Chapter I: Part 1

MEMOIRS

OF THE

DISTINGUISHED MEN OF SCIENCE

OF GREAT BRITAIN

LIVING IN THE YEARS 1807-8.

AND APPENDIX.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

ROBERT HUNT, F.R.S., &c.

COMPILED AND ARRANGED BY

WILLIAM WALKER, JUNIOR.

Second Edition.

"The evil, that men do, lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones."
SHAKSPEARE.

LONDON:
E. & F. N. SPON, 16, BUCKLERSBURY.

1864.

LONDON:
W. DAVY AND SON, PRINTERS, GILBERT STREET,
OXFORD STREET, W.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

ALLEN, WILLIAM 1

BAILY, FRANCIS 2

BANKS, SIR JOSEPH 4

BENTHAM, BRIGADIER-GENERAL SIR SAMUEL 7

BOULTON, MATTHEW 13

BRAMAH, JOSEPH 15

BROWN, ROBERT 18

BRUNEL, SIR MARK ISAMBARD 21

CARTWRIGHT, REV. DR. EDMUND 24

CAVENDISH, HON. HENRY 27

CHAPMAN, WILLIAM 30

CONGREVE, SIR WILLIAM 34

CROMPTON, SAMUEL 35

DALTON, JOHN 41

DAVY, SIR HUMPHRY 44

DOLLOND, PETER 49

DONKIN, BRYAN 51

FRODSHAM, WILLIAM JAMES 53

GILBERT, DAVIES GIDDY 53

HATCHETT, CHARLES 56

HENRY, DR. WILLIAM 58

HERSCHEL, SIR WILLIAM 61

HOWARD, EDWARD CHARLES 63

HUDDART, CAPTAIN JOSEPH 64

JENNER, DR. EDWARD 67

JESSOP, WILLIAM 72

KATER, CAPTAIN HENRY 75

LESLIE, SIR JOHN 77

MASKELYNE, DR. NEVIL 81

MAUDSLAY, HENRY 83

MILLER, PATRICK 86

MURDOCK, WILLIAM 87

MYLNE, ROBERT 90

NAYSMITH, ALEXANDER 91

PLAYFAIR, JOHN 92

RENNIE, JOHN 96

RONALDS, FRANCIS 99

RUMFORD, COUNT 102

RUTHERFORD, DR. DANIEL 107

SMITH, WILLIAM 107

STANHOPE, CHARLES, EARL 112

SYMINGTON, WILLIAM 114

TELFORD, THOMAS 117

TENNANT, CHARLES 122

THOMSON, DR. THOMAS 124

TREVITHICK, RICHARD 126

TROUGHTON, EDWARD 132

WATSON, RICHARD, BISHOP OF LLANDAFF 134

WATT, JAMES 137

WOLLASTON, DR. WILLIAM H. 142

YOUNG, DR. THOMAS 145

APPENDIX.

BLACK, DR. JOSEPH 150

CORT, HENRY 152

IVORY, JAMES 155

PRIESTLY, JOSEPH 157

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.

THE following brief memoirs were originally compiled for the purpose of accompanying the Engraving of "The Distinguished Men of Science of Great Britain living in 1807-8, assembled at the Royal Institution." As, however, "The Memoirs" were found to have a considerable sale, independent of the Engraving, it has been found necessary to produce a second edition. All the lives have been carefully revised, and considerable additions made, while, in order to render the present book a more complete compendium of the great men of that period, an Appendix has been added, containing the Memoirs of Black, Cort, Ivory, and Priestly, who unfortunately were, from different reasons, unable to be included in the group in the Engraving.

With the exception of the notices of Trevithick, Tennant, Maudslay, Francis Ronalds, and one or two more, these memoirs necessarily contain little information which has not been previously published in some shape or other. The authorities from which the present particulars have been taken are given at the end of each memoir; and the writer claims no further merit than that of having compiled and arranged the works of others, whose language, in most cases, it would indeed be presumption in him to alter, further than was necessary to present to the public in a clear, brief, and (it is hoped) readable form, the doings of men who must ever be held in the grateful remembrance of their country.

INTRODUCTION.

THE influences of human thought on the physical forces which regulate the great phenomena of the universe,--and the operation of the powers of mind, on the material constituents of the planet, which is man's abiding place, form subjects for studies which have a most exalting tendency. Thought has made the subtile element of the thunderstorm man's most obedient messenger. Thought has solicited the sunbeam to betray its secrets; and an invisible agent, controlled by light, delineates external nature at man's request. Thought has subdued the wild impulses of fire, and heat is made the willing power to propel our trains of carriages with a bird-like speed, and to urge--in proud independence of winds or tides--our noble ships from shore to shore. Thought has penetrated the arcana of nature, and, by learning her laws, has imitated her works. Thus, Chemistry takes a crude mass,--rejected as unworthy and offensive,--it recombines its constituent parts, and gives us, the grateful odours of the sweetest flowers, and tinctures which rival nature in the intensity and the beauty of its dyes.

No truth was ever developed to man, in answer to his laborious toils, which did not sooner or later benefit the race. Every such development has been the result of the continuous efforts of an individual mind; therefore it is that we desire to possess some memorial of the men to whom we are indebted.

We have advanced to our present position in the scale of nations by the efforts of a few chosen minds. Every branch of human industry has been benefited by the discoveries of science. The discoverers are therefore deserving of that hero-worship which, sooner or later, they receive from all.

The following pages are intended to convey to the general reader a brief but correct account of the illustrious dead, whose names _are_ for ever associated with one of the most brilliant eras in British science. It will be remembered that, in the earliest years of the present century, the world witnessed the control and application of steam by Watt, Symington and Trevithick; the great discoveries in physics and chemistry by Dalton, Cavendish, Wollaston and Davy,--in astronomy by Herschel, Maskelyne and Baily; the inventions of the spinning-mule and power-loom by Crompton and Cartwright; the introduction of machinery into the manufacture of paper, by Bryan Donkin and others; the improvements in the printing-press, and invention of stereotype printing, by Charles Earl Stanhope; the discovery of vaccination by Jenner; the introduction of gas into general use by Murdock; and the construction (in a great measure) of the present system of canal communication by Jessop, Chapman, Telford and Rennie. During the same period of time were likewise living Count Rumford; Robert Brown, the botanist; William Smith, "The Father of English Geology;" Thomas Young, the natural philosopher; Brunei; Bentham; Maudslay; and Francis Ronalds, who, by securing perfect insulation, was the first to demonstrate the practicability of passing an electric message through a lengthened space; together with many others, the fruits of whose labours we are now reaping.

The following pages briefly record the births, deaths, and more striking incidents in the lives of those benefactors to mankind.

"Lives of great men all remind us we may make our lives sublime."--The truth of this is strongly enforced in the brief memoirs which are included in this volume. They teach us that mental power, used judiciously and applied with industry, is capable of producing vast changes in the crude productions of Nature. Beyond this, they instruct us that men, who fulfil the commands of the Creator and employ their minds, in unwearying efforts to subdue the Earth, are rarely unrewarded. They aid in the march of civilization, and they ameliorate the conditions of humanity. They win a place amongst the great names which we reverence, and each one

"becomes like a star
"From the abodes where the Eternals are."

ROBERT HUNT.

WILLIAM ALLEN, F.R.S.

Born August 29, 1770. Died December 30, 1843.

William Allen, the eminent chemist, was born in London. His father was a silk manufacturer in Spitalfields, and a member of the Society of Friends. Having at an early period shown a predilection for chemical and other pursuits connected with medicine, William was placed in the establishment of Mr. Joseph Gurney Bevan in Plough Court, Lombard Street, where he acquired a practical knowledge of chemistry. He eventually succeeded to the business, which he carried on in connection with Mr. Luke Howard, and obtained great reputation as a pharmaceutical chemist. About the year 1804, Mr. Allen was appointed lecturer on chemistry and experimental philosophy at Guy's Hospital, at which institution he continued to be engaged more or less until the year 1827. He was also connected with the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and was concerned in some of the most exact experiments of the day, together with Davy, Babington, Marcet, Luke Howard, and Dalton. In conjunction with his friend Mr. Pepys, Allen entered upon his well known chemical investigations, which established the proportion of Carbon in Carbonic Acid, and proved the identity of the diamond with charcoal; these discoveries are recorded in the 'Philosophical Transactions' of the Royal Society, of which he became a member in 1807. The 'Transactions' for 1829 also contain a paper by him, based on elaborate experiments and calculations, concerning the changes produced by respiration on atmospheric air and other gases. Mr. Allen was mainly instrumental in establishing the Pharmaceutical Society, of which he was president at the time of his death. Besides his public labours as a practical chemist, he pursued with much delight, in his hours of relaxation, the study of astronomy, and was one of the original members of the Royal Astronomical Society. In connection with this science, he published, in 1815, a small work entitled 'A Companion to the Transit Instrument.'

Many years before his death Mr. Allen withdrew from business, and purchased an estate near Lindfield, Sussex. Here while still engaged in public schemes of usefulness and benevolence, he also carried out various philanthropic plans for the improvement of his immediate dependants, and poorer neighbours. He erected commodious cottages on his property, with an ample allotment of land to each cottage, and established Schools at Lindfield for boys, girls, and infants, with workshops, outhouses, and play-grounds. About three acres of land were cultivated on the most approved system by the boarders, who also took a part in household work. The subjects taught were land-surveying, mapping, the elements of Botany, the use of the barometer, rain-gauge, &c., and there was a good library with various scientific and useful apparatus.

Mr. Allen died at Lindfield, the scene of his zealous benevolence, in the seventy-fourth year of his age.--_English Cyclopædia_, London, 1856.--_Monthly notices of the Royal Ast. Soc._ vol. 6, Feb., 1844.

FRANCIS BAILY, F.R.S. &c.

Born April 28, 1774. Died August 30, 1844.

This eminent English astronomer was born at Newbury in Berkshire, and received his education at the school of the Rev. Mr. Best of that town, where he early showed a propensity to physical inquiry, obtaining among his schoolmates the nickname of 'the Philosopher of Newbury.' Francis Baily quitted this school, when fourteen years old, for a house of business in the city of London, and remained there until his twenty-second year, when, desirous of the enlargement of views which travel affords, he embarked for America in 1795. Mr. Baily remained there nearly three years, travelling over the whole of the United States and through much of the western country, experiencing at various times great hardships and privations.

Shortly after his return to England he commenced business in London as a stockbroker, and was taken into partnership by a Mr. Whitmore, in the year 1799. While engaged in this business he published several works on Life Annuities, one of which, entitled 'The Doctrine of Life Annuities and Insurances analytically investigated and explained,' was published in 1810, with an appendix in 1813, continuing to this day to be a standard work on the subject, and it may serve to give some idea of the estimation in which it was held, to mention, that when out of print, copies used to sell for four to five times their original value.

Although Mr. Baily was thus actively devoting himself to matters of a direct commercial interest, he was still able to find time for works of a more general nature: in 1810 he wrote his first astronomical paper on the celebrated Solar Eclipse, said to have been predicted by Thales, published in the 'Philosophical Transactions' for 1811, and in 1813 published a work entitled 'An Epitome of Universal History.' Astronomy, however, was his chief pursuit; and shortly after the celebrated fraud of De Beranger on the Stock Exchange in 1814, (in the detection and exposure of which Baily had a considerable share), this science absorbed more and more of his attention. His accounts of the Eclipse of 1820; of the Annular Eclipse of 1836, which he observed at Jedburgh; and the Total Eclipse of July 8, 1842, with its marvellous revelation of the rose-coloured protuberances of the solar atmosphere, since known as 'Baily's Beads,' are among the most interesting and classical of his writings.

In January, 1823, the Royal Astronomical Society was founded, chiefly through the suggestions of Francis Baily and Dr. Pearson, and for the first three years of its existence Mr. Baily filled the office of Secretary, sparing no exertions on its behalf, watching over its early progress with paternal care, and as the Society grew and prospered, contributing to its transactions many copious and valuable papers.

In 1825 Baily retired from the Stock Exchange, having acquired a considerable fortune, and shortly afterwards took a house in Tavistock Place, giving his whole attention to the furtherance of astronomical science. Here, he executed that grand series of labours which has perpetuated his name, and the building in which the Cavendish experiment of weighing the earth was repeated, its bulk and figure determined, and the standard of British measure perpetuated, must continue to be a source of interest to scientific men for many generations to come. The chief works to which Mr. Baily devoted himself during this later portion of his life are:--

1. The Remodelling of the Nautical Almanac.

2. The Determination of the length of the Seconds Pendulum.

3. The Fixation of the Standard of Length.

4. The Determination of the Density of the Earth.

5. The Revision of the Catalogues of the Stars.

6. The Reduction of Lacaille's and Lalande's Catalogues; and

7. The Formation of a New Standard Catalogue.

The benefits which not only astronomy but all England have derived from these laborious investigations, can hardly be too much appreciated. But a short time elapsed, after Baily had completed his observations on the pendulum, and determined the standard of length,--being thereby enabled to compare his new scale with the imperial standard yard,--when the conflagration of the Houses of Parliament in 1834 took place, and both the latter standard, and the original one by Bird (that of 1758) were destroyed. When it is considered that Baily's repetition of the Cavendish Experiment involved untiring watching for more than 1200 hours, and this, too, by one who in early life seemed only able to find food for his vigorous mind amidst the hardships and fatigues of travel, it affords a remarkable instance how a man, active and full of ardour in early youth, can yet be enabled, by the strength of his character, to concentrate the full force of his powers upon a series of researches apparently the most wearying and full of disappointment, an example well fitted for the earnest consideration of all who imagine that the energies of their minds can alone be satisfied by stirring scenes or a life full of activity and adventure. Mr. Baily's last public appearance was at Oxford, to which place he went with some difficulty, to receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law. He was distinguished by great industry, which was made more effective by his methodical habits; and also by a suavity of manner which greatly enlarged the circle of his friends. In fact, Mr. Baily effected in the last 20 years of his life, a greater number of complete and refined researches than most other philosophers have accomplished during a whole lifetime.--_Memoir of Francis Baily, by Sir John Herschel, Bart._ London, 1856.

SIR JOSEPH BANKS, BART., C.B., P.R.S.

MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE, ETC.

Born February 12, 1743. Died June 19, 1820.

Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society for upwards of forty years, was born in Argyle Street, London. He was the eldest son of Mr. W. Banks, a gentleman of considerable landed property, whose family was originally of Swedish extraction, although it had been settled in England for several generations. The early life of Joseph Banks was passed principally at Revesby Hall, his father's seat in Lincolnshire, and his education was for several years entrusted to a private tutor; in his ninth year he was sent to Harrow and four years after to Eton, from whence he proceeded to Christ's College, Oxford.

During his residence at college, he made considerable progress in classical knowledge, but evinced at the same time a decided predilection for the study of natural history. Botany in particular was his favourite occupation, and one to which his leisure hours were devoted with enthusiastic ardour and perseverance. An anecdote is told of Mr. Banks being on one occasion so intent on exploring ditches and secluded spots, in search of rare plants, as to have excited the suspicions of some countrymen, who, conceiving that he could have no innocent design in acting thus, seized the young naturalist, when he had fallen asleep exhausted with fatigue, and brought him as a suspected thief before a neighbouring magistrate. After a strict investigation he was soon liberated, but the incident occasioned much amusement in the neighbourhood.

In the year 1761 Mr. Banks lost his father, and in 1764, on coming of age, was put in possession of his valuable estates in Lincolnshire. Mrs. Banks, soon after the death of her husband, removed with her family from Lincolnshire to Chelsea, as a spot likely to afford her son Joseph peculiar advantages in the study of botany, from the numerous gardens in the vicinity devoted to the culture of rare and curious plants of every description. And now it was that the great merit of Mr. Banks shone forth. With all the incitements which his age, his figure, and his station naturally presented to leading a life of idleness, and with a fortune which placed the more vulgar gratifications of sense or of ordinary ambition amply within his reach, he steadily devoted himself to scientific pursuits, and only lived for the studies of a naturalist. He remained out of Parliament, went little into any society but that of learned men, while his relaxation was confined to exercise and to angling, of which he was so fond, that he would devote days and even nights to it. Whilst living at Chelsea, Mr. Banks formed the acquaintance of Lord Sandwich, afterwards first Lord of the Admiralty, who as it happened had the same taste, and to the friendship of whom he was in after life indebted for essential aid in the furtherance of his numerous projects for the advancement of scientific knowledge. Soon after attaining his 21st year, Mr. Banks undertook a voyage to Newfoundland and the Labrador coast, for the purpose of exploring the botany of those unfrequented regions. On his return, he brought home valuable collections not only of plants, but also of insects and other natural productions of that district. In 1768, he obtained leave from Government, through the interest of Lord Sandwich, to embark in the ship commanded by the great navigator Cook, who had been commissioned to observe the transit of Venus in the Pacific ocean, by the observation of which phenomenon the sun's parallax might be measured, and to fulfil also the usual object of a voyage of discovery.[1]

In order to turn to the best account all opportunities that might occur during the voyage, Mr. Banks made most careful preparations. He provided himself with the best instruments for making all kinds of scientific observations, and for preserving specimens of natural history, and persuaded Dr. Solander, a distinguished pupil of Linnæus, to become his associate in the enterprise. He also took with him two draughtsmen, to delineate all objects of interest that did not admit of being transported or preserved, and four servants. This voyage occupied three years; during that period all engaged in it incurred many and severe hardships; several, including three of the attendants of Dr. Solander and Mr. Banks, losing their lives. The results were highly important, the observations necessary for making the solar parallax were made with perfect success. The manners of the natives in the Society Islands had been examined, and the singular state of their society ascertained. Their products, vegetable, mineral, and animal, as well as those of New Holland, New Zealand, and New Guinea, had been fully explored, and a considerable share of the fame, which accrued to Captain Cook and his associates in the enterprise, was due to Mr. Banks, who brought home a splendid collection of specimens from those countries.

No sooner had Mr. Banks returned from this expedition than he commenced, with unabated vigour after a few months repose, preparations for another. Having been prevented from joining Captain Cook's second expedition, chiefly through the influence of Sir Hugh Pallisser with the admiralty, he undertook the equipment of a ship at his own expense; and, taking with him Dr. Solander, Dr. Lind, Dr. Von Troil, a Swedish naturalist, and others, he sailed for Iceland in 1772. After exploring during two months that interesting region of volcanoes he returned to England, enriched with many valuable specimens, and still more valuable information respecting the productions of the country. A fine collection of books and manuscripts were purchased and presented by Mr. Banks to the British Museum, and Dr. Von Troil, in whose hands Mr. Banks, with his wonted aversion to literary fame, left the subject, published a full and interesting account of the voyage.

A great part of the knowledge resulting from the various travels of Mr. Banks were communicated by him, at different times, in papers to the Royal Society, of which he had been elected a fellow as early as the year 1766. On the resignation of Sir John Pringle, in 1778, Mr. Banks was elected President of this Society, an honour he continued to hold until his death. During the whole of his life Sir Joseph enjoyed the favour of the king, forming a kind of connecting link between his scientific compeers, and the courtly circles of the aristocracy. In 1781 he was made a baronet; in 1795 was invested with the order of the bath; and, in 1797, became a member of the privy council. He did not, however, engage much in politics, but used the influence he had acquired chiefly in the promotion of scientific objects, and the encouragement of those who pursued them.

Sir Joseph Banks's published works bear little proportion either to his scientific labours or his exertions on behalf of learned men, nor are his real claims to the gratitude of posterity much known. He it was who may truly be said to have planted and founded the colony of Botany Bay. He was the real founder of the African Association, and by his scientific exertions the productions of other climates were diffused over each portion of the globe. Thus he brought over into Europe the seeds of the South Sea lands, having previously distributed to the latter those of Europe. To him are we indebted for many of the beautiful plants which adorn our gardens and shrubberies. The sugar-cane of Otaheite was transplanted by him into the colonies, the bread fruit tree of the Pacific introduced into the tropical soil of America, and the flax of New Zealand brought into Europe. While among animals, the black swan and the kangaroo were brought from Australia and introduced into this country by this eminent man.

Sir Joseph Banks was married but had no family. He continued to fill the honourable office of President of the Royal Society for the unprecedented period of nearly forty-two years, enjoying, during that time, the correspondence and confidence of most of the distinguished men of learning both of this and other nations. His name was enrolled amongst the associates of almost every academy and learned society in Europe. His house and table were ever open for the reception and entertainment of all those who were eminent for their scientific attainments, with that spirit of liberality so conducive to the union of interests and co-operation of efforts, requisite for the cultivation of knowledge. During the latter part of his life Sir Joseph Banks was a great sufferer from the gout, and during the last fourteen years was almost deprived of the use of his feet and legs. At last, he gradually sank under the exhausting effects of this ailment, and died at his villa at Spring Grove, Hounslow, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. He was succeeded in the chair of the Royal Society by Dr. Wollaston for the remainder of the year, until the election of Sir Humphry Davy on the anniversary of the Society in November.--_Memoir of Sir J. Banks, by Dr. P. M. Roget, Encyclopædia Britannica_, Eighth Edition.--_Welds' History of the Royal Society, with Memoirs of the Presidents._ London, 1848.--_Brougham's Lives of Philosophers._ London and Glasgow, 1855.

BRIGADIER-GENERAL SIR SAMUEL BENTHAM.

Born January 11, 1757. Died May 31, 1831.

Sir Samuel Bentham was the youngest son of Jeremiah Bentham, and brother of Jeremy, the celebrated jurist. He was placed when very young at a private school, from whence, at the age of six, he was sent to Westminster. His father occupied a house in Queen's Square Place, in the stable-yard of which were spacious workshops, let to a carpenter; here Samuel used to spend all his leisure time, and soon acquired considerable skill in handling tools, for when only thirteen years old he had managed to construct with his own hands a carriage, for a young friend and playmate, Miss Cornelia Knight. At the age of fourteen he exhibited so strong a taste for naval matters, that his father yielded to his wishes, and bound him apprentice to the master shipwright of Woolwich Dockyard. At that time the superior officers of a royal dockyard were exempted from keeping their apprentices at hard labour, so that time might be allowed for general instruction. Samuel, however, soon perceived that practical manipulation was no less essential than theoretical knowledge, and used therefore to work at the dock side till breakfast-time, and devote the rest of the day to scientific acquirements. In time, Samuel and his master were removed from Woolwich to Chatham Dockyard, by which he was enabled to obtain a practical knowledge of the behaviour of vessels at sea; for he was often permitted to sail in the British Channel, and sometimes extended his voyages further. About this period his brother, Jeremy Bentham, had returned from college, and used to instil into him many of the first ideas of political economy: on these occasions Samuel would take advantage of the Saturday afternoons to _walk_ from Chatham to his brother's chambers in Lincoln's Inn.

At the end of his seven years' apprenticeship, Samuel spent another year in the other royal dockyards, and at the Naval College at Portsmouth. He then went to sea as Captain Macbridge's guest, whose ship was one of Lord Keppel's fleet, and on this occasion he suggested sundry improvements in the apparatus of a ship, which were executed in Portsmouth Dockyard. In consequence of the abilities manifested by Bentham, many advantageous appointments were offered him; these were, however, refused, and in 1780 he embarked for the Continent, in order to obtain greater experience in the different practices in the art of naval construction. After having visited Holland he proceeded to Russia, and was well received at St. Petersburgh by the English Ambassador, Sir James Harris, who introduced him to the best society, and through whose means he became acquainted, among others, with Prince Potemkin, and the celebrated traveller, Pallas. Whilst on a visit to the large manufactory of Count Demidoff, Bentham constructed a sort of amphibious vehicle, in the form of a boat, and capable of serving as an ordinary wheel-carriage, and also, when necessity required, of being navigated across, or along a stream of water. This invention he subsequently patented, and likewise extended its utility by constructing the carriages so as to serve as army baggage-waggons, a supply of which Prince Potemkin ordered to be furnished to a regiment at Jassy. They were also introduced into England about the year 1793, when the Duke of York requested that one should be built for the English service, which was successfully tried on the River Thames. In gratitude to Count Demidoff for the facilities which he had afforded him in constructing this carriage, Bentham invented for the use of the Count's factory, a wood-planing machine, which could also be used for making mouldings by changing the cutting tool.

Bentham's stay in Russia was prolonged for a greater period than he originally intended, from his having become attached to a Russian lady of considerable rank and beauty; but although this attachment was mutual, nothing came of it, owing to the opposition of the lady's relatives, on the score of Bentham being a foreigner. During this period Bentham had the direction of the Fontanka Canal, in connection with which he invented a peculiar form of pile-driving machine, in which the weight was attached to a sort of endless ladder, moved by a man stepping on it, on the principle that a man's weight exceeds considerably his muscular strength.

After the completion of the canal, Prince Potemkin induced Bentham to accept military service, and appointed him to the command of a battalion stationed at Critcheff, in White Russia, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. As the prince's manufactories were in the neighbourhood of Critcheff, Bentham offered to superintend them. This offer was gladly received; and as the management of the works had been previously grossly misconducted, the lieutenant-colonel soon perceived the necessity of his own constant inspection of what was going on, and for this purpose contrived a panoptican building or inspection-house, the centre of which commanded a view of all its parts. His brother Jeremy was on a visit whilst he was devising this panoptican, and the contrivance has frequently on this account been attributed to Jeremy, although in his works Jeremy repeatedly says it was his brother's. Up to this time the panoptican principle has only been adopted in gaols; but Jeremy Bentham has shown that it is equally desirable for a great variety of buildings.

Bentham's next invention was a sort of jointed vessel, for the conveyance of the Empress Catherine down the Dnieper and its affluents, which were shallow, tortuous, and their navigation much impeded by sandbanks and sunken trees. This vessel was in six links, drawing only six inches of water when loaded, and with 124 men at the oars on board. Many more were constructed on the same principle, for carrying the produce of the prince's establishments and manufactories to the Black Sea.

On the breaking out of war with Turkey, Bentham was sent to the south with his battalion, of which, according to orders, he had made sailors and shipwrights; and shortly afterwards, by the joint order of Souvaroff and Admiral Mardvinoff, he was commanded to fit out vessels at Cherson to oppose the enemy. It happened that he had the sole command of the arsenal at Cherson, in which he found an immense stock of ordnance of all descriptions, but no better navigable vessels than the pleasure-galleys which had brought the empress and her suite down the Dnieper. But nothing daunted, Bentham set to work. He reflected that it is not size of vessel which ensures victory, but that it is gained by the fleet that can throw the heaviest weight of missile in the shortest time, joined to the facility of manœuvring vessels. Strengthening his vessels as well as he could, he fitted them with as heavy artillery as they could possibly bear, and when all was finished, took the command of the flotilla himself, and had the satisfaction of engaging the Turks on three separate days, in all of which actions he was equally victorious, notwithstanding the enemy's flotilla were doubly as numerous and powerful. For these three victories Bentham received from the empress a like number of honourable rewards--rank in the army, a gold-hilted sword, and the Cross of the Order of St. George.

Sir Samuel Bentham now returned to the army, and by his own choice was appointed to the protection of the eastern frontier of Siberia, his command extending from the northern part of the Ural Mountains to the confines of Russia in the Chinese dominions. After holding this appointment for a couple of years, during which period he established schools for his troops, and introduced other improvements into their condition, Bentham obtained leave of absence to visit England.

Here commences another epoch in Sir Samuel's life. Arrived in England, he found his brother Jeremy absorbed in investigations relative to jurisprudence. Jeremy, however, had not forgotten his brother's Panoptican, but had proposed its adoption for the County Gaol of Middlesex. This led to some explanations with the ministers, who ultimately entrusted Jeremy Bentham with a thousand convicts, of whose labour he was to make the best use he could. In the meanwhile Samuel went to visit the principal manufactories in England; he found that steam-engines were used for giving motion to machinery for spinning cotton, but in no case were they applied to machinery for the working of wood, metal, &c.; nor, in fact, were there any mechanical apparatuses for saving labour, with the exception of turning-lathes, and some boring tools worked by horses, for making ships' blocks. Bentham therefore patented, in 1791, his machinery for planing and making mouldings, specifying the improvements which he had made on the machine constructed ten years before for Count Demidoff. His brother's arrangements for the industrial employment of convicts having been concluded, Sir Samuel considered that the most profitable means of employing them would be the working of machines for saving manual labour, which at the same time ensured accuracy of work; he therefore exerted his mechanical genius to perfect several engines he had previously contrived in Russia, and patented his inventions in the specification (No. 1951). This specification includes machines for sawing, boring, and many other operations necessary for the working of wood or metal.

Nor did the general confine himself to mere verbal descriptions of his machines; many of them were constructed and erected under his own eye, in Queen's Square Place, amongst which may be mentioned an apparatus for making wheels, and another for making all the parts of a window-sash frame; both of these leaving nothing for the skilled workman to do, save putting the pieces together. There were also planes of various descriptions, saws for cutting extremely fine veneers, machines for boring, dovetailing, cutting stone, &c., &c. Machines for metal-work were not, however, attempted, on account of the difficulty of obtaining the necessary power for working them, the Queen's Square Place apparatus being all worked by men. The fame of this machinery attracted many visitors, amongst others Mr. Secretary Dundas (afterwards Lord Melville), who stated in the House of Commons that it opened a new era in the manufacturing prosperity of the country.

But the circumstance which completely changed Bentham's future destiny, was the frequent visits of Earl Spencer and the Lords of the Admiralty, who soon perceived the advantages which would accrue to the state by engaging the general in the British service. Various proposals were made by the Admiralty to engage him permanently in the public service; but Bentham refused all in which he had not the individual responsibility. Ultimately a new office was created for him, under the name of Inspector-General of Naval Works; not, however, without the fierce opposition of the Naval Board, who, although unable to change the title of the office, managed to reduce the salary from the sum of 2000_l._ per annum, as originally proposed, to 750_l._ nominal, with an addition finally agreed upon of 500_l._ a year--in all, 1250_l._ per annum. Notwithstanding this opposition, Bentham, convinced of the services he could render, gave up the honours and riches which awaited him in Russia--amongst others, an estate promised him on his return--and determined to devote his energies to his native country, regardless of all pecuniary advantages. During the interval which elapsed before the actual institution of his new office, Bentham was authorized by the Lords of the Admiralty, early in 1795, to build seven experimental vessels; into these he introduced many improvements, amongst which may be mentioned diagonal braces, metallic tanks for water, metallic canisters for powder, means for filling the magazine with water in case of fire, safety lamps, &c.

Appointed Inspector-General of Naval Works in 1796, the whole of Sir Samuel's energies were henceforward directed towards the improvement of naval arsenals, and the introduction of his machinery for shaping wood, with steam-power to give it motion. This introduction of steam-power into the naval dockyards of Great Britain experienced at first the most violent opposition; and it was not until 1797 that any progress was made towards the furtherance of his object. During the same year Sir M. Isambard (then Mr.) Brunel presented himself to the general, for the purpose of bringing before his notice certain machinery for making blocks. Bentham was at that time fully engaged by Lord St. Vincent in organizing a better mode of managing timber in the royal dockyards, and it occurred to him that Brunei would be likely to influence the public in favour of machinery for working wood, and therefore proposed that he should be engaged for that purpose, recommending at the same time the adoption of his apparatus for shaping blocks, to which Brunel's machines were solely confined[2]--a measure which has had the effect of giving almost the entire merit of the Portsmouth machinery to Brunel. This statement is made without any intention of detracting from Sir Isambard's well-earned reputation, but simply in justice to Bentham, who, singularly free from an inventor's jealousy, himself officially stated:--"In regard to the machinery, I was afterwards satisfied that Mr. Brunel had skill enough to have contrived machinery to have answered the same purposes, had he not found mine ready to his hand."

To describe all Bentham's subsequent improvements, not only in machinery, but also in the economy of the management of the dockyards, would take too much space. By his energetic efforts and inventive genius, the wood mills, metal mills, and millwrights' shop were established at Portsmouth. In 1800, he proposed to the Admiralty a steam dredging-machine, of which he gave drawings, similar to the ones now in such general use; and the efficacy of this invention has since realized the most sanguine hopes of its designer. Notwithstanding the great value of Bentham's services, he seems to have experienced little gratitude on the part of the government. During the year 1805, he was requested by the Admiralty to proceed to Russia, and commence building in that country ships of war for the British navy. On his consenting, and arriving at St. Petersburgh, he found, much to his surprise, that nothing had been done to facilitate his mission; and although personally received with great kindness by the emperor, he was unable to obtain the required permission to build vessels of war for Great Britain.

Returning to England in 1807, he learnt that his office had been abolished, and that henceforth he would be amalgamated with the Naval Board. Nothing but the necessity of supporting his family, made Bentham accept this new post, which gave him the title of Civil Engineer and Architect of the Navy--an employment for which he had manifested peculiar talents, although not educated for it, but excluding him at the same time from all interference in ship-building, for which he had served a regular apprenticeship, and had subsequently manifested extraordinary talents. When this office also was abolished, about the year 1812, Sir Samuel, by the desire of Lord Melville, applied for some compensation for loss of office, and likewise for a remuneration for his services. On account of the loss of office, Bentham's salary was continued; but during the discussion which arose regarding the statement of services which Sir Samuel had drawn up at the request of the Admiralty, although, on coming to the metal mills, Lord Melville said, "There Sir Samuel stands upon a rock," it proved a slippery one; for under the pretext that it would be necessary to apply to parliament for so large a sum as a year's savings effected by the introduction of the metal mills, no remuneration was ever accorded to Bentham for any one of his services.

After the restoration of peace in 1814, Sir Samuel retired to France, for the economical education of his children. In 1827 he returned to England, where he remained until his death in 1831, at the age of seventy-four.--_Papers and Practical Illustrations of Public Works of Recent Construction_, &c. London, 1856.

MATTHEW BOULTON, F.R.S. L. and E. &c.

Born at Birmingham, Sept. 3, 1728. Died Aug. 17, 1809.

This skilful, energetic, and farseeing man, who, by his extended views and liberal spirit of enterprise, contributed so greatly towards the successful introduction of Watt's condensing steam-engine, commenced life at Birmingham as a maker of buttons and shoe-buckles. Matthew Boulton received an ordinary education at a school at Deritend. He was, however, gifted with rare endowments, and of these he made the best use; with a thorough knowledge of business, great prudence, and admirable tact, he combined boldness of spirit, quickness of thought, and promptitude of action. At the death of his father, Boulton became possessed of considerable property, and desirous of extending his commercial operations, purchased, about the year 1762, a lease of Soho, near Handsworth, where he founded that establishment which has become renowned as the nursery of English mechanics. The hill from which this place derived its name was, at that time, a bleak and barren heath, at the bottom of which rippled a small stream. Boulton's instinctive mind saw the uses to which these waters might be turned. By collecting them into a pool, and pouring their united weight upon a water wheel, he became possessed of a motive-power sufficient to set in motion various machines, by whose agency were fabricated articles in gold, silver, and tortoise-shell, and plated and inlaid works of the greatest elegance and perfection. On the side of the hill, Boulton built extensive workshops, and dwellings capable of holding many hundreds of workmen, and erected a mansion for himself surrounded by beautiful grounds, where he lived as a prince among his people, extending hospitality to all around. In 1767, Boulton, finding that the motive-power which he possessed was inadequate to the various purposes of his machinery, erected a steam-engine upon the original construction of Savery. This, however, in turn was found to be insufficient for the objects required, and Boulton then had the discernment to perceive that they might be very completely attained by the adoption of the various improvements lately made in the steam-engine by James Watt. In 1773 he entered into partnership with this great scientific inventor, and induced him to settle at Soho and superintend personally the erection of his new steam-engines. This bold but clear-sighted act of Boulton was destined to crown with honour a reputation, already rising, and built upon the firm foundation of uprightness and integrity. "Had Watt searched all Europe," says Playfair, "he could not have found another man so calculated to introduce the machine to the public in a manner worthy of its reputation." Its sale as an article of commerce was entirely conducted by him, and the skilful and liberal way in which he performed this difficult task brought in time its own reward; yet as great a sum as 47,000_l._ had to be expended upon the steam-engine before any profit resulted to its owners. In process of time, however, wealth flowed into the hands of Boulton and Watt; and in the year 1800 Mr. Watt was enabled to retire from the firm possessed of a large competency, and leaving the exclusive privilege of the sale of the engine to Boulton. Boswell, who visited Soho in 1776, shortly after the manufacture of steam-engines had been commenced there, was greatly struck by the vastness and contrivance of the machinery. "I shall never forget," he says, "Mr. Boulton's expression to me when surveying the works: 'I sell here, sir, what all the world desires to have--_Power_.' He had," continues Boswell, "about 700 people at work; I contemplated him as an iron chieftain, and he seemed to be the father of his tribe."[3]

In 1785 Mr. Boulton was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and two or three years after this, turned his attention to the subject of coining, to the improvement of which art he devoted the last twenty years of his life. He erected extensive machinery for this purpose, and by uniting some processes originating in France with new kinds of presses, he was enabled to obtain great rapidity of action combined with the utmost perfection in the articles produced; so much so, that having been employed by the British Government to recoin the whole of the British specie, he rendered counterfeits nearly impossible by the economy and excellence of his work. In addition to this, Mr. Boulton planned and directed the arrangement of the machinery in the British Mint, and executed that for the coining department. He also constructed the machinery for the great national mints of St. Petersburgh and Copenhagen; his son, to whom the establishment at Soho devolved upon his death, doing the same for the extensive and splendid establishments of the East India Company at Bombay and Calcutta.

Boulton died August 17, 1809, in his eighty-first year, and his remains were borne to the grave by the oldest workmen connected with the works at Soho; five hundred persons belonging to that establishment joined in the procession, which numbered among its ranks several thousand individuals, to whom medals were given recording the age of the deceased and the date of his death.--_Stuart's Anecdotes of the Steam Engine._ London, 1829.--_Muirhead's Translation of Arago's Life of J. Watt._ London, 1839.

JOSEPH BRAMAH.

Born April 13, 1749. Died December 9, 1814.

This eminent practical engineer and machinist was born at Stainborough, in Yorkshire. His father rented a farm on the estate of Lord Strafford, and Joseph, being the eldest of five children was intended for the same employment; but fortunately for his subsequent career, an accidental lameness, which occurred when he was sixteen years old, prevented his following agricultural pursuits. When quite a boy, Bramah exhibited unusual mechanical talent; he succeeded in constructing two violoncellos, which were found to be very tolerable instruments, and also managed to cut a violin out of a single block of wood, by means of tools which were forged for him by a neighbouring smith, whom in after life he engaged in London as one of his principal workmen. After having served an apprenticeship to a carpenter and joiner, Bramah obtained employment in the workshop of a cabinetmaker in London, and soon afterwards established himself as a principal in the business. The history of his life after this is perhaps best given by a record of his numerous inventions, all of which are, more or less, of a highly useful character. For the manufacture of these, Bramah first took up his residence in Denmark Street, Soho, but subsequently removed to Piccadilly, and established the various branches of his manufactory in some extensive premises at Pimlico. In 1783 he took out a patent for an improved watercock, and in the year following, completed the invention of his famous lock, which for many years stood unrivalled in ingenuity of construction, workmanship, and powers of resistance against all attempts to pick.[4] Bramah's indefatigable spirit of invention was stimulated to fresh efforts by the success of his lock, and he now entered upon a more important and original line of action than he had yet ventured upon. In his patent of 1785 he indicated many inventions, although none of them came into practical use--such as a Hydrostatical Machine and Boiler, and the application of the power produced by them to the drawing of carriages and the propelling of ships, by a paddle-wheel fixed in the stern of the vessel. For different modifications of pumps and fire-engines, Mr. Bramah took out three successive patents, the two last being dated in 1790 and 1798. But in the year 1795 he produced and patented the most important of all his inventions, namely, 'The Hydraulic Press,' a machine which gives to a child the strength of a giant, enabling him to bend a bar of iron as if it were wax. The chief difficulty which Bramah experienced in constructing this press was that of devising an efficient packing for the ram or solid piston, which, while capable of keeping out the water under the tremendous internal pressure exercised by the pump, should, on the withdrawal of that pressure, allow the ram to sink into its original place. This was at length accomplished by the invention of the self-tightening leather-collar, which was firmly secured in a recess at the top of a cylinder, with the concave side downwards. Consequently, when the water was pumped into the cylinder, it immediately forced its way between the bent edges of the collar; and the greater the pressure of water, the tighter became the hold which the collar took of the solid piston. It appears from the testimony of Mr. James Nasmyth, that Bramah was indebted for this simple but beautiful contrivance, to Henry Maudslay, who was at that time a workman in his shop, and who had already greatly assisted him in the construction of his lock.

Bramah continued his useful labours as an inventor for many years, and his studies of the principles of Hydraulics, in the course of his invention of the press, enabled him to introduce many valuable improvements in pumping machinery. By varying the form of the piston and cylinder, he was enabled to obtain a rotary motion, which he adopted in the well-known fire-engine. In 1797 he took out a patent for the beer-machine, now in such general use in public houses, and in the description of this he includes a mode of converting every cask in a cellar into a force pump, so as to raise the liquor to any part of the house; a filtering machine; a method of making pipes; a vent peg, and a new form of stop-cock. Bramah also turned his attention to the improvement of the steam-engine, but in this, Watt's patent had left little room for other inventors: and hence Bramah seems to have entertained a grudge against Watt, which was shown strongly in the evidence given by him in the case of Boulton and Watt _versus_ Hornblower and Maberly, tried in December 1796. On the expiry, however, of Boulton and Watt's patent, Bramah introduced several valuable improvements in the details of the condensing engine, the most important of which was his "four-way cock," which was so contrived as to revolve continuously instead of alternately, thus insuring greater precision with less wear of parts. In this patent, which he secured in 1801, he also proposed sundry improvements in the boilers, as well as modifications in various parts of the engine. In the year 1802, Bramah obtained a patent for a very elaborate and accurate machine for producing smooth and parallel surfaces on wood and other materials. This was erected on a large scale at Woolwich Arsenal, and proved perfectly successful. The specification of the patent includes the description of a mode of turning spherical surfaces either convex or concave, by a tool moveable on an axis perpendicular to that of the lathe, and of cutting out concentric shells, by fixing in a similar manner a curved tool, nearly of the same form as that employed by common turners for making bowls. Bramah also invented machinery for making paper in large sheets, and for printing by means of a roller, composed of a number of circular plates, each turning on the same axis, and bearing twenty-six letters capable of being shifted at pleasure, so as to express any single line by a proper combination of the plates. This was put in practice to number bank-notes, and enabled twenty clerks to perform the labour which previously had required one hundred and twenty. In 1812 he projected a scheme for main-pipes, which was, however, in many respects, more ingenious than practicable. In describing this, he mentions having employed a hydrostatic pressure equal to that of a column of water twenty thousand feet high (about three and a half tons per square inch). Mr. Bramah made several improvements in the bearings of wheels, and suggested the use of pneumatic springs formed by pistons sliding in cylinders, in place of the usual metal springs for carriages. He likewise improved the machines for sawing stones and timber, and suggested some alterations in the construction of bridges and canal locks. He died in his sixty-sixth year, his last illness having been occasioned by a severe cold caught during the month of November, while making some experiments with his hydraulic press on the tearing up of trees in Holt Forest. He was a cheerful, benevolent, and affectionate man, neat and methodical in his habits, and knew well how to temper liberality with economy; greatly to his honour he often kept his workmen employed solely for their sake, when the stagnation of trade prevented him from disposing of the products of their labour. As a manufacturer he was distinguished for his promptitude and probity, and was celebrated for the exquisite finish which he gave to his productions. At his death he left his family in affluent circumstances, and his manufacturing establishments have since his death been continued by his sons. Unfortunately, Mr. Bramah had an invincible dislike to sitting for his portrait, and there consequently exists no likeness of this distinguished man; for, although a cast of his face was taken after death by Sir Francis Chantry, this, together with many others was destroyed by Lady Chantry after the death of her husband.--_Memoir by Dr. Brown._--_Stuart's Anecdotes of the Steam Engine._ London, 1829.--_Smiles's Industrial Biography._ London, 1863.

ROBERT BROWN, D.C.L., F.R.S., P.L.S., &c.

MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE.

Born December 21, 1773. Died June 10, 1859.