintendence, it would have founded his fortune. As it was, +he lost over 30,000L. by the venture. The 'Penny Magazine' also +went down in circulation, until it became a non-paying +publication, and then it was discontinued. It is curious to +contrast the fortunes of William Chambers of Edinburgh with those +of Charles Knight of London. 'Chambers's Edinburgh Journal' was +begun in February, 1832, and the 'Penny Magazine' in March, 1832. + +Chambers was perhaps shrewder than Knight. His journal was as +good, though without illustrations; but he contrived to mix up +amusement with useful knowledge. It may be a weakness, but the +public like to be entertained, even while they are feeding upon +better food. Hence Chambers succeeded, while Knight failed. The +'Penny Magazine' was discontinued in 1845, whereas 'Chambers's +Edinburgh Journal' has maintained its popularity to the present +day. Chambers, also, like Knight, published an 'Encyclopaedia,' +which secured a large circulation. But he was not trammelled by +a Society, and the 'Encyclopaedia' has become a valuable +property. + +The publication of these various works would not have been +possible without the aid of the steam printing press. When Mr. +Edward Cowper was examined before a Committee of the House of +Commons, he said, "The ease with which the principles and +illustrations of Art might be diffused is, I think, so obvious +that it is hardly necessary to say a word about it. Here you may +see it exemplified in the 'Penny Magazine.' Such works as this +could not have existed without the printing machine." He was +asked, "In fact, the mechanic and the peasant, in the most remote +parts of the country, have now an opportunity of seeing tolerably +correct outlines of form which they never could behold before?" +To which he answered, "Exactly; and literally at the price they +used to give for a song." "Is there not, therefore, a greater +chance of calling genius into activity?" "Yes," he said, "not +merely by books creating an artist here and there, but by the +general elevation of the taste of the public." + +Mr. Clowes was always willing to promote deserving persons in his +office. One of these rose from step to step, and eventually +became one of the most prosperous publishers in London. He +entered the service as an errand-boy, and got his meals in the +kitchen. Being fond of reading, he petitioned Mrs. Clowes to let +him sit somewhere, apart from the other servants, where he might +read his book in quiet. Mrs. Clowes at length entreated her +husband to take him into the office, for "Johnnie Parker was such +a good boy." He consented, and the boy took his place at a +clerk's desk. He was well-behaved, diligent, and attentive. As +he advanced in years, his steady and steadfast conduct showed +that he could be trusted. Young fellows like this always make +their way in life; for character invariably tells, not only in +securing respect, but in commanding confidence. Parker was +promoted from one post to another, until he was at length +appointed overseer over the entire establishment. + +A circumstance shortly after occurred which enabled Mr. Clowes to +advance him, though greatly to his own inconvenience, to another +important post. The Syndics of Cambridge were desirous that Mr. +Clowes should go down there to set their printing-office in +order; they offered him 400L. a year if he would only appear +occasionally, and see that the organisation was kept complete. +He declined, because the magnitude of his own operations had now +become so great that they required his unremitting attention. +He, however strongly recommended Parker to the office, though he +could ill spare him. But he would not stand in the young man's +way, and he was appointed accordingly. He did his work most +effectually at Cambridge, and put the University Press into +thorough working order. + +As the 'Penny Magazine' and other publications of the Society of +Useful Knowledge were now making their appearance, the clergy +became desirous of bringing out a religious publication of a +popular character, and they were in search for a publisher. +Parker, who was well known at Cambridge, was mentioned to the +Bishop of London as the most likely person. An introduction took +place, and after an hour's conversation with Parker, the Bishop +went to his friends and said, "This is the very man we want." An +offer was accordingly made to him to undertake the publication of +the 'Saturday Magazine' and the other publications of the +Christian Knowledge Society, which he accepted. It is +unnecessary to follow his fortunes. His progress was steady; he +eventually became the publisher of 'Fraser's Magazine' and of the +works of John Stuart Mill and other well-known writers. Mill +never forgot his appreciation and generosity; for when his +'System of Logic' had been refused by the leading London +publishers, Parker prized the book at its rightful value and +introduced it to the public. + +To return to Mr. Clowes. In the course of a few years, the +original humble establishment of the Sussex compositor, beginning +with one press and one assistant, grew up to be one of the +largest printing-offices in the world. It had twenty-five steam +presses, twenty-eight hand-presses, six hydraulic presses, and +gave direct employment to over five hundred persons, and indirect +employment to probably more than ten times that number. Besides +the works connected with his printing-office, Mr. Clowes found it +necessary to cast his own types, to enable him to command on +emergency any quantity; and to this he afterwards added +stereotyping on an immense scale. He possessed the power of +supplying his compositors with a stream of new type at the rate +of about 50,000 pieces a day. In this way, the weight of type in +ordinary use became very great; it amounted to not less than 500 +tons, and the stereotyped plates to about 2500 tons the value of +the latter being not less than half a million sterling. + +Mr. Clowes would not hesitate, in the height of his career, to +have tons of type locked up for months in some ponderous +blue-book. To print a report of a hundred folio pages in the +course of a day or during a night, or of a thousand pages in a +week, was no uncommon occurrence. From his gigantic +establishment were turned out not fewer than 725,000 printed +sheets, or equal to 30,000 volumes a week. Nearly 45,000 pounds +of paper were printed weekly. The quantity printed on both sides +per week, if laid down in a path of 22 1/4 inches broad, would +extend 263 miles in length. + +About the year l840, a Polish inventor brought out a composing +machine, and submitted it to Mr. Clowes for approval. But Mr. +Clowes was getting too old to take up and push any new invention. + +He was also averse to doing anything to injure the compositors, +having once been a member of the craft. At the same time he said +to his son George, "If you find this to be a likely machine, let +me know. Of course we must go with the age. If I had not +started the steam press when I did, where should I have been +now?" On the whole, the composing machine, though ingenious, was +incomplete, and did not come into use at that time, nor indeed +for a long time after. Still, the idea had been born, and, like +other inventions, became eventually developed into a useful +working machine. Composing machines are now in use in many +printing-offices, and the present Clowes' firm possesses several +of them. Those in The Times newspaper office are perhaps the +most perfect of all. + +Mr. Clowes was necessarily a man of great ability, industry, and +energy. Whatever could be done in printing, that he would do. +He would never admit the force of any difficulty that might be +suggested to his plans. When he found a person ready to offer +objections, he would say, "Ah! I see you are a difficulty-maker: +you will never do for me." + +Mr. Clowes died in 1847, at the age of sixty-eight. There still +remain a few who can recall to mind the giant figure, the kindly +countenance, and the gentle bearing of this "Prince of Printers," +as he was styled by the members of his craft. His life was full +of hard and useful work; and it will probably be admitted that, +as the greatest multiplier of books in his day, and as one of the +most effective practical labourers for the diffusion of useful +knowledge, his name is entitled to be permanently associated, not +only with the industrial, but also with the intellectual +development of our time. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CHARLES BIANCONI: A LESSON OF SELF-HELP IN IRELAND. + +"I beg you to occupy yourself in collecting biographical notices +respecting the Italians who have honestly enriched themselves in +other regions, particularly referring to the obstacles of their +previous life, and to the efforts and the means which they +employed for vanquishing them, as well as to the advantages which +they secured for themselves, for the countries in which they +settled, and for the country to which they owed their birth." +--GENERAL MENABREA, Circular to Italian Consuls. + +When Count Menabrea was Prime Minister of Italy, he caused a +despatch to be prepared and issued to Italian Consuls in all +parts of the world, inviting them to collect and forward to him +"biographical notices respecting the Italians who have honourably +advanced themselves in foreign countries." + +His object, in issuing the despatch, was to collect information +as to the lives of his compatriots living abroad, in order to +bring out a book similar to 'Self-help,' the examples cited in +which were to be drawn exclusively from the lives of Italian +citizens. Such a work, he intimated, "if it were once circulated +among the masses, could not fail to excite their emulation and +encourage them to follow the examples therein set forth," while +"in the course of time it might exercise a powerful influence on +the increased greatness of our country." + +We are informed by Count Menabrea that, although no special work +has been published from the biographical notices collected in +answer to his despatch, yet that the Volere e Potere ('Will is +Power') of Professor Lessona, issued a few years ago, +sufficiently answers the purpose which he contemplated, and +furnishes many examples of the patient industry and untiring +perseverance of Italians in all parts of the world. Many +important illustrations of life and character are necessarily +omitted from Professor Lessona's interesting work. Among these +may be mentioned the subject of the following pages,--a +distinguished Italian who entirely corresponds to Count +Menabrea's description--one who, in the face of the greatest +difficulties, raised himself to an eminent public position, at +the same time that he conferred the greatest benefits upon the +country in which he settled and carried on his industrial +operations. We mean Charles Bianconi, and his establishment of +the great system of car communication through out Ireland.[1] + +Charles Bianconi was born in 1786, at the village of Tregolo, +situated in the Lombard Highlands of La Brianza, about ten miles +from Como. The last elevations of the Alps disappear in the +district; and the great plain of Lombardy extends towards the +south. The region is known for its richness and beauty; the +inhabitants being celebrated for the cultivation of the mulberry +and the rearing of the silkworm, the finest silk in Lombardy +being produced in the neighbourhood. Indeed, Bianconi's family, +like most of the villagers, maintained themselves by the silk +culture. + +Charles had three brothers and one sister. When of a sufficient +age, he was sent to school. The Abbe Radicali had turned out +some good scholars; but with Charles Bianconi his failure was +complete. The new pupil proved a tremendous dunce. He was very +wild, very bold, and very plucky; but he learned next to nothing. + +Learning took as little effect upon him as pouring water upon a +duck's back. Accordingly, when he left school at the age of +sixteen, he was almost as ignorant as when he had entered it; and +a great deal more wilful. + +Young Bianconi had now arrived at the age at which he was +expected to do something for his own maintenance. His father +wished to throw him upon his own resources; and as he would soon +be subject to the conscription, he thought of sending him to some +foreign country in order to avoid the forced service. Young +fellows, who had any love of labour or promptings of independence +in them, were then accustomed to leave home and carry on their +occupations abroad. It was a common practice for workmen in the +neighbourhood of Como to emigrate to England and carry on various +trades; more particularly the manufacture and sale of barometers, +looking-glasses, images, prints, pictures, and other articles. + +Accordingly, Bianconi's father arranged with one Andrea Faroni to +take the young man to England and instruct him in the trade of +print-selling. Bianconi was to be Faroni's apprentice for +eighteen months; and in the event of his not liking the +occupation, he was to be placed under the care of Colnaghi, a +friend of his father's, who was then making considerable progress +as a print-seller in London; and who afterwards succeeded in +achieving a considerable fortune and reputation. + +Bianconi made his preparations for leaving home. A little +festive entertainment was given at a little inn in Como, at which +the whole family were present. It was a sad thing for Bianconi's +mother to take leave of her boy, wild though he was. On the +occasion of this parting ceremony, she fainted outright, at which +the young fellow thought that things were assuming a rather +serious aspect. As he finally left the family home at Tregolo, +the last words his mother said to him were these --words which he +never forgot: "When you remember me, think of me as waiting at +this window, watching for your return." + +Besides Charles Bianconi, Faroni took three other boys under his +charge. One was the son of a small village innkeeper, another +the son of a tailor, and the third the son of a flax-dealer. +This party, under charge of the Padre, ascended the Alps by the +Val San Giacomo road. From the summit of the pass they saw the +plains of Lombardy stretching away in the blue distance. They +soon crossed the Swiss frontier, and then Bianconi found himself +finally separated from home. He now felt, that without further +help from friends or relatives, he had his own way to make in the +world. + +The party of travellers duly reached England; but Faroni, without +stopping in London, took them over to Ireland at once. They +reached Dublin in the summer of 1802, and lodged in Temple Bar, +near Essex Bridge. It was some little time before Faroni could +send out the boys to sell pictures. First he had the leaden +frames to cast; then they had to be trimmed and coloured; and +then the pictures--mostly of sacred subjects, or of public +characters--had to be mounted. The flowers; which were of wax, +had also to be prepared and finished, ready for sale to the +passers-by. + +When Bianconi went into the streets of Dublin to sell his mounted +prints, he could not speak a word of English. He could only say, +"Buy, buy!" Everybody spoke to him an unknown tongue. When +asked the price, he could only indicate by his fingers the number +of pence he wanted for his goods. At length he learned a little +English,--at least sufficient "for the road;" and then he was +sent into the country to sell his merchandize. He was despatched +every Monday morning with about forty shillings' worth of stock, +and ordered to return home on Saturdays, or as much sooner as he +liked, if he had sold all the pictures. The only money his +master allowed him at starting was fourpence. When Bianconi +remonstrated at the smallness of the amount, Faroni answered, +"While you have goods you have money; make haste to sell your +goods!" + +During his apprenticeship, Bianconi learnt much of the country +through which he travelled. He was constantly making +acquaintances with new people, and visiting new places. At +Waterford he did a good trade in small prints. Besides the +Scripture pieces, he sold portraits of the Royal Family, as well +as of Bonaparte and his most distinguished generals. "Bony" was +the dread of all magistrates, especially in Ireland. At Passage, +near Waterford, Bianconi was arrested for having sold a leaden +framed picture of the famous French Emperor. He was thrown into +a cold guard-room, and spent the night there without bed, or +fire, or food. Next morning he was discharged by the magistrate, +but cautioned that he must not sell any more of such pictures. + +Many things struck Bianconi in making his first journeys through +Ireland. He was astonished at the dram-drinking of the men, and +the pipe-smoking of the women. The violent faction-fights which +took place at the fairs which he frequented, were of a kind which +he had never before observed among the pacific people of North +Italy. These faction-fights were the result, partly of +dram-drinking, and partly of the fighting mania which then +prevailed in Ireland. There were also numbers of crippled and +deformed beggars in every town,--quarrelling and fighting in the +streets,--rows and drinkings at wakes,--gambling, duelling, and +riotous living amongst all classes of the people,--things which +could not but strike any ordinary observer at the time, but which +have now, for the most part, happily passed away. + +At the end of eighteen months, Bianconi's apprenticeship was out; +and Faroni then offered to take him back to his father, in +compliance with the original understanding. But Bianconi had no +wish to return to Italy. Faroni then made over to him the money +he had retained on his account, and Bianconi set up business for +himself. He was now about eighteen years old; he was strong and +healthy, and able to walk with a heavy load on his back from +twenty to thirty miles a day. He bought a large case, filled it +with coloured prints and other articles, and started from Dublin +on a tour through the south of Ireland. He succeeded, like most +persons who labour diligently. The curly-haired Italian lad +became a general favourite. He took his native politeness with +him everywhere; and made many friends among his various +customers throughout the country. + +Bianconi used to say that it was about this time when he was +carrying his heavy case upon his back, weighing at least a +hundred pounds--that the idea began to strike him, of some cheap +method of conveyance being established for the accommodation of +the poorer classes in Ireland. As he dismantled himself of his +case of pictures, and sat wearied and resting on the milestones +along the road, he puzzled his mind with the thought, "Why should +poor people walk and toil, and rich people ride and take their +ease? Could not some method be devised by which poor people also +might have the opportunity of travelling comfortably?" + +It will thus be seen that Bianconi was already beginning to think +about the matter. When asked, not long before his death, how it +was that he had first thought of starting his extensive Car +establishment, he answered, "It grew out of my back!" It was the +hundred weight of pictures on his dorsal muscles that stimulated +his thinking faculties. But the time for starting his great +experiment had not yet arrived. + +Bianconi wandered about from town to town for nearly two years. +The picture-case became heavier than ever. For a time he +replaced it with a portfolio of unframed prints. Then he became +tired of the wandering life, and in 1806 settled down at +Carrick-on-Suir as a print-seller and carver and gilder. He +supplied himself with gold-leaf from Waterford, to which town he +used to proceed by Tom Morrissey's boat. Although the distance +by road between the towns was only twelve miles, it was about +twenty-four by water, in consequence of the windings of the river +Suir. Besides, the boat could only go when the state of the tide +permitted. Time was of little consequence; and it often took +half a day to make the journey. In the course of one of his +voyages, Bianconi got himself so thoroughly soaked by rain and +mud that he caught a severe cold, which ran into pleurisy, and +laid him up for about two months. He was carefully attended to +by a good, kind physician, Dr. White, who would not take a penny +for his medicine and nursing. + +Business did not prove very prosperous at Carrick-on-suir; the +town was small, and the trade was not very brisk. Accordingly, +Bianconi resolved, after a year's ineffectual trial, to remove to +Waterford, a more thriving centre of operations. He was now +twenty-one years old. He began again as a carver and gilder; and +as business flowed in upon him, he worked very hard, sometimes +from six in the morning until two hours after midnight. As +usual, he made many friends. Among the best of them was Edward +Rice, the founder of the "Christian Brothers" in Ireland. Edward +Rice was a true benefactor to his country. He devoted himself to +the work of education, long before the National Schools were +established; investing the whole of his means in the foundation +and management of this noble institution. + +Mr. Rice's advice and instruction set and kept Bianconi in the +right road. He helped the young foreigner to learn English. +Bianconi was no longer a dunce, as he had been at school; but a +keen, active, enterprising fellow, eager to make his way in the +world. Mr. Rice encouraged him to be sedulous and industrious, +urged him to carefulness and sobriety, and strengthened his +religions impressions. The help and friendship of this good man, +operating upon the mind and soul of a young man, whose habits of +conduct and whose moral and religious character were only in +course of formation, could not fail to exercise, as Bianconi +always acknowledged they did, a most powerful influence upon the +whole of his after life. + +Although "three removes" are said to be "as bad as a fire," +Bianconi, after remaining about two years at Waterford, made a +third removal in 1809, to Clonmel, in the county of Tipperary. +Clonmel is the centre of a large corn trade, and is in water +communication, by the Suir, with Carrick and Waterford. +Bianconi, therefore, merely extended his connection; and still +continued his dealings with his customers in the other towns. He +made himself more proficient in the mechanical part of his +business; and aimed at being the first carver and gilder in the +trade. Besides, he had always an eye open for new business. At +that time, when the war was raging with France, gold was at a +premium. The guinea was worth about twenty-six or twenty-seven +shillings. Bianconi therefore began to buy up the hoarded-up +guineas of the peasantry. The loyalists became alarmed at his +proceedings, and began to circulate the report that Bianconi, the +foreigner, was buying up bullion to send secretly to Bonaparte! +The country people, however, parted with their guineas readily; +for they had no particular hatred of "Bony," but rather admired +him. + +Bianconi's conduct was of course quite loyal in the matter; he +merely bought the guineas as a matter of business, and sold them +at a profit to the bankers. + +The country people had a difficulty in pronouncing his name. His +shop was at the corner of Johnson Street, and instead of +Bianconi, he came to be called "Bian of the Corner." He was +afterwards known as "Bian." + +Bianconi soon became well known after his business was +established. He became a proficient in the carving and gilding +line, and was looked upon as a thriving man. He began to employ +assistants in his trade, and had three German gilders at work. +While they were working in the shop he would travel about the +country, taking orders and delivering goods--sometimes walking +and sometimes driving. + +He still retained a little of his old friskiness and spirit of +mischief. He was once driving a car from Clonmel to Thurles; he +had with him a large looking-glass with a gilt frame, on which +about a fortnight's labour had been bestowed. In a fit of +exuberant humour he began to tickle the horse under his tail with +a straw! In an instant the animal reared and plunged, and then +set off at a gallop down hill. The result was, that the car was +dashed to bits and the looking-glass broken into a thousand +atoms! + +On another occasion, a man was carrying to Cashel on his back one +of Bianconi's large looking-glasses. An old woman by the +wayside, seeing the odd-looking, unwieldy package, asked what it +was; on which Bianconi, who was close behind the man carrying the +glass, answered that it was "the Repeal of the Union!" The old +woman's delight was unbounded! She knelt down on her knees in +the middle of the road, as if it had been a picture of the +Madonna, and thanked God for having preserved her in her old age +to see the Repeal of the Union! + +But this little waywardness did not last long. Bianconi's wild +oats were soon all sown. He was careful and frugal. As he +afterwards used to say, "When I was earning a shilling a day at +Clonmel, I lived upon eightpence." He even took lodgers, to +relieve him of the charge of his household expenses. But as his +means grew, he was soon able to have a conveyance of his own. He +first started a yellow gig, in which he drove about from place to +place, and was everywhere treated with kindness and hospitality. +He was now regarded as "respectable," and as a person worthy to +hold some local office. He was elected to a Society for visiting +the Sick Poor, and became a Member of the House of Industry. He +might have gone on in the same business, winning his way to the +Mayoralty of Clonmel, which he afterwards held; but that the old +idea, which had first sprung up in his mind while resting wearily +on the milestones along the road, with his heavy case of pictures +by his side, again laid hold of him, and he determined now to try +whether his plan could not be carried into effect. + +He had often lamented the fatigue that poor people had to undergo +in travelling with burdens from place to place upon foot, and +wondered whether some means might not be devised for alleviating +their sufferings. Other people would have suggested "the +Government!" Why should not the Government give us this, that, +and the other,--give us roads, harbours, carriages, boats, nets, +and so on. This, of course, would have been a mistaken idea; for +where people are too much helped, they invariably lose the +beneficent practice of helping themselves. Charles Bianconi had +never been helped, except by advice and friendship. He had +helped himself throughout; and now he would try to help others. + +The facts were patent to everybody. There was not an Irishman +who did not know the difficulty of getting from one town to +another. There were roads between them, but no conveyances. +There was an abundance of horses in the country, for at the close +of the war an unusual number of horses, bred for the army, were +thrown upon the market. Then a tax had been levied upon +carriages, which sent a large number of jaunting-cars out of +employment. + +The roads of Ireland were on the whole good, being at that time +quite equal, if not superior, to most of those in England. The +facts of the abundant horses, the good roads, the number of +unemployed outside cars, were generally known; but until Bianconi +took the enterprise in hand, there was no person of thought, or +spirit, or capital in the country, who put these three things +together horses, roads, and cars and dreamt of remedying the +great public inconvenience. + +It was left for our young Italian carver and gilder, a struggling +man of small capital, to take up the enterprise, and show what +could be done by prudent action and persevering energy. Though +the car system originally "grew out of his back," Bianconi had +long been turning the subject over in his mind. His idea was, +that we should never despise small interests, nor neglect the +wants of poor people. He saw the mail-coaches supplying the +requirements of the rich, and enabling them to travel rapidly +from place to place. "Then," said he to himself, "would it not +be possible for me to make an ordinary two-wheeled car pay, by +running as regularly for the accommodation of poor districts and +poor people?" + +When Mr. Wallace, chairman of the Select Committee on Postage, in +1838, asked Mr. Bianconi, "What induced you to commence the car +establishment?" his answer was, "I did so from what I saw, after +coming to this country, of the necessity for such cars, inasmuch +as there was no middle mode of conveyance, nothing to fill up the +vacuum that existed between those who were obliged to walk and +those who posted or rode. My want of knowledge of the language +gave me plenty of time for deliberation, and in proportion as I +grew up with the knowledge of the language and the localities, +this vacuum pressed very heavily upon my mind, till at last I +hit upon the idea of running jaunting-cars, and for that purpose +I commenced running one between Clonmel and Cahir."[2] + +What a happy thing it was for Bianconi and Ireland that he could +not speak with facility,--that he did not know the language or +the manners of the country! In his case silence was "golden." +Had he been able to talk like the people about him, he might have +said much and done little, --attempted nothing and consequently +achieved nothing. He might have got up a meeting and petitioned +Parliament to provide the cars, and subvention the car system; or +he might have gone amongst his personal friends, asked them to +help him, and failing their help, given up his idea in despair, +and sat down grumbling at the people and the Government. + +But instead of talking, he proceeded to doing, thereby +illustrating Lessona's maxim of Volere e potere. After thinking +the subject fully over, he trusted to self-help. He found that +with his own means, carefully saved, he could make a beginning; +and the beginning once made, included the successful ending. + +The beginning, it is true, was very small. It was only an +ordinary jaunting-car, drawn by a single horse, capable of +accommodating six persons. The first car ran between Clonmel and +Cahir, a distance of about twelve miles, on the 5th of July, +1815--a memorable day for Bianconi and Ireland. Up to that time +the public accommodation for passengers was confined to a few +mail and day coaches on the great lines of road, the fares by +which were very high, and quite beyond the reach of the poorer or +middle-class people. + +People did not know what to make of Bianconi's car when it first +started. There were, of course, the usual prophets of disaster, +who decided that it "would never do." Many thought that no one +would pay eighteen-pence for going to Cahir by car when they +could walk there for nothing? There were others who thought that +Bianconi should have stuck to his shop, as there was no +connection whatever between picture-gilding and car-driving! + +The truth is, the enterprise at first threatened to be a failure! +Scarcely anybody would go by the car. People preferred trudging +on foot, and saved their money, which was more valuable to them +than their time. The car sometimes ran for weeks without a +passenger. Another man would have given up the enterprise in +despair. But this was not the way with Bianconi. He was a man +of tenacity and perseverance. What should he do but start an +opposition car? Nobody knew of it but himself; not even the +driver of the opposition car. However, the rival car was +started. The races between the car-drivers, the free lifts +occasionally given to passengers, the cheapness of the fare, and +the excitement of the contest, attracted the attention of the +public. The people took sides, and before long both cars came in +full. Fortunately the "great big yallah horse" of the opposition +car broke down, and Bianconi had all the trade to himself. + +The people became accustomed to travelling. They might still +walk to Cahir; but going by car saved their legs, saved their +brains, and saved their time. They might go to Cahir market, do +their business there, and be comfortably back within the day. +Bianconi then thought of extending the car to Tipperary and +Limerick. In the course of the same year, 1815, he started +another car between Clonmel, Cashel, and Thurles. Thus all the +principal towns of Tipperary were, in the first year of the +undertaking, connected together by car, besides being also +connected with Limerick. + +It was easy to understand the convenience of the car system to +business men, farmers, and even peasants. Before their +establishment, it took a man a whole day to walk from Thurles to +Clonmel, the second day to do his business, and the third to walk +back again; whereas he could, in one day, travel backwards and +forwards between the two towns, and have five or six intermediate +hours for the purpose of doing his business. Thus two clear days +could be saved. + +Still carrying out his scheme, Bianconi, in the following year +(1816), put on a car from Clonmel to Waterford. Before that time +there was no car accommodation between Clonmel and +Carrick-on-Suir, about half-way to Waterford; but there was an +accommodation by boat between Carrick and Waterford. The +distance between the two latter places was, by road, twelve +miles, and by the river Suir twenty-four miles. Tom Morrissey's +boat plied two days a week; it carried from eight to ten +passengers at 6 1/2d. of the then currency; it did the voyage in +from four to five hours, and besides had to wait for the tide to +float it up and down the river. When Bianconi's car was put on, +it did the distance daily and regularly in two hours, at a fare +of two shillings. + +The people soon got accustomed to the convenience of the cars. +They also learned from them the uses of punctuality and the value +of time. They liked the open-air travelling and the sidelong +motion. The new cars were also safe and well-appointed. They +were drawn by good horses and driven by good coachmen. +Jaunting-car travelling had before been rather unsafe. The +country cars were of a ramshackle order, and the drivers were +often reckless. "Will I pay the pike, or drive at it, plaise +your honour?" said a driver to his passenger on approaching a +turnpike-gate. Sam Lover used to tell a story of a car-driver, +who, after driving his passenger up-hill and down-hill, along a +very bad road, asked him for something extra at the end of his +journey. + +"Faith," said the driver, "its not putting me off with this ye'd +be, if ye knew but all." The gentleman gave him another +shilling. "And now what do you mean by saying, 'if ye knew but +all?'" "That I druv yer honor the last three miles widout a +linch-pin!" + +Bianconi, to make sure of the soundness and safety of his cars, +set up a workshop to build them for himself. He could thus +depend upon their soundness, down even to the linch-pin itself. +He kept on his carving and gilding shop until his car business +had increased so much that it required the whole of his time and +attention; and then he gave it up. In fact, when he was able to +run a car from Clonmel to Waterford- a distance of thirty-two +miles--at a fare of three-and-sixpence, his eventual triumph was +secure. + +He made Waterford one of the centres of his operations, as he had +already made Clonmel. In 1818 he established a car between +Waterford and Ross, in the following year a car between Waterford +and Wexford, and another between Waterford and Enniscorthy. A +few years later he established other cars between Waterford and +Kilkenny, and Waterford and Dungarvan. From these furthest +points, again, other cars were established in communication with +them, carrying the line further north, east, and west. So much +had the travelling between Clonmel and Waterford increased, that +in a few years (instead of the eight or ten passengers conveyed +by Tom Morrissey's boat on the Suir) there was horse and car +power capable of conveying a hundred passengers daily between the +two places. + +Bianconi did a great stroke of business at the Waterford election +of 1826. Indeed it was the turning point of his fortunes. He +was at first greatly cramped for capital. The expense of +maintaining and increasing his stock of cars, and of foddering +his horses was very great; and he was always on the look-out for +more capital. When the Waterford election took place, the +Beresford party, then all-powerful, engaged all his cars to drive +the electors to the poll. The popular party, however, started a +candidate, and applied to Bianconi for help. But he could not +comply, for his cars were all engaged. The morning after his +refusal of the application, Bianconi was pelted with mud. One or +two of his cars and horses were heaved over the bridge. + +Bianconi then wrote to Beresford's agent, stating that he could +no longer risk the lives of his drivers and his horses, and +desiring to be released from his engagement. The Beresford party +had no desire to endanger the lives of the car-drivers or their +horses, and they set Bianconi free. He then engaged with the +popular party, and enabled them to win the election. For this he +was paid the sum of a thousand pounds. This access of capital +was greatly helpful to him under the circumstances. He was able +to command the market, both for horses and fodder. He was also +placed in a position to extend the area of his car routes. + +He now found time, amidst his numerous avocations, to get +married! He was forty years of age before this event occurred. +He married Eliza Hayes, some twenty years younger than himself, +the daughter of Patrick Hayes, of Dublin, and of Henrietta +Burton, an English-woman. The marriage was celebrated on the +14th of February, 1827; and the ceremony was performed by the +late Archbishop Murray. Mr. Bianconi must now have been in good +circumstances, as he settled two thousand pounds upon his wife on +their marriage-day. His early married life was divided between +his cars, electioneering, and Repeal agitation--for he was always +a great ally of O'Connell. Though he joined in the Repeal +movement, his sympathies were not with it; for he preferred +Imperial to Home Rule. But he could never deny himself the +pleasure of following O'Connell, "right or wrong." + +Let us give a picture of Bianconi now. The curly-haired Italian +boy had grown a handsome man. His black locks curled all over +his head like those of an ancient Roman bust. His face was full +of power, his chin was firm, his nose was finely cut and +well-formed; his eyes were keen and sparkling, as if throwing out +a challenge to fortune. He was active, energetic, healthy, and +strong, spending his time mostly in the open air. He had a +wonderful recollection of faces, and rarely forgot to recognise +the countenance that he had once seen. He even knew all his +horses by name. He spent little of his time at home, but was +constantly rushing about the country after business, extending +his connections, organizing his staff, and arranging the centres +of his traffic. + +To return to the car arrangements. A line was early opened from +Clonmel --which was at first the centre of the entire +connection--to Cork; and that line was extended northward, +through Mallow and Limerick. Then, the Limerick car went on to +Tralee, and from thence to Cahirciveen, on the south-west coast +of Ireland. The cars were also extended northward from Thurles +to Roscrea, Ballinasloe, Athlone, Roscommon, and Sligo, and to +all the principal towns in the north-west counties of Ireland. + +The cars interlaced with each other, and plied, not so much in +continuous main lines, as across country, so as to bring all +important towns, but especially the market towns, into regular +daily communication with each other. Thus, in the course of +about thirty years, Bianconi succeeded in establishing a system +of internal communication in Ireland, which traversed the main +highways and cross-roads from town to town, and gave the public a +regular and safe car accommodation at the average rate of a +penny-farthing per mile. + +The traffic in all directions steadily increased. The first car +used was capable of accommodating only six persons. This was +between Clonmel and Cahir. But when it went on to Limerick, a +larger car was required. The traffic between Clonmel and +Waterford was also begun with a small-sized car. But in the +course of a few years, there were four large-sized cars, +travelling daily each way, between the two places. And so it was +in other directions, between Cork in the south; and Sligo and +Strabane in the north and north-west; between Wexford in the +east, and Galway and Skibbereen in the west and south-west. + +Bianconi first increased the accommodation of these cars so as to +carry four persons on each side instead of three, drawn by two +horses. But as the two horses could quite as easily carry two +additional passengers, another piece was added to the car so as +to carry five passengers. Then another four-wheeled car was +built, drawn by three horses, so as to carry six passengers on +each side. And lastly, a fourth horse was used, and the car was +further enlarged, so as to accommodate seven, and eventually +eight passengers on each side, with one on the box, which made a +total accommodation for seventeen passengers. The largest and +heaviest of the long cars, on four wheels, was called "Finn +MacCoul's," after Ossian's Giant; the fast cars, of a light +build, on two wheels, were called "Faugh-a-ballagh," or "clear +the way"; while the intermediate cars were named "Massey +Dawsons," after a popular Tory squire. + +When Bianconi's system was complete, he had about a hundred +vehicles at work; a hundred and forty stations for changing +horses, where from one to eight grooms were employed; about a +hundred drivers, thirteen hundred horses, performing an average +distance of three thousand eight hundred miles daily; passing +through twenty-three counties, and visiting no fewer than a +hundred and twenty of the principal towns and cities in the south +and west and midland counties of Ireland. Bianconi's horses +consumed on an average from three to four thousand tons of hay +yearly, and from thirty to forty thousand barrels of oats, all of +which were purchased in the respective localities in which they +were grown. + +Bianconi's cars--or "The Bians"--soon became very popular. +Everybody was under obligations to them. They greatly promoted +the improvement of the country. People could go to market and +buy or sell their goods more advantageously. It was cheaper for +them to ride than to walk. They brought the whole people of the +country so much nearer to each other. They virtually opened up +about seven-tenths of Ireland to civilisation and commerce, and +among their other advantages, they opened markets for the fresh +fish caught by the fishermen of Galway, Clifden, Westport, and +other places, enabling them to be sold throughout the country on +the day after they were caught. They also opened the magnificent +scenery of Ireland to tourists, and enabled them to visit Bantry +Bay, Killarney, South Donegal, and the wilds of Connemara in +safety, all the year round. + +Bianconi's service to the public was so great, and it was done +with so much tact, that nobody had a word to say against him. +Everybody was his friend. Not even the Whiteboys would injure +him or the mails he carried. He could say with pride, that in +the most disturbed times his cars had never been molested. Even +during the Whiteboy insurrection, though hundreds of people were +on the roads at night, the traffic went on without interference. +At the meeting of the British Association in 1857, Bianconi said: +"My conveyances, many of them carrying very important mails, have +been travelling during all hours of the day and night, often in +lonely and unfrequented places; and during the long period of +forty-two years that my establishment has been in existence, the +slightest injury has never been done by the people to my +property, or that entrusted to my care; and this fact gives me +greater pleasure than any pride I might feel in reflecting upon +the other rewards of my life's labour." + +Of course Bianconi's cars were found of great use for carrying +the mails. The post was, at the beginning of his enterprise, +very badly served in Ireland, chiefly by foot and horse posts. +When the first car was run from Clonmel to Cahir, Bianconi +offered to carry the mail for half the price then paid for +"sending it alternately by a mule and a bad horse." The post was +afterwards found to come regularly instead of irregularly to +Cahir; and the practice of sending the mails by Bianconi's cars +increased from year to year. Dispatch won its way to popularity +in Ireland as elsewhere, and Bianconi lived to see all the +cross-posts in Ireland arranged on his system. + +The postage authorities frequently used the cars of Bianconi as a +means of competing with the few existing mail-coaches. For +instance, they asked him to compete for carrying the post between +Limerick and Tralee, then carried by a mail-coach. Before +tendering, Bianconi called on the contractor, to induce him to +give in to the requirements of the Post Office, because he knew +that the postal authorities only desired to make use of him to +fight the coach proprietors. But having been informed that it +was the intention of the Post Office to discontinue the +mail-coach whether Bianconi took the contract or not, he at +length sent in his tender, and obtained the contract. + +He succeeded in performing the service, and delivered the mail +much earlier than it had been done before. But the former +contractor, finding that he had made a mistake, got up a movement +in favour of re-establishing the mail-coach upon that line of +road; and he eventually induced the postage authorities to take +the mail contract out of the hands of Bianconi, and give it back +to himself, as formerly. Bianconi, however, continued to keep +his cars upon the road. He had before stated to the contractor, +that if he once started his cars, he would not leave it, even +though the contract were taken from him. Both coach and car +therefore ran for years upon the road, each losing thousands of +pounds. "But," said Bianconi, when asked about the matter by the +Committee on Postage in 1838, "I kept my word: I must either +lose character by breaking my word, or lose money. I prefer +losing money to giving up the line of road." + +Bianconi had also other competitors to contend with, especially +from coach and car proprietors. No sooner had he shown to others +the way to fortune, than he had plenty of imitators. But they +did not possess his rare genius for organisation, nor perhaps his +still rarer principles. They had not his tact, his foresight, +his knowledge, nor his perseverance. When Bianconi was asked by +the Select Committee on Postage, "Do the opposition cars started +against you induce you to reduce your fares?" his answer was, +"No; I seldom do. Our fares are so close to the first cost, that +if any man runs cheaper than I do, he must starve off, as few can +serve the public lower and better than I do."[3] + +Bianconi was once present at a meeting of car proprietors, called +for the purpose of uniting to put down a new opposition coach. +Bianconi would not concur, but protested against it, saying, "If +car proprietors had united against me when I started, I should +have been crushed. But is not the country big enough for us +all?" The coach proprietors, after many angry words, threatened +to unite in running down Bianconi himself. "Very well," he said, +"you may run me off the road--that is possible; but while there +is this" (pulling a flower out of his coat) "you will not put me +down." The threat merely ended in smoke, the courage and +perseverance of Bianconi having long since become generally +recognised. + +We have spoken of the principles of Mr. Bianconi. They were most +honourable. His establishment might be spoken of as a school of +morality. In the first place, he practically taught and enforced +the virtues of punctuality, truthfulness, sobriety, and honesty. +He also taught the public generally the value of time, to which, +in fact, his own success was in a great measure due. While +passing through Clonmel in 1840, Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall called +upon Bianconi and went over his establishment, as well as over +his house and farm, a short distance from the town. The +travellers had a very pressing engagement, and could not stay to +hear the story of how their entertainer had contrived to "make so +much out of so little." "How much time have you?" he asked. +"Just five minutes." "The car," says Mr. Hall, "had conveyed us +to the back entrance. Bianconi instantly rang the bell, and said +to the servant, 'Tell the driver to bring the car round to the +front,' adding, 'that will save one minute, and enable me to tell +you all within the time.' This was, in truth the secret of his +success, making the most of time."[4] + +But the success of Bianconi was also due to the admirable +principles on which his establishment was conducted. His drivers +were noted as being among the most civil and obliging men in +Ireland, besides being pleasant companions to boot. They were +careful, punctual, truthful, and honest; but all this was the +result of strict discipline on the part of their master. + +The drivers were taken from the lowest grades of the +establishment, and promoted to higher positions according to +their respective merits as opportunity offered. "Much surprise," +says Bianconi, "has often been expressed at the high order of men +connected with my car establishment and at its popularity; but +parties thus expressing themselves forget to look at Irish +society with sufficient grasp. For my part, I cannot better +compare it than to a man merging to convalescence from a serious +attack of malignant fever, and requiring generous nutrition in +place of medical treatment"[5] + +To attach the men to the system, as well as to confer upon them +the due reward for their labour, he provided for all the workmen +who had been injured, worn out, or become superannuated in his +service. The drivers could then retire upon a full pension, +which they enjoyed during the rest of their lives. They were +also paid their full wages during sickness, and at their death +Bianconi educated their children, who grew up to manhood, and +afterwards filled the situations held by their deceased parents. + +Every workman had thus a special interest in his own good +conduct. They knew that nothing but misbehaviour could deprive +them of the benefits they enjoyed; and hence their endeavours to +maintain their positions by observing the strict discipline +enjoined by their employer. + +Sobriety was, of course, indispensable--a drunken car-driver +being amongst the most dangerous of servants. The drivers must +also be truthful, and the man found telling a lie, however +venial, was instantly dismissed. Honesty was also strongly +enforced, not only for the sake of the public, but for the sake +of the men themselves. Hence he never allowed his men to carry +letters. If they did so, he fined them in the first instance +very severely, and in the second instance dismissed them. "I do +so," he said, "because if I do not respect other institutions +(the Post Office), my men will soon learn not to respect my own. +Then, for carrying letters during the extent of their trip, the +men most probably would not get money, but drink, and hence +become dissipated and unworthy of confidence." + +Thus truth, accuracy, punctuality, sobriety, and honesty being +strictly enforced, formed the fundamental principle of the entire +management. At the same time, Bianconi treated his drivers with +every confidence and respect. He made them feel that, in doing +their work well, they conferred a greater benefit on him and on +the public than he did on them by paying them their wages. + +When attending the British Association at Cork, Bianconi said +that, "in proportion as he advanced his drivers, he lowered +their wages." "Then," said Dr. Taylor, the Secretary, "I +wouldn't like to serve you." "Yes, you would," replied Bianconi, +"because in promoting my drivers I place them on a more lucrative +line, where their certainty of receiving fees from passengers is +greater." + +Bianconi was as merciful to his horses as to his men. He had +much greater difficulty at first in finding good men than good +horses, because the latter were not exposed to the temptations to +which the former were subject. Although the price of horses +continued to rise, he nevertheless bought the best horses at +increased prices, and he took care not to work them overmuch. He +gave his horses as well as his men their seventh day's rest. "I +find by experience," he said, "that I can work a horse eight +miles a day for six days in the week, easier than I can work six +miles for seven days; and that is one of my reasons for having no +cars, unless carrying a mail, plying upon Sundays." + +Bianconi had confidence in men generally. The result was that +men had confidence in him. Even the Whiteboys respected him. At +the close of a long and useful life he could say with truth, "I +never yet attempted to do an act of generosity or common justice, +publicly or privately, that I was not met by manifold +reciprocity." + +By bringing the various classes of society into connection with +each other, Bianconi believed, and doubtless with truth, that he +was the means of making them respect each other, and that he +thereby promoted the civilisation of Ireland. At the meeting of +the social Science Congress, held at Dublin in 1861, he said: +"The state of the roads was such as to limit the rate of +travelling to about seven miles an hour, and the passengers were +often obliged to walk up hills. Thus all classes were brought +together, and I have felt much pleasure in believing that the +intercourse thus created tended to inspire the higher classes +with respect and regard for the natural good qualities of the +humbler people, which the latter reciprocated by a becoming +deference and an anxiety to please and oblige. Such a moral +benefit appears to me to be worthy of special notice and +congratulation." + +Even when railways were introduced, Bianconi did not resist them, +but welcomed them as "the great civilisers of the age." There +was, in his opinion, room enough for all methods of conveyance in +Ireland. When Captain Thomas Drummond was appointed +Under-Secretary for Ireland in 1835, and afterwards chairman of +the Irish Railway Commission, he had often occasion to confer +with Mr. Bianconi, who gave him every assistance. Mr. Drummond +conceived the greatest respect for Bianconi, and often asked him +how it was that he, a foreigner, should have acquired so +extensive an influence and so distinguished a position in +Ireland? + +"The question came upon me," said Bianconi, "by surprise, and I +did not at the time answer it. But another day he repeated his +question, and I replied, 'Well, it was because, while the big and +the little were fighting, I crept up between them, carried out my +enterprise, and obliged everybody.'" This, however, did not +satisfy Mr. Drummond, who asked Bianconi to write down for him an +autobiography, containing the incidents of his early life down to +the period of his great Irish enterprise. Bianconi proceeded to +do this, writing down his past history in the occasional +intervals which he could snatch from the immense business which +he still continued personally to superintend. But before the +"Drummond memoir" could be finished Mr. Drummond himself had +ceased to live, having died in 1840, principally of overwork. +What he thought of Bianconi, however, has been preserved in his +Report of the Irish Railway Commission of 1838, written by Mr. +Drummond himself, in which he thus speaks of his enterprising +friend in starting and conducting the great Irish car +establishment:-- + +"With a capital little exceeding the expense of outfit he +commenced. Fortune, or rather the due reward of industry and +integrity, favoured his first efforts. He soon began to increase +the number of his cars and multiply routes, until his +establishment spread over the whole of Ireland. These results +are the more striking and instructive as having been accomplished +in a district which has long been represented as the focus of +unreclaimed violence and barbarism, where neither life nor +property can be deemed secure. Whilst many possessing a personal +interest in everything tending to improve or enrich the country +have been so misled or inconsiderate as to repel by exaggerated +statements British capital from their doors, this foreigner chose +Tipperary as the centre of his operations, wherein to embark all +the fruits of his industry in a traffic peculiarly exposed to the +power and even to the caprice of the peasantry. The event has +shown that his confidence in their good sense was not +ill-grounded. + +"By a system of steady and just treatment he has obtained a +complete mastery, exempt from lawless intimidation or control, +over the various servants and agents employed by him, and his +establishment is popular with all classes on account of its +general usefulness and the fair liberal spirit of its management. + +The success achieved by this spirited gentleman is the result, +not of a single speculation, which might have been favoured by +local circumstances, but of a series of distinct experiments, all +of which have been successful." + +When the railways were actually made and opened, they ran right +through the centre of Bianconi's long-established systems of +communication. They broke up his lines, and sent them to the +right and left. But, though they greatly disturbed him, they did +not destroy him. In his enterprising hands the railways merely +changed the direction of the cars. He had at first to take about +a thousand horses off the road, with thirty-seven vehicles, +travelling 2446 miles daily. But he remodelled his system so as +to run his cars between the railway-stations and the towns to the +right and left of the main lines. + +He also directed his attention to those parts of Ireland which +had not before had the benefit of his conveyances. And in thus +still continuing to accommodate the public, the number of his +horses and carriages again increased, until, in 1861, he was +employing 900 horses, travelling over 4000 miles daily; and in +1866, when he resigned his business, he was running only 684 +miles daily below the maximum run in 1845, before the railways +had begun to interfere with his traffic. + +His cars were then running to Dungarvan, Waterford, and Wexford +in the south-west of Ireland; to Bandon, Rosscarbery, Skibbereen, +and Cahirciveen, in the south; to Tralee, Galway, Clifden, +Westport, and Belmullet in the west; to Sligo, Enniskillen, +Strabane, and Letterkenny in the north; while, in the centre of +Ireland, the towns of Thurles, Kilkenny, Birr, and Ballinasloe +were also daily served by the cars of Bianconi. + +At the meeting of the British Association, held in Dublin in +1857, Mr. Bianconi mentioned a fact which, he thought, +illustrated the increasing prosperity of the country and the +progress of the people. It was, that although the population had +so considerably decreased by emigration and other causes, the +proportion of travellers by his conveyances continued to +increase, demonstrating not only that the people had more money, +but that they appreciated the money value of time, and also the +advantages of the car system established for their accommodation. + +Although railways must necessarily have done much to promote the +prosperity of Ireland, it is very doubtful whether the general +passenger public were not better served by the cars of Bianconi +than by the railways which superseded them. Bianconi's cars were +on the whole cheaper, and were always run en correspondence, so +as to meet each other; whereas many of the railway trains in the +south of Ireland, under the competitive system existing between +the several companies, are often run so as to miss each other. +The present working of the Irish railway traffic provokes +perpetual irritation amongst the Irish people, and sufficiently +accounts for the frequent petitions presented to Parliament that +they should be taken in hand and worked by the State. + +Bianconi continued to superintend his great car establishment +until within the last few years. He had a constitution of iron, +which he expended in active daily work. He liked to have a dozen +irons in the fire, all red-hot at once. At the age of seventy he +was still a man in his prime; and he might be seen at Clonmel +helping, at busy times, to load the cars, unpacking and +unstrapping the luggage where it seemed to be inconveniently +placed; for he was a man who could never stand by and see others +working without having a hand in it himself. Even when well on +to eighty, he still continued to grapple with the immense +business involved in working a traffic extending over two +thousand five hundred miles of road. + +Nor was Bianconi without honour in his adopted country. He began +his great enterprise in 1815, though it was not until 1831 that +he obtained letters of naturalisation. His application for these +privileges was supported by the magistrates of Tipperary and by +the Grand Jury, and they were at once granted. In 1844 he was +elected Mayor of Clonmel, and took his seat as Chairman at the +Borough Petty Sessions to dispense justice. + +The first person brought before him was James Ryan, who had been +drunk and torn a constable's belt. "Well, Ryan," said the +magistrate, "what have you to say?" "Nothing, your worship; only +I wasn't drunk." "Who tore the constable's belt?" "He was +bloated after his Christmas dinner, your worship, and the belt +burst!" "You are so very pleasant," said the magistrate, "that +you will have to spend forty-eight hours in gaol." + +He was re-elected Mayor in the following year, very much against +his wish. He now began to buy land, for "land hunger" was strong +upon him. In 1846 he bought the estate of Longfield, in the +parish of Boherlahan, county of Tipperary. It consisted of about +a thousand acres of good land, with a large cheerful house +overlooking the river Suir. He went on buying more land, until +he became possessor of about eight thousand English acres. + +One of his favourite sayings was: "Money melts, but land holds +while grass grows and water runs." He was an excellent landlord, +built comfortable houses for his tenantry, and did what he could +for their improvement. Without solicitation, the Government +appointed him a justice of the peace and a Deputy-lientenant for +the county of Tipperary. Everything that he did seemed to +thrive. He was honest, straightforward, loyal, and law-abiding. + +On first taking possession of his estate at Longfield, he was met +by a procession of the tenantry, who received him with great +enthusiasm. In his address to them, he said, amongst other +things: "Allow me to impress upon you the great importance of +respecting the laws. The laws are made for the good and the +benefit of society, and for the punishment of the wicked. No one +but an enemy would counsel you to outrage the laws. Above all +things, avoid secret and unlawful societies. Much of the +improvement now going on amongst us is owing to the temperate +habits of the people, to the mission of my much respected friend, +Father Mathew, and to the advice of the Liberator. Follow the +advice of O'Connell; be temperate, moral, peaceable; and you will +advance your country, ameliorate your condition, and the blessing +of God will attend all your efforts." + +Bianconi was always a great friend of O'Connell. From an early +period he joined him in the Catholic Emancipation movement. He +took part with him in founding the National Bank in Ireland. In +course of time the two became more intimately related. +Bianconi's son married O'Connell's granddaughter; and O'Connell's +nephew, Morgan John, married Bianconi's daughter. Bianconi's son +died in 1864, leaving three daughters, but no male heir to carry +on the family name. The old man bore the blow of his son's +premature death with fortitude, and laid his remains in the +mortuary chapel, which he built on his estate at Longfield. + +In the following year, when he was seventy-eight, he met with a +severe accident. He was overturned, and his thigh was severely +fractured. He was laid up for six months, quite incapable of +stirring. He was afterwards able to get about in a marvellous +way, though quite crippled. As his life's work was over, he +determined to retire finally from business; and he handed over +the whole of his cars, coaches, horses, and plant, with all the +lines of road he was then working, to his employes, on the most +liberal terms. + +My youngest son met Mr. Bianconi, by appointment, at the Roman +Catholic church at Boherlahan, in the summer of 1872. Although +the old gentleman had to be lifted into and out of his carriage +by his two men-servants, he was still as active-minded as ever. +Close to the church at Boherlahan is Bianconi's mortuary chapel, +which he built as a sort of hobby, for the last resting-place of +himself and his family. The first person interred in it was his +eldest daughter, who died in Italy; the second was his only son. +A beautiful monument with a bas-relief has been erected in the +chapel by Benzoni, an Italian sculptor, to the memory of his +daughter. + +"As we were leaving the chapel," my son informs me, "we passed a +long Irish car containing about sixteen people, the tenants of +Mr. Bianconi, who are brought at his expense from all parts of +the estate. He is very popular with his tenantry, regarding +their interests as his own; and he often quotes the words of his +friend Mr. Drummond, that 'property has its duties as well as its +rights.' He has rebuilt nearly every house on his extensive +estates in Tipperary. + +"On our way home, the carriage stopped to let me down and see the +strange remains of an ancient fort, close by the roadside. It +consists of a high grass-grown mound, surrounded by a moat. It +is one of the so-called Danish forts, which are found in all +parts of Ireland. If it be true that these forts were erected by +the Danes, they must at one time have had a strong hold of the +greater part of Ireland. + +"The carriage entered a noble avenue of trees, with views of +prettily enclosed gardens on either side. Mr. Bianconi +exclaimed, 'Welcome to the Carman's Stage!' Longfield House, +which we approached, is a fine old-fashioned house, situated on +the river Suir, a few miles south of Cashel, one of the most +ancient cities in Ireland. Mr. Bianconi and his family were most +hospitable; and I found him most lively and communicative. He +talked cleverly and with excellent choice of language for about +three hours, during which I learnt much from him. + +"Like most men who have accomplished great things, and overcome +many difficulties, Mr. Bianconi is fond of referring to the past +events in his interesting life. The acuteness of his +conversation is wonderful. He hits off a keen thought in a few +words, sometimes full of wit and humour. I thought this very +good: 'Keep before the wheels, young man, or they will run over +you: always keep before the wheels!' He read over to me the +memoir he had prepared at the suggestion of Mr. Drummond, +relating to the events of his early life; and this opened the way +for a great many other recollections not set down in the book. + +"He vividly remembered the parting from his mother, nearly +seventy years ago, and spoke of her last words to him: 'When you +remember me, think of me as waiting at this window, watching for +your return.' This led him to speak of the great forgetfulness +and want of respect which children have for their parents +nowadays. 'We seem,' he said, 'to have fallen upon a +disrespectful age.' + +"'It is strange,' said he, 'how little things influence one's +mind and character. When I was a boy at Waterford, I bought an +old second-hand book from a man on the quay, and the maxim on its +title-page fixed itself deeply on my memory. It was, "Truth, +like water, will find its own level."' And this led him to speak +of the great influence which the example and instruction of Mr. +Rice, of the Christian Brothers, had had upon his mind and +character. 'That religions institution,' said he, 'of which Mr. +Rice was one of the founders, has now spread itself over the +country, and, by means of the instruction which the members have +imparted to the poorer ignorant classes, they have effected quite +a revolution in the south of Ireland.' + +"'I am not much of a reader,' said Mr. Bianconi; 'the best part +of my reading has consisted in reading way-bills. But I was once +complimented by Justice Lefroy upon my books. He remarked to me +what a wonderful education I must have had to invent my own +system of book-keeping. Yes,' said he, pointing to his ledgers, +'there they are.' The books are still preserved, recording the +progress of the great car enterprise. They show at first the +small beginnings, and then the rapid growth--the tens growing to +hundreds, and the hundreds to thousands--the ledgers and +day-books containing, as it were, the whole history of the +undertaking--of each car, of each man, of each horse, and of each +line of road, recorded most minutely. + +"'The secret of my success,' said he, 'has been promptitude, fair +dealing, and good humour. And this I will add, what I have often +said before, that I never did a kind action but it was returned +to me tenfold. My cars have never received the slightest injury +from the people. Though travelling through the country for about +sixty years, the people have throughout respected the property +intrusted to me. My cars have passed through lonely and +unfrequented places, and they have never, even in the most +disturbed times, been attacked. That, I think, is an +extraordinary testimony to the high moral character of the Irish +people.' + +"'It is not money, but the genius of money that I esteem,' said +Bianconi; 'not money itself, but money used as a creative power.' + +And he himself has furnished in his own life the best possible +illustration of his maxim He created a new industry, gave +employment to an immense number of persons, promoted commerce, +extended civilisation; and, though a foreigner, proved one of the +greatest of Ireland's benefactors." + +About two years after the date of my son's visit, Charles +Bianconi passed away, full of years and honours; and his remains +were laid beside those of his son and daughter, in the mortuary +chapel at Boherlahan. He died in 1875, in his ninetieth year. +Well might Signor Henrico Mayer say, at the British Association +at Cork in 1846, that "he felt proud as an Italian to hear a +compatriot so deservedly eulogised; and although Ireland might +claim Bianconi as a citizen, yet the Italians should ever with +pride hail him as a countryman, whose industry and virtue +reflected honour on the country of his birth." + + +Footnotes for Chapter IX. + +[1] This article originally appeared in 'Good Words.' A +biography of Charles Bianconi, by his daughter, Mrs. Morgan John +O'Connell, has since been published; but the above article is +thought worthy of republication, as its contents were for the +most part taken principally from Mr. Bianconi's own lips. + +[2] Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Committee on +Postage (Second Report), 1838, p. 284. + +[3] Evidence before the Select Committee on Postage, 1838. + +[4] Hall's 'Ireland,' ii. 76. + +[5] Paper read before the British Association at Cork, 1843. + + +CHAPTER X. + +INDUSTRY IN IRELAND: THROUGH CONNAUGHT AND ULSTER, TO BELFAST. + +"The Irish people have a past to boast of, and a future to +create."--J. F. O'Carrol. + +"One of the great questions is how to find an outlet for Irish +manufactures. We ought to be an exporting nation, or we never +will be able to compete successfully with our trade rivals."--E. +D. Gray. + +"Ireland may become a Nation again, if we all sacrifice our +parricidal passions, prejudices, and resentments on the altar of +our country. Then shall your manufactures flourish, and Ireland +be free."--Daniel O'Connell. + +Further communications passed between my young friend, the +Italian count, and his father; and the result was that he +accompanied me to Ireland, on the express understanding that he +was to send home a letter daily by post assuring his friends of +his safety. We went together accordingly to Galway, up Lough +Corrib to Cong and Lough Mask; by the romantic lakes and +mountains of Connemara to Clifden and Letterfrack, and through +the lovely pass of Kylemoor to Leenane; along the fiord of +Killury; then on, by Westport and Ballina to Sligo. Letters were +posted daily by my young friend; and every day we went forwards +in safety. + +But how lonely was the country! We did not meet a single +American tourist during the whole course of our visit, and the +Americans are the most travelling people in the world. Although +the railway companies have given every facility for visiting +Connemara and the scenery of the West of Ireland, we only met one +single English tourist, accompanied by his daughter. The +Bianconi long car between Clifden and Westport had been taken off +for want of support. The only persons who seemed to have no fear +of Irish agrarianism were the English anglers, who are ready to +brave all dangers, imaginary or supposed, provided they can only +kill a big salmon! And all the rivers flowing westward into the +Atlantic are full of fine fish. While at Galway, we looked down +into the river Corrib from the Upper Bridge, and beheld it +literally black with the backs of salmon! They were waiting for +a flood to enable them to ascend the ladder into Lough Corrib. +While there, 1900 salmon were taken in one day by nets in the +bay. + +Galway is a declining town. It has docks, but no shipping; +bonded warehouses, but no commerce. It has a community of +fishermen at Claddagh, but the fisheries of the bay are +neglected. As one of the poor men of the place exclaimed, +"Poverty is the curse of Ireland." On looking at Galway from the +Claddagh side, it seems as if to have suffered from a +bombardment. Where a roof has fallen in, nothing has been done +to repair it. It was of no use. The ruin has been left to go +on. The mills, which used to grind home-grown corn, are now +unemployed. The corn comes ready ground from America. Nothing +is thought of but emigration, and the best people are going, +leaving the old, the weak, and the inefficient at home. "The +labourer," said the late President Garfield, "has but one +commodity to sell--his day's work, it is his sole reliance. He +must sell it to-day, or it is lost for-ever." And as the poor +Irishman cannot sell his day's labour, he must needs emigrate to +some other country, where his only commodity may be in demand. + +While at Galway, I read with interest an eloquent speech +delivered by Mr. Parnell at the banquet held in the Great Hall of +the Exhibition at Cork. Mr. Parnell asked, with much reason, why +manufactures should not be established and encouraged in the +South of Ireland, as in other parts of the country. Why should +not capital be invested, and factories and workshops developed, +through the length and breadth of the kingdom? "I confess," he +said, "I should like to give Ireland a fair opportunity of +working her home manufactures. We can each one of us do much to +revive the ancient name of our nation in those industrial +pursuits which have done so much to increase and render glorious +those greater nations by the side of which we live. I trust that +before many years are over we shall have the honour and pleasure +of meeting in even a more splendid palace than this, and of +seeing in the interval that the quick-witted genius of the Irish +race has profited by the lessons which this beautiful Exhibition +must undoubtedly teach, and that much will have been done to make +our nation happy, prosperous, and free." + +Mr. Parnell, in the course of his speech, referred to the +manufactures which had at one time flourished in Ireland--to the +flannels of Rathdrum, the linens of Bandon, the cottons of Cork, +and the gloves of Limerick. Why should not these things exist +again? "We have a people who are by nature quick and facile to +learn, who have shown in many other countries that they are +industrious and laborious, and who have not been excelled-- +whether in the pursuits of agriculture under a midday sun in the +field, or amongst the vast looms in the factory districts--by the +people of any country on the face of the globe."[1] Most just +and eloquent! + +The only weak point in Mr. Parnell's speech was where he urged +his audience "not to use any article of the manufacture of any +other country except Ireland, where you can get up an Irish +manufacture." The true remedy is to make Irish articles of the +best and cheapest, and they will be bought, not only by the +Irish, but by the English and people of all nations. +Manufactures cannot be "boycotted." They will find their way +into all lands, in spite even of the most restrictive tariffs. +Take, for instance, the case of Belfast hereafter to be referred +to. If the manufacturing population of that town were to rely +for their maintenance on the demand for their productions at +home, they would simply starve. But they make the best and the +cheapest goods of their kind, and hence the demand for them is +world-wide. + +There is an abundant scope for the employment of capital and +skilled labour in Ireland. During the last few years land has +been falling rapidly out of cultivation. The area under cereal +crops has accordingly considerably decreased.[2] Since 1868, not +less than 400,000 acres have been disused for this purpose.[3] +Wheat can be bought better and cheaper in America, and imported +into Ireland ground into flour. The consequence is, that the men +who worked the soil, as well as the men who ground the corn, are +thrown out of employment, and there is nothing left for them but +subsistence upon the poor-rates, emigration to other countries, +or employment in some new domestic industry. + +Ireland is by no means the "poor Ireland" that she is commonly +supposed to be. The last returns of the Postmaster-General show +that she is growing in wealth. Irish thrift has been steadily at +work during the last twenty years. Since the establishment of +the Post Office Savings Banks, in 1861, the deposits have +annually increased in value. At the end of 1882, more than two +millions sterling had been deposited in these banks, and every +county participated in the increase.[4] The largest +accumulations were in the counties of Dublin, Antrim, Cork, Down, +Tipperary, and Tyrone, in the order named. Besides this amount, +the sum of 2,082,413L. was due to depositors in the ordinary +Savings Banks on the 20th of November, 1882; or, in all, more +than four millions sterling, the deposits of small capitalists. +At Cork, at the end of last year, it was found that the total +deposits made in the savings bank had been 76,000L, or an +increase of 6,675L. over the preceding twelve months. But this +is not all. The Irish middle classes are accustomed to deposit +most of their savings in the Joint Stock banks; and from the +returns presented to the Lord Lieutenant, dated the 31st of +January, 1883, we find that these had been more than doubled in +twenty years, the deposits and cash balances having increased +from 14,389,000L. at the end of 1862, to 32,746,000L. at the end +of 1882. During the last year they had increased by the sum of +2,585,000L. "So large an increase in bank deposits and cash +balances," says the Report, "is highly satisfactory." It may be +added that the investments in Government and India Stock, on +which dividends were paid at the Bank of Ireland, at the end of +1882, amounted to not less than 31,804,000L. + +It is proper that Ireland should be bountiful with her increasing +means. It has been stated that during the last eighteen years +her people have contributed not less than six millions sterling +for the purpose of building places of worship, convents, schools, +and colleges, in connection with the Roman Catholic Church, not +to speak of their contributions for other patriotic objects. + +It would be equally proper if some of the saved surplus capital +of Ireland, as suggested by Mr. Parnell, were invested in the +establishment of Irish manufactures. This would not only give +profitable occupation to the unemployed, but enable Ireland to +become an increasingly exporting nation. We are informed by an +Irish banker, that there is abundance of money to be got in +Ireland for any industry which has a reasonable chance of +success. One thing, however, is certain: there must be perfect +safety. An old writer has said that "Government is a badge of +lost innocence: the palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of +the bowers of paradise." The main use of government is +protection against the weaknesses and selfishness of human +nature. If there be no protection for life, liberty, property, +and the fruits of accumulated industry, government becomes +comparatively useless, and society is driven back upon its first +principles. + +Capital is the most sensitive of all things. It flies turbulence +and strife, and thrives only in security and freedom. It must +have complete safety. If tampered with by restrictive laws, or +hampered by combinations, it suddenly disappears. "The age of +glory of a nation," said Sir Humphry Davy, "is the age of its +security. The same dignified feeling which urges men to gain a +dominion over nature will preserve them from the dominion of +slavery. Natural, and moral, and religions knowledge, are of one +family; and happy is the country and great its strength where +they dwell together in union." + +Dublin was once celebrated for its shipbuilding, its +timber-trade, its iron manufactures, and its steam-printing; +Limerick was celebrated for its gloves; Kilkenny for its +blankets; Bandon for its woollen and linen manufactures. But +most of these trades were banished by strikes.[5] Dr. Doyle +stated before the Irish Committee of 1830, that the almost total +extinction of the Kilkenny blanket-trade was attributable to the +combinations of the weavers; and O'Connell admitted that Trades +Unions had wrought more evil to Ireland than absenteeism and +Saxon maladministration. But working men have recently become +more prudent and thrifty; and it is believed that under the +improved system of moderate counsel, and arbitration between +employers and employed, a more hopeful issue is likely to attend +the future of such enterprises. + +Another thing is clear. A country may be levelled down by +idleness and ignorance; it can only be levelled up by industry +and intelligence. It is easy to pull down; it is very difficult +to build up. The hands that cannot erect a hovel may demolish a +palace. We have but to look to Switzerland to see what a country +may become which mixes its industry with its brains. That little +land has no coal, no seaboard by which she can introduce it, and +is shut off from other countries by lofty mountains, as well as +by hostile tariffs; and yet Switzerland is one of the most +prosperous nations in Europe, because governed and regulated by +intelligent industry. Let Ireland look to Switzerland, and she +need not despair. + +Ireland is a much richer country by nature than is generally +supposed. In fact, she has not yet been properly explored. +There is copper-ore in Wicklow, Waterford, and Cork. The Leitrim +iron-ores are famous for their riches; and there is good +ironstone in Kilkenny, as well as in Ulster. The Connaught ores +are mixed with coal-beds. Kaolin, porcelain clay, and coarser +clay, abound; but it is only at Belleek that it has been employed +in the pottery manufacture. But the sea about Ireland is still +less explored than the land. All round the Atlantic seaboard of +the Irish coast are shoals of herring and mackerel, which might +be food for men, but are at present only consumed by the +multitudes of sea-birds which follow them. + +In the daily papers giving an account of the Cork Exhibition, +appeared the following paragraph: "An interesting exhibit will +be a quantity of preserved herrings from Lowestoft, caught off +the old head of Kinsale, and returned to Cork after undergoing a +preserving process in England."[6] Fish caught off the coast of +Ireland by English fishermen, taken to England and cured, and +then "returned to Cork" for exhibition! Here is an opening for +patriotic Irishmen. Why not catch and preserve the fish at home, +and get the entire benefit of the fish traffic? Will it be +believed that there is probably more money value in the seas +round Ireland than there is in the land itself? This is actually +the case with the sea round the county of Aberdeen.[7] + +A vast source of wealth lies at the very doors of the Irish +people. But the harvest of an ocean teeming with life is allowed +to pass into other hands. The majority of the boats which take +part in the fishery at Kinsale are from the little island of Man, +from Cornwall, from France, and from Scotland. The fishermen +catch the fish, salt them, and carry them or send them away. +While the Irish boats are diminishing in number, those of the +strangers are increasing. In an East Lothian paper, published in +May 1881, I find the following paragraph, under the head of +Cockenzie:- + +"Departure of Boats.--In the early part of this week, a number of +the boats here have left for the herring-fishery at Kinsale, in +Ireland. The success attending their labours last year at that +place and at Howth has induced more of them than usual to proceed +thither this year." + +It may not be generally known that Cockenzie is a little fishing +village on the Firth of Forth, in Scotland, where the fishermen +have provided themselves, at their own expense, with about fifty +decked fishing-boats, each costing, with nets and gear, about +500L. With these boats they carry on their pursuits on the coast +of Scotland, England, and Ireland. In 1882, they sent about +thirty boats to Kinsale[8] and Howth. The profits of their +fishing has been such as to enable them, with the assistance of +Lord Wemyss, to build for themselves a convenient harbour at Port +Seaton, without any help from the Government. They find that +self-help is the best help, and that it is absurd to look to the +Government and the public purse for what they can best do for +themselves. + +The wealth of the ocean round Ireland has long been known. As +long ago as the ninth and tenth centuries, the Danes established +a fishery off the western coasts, and carried on a lucrative +trade with the south of Europe. In Queen Mary's reign, Philip +II. of Spain paid 1000L. annually in consideration of his +subjects being allowed to fish on the north-west coast of +Ireland; and it appears that the money was brought into the Irish +Exchequer. In 1650, Sweden was permitted, as a favour, to employ +a hundred vessels in the Irish fishery; and the Dutch in the +reign of Charles I. were admitted to the fisheries on the payment +of 30,000L. In 1673, Sir W. Temple, in a letter to Lord Essex, +says that "the fishing of Ireland might prove a mine under water +as rich as any under ground."[9] + +The coasts of Ireland abound in all the kinds of fish in common +use--cod, ling, haddock, hake, mackerel, herring, whiting, +conger, turbot, brill, bream, soles, plaice, dories, and salmon. +The banks off the coast of Galway are frequented by myriads of +excellent fish; yet, of the small quantity caught, the bulk is +taken in the immediate neighbourhood of the shores. Galway bay +is said to be the finest fishing ground in the world; but the +fish cannot be expected to come on shore unsought: they must be +found, followed, and netted. The fishing-boats from the west of +Scotland are very successful; and they often return the fish to +Ireland, cured, which had been taken out of the Irish bays. "I +tested this fact in Galway," says Mr. S. C. Hall. "I had ordered +fish for dinner; two salt haddocks were brought to me. On +inquiry, I ascertained where they were bought, and learned from +the seller that he was the agent of a Scotch firm, whose boats +were at that time loading in the bay."[10] But although Scotland +imports some 80,000 barrels of cured herrings annually into +Ireland, that is not enough; for we find that there is a regular +importation of cured herrings, cod, ling, and hake, from +Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, towards the food of the Irish +people.[11] + +The fishing village of Claddagh, at Galway, is more decaying than +ever. It seems to have suffered from a bombardment, like the +rest of the town. The houses of the fishermen, when they fall +in, are left in ruins. While the French, and English, and Scotch +boats leave the coast laden with fish, the Claddagh men remain +empty-handed. They will only fish on "lucky days," so that the +Galway market is often destitute of fish, while the Claddagh +people are starving. On one occasion an English company was +formed for the purpose of fishing and curing fish at Galway, as +is now done at Yarmouth, Grimsby, Fraserburgh, Wick, and other +places. Operations were commenced, but so soon as the English +fishermen put to sea in their boats, the Claddagh men fell upon +them, and they were glad to escape with their lives.[12] +Unfortunately, the Claddagh men have no organization, no fixed +rules, no settled determination to work, unless when pressed by +necessity. The appearance of the men and of their cabins show +that they are greatly in want of capital; and fishing cannot be +successfully performed without a sufficiency of this industrial +element. + +Illustrations of this neglected industry might be given to any +extent. Herring fishing, cod fishing, and pilchard fishing, are +alike untouched. The Irish have a strong prejudice against the +pilchard; they believe it to be an unlucky fish, and that it will +rot the net that takes it. The Cornishmen do not think so, for +they find the pilchard fishing to be a source of great wealth. +The pilchards strike upon the Irish coast first before they reach +Cornwall. When Mr. Brady, Inspector of Irish Fisheries, visited +St. Ives a few years ago, he saw captured, in one seine alone, +nearly ten thousand pounds of this fish. + +Not long since; according to a northern local paper,[13] a large +fleet of vessels in full sail was seen from the west coast of +Donegal, evidently making for the shore. Many surmises were made +about the unusual sight. Some thought it was the Fenians, others +the Home Rulers, others the Irish-American Dynamiters. Nothing +of the kind! It was only a fleet of Scotch smacks, sixty-four in +number, fishing for herring between Torry Island and Horn Head. +The Irish might say to the Scotch fishermen, in the words of the +Morayshire legend, "Rejoice, O my brethren, in the gifts of the +sea, for they enrich you without making any one else the poorer!" + +But while the Irish are overlooking their treasure of herring, +the Scotch are carefully cultivating it. The Irish fleet of +fishing-boats fell off from 27,142 in 1823 to 7181 in 1878; and +in 1882 they were still further reduced to 6089.[14] Yet Ireland +has a coast-line of fishing ground of nearly three thousand miles +in extent. + +The bights and bays on the west coast of Ireland--off Erris, +Mayo, Connemara, and Donegal--swarm with fish. Near Achill Bay, +2000 mackerel were lately taken at a single haul; and Clew Bay is +often alive with fish. In Scull Bay and Crookhaven, near Cape +Clear, they are so plentiful that the peasants often knock them +on the head with oars, but will not take the trouble to net them. + +These swarms of fish might be a source of permanent wealth. A +gentleman of Cork one day borrowed a common rod and line from a +Cornish miner in his employment, and caught fifty-seven mackerel +from the jetty in Scull Bay before breakfast. Each of these +mackerel was worth twopence in Cork market, thirty miles off. +Yet the people round about, many of whom were short of food, were +doing nothing to catch them, but expecting Providence to supply +their wants. Providence, however, always likes to be helped. +Some people forget that the Giver of all good gifts requires us +to seek for them by industry, prudence, and perseverance.[15] + +Some cry for more loans; some cry for more harbours. It would be +well to help with suitable harbours, but the system of dependence +upon Government loans is pernicious. The Irish ought to feel +that the very best help must come from themselves. This is the +best method for teaching independence. Look at the little Isle +of Man. The fishermen there never ask for loans. They look to +their nets and their boats; they sail for Ireland, catch the +fish, and sell them to the Irish people. With them, industry +brings capital, and forms the fertile seed-gronnd of further +increase of boats and nets. Surely what is done by the Manxmen, +the Cornishmen, and the Cockenziemen, might be done by the +Irishmen. The difficulty is not to be got over by lamenting +about it, or by staring at it, but by grappling with it, and +overcoming it. It is deeds, not words, that are wanted. +Employment for the mass of the people must spring from the people +themselves. Provided there is security for life and property, +and an absence of intimidation, we believe that capital will +become invested in the fishing industry of Ireland; and that the +result will be peace, food, and prosperity. + +We must remember that it is only of comparatively late years that +England and Scotland have devoted so much attention to the +fishery of the seas surrounding our island. In this fact there +is consolation and hope for Ireland. At the beginning of the +seventeenth century Sir Waiter Raleigh laid before the King his +observations concerning the trade and commerce of England, in +which he showed that the Dutch were almost monopolising the +fishing trade, and consequently adding to their shipping, +commerce, and wealth. "Surely," he says, "the stream is +necessary to be turned to the good of this kingdom, to whose +sea-coasts alone God has sent us these great blessings and +immense riches for us to take; and that every nation should carry +away out of this kingdom yearly great masses of money for fish +taken in our seas, and sold again by them to us, must needs be a +great dishonour to our nation, and hindrance to this realm." + +The Hollanders then had about 50,000 people employed in fishing +along the English coast; and their industry and enterprise gave +employment to about 150,000 more, "by sea and land, to make +provision, to dress and transport the fish they take, and return +commodities; whereby they are enabled yearly to build 1000 ships +and vessels." The prosperity of Amsterdam was then so great that +it was said that Amsterdam was "founded on herring-bones." +Tobias Gentleman published in 1614 his treatise on 'England's Way +to win Wealth, and to employ Ships and Marines,'[16] in which he +urged the English people to vie with the Dutch in fishing the +seas, and thereby to give abundant employment, as well as +abundant food, to the poorer people of the country. + +"Look," he said, "on these fellows, that we call the plump +Hollanders; behold their diligence in fishing, and our own +careless negligence!" The Dutch not only fished along the coasts +near Yarmouth, but their fishing vessels went north as far as the +coasts of Shetland. What most roused Mr. Gentleman's indignation +was, that the Dutchmen caught the fish and sold them to the +Yarmouth herring-mongers "for ready gold, so that it amounteth to +a great sum of money, which money doth never come again into +England." "We are daily scorned," he says, "by these Hollanders, +for being so negligent of our Profit, and careless of our +Fishing; and they do daily flout us that be the poor Fishermen of +England, to our Faces at Sea, calling to us, and saying, 'Ya +English, ya sall or oud scoue dragien;' which, in English, is +this, 'You English, we will make you glad to wear our old +Shoes!'" + +Another pamphlet, to a similar effect, 'The Royal Fishing +revived,'[17] was published fifty years later, in which it was +set forward that the Dutch "have not only gained to themselves +almost the sole fishing in his Majesty's Seas; but principally +upon this Account have very near beat us out of all our other +most profitable Trades in all Parts of the World." It was even +proposed to compel "all Sorts of begging Persons and all other +poor People, all People condemned for less Crimes than Blood," as +well as "all Persons in Prison for Debt," to take part in this +fishing trade! But this was not the true way to force the +traffic. The herring fishery at Yarmouth and along the coast +began to make gradual progress with the growth of wealth and +enterprise throughout the country; though it was not until +1787--less than a hundred years ago--that the Yarmouth men began +the deep-sea herring fishery. + +Before then, the fishing was all carried on along shore in little +cobles, almost within sight of land. The native fishery also +extended northward, along the east coast of Scotland and the +Orkney and Shetland Isles, until now the herring fishery of +Scotland forms one of the greatest industries in the United +Kingdom, and gives employment, directly or indirectly, to close +upon half a million of people, or to one-seventh of the whole +population of Scotland. + +Taking these facts into consideration, therefore, there is no +reason to despair of seeing, before many years have elapsed, a +large development of the fishing industry of Ireland. We may yet +see Galway the Yarmouth, Achill the Grimsby, and Killybegs the +Wick of the West. Modern society in Ireland, as everywhere else, +can only be transformed through the agency of labour, industry, +and commerce--inspired by the spirit of work, and maintained by +the accumulations of capital. The first end of all labour is +security,--security to person, possession, and property, so that +all may enjoy in peace the fruits of their industry. For no +liberty, no freedom, can really exist which does not include the +first liberty of all--the right of public and private safety. + +To show what energy and industry can do in Ireland, it is only +necessary to point to Belfast, one of the most prosperous and +enterprising towns in the British Islands. The land is the same, +the climate is the same, and the laws are the same, as those +which prevail in other parts of Ireland. Belfast is the great +centre of Irish manufactures and commerce, and what she has been +able to do might be done elsewhere, with the same amount of +energy and enterprise. But it is not land, or climate, or +altered laws that are wanted. It is men to lead and direct, and +men to follow with anxious and persevering industry. It is +always the Man society wants. + +The influence of Belfast extends far out into the country. As +you approach it from Sligo, you begin to see that you are nearing +a place where industry has accumulated capital, and where it has +been invested in cultivating and beautifying the land. After you +pass Enniskillen, the fields become more highly cultivated. The +drill-rows are more regular; the hedges are clipped; the weeds no +longer hide the crops, as they sometimes do in the far west. The +country is also adorned with copses, woods, and avenues. A new +crop begins to appear in the fields--a crop almost peculiar to +the neighbourhood of Belfast. It is a plant with a very slender +erect green stem, which, when full grown, branches at the top +into a loose corymb of blue flowers. This is the flax plant, the +cultivation and preparation of which gives employment to a great +number of persons, and is to a large extent the foundation of the +prosperity of Belfast. + +The first appearance of the linen industry of Ireland, as we +approach Belfast from the west, is observed at Portadown. Its +position on the Bann, with its water power, has enabled this +town, as well as the other places on the river, to secure and +maintain their due share in the linen manufacture. Factories +with their long chimneys begin to appear. The fields are richly +cultivated, and a general air of well-being pervades the +district. Lurgan is reached, so celebrated for its diapers; and +the fields there about are used as bleaching-greens. Then comes +Lisburn, a populous and thriving town, the inhabitants of which +are mostly engaged in their staple trade, the manufacture of +damasks. This was really the first centre of the linen trade. +Though Lord Strafford, during his government of Ireland, +encouraged the flax industry, by sending to Holland for +flax-seed, and inviting Flemish and French artisans to settle in +Ireland, it was not until the Huguenots, who had been banished +from France by the persecutions of Louis XIV., settled in Ireland +in such large numbers, that the manufacture became firmly +established. The Crommelins, the Goyers, and the Dupres, were +the real founders of this great branch of industry.[18] + +As the traveller approaches Belfast, groups of houses, factories, +and works of various kinds, appear closer and closer; long +chimneys over boilers and steam-engines, and brick buildings +three or four stories high; large yards full of workmen, carts, +and lorries; and at length we are landed in the midst of a large +manufacturing town. As we enter the streets, everybody seems to +be alive. What struck William Hutton when he first saw +Birmingham, might be said of Belfast: "I was surprised at the +place, but more at the people. They possessed a vivacity I had +never before beheld. I had been among dreamers, but now I saw +men awake. Their very step along the street showed alacrity. +Every man seemed to know what he was about. The town was large, +and full of inhabitants, and these inhabitants full of industry. +The faces of other men seemed tinctured with an idle gloom; but +here with a pleasing alertness. Their appearance was strongly +marked with the modes of civil life." + +Some people do not like manufacturing towns: they prefer old +castles and ruins. They will find plenty of these in other parts +of Ireland. But to found industries that give employment to +large numbers of persons, and enable them to maintain themselves +and families upon the fruits of their labour--instead of living +upon poor-rates levied from the labours of others, or who are +forced, by want of employment, to banish themselves from their +own country, to emigrate and settle among strangers, where they +know not what may become of them--is a most honourable and +important source of influence, and worthy of every encouragement. + +Look at the wonderfully rapid rise of Belfast, originating in the +enterprise of individuals, and developed by the earnest and +anxious industry of the inhabitants of Ulster! + +"God save Ireland!" By all means. But Ireland cannot be saved +without the help of the people who live in it. God endowed men, +there as elsewhere, with reason, will, and physical power; and it +is by patient industry only that they can open up a pathway to +the enduring prosperity of the country. There is no Eden in +nature. The earth might have continued a rude uncultivated +wilderness, but for human energy, power, and industry. These +enable man to subdue the wilderness, and develop the potency of +labour. "Possunt quia credunt posse." They must conquer who +will. + +Belfast is a comparatively modern town. It has no ancient +history. About the beginning of the sixteenth century it was +little better than a fishing village. There was a castle, and a +ford to it across the Lagan. A chapel was built at the ford, at +which hurried prayers were offered up for those who were about to +cross the currents of Lagan Water. In 1575, Sir Henry Sydney +writes to the Lords of the Council: "I was offered skirmish by +MacNeill Bryan Ertaugh at my passage over the water at Belfast, +which I caused to be answered, and passed over without losse of +man or horse; yet by reason of the extraordinaire Retorne our +horses swamme and the Footmen in the passage waded very deep." +The country round about was forest land. It was so thickly +wooded that it was a common saying that one might walk to Lurgan +"on the tops of the trees." + +In 1612, Belfast consisted of about 120 houses, built of mud and +covered with thatch. The whole value of the land on which the +town is built, is said to have been worth only 5L. in fee +simple.[19] "Ulster," said Sir John Davies, "is a very desert or +wilderness; the inhabitants thereof having for the most part no +certain habitation in any towns or villages." In 1659, Belfast +contained only 600 inhabitants: Carrickfergus was more +important, and had 1312 inhabitants. But about 1660, the Long +Bridge over the Lagan was built, and prosperity began to dawn +upon the little town. It was situated at the head of a navigable +lough, and formed an outlet for the manufacturing products of the +inland country. Ships of any burden, however, could not come +near the town. The cargoes, down even to a recent date, had to +be discharged into lighters at Garmoyle. Streams of water made +their way to the Lough through the mud banks; and a rivulet ran +through what is now known as the High Street. + +The population gradually increased. In 1788 Belfast had 12,000 +inhabitants. But it was not until after the Union with Great +Britain that the town made so great a stride. At the beginning +of the present century it had about 20,000 inhabitants. At every +successive census, the progress made was extraordinary, until now +the population of Belfast amounts to over 225,000. There is +scarcely an instance of so large a rate of increase in the +British Islands, save in the exceptional case of Middlesborough, +which was the result of the opening out of the Stockton and +Darlington Railway, and the discovery of ironstone in the hills +of Cleveland in Yorkshire. Dundee and Barrow are supposed to +present the next most rapid increases of population. + +The increase of shipping has also been equally great. Ships from +other ports frequented the Lough for purposes of trade; but in +course of time the Belfast merchants supplied themselves with +ships of their own. In 1791 one William Ritchie, a sturdy North +Briton, brought with him from Glasgow ten men and a quantity of +shipbuilding materials. He gradually increased the number of his +workmen, and proceeded to build a few sloops. He reclaimed some +land from the sea, and made a shipyard and graving dock on what +was known as Corporation Ground. In November 1800 the new +graving dock, near the bridge, was opened for the reception of +vessels. It was capable of receiving three vessels of 200 tons +each! In 1807 a vessel of 400 tons burthen was launched from Mr. +Ritchie's shipyard, when a great crowd of people assembled to +witness the launching of "so large a ship"--far more than now +assemble to see a 3000-tonner of the White Star Line leave the +slips and enter the water! + +The shipbuilding trade has been one of the most rapidly +developed, especially of late years. In 1805 the number of +vessels frequenting the port was 840; whereas in 1883 the number +had been increased to 7508, with about a million and a-half of +tonnage; while the gross value of the exports from Belfast +exceeded twenty millions sterling annually. In 1819 the first +steamboat of 100 tons was used to tug the vessels up the windings +of the Lough, which it did at the rate of three miles an hour, to +the astonishment of everybody. Seven years later, the steamboat +Rob Roy was put on between Glasgow and Belfast. But these +vessels had been built in Scotland. It was not until 1826 that +the first steamboat, the chieftain, was built in Belfast, by the +same William Ritchie. Then, in 1838, the first iron boat was +built in the Lagan foundry, by Messrs. Coates and Young, though +it was but a mere cockle-shell compared with the mighty ocean +steamers which are now regularly launched from Queen's Island. +In the year 1883 the largest shipbuilding firm in the town +launched thirteen vessels, of over 30,000 tons gross, while two +other firms launched twelve ships, of about 10,000 tons gross. + +I do not propose to enter into details respecting the progress of +the trades of Belfast. The most important is the spinning of +fine linen yarn, which is for the most part concentrated in that +town, over 25,000,000 of pounds weight being exported annually. +Towards the end of the seventeenth century the linen manufacture +had made but little progress. In 1680 all Ireland did not export +more than 6000L. worth annually. Drogheda was then of greater +importance than Belfast. But with the settlement of the +persecuted Hugnenots in Ulster, and especially through the +energetic labours of Crommelin, Goyer, and others, the growth of +flax was sedulously cultivated, and its manufacture into linen of +all sorts became an important branch of Irish industry. In the +course of about fifty years the exports of linen fabrics +increased to the value of over 600,000L. per annum. + +It was still, however, a handicraft manufacture, and done for the +most part at home. Flax was spun and yarn was woven by hand. +Eventually machinery was employed, and the turn-out became +proportionately large and valuable. It would not be possible for +hand labour to supply the amount of linen now turned out by the +aid of machinery. It would require three times the entire +population of Ireland to spin and weave, by the old +spinning-wheel and hand-loom methods, the amount of linen cloth +now annually manufactured by the operatives of Belfast alone. +There are now forty large spinning-mills in Belfast and the +neighbourhood, which furnish employment to a very large number of +working people.[20] + +In the course of my visit to Belfast, I inspected the works of +the York Street flax-spinning mills, founded in 1830 by the +Messrs. Mulholland, which now give employment, directly or +indirectly, to many thousand persons. I visited also, with my +young Italian friend, the admirable printing establishment of +Marcus Ward and Co., the works of the Belfast Rope-work Company, +and the shipbuilding works of Harland and Wolff. There we passed +through the roar of the iron forge, the clang of the Nasmyth +hammer, and the intermittent glare of the furnaces--all telling +of the novel appliances of modern shipbuilding, and the power of +the modern steam-engine. I prefer to give a brief account of +this latter undertaking, as it exhibits one of the newest and +most important industries of Belfast. It also shows, on the part +of its proprietors, a brave encounter with difficulties, and sets +before the friends of Ireland the truest and surest method of not +only giving employment to its people, but of building up on the +surest foundations the prosperity of the country. + +The first occasion on which I visited Belfast--the reader will +excuse the introduction of myself--was in 1840; about forty-four +years ago. I went thither on the invitation of the late Wm. +Sharman Crawford, Esq., M.P., the first prominent advocate of +tenant-right, to attend a public meeting of the Ulster +Association, and to spend a few days with him at his residence at +Crawfordsburn, near Bangor. Belfast was then a town of +comparatively little importance, though it had already made a +fair start in commerce and industry. As our steamer approached +the head of the Lough, a large number of labourers were +observed--with barrows, picks, and spades--scooping out and +wheeling up the slob and mud of the estuary, for the purpose of +forming what is now known as Queen's Island, on the eastern side +of the river Lagan. The work was conducted by William Dargan, +the famous Irish contractor; and its object was to make a +straight artificial outlet--the Victoria Channel--by means of +which vessels drawing twenty-three feet of water might reach the +port of Belfast. Before then, the course of the Lagan was +tortuous and difficult of navigation; but by the straight cut, +which was completed in l846, and afterwards extended further +seawards, ships of large burden were enabled to reach the quays, +which extend for about a mile below Queen's Bridge, on both sides +of the river. + +It was a saying of honest William Dargan, that "when a thing is +put anyway right at all, it takes a vast deal of mismanagement to +make it go wrong." He had another curious saying about "the calf +eating the cow's belly," which, he said, was not right, "at all, +at all." Belfast illustrated his proverbial remarks. That the +cutting of the Victoria Channel was doing the "right thing" for +Belfast, was clear, from the constantly increasing traffic of the +port. In course of time, several extensive docks and tidal +basins were added; while provision was made, in laying out the +reclaimed land at the entrance of the estuary, for their future +extension and enlargement. The town of Belfast was by these +means gradually placed in immediate connection by sea with the +principal western ports of England and Scotland,--steamships of +large burden now leaving it daily for Liverpool, Glasgow, +Fleetwood, Barrow, and Ardrossan. The ships entering the port of +Belfast in 1883 were 7508, of 1,526,535 tonnage; they had been +more than doubled in fifteen years. The town has risen from +nothing, to exhibit a Customs revenue, in 1883, of 608,781L., +infinitely greater than that of Leith, the port of Edinburgh, or +of Hull, the chief port of Yorkshire. The population has also +largely increased. When I visited Belfast in 1840, the town +contained 75,000 inhabitants. They are now over 225,006, or more +than trebled,--Belfast being the tenth town, in point of +population, in the United Kingdom. + +The spirit and enterprise of the people are illustrated by the +variety of their occupations. They do not confine themselves to +one branch of business; but their energies overflow into nearly +every department of industry. Their linen manufacture is of +world-wide fame; but much less known are their more recent +enterprises. The production of aerated waters, for instance, is +something extraordinary. In 1882 the manufacturers shipped off +53,163 packages, and 24,263 cwts. of aerated waters to England, +Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries. While +Ireland produces no wrought iron, though it contains plenty of +iron-stone,--and Belfast has to import all the iron which it +consumes,--yet one engineering firm alone, that of Combe, +Barbour, and Combe, employs 1500 highly-paid mechanics, and ships +off its iron machinery to all parts of the world. The printing +establishment of Marcus Ward and Co. employs over 1000 highly +skilled and ingenious persons, and extends the influence of +learning and literature into all civilised countries. We might +add the various manufactures of roofing felt (of which there are +five), of ropes, of stoves, of stable fittings, of nails, of +starch, of machinery; all of which have earned a world-wide +reputation. + +We prefer, however, to give an account of the last new industry +of Belfast--that of shipping and shipbuilding. Although, as we +have said, Belfast imports from Scotland and England all its iron +and all its coal,[21] it nevertheless, by the skill and strength +of its men, sends out some of the finest and largest steamships +which navigate the Atlantic and Pacific. It all comes from the +power of individuality, and furnishes a splendid example for +Dublin, Cork, Waterford, and Limerick, each of which is provided +by nature with magnificent harbours, with fewer of those +difficulties of access which Belfast has triumphed over; and each +of which might be the centre of some great industrial enterprise, +provided only there were patriotic men willing to embark their +capital, perfect protection for the property invested, and men +willing to work rather than to strike. + +It was not until the year 1853 that the Queen's Island--raked out +of the mud of the slob-land--was first used for shipbuilding +purposes. Robert Hickson and Co. then commenced operations by +laying down the Mary Stenhouse, a wooden sailing-ship of 1289 +tons register; and the vessel was launched in the following year. + +The operations of the firm were continued until the year 1859, +when the shipbuilding establishments on Queen's Island were +acquired by Mr. E. J. Harland (afterwards Harland and Wolff), +since which time the development of this great branch of industry +in Belfast has been rapid and complete. + +From the history of this firm, it will be found that energy is +the most profitable of all merchandise; and that the fruit of +active work is the sweetest of all fruits. Harland and Wolff are +the true Watt and Boulton of Belfast. At the beginning of their +great enterprise, their works occupied about four acres of land; +they now occupy over thirty-six acres. The firm has imported not +less than two hundred thousand tons of iron; which have been +converted by skill and labour into 168 ships of 253,000 total +tonnage. These ships, if laid close together, would measure +nearly eight miles in length. + +The advantage to the wage-earning class can only be shortly +stated. Not less than 34 per cent. is paid in labour on the cost +of the ships turned out. The number of persons employed in the +works is 3920; and the weekly wages paid to them is 4000L., or +over 200,000L. annually. Since the commencement of the +undertaking, about two millions sterling have been paid in wages. + +All this goes towards the support of the various industries of +the place. That the working classes of Belfast are thrifty and +frugal may be inferred from the fact that at the end of 1882 they +held deposits in the Savings Bank to the amount of 230,289L., +besides 158,064L. in the Post Office Savings Banks.[22] Nearly +all the better class working people of the town live in separate +dwellings, either rented or their own property. There are ten +Building Societies in Belfast, in which industrious people may +store their earnings, and in course of time either buy or build +their own houses. + +The example of energetic, active men always spreads. Belfast +contains two other shipbuilding yards, both the outcome of +Harland and Wolff's enterprise; those of Messrs. Macilwaine and +Lewis, employing about four hundred men, and of Messrs. Workman +and Clarke, employing about a thousand. The heads of both these +firms were trained in the parent shipbuilding works of Belfast. +There is do feeling of rivalry between the firms, but all work +together for the good of the town. + +In Plutarch's Lives, we are told that Themistocles said on one +occasion, "'Tis true that I have never learned how to tune a +harp, or play upon a lute, but I know how to raise a small and +inconsiderable city to glory and greatness." So might it be said +of Harland and Wolff. They have given Belfast not only a potency +for good, but a world-wide reputation. Their energies overflow. +Mr. Harland is the active and ever-prudent Chairman of the most +important of the local boards, the Harbour Trust of Belfast, and +exerts himself to promote the extension of the harbour facilities +of the port as if the benefits were to be exclusively his own; +while Mr. Wolff is the Chairman of one of the latest born +industries of the place, the Belfast Rope-work Company, which +already gives employment to over 600 persons. + +This last-mentioned industry is only about six years old. The +works occupy over seven acres of ground, more than six acres of +which are under roofing. Although the whole of the raw material +is imported from abroad from Russia, the Philippine Islands, New +Zealand, and Central America--it is exported again in a +manufactured state to all parts of the world. + +Such is the contagion of example, and such the ever-branching +industries with which men of enterprise and industry can enrich +and bless their country. The following brief memoir of the +career of Mr. Harland has been furnished at my solicitation; and +I think that it will be found full of interest as well as +instruction. + + +Footnotes for Chapter X. + +[1] Report in the Cork Examiner, 5th July, 1883. + +[2] In 1883, as compared with 1882, there was a decrease of +58,022 acres in the land devoted to the growth of wheat; there +was a total decrease of 114,871 acres in the land under +tillage.--Agricultural Statistics, Ireland, 1883. Parliamentary +Return, c. 3768. + +[3] Statistical Abstract for the United Kingdom, 1883. + +[4] The particulars are these: deposits in Irish Post Office +Savings Banks, 31st December, 1882, 1,925,440; to the credit of +depositors and Government stock, 125,000L.; together, 2,050,440L. + +The increase of deposits over those made in the preceding year, +were: in Dublin, 31,321L.; in Antrim, 23,328L.; in Tyrone, +21,315L.; in Cork, 17,034L.; and in Down, 10,382L. + +[5] The only thriving manufacture now in Dublin is that of +intoxicating drinks--beer, porter, stout, and whisky. Brewing +and distilling do not require skilled labour, so that strikes do +not affect them. + +[6] Times, 11th June, 1883. + +[7] The valuation of the county of Aberdeen (exclusive of the +city) was recently 866,816L., whereas the value of the herrings +(748,726 barrels) caught round the coast (at 25s. the barrel) was +935,907L., thereby exceeding the estimated annual rental of the +county by 69,091L. The Scotch fishermen catch over a million +barrels of herrings annually, representing a value of about a +million and a-half sterling. + +[8] A recent number of Land and Water supplies the following +information as to the fishing at Kinsale:-- "The takes of fish +have been so enormous and unprecedented that buyers can scarcely +be found, even when, as now, mackerel are selling at one shilling +per six score. Piles of magnificent fish lie rotting in the sun. + +The sides of Kinsale Harbour are strewn with them, and +frequently, when they have become a little 'touched,' whole +boat-loads are thrown overboard into the water. This great waste +is to be attributed to scarcity of hands to salt the fish and +want of packing-boxes. Some of the boats are said to have made +as much as 500L. this season. The local fishing company are +making active preparations for the approaching herring fishery, +and it is anticipated that Kinsale may become one of the centres +of this description of fishing." + +[9] Statistical Journal for March 1848. Paper by Richard Valpy +on "The Resources of the Irish Sea Fisheries," pp. 55-72. + +[10] HALL, Retrospect of a Long Life, ii. 324. + +[11] The Commissioners of Irish Fisheries, in one of their +reports, observe:--"Notwithstanding the diminished population, +the fish captured round the coast is so inadequate to the wants +of the population that fully 150,000L. worth of ling, cod, and +herring are annually imported from Norway, Newfoundland, and +Scotland, the vessels bearing these cargoes, as they approach the +shores of Ireland, frequently sailing through large shoals of +fish of the same description as they are freighted with!" + +[12] The following examination of Mr. J. Ennis, chairman of the +Midland and Great Western Railway, took place before the "Royal +Commission on Railways," as long ago as the year 1846:- + +Chairman--"Is the fish traffic of any importance to your +railway?" + +Mr. Ennis--"of course it is, and we give it all the facilities +that we can.... But the Galway fisheries, where one would expect +to find plenty of fish, are totally neglected." + +Sir Rowland Hill--"What is the reason of that?" + +Mr. Ennis-- "I will endeavour to explain. I had occasion a few +nights ago to speak to a gentleman in the House of Commons with +regard to an application to the Fishery Board for 2000L. to +restore the pier at Buffin, in Clew Bay, and I said, 'Will you +join me in the application? I am told it is a place that swarms +with fish, and if we had a pier there the fishermen will have +some security, and they will go out.' The only answer I received +was, 'They will not go out; they pay no attention whatever to the +fisheries; they allow the fish to come and go without making any +effort to catch them....'" + +Mr. Ayrton-- "Do you think that if English fishermen went to the +west coast of Ireland they would be able to get on in harmony +with the native fishermen?" + +Mr. Ennis-- "We know the fact to be, that some years ago, a +company was established for the purpose of trawling in Galway +Bay, and what was the consequence? The Irish fishermen, who +inhabit a region in the neighbourhood of Galway, called Claddagh, +turned out against them, and would not allow them to trawl, and +the Englishmen very properly went away with their lives." + +Sir Rowland Hill-- "Then they will neither fish themselves nor +allow any one else to fish!" + +Mr. Ennis-- "It seems to be so." --Minutes of Evidence, 175-6. + +[13] The Derry Journal. + +[14] Report of Inspectors of Irish Fisheries for 1882. + +[15] The Report of the Inspectors of Irish Fisheries on the Sea +and Inland Fisheries of Ireland for 1882, gives a large amount of +information as to the fish which swarm round the Irish coast. +Mr. Brady reports on the abundance of herring and other fish all +round the coast. Shoals of herrings "remained off nearly the +entire coast of Ireland from August till December." "Large +shoals of pilchards" were observed on the south and south-west +coasts. Off Dingle, it is remarked, "the supply of all kinds of +fish is practically inexhaustible." + +"Immense shoals of herrings off Liscannor and Loop Head;" "the +mackerel is always on this coast, and can be captured at any time +of the year, weather permitting." At Belmullet, "the shoals of +fish off the coast, particularly herring and mackerel, are +sometimes enormous." The fishermen, though poor, are all very +orderly and well conducted. They only want energy and industry. + +[16] The Harleian Miscellany, iii. 378-91. + +[17] The Harleian Miscellany, iii. 392. + +[18] See The Huguenots in England and Ireland. A Board of +Traders, for the encouragement and promotion of the hemp and flax +manufacture in Ireland, was appointed by an Act of Parliament at +the beginning of last century (6th October, 1711), and the year +after the appointment of the Board the following notice was +placed on the records of the institution: --"Louis Crommelin and +the Huguenot colony have been greatly instrumental in improving +and propagating the flaxen manufacture in the north of this +Kingdom, and the perfection to which the same is brought in that +part of the country has been greatly owing to the skill and +industry of the said Crommelin." In a history of the linen +trade, published at Belfast, it is said that "the dignity which +that enterprising man imparted to labour, and the halo which his +example cast around physical exertion, had the best effect in +raising the tone of popular feeling, as well among the patricians +as among the peasants of the north of Ireland. This love of +industry did much to break down the national prejudice in favour +of idleness, and cast doubts on the social orthodoxy of the idea +then so popular with the squirearchy, that those alone who were +able to live without employment had any rightful claim to the +distinctive title of gentleman.... A patrician by birth and a +merchant by profession, Crommelin proved, by his own life, his +example, and his enterprise, that an energetic manufacturer may, +at the same time, take a high place in the conventional world." + +[19] Benn's History of Belfast, p. 78. + +[20] From the Irish Manufacturers' Almanack for 1883 I learn that +nearly one-third of the spindles used in Europe in the linen +trade, and more than one-fourth of the power-looms, belong to +Ireland, that "the Irish linen and associated trades at present +give employment to 176,303 persons; and it is estimated that the +capital sunk in spinning and weaving factories, and the business +incidental thereto, is about 100,000,000L., and of that sum +37,000,000L. is credited to Belfast alone." + +[21] The importation of coal in 1883 amounted to over 700,000 +tons. + +[22] We are indebted to the obliging kindness of the Right Hon. +Mr. Fawcett, Postmaster-General for this return. The total +number of depositors in the Post Office Savings banks in the +Parliamentary borough of Belfast is 10,827 and the amount of +their deposits, including the interest standing to their credit, +on the 31st December, 1882, was 158,064L. 0s. 1d. + +An important item in the savings of Belfast, not included in the +above returns, consists in the amounts of deposits made with the +various Limited Companies, as well as with the thriving Building +Societies in the town and neighbourhood. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +SHIPBUILDING IN BELFAST--ITS ORIGIN AND PROGRESS. + +BY SIR E. J. HARLAND, ENGINEER AND SHIPBUILDER. + +"The useful arts are but reproductions or new combinations by the +art of man, of the same natural benefactors. He no longer waits +for favouring gales, but by means of steam he realises the fable +of AEolus's bag, and carries the two-and-thirty winds in the +boiler of his boat."--Emerson. + +"The most exquisite and the most expensive machinery is brought +into play where operations on the most common materials are to be +performed, because these are executed on the widest scale. This +is the meaning of the vast and astonishing prevalence of machine +work in this country: that the machine, with its million fingers, +works for millions of purchasers, while in remote countries, +where magnificence and savagery stand side by side, tens of +thousands work for one. There Art labours for the rich alone; +here she works for the poor no less. There the multitude produce +only to give splendour and grace to the despot or the warrior, +whose slaves they are, and whom they enrich; here the man who is +powerful in the weapons of peace, capital, and machinery, uses +them to give comfort and enjoyment to the public, whose servant +he is, and thus becomes rich while he enriches others with his +goods."--William Whewell, D.D. + +I was born at Scarborough in May, 1831, the sixth of a family of +eight. My father was a native of Rosedale, half-way between +Whitby and Pickering: his nurse was the sister of Captain +Scoresby, celebrated as an Arctic explorer. Arrived at manhood, +he studied medicine, graduated at Edinburgh, and practised in +Scarborough until nearly his death in 1866. He was thrice Mayor +and a Justice of the Peace for the borough. Dr. Harland was a +man of much force of character, and displayed great originality +in the treatment of disease. Besides exercising skill in his +profession, he had a great love for mechanical pursuits. He +spent his leisure time in inventions of many sorts; and, in +conjunction with the late Sir George Cayley of Brompton, he kept +an excellent mechanic constantly at work. + +In 1827 he invented and patented a steam-carriage for running on +common roads. Before the adoption of railways, the old stage +coaches were found slow and insufficient for the traffic. A +working model of the steam-coach was perfected, embracing a +multitubular boiler for quickly raising high-pressure steam, with +a revolving surface condenser for reducing the steam to water +again, by means of its exposure to the cold draught of the +atmosphere through the interstices of extremely thin laminations +of copper plates. The entire machinery, placed under the bottom +of the carriage, was borne on springs; the whole being of an +elegant form. This model steam-carriage ascended with perfect +ease the steepest roads. Its success was so complete that Dr. +Harland designed a full-sized carriage; but the demands upon his +professional skill were so great that he was prevented going +further than constructing the pair of engines, the wheels, and a +part of the boiler,--all of which remnants I still preserve, as +valuable links in the progress of steam locomotion. + +Other branches of practical science--such as electricity, +magnetism, and chemical cultivation of the soil--received a share +of his attention. He predicted that three or four powerful +electric lamps would yet light a whole city. He was also +convinced of the feasibility of an electric cable to New York, +and calculated the probable cost. As an example to the +neighbourhood, he successfully cultivated a tract of moorland, +and overcame difficulties which before then were thought +insurmountable. + +When passing through Newcastle, while still a young man, on one +of his journeys to the University at Edinburgh, and being +desirous of witnessing the operations in a coal-mine, a friend +recommended him to visit Killingworth pit, where he would find +one George Stephenson, a most intelligent workman, in charge. My +father was introduced to Mr. Stephenson accordingly; and after +rambling over the underground workings, and observing the pumping +and winding engines in full operation, a friendship was made, +which afterwards proved of the greatest service to myself, by +facilitating my being placed as a pupil at the great engineering +works of Messrs. Robert Stephenson and Co., at Newcastle. + +My mother was the daughter of Gawan Pierson, a landed proprietor +of Goathland, near Rosedale. She, too, was surprisingly +mechanical in her tastes; and assisted my father in preparing +many of his plans, besides attaining considerable proficiency in +drawing, painting, and modelling in wax. Toys in those days were +poor, as well as very expensive to purchase. But the nursery +soon became a little workshop under her directions; and the boys +were usually engaged, one in making a cart, another in carving +out a horse, and a third in cutting out a boat; while the girls +were making harness, or sewing sails, or cutting out and making +perfect dresses for their dolls--whose houses were completely +furnished with everything, from the kitchen to the attic, all +made at home. + +It was in a house of such industry and mechanism that I was +brought up. As a youth, I was slow at my lessons; preferring to +watch and assist workmen when I had an opportunity of doing so, +even with the certainty of having a thrashing from the +schoolmaster for my neglect. Thus I got to know every workshop +and every workman in the town. At any rate I picked up a +smattering of a variety of trades, which afterwards proved of the +greatest use to me. The chief of these was wooden shipbuilding, +a branch of industry then extensively carried on by Messrs. +William and Robert Tindall, the former of whom resided in London; +he was one of the half-dozen great shipbuilders and owners who +founded "Lloyd's." Splendid East Indiamen, of some 1000 tons +burden, were then built at Scarborough; and scarcely a timber was +moulded, a plank bent, a spar lined off, or launching ship-ways +laid, without my being present to witness them. And thus, in +course of time, I was able to make for myself the neatest and +fastest of model yachts. + +At that time, I attended the Grammar School. Of the rudiments +taught, I was fondest of drawing, geometry, and Euclid. Indeed, +I went twice through the first two books of the latter before I +was twelve years old. At this age I was sent to the Edinburgh +Academy, my eldest brother William being then a medical student +at the University. I remained at Edinburgh two years. My early +progress in mathematics would have been lost in the classical +training which was then insisted upon at the academy, but for my +brother who was not only a good mathematician but an excellent +mechanic. He took care to carry on my instruction in that branch +of knowledge, as well as to teach me to make models of machines +and buildings, in which he was himself proficient. I remember, +in one of my journeys to Edinburgh, by coach from Darlington, +that a gentleman expressed his wonder what a screw propeller +could be like; for the screw, as a method of propulsion, was then +being introduced. I pointed out to him the patent tail of a +windmill by the roadside, and said, "It is just like that!" + +In 1844 my mother died; and shortly after, my brother having +become M.D., and obtained a prize gold medal, we returned to +Scarborough. It was intended that he should assist my father; +but he preferred going abroad for a few years. I may mention +further, with relation to him, that after many years of +scientific research and professional practice, he died at Hong +Kong in 1858, when a public monument was erected to his memory, +in what is known as the "Happy Valley." + +I remained for a short time under the tuition of my old master. +But as the time was rapidly approaching when I too must determine +what I was "to be" in life. I had no hesitation in deciding to +be an engineer, though my father wished me to be a barrister. +But I kept constant to my resolution; and eventually he +succeeded, through his early acquaintance with George Stephenson, +in gaining for me an entrance to the engineering works of Robert +Stephenson and Co., at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. I started there as a +pupil on my fifteenth birthday, for an apprenticeship of five +years. I was to spend the first four years in the various +workshops, and the last year in the drawing-office. + +I was now in my element. The working hours, it is true, were +very long,--being from six in the morning until 8.15 at night; +excepting on Saturday, when we knocked off at four. However, all +this gave me so much the more experience; and, taking advantage +of it, I found that, when I had reached the age of eighteen, I +was intrusted with the full charge of erecting one side of a +locomotive. I had to accomplish the same amount of work as my +mate on the other side, one Murray Playfair, a powerful, +hard-working Scotchman. My strength and endurance were sometimes +taxed to the utmost, and required the intervals of my labour to +be spent in merely eating and sleeping. + +I afterwards went through the machine-shops. I was fortunate +enough to get charge of the best screw-cutting and brass-turning +lathe in the shop; the former occupant, Jack Singleton, having +just been promoted to a foreman's berth at the Messrs. +Armstrong's factory. He afterwards became superintendent of all +the hydraulic machinery of the Mersey Dock Trust at Liverpool. +After my four years had been completed, I went into the +drawing-office, to which I had looked forward with pleasure; and, +having before practised lineal as well as free-hand drawing, I +soon succeeded in getting good and difficult designs to work out, +and eventually finished drawings of the engines. Indeed, on +visiting the works many years after, one of these drawings was +shown to me as a "specimen;" the person exhibiting it not knowing +that it was my own work. + +In the course of my occasional visits to Scarborough, my +attention was drawn to the imperfect design of the lifeboats of +the period; the frequent shipwrecks along the coast indicating +the necessity for their improvement. After considerable +deliberation, I matured a plan for a metal lifeboat, of a +cylindrico-conical or chrysalis form, to be propelled by a screw +at each end, turned by sixteen men inside, seated on +water-ballast tanks; sufficient room being left at the ends +inside for the accommodation of ten or twelve shipwrecked +persons; while a mate near the bow, and the captain near the +stern in charge of the rudder, were stationed in recesses in the +deck about three feet deep. The whole apparatus was almost +cylindrical, and watertight, save in the self-acting ventilators, +which could only give access to the smallest portion of water. I +considered that, if the lifeboat fully manned were launched into +the roughest seas, or off the deck of a vessel, it would, even if +turned on its back, immediately right itself, without any of the +crew being disturbed from their positions, to which they were to +have been strapped. + +It happened that at this time (the summer of 1850) his Grace the +late Duke of Northumberland, who had always taken a deep interest +in the Lifeboat Institution, offered a prize of one hundred +guineas for the best model and design of such a craft; so I +determined to complete my plans and make a working model of my +lifeboat. I came to the conclusion that the cylindrico-conical +form, with the frames to be carried completely round and forming +beams as well, and the two screws, one at each end, worked off +the same power, by which one or other of them would always be +immersed, were worth registering in the Patent Office. I +therefore entered a caveat there; and continued working at my +model in the evenings. I first made a wooden block model, on the +scale of an inch to the foot. I had some difficulty in procuring +sheets of copper thin enough, so that the model should draw only +the correct amount of water; but at last I succeeded, through +finding the man at Newcastle who had supplied my father with +copper plates for his early road locomotive. + +The model was only 32 inches in length, and 8 inches in beam; and +in order to fix all the internal fittings, of tanks, seats, crank +handles, and pulleys, I had first to fit the shell plating, and +then, by finally securing one strake of plates on, and then +another, after all inside was complete, I at last finished for +good the last outside plate. In executing the job, my early +experience of all sorts of handiwork came serviceably to my aid. +After many a whole night's work--for the evenings alone were not +sufficient for the purpose--I at length completed my model; and +triumphantly and confidently took it to sea in an open boat; and +then cast it into the waves. The model either rode over them or +passed through them; if it was sometimes rolled over, it righted +itself at once, and resumed its proper attitude in the waters. +After a considerable trial I found scarcely a trace of water +inside. Such as had got there was merely through the joints in +the sliding hatches; though the ventilators were free to work +during the experiments. + +I completed the prescribed drawings and specifications, and sent +them, together with the model, to Somerset House. Some 280 +schemes of lifeboats were submitted for competition; but mine was +not successful. I suspect that the extreme novelty of the +arrangement deterred the adjudicators from awarding in its +favour. Indeed, the scheme was so unprecedented, and so entirely +out of the ordinary course of things, that there was no special +mention made of it in the report afterwards published, and even +the description there given was incorrect. The prize was awarded +to Mr. James Beeching, of Great Yarmouth, whose plans were +afterwards generally adopted by the Lifeboat Society. I have +preserved my model just as it was; and some of its features have +since been introduced with advantage into shipbuilding.[1] + +The firm of Robert Stephenson and Co. having contracted to build +for the Government three large iron caissons for the Keyham +Docks, and as these were very similar in construction to that of +an ordinary iron ship, draughtsmen conversant with that class of +work were specially engaged to superintend it. The manager, +knowing my fondness for ships, placed me as his assistant at this +new work. After I had mastered it, I endeavoured to introduce +improvements, having observed certain defects in laying down the +lines--I mean by the use of graduated curves cut out of thin +wood. In lieu of this method, I contrived thin tapered laths of +lancewood, and weights of a particular form, with steel claws and +knife edges attached, so as to hold the lath tightly down to the +paper, yet capable of being readily adjusted, so as to produce +any form of curve, along which the pen could freely and +continuously travel. This method proved very efficient, and it +has since come into general use. + +The Messrs. Stephenson were then also making marine engines, as +well as large condensing pumping engines, and a large tubular +bridge to be erected over the river Don. The splendid high-level +bridge over the Tyne, of which Robert Stephenson was the +engineer, was also in course of construction. With the +opportunity of seeing these great works in progress, and of +visiting, during my holidays and long evenings, most of the +manufactories and mines in the neighbourhood of Newcastle, I +could not fail to pick up considerable knowledge, and an +acquaintance with a vast variety of trades. There were about +thirty other pupils in the works at the same time with myself; +some were there either through favour or idle fancy; but +comparatively few gave their full attention to the work, and I +have since heard nothing of them. Indeed, unless a young fellow +takes a real interest in his work, and has a genuine love for it, +the greatest advantages will prove of no avail whatever. + +It was a good plan adopted at the works, to require the pupils to +keep the same hours as the rest of the men, and, though they paid +a premium on entering, to give them the same rate of wages as the +rest of the lads. Mr. William Hutchinson, a contemporary of +George Stephenson, was the managing partner. He was a person of +great experience, and had the most thorough knowledge of men and +materials, knowing well how to handle both to the best advantage. + +His son-in-law, Mr. William Weallans, was the head draughtsman, +and very proficient, not only in quickness but in accuracy and +finish. I found it of great advantage to have the benefit of the +example and the training of these very clever men. + +My five years apprenticeship was completed in May 1851, on my +twentieth birthday. Having had but very little "black time," as +it was called, beyond the half-yearly holiday for visiting my +friends, and having only "slept in" twice during the five years, +I was at once entered on the books as a journeyman, on the "big" +wage of twenty shillings a week. Orders were, however, at that +time very difficult to be had. + +Railway trucks, and even navvies' barrows, were contracted for in +order to keep the men employed. It was better not to discharge +them, and to find something for them to do. At the same time it +was not very encouraging for me, under such circumstances, to +remain with the firm. I therefore soon arranged to leave; and +first of all I went to see London. It was the Great Exhibition +year of 1851. I need scarcely say what a rich feast I found +there, and how thoroughly I enjoyed it all. I spent about two +months in inspecting the works of art and mechanics in the +Exhibition, to my own great advantage. I then returned home; +and, after remaining in Scarborough for a short time, I proceeded +to Glasgow with a letter of introduction to Messrs. J. and G. +Thomson, marine engine builders, who started me on the same wages +which I had received at Stephenson's, namely twenty shillings a +week. + +I found the banks of the Clyde splendid ground for gaining +further mechanical knowledge. There were the ship and engine +works on both sides of the river, down to Govan; and below there, +at Renfrew, Dumbarton, Port Glasgow, and Greenock--no end of +magnificent yards--so that I had plenty of occupation for my +leisure time on Saturday afternoons. The works of Messrs. Robert +Napier and Sons were then at the top of the tree. The largest +Cunard steamers were built and engined there. Tod and Macgregor +were the foremost in screw steamships--those for the Peninsular +and Oriental Company being splendid models of symmetry and works +of art. Some of the fine wooden paddle-steamers built in Bristol +for the Royal Mail Company were sent round to the Clyde for their +machinery. I contrived to board all these ships from time to +time, so as to become well acquainted with their respective +merits and peculiarities. + +As an illustration of how contrivances, excellent in principle, +but defective in construction, may be discarded, but again taken +up under more favourable circumstances, I may mention that I saw +a Hall's patent surface-condensor thrown to one side from one of +these steamers, the principal difficulty being in keeping it +tight. And yet, in the course of a very few years, by the +simplest possible contrivance--inserting an indiarubber ring +round each end of the tube (Spencer's patent)--surface +condensation in marine engines came into vogue; and there is +probably no ocean-going steamer afloat without it, furnished with +every variety of suitable packings. + +After some time, the Messrs. Thomson determined to build their +own vessels, and an experienced naval draughtsman was engaged, to +whom I was "told off" whenever he needed assistance. In the +course of time, more and more of the ship work came in my way. +Indeed, I seemed to obtain the preference. Fortunately for us +both, my superior obtained an appointment of a similar kind on +the Tyne, at superior pay, and I was promoted to his place. The +Thomsons had now a very fine shipbuilding-yard, in full working +order, with several large steamers on the stocks. I was placed +in the drawing-office as head draughtsman. At the same time I +had no rise of wages; but still went on enjoying my twenty +shillings a week. I was, however, gaining information and +experience, and knew that better pay would follow in due course +of time. And without solicitation I was eventually offered an +engagement for a term of years, at an increased and increasing +salary, with three months' notice on either side. + +I had only enjoyed the advance for a short time, when Mr. Thomas +Toward, a shipbuilder on the Tyne, being in want of a manager, +made application to the Messrs. Stephenson for such a person. +They mentioned my name, and Mr. Toward came over to the Clyde to +see me. The result was, that I became engaged, and it was +arranged that I should enter on my enlarged duties on the Tyne in +the autumn of 1853. It was with no small reluctance that I left +the Messrs. Thomson. They were first-class practical men, and +had throughout shown me every kindness and consideration. But a +managership was not to be had every day; and being the next step +to the position of a master, I could not neglect the opportunity +for advancement which now offered itself. + +Before leaving Glasgow, however, I found that it would be +necessary to have a new angle and plate furnace provided for the +works on the Tyne. Now, the best man in Glasgow for building +these important requisites for shipbuilding work was scarcely +ever sober; but by watching and coaxing him, and by a liberal +supply of Glenlivat afterwards, I contrived to lay down on paper, +from his directions, what he considered to be the best class of +furnace; and by the aid of this I was afterwards enabled to +construct what proved to be the best furnace on the Tyne. + +To return to my education in shipbuilding. My early efforts in +ship-draughting at Stephensons' were further developed and +matured at Thomsons' on the Clyde. Models and drawings were more +carefully worked out on the 1/4-in. scale than heretofore. The +stern frames were laid off and put up at once correctly, which +before had been first shaped by full-sized wooden moulds. I also +contrived a mode of quickly and correctly laying off the +frame-lines on a model, by laying it on a plane surface, and +then, with a rectangular block traversing it--a pencil in a +suitable holder being readily applied over the curved surface. +This method is now in general use. + +Even at that time, competition as regards speed in the Clyde +steamers was very keen. Foremost among the competitors was the +late Mr. David Hutchinson, who, though delighted with the +Mountaineer, built by the Thomsons in 1853, did not hesitate to +have her lengthened forward to make her sharper, so as to secure +her ascendency in speed during the ensuing season. The results +were satisfactory; and his steamers grew and grew, until they +developed into the celebrated Iona and Cambria, which were in +later years built for him by the same firm. I may mention that +the Cunard screw steamer Jura was the last heavy job with which I +was connected while at Thomsons'. + +I then proceeded to the Tyne, to superintend the building of +ships and marine boilers. The shipbuilding yard was at St. +Peter's, about two and a-half miles below Newcastle. I found the +work, as practised there, rough and ready; but by steady +attention to all the details, and by careful inspection when +passing the "piece-work" (a practice much in vogue there, but +which I discouraged), I contrived to raise the standard of +excellence, without a corresponding increase of price. My object +was to raise the quality of the work turned out; and, as we had +orders from the Russian Government, from China, and the +Continent, as well as from shipowners at home, I observed that +quality was a very important element in all commercial success. +My master, Mr. Thomas Toward, was in declining health; and, being +desirous of spending his winters abroad, I was consequently left +in full charge of the works. But as there did not appear to be a +satisfactory prospect, under the circumstances, for any material +development of the business, a trifling circumstance arose, which +again changed the course of my career. + +An advertisement appeared in the papers for a manager to conduct +a shipbuilding yard in Belfast. I made inquiries as to the +situation, and eventually applied for it. I was appointed, and +entered upon my duties there at Christmas, 1854. The yard was a +much larger one than that on the Tyne, and was capable of great +expansion. It was situated on what was then well known as the +Queen's Island; but now, like the Isle of Dogs, it has been +attached by reclamation. The yard, about four acres in extent, +was held by lease from the Belfast Harbour Commissioners. It was +well placed, alongside a fine patent slip, with clear frontage, +allowing of the largest ships being freely launched. Indeed, the +first ship built there, the Mary Stenhouse, had only just been +completed and launched by Messrs. Robert Hickson and Co., then +the proprietors of the undertaking. They were also the owners of +the Eliza Street Iron Works, Belfast, which were started to work +up old iron materials. But as the works were found to be +unremunerative, they were shortly afterwards closed. + +On my entering the shipbuilding yard I found that the firm had an +order for two large sailing ships. One of these was partly in +frame; and I at once tackled with it and the men. Mr. Hickson, +the acting partner, not being practically acquainted with the +business, the whole proceeding connected with the building of the +ships devolved upon me. I had been engaged to supersede a +manager summarily dismissed. Although he had not given +satisfaction to his employers, he was a great favourite with the +men. Accordingly, my appearance as manager in his stead was not +very agreeable to the employed. On inquiry I found that the rate +of wages paid was above the usual value, whilst the quantity as +well as quality of the work done were below the standard. I +proceeded to rectify these defects, by paying the ordinary rate +of wages, and then by raising the quality of the work done. I +was met by the usual method--a strike. The men turned out. They +were abetted by the former manager; and the leading hands hung +about the town unemployed, in the hope of my throwing up the post +in disgust. + +But, nothing daunted, I went repeatedly over to the Clyde for the +purpose of enlisting fresh hands. When I brought them over, +however, in batches, there was the greatest difficulty in +inducing them to work. They were intimidated, or enticed, or +feasted, and sent home again. The late manager had also taken a +yard on the other side of the river, and actually commenced to +build a ship, employing some of his old comrades; but beyond +laying the keel, little more was ever done. A few months after +my arrival, my firm had to arrange with its creditors, whilst I, +pending the settlement, had myself to guarantee the wages to a +few of the leading hands, whom I had only just succeeded in +gathering together. In this dilemma, an old friend, a foreman on +the Clyde, came over to Belfast to see me. After hearing my +story, and considering the difficulties I had to encounter, he +advised me at once to "throw up the job!" My reply was, that +"having mounted a restive horse, I would ride him into the +stable." + +Notwithstanding the advice of my friend, I held on. The +comparatively few men in the works, as well as those out, no +doubt observed my determination. The obstacles were no doubt +great; the financial difficulties were extreme; and yet there was +a prospect of profit from the work in hand, provided only the men +could be induced to settle steadily down to their ordinary +employment. I gradually gathered together a number of steady +workmen, and appointed suitable foremen. I obtained a +considerable accession of strength from Newcastle. On the death +of Mr. Toward, his head foreman, Mr. William Hanston, with a +number of the leading hands, joined me. From that time forward +the works went on apace; and we finished the ships in hand to the +perfect satisfaction of the owners. + +Orders were obtained for several large sailing ships as well as +screw vessels. We lifted and repaired wrecked ships, to the +material advantage of Mr. Hickson, then the sole representative +of the firm. After three years thus engaged, I resolved to start +somewhere as a shipbuilder on my own account. I made inquiries +at Garston, Birkenhead, and other places. When Mr. Hickson heard +of my intentions, he said he had no wish to carry on the concern +after I left, and made a satisfactory proposal for the sale to me +of his holding of the Queen's Island Yard. So I agreed to the +proposed arrangement. The transfer and the purchase were soon +completed, through the kind assistance of my old and esteemed +friend Mr. G. G. Schwabe, of Liverpool; whose nephew, Mr. G. W. +Wolff, had been with me for a few months as my private assistant. + +It was necessary, however, before commencing for myself, that I +should assist Mr. Hickson in finishing off the remaining vessels +in hand, as well as to look out for orders on my own account. +Fortunately, I had not long to wait; for it had so happened that +my introduction to the Messrs. Thomson of Glasgow had been made +through the instrumentality of my good friend Mr. Schwabe, who +induced Mr. James Bibby (of J. Bibby, Sons & Co., Liverpool) to +furnish me with the necessary letter. While in Glasgow, I had +endeavoured to assist the Messrs. Bibby in the purchase of a +steamer; so I was now intrusted by them with the building of +three screw steamers the Venetian, Sicilian, and Syrian, each 270 +feet long, by 34 feet beam, and 22 feet 9 inches hold; and +contracted with Macnab and Co., Greenock, to supply the requisite +steam-engines. + +This was considered a large order in those days. It required +many additions to the machinery, plant, and tools of the yard. I +invited Mr. Wolff, then away in the Mediterranean as engineer of +a steamer, to return and take charge of the drawing office. Mr. +Wolff had served his apprenticeship with Messrs. Joseph Whitworth +and Co., of Manchester, and was a most able man, thoroughly +competent for the work. Everything went on prosperously; and, in +the midst of all my engagements, I found time to woo and win the +hand of Miss Rosa Wann, of Vermont, Belfast, to whom I was +married on the 26th of January, 1860, and by her great energy, +soundness of judgment, and cleverness in organization, I was soon +relieved from all sources of care and anxiety, excepting those +connected with business. + +The steamers were completed in the course of the following year, +doubtless to the satisfaction of the owners, for their delivery +was immediately followed by an order for two larger vessels. As +I required frequently to go from home, and as the works must be +carefully attended to during my absence, on the 1st of January, +1862, I took Mr. Wolff in as a partner; and the firm has since +continued under the name of Harland and Wolff. I may here add +that I have throughout received the most able advice and +assistance from my excellent friend and partner, and that we have +together been enabled to found an entirely new branch of industry +in Belfast. + +It is necessary for me here to refer back a little to a screw +steamer which was built on the Clyde for Bibby and Co. by Mr. +John Read, and engined by J. and G. Thomson while I was with +them. That steamer was called the Tiber. She was looked upon as +of an extreme length, being 235 feet, in proportion to her beam, +which was 29 feet. Serious misgivings were thrown out as to +whether she would ever stand a heavy sea. Vessels of such +proportions were thought to be crank, and even dangerous. +Nevertheless, she seemed to my mind a great success. From that +time, I began to think and work out the advantages and +disadvantages of such a vessel, from an owner's as well as from a +builder's point of view. The result was greatly in favour of the +owner, though entailing difficulties in construction as regards +the builder. These difficulties, however. I thought might +easily be overcome. + +In the first steamers ordered of me by the Messrs. Bibby, I +thought it more prudent to simply build to the dimensions +furnished, although they were even longer than usual. But, prior +to the precise dimensions being fixed for the second order, I +with confidence proposed my theory of the greater carrying power +and accommodation, both for cargo and passengers, that would be +gained by constructing the new vessels of increased length, +without any increase of beam. I conceived that they would show +improved qualities in a sea-way, and that, notwithstanding the +increased accommodation, the same speed with the same power would +be obtained, by only a slight increase in the first cost. The +result was, that I was allowed to settle the dimensions; and the +following were then decided on: Length, 310 feet; beam, 34 feet; +depth of hold, 24 feet 9 inches; all of which were fully +compensated for by making the upper deck entirely of iron. In +this way, the hull of the ship was converted into a box girder of +immensely increased strength, and was, I believe, the first ocean +steamer ever so constructed. The rig too was unique. The four +masts were made in one continuous length, with fore-and-aft +sails, but no yards,--thereby reducing the number of hands +necessary to work them. And the steam winches were so arranged +as to be serviceable for all the heavy hauls, as well as for the +rapid handling of the cargo. + +In the introduction of so many novelties, I was well supported by +Mr. F. Leyland, the junior partner of Messrs. Bibby's firm, and +by the intelligent and practical experience of Captain Birch, the +overlooker, and Captain George Wakeham, the Commodore of the +company. Unsuccessful attempts had been made many years before +to condense the steam from the engines by passing it into +variously formed chambers, tubes, &c., to be there condensed by +surfaces kept cold by the circulation of sea-water round them, so +as to preserve the pure water and return it to the boilers free +of salt. In this way, "salting up" was avoided, and a +considerable saving of fuel and expenses in repairs was effected. + +Mr. Spencer had patented an improvement on Hall's method of +surface condensation, by introducing indiarubber rings at each +end of the tubes. This had been tried as an experiment on shore, +and we advised that it should be adopted in one of Messrs. +Bibby's smallest steamers, the Frankfort. The results were found +perfectly satisfactory. Some 20 per cent. of fuel was saved; +and, after the patent right had been bought, the method was +adopted in all the vessels of the company. + +When these new ships were first seen at Liverpool, the "old +salts" held up their hands. They were too long! they were too +sharp! they would break their backs! They might, indeed, get out +of the Mersey, but they would never get back! The ships, +however, sailed; and they made rapid and prosperous voyages to +and from the Mediterranean. They fulfilled all the promises +which had been made. They proved the advantages of our new build +of ships; and the owners were perfectly satisfied with their +superior strength, speed, and accommodation. The Bibbys were +wise men in their day and generation. They did not stop, but +went on ordering more ships. After the Grecian and the Italian +had made two or three voyages to Alexandria, they sent us an +order for three more vessels. By our advice, they were made +twenty feet longer than the previous ones, though of no greater +beam; in other respects, they were almost identical. This was +too much for "Jack." "What!" he exclaimed, "more Bibby's +coffins?" Yes, more and more; and in the course of time, most +shipowners followed our example. + +To a young firm, a repetition of orders like these was a great +advantage,--not only because of the novel design of the ships, +but also because of their constructive details. We did our best +to fit up the Egyptian, Dalmatian, and Arabian, as first-rate +vessels. Those engaged in the Mediterranean trade finding them +to be serious rivals, partly because of the great cargos which +they carried, but principally from the regularity with which they +made their voyages with such surprisingly small consumption of +coal. They were not, however, what "Jack" had been accustomed to +consider "dry ships." The ship built Dutchman fashion, with her +bluff ends, is the driest of all ships, but the least steady, +because she rises to every sea. But the new ships, because of +their length and sharpness, precluded this; for, though they rose +sufficiently to an approaching wave for all purposes of safety, +they often went through the crest of it, and, though shipping a +little water, it was not only easier for the vessel, but the +shortest road. + +Nature seems to have furnished us with the finest design for a +vessel in the form of the fish: it presents such fine lines--is +so clean, so true, and so rapid in its movements. The ship, +however, must float; and to hit upon the happy medium of velocity +and stability seems to me the art and mystery of shipbuilding. +In order to give large carrying capacity, we gave flatness of +bottom and squareness of bilge. This became known in Liverpool +as the "Belfast bottom;" and it has been generally adopted. This +form not only serves to give stability, but also increases the +carrying power without lessening the speed. + +While Sailor Jack and our many commercial rivals stood aghast and +wondered, our friends gave us yet another order for a still +longer ship, with still the same beam and power. The vessel was +named the Persian; she was 360 feet long, 34 feet beam, 24 feet 9 +inches hold. More cargo was thus carried, at higher speed. It +was only a further development of the fish form of structure. +Venice was an important port to call at. The channel was +difficult to navigate, and the Venetian class (270 feet long) was +supposed to be the extreme length that could be handled here. +But what with the straight stem,--by cutting the forefoot away, +and by the introduction of powerful steering-gear, worked +amidships,--the captain was able to navigate the Persian, 90 feet +longer than the Venetian, with much less anxiety and +inconvenience. + +Until the building of the Persian, we had taken great pride in +the modelling and finish of the old style of cutwater and +figurehead, with bowsprit and jib-boom; but in urging the +advantages of greater length of hull, we were met by the fact of +its being simply impossible in certain docks to swing vessels of +any greater length than those already constructed. Not to be +beaten, we proposed to do away with all these overhanging +encumbrances, and to adopt a perpendicular stem. In this way the +hull might be made so much longer; and this was, I believe, the +first occasion of its being adopted in this country in the case +of an ocean steamer; though the once celebrated Collins Line of +paddle steamers had, I believe, such stems. The iron decks, iron +bulwarks, and iron rails, were all found very serviceable in our +later vessels, there being no leaking, no caulking of deck-planks +or waterways, nor any consequent damaging of cargo. Having found +it impossible to combine satisfactorily wood with iron, each +being so differently affected by temperature and moisture, I +secured some of these novelties of construction in a patent, by +which filling in the spaces between frames, &c., with Portland +cement, instead of chocks of wood, and covering the iron plates +with cement and tiles, came into practice, and this has since +come into very general use. + +The Tiber, already referred to, was 235 feet in length when first +constructed by Read, of Glasgow, and was then thought too long; +but she was now placed in our hands to be lengthened 39 feet, as +well as to have an iron deck added, both of which greatly +improved her. We also lengthened the Messrs. Bibby's Calpe--also +built by Messrs. Thomson while I was there--by no less than 93 +feet. The advantage of lengthening ships, retaining the same +beam and power, having become generally recognised, we were in +trusted by the Cunard Company to lengthen the Hecla, Olympus, +Atlas, and Marathon, each by 63 feet. The Royal Consort P.S., +which had been lengthened first at Liverpool, was again +lengthened by us at Belfast. + +The success of all this heavy work, executed for successful +owners, put a sort of backbone into the Belfast shipbuilding +yard. While other concerns were slack, we were either +lengthening or building steamers as well as sailing-ships for +firms in Liverpool, London, and Belfast. Many acres of ground +were added to the works. The Harbour Commissioners had now made +a fine new graving-dock, and connected the Queen's Island with +the mainland. The yard, thus improved and extended, was surveyed +by the Admiralty, and placed on the first-class list. We +afterwards built for the Government the gun vessels Lynx and +Algerine, as well as the store and torpedo ship Hecla, of 3360 +tons. + +The Suez Canal being now open, our friends the Messrs. Bibby gave +us an order for three steamers of very large tonnage, capable of +being adapted for trade with the antipodes if necessary. In +these new vessels there was no retrograde step as regards length, +for they were 390 feet keel by 37 feet beam, square-rigged on +three of the masts, with the yards for the first time fitted on +travellers, as to enable them to be readily sent down; thus +forming a unique combination of big fore-and-aft sails, with +handy square sails. These ships were named the Istrian, Iberian, +and Illyrian, and in 1868 they went to sea; soon after to be +followed by three more ships--the Bavarian, Bohemian, and +Bulgarian--in most respects the same, though ten feet longer, +with the same beam. They were first placed in the Mediterranean +trade, but were afterwards transferred to the Liverpool and +Boston trade, for cattle and emigrants. These, with three +smaller steamers for the Spanish cattle trade, and two larger +steamers for other trades, made together twenty steam-vessels +constructed for the Messrs. John Bibby, Sons, & Co.; and it was a +matter of congratulation that, after a great deal of heavy and +constant work, not one of them had exhibited the slightest +indication of weakness,--all continuing in first-rate working +order. + +The speedy and economic working of the Belfast steamers, compared +with those of the ordinary type, having now become well known, a +scheme was set on foot in 1869 for employing similar vessels, +though of larger size, for passenger and goods accommodation +between England and America. Mr. T. H. Ismay,of Liverpool, the +spirited shipowner, then formed, in conjunction with the late Mr. +G. H. Fletcher, the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, Limited; +and we were commissioned by them to build six large Transatlantic +steamers, capable of carrying a heavy cargo of goods, as well as +a full complement of cabin and steerage passengers, between +Liverpool and New York, at a speed equal, if not superior, to +that of the Cunard and Inman lines. The vessels were to be +longer than any we had yet constructed, being 420 feet keel and +41 feet beam, with 32 feet hold. + +This was a great opportunity, and we eagerly embraced it. The +works were now up to the mark in point of extent and appliances. +The men in our employment were mostly of our own training: the +foremen had been promoted from the ranks; the manager, Mr. W. H. +Wilson, and the head draughtsman, Mr. W. J. Pirrie (since become +partners), having, as pupils, worked up through all the +departments, and ultimately won their honourable and responsible +positions by dint of merit only--by character, perseverance, and +ability. We were therefore in a position to take up an important +contract of this kind, and to work it out with heart and soul. + +As everything in the way of saving of fuel was of first-rate +importance, we devoted ourselves to that branch of economic +working. It was necessary that buoyancy or space should be left +for cargo, at the same time that increased speed should be +secured, with as little consumption of coal as possible. The +Messrs. Elder and Co., of Glasgow, had made great strides in this +direction with the paddle steam-engines which they had +constructed for the Pacific Company on the compound principle. +They had also introduced them on some of their screw steamers, +with more or less success. Others were trying the same principle +in various forms, by the use of high-pressure cylinders, and so +on; the form of the boilers being varied according to +circumstances, for the proper economy of fuel. The first thing +absolutely wanted was, perfectly reliable information as to the +actual state of the compound engine and boiler up to the date of +our inquiry. To ascertain the facts by experience, we dispatched +Mr. Alexander Wilson, younger brother of the manager who had been +formerly a pupil of Messrs. Macnab and Co., of Greenock, and was +thoroughly able for the work--to make a number of voyages in +steam vessels fitted with the best examples of compound engines. + +The result of this careful inquiry was the design of the +machinery and boilers of the Oceanic and five sister-ships. They +were constructed on the vertical overhead "tandem" type, with +five-feet stroke (at that time thought excessive), oval +single-ended transverse boilers, with a working pressure of sixty +pounds. We contracted with Messrs. Maudslay, Sons, and Field, of +London, for three of these sets, and with Messrs. George +Forrester and Co., of Liverpool, for the other three; and as we +found we could build the six vessels in the same time as the +machinery was being constructed; and, as all this machinery had +to be conveyed to Belfast to be there fitted on board, whilst the +vessels were being otherwise finished, we built a little +screw-steamer, the Camel, of extra strength, with very big +hatchways, to receive these large masses of iron; and this, in +course of time, was found to work with great advantage; until +eventually we constructed our own machinery. + +We were most fortunate in the type of engine we had fixed upon, +for it proved both economical and serviceable in all ways; and, +with but slight modifications, we repeated it in the many +subsequent vessels which we built for the White Star Company. +Another feature of novelty in these vessels consisted in placing +the first-class accommodation amidships, with the third-class aft +and forward. In all previous ocean steamers, the cabin +passengers had been berthed near the stern, where the heaving +motion of the vessel was far greater than in the centre, and +where that most disagreeable vibration inseparable from proximity +to the propeller was ever present. The unappetising smells from +the galley were also avoided. And last, but not least, a +commodious smoking-saloon was fitted up amidships, contrasting +most favourably with the scanty accommodation provided in other +vessels. The saloon, too, presented the novelty of extending the +full width of the vessel, and was lighted from each side. +Electric bells were for the first time fitted on board ship. The +saloon and entire range of cabins were lighted by gas, made on +board, though this has since given place to the incandescent +electric light. A fine promenade deck was provided over the +saloon, which was accessible from below in all weathers by the +grand staircase. + +These, and other arrangements, greatly promoted the comfort and +convenience of the cabin passengers; while those in the steerage +found great improvements in convenience, sanitation, and +accommodation. "Jack" had his forecastle well ventilated and +lighted, and a turtle-back over his head when on deck, with +winches to haul for him, and a steam-engine to work the wheel; +while the engineers and firemen berthed as near their work as +possible, never needing to wet a jacket or miss a meal. In +short, for the first time perhaps, ocean-voyaging, even in the +North Atlantic, was made not only less tedious and dreadful to +all, but was rendered enjoyable and even delightful to many. +Before the Oceanic, the pioneer of the new line, was even +launched, rival companies had already consigned her to the +deepest place in the ocean. Her first appearance in Liverpool +was therefore regarded with much interest. Mr. Ismay, during the +construction of the vessel, took every pains to suggest +improvements and arrangements with a view to the comfort and +convenience of the travelling public. He accompanied the vessel +on her first voyage to New York in March, 1871, under command of +Captain, now Sir Digby Murray, Brt. Although severe weather was +experienced, the ship made a splendid voyage, with a heavy cargo +of goods and passengers. The Oceanic thus started the +Transatlantic traffic of the Company, with the house-flag of the +White Star proudly flying on the main. + +It may be mentioned that the speed of the Oceanic was at least a +knot faster per hour than had been heretofore accomplished across +the Atlantic. The motion of the vessel was easy, without any +indication of weakness or straining, even in the heaviest +weather. The only inducement to slow was when going head to it +(which often meant head through it), to avoid the inconvenience +of shipping a heavy body of "green sea" on deck forward. A +turtle-back was therefore provided to throw it off, which proved +so satisfactory, as it had done on the Holyhead and Kingstown +boats, that all the subsequent vessels were similarly +constructed. Thus, then, as with the machinery, so was the hull +of the Oceanic, a type of the succeeding vessels, which after +intervals of a few months took up their stations on the +Transatlantic line. + +Having often observed, when at sea in heavy weather, how the +pitching of the vessel caused the weights on the safety-valves to +act irregularly, thus letting puffs of steam escape at every +heave, and as high pressure steam was too valuable a commodity to +be so wasted, we determined to try direct-acting spiral springs, +similar to those used in locomotives, in connection with the +compound engine. But as no such experiment was possible in any +vessels requiring the Board of Trade certificate, the alternative +of using the Camel as an experimental vessel was adopted. The +spiral springs were accordingly fitted upon the boiler of that +vessel, and with such a satisfactory result that the Board of +Trade allowed the use of the same contrivance on all the boilers +of the Oceanic and every subsequent steamer, and the contrivance +has now come into general use. + +It would be too tedious to mention in detail the other ships +built for the White Star line. The Adriatic and Celtic were made +17 feet 6 inches longer than the Oceanic, and a little sharper, +being 437 feet 6 inches keel, 41 feet beam, and 32 feet hold. +The success of the Company had been so great under the able +management of Ismay, Imrie and Co., and they had secured so large +a share of the passengers and cargo, as well as of the mails +passing between Liverpool and New York, that it was found +necessary to build two still larger and faster vessels--the +Britannic and Germamic: these were 455 feet in length; 45 feet in +beam; and of 5000 indicated horse-power. The Britannic was in +the first instance constructed with the propeller fitted to work +below the line of keel when in deep water, by which means the +"racing" of the engines was avoided. When approaching shallow +water, the propeller was raised by steam-power to the ordinary +position without any necessity for stopping the engines during +the operation. Although there was an increase of speed by this +means through the uniform revolutions of the machinery in the +heaviest sea, yet there was an objectionable amount of vibration +at certain parts of the vessel, so that we found it necessary to +return to the ordinary fixed propeller, working in the line of +direction of the vessel. Comfort at sea is of even more +importance than speed; and although we had succeeded in four +small steamers working on the new principle, it was found better +to continue in the larger ships to resort to the established +modes of propulsion. It may happen that at some future period +the new method may yet be adopted with complete success. + +Meanwhile competition went on with other companies. Monopoly +cannot exist between England and America. Our plans were +followed; and sharper boats and heavier power became the rule of +the day. But increase of horse-power of engines means increase +of heating surface and largely increased boilers, when we reach +the vanishing point of profit, after which there is nothing left +but speed and expense. It may be possible to fill a ship with +boilers, and to save a few hours in the passage from Liverpool to +New York by a tremendous expenditure of coal; but whether that +will answer the purpose of any body of shareholders must be left +for the future to determine. + +"Brute force" may be still further employed. It is quite +possible that recent "large strides" towards a more speedy +transit across the Atlantic may have been made "in the dark." + +The last ships we have constructed for Ismay, Imrie and Co. have +been of comparatively moderate dimensions and power--the Arabic +and Coptic, 430 feet long; and the Ionic and Boric, 440 feet +long, all of 2700 indicated horse-power. These are large cargo +steamers, with a moderate amount of saloon accommodation, and a +large space for emigrants. Some of these are now engaged in +crossing the Pacific, whilst others are engaged in the line from +London to New Zealand; the latter being specially fitted up for +carrying frozen meat. + +To return to the operations of the Belfast shipbuilding yard. A +serious accident occurred in the autumn of 1867 to the mail +paddle-steamer the Wolf, belonging to the Messrs. Burns, of +Glasgow. When passing out of the Lough, about eight miles from +Belfast, she was run into by another steamer. She was cut down +and sank, and there she lay in about seven fathoms of water; the +top of her funnel and masts being only visible at low tide. She +was in a dangerous position for all vessels navigating the +entrance to the port, and it was necessary that she should be +removed, either by dynamite, gunpowder, or some other process. +Divers were sent down to examine the ship, and the injury done to +her being found to be slight, the owners conferred with us as to +the possibility of lifting her and bringing her into port. +Though such a process had never before been accomplished, yet +knowing her structure well, and finding that we might rely upon +smooth water for about a week or two in summer, we determined to +do what we could to lift the sunken vessel to the surface. + +We calculated the probable weight of the vessel, and had a number +of air-tanks expressly built for her floatation. These were +secured to the ship with chains and hooks, the latter being +inserted through the side lights in her sheer strake. Early in +the following summer everything was ready. The air-tanks were +prepared and rafted together. Powerful screws were attached to +each chain, with hand-pumps for emptying the tanks, together with +a steam tender fitted with cooking appliances, berths and stores, +for all hands engaged in the enterprise. We succeeded in +attaching the hooks and chains by means of divers; the chains +being ready coiled on deck. But the weather, which before seemed +to be settled, now gave way. No sooner had we got the pair of +big tanks secured to the after body, than a fierce +north-north-easterly gale set in, and we had to run for it, +leaving the tanks partly filled, in order to lessen the strain on +everything. + +When the gale had settled, we returned again, and found that no +harm had been done. The remainder of the hooks were properly +attached to the rest of the tanks, the chains were screwed +tightly up, and the tanks were pumped clear. Then the tide rose; +and before high water we had the great satisfaction of getting +the body of the vessel under weigh, and towing her about a +cable's length from her old bed. At each tide's work she was +lifted higher and higher, and towed into shallower water towards +Belfast; until at length we had her, after eight days, safely in +the harbour, ready to enter the graving dock,--not more ready, +however, than we all were for our beds, for we had neither +undressed nor shaved during that anxious time. Indeed, our +friends scarcely recognised us on our return home. + +The result of the enterprise was this. The clean cut made into +the bow of the ship by the collision was soon repaired. The crop +of oysters with which she was incrusted gave place to the scraper +and the paintbrush. The Wolf came out of the dock to the +satisfaction both of the owners and underwriters; and she was +soon "ready for the road," nothing the worse for her ten months' +immersion.[2] + +Meanwhile the building of new iron ships went on in the Queen's +Island. We were employed by another Liverpool Company--the +British Shipowners' Company, Limited--to supply some large +steamers. The British Empire, of 3361 gross tonnage, was the +same class of vessel as those of the White Star line, but fuller, +being intended for cargo. Though originally intended for the +Eastern trade, this vessel was eventually placed on the Liverpool +and Philadelphia line; and her working proved so satisfactory +that five more vessels were ordered like her, which were +chartered to the American Company. + +The Liverpool agents, Messrs. Richardson, Spence, and Co., having +purchased the Cunard steamer Russia, sent her over to us to be +lengthened 70 feet, and entirely refitted--another proof of the +rapid change which owners of merchant ships now found it +necessary to adopt in view of the requirements of modern traffic. + +Another Liverpool firm, the Messrs. T. and J. Brocklebank, of +world-wide repute for their fine East Indiamen, having given up +building for themselves at their yard at Whitehaven, commissioned +us to build for them the Alexandria, and Baroda, which were +shortly followed by the Candahar and Tenasserim. And continuing +to have a faith in the future of big iron sailing ships, they +further employed us to build for them two of yet greater tonnage, +the Belfast and the Majestic. + +Indeed, there is a future for sailing ships, notwithstanding the +recent development of steam power. Sailing ships can still hold +their own, especially in the transport of heavy merchandise for +great distances. They can be built more cheaply than steamers; +they can be worked more economically, because they require no +expenditure on coal, nor on wages of engineers; besides, the +space occupied in steamers by machinery is entirely occupied by +merchandise, all of which pays its quota of freight. Another +thing may be mentioned: the telegraph enables the fact of the +sailing of a vessel, with its cargo on board, to be communicated +from Calcutta or San Francisco to Liverpool, and from that moment +the cargo becomes as marketable as if it were on the spot. There +are cases, indeed, where the freight by sailing ship is even +greater than by steamer, as the charge for warehousing at home is +saved, and in the meantime the cargo while at sea is negotiable. + +We have accordingly, during the last few years, built some of the +largest iron and steel sailing ships that have ever gone to sea. +The aim has been to give them great carrying capacity and fair +speed, with economy of working; and the use of steel, both in the +hull and the rigging, facilitates the attainment of these +objects. In 1882 and 1883, we built and launched four of these +steel and iron sailing ships--the Waiter H. Wilson, the W. J. +Pirrie, the Fingal, and the Lord Wolseley--each of nearly 3000 +tons register, with four masts,--the owners being Mr. Lawther, of +Belfast; Mr. Martin, of Dublin; and the Irish Shipowners Company. + +Besides these and other sailing ships, we have built for Messrs. +Ismay, Imrie and Co. the Garfield, of 2347 registered tonnage; +for Messrs. Thomas Dixon and Son, the Lord Downshire (2322); and +for Messrs. Bullock's Bay Line, the Bay of Panama (2365). + +In 1880 we took in another piece of the land reclaimed by the +Belfast Harbour Trust; and there, in close proximity to the +ship-yard, we manufacture all the machinery required for the +service of the steamers constructed by our firm. In this way we +are able to do everything "within ourselves"; and the whole land +now occupied by the works comprises about forty acres, with ten +building slips suitable for the largest vessels. + +It remains for me to mention a Belfast firm, which has done so +much for the town. I mean the Messrs. J.P. Corry and Co., who +have always been amongst our best friends. We built for them +their first iron sailing vessel, the Jane Porter, in 1860, and +since then they have never failed us. They successfully +established their "Star" line of sailing clippers from London to +Calcutta, all of which were built here. They subsequently gave +us orders for yet larger vessels, in the Star of France and the +Star of Italy. In all, we have built for that firm eleven of +their well-known "Star" ships. + +We have built five ships for the Asiatic Steam Navigation +Company, Limited, each of from 1650 to 2059 tons gross; and we +are now building for them two ships, each of about 3000 tons +gross. In 1883 we launched thirteen iron and steel vessels, of a +registered tonnage of over 30,000 tons. Out of eleven ships now +building, seven are of steel. + +Such is a brief and summary account of the means by which we have +been enabled to establish a new branch of industry in Belfast. +It has been accomplished simply by energy and hard work. We have +been well-supported by the skilled labour of our artisans; we +have been backed by the capital and the enterprise of England; +and we believe that if all true patriots would go and do +likewise, there would be nothing to fear for the prosperity and +success of Ireland. + + + +Footnotes for Chapter XI. + +[1] Although Mr. Harland took no further steps with his lifeboat, +the project seems well worthy of a fair trial. We had lately the +pleasure of seeing the model launched and tried on the lake +behind Mr. Harland's residence at Ormiston, near Belfast. The +cylindrical lifeboat kept perfectly water-tight, and though +thrown into the water in many different positions--sometimes +tumbled in on its prow, at other times on its back (the deck +being undermost), it invariably righted itself. The screws fore +and aft worked well, and were capable of being turned by human +labour or by steam power. Now that such large freights of +passengers are carried by ocean-going ships, it would seem +necessary that some such method should be adopted of preserving +life at sea; for ordinary lifeboats, which are so subject to +destructive damage, are often of little use in fires or +shipwrecks, or other accidents on the ocean. + +[2] A full account is given in the Illustrated London News of the +21st of October, 1868, with illustrations, of the raising of the +Wolf; and another, more scientific, is given in the Engineer of +the 16th of October, of the same year. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +ASTRONOMERS AND STUDENTS IN HUMBLE LIFE: + +A NEW CHAPTER IN THE 'PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE UNDER DIFFICULTIES.' + +"I first learnt to read when the masons were at work in your +house. I approached them one day, and observed that the +architect used a rule and compass, and that he made calculations. + +I inquired what might be the meaning and use of these things, and +I was informed that there was a science called Arithmetic. I +purchased a book of arithmetic, and I learned it. I was told +there was another science called Geometry; I bought the necessary +books, and I learned Geometry. By reading, I found there were +good books in these two sciences in Latin; I bought a dictionary, +and I learned Latin. I understood, also, that there were good +books of the same kind in French; I bought a dictionary, and I +learned French. It seems to me that one does not need to know +anything more than the twenty-four letters to learn everything +else that one wishes."--Edmund Stone to the Duke of Argyll. +('Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties.') + +"The British Census proper reckons twenty-seven and a half +million in the home countries. What makes this census important +is the quality of the units that compose it. They are free +forcible men, in a country where life is safe, and has reached +the greatest value. They give the bias to the current age; and +that not by chance or by mass, but by their character, and by the +number of individuals among them of personal ability."--Emerson: +English Traits. + +From Belfast to the Highlands of Scotland is an easy route by +steamers and railways. While at Birnam, near Dunkeld, I was +reminded of some remarkable characters in the neighbourhood. +After the publication of the 'Scotch Naturalist' and 'Robert +Dick,' I received numerous letters informing me of many +self-taught botanists and students of nature, quite as +interesting as the subjects of my memoirs. Among others, there +was John Duncan, the botanist weaver of Aberdeen, whose +interesting life has since been done justice to by Mr. Jolly; and +John Sim of Perth, first a shepherd boy, then a soldier, and +towards the close of his life a poet and a botanist, whose life, +I was told, was "as interesting as a romance." + +There was also Alexander Croall, Custodian of the Smith Institute +at Stirling, an admirable naturalist and botanist. He was +originally a hard-working parish schoolmaster, near Montrose. +During his holiday wanderings he collected plants for his +extensive herbarium. His accomplishments having come under the +notice of the late Sir William Hooker, he was selected by that +gentleman to prepare sets of the Plants of Braemar for the Queen +and Prince Albert, which he did to their entire satisfaction. He +gave up his school-mastership for an ill-paid but more congenial +occupation, that of Librarian to the Derby Museum and Herbarium. +Some years ago, he was appointed to his present position of +Custodian to the Smith Institute--perhaps the best provincial +museum and art gallery in Scotland. + +I could not, however, enter into the history of these remarkable +persons; though I understand there is a probability of Mr. Croall +giving his scientific recollections to the world. He has already +brought out a beautiful work, in four volumes, 'British Seaweeds, +Nature-printed;' and anything connected with his biography will +be looked forward to with interest. + +Among the other persons brought to my notice, years ago, were +Astronomers in humble life. For instance, I received a letter +from John Grierson, keeper of the Girdleness Lighthouse, near +Aberdeen, mentioning one of these persons as "an extraordinary +character." "William Ballingall," he said, "is a weaver in the +town of Lower Largo, Fifeshire; and from his early days he has +made astronomy the subject of passionate study. I used to spend +my school vacation at Largo, and have frequently heard him +expound upon his favourite subject. I believe that very high +opinions have been expressed by scientific gentlemen regarding +Ballingall's attainments. They were no doubt surprised that an +individual with but a very limited amount of education, and whose +hours of labour were from five in the morning until ten or eleven +at night, should be able to acquire so much knowledge on so +profound a subject. Had he possessed a fair amount of education, +and an assortment of scientific instruments and books, the world +would have heard more about him. Should you ever find yourself," +my correspondent concludes, "in his neighbourhood, and have a few +hours to spare, you would have no reason to regret the time spent +in his company." I could not, however, arrange to pay the +proposed visit to Largo; but I found that I could, without +inconvenience, visit another astronomer in the neighbourhood of +Dunkeld. + +In January 1879 I received a letter from Sheriff Barclay, of +Perth, to the following effect: "Knowing the deep interest you +take in genius and merit in humble ranks, I beg to state to you +an extraordinary case. John Robertson is a railway porter at +Coupar Angus station. From early youth he has made the heavens +his study. Night after night he looks above, and from his small +earnings he has provided himself with a telescope which cost him +about 30L. He sends notices of his observations to the +scientific journals, under the modest initials of 'J.R.' He is a +great favourite with the public; and it is said that he has made +some observations in celestial phenomena not before noticed. It +does occur to me that he should have a wider field for his +favourite study. In connection with an observatory, his services +would be invaluable." + +Nearly five years had elapsed since the receipt of this letter, +and I had done nothing to put myself in communication with the +Coupar Angus astronomer. Strange to say, his existence was again +recalled to my notice by Professor Grainger Stewart, of +Edinburgh. He said that if I was in the neighbourhood I ought to +call upon him, and that he would receive me kindly. His duty, he +said, was to act as porter at the station, and to shout the name +of the place as the trains passed. I wrote to John Robertson +accordingly, and received a reply stating that he would be glad +to see me, and inclosing a photograph, in which I recognised a +good, honest, sensible face, with his person inclosed in the +usual station porter's garb, "C.R. 1446." + +I started from Dunkeld, and reached Coupar Angus in due time. As +I approached the station, I heard the porter calling out, "Coupar +Angus! change here for Blairgowrie!"[1] It was the voice of John +Robertson. + +I descended from the train, and addressed him at once: after the +photograph there could be no mistaking him. An arrangement for a +meeting was made, and he called upon me in the evening. I +invited him to such hospitality as the inn afforded; but he would +have nothing. "I am much obliged to you," he said; "but it +always does me harm." I knew at once what the "it" meant. Then +he invited me to his house in Causewayend Street. I found his +cottage clean and comfortable, presided over by an evidently +clever wife. He took me into his sitting-room, where I inspected +his drawings of the sun-spots, made in colour on a large scale. +In all his statements he was perfectly modest and unpretending. +The following is his story, so far as I can recollect, in his own +words:-- + +"Yes; I certainly take a great interest in astronomy, but I have +done nothing in it worthy of notice. I am scarcely worthy to be +called a day labourer in the science. I am very well known +hereabouts, especially to the travelling public; but I must say +that they think a great deal more of me than I deserve. + +"What made me first devote my attention to the subject of +astronomy? Well, if I can trace it to one thing more than +another, it was to some evening lectures delivered by the late +Dr. Dick, of Broughty Ferry, to the men employed at the Craigs' +Bleachfield Works, near Montrose, where I then worked, about the +year l848. Dr. Dick was an excellent lecturer, and I listened to +him with attention. His instructions were fully impressed upon +our minds by Mr. Cooper, the teacher of the evening school, which +I attended. After giving the young lads employed at the works +their lessons in arithmetic, he would come out with us into the +night--and it was generally late when we separated--and show us +the principal constellations, and the planets above the horizon. +It was a wonderful sight; yet we were told that these hundreds +upon hundreds of stars, as far as the eye could see, were but a +mere vestige of the creation amidst which we lived. I got to +know the names of some of the constellations the Greater Bear, +with 'the pointers' which pointed to the Pole Star, Orion with +his belt, the Twins, the Pleiades, and other prominent objects in +the heavens. It was a source of constant wonder and surprise. + +"When I left the Bleachfield Works, I went to Inverury, to the +North of Scotland Railway, which was then in course of formation; +and for many years, being immersed in work, I thought +comparatively little of astronomy. It remained, however, a +pleasant memory. It was only after coming to this neighbourhood +in 1854, when the railway to Blairgowrie was under construction, +that I began to read up a little, during my leisure hours, on the +subject of astronomy. I got married the year after, since which +time I have lived in this house. + +"I became a member of a reading-room club, and read all the works +of Dr. Dick that the library contained: his 'Treatise on the +Solar System,' his 'Practical Astronomer,' and other works. +There were also some very good popular works to which I was +indebted for amusement as well as instruction: Chambers's +'Information for the People,' Cassell's ' Popular Educator,' and +a very interesting series of articles in the 'Leisure Hour,' by +Edwin Dunkin of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. These last +papers were accompanied by maps of the chief constellations, so +that I had a renewed opportunity of becoming a little better +acquainted with the geography of the heavens. + +"I began to have a wish for a telescope, by means of which I +might be able to see a little more than with my naked eyes. But +I found that I could not get anything of much use, short of 20L. +I could not for a long time feel justified in spending so much +money for my own personal enjoyment. My children were then young +and dependent upon me. They required to attend school--for +education is a thing that parents must not neglect, with a view +to the future. However, about the year 1875, my attention was +called to a cheap instrument advertised by Solomon--what he +called his '5L. telescope.' I purchased one, and it tantalised +me; for the power of the instrument was such as to teach me +nothing of the surface of the planets. After using it for about +two years, I sold it to a student, and then found that I had +accumulated enough savings to enable me to buy my present +instrument. Will you come into the next room and look at it?" + +I went accordingly into the adjoining room, and looked at the new +telescope. It was taken from its case, put upon its tripod, and +looked in beautiful condition. It is a refractor, made by Cooke +and Sons of York. The object glass is three inches; the focal +length forty-three inches; and the telescope, when drawn out, +with the pancratic eyepiece attached, is about four feet. It was +made after Mr. Robertson's directions, and is a sort of +combination of instruments. + +"Even that instrument," he proceeded, "good as it is for the +money, tantalises me yet. A look through a fixed equatorial, +such as every large observatory is furnished with is a glorious +view. I shall never forget the sight that I got when at Dunecht +Observatory, to which I was invited through the kindness of Dr. +Copeland, the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres' principal +astronomer. + +"You ask me what I have done in astronomical research? I am +sorry to say I have been able to do little except to gratify my +own curiosity; and even then, as I say, I have been much +tantalised. I have watched the spots on the sun from day to day +through obscured glasses, since the year 1878, and made many +drawings of them. Mr. Rand Capron, the astronomer, of Guildown, +Guildford, desired to see these drawings, and after expressing +his satisfaction with them, he sent them to Mr. Christie, +Astronomer Royal, Greenwich. Although photographs of the solar +surface were preferred, Mr. Capron thought that my sketches might +supply gaps in the partially cloudy days, as well as details +which might not appear on the photographic plates. I received a +very kind letter from Mr. Christie, in which he said that it +would be very difficult to make the results obtained from +drawings, however accurate, at all comparable with those derived +from photographs; especially as regards the accurate size of the +spots as compared with the diameter of the sun. And no doubt he +is right. + +"What, do I suppose, is the cause of these spots in the sun? +Well, that is a very difficult question to answer. Changes are +constantly going on at the sun's surface, or, I may rather say, +in the sun's interior, and making themselves apparent at the +surface. Sometimes they go on with enormous activity; at other +times they are more quiet. They recur alternately in periods of +seven or eight weeks, while these again are also subject to a +period of about eleven years--that is, the short recurring +outbursts go on for some years, when they attain a maximum, from +which they go on decreasing. I may say that we are now (August +1883) at, or very near, a maximum epoch. There is no doubt that +this period has an intimate connection with our auroral displays; +but I don't think that the influence sun-spots have on light or +heat is perceptible. Whatever influence they possess would be +felt alike on the whole terrestrial globe. We have wet, dry, +cold, and warm years, but they are never general. The kind of +season which prevails in one country is often quite reversed in +another perhaps in the adjacent one. Not so with our auroral +displays. They are universal on both sides of the globe; and +from pole to pole the magnetic needle trembles during their +continuance. Some authorities are of opinion that these +eleven-year cycles are subject to a larger cycle, but sun-spot +observations have not existed long enough to determine this +point. For myself, I have a great difficulty in forming an +opinion. I have very little doubt that the spots are depressions +on the surface of the sun. This is more apparent when the spot +is on the limb. I have often seen the edge very rugged and +uneven when groups of large spots were about to come round on the +east side. I have communicated some of my observations to 'The +Observatory,' the monthly review of astronomy, edited by Mr. +Christie, now Astronomer Royal,[2] as well as to The Scotsmam, +and some of our local papers.[3] + +"I have also taken up the observation of variable stars in a +limited portion of the heavens. That, and 'hunting for comets' +is about all the real astronomical work that an amateur can do +nowadays in our climate, with a three-inch telescope. I am +greatly indebted to the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, who +regularly sends me circulars of all astronomical discoveries, +both in this and foreign countries. I will give an instance of +the usefulness of these circulars. On the morning of the 4th of +October, 1880, a comet was discovered by Hartwig, of Strasburg, +in the constellation of Corona. He telegraphed it to Dunecht +Observatory, fifteen miles from Aberdeen. The circulars +announcing the discovery were printed and despatched by post to +various astronomers. My circular reached me by 7 P.M., and, the +night being favourable, I directed my telescope upon the part of +the heavens indicated, and found the comet almost at once--that +is, within fifteen hours of the date of its discovery at +Strasburg. + +"In April, 1878, a large meteor was observed in broad daylight, +passing from south to north, and falling it was supposed, about +twenty miles south of Ballater. Mr. A. S. Herschel, Professor of +Physics in the College of Science, 'Newcastle-on-Tyne, published +a letter in The Scotsmam, intimating his desire to be informed of +the particulars of the meteor's flight by those who had seen it. +As I was one of those who had observed the splendid meteor flash +northwards almost under the face of the bright sun (at 10.25 +A.M), I sent the Professor a full account of what I had seen, for +which he professed his strong obligations. This led to a very +pleasant correspondence with Professor Herschel. After this, I +devoted considerable attention to meteors, and sent many +contributions to 'The Observatory' on the subject.[4] + +"You ask me what are the hours at which I make my observations? +I am due at the railway station at six in the morning, and I +leave at six in the evening; but I have two hours during the day +for meals and rest. Sometimes I get a glance at the heavens in +the winter mornings when the sky is clear, hunting for comets. +My observations on the sun are usually made twice a day during my +meal hours, or in the early morning or late at evening in summer, +while the sun is visible. Yes, you are right; I try and make the +best use of my time. It is much too short for all that I propose +to do. My evenings are my own. When the heavens are clear, I +watch them; when obscured, there are my books and letters. + +"Dr. Alexander Brown, of Arbroath, is one of my correspondents. +I have sent him my drawings of the rings of Saturn, of Jupiter's +belt and satellites. Dr. Ralph Copeland, of Dunecht, is also a +very good friend and adviser. Occasionally, too, I send accounts +of solar disturbances, comet a within sight, eclipses, and +occultations, to the Scotsman, the Dundee Evening Telegraph and +Evening News, or to the Blairgowrie Advertiser. Besides, I am +the local observer of meteorology, and communicate regularly with +Mr. Symons. These things entirely fill up my time. + +"Do I intend always to remain a railway porter? Oh, yes; I am +very comfortable! The company are very kind to me, and I hope I +serve them faithfully. It is true Sheriff Barclay has, without +my knowledge, recommended me to several well-known astronomers as +an observer. But at my time of life changes are not to be +desired. I am quite satisfied to go on as I am doing. My young +people are growing up, and are willing to work for themselves. +But come, sir," he concluded, "come into the garden, and look at +the moon through my telescope." + +We went into the garden accordingly, but a cloud was over the +moon, and we could not see it. At the top of the garden was the +self-registering barometer, the pitcher to measure the rainfall, +and the other apparatus necessary to enable the "Diagram of +barometer, thermometer, rain, and wind" to be conducted, so far +as Coupar Angus is concerned. This Mr. Robertson has done for +four years past. As the hour was late, and as I knew that my +entertainer must be up by six next morning, I took my leave. + +A man's character often exhibits itself in his amusements. One +must have a high respect for the character of John Robertson, who +looks at the manner in which he spends his spare time. His +astronomical work is altogether a labour of love. It is his +hobby; and the working man may have his hobby as well as the +rich. In his case he is never less idle than when idle. Some +may think that he is casting his bread upon the waters, and that +he may find it after many days. But it is not with this object +that he carries on his leisure-hour pursuits. Some have tried-- +sheriff Barclay among others[5]--to obtain appointments for him +in connection with astronomical observation; others to secure +advancement for him in his own line. But he is a man who is +satisfied with his lot--one of the rarest things on earth. +Perhaps it is by looking so much up to the heavens that he has +been enabled to obtain his portion of contentment. + +Next morning I found him busy at the station, making arrangements +for the departure of the passenger train for Perth, and evidently +upon the best of terms with everybody. And here I leave John +Robertson, the contented Coupar Angus astronomer. + +Some years ago I received from my friend Mr. Nasmyth a letter of +introduction to the late Mr. Cooke of York, while the latter was +still living. I did not present it at the time; but I now +proposed to visit, on my return homewards, the establishment +which he had founded at York for the manufacture of telescopes +and other optical instruments. Indeed, what a man may do for +himself as well as for science, cannot be better illustrated than +by the life of this remarkable man. + +Mr. Nasmyth says that he had an account from Cooke himself of his +small beginnings. He was originally a shoemaker in a small +country village. Many a man has risen to distinction from a +shoemaker's seat. Bulwer, in his 'What will He do with It?' has +discussed the difference between shoemakers and tailors. "The +one is thrown upon his own resources, the other works in the +company of his fellows: the one thinks, the other communicates. + +Cooke was a man of natural ability, and he made the best use of +his powers. Opportunity, sooner or later, comes to nearly all +who work and wait, and are duly persevering. Shoemaking was not +found very productive; and Cooke, being fairly educated as well +as self-educated, opened a village school. He succeeded +tolerably well. He taught himself geometry and mathematics, and +daily application made him more perfect in his studies. In +course of time an extraordinary ambition took possession of him: +no less than the construction of a reflecting telescope of six +inches diameter. The idea would not let him rest until he had +accomplished his purpose. He cast and polished the speculum with +great labour; but just as he was about to finish it, the casting +broke! What was to be done? About one-fifth had broken away, but +still there remained a large piece, which he proceeded to grind +down to a proper diameter. His perseverance was rewarded by the +possession of a 3 1/2 inch speculum, which by his rare skill he +worked into a reflecting telescope of very good quality. + +He was, however, so much annoyed by the treacherously brittle +nature of the speculum metal that he abandoned its use, and +betook himself to glass. He found that before he could make a +good achromatic telescope it was necessary that he should +calculate his curves from data depending upon the nature of the +glass. He accordingly proceeded to study the optical laws of +refraction, in which his knowledge of geometry and mathematics +greatly helped him. And in course of time, by his rare and +exquisite manipulative skill, he succeeded in constructing a +four-inch refractor, or achromatic telescope, of admirable +defining power. + +The excellence of his first works became noised abroad. +Astronomical observers took an interest in him; and friends began +to gather round him, amongst others the late Professor Phillips +and the Rev. Vernon Harcourt, Dean of York. Cooke received an +order for a telescope like his own; then he received other +orders. At last he gave up teaching, and took to telescope +making. He advanced step by step; and like a practical, +thoughtful man, he invented special tools and machinery for the +purpose of grinding and polishing his glasses. He opened a shop +in York, and established himself as a professed maker of +telescopes. He added to this the business of a general optician, +his wife attending to the sale in the shop, while he himself +attended to the workshop. + +Such was the excellence of his work that the demand for his +telescopes largely increased. They were not only better +manufactured, but greatly cheaper than those which had before +been in common use. Three of the London makers had before +possessed a monopoly of the business; but now the trade was +thrown open by the enterprise of Cooke of York. He proceeded to +erect a complete factory--the Buckingham Street works. His +brother took charge of the grinding and polishing of the lenses, +while his sons attended to the mechanism of the workshop; but +Cooke himself was the master spirit of the whole concern. +Everything that he did was good and accurate. His clocks were +about the best that could be made. He carried out his +clock-making business with the same zeal that he devoted to the +perfection of his achromatic telescopes. His work was always +first-rate. There was no scamping about it. Everything that he +did was thoroughly good and honest. His 4 1/4-inch equatorials +are perfect gems; and his admirable achromatics, many of them of +the largest class, are known all over the world. Altogether, +Thomas Cooke was a remarkable instance of the power of Self-Help. + +Such was the story of his Life, as communicated by Mr. Nasmyth. +I was afterwards enabled, through the kind assistance of his +widow, Mrs. Cooke, whom I saw at Saltburn, in Yorkshire, to add a +few particulars to his biography. + +"My husband," she said, "was the son of a working shoemaker at +Pocklington, in the East Riding. He was born in 1807. His +father's circumstances were so straitened that he was not able to +do much for him; but he sent him to the National school, where he +received some education. He remained there for about two years, +and then he was put to his father's trade. But he greatly +disliked shoemaking, and longed to get away from it. He liked +the sun, the sky, and the open air. He was eager to be a sailor, +and, having heard of the voyages of Captain Cook, he wished to go +to sea. He spent his spare hours in learning navigation, that he +might be a good seaman. But when he was ready to set out for +Hull, the entreaties and tears of his mother prevailed on him to +give up the project; and then he had to consider what he should +do to maintain himself at home. + +"He proceeded with his self-education, and with such small aids +as he could procure, he gathered together a good deal of +knowledge. He thought that he might be able to teach others. +Everybody liked him, for his diligence, his application, and his +good sense. At the age of seventeen he was employed to teach the +sons of the neighbouring farmers. He succeeded so well that in +the following year he opened a village school at Beilby. He went +on educating himself, and learnt a little of everything. He next +removed his school to Kirpenbeck, near Stamford Bridge; and it +was there," proceeded Mrs. Cooke, "that I got to know him, for I +was one of his pupils." + +"He first learned mathematics by buying an old volume at a +bookstall, with a spare shilling. That was before he began to +teach. He also got odd sheets, and read other books about +geometry and mathematics, before he could buy them; for he had +very little to spare. He studied and learnt as much as he could. + +He was very anxious to get an insight into knowledge. He studied +optics before he had any teaching. Then he tried to turn his +knowledge to account. While at Kirpenbeck he made his first +object-glass out of a thick tumbler bottom. He ground the glass +cleverly by hand; then he got a piece of tin and soldered it +together, and mounted the object-glass in it so as to form a +telescope. + +"He next got a situation at the Rev. Mr. Shapkley's school in +Micklegate, York, where he taught mathematics. He also taught in +ladies' schools in the city, and did what he could to make a +little income. Our intimacy had increased, and we had arranged +to get married. He was twenty-four, and I was nineteen, when we +were happily united. I was then his pupil for life. + +"Professor Phillips saw his first telescope, with the +object-glass made out of the thick tumbler bottom, and he was so +much pleased with it that my husband made it over to him. But he +also got an order for another, from Mr. Gray, solicitor, more by +way of encouragement than because Mr. Gray wanted it, for he was +a most kind man. The object-glass was of four-inch aperture, and +when mounted the defining power was found excellent. My husband +was so successful with his telescopes that he went on from +smaller to greater, and at length he began to think of devoting +himself to optics altogether. His knowledge of mathematics had +led him on, and friends were always ready to encourage him in his +pursuits. + +"During this time he had continued his teaching at the school in +the day-time; and he also taught on his own account the sons of +gentlemen in the evening: amongst others the sons of Dr. Wake and +Dr. Belcomb, both medical men. He was only making about 100L. a +year, and his family was increasing. It was necessary to be very +economical, and I was careful of everything. At length my uncle +Milner agreed to advance about 100L. as a loan. A shop was taken +in Stonegate in 1836, and provided with optical instruments. I +attended to the shop, while my husband worked in the back +premises. To bring in a little ready money, I also took in +lodgers. + +"My husband now devoted himself entirely to telescope making and +optics. But he took in other work. His pumps were considered +excellent; and he furnished all those used at the pump-room, +Harrogate. His clocks, telescope-driving[6] and others, were of +the best. He commenced turret-clock making in 1852, and made +many improvements in them. We had by that time removed to Coney +Street; and in 1855 the Buckingham Works were established, where +a large number of first-rate workmen were employed. A place was +also taken in Southampton Street, London, in 1868, for the sale +of the instruments manufactured at York." + +Thus far Mrs. Cooke. It may be added that Thomas Cooke revived +the art of making refracting telescopes in England. Since the +discovery by Dollond, in 1758, of the relation between the +refractive and dispersive powers of different kinds of glass, and +the invention by that distinguished optician of the achromatic +telescope, the manufacture of that instrument had been confined +to England, where the best flint glass was made. But through the +short-sighted policy of the Government, an exorbitant duty was +placed upon the manufacture of flint glass, and the English trade +was almost entirely stamped out. We had accordingly to look to +foreign countries for the further improvement of the achromatic +telescope, which Dollond had so much advanced. + +A humble mechanic of Brenetz, in the Canton of Neufchatel, +Switzerland, named Guinaud, having directed his attention to the +manufacture of flint glass towards the close of last century, at +length succeeded, after persevering efforts, in producing masses +of that substance perfectly free from stain, and therefore +adapted for the construction of the object-glasses of telescopes. + +Frauenhofer, the Bavarian optician, having just begun business, +heard of the wonderful success of Guinaud, and induced the Swiss +mechanic to leave Brenetz and enter into partnership with him at +Munich in 1805. + +The result was perfectly successful; and the new firm turned out +some of the largest object-glasses which had until then been +made. With one of these instruments, having an aperture of 9.9 +inches, Struve, the Russian astronomer, made some of his greatest +discoveries. Frauenhofer was succeeded by Merz and Mahler, who +carried out his views, and turned out the famous refractors of +Pulkowa Observatory in Russia, and of Harvard University in the +United States. These last two telescopes contained +object-glasses of fifteen inches aperture. + +The pernicious impost upon flint glass having at length been +removed by the English Government, an opportunity was afforded to +our native opticians to recover the supremacy which they had so +long lost. It is to Thomas Cooke, more than to any other person, +that we owe the recovery of this manufacture. Mr. Lockyer, +writing in 1878, says: "The two largest and most perfectly +mounted refractors on the German form at present in existence are +those at Gateshead and Washington, U.S. The former belongs to +Mr. Newall, a gentleman who, connected with those who were among +the first to recognise the genius of our great English optician, +Cooke, did not hesitate to risk thousands of pounds in one great +experiment, the success of which will have a most important +bearing upon the astronomy of the future."[7] + +The progress which Mr. Cooke made in his enterprise was slow but +steady. Shortly after he began business as an optician, he +became dissatisfied with the method of hand-polishing, and made +arrangements to polish the object-glasses by machinery worked by +steam power. By this means he secured perfect accuracy of +figure. He was also able to turn out a large quantity of +glasses, so as to furnish astronomers in all parts of the world +with telescopes of admirable defining power, at a comparatively +moderate price. In all his works he endeavoured to introduce +simplicity. He left his mark on nearly every astronomical +instrument. He found the equatorial comparatively clumsy; he +left it nearly perfect. His beautiful "dividing machine," for +marking divisions on the circles, four feet in diameter and +altogether self-acting--which divides to five minutes and reads +off to five seconds is not the least of his triumphs. + +The following are some of his more important achromatic +telescopes. In 1850, when he had been fourteen years in +business, he furnished his earliest patron, Professor Phillips, +with an equatorial telescope of 6 1/4 inches aperture. His +second (of 6 1/8) was supplied two years later, to James +Wigglesworth of Wakefield. William Gray, Solicitor, of York, one +of his earliest friends, bought a 6 1/2-inch telescope in 1853. +In the following year, Professor Pritchard of Oxford was supplied +with a 6 1/2-inch. The other important instruments were as +follows: in 1854, Dr. Fisher, Liverpool, 6 inches; in 1855, H. L. +Patterson, Gateshead, 7 1/4 inches; in 1858, J. G. Barclay, +Layton, Essex, 7 1/4 inches; in 1857, Isaac Fletcher, +Cockermouth, 9 1/4 inches; in l858, Sir W. Keith Murray, +Ochtertyre, Crieff, 9 inches; in 1859, Captain Jacob, 9 inches; +in 1860, James Nasmyth, Penshurst, 8 inches; in 1861, another +telescope to J. G. Barclay, 10 inches; in 1864, the Rev. W. R. +Dawes, Haddenham, Berks, 8 inches; and in 1867, Edward Crossley, +Bermerside, Halifax, 9 3/8 inches. + +In 1855 Mr. Cooke obtained a silver medal at the first Paris +Exhibition for a six-inch equatorial telescope.[8] This was the +highest prize awarded. A few years later he was invited to +Osborne by the late Prince Albert, to discuss with his Royal +Highness the particulars of an equatorial mounting with a clock +movement, for which he subsequently received the order. On its +completion he superintended the erection of the telescope, and +had the honour of directing it to several of the celestial +objects for the Queen and the Princess Alice, and answered their +many interesting questions as to the stars and planets within +sight. + +Mr. Cooke was put to his mettle towards the close of his life. A +contest had long prevailed among telescope makers as to who +should turn out the largest refracting instrument. The two +telescopes of fifteen inches aperture, prepared by Merz and +Mahler, of Munich, were the largest then in existence. Their +size was thought quite extraordinary. But in 1846, Mr. Alvan +Clark, of Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, U.S., spent his leisure +hour's in constructing small telescopes.[9] He was not an +optician, nor a mathematician, but a portrait painter. He +possessed, however, enough knowledge of optics and of mechanics, +to enable him to make and judge a telescope. He spent some ten +years in grinding lenses, and was at length enabled to produce +objectives equal in quality to any ever made. + +In 1853, the Rev. W. E. Dawes--one of Mr. Cooke's customers -- +purchased an object-glass from Mr. Clark. It was so satisfactory +that he ordered several others, and finally an entire telescope. +The American artist then began to be appreciated in his own +country. In 1860 he received an order for a refractor of +eighteen inches aperture, three inches greater than the largest +which had up to that time been made. This telescope was intended +for the Observatory of Mississippi; but the Civil War prevented +its being removed to the South; and the telescope was sold to the +Astronomical Society of Chicago and mounted in the Observatory of +that city. + +And now comes in the rivalry of Mr. Cooke of York, or rather of +his patron, Mr. Newall of Gateshead. At the Great Exhibition of +London, in 1862, two large circular blocks of glass, about two +inches thick and twenty-six inches in diameter, were shown by the +manufacturers, Messrs. Chance of Birmingham. These discs were +found to be of perfect quality, and suitable for object-glasses +of the best kind. At the close of the Exhibition, they were +purchased by Mr. Newall, and transferred to the workshops of +Messrs. Cooke and Sons at York. To grind and polish and mount +these discs was found a work of great labour and difficulty. Mr. +Lockyer says, "such an achievement marks an epoch in telescopic +astronomy, and the skill of Mr. Cooke and the munificence of Mr. +Newall will long be remembered." + +When finished, the object-glass had an aperture of nearly +twenty-five inches, and was of much greater power than the +eighteen-inch Chicago instrument. The length of the tube was +about thirty-two feet. The cast-iron pillar supporting the whole +was nineteen feet in height from the ground, and the weight of +the whole instrument was about six tons. In preparing this +telescope, nearly everything, from its extraordinary size, had to +be specially arranged.[10] The great anxiety involved in these +arrangements, and the constant study and application told heavily +upon Mr. Cooke, and though the instrument wanted only a few +touches to make it complete, his health broke down, and he died +on the l9th of October, 1868, at the comparatively early age of +sixty-two. + +Mr. Cooke's death was felt, in a measure, to be a national loss. +His science and skill had restored to England the prominent +position she had held in the time of Dollond; and, had he lived, +even more might have been expected from him. We believe that the +Gold Medal and Fellowship of the Royal Society were waiting for +him; but, as one of his friends said to his widow, "neither worth +nor talent avails when the great ordeal is presented to us." In +a letter from Professor Pritchard, he said: "Your husband has +left his mark upon his age. No optician of modern times has +gained a higher reputation; and I for one do not hesitate to call +his loss national; for he cannot be replaced at present by any +one else in his own peculiar line. I shall carry the +recollection of the affectionate esteem in which I held Thomas +Cooke with me to my grave. Alas! that he should be cut off just +at the moment when he was about to reap the rewards due to his +unrivalled excellence. I have said that F.R.S. and medals were +to be his. But he is, we fondly trust, in a better and higher +state than that of earthly distinction. Best assured, your +husband's name must ever be associated with the really great men +of his day. Those who knew him will ever cherish his memory." + +Mr. Cooke left behind him the great works which he founded in +Buckingham Street, York. They still give employment to a large +number of skilled and intelligent artizans. There I found many +important works in progress,--the manufacture of theodolites, of +prismatic compasses (for surveying), of Bolton's range finder, +and of telescopes above all. In the factory yard was the +commencement of the Observatory for Greenwich, to contain the +late Mr. Lassell's splendid two feet Newtonian reflecting +telescope, which has been presented to the nation. Mr. Cooke's +spirit still haunts the works, which are carried on with the +skill, the vigour, and the perseverance, transmitted by him to +his sons. + +While at York, I was informed by Mr. Wigglesworth, the partner of +Messrs. Cooke, of an energetic young astronomer at Bainbridge, in +the mountain-district of Yorkshire, who had not only been able to +make a telescope of his own, but was an excellent photographer. +He was not yet thirty years of age, but had encountered and +conquered many difficulties. This is a sort of character which +is more often to be met with in remote country places than in +thickly-peopled cities. In the country a man is more of an +individual; in a city he is only one of a multitude. The country +boy has to rely upon himself, and has to work in comparative +solitude, while the city boy is distracted by excitements. Life +in the country is full of practical teachings; whereas life in +the city may be degraded by frivolities and pleasures, which are +too often the foes of work. Hence we have usually to go to +out-of-the-way corners of the country for our hardest +brain-workers. Contact with the earth is a great restorer of +power; and it is to the country folks that we must ever look for +the recuperative power of the nation as regards health, vigour, +and manliness. + +Bainbridge is a remote country village, situated among the high +lands or Fells on the north-western border of Yorkshire. The +mountains there send out great projecting buttresses into the +dales; and the waters rush down from the hills, and form +waterfalls or Forces, which Turner has done so much to +illustrate. The river Bain runs into the Yore at Bainbridge, +which is supposed to be the site of an old Roman station. Over +the door of the Grammar School is a mermaid, said to have been +found in a camp on the top of Addleborough, a remarkable +limestone hill which rises to the south-east of Bainbridge. It +is in this grammar-school that we find the subject of this little +autobiography. He must be allowed to tell the story of his +life--which he describes as ' Work: Good, Bad, and Indifferent' +--in his own words: + +"I was born on November 20th, 1853. In my childhood I suffered +from ill-health. My parents let me play about in the open air, +and did not put me to school until I had turned my sixth year. +One day, playing in the shoemaker's shop, William Farrel asked me +if I knew my letters. I answered 'No.' He then took down a +primer from a shelf, and began to teach me the alphabet, at the +same time amusing me by likening the letters to familiar objects +in his shop. I soon learned to read, and in about six weeks I +surprised my father by reading from an easy book which the +shoemaker had given me. + +"My father then took me into the school, of which he was master, +and my education may be said fairly to have begun. My progress, +however, was very slow partly owing to ill-health, but more, I +must acknowledge, to carelessness and inattention. In fact, +during the first four years I was at school, I learnt very little +of anything, with the exception of reciting verses, which I +seemed to learn without any mental effort. My memory became very +retentive. I found that by attentively reading half a page of +print, or more, from any of the school-books, I could repeat the +whole of it without missing a word. I can scarcely explain how I +did it; but I think it was by paying strict attention to the +words as words, and forming a mental picture of the paragraphs as +they were grouped in the book. Certain, I am, that their sense +never made much impression on me, for, when questioned by the +teacher, I was always sent to the bottom of the class, though +apparently I had learned my exercise to perfection. + +"When I was twelve years old, I made the acquaintance of a very +ingenious boy, who came to our school. Samuel Bridge was a born +mechanic. Though only a year older than myself, such was his +ability in the use of tools, that he could construct a model of +any machine that he saw. He awakened in me a love of mechanical +construction, and together we made models of colliery +winding-frames, iron-rolling mills, trip-hammers, and +water-wheels. Some of them were not mere toys, but constructed +to scale, and were really good working models. This love of +mechanical construction has never left me, and I shall always +remember with affection Samuel Bridge, who first taught me to use +the hammer and file. The last I heard of him was in 1875, when +he passed his examination as a schoolmaster, in honours, and was +at the head of his list. + +"During the next two years, when between twelve and fourteen, I +made comparatively slow progress at school. I remember having to +write out the fourth commandment from memory. The teacher +counted twenty-three mistakes in ten lines of my writing. It +will be seen from this, that, as regards learning, I continued +heedless and backward. About this time, my father, who was a +good violinist, took me under his tuition. He made me practice +on the violin about an hour and a half a day. I continued this +for a long time. But the result was failure. I hated the +violin, and would never play unless compelled to do so. I +suppose the secret was that I had no 'ear.' + +"It was different with subjects more to my mind. Looking over my +father's books one day, I came upon Gregory's 'Handbook of +Inorganic Chemistry,' and began reading it. I was fascinated +with the book, and studied it morning, noon, and night--in fact, +every time when I could snatch a few minutes. I really believe +that at one time I could have repeated the whole of the book from +memory. Now I found the value of arithmetic, and set to work in +earnest on proportion, vulgar and decimal fractions, and, in +fact, everything in school work that I could turn to account in +the science of chemistry. The result of this sudden application +was that I was seized with an illness. For some months I had +incessant headache; my hair became dried up, then turned grey, +and finally came off. Weighing myself shortly after my recovery, +at the age of fifteen, I found that I just balanced fifty-six +pounds. I took up mensuration, then astronomy, working at them +slowly, but giving the bulk of my spare time to chemistry. + +"In the year 1869, when I was sixteen years old, I came across +Cuthbert Bede's book, entitled 'Photographic Pleasures.' It is an +amusing book, giving an account of the rise and progress of +photography, and at the same time having a good-natured laugh at +it. I read the book carefully, and took up photography as an +amusement, using some apparatus which belonged to my father, who +had at one time dabbled in the art. I was soon able to take fair +photographs. I then decided to try photography as a business. I +was apprenticed to a photographer, and spent four years with +him--one year at Northallerton, and three at Darlington. When my +employer removed to Darlington, I joined the School of Art there. + +"Having read an account of the experiments of M. E. Becquerel, a +French savant, on photographing in the colours of nature, my +curiosity was awakened. I carefully repeated his experiments, +and convinced myself that he was correct. I continued my +experiments in heliochromy for a period of about two years, +during which time I made many photographs in colours, and +discovered a method of developing the coloured image, which +enabled me to shorten the exposure to one-fortieth of the +previously-required time. During these experiments, I came upon +some curious results, which, I think, might puzzle our scientific +men to account for. For instance, I proved the existence of +black light, or rays of such a nature as to turn the +rose-coloured surface of the sensitive-plate black--that is, rays +reflected from the black paint of drapery, produced black in the +picture, and not the effect of darkness. I was, like Becquerel, +unable to fix the coloured image without destroying the colours; +though the plates would keep a long while in the dark, and could +be examined in a subdued, though not in a strong light. The +coloured image was faint, but the colours came out with great +truth and delicacy. + +"I began to attend the School of Art at Darlington on the 6th of +March, 1872. I found, on attempting to draw, that I had +naturally a correct eye and hand; and I made such progress, that +when the students' drawings were examined, previously to sending +them up to South Kensington, all my work was approved. I was +then set to draw from the cast in chalk, although I had only been +at the school for a month. I tried for all the four subjects at +the May examination, and was fortunate enough to pass three of +them, and obtained as a prize Packett's 'Sciography.' I worked +hard during the next year, and sent up seventeen works; for one +of these, the 'Venus de Milo,' I gained a studentship. + +"I then commenced the study of human anatomy, and began +water-colour painting, reading all the works upon art on which I +could lay my hand. At the May examination of 1873, I completed +my second-grade certificate, and at the end of the year of my +studentship, I accepted the office of teacher in the School of +Art. This art-training created in me a sort of disgust for +photography, as I saw that the science of photography had really +very little genuine art in it, and was more allied to a +mechanical pursuit than to an artistic one. Now, when I look +back on my past ideas, I clearly see that a great deal of this +disgust was due to my ignorance and self-conceit. + +"In 1874, I commenced painting in tempora, and then in oil, +copying the pictures lent to the school from the South Kensington +Art Library. I worked also from still life, and began sketching +from nature in oil and water-colours, sometimes selling my work +to help me to buy materials for art-work and scientific +experiments. I was, however, able to do very little in the +following year, as I was at home suffering from sciatica. For +nine months I could not stand erect, but had to hobble about with +a stick. This illness caused me to give up my teachership. + +"Early in 1876 I returned to Darlington. I went on with my art +studies and the science of chemistry; though I went no further in +heliochromy. I pushed forward with anatomy. I sent about +fifteen works to South Kensington, and gained as my third-grade +prize in list A the 'Dictionary of Terms used in Art' by Thomas +Fairholt, which I found a very useful work. Towards the end of +the year, my father, whose health was declining, sent for me home +to assist him in the school. I now commenced the study of +Algebra and Euclid in good earnest, but found it tough work. My +father, though a fair mathematician, was unable to give me any +instruction; for he had been seized with paralysis, from which he +never recovered. Before he died, he recommended me to try for a +schoolmaster's certificate; and I promised him that I would. I +obtained a situation as master of a small village school, not +under Government inspection; and I studied during the year, and +obtained a second class certificate at the Durham Diocesan +College at Christmas, 1877. Early in the following year, the +school was placed under Government inspection, and became a +little more remunerative. + +"I now went on with chemical analysis, making my own apparatus. +Requiring an intense heat on a small scale, I invented a furnace +that burnt petroleum oil. It was blown by compressed air. After +many failures, I eventually succeeded in bringing it to such +perfection that in 7 1/2 minutes it would bring four ounces of +steel into a perfectly liquefied state. I next commenced the +study of electricity and magnetism; and then acoustics, light, +and heat. I constructed all my apparatus myself, and acquired +the art of glass-blowing, in order to make my own chemical +apparatus, and thus save expense. + +"I then went on with Algebra and Euclid, and took up plane +trigonometry; but I devoted most of my time to electricity and +magnetism. I constructed various scientific apparatus--a syren, +telephones, microphones, an Edison's megaphone, as well as an +electrometer, and a machine for covering electric wire with +cotton or silk. A friend having lent me a work on artificial +memory, I began to study it; but the work led me into nothing but +confusion, and I soon found that if I did not give it up, I +should be left with no memory at all. I still went an sketching +from Nature, not so much as a study, but as a means of recruiting +my health, which was far from being good. At the beginning of +1881 I obtained my present situation as assistant master at the +Yorebridge Grammar School, of which the Rev. W. Balderston, M.A., +is principal. + +"Soon after I became settled here, I spent some of my leisure +time in reading Emerson's 'Optics,' a work I bought at an old +bookstall. I was not very successful with it, owing to my +deficient mathematical knowledge. On the May Science +Examinations of 1881 taking place at Newcastle-on-Tyne, applied +for permission to sit, and obtained four tickets for the +following subjects:-- Mathematics, Electricity and Magnetism, +Acoustics, Light and Heat, and Physiography. During the +preceding month I had read up the first three subjects, but, +being pressed for time, I gave up the idea of taking +physiography. However, on the last night of the examinations, I +had some conversation with one of the students as to the subjects +required for physiography. He said, 'You want a little knowledge +of everything in a scientific way, and nothing much of anything.' +I determined to try, for 'nothing much of anything' suited me +exactly. I rose early next morning, and as soon as the shops +were open I went and bought a book on the subject, 'Outlines of +Physiography,' by W. Lawson, F.R.G.S. I read it all day, and at +night sat for the examination. The results of my examinations +were, failure in mathematics, but second class advanced grade +certificates in all the others. I do not attach any credit to +passing in physiography, but merely relate the circumstance as +curiously showing what can be done by a good 'cram.' + +"The failure in mathematics caused me to take the subject 'by the +horns,' to see what I could do with it. I began by going over +quadratic equations, and I gradually solved the whole of those +given in Todhunter's larger 'Algebra.' Then I re-read the +progressions, permutations, combinations; the binomial theorem, +with indices and surds; the logarithmic theorem and series, +converging and diverging. I got Todhunter's larger 'Plane +Trigonometry,' and read it, with the theorems contained in it; +then his 'Spherical Trigonometry;' his 'Analytical Geometry, of +Two Dimensions,' and 'Conics.' I next obtained De Morgan's +'Differential and Integral Calculus,' then Woolhouse's, and +lastly, Todhunter's. I found this department of mathematics +difficult and perplexing to the last degree; but I mastered it +sufficiently to turn it to some account. This last mathematical +course represents eighteen months of hard work, and I often sat +up the whole night through. One result of the application was a +permanent injury to my sight. + +"Wanting some object on which to apply my newly-acquired +mathematical knowledge, I determined to construct an astronomical +telescope. I got Airy's 'Geometrical Optics,' and read it +through. Then I searched through all my English Mechanic (a +scientific paper that I take), and prepared for my work by +reading all the literature on the subject that I could obtain. I +bought two discs of glass, of 6 1/2 inches diameter, and began to +grind them to a spherical curve 12 feet radius. I got them +hollowed out, but failed in fining them through lack of skill. +This occurred six times in succession; but at the seventh time +the polish came up beautifully, with scarcely a scratch upon the +surface. Stopping my work one night, and it being starlight, I +thought I would try the mirror on a star. I had a wooden frame +ready for the purpose, which the carpenter had made for me. +Judge of my surprise and delight when I found that the star disc +enlarged nearly in the same manner from each side of the focal +point, thus making it extremely probable that I had accidentally +hit on a near approach to the parabola in the curve of my mirror. + +And such proved to be the case. I have the mirror still, and its +performance is very good indeed. + +"I went no further with this mirror, for fear or spoiling it. It +is very slightly grey in the centre, but not sufficiently so as +to materially injure its performance. I mounted it in a wooden +tube, placed it on a wooden stand, and used it for a time thus +mounted; but getting disgusted with the tremor and inconvenience +I had to put up with, I resolved to construct for it an iron +equatorial stand. I made my patterns, got them cast, turned and +fitted them myself, grinding all the working parts together with +emery and oil, and fitted a tangent-screw motion to drive the +instrument in right ascension. Now I found the instrument a +pleasure to use; and I determined to add to it divided circles, +and to accurately adjust it to the meridian. I made my circles +of well-seasoned mahogany, with slips of paper on their edges, +dividing them with my drawing instruments, and varnishing them to +keep out the wet. I shall never forget that sunny afternoon upon +which I computed the hour-angle for Jupiter, and set the +instrument so that by calculation Jupiter should pass through the +field of the instrument at 1h. 25m. 15s. With my watch in my +hand, and my eye to the eye-piece, I waited for the orb. When +his glorious face appeared, almost in a direct line for the +centre of the field, I could not contain my joy, but shouted out +as loudly as I could,--greatly to the astonishment of old George +Johnson, the miller, who happened to be in the field where I had +planted my stand! + +"Now, though I had obtained what I wanted--a fairly good +instrument,--still I was not quite satisfied; as I had produced +it by a fortunate chance, and not by skill alone. I therefore +set to work again on the other disc of glass, to try if I could +finish it in such a way as to excel the first one. After nearly +a year's work I found that I could only succeed in equalling it. +But then, during this time, I had removed the working of mirrors +from mere chance to a fair amount of certainty. By bringing my +mathematical knowledge to bear on the subject, I had devised a +method of testing and measuring my work which, I am happy to say, +has been fairly successful, and has enabled me to produce the +spherical, elliptic, parabolic, or hyperbolic curve in my +mirrors, with almost unvarying success. The study of the +practical working of specula and lenses has also absorbed a good +deal of my spare time during the last two years, and the work +involved has been scarcely less difficult. Altogether, I +consider this last year (1882-3) to mark the busiest period of my +life. + +"It will be observed that I have only given an account of those +branches of study in which I have put to practical test the +deductions from theoretical reasoning. I am at present engaged +on the theory of the achromatic object-glass, with regard to +spherical chromatism--a subject upon which, I believe, nearly all +our text-books are silent, but one nevertheless of vital +importance to the optician. I can only proceed very slowly with +it, on account of having to grind and figure lenses for every +step of the theory, to keep myself in the right track; as mere +theorizing is apt to lead one very much astray, unless it be +checked by constant experiment. For this particular subject, +lenses must be ground firstly to spherical, and then to curves of +conic sections, so as to eliminate spherical aberration from each +lens; so that it will be observed that this subject is not +without its difficulties. + +"About a month ago (September, 1883), I determined to put to the +test the statement of some of our theorists, that the surface of +a rotating fluid is either a parabola or a hyperbola. I found by +experiment that it is neither, but an approximation to the +tractrix (a modification of the catenary), if anything definite; +as indeed one, on thinking over the matter, might feel certain it +would be--the tractrix being the curve of least friction. + +"In astronomy, I have really done very little beyond mere +algebraical working of the fundamental theorems, and a little +casual observation of the telescope. So far, I must own, I have +taken more pleasure in the theory and construction of the +telescope, than in its use." + +Such is Samuel Lancaster's history of the growth and development +of his mind. I do not think there is anything more interesting +in the 'Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties.' His life has +been a gallant endeavour to win further knowledge, though too +much at the expense of a constitution originally delicate. He +pursues science with patience and determination, and wooes truth +with the ardour of a lover. Eulogy of his character would here +be unnecessary; but, if he takes due care of his health, we shall +hear more of him.[11] + +More astronomers in humble life! There seems to to be no end of +them. There must be a great fascination in looking up to the +heavens, and seeing those wondrous worlds careering in the +far-off infinite. Let me look back to the names I have +introduced in this chapter of autobiography. First, there was my +worthy porter friend at Coupar Angus station, enjoying himself +with his three-inch object-glass. Then there was the shoemaker +and teacher, and eventually the first-rate maker of achromatic +instruments. Look also at the persons whom he supplied with his +best telescopes. Among them we find princes, baronets, +clergymen, professors, doctors, solicitors, manufacturers, and +inventors. Then we come to the portrait painter, who acquired +the highest supremacy in the art of telescope making; then to Mr. +Lassell, the retired brewer, whose daughters presented his +instrument to the nation; and, lastly, to the extraordinary young +schoolmaster of Bainbridge, in Yorkshire. And now before I +conclude this last chapter, I have to relate perhaps the most +extraordinary story of all--that of another astronomer in humble +life, in the person of a slate counter at Port Penrhyn, Bangor, +North Wales. + +While at Birnam, I received a letter from my old friend the Rev. +Charles Wicksteed, formerly of Leeds, calling my attention to +this case, and inclosing an extract from the letter of a young +lady, one of his correspondents at Bangor. In that letter she +said: "What you write of Mr. Christmas Evans reminds me very much +of a visit I paid a few evenings ago to an old man in Upper +Bangor. He works on the Quay, but has a very decided taste for +astronomy, his leisure time being spent in its study, with a +great part of his earnings. I went there with some friends to +see an immense telescope, which he has made almost entirely +without aid, preparing the glasses as far as possible himself, +and sending them away merely to have their concavity changed. He +showed us all his treasures with the greatest delight, explaining +in English, but substituting Welsh when at a loss. He has +scarcely ever been at school, but has learnt English entirely +from books. Among other things he showed us were a Greek +Testament and a Hebrew Bible, both of which he can read. His +largest telescope, which is several yards long, he has named +'Jumbo,' and through it he told us he saw the snowcap on the pole +of Mars. He had another smaller telescope, made by himself, and +had a spectroscope in process of making. He is now quite old, +but his delight in his studies is still unbounded and unabated. +It seems so sad that he has had no right opportunity for +developing his talent." + +Mr. Wicksteed was very much interested in the case, and called my +attention to it, that I might add the story to my repertory of +self-helping men. While at York I received a communication from +Miss Grace Ellis, the young lady in question, informing me of the +name of the astronomer--John Jones, Albert Street, Upper +Bangor--and intimating that he would be glad to see me any +evening after six. As railways have had the effect of bringing +places very close together in point of time--making of Britain, +as it were, one great town--and as the autumn was brilliant, and +the holiday season not at an end, I had no difficulty in +diverging from my journey, and taking Bangor on my way homeward. +Starting from York in the morning, and passing through Leeds, +Manchester, and Chester, I reached Bangor in the afternoon, and +had my first interview with Mr. Jones that very evening. + +I found him, as Miss Grace Ellis had described, active, vigorous, +and intelligent; his stature short, his face well-formed, his +eyes keen and bright. I was first shown into his little parlour +downstairs, furnished with his books and some of his +instruments; I was then taken to his tiny room upstairs, where he +had his big reflecting telescope, by means of which he had seen, +through the chamber window, the snowcap of Mars. He is so fond +of philology that I found he had no fewer than twenty-six +dictionaries, all bought out of his own earnings. "I am fond of +all knowledge," he said--"of Reuben, Dan, and Issachar; but I +have a favourite, a Benjamin, and that is Astronomy. I would +sell all of them into Egypt, but preserve my Benjamin." His +story is briefly as follows:-- + +"I was born at Bryngwyn Bach, Anglesey, in 1818, and I am +sixty-five years old. I got the little education I have, when a +boy. Owen Owen, who was a cousin of my mother's, kept a school +at a chapel in the village of Dwyrain, in Anglesey. It was said +of Owen that he never had more than a quarter of a year's +schooling, so that he could not teach me much. I went to his +school at seven, and remained with him about a year. Then he +left; and some time afterwards I went for a short period to an +old preacher's school, at Brynsieneyn chapel. There I learnt but +little, the teacher being negligent. He allowed the children to +play together too much, and he punished them for slight offences, +making them obstinate and disheartened. But I remember his once +saying to the other children, that I ran through my little lesson +'like a coach.' However, when I was about twelve years old, my +father died, and in losing him I lost almost all the little I had +learnt during the short periods I had been at school. Then I +went to work for the farmers. + +"In this state of ignorance I remained for years, until the time +came when on Sunday I used to saddle the old black mare for +Cadwalladr Williams, the Calvinist Methodist preacher, at Pen +Ceint, Anglesey; and after he had ridden away, I used to hide in +his library during the sermon, and there I learnt a little that I +shall not soon forget. In that way I had many a draught of +knowledge, as it were, by stealth. Having a strong taste for +music, I was much attracted by choral singing; and on Sundays and +in the evenings I tried to copy out airs from different books, +and accustomed my hand a little to writing. This tendency was, +however, choked within me by too much work with the cattle, and +by other farm labour. In a word, I had but little fair weather +in my search for knowledge. One thing enticed me from another, +to the detriment of my plans; some fair Eve often standing with +an apple in hand, tempting me to taste of that. + +"The old preacher's books at Pen Ceint were in Welsh. I had not +yet learned English, but tried to learn it by comparing one line +in the English New Testament with the same line in the Welsh. +This was the Hamiltonian method, and the way in which I learnt +most languages. I first got an idea of astronomy from reading +'The Solar System,' by Dr. Dick, translated into Welsh by Eleazar +Roberts of Liverpool. That book I found on Sundays in the +preacher's library; and many a sublime thought it gave me. It +was comparatively easy to understand. + +"When I was about thirty I was taken very ill, and could no +longer work. I then went to Bangor to consult Dr. Humphrys. +After I got better I found work at the Port at 12s. a week. I +was employed in counting the slates, or loading the ships in the +harbour from the railway trucks. I lodged in Fwn Deg, near where +Hugh Williams, Gatehouse, then kept a navigation school for young +sailors. I learnt navigation, and soon made considerable +progress. I also learnt a little arithmetic. At first nearly +all the young men were more advanced than myself; but before I +left matters were different, and the Scripture words became +verified-- "the last shall be first." I remained with Hugh +Williams six months and a half. During that time I went twice +through the 'Tutor's Assistant,' and a month before I left I was +taught mensuration. That is all the education I received, and +the greater part of it was during my by-hours. + +"I got to know English pretty well, though Welsh was the language +of those about me. From easy books I went to those more +difficult. I was helped in my pronunciation of English by +comparing the words with the phonetic alphabet, as published by +Thomas Gee of Denbigh, in 1853. With my spare earnings I bought +books, especially when my wages began to rise. Mr. Wyatt, the +steward, was very kind, and raised my pay from time to time at +his pleasure. I suppose I was willing, correct, and faithful. I +improved my knowledge by reading books on astronomy. I got, +amongst others, 'The Mechanism of the Heavens,' by Denison +Olmstead, an American; a very understandable book. Learning +English, which was a foreign language to me, led me to learn +other languages. I took pleasure in finding out the roots or +radixes of words, and from time to time I added foreign +dictionaries to my little library. But I took most pleasure in +astronomy. + +"The perusal of Sir John Herschel's 'Outlines of Astronomy,' and +of his 'Treatise on the Telescope,' set my mind on fire. I +conceived the idea of making a telescope of my own, for I could +not buy one. While reading the Mechanics' Magazine I observed +the accounts of men who made telescopes. Why should not I do the +same? Of course it was a matter of great difficulty to one who +knew comparatively little of the use of tools. But I had a +willing mind and willing hands. So I set to work. I think I +made my first telescope about twenty years ago. It was +thirty-six inches long, and the tube was made of pasteboard. I +got the glasses from Liverpool for 4s. 6d. Captain Owens, of the +ship Talacra, bought them. He also bought for me, at a +bookstall, the Greek Lexicon and the Greek New Testament, for +which he paid 7s. 6d. With my new telescope I could see +Jupiter's four satellites, the craters on the moon, and some of +the double stars. It was a wonderful pleasure to me. + +"But I was not satisfied with the instrument. I wanted a bigger +and a more perfect one. I sold it and got new glasses from +Solomon of London, who was always ready to trust me. I think it +was about the year 1868 that I began to make a reflecting +telescope. I got a rough disc of glass, from St. Helens, of ten +inches diameter. It took me from nine to ten days to grind and +polish it ready for parabolising and silvering. I did this by +hand labour with the aid of emery, but without a lathe. I +finally used rouge instead of emery in grinding down the glass, +until I could see my face in the mirror quite plain. I then sent +the 8 3/16 inch disc to Mr. George Calver, of Chelmsford, to turn +my spherical curve to a parabolic curve, and to silver the +mirror, for which I paid him 5L. I mounted this in my timber +tube; the focus was ten feet. When everything was complete I +tried my instrument on the sky, and found it to have good +defining power. The diameter of the other glass I have made is a +little under six inches. + +"You ask me if their performance satisfies me? Well; I have +compared my six-inch reflector with a 4 1/4 inch refractor, +through my window, with a power of 100 and 140. I can't say +which was the best. But if out on a clear night I think my +reflector would take more power than the refractor. However that +may be, I saw the snowcap on the planet Mars quite plain; and it +is satisfactory to me so far. With respect to the 8 3/16 inch +glass, I am not quite satisfied with it yet; but I am making +improvements, and I believe it will reward my labour in the end." + +Besides these instruments John Jones has an equatorial which is +mounted on a tripod stand, made by himself. It contains the +right ascension, declination, and azimuth index, all neatly +carved upon slate. In his spectroscope he makes his prisms out +of the skylights used in vessels. These he grinds down to suit +his purpose. I have not been able to go into the complete detail +of the manner in which he effects the grinding of his glasses. +It is perhaps too technical to be illustrated in words, which are +full of focuses, parabolas, and convexities. But enough may be +gathered from the above account to give an idea of the wonderful +tenacity of this aged student, who counts his slates into the +ships by day, and devotes his evenings to the perfecting of his +astronomical instruments. But not only is he an astronomer and a +philologist; he is also a bard, and his poetry is much admired in +the district. He writes in Welsh, not in English, and signs +himself "Ioan, of Bryngwyn Bach," the place where he was born. +Indeed, he is still at a loss for words when he speaks in +English. He usually interlards his conversation with passages in +Welsh, which is his mother-tongue. A friend has, however, done +me the favour to translate two of John Jones's poems into +English. The first is 'The Telescope':-- + +"To Heaven it points, where rules the Sun +In golden gall'ries bright; +And the pale Moon in silver rays +Makes dalliance in the night. + +"It sweeps with eagle glances +The sky, its myriad throng, +That myriad throng to marshal +And bring to us their song. + +"Orb upon orb it follows +As oft they intertwine, +And worlds in vast processions +As if in battle line. + +"It loves all things created, +To follow and to trace; +And never fears to penetrate +The dark abyss of space." + +The next is to 'The Comet':- + +"A maiden fair, with light of stars bedecked, +Starts out of space at Jove's command; +With visage wild, and long dishevelled hair, +Speeds she along her starry course; +The hosts of heaven regards she not,-- +Fain would she scorn them all except her father Sol, +Whose mighty influence her headlong course doth all control." + +The following translation may also be given: it shows that the +bard is not without a spice of wit. A fellow-workman teased him +to write some lines; when John Jones, in a seemingly innocent +manner, put some questions, and ascertained that he had once been +a tailor. Accordingly this epigram was written, and appeared in +the local paper the week after: "To a quondam Tailor, now a +Slate-teller":-- + +"To thread and needle now good-bye, +With slates I aim at riches; +The scissors will I ne'er more ply, +Nor make, but order, breeches."[12] + +The bi-lingual speech is the great educational difficulty of +Wales. To get an entrance into literature and science requires a +knowledge of English; or, if not of English, then of French or +German. But the Welsh language stands in the way. Few literary +or scientific works are translated into Welsh. Hence the great +educational difficulty continues, and is maintained from year to +year by patriotism and Eisteddfods. + +Possibly the difficulties to be encountered may occasionally +evoke unusual powers of study; but this can only occur in +exceptional cases. While at Bangor Mr. Cadwalladr Davies read to +me the letter of a student and professor, whose passion for +knowledge is of an extraordinary character. While examined +before the Parliamentary Committee appointed to inquire into the +condition of intermediate and higher education in Wales and +Monmouthshire, Mr. Davies gave evidence relating to this and +other remarkable cases, of which the following is an abstract, +condensed by himself:-- + +"The night schools in the quarry districts have been doing a very +great work; and, if the Committee will allow me, I will read an +extract from a letter which I received from Mr. Bradley Jones, +master of the Board Schools at Llanarmon, near Mold, Flintshire, +who some years ago kept a very flourishing night school in the +neighbourhood. He says: 'During the whole of the time (fourteen +years) that I was at Carneddi, I carried on these schools, and I +believe I have had more experience of such institutions than any +teacher in North Wales. For several years about 120 scholars +used to attend the Carneddi night school in the winter months, +four evenings a week. Nearly all were quarrymen, from fourteen +to twenty-one years of age, and engaged at work from 7 A.M. to +5.30 P.M. So intense was their desire for education that some of +them had to walk a distance of two or even three miles to school. + +These, besides working hard all day, had to walk six miles in the +one case and nine in the other before school-time, in addition to +the walk home afterwards. Several of them used to attend all the +year round, even coming to me for lessons in summer before going +to work, as well as in the evening. Indeed, so anxious were some +of them, that they would often come for lessons as early as five +o'clock in the morning. This may appear almost incredible, but +any of the managers of the Carneddi School could corroborate the +statement.' + +"I have now in my mind's eye," continues Mr. Bradley, "several of +these young men, who, by dint of indefatigable labour and +self-denial, ultimately qualified themselves for posts in which a +good education is a sine qua non. Some of them are to-day quarry +managers, professional men, certificated teachers, and ministers +of the Gospel. Five of them are at the present time students at +Bala College. One got a situation in the Glasgow Post Office as +letter-carrier. During his leisure hours he attended the +lectures at one of the medical schools of that city, and in +course of time gained his diploma. He is now practising as a +surgeon, and I understand with signal success. This gentleman +worked in the Penrhyn Quarry until he was twenty years old. I +could give many more instances of the resolute and self-denying +spirit with which the young quarrymen of Bethesda sought to +educate themselves. The teachers of the other schools in that +neighbourhood could give similar examples, for during the winter +months there used to be no less than 300 evening scholars under +instruction in the different schools. The Bethesda booksellers +could tell a tale that would surprise our English friends. I +have been informed by one of them that he has sold to young +quarrymen an immense number of such works as Lord Macaulay's, +Stuart Mill's, and Professor Fawcett's; and it is no uncommon +sight to find these and similar works read and studied by the +young quarrymen during the dinner hour." + +"I can give," proceeds Mr. Cadwalladr Davies, "one remarkable +instance to show the struggles which young Welshmen have to +undertake in order to get education. The boy in question, the +son of 'poor but honest parents,' left the small national school +of his native village when he was 12 1/2 years of age, and then +followed his father's occupation of shoemaking until he was 16 +1/2 years of age. After working hard at his trade for four +years, he, his brother, and two fellow apprentices, formed +themselves into a sort of club to learn shorthand, the whole +matter being kept a profound secret. They had no teachers, and +they met at the gas-works, sitting opposite the retorts on a +bench supported at each end with bricks. They did not penetrate +far into the mysteries of Welsh shorthand; they soon abandoned +the attempt, and induced the village schoolmaster to open a night +school. + +This, however, did not last long. The young Crispin was +returning late one night from Llanrwst in company with a lad of +the same age, and both having heard much of the blessings of +education from a Scotch lady who took a kindly interest in them, +their ambition was inflamed, and they entered into a solemn +compact that they would thenceforward devote themselves body and +soul to the attainment of an academical degree. Yet they were +both poor. One was but a shoemaker's apprentice, while the other +was a pupil teacher earning but a miserable weekly pittance. One +could do the parts of speech; the other could not. One had +struggled with the pans asinorum; the other had never seen it. I +may mention that the young pupil teacher is now a curate in the +Church of England. He is a graduate of Cambridge University and +a prizeman of Clare College. But to return to the little +shoemaker. + +"After returning home from Llanrwst, he disburthened his heart to +his mother, and told her that shoemaking, which until now he had +pursued with extraordinary zest, could no longer interest him. +His mother, who was equal to the emergency, sent the boy to a +teacher of the old school, who had himself worked his way from +the plough. After the exercise of considerable diplomacy, an +arrangement was arrived at whereby the youth was to go to school +on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and make shoes during the +remaining days of the week. This suited him admirably. That +very night he seized upon a geography, and began to learn the +counties of England and Wales. The fear of failure never left +him for two hours together, except when he slept. The plan of +work was faithfully kept; though by this time shoemaking had lost +its charms. He shortened his sleeping hours, and rose at any +moment that he awoke--at two, three, or four in the morning. He +got his brother, who had been plodding with him over shorthand, +to study horticulture, and fruit and vegetable culture; and that +brother shortly after took a high place in an examination held by +the Royal Horticultural Society. For a time, however, they +worked together; and often did their mother get up at four +o'clock in the depth of winter, light their fire, and return to +bed after calling them up to the work of self-culture. Even this +did not satisfy their devouring ambition. There was a bed in the +workshop, and they obtained permission to sleep there. Then they +followed their own plans. The young gardener would sit up till +one or two in the morning, and wake his brother, who had gone to +bed as soon as he had given up work the night before. + +Now he got up and studied through the small hours of the morning +until the time came when he had to transfer his industry to +shoemaking, or go to school on the appointed days after the +distant eight o'clock had come. His brother had got worn out. +Early sleep seemed to be the best. They then both went to bed +about eight o'clock, and got the policeman to call them up before +retiring himself. + +"So the struggle went on, until the faithful old schoolmaster +thought that his young pupil might try the examination at the +Bangor Normal College. He was now eighteen years of age; and it +was eighteen months since the time when he began to learn the +counties of England and Wales. He went to Bangor, rigged out in +his brother's coat and waistcoat, which were better than his own; +and with his brother's watch in his pocket to time himself in his +examinations. He went through his examination, but returned home +thinking he had failed. Nevertheless, he had in the meantime, on +the strength of a certificate which he had obtained six months +before, in an examination held by the Society of Arts and +Sciences in Liverpool, applied for a situation as teacher in a +grammar-school at Ormskirk in Lancashire. He succeeded in his +application, and had been there for only eight days when he +received a letter from Mr. Rowlands, Principal of the Bangor +Normal College, informing him that he had passed at the head of +the list, and was the highest non-pupil teacher examined by the +British and Foreign Society. Having obtained permission from his +master to leave, he packed his clothes and his few books. He had +not enough money to carry him home; but, unasked, the master of +the school gave him 10s. He arrived home about three o'clock on +a Sunday morning, after a walk of eleven miles over a lonely road +from the place where the train had stopped. He reeled on the +way, and found the country reeling too. He had been sleeping +eight nights in a damp bed. Six weeks of the Bangor Session +passed, and during that time he had been delirious, and was too +weak to sit up in bed. But the second time he crossed the +threshold of his home he made for Bangor and got back his +"position," which was all important to him, and he kept it all +through. + +"Having finished his course at Bangor he went to keep a school at +Brynaman; he endeavoured to study but could not. After two years +he gave up the school, and with 60L. saved he faced the world +once more. There was a scholarship of the value of 40L. a year, +for three years, attached to one of the Scotch Universities, to +be competed for. He knew the Latin Grammar, and had, with help, +translated one of the books of Caesar. Of Greek he knew nothing, +save the letters and the first declension of nouns; but in May he +began to read in earnest at a farmhouse. He worked every day +from 6 A.M. to 12 P.M. with only an hour's intermission. He +studied the six Latin and two Greek books prescribed; he did some +Latin composition unaided; brushed up his mathematics; and learnt +something of the history of Greece and Rome. In October, after +five months of hard work, he underwent an examination for the +scholarship, and obtained it; beating his opponent by +twenty-eight marks in a thousand. He then went up to the Scotch +University and passed all the examinations for his ordinary M.A. +degree in two years and a half. On his first arrival at the +University he found that he could not sleep; but he wearily yet +victoriously plodded on; took a prize in Greek, then the first +prize in philosophy, the second prize in logic, the medal in +English literature, and a few other prizes. + +"He had 40L. when he first arrived in Scotland; and he carried +away with him a similar sum to Germany, whither he went to study +for honours in philosophy. He returned home with little in his +pocket, borrowing money to go to Scotland, where he sat for +honours and for the scholarship. He got his first honours, and +what was more important at the time, money to go on with. He now +lives on the scholarship which he took at that time; is an +assistant professor; and, in a fortnight, will begin a course of +lectures for ladies in connection with his university. Writing +to me a few days ago,[13] he says, 'My health, broken down with +my last struggle, is quite restored, and I live with the hope of +working on. Many have worked more constantly, but few have +worked more intensely. I found kindness on every hand always, +but had I failed in a single instance I should have met with +entire bankruptcy. The failure would have been ruinous.... I +thank God for the struggle, but would not like to see a dog try +it again. There are droves of lads in Wales that would creep up +but they cannot. Poverty has too heavy a hand for them.'" + +The gentleman whose brief history is thus summarily given by Mr. +Davies, is now well known as a professor of philosophy; and, if +his health be spared, he will become still better known. He is +the author of several important works on 'Moral Philosophy,' +published by a leading London firm; and more works are announced +from his pen. The victorious struggle for knowledge which we +have recounted might possibly be equalled, but it could not +possibly be surpassed. There are, however, as Mr. Davies related +to the Parliamentary Committee, many instances of Welsh students +--most of them originally quarrymen--who keep themselves at +school by means of the savings effected from manual labour, "in +frequent cases eked out and helped by the kindness of friends and +neighbours," who struggle up through many difficulties, and +eventually achieve success in the best sense of the term. "One +young man"--as the teacher of a grammar-school, within two miles +of Bangor, related to Mr. Davies-- "who came to me from the +quarry some time ago, was a gold medallist at Edinburgh last +winter;" and contributions are readily made by the quarrymen to +help forward any young man who displays an earnest desire for +knowledge in science and literature. + +It is a remarkable fact that the quarrymen of Carnarvonshire have +voluntarily contributed large sums of money towards the +establishment of the University College in North Wales--the +quarry districts in that county having contributed to that fund, +in the course of three years, mostly in half-crown subscriptions, +not less than 508L. 4s. 4d.-- "a fact," says Mr. Davies, "without +its parallel in the history of the education of any country;" the +most striking feature being, that these collections were made in +support of an institution from which the quarrymen could only +very remotely derive any benefit. + +While I was at Bangor, on the 24th of August, 1883, the news +arrived that the Committee of Selection had determined that +Bangor should be the site for the intended North Wales University +College. The news rapidly spread, and great rejoicings prevailed +throughout the borough, which had just been incorporated. The +volunteer band played through the streets; the church bells rang +merry peals; and gay flags were displayed from nearly every +window. There never was such a triumphant display before in the +cause of University education. + +As Mr. Cadwalladr Davies observed at the banquet, which took +place on the following day: "The establishment of the new +institution will mark the dawn of a new era in the history of the +Welsh people. He looked to it, not only as a means of imparting +academical knowledge to the students within its walls, but also +as a means of raising the intellectual and moral tone of the +whole people. They were fond of quoting the saying of a great +English writer, that there was something Grecian in the Celtic +race, and that the Celtic was the refining element in the British +character; but such remarks, often accompanied as they were with +offensive comparisons from Eisteddfod platforms, would in future +be put to the test, for they would, with their new educational +machinery, be placed on a footing of perfect equality with the +Scotch and the Irish people." + +And here must come to an end the character history of my autumn +tour in Ireland, Scotland, Yorkshire, and Wales. I had not the +remotest intention when setting out of collecting information and +writing down my recollections of the journey. But the persons I +met, and the information I received, were of no small +interest--at least to myself; and I trust that the reader will +derive as much pleasure from perusing my observations as I have +had in collecting and writing them down. I do think that the +remarkable persons whose history and characters I have +endeavoured, however briefly, to sketch, will be found to afford +many valuable and important lessons of Self-Help; and to +illustrate how the moral and industrial foundations of a country +may be built up and established. + + +Footnotes for Chapter XII. + +[1] A "poet," who dates from "New York, March 1883," has +published seven stanzas, entitled "Change here for Blairgowrie," +from which we take the following:-- + +"From early morn till late at e'en, +John's honest face is to be seen, +Bustling about the trains between, +Be 't sunshine or be 't showery; +And as each one stops at his door, +He greets it with the well-known roar +Of 'Change here for Blairgowrie.' +Even when the still and drowsy night +Has drawn the curtains of our sight, +John's watchful eyes become more bright, +And take another glow'r aye +Thro' yon blue dome of sparkling stars +Where Venus bright and ruddy Mars +Shine down upon Blairgowrie. +He kens each jinkin' comet's track, +And when it's likely to come back, +When they have tails, and when they lack-- +In heaven the waggish power aye; +When Jupiter's belt buckle hings, +And the Pyx mark on Saturn's rings, +He sees from near Blairgowrie." + +[2] The Observatory, No. 61, p. 146; and No. 68, p. 371. + +[3] In an article on the subject in the Dundee Evening Telegraph, +Mr. Robertson observes: "If our finite minds were more capable +of comprehension, what a glorious view of the grandeur of the +Deity would be displayed to us in the contemplation of the centre +and source of light and heat to the solar system. The force +requisite to pour such continuous floods to the remotest parts of +the system must ever baffle the mind of man to grasp. But we are +not to sit down in indolence: our duty is to inquire into +Nature's works, though we can never exhaust the field. Our minds +cannot imagine motion without some Power moving through the +medium of some subordinate agency, ever acting on the sun, to +send such floods of light and heat to our otherwise cold and dark +terrestrial ball; but it is the overwhelming magnitude of such +power that we are incapable of comprehending. The agency +necessary to throw out the floods of flame seen during the few +moments of a total eclipse of the sun, and the power requisite to +burst open a cavity in its surface, such as could entirely +engulph our earth, will ever set all the thinking capacity of man +at nought." + +[4] The Observatory, Nos. 34, 42, 45, 49, and 58. + +[5] We regret to say that Sheriff Barclay died a few months ago, +greatly respected by all who knew him. + +[6] Sir E. Denison Beckett, in his Rudimentary Treatise on clocks +and Watches and Bells, has given an instance or the +telescope-driving clock, invented by Mr. Cooke (p. 213). + +[7] J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S.--Stargazing, Past and Present, p. +302. + +[8] This excellent instrument is now in the possession of my +son-in-law, Dr. Hartree, of Leigh, near Tunbridge. + +[9] An interesting account of Mr. Alvan Clark is given in +Professor Newcomb's 'Popular Astronomy,' p. 137. + +[10] A photographic representation of this remarkable telescope +is given as the frontispiece to Mr. Lockyer's Stargazing, Past +and Present; and a full description of the instrument is given in +the text of the same work. This refracting telescope did not +long remain the largest. Mr. Alvan Clark was commissioned to +erect a larger equatorial for Washington Observatory; the +object-glass (the rough disks of which were also furnished by +Messrs. Chance of Birmingham) exceeding in aperture that of Mr. +Cooke's by only one inch. This was finished and mounted in +November, 1873. Another instrument of similar size and power was +manufactured by Mr. Clark for the University of Virginia. But +these instruments did not long maintain their supremacy. In +1881, Mr. Howard Grubb, of Dublin, manufactured a still larger +instrument for the Austrian Government--the object-glass being of +twenty-seven inches aperture. But Mr. Alvan Clark was not to be +beaten. In 1882, he supplied the Russian Government with the +largest refracting telescope in existence the object-glass being +of thirty inches diameter. Even this, however, is to be +surpassed by the lens which Mr. Clark has in hand for the Lick +Observatory (California), which is to have a clear aperture of +three feet in diameter. + +[11] Since the above passage was written and in type, I have seen +(in September 1884) the reflecting telescope referred to at pp. +357-8. It was mounted on its cast-iron equatorial stand, and at +work in the field adjoining the village green at Bainbridge, +Yorkshire. The mirror of the telescope is 8 inches in diameter; +its focal length, 5 feet; and the tube in which it is mounted, +about 6 feet long. The instrument seemed to me to have an +excellent defining power. + +But Mr. Lancaster, like every eager astronomer, is anxious for +further improvements. He considers the achromatic telescope the +king of instruments, and is now engaged in testing convex optical +surfaces, with a view to achieving a telescope of that +description. The chief difficulty is the heavy charge for the +circular blocks of flint glass requisite for the work which he +meditates. "That," he says, "is the great difficulty with +amateurs of my class." He has, however, already contrived and +constructed a machine for grinding and polishing the lenses in an +accurate convex form, and it works quite satisfactorily. Mr. +Lancaster makes his own tools. From the raw material, whether of +glass or steel, he produces the work required. As to tools, all +that he requires is a bar of steel and fire; his fertile brain +and busy hands do the rest. I looked into the little workshop +behind his sitting-room, and found it full of ingenious +adaptations. The turning lathe occupies a considerable part of +it; but when he requires more space, the village smith with his +stithy, and the miller with his water-power, are always ready to +help him. His tools, though not showy, are effective. His best +lenses are made by himself: those which he buys are not to be +depended upon. The best flint glass is obtained from Paris in +blocks, which he divides, grinds, and polishes to perfect form. + +I was attracted by a newly made machine, placed on a table in the +sitting-room; and on inquiry found that its object was to grind +and polish lenses. Mr. Lancaster explained that the difficulty +to be overcome in a good machine, is to make the emery cut the +surface equally from centre to edge of the lens, so that the lens +will neither lengthen nor shorten the curve during its +production. To quote his words: "This really involves the +problem of the 'three bodies,' or disturbing forces so celebrated +in dynamical mathematics, and it is further complicated by +another quantity, the 'coefficient of attrition,' or work done by +the grinding material, as well as the mischief done by capillary +attractionand nodal points of superimposed curves in the path of +the tool. These complications tend to cause rings or waves of +unequal wear in the surface of the glass, and ruin the defining +power of the lens, which depends upon the uniformity of its +curve. As the outcome of much practical experiment, combined +with mathematical research, I settled upon the ratio of speed +between the sheave of the lens-tool guide and the turn-table; +between whose limits the practical equalization of wear (or cut +of the emery) might with the greater facility be adjusted, by +means of varying the stroke and eccentricity of the tool. As the +result of these considerations in the construction of the +machine, the surface of the glass 'comes up' regularly all over +the lens; and the polishing only takes a few minutes' work--thus +keeping the truth of surface gained by using a rigid tool." + +The machine in question consists of a revolving sheave or ring, +with a sliding strip across its diameter; the said strip having a +slot and clamping screw at one end, and a hole towards the other, +through which passes the axis of the tool used in forming the +lens,--the slot in the strip allowing the tool to give any stroke +from 0 to 1.25 inch. The lens is carried on a revolving +turn-table, with an arrangement to allow the axis of the lens to +coincide with the axis of the table. The ratio of speed between +the sheave and turn-table is arranged by belt and properly sized +pulleys, and the whole can be driven either by hand or by power. +The sheave merely serves as a guide to the tool in its path, and +the lens may either be worked on the turn-table or upon a chuck +attached to the tool rod. The work upon the lens is thus to a +great extent independent of the error of the machine through +shaking, or bad fitting, or wear; and the only part of the +machine which requires really first-class work is the axis of the +turn-table, which (in this machine) is a conical bearing at top, +with steel centre below,--the bearing turned, hardened, and then +ground up true, and run in anti-friction metal. Other details +might be given, but these are probably enough for present +purposes. We hope, at some future time, for a special detail of +Mr. Lancaster's interesting investigations, from his own mind and +pen. + +[12] The translations are made by W. Cadwalladr Davies, Esq. + +[13] This evidence was given by Mr. W. Cadwalladr Davies on the +28th October, 1880. + + + + + +[End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of Men of Invention] diff --git a/old/moiai10.zip b/old/moiai10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..844a1e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/moiai10.zip |