On the following day I called upon Mr. Edward Tootal, of York Street.
He was a well-known man in Manchester.

I had the happiness of meeting him in London a few months before.
He then kindly invited me to call upon him should I ever visit
Manchester, when he would endeavour to obtain for me sight of some of
the most remarkable manufacturing establishments.  Mr. Tootal was as
good as his word.  He received me most cordially, and at once proceeded
to take me to the extensive machine factory of Messrs. Sharp, Roberts,
and Co.  I found to my delight that a considerable portion of the
establishment was devoted to the production of machine tools,
a department of mechanical business then rising into the highest
importance.  Mr. Roberts, an admirable mechanic as well as inventor,
had derived many of his ideas on the subject while working with
Mr. Maudslay in London, and he had carried them out with many additions
and improvements of his own contrivance.  Indeed, Roberts was one of
the most capable men of his time, and is entitled to be regarded as one
of the true pioneers of modern mechanical mechanism.

Through the kindness of Mr. Tootal I had also the opportunity of
visiting and inspecting some of the most extensive cotton mills in
Manchester.  I was greatly pleased with the beautiful contrivances
displayed in the machinery.  They were perfect examples of the highest
order of ingenuity, combined with that kind of common-sense which casts
aside all mere traditional forms and arrangements of parts, such as do
not essentially contribute to the efficiency of the machine in the
performance of its special and required purpose.  I found much to
admire in the design as well as in the execution of the details of the
machines.

The arrangement and management of the manufactories were admirable.
The whole of the buildings, howsoever extensive and apparently
complicated, worked like one grand and perfectly constructed machine.

I was also much impressed by the keen interest which the proprietors of
these vast establishments took in the minute details of their
machinery, as well as by their intelligent and practical acquaintance
with the technical minutiae of their business.  Although many of them
were men of fortune, they continued to take as deep an interest in such
matters as if they were beginning life and had their fortunes still to
make.  Their chief ambition was to be at the head of a thoroughly
well-managed and prosperous establishment.  No detail, be it ever so
small, was beneath their care and attention.  To a young man like
myself, then about to enter upon a similar career of industry, these
lessons were very important.  They were encouraging examples of
carefully thought out designs, carried into admirable results by close
attention to details, ever watchful carefulness, and indomitable
perseverance.  I brooded over these circumstances, They filled my mind
with hope.  They encouraged me to go on in the path which I had
selected; and I believed that at some time or other I might be enabled
to imitate the examples of zeal and industry which I had witnessed
during my stay in Manchester.  It was then that I bethought me of
settling down in this busy neighbourhood; and as I plodded my way back
to London this thought continually occupied me. It took root in my mind
and grew, and at length the idea became a reality.

I did not take the shortest route on my return journey to London.
I desired to pass through the most interesting and picturesque places
without unduly diverging from the right direction.  I wished to see the
venerable buildings and cathedrals of the olden time, as well as the
engineering establishments of the new.  Notwithstanding my love for
mechanics I still retained a spice of the antiquarian feeling.
It enabled me to look back to the remote past, into the material
records of man's efforts hundreds of years ago, and contrast them with
the modern progress of arts and sciences.  I was especially interested
in the architecture of bygone ages; but here, alas! arts and sciences
have done nothing.  Modern Gothic architecture is merely an imitation
of the old, and often a very bad imitation.  Even ancient domestic
architecture is much superior to the modern.  We can now only imitate
it; and often spoil when imitating.

I left Manchester and turned my steps in the direction of Coalbrookdale.
I passed through a highly picturesque country, in which I enjoyed the
sight of many old timber houses, most attractive subjects for my pencil.
My route lay through Whitchurch, Wem, and Wellington; then past the
Wrekin to Coalbrookdale.  Before arriving there I saw the first iron
bridge constructed in England, an object of historical interest in that
class of structures.  It was because of the superb quality of the
castings produced at Coalbrookdale that the ironmasters there were able
to accomplish the building of a bridge of that material, which before
had baffled all projectors both at home and abroad

I possessed a letter of introduction to the manager, and was received
by him most cordially.  He permitted me to examine the works.
I was greatly interested at the sight of the processes of casting.
Many beautiful objects were turned out for architectural, domestic,
and other purposes.  I saw nothing particularly novel, however, in the
methods and processes of moulding and casting.

The excellence of the work depended for the most part upon the great
care and skill exercised by the workmen of the foundry.  They seemed to
vie with each other in turning out the best castings, and their models
or patterns were made with the utmost care.  I was particularly
impressed with the cheerful zeal and activity of the workmen and
foremen of this justly celebrated establishment.

On leaving Coalbrookdale I trudged my way towards Wolverhampton.
I rested at Shiffnal for the night.  Next day I was in the middle of
the Black Country.  I had no letters of introduction to employers in
Wolverhampton; so that, without stopping there, I proceeded at once to
Dudley.  The Black Country is anything but picturesque.  The earth
seems to have been turned inside out.  Its entrails are strewn about;
nearly the entire surface of the ground is covered with cinder-heaps
and mounds of scoriae.  The coal which has been drawn from below ground
is blazing on the surface.  The district is crowded with iron furnaces,
puddling furnaces, and coal-pit engine furnaces.  By day and by night
the country is glowing with fire, and the smoke of the ironworks hovers
over it.  There is a rumbling and clanking of iron forges and rolling
mills.  Workmen covered with smut, and with fierce white eyes, are seen
moving about amongst the glowing iron and the dull thud of forge-hammers.
Amidst these flaming, smoky, clanging works, I beheld the remains of
what had once been happy farmhouses, now ruined and deserted.
The ground underneath them had sunk by the working out of the coal,
and they were falling to pieces.  They had in former times been
surrounded by clumps of trees; but only the skeletons of them remained,
dead, black, and leafless.  The grass had been parched and killed by
the vapours of sulphurous acid thrown out by the chimneys; and every
herbaceous object was of a ghastly gray--the emblem of vegetable
death in its saddest aspect.  Vulcan had driven out Ceres.  In some
places I heard a sort of chirruping sound, as of some forlorn bird
haunting the ruins of the old farmsteads.  But no! the chirrup was a
vile delusion.  It proceeded from the shrill creaking of the
coal-winding chains, which were placed in small tunnels beneath the
hedgeless road.

I went into some of the forges to see the workmen at their labours.
There was no need of introduction; the works were open to all, for they
were unsurrounded by walls.  I saw the white-hot iron run out from the
furnace; I saw it spun, as it were, into bars and iron ribbands, with
an ease and rapidity which seemed marvellous.  There were also the
ponderous hammers and clanking rolling-mills.  I wandered from one to
another without restraint.  I lingered among the blast furnaces, seeing
the flood of molten iron run out from time to time, and remained there
until it was late.  When it became dark the scene was still more
impressive.  The workmen within seemed to be running about amidst the
flames as in a pandemonium; while around and outside the horizon was a
glowing belt of fire, making even the stars look pale and feeble.
At last I came away with reluctance, and made my way towards Dudley.
I reached the town at a late hour.  I was exhausted in mind and body,
yet the day had been most interesting and exciting.  A sound sleep
refreshed me, and I was up in the morning early, to recommence my
journey of inquiry,

I made my way to the impressive ruins of Dudley Castle, the remnant of
a very ancient stronghold, originally built by Dud, the Saxon.
The castle is situated on a finely wooded hill; it is so extensive that
it more resembles the ruins of a town than of a single building.
You enter through a treble gateway, and see the remnants of the moat,
the court, and the keep.  Here are the central hall, the guard, rooms,
and the chapel.  It must have been a magnificent structure.  In the
Midlands it was known as the "Castle of the Woods" Now it is abandoned
by its owners, and surrounded by the Black Country.  It is undermined
by collieries, and even penetrated by a canal.  The castle walls
sometimes tremble when a blast occurs in the bowels of the mountain
beneath.  The town of Dudley lies quite close to the castle, and was
doubtless protected by it in ancient times.

The architectural remains are of various degrees of antiquity, and are
well worthy of study, as embodying the successive periods which they
represent.  Their melancholy grandeur is rendered all the more
impressive by the coal and iron works with which they are surrounded--
the olden type of buildings confronting the modern.  The venerable
trees struggle for existence under the destroying influence of
sulphurous acid; while the grass is withered and the vegetation
everywhere blighted.  I sat down on an elevated part of the ruins,
and looked down upon the extensive district, with its roaring and
blazing furnaces, the smoke of which blackened the country as far as
the eye could reach; and as I watched the decaying trees I thought of
the price we had to pay for our vaunted supremacy in the manufacture of
iron.  We may fill our purses, but we pay a heavy price for it in the
loss of picturesqueness and beauty.  I left the castle with reluctance,
and proceeded to inspect the limestone quarries in the neighbourhood.
The limestone has long been worked out from underneath the castle;
but not far from it is Wren's Nest Hill, a mountain of limestone.
The wrens have left, but the quarries are there.  The walk to the hill
is along green lanes and over quiet fields.  I entered one of the
quarries opened out in the sloping precipice, and penetrated as far as
the glimmer of sunlight enabled me to see my way.  But the sound of the
dripping of water from the root of the cave warned me that I was
approaching some deep pool, into which a false step might plunge me.
I therefore kept within the light of day.  An occasional ray of the sun
lit up the enormous rock pillars which the quarrymen had left to
support the roof.  It was a most impressive sight.

Having emerged from the subterranean cave, I proceeded on my way to
Birmingham.  I reached the town in the evening, and found most
comfortable quarters.  On the following day I visited some of the
factories where processes were carried on in connection with the
Birmingham trade.  I saw the mills where sheet brass and copper were
rolled for the purpose of being plated with silver.  There was nothing
in these processes of novel interest, though I picked up many practical
hints.  I could not fail to be attracted by the dexterous and rapid
manipulation of the work in hand, even by boys and girls whose quick
sight and nimble fingers were educated to a high degree of perfection.
I could have spent a month profitably among the vast variety of small
traders in metal, of which Birmingham is the headquarters.
Even in what is called "the toy trade," I found a vast amount of skill
displayed in the production of goldsmith work, in earrings, brooches,
gold chains, rings, beads, and glass eyes for stuffed birds, dolls, and
men.

I was especially attracted by Soho, once the famous manufacturing
establishment of Boulton and Watt.  Although this was not the
birthplace*
[footnote...
The birthplace of the condensing engine of Watt was the workshop in the
Glasgow University, where he first contrived and used a separate
condenser--the true and vital element in Watt's invention.
The condenser afterwards attained its true effective manhood at Soho
The Newcomen engine was in fact a condensing engine, but as the
condensation was effected inside the steam cylinder it was a very
costly source of power in respect to steam.  Watt's happy idea of
condensing in a separate vessel removed the defect.  This was first
done in his experimental engine in the Glasgow University workshop,
and before he had made the one at Kinniel for Dr. Roebuck.
 ...]
of the condensing steam-engine it was the place where it attained its
full manhood of efficiency, and became the source and origin of English
manufacturing power.  Watt's engine has had a greater influence on the
productive arts of mankind than any other that can be named.  Boulton
also was a thorough man of business, without whom, perhaps, Watt could
never have made his way against the world, or perfected his magnificent
invention.  Not less interesting to my mind was the memory of that
incomparable mechanic,  William Murdoch, a man of indomitable energy,
and Watt's right-hand man in the highest practical sense.  Murdoch was
the inventor of the first model locomotive, and the inventor of gas for
lighting purposes; and yet he always kept himself in the background,
for he was excessively modest. He was happiest when he could best
promote the welfare of the great house of Boulton and Watt.  Indeed he
was a man whose memory ought to be held in the highest regard by all
true engineers and mechanics.

The sight which I obtained of the vast series of workshops of this
celebrated establishment--filled with evidences of the mechanical
genius of these master minds--made me feel that I was indeed on
classic ground in regard to everything connected with steam-engine
machinery.  Some of the engines designed by Watt--the prototypes of
the powerful condensing engines of the present day--were still
performing their daily quota of work.  There was "Old Bess,"
a sort of experimental engine, upon which Watt had tried many
adaptations and alterations, for the purpose of suiting it for pumping
water from coal mines.  There was also the engine with the
sun-and-planet motion, an invention of William Murdoch's.
Both of these engines were still at work.

I went through the workshops, where I was specially interested by
seeing the action of the machine tools.  There I observed Murdoch's
admirable system of transmitting power from one central engine to other
small vacuum engines attached to the individual machines they were set
to work.  The power was communicated by pipes led from the central air
or exhaust pump to small vacuum or atmospheric engines devoted to the
driving of each separate machine, thus doing away with all shafting and
leather belts, the required speed being kept up or modified at pleasure
without in any way interfering with the other machines. --This vacuum
method of transmitting power dates from the time of Papin; but until it
received the masterly touch of Murdoch it remained a dead contrivance
for more than a century.

I concluded my visits to the workshops of Birmingham by calling upon a
little known but very ingenious man, whose work I had seen before
I left Edinburgh, in a beautifully constructed foot turning-lathe made
by John Drain.  I was so much impressed with the exquisite design,
execution, and completeness of the lathe, that I made it one of my
chief objects to find out John Drain's workshop.  It was with some
difficulty that I found him.  He was little known in Birmingham.
His workshops were very small; they consisted of only one or two rooms.
His exquisite lathes were not much in demand.  They found their way
chiefly to distant parts of the country, where they were highly
esteemed.

I found that he had some exquisitely finished lathes completed and in
hand for engraving the steel plates for printing bank notes.  They were
provided with the means of producing such intricate ornamental patterns
as to defy the utmost skill of the forger.  Perkins had done a good
deal in the same way; but Drain's exquisite mechanism enabled his
engraving lathes to surpass anything that had before been attempted in
the same line.  I believe that Drain's earnest attention to his work,
in which he had little or no assistance, undermined his health,
and arrested the career of one who, had he lived, would have attained
the highest position in his profession.  I shall never forget the rare
treat which his fine mechanism afforded me.  Its prominent quality was
absolute truth and accuracy in every part.

Having now had enough of the Black Country and of Birmingham workshops,
I proceeded towards London.  There were no more manufacturing districts
to be visited.  Everything now was to be green lanes, majestic trees,
old mansions, venerable castles, and picturesque scenery.  There is no
way of seeing a country properly except on foot.  By railway you whiz
past and see nothing.  Even by coach the best parts of the scenery are
unseen.  "Shank's naig" is the best of all methods, provided you have
time.  I had still some days to spare before the conclusion of my
holiday.  I therefore desired to see some of the beautiful scenery and
objects of antiquarian interest before returning to work.

I made my way across country to Kenilworth.  The weather was fine,
and the walk was perfect.  The wayside was bordered by grassy sward.
Wide and irregular margins extended on each side of the road, and noble
trees and untrinnned hedges, in their glowing autumnal tint, extended
far and wide.  Everything was in the most gloriously neglected and
therefore highly picturesque condition.  Here and there old farmhouses
and labourers' cottages peeped up from amidst the trees and hedges--
worthy of the landscape painter's highest skill.

I reached Kenilworth about half an hour before sunset.  I made my way
direct to the castle, glorious in its decay.  The fine mellow glow of
the setting sun lit up the grand and extensive ruins.  The massive
Norman keep stood up with melancholy dignity, and attracted my
attention more than any other part of the ruined building.  To me there
is an impressiveness in the simple massive dignity of the Norman
castles and cathedrals, which no other buildings possess. There is an
expression of terrible earnestness about them.  The last look I had of
the Norman keep was grand.  The elevated part was richly tinted with
the last glow of the setting sun, while the outline of the buildings
beneath was shaded by a dark purply gray.  It was indeed a sight never
to be forgotten.  I waited until the sun had descended beneath the
horizon, still leaving its glimmer of pink and crimson and gray,
and then I betook me to the little inn in the village, where I obtained
comfortable quarters for the night.  I visited the ruins again in the
morning.  Although the glory of the previous evening had departed,
I was much interested in observing the various styles of architecture
adopted in different parts of the buildings--some old, some
comparatively new.  I found the older more grand and massive, and the
newer, of the sixteenth century, wanting in dignity of design, and the
workmanship very inferior.  The reign of Shoddy had already begun
before Cromwell laid the castle in ruins.

In the course of the day I proceeded to Warwick.  I passed along the
same delightful grass-bordered roads, shaded by noble trees.  I reached
the grand old town, with its antique buildings and its noble castle--
so famous in English history.  Leaving the place with reluctance,
I left it late in the afternoon to trudge on to Oxford. But soon after
I started the rain began to fall.  It was the first interruption to my
walking journey which I had encountered during my three weeks' absence
from London.  As it appeared from the dark clouds overhead that a wet
night had set in, I took shelter in a wayside inn at a place called
Steeple Aston.  My clothes were dripping wet; and after a glass of very
hot rum and water I went to bed, and had a sound sleep.  Next morning
it was fair and bright.  After a substantial homely breakfast I set out
again.  Nature was refreshed by the steady rain of the previous night,
and the day was beautiful.  I reached Deddington and stayed there for
the night, and early next morning I set out for Oxford.

I was greatly excited by the first sight I had of the crowd of towers
and spires of that learned and illustrious city.  Nor were my
expectations at all disappointed by a nearer approach to the colleges
of Oxford.  After a most interesting visit to the best of the
buildings, I took in a, fair idea of the admirable details of this
noble city, and left in the afternoon of next day.  I visited, on my
way to Thame, the old church of Iffley.  I was attracted to it by the
fine old Norman work it contains, which I found most quaint and
picturesque.

I slept at Thame for the night, and next day walked to Windsor.
I arrived there at sunset, and had a fine view of the exterior of the
castle and the surrounding buildings.  I was, however, much
disappointed on examining the architectural details.  In sight of the
noble trees about the castle, and the magnificent prospect from the
terrace, I saw much that tended to make up for the disgust I felt at
the way in which all that was so appropriate and characteristic in so
historic a place as Windsor Castle should have been tampered with and
rubbed out by the wretched conceit of the worst architects of our worst
architectural period.

I left Windsor next morning, and walked direct for London.  My time was
up, but not my money.  I had taken eight sovereigns on setting out from
London to Liverpool by coach, and I brought one sovereign back with me.
Rather than break into it I walked all the way from Windsor to London
without halting for refreshment my entire expenditure during my three
weeks' journey was thus seven pounds.

When I look back upon that tour, I feel that I was amply rewarded.
It was throughout delightful and instructive.  The remembrance of it is
as clear in my mind now as if I had performed the journey last year
instead of fifty years ago.  There are thousands of details that pass
before my mind's eye that would take a volume to enunerate.  I brought
back a book full of sketches; for graphic memoranda are much better
fitted than written words to bring up a host of pleasant recollections
and associations.  I came back refreshed for work, and possessed by an
anxious desire to press forward in the career of industry which I had
set before me to accomplish.


CHAPTER 10.   Begin Business at Manchester

Mr. Maudslay arrived from Berlin two days after my return to London.
He, too, had enjoyed his holiday.  During his stay in Berlin he had
made the friendship of the distinguished Humboldt.  Shenkel,
the architect, had been very kind to him, and presented him with a set
of drawings and engravings of his great architectural works, which
Mr. Maudslay exhibited to me with much delight.  What he most admired
in Shenkel was the great range of his talent in all matters of design,
his minute attention to detail, and his fine artistic feeling.

Soon after Mr. Maudslay's return, a very interesting job was brought to
him, in which he took even more than his usual interest.  It was a
machine which his friend Mr. Barton, of the Royal Mint, had obtained
from France.  It was intended to cut or engrave the steel dies used for
stamping coin.  It was a remarkable and interesting specimen of
inventive ingenuity.  It copied any object in relief which had been
cast in plaster of Paris or brass from the artist's original wax model.
The minutest detail was transferred to soft steel dies with absolute
accuracy.  This remarkable machine could copy and cut steel dies either
in intaglio or in cameo of any size, and, in short, enabled the
mechanic who managed it to transfer the most minute and characteristic
touches of the original model to the steel dies for any variety of size
of coin.  Nevertheless, the execution of some of the details of the
machine were so defective, that after giving the most tempting proof of
its capabilities at the Royal Mint, Mr. Barton found it absolutely
necessary to place it in Maudslay's hands, in order to have its details
thoroughly overhauled, and made as mechanically perfect as its design
and intention merited.

This interesting machine was accordingly brought to the private
workshop, and placed in the hands of the leading mechanic, whom I had
the pleasure of being associated with, James Sherriff, one of our most
skilled workmen.  We were both put to our mettle.  It was a job quite
to my taste, and being associated with so skilled a workman as
Sherriff, and in constant communication with Mr. Maudslay, I had every
opportunity of bringing my best manipulative ability into action and
use while perfecting this beautiful machine.  It is sufficient to say
that by our united efforts, by the technical details suggested by
Mr. Maudslay and carried out by us, and by the practical trials made
under the superintendence of Mr. Wyon of the Mint, the apparatus was at
length made perfect and performed its duty to the satisfaction of every
one concerned.

Mr. Maudslay had next a pair of 200 horse-power marine engines put in
hand.  His sons and partners were rather opposed to so expensive a
piece of work being undertaken without an order.  At that time such a
power as 200 horse nominal was scarcely thought of; and the Admiralty
Board were very cautious in ordering marine engines of any sort.
Nevertheless, the engines were proceeded with and perfected.
They formed a noble object in the great erecting shop.  They embodied
in every detail all Mr. Maudslay's latest improvements.  In fact the
work was the sum total of the great master's inventions and adaptations
in marine engines.  The Admiralty at last secured them for the purpose
of being placed in a very fine vessel, the Dee, then in course of
construction.  Mr. Maudslay was so much pleased with the result that
he had a very beautiful model made of the engines; and finding that
I had some artistic skill as a draughtsman, he set me to work to make a
complete perspective drawing of their great engines as they stood all
perfect in the erecting-shop.  This was a work entirely to my taste.
In due time I completed a graphic portrait of these noble engines,
treated, I hope, in an artistic spirit.  Indeed, such a class of
drawing was rarely to be had from any engineering draughtsman.
Mere geometrical drawing could not give a proper idea, as a whole,
of so grand a piece of mechanism.  It required something of the
artistic spirit to fairly represent it.  At all events my performance
won the entire approval of my master.

Mr. Maudslay was a man of a wide range of mechanical abilities.
He was always ready to enter upon any new work requiring the exercise
of special skill.  It did not matter whether it was machine tools,
engraving dies, block machinery, or astronomical instruments.  While at
Berlin he went to see the Royal Observatory.  He was naturally much
interested by the fine instruments there--the works of Repsoldt and
Hertz, the pioneers of improved astronomical workmanship.
The continental instrument makers were then far in advance of those of
England.  Mr. Maudslay was greatly impressed with the sight of the fine
instruments in the Berlin Observatory.  He was permitted to observe
some of the most striking and remarkable of the heavenly bodies--
Jupiter, Saturn, and the Moon.  It was almost a new revelation to him;
for the subject was entirely novel.  To be able to make such
instruments seemed to him to be a glorious achievement of refined
mechanism and manipulative skill.  He returned home full of the
wonderful sights he had seen.  It was a constant source of pleasure to
him to dwell upon the splendour and magnificence of the heavenly bodies.

He became anxious to possess a powerful telescope of his own.
His principal difficulty was in procuring a lens of considerable
diameter, possessed of high perfection of defining power.  I suggested
to him the employment of a reflecting telescope, by means of which the
difficulties connected with the employment of glass could be avoided.
This suggestion was based upon some knowledge I had acquired respecting
this department of refined mechanical art.  I knew that the elder
Herschel had by this means vastly advanced our knowledge of the
heavenly bodies, indeed to an extent far beyond what had been achieved
by the most perfect of glass lens instruments.  Mr. Maudslay was
interested in the idea I suggested; and he requested me to show him
what I knew of the art of compounding the alloy called speculum metal.
He wished to know how so brittle a material could be cast and ground
and polished, and kept free from flaws or defects of every kind.

I accordingly cast for him a speculum of 8 inches diameter.  I ground
and polished it, and had it fitted up in a temporary manner to exhibit
its optical capabilities, which were really of no mean order. But, as
his ambition was to have a grand and powerful instrument of not less
than 24 inches diameter, the preparation for such a speculum became a
subject to him of the highest interest.  He began to look out for a
proper position for his projected observatory.  He made inquiry about a
residence at Norwood, where he thought his instrument might have fair
play.  It would there be free from the smoke and disturbing elements of
such a place as Lambeth.   His mind was full of this idea when he was
called away by the claims of affection to visit a dear old friend at
Boulogne.  He remained there for more than a week, until assured of his
friend's convalescence.  But on his return voyage across the Channel he
caught a severe cold.  On reaching London he took to his bed and never
left it alive.  After three or four weeks' suffering he died on the
14th of February 1831.

It was a very sad thing for me to lose my dear old master.  He was so
good and so kind to me in all ways.  He treated me like a friend and
companion.  He was always generous, manly, and upright in his dealings
with everybody.  How his workmen loved him; how his friends lamented
him!  He directed, before his death, that he should be buried in
Woolwich Churchyard, where a cast iron tomb, made to his own design,
was erected over his remains.  He had ever a warm heart for Woolwich,
where he had been born and brought up.  He began his life as a mechanic
there, and worked his way steadily upwards until he reached the highest
point of his profession.  He often returned to Woolwich after he had
left it; sometimes to pay a share of his week's wages to his mother,
while she lived; sometimes to revisit the scenery of his youth.
He liked the green common, with the soldiers about it; Shooter's Hill,
with its wide look-out over Kent and down the valley of the Thames;
the river busy with shipping; the Dockyard wharf, with the royal craft
loading and unloading their armaments.  He liked the clangour of the
arsenal smithy, where he had first learned his art; and all the busy
industry of the place.  It was natural, therefore, that being so proud
of his early connection with Woolwich he should wish his remains to be
laid there; and Woolwich, on its part, has equal reason to be proud of
Henry Maudslay.

After the death of my master I passed over to the service of his worthy
partner, Joshua Field.  I had an equal pleasure in working under him.
His kindness in some degree mitigated the sad loss I had sustained by
the death of my lamented friend and employer.  The first work I had to
perform for Mr. Field was to assist him in making the working drawings
of a 200 horse-power condensing steam-engine, ordered by the Lambeth
Waterworks Company.  The practical acquaintance which I had by this
time acquired of the mechanism of steam-engines enabled me to serve
Mr. Field in a satisfactory manner.  I drew out in full practical
detail the rough but excellent hand sketches with which he supplied me.
They were handed out for execution in the various parts of the factory;
and I communicated with the foremen as to the details and workmanship.

While I was occupied beside Mr. Field in making these working drawings,
he gave me many most valuable hints as to the designing of machinery in
general.  In after years I had many opportunities of making good use of
them.  One point he often impressed upon me.  It was, he said, most
important to bear in mind the get-at-ability of parts--that is, when
any part of a machine was out of repair, it was requisite to get at it
easily without taking the machine to pieces.  This may appear a very
simple remark, but the neglect of such an arrangement occasions a vast
amount of trouble, delay, and expense.  None but those who have had to
do with the repair of worn-out or damaged parts of machinery can
adequately value the importance of this subject.

I found Mr. Field to be a most systematic man in all business affairs.
I may specially name one of his arrangements which I was quick to take
up and appreciate.  I carried it out with great advantage in my after
life.  It was, to record subjects of conversation by means of "graphic"
memoranda.  Almost daily, persons of note came to consult with him
about machinery.  On these occasions the consultations took place
either with reference to proposed new work, or as to the progress of
orders then in hand.  Occasionally some novel scheme of applying power
was under discussion, or some new method of employing mechanism:
On ordinary occasions rough and rapid sketches are made on any stray
pieces of waste paper that were about, and after the conversation is
over the papers are swept away into the waste basket and destroyed.
And yet some of these rapid drawings involve matters of great interest
and importance for after consultations.

To avoid such losses, Mr. Field had always placed upon his table a
"talking book" or "graphic diary."  When his visitors called and entered
into conversation with him about mechanical matters, he made rapid
sketches on the successive pages of the book, and entered the brief
particulars and date of the conversation, together with the name and
address of the visitor.  So that a conversation, once begun, might
again be referred to, and, when the visitor called, the graphic
memoranda might be recalled without loss of time, and the consultation
again proceeded.  The pages of Mr. Field's "talking books" were in many
ways most interesting.  They contained data that, in future years,
supplied valuable evidence in respect to first suggestions of
mechanical contrivances, and which sometimes were developed into very
important results.  I may add that Mr. Field kept these "talking books"
on a shelf in front of his drawing table.  The back of each volume was
marked with the year to which the entries referred, and an index was
appended to each.  A general index book was also placed at the end of
the goodly range of these graphic records of his professional life.

The completion of the working drawings of the Lambeth pumping engines
occupied me until August 1831.  I had then arrived at my twenty-third
year.  I had no intention of proceeding further as an assistant or a
journeyman.  I intended to begin business for my self.  Of course I
could only begin in a very small way.  I informed Mr. Field of my
intention, and he was gratified with my decision.  Not only so; but he
kindly permitted me to obtain castings of one of the best
turning-lathes in the workshops.  I knew th at when I had fitted it up
it would become the parent of a vast progeny of descendants--not only
in the direct line, but in planing machines, screw-cutting lathes,
and many other minor tools.

At the end of the month, after taking a grateful farewell of Mr. Field
and his partners, I set sail for Leith with my stock of castings,
and reached Edinburgh in due time.  In order to proceed with the
construction of my machine tools, I rented a small piece of land at Old
Broughton.  It was at the rear of my worthy friend George Douglass's
small foundry, and was only about five minutes' walk from my father's
house.  I erected a temporary workshop 24 feet long by 16 feet wide.

I removed thither my father's foot-lathe, to which I had previously
added an excellent slide-rest of my own making.  I also added a
"slow motion," which enabled me to turn cast-iron and cast-steel
portions of my great Maudslay lathe.  I soon had the latter complete
and in action.  Its first child was a planing machine capable of
executing surfaces in the most perfect style--of 3 feet long by
1 foot 8 inches wide.  Armed with these two most important and
generally useful tools, and by some special additions, such as boring
machines and drilling machines, I soon had a progeny of legitimate
descendants crowded about my little workshop, so that I often did not
know which way to turn.

[Image]  My temporary workshop at Edinburgh

I had one labourer to drive the wheel which gave motion to my big
lathe; but I was very much in want of some one else to help me.
One day a young hearty fellow called upon me.  He had come from the
Shotts Iron Company's Works in Edinburgh.  Having heard of what I was
about, he offered his services.  When he told me that he had been bred
as a millwright, and that he could handle the plane and the saw as well
as the chisel and the file, I closed with him at once.  He was to have
fifteen shillings a week.  I liked the young man very much--he was so
hearty and cheerful.  His name was Archibald Torry, or " Archie," as he
was generally called during the twenty years that he remained in my
service I obtained another assistant in the person of a young man whose
father wished him to get an insight into practical engineering.  I was
offered a premium of #50 for twelve months' experience in my workshop.
I arranged to take the young man, and to initiate him in the general
principles and practice of engineering. The #50 premium was a very
useful help to me, especially as I had engaged the millwright.
It enabled me to pay Torry's wages during the time that he remained
with me in Edinburgh.  I found it necessary, however, to take in some
work in the regular way of business, in order to supply me with the
means of completing my proper supply of tools.

The chief of these extraneous and, I may say, disturbing jobs, was that
of constructing a rotary steam-engine.  Mr. Robert Steen had contrived
and patented an engine of this sort.  He was a dangerously enthusiastic
man, and entertained the most visionary ideas as to steam power.
He was of opinion that his own contrivance was more compact and simple,
and possessed of more capability of producing power from the
consumption of a given quantity of fuel, than the best steam-engines
then in use.  I warned him of his error; but nothing but an actual
proof would satisfy him.  He urgently requested me to execute his
order.He made me a liberal and tempting offer of weekly payments for my
work during the progress of his engine.  He only required that I should
give his invention the benefit of my careful workmanship.
He considered that this would be sufficient to substantiate all his
enthusiastic expectations.  I was thus seduced to accept his order.

I made the requisite drawings, and proceeded with the work.  At the
same time my own machine tools were in progress, though at a retarded
pace.  The weekly payments we're regularly made, and I was kept in a
sort of financial ease.  After three months the rotary engine was
finished to the inventor's complete satisfaction.  But when the power
it gave out was compared with that of a good ordinary steam-engine,
the verdict as to consumption of fuel was against the new rotary
engine.  Nevertheless, the enthusiastic projector, "tho' vanquished he
would argue still," insisted that the merits of his contrivance would
sooner or later cause it to be a most formidable rival to the crank
steam-engines.  As he was pleased with its performances, I had no
reason to be dissatisfied.  I had done my part in the matter, and
Mr. Steen had done his.  His punctual weekly payments had assisted me
in the completion of my tools; and after a few months more labour I had
everything ready for starting business on my own account.

My choice lay between Liverpool and Manchester.  I had seen both of
these cities while on my visit to Lancashire to witness the opening of
the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.  I now proceeded to visit them
again.  I was fortified with valuable introductions to leading men in
both places.  I was received by them with great kindness and
hospitality.  I have heard a great deal about the ingratitude and
selfishness of the world.  It may have been my good fortune, but I have
never experienced either of those unfeeling conditions.  On the whole I
have found a great deal of unselfish kindness among my fellow-beings.
They have often turned out of their way to do me a service; and I can
never be too grateful for the unwearied kindness, civility, and
generosity of the friends I met with during my stay in Lancashire.

It was a question which would be the best place to settle in--
Liverpool or Manchester.  I had seen striking evidences of the natural
aptitude of Lancashire workmen for every sort of mechanical employment,
and had observed their unsparing energy while at work.  I compared them
with the workmen whom I had seen in London, and found them superior.
They were men of greater energy of character; their minds were more
capacious; their ingenuity was more inventive.  I felt assured that in
either Liverpool or Manchester--the centres of commercial and
manipulative energy--I could settle down with my limited capital and
tools, and in course of time contrive to get on, helped by energy,
self-reliance, and determination.  I also found that the demand for
machine-making tools was considerable, and that their production would
soon become an important department of business.  It might be carried
on with little expenditure of capital, as the risks were small and the
returns were quick.  I resolved to cultivate that moderate and safe
class of mechanical business, at all events at the outset.

I first went to Liverpool.  I presented my letter of introduction to
Mr. Roscoe, head of the Mersey Steel and Iron Company.  He received me
with great kindness, and gave me much good advice.  I called upon
Edward Berry, engineer, and also upon William Fawcett, who had received
me with so much kindness on my former visit.  I cannot omit mentioning
also the friendly reception which I received from Dr. Sillar.
He had been a medical student at Edinburgh, and had during that time
met with some kindness from my father.  He expressed his remembrance of
it with grateful effusion; and added his personal introduction, with
that of my letters, to some of the leading men in Liverpool.  I may
mention that Dr. Sillar was the son of Burns's "Brother Poet" Davie,
to whom the well-known "Epistle" was addressed.

Among the other well-known men to whom I was introduced at Liverpool
was John Cragg, an intelligent and enterprising ironfounder.  He was an
extensive manufacturer of the large sugar-boiling pans used in the West
Indies.  He had also given his attention to the introduction of iron
into buildings of different sorts.  Being a man of artistic taste he
had even introduced cast-iron into Gothic architecture.  In order to
exhibit, in an impressive form, the uses of his favourite metal,
he erected at his own cost a very elegant church in the northern part
of Liverpool.*
 [footnote...
So far as I can recollect, the name of the church was St. James's.
It exhibited a very early introduction of iron as an important element
in architectural construction.  Iron was afterwards largely introduced
into mills, mill gearing, and buildings generally.
 ...]

Cast-iron was introduced, not only in the material parts of the
structure, but into the Gothic columns and Gothic tracery of the
windows, as well as into the lofty and elegant spire.  Iron was also
employed in the external ornamental details, where delicate yet
effective decoration was desirable.  The famous architect,
Edward Blore, was the designer of the church; and the whole details of
the building--of which cast-iron formed the principal material--
were executed to his entire satisfaction*
 [footnote...
So far as I can recollect, the name of the church was St. James's.
It exhibited a very early introduction of iron as an important element
in architectural construction.  Iron was afterwards largely introduced
into mills, mill gearing, and buildings generally.
 ...]

My introduction to Mr. Cragg led to an acquaintance, and then to a
friendship.  When the ice was broken which was very soon--he told me
that he was desirous of retiring from the more active part of his
business.  Whether he liked my looks or not I do not know; but, quite
unexpectedly, he made me a very tempting offer to enter his works as
his successor.  He had already amassed a fortune, and I might do the
same.  I could only thank him most sincerely for his kindness.
But, on carefully thinking the matter over, I declined the proposal.
My principal reason was, that the special nature of his foundry work
did not quite harmonise with my desire to follow the more strictly
mechanical part of the iron business.  Besides, I thought I had a
brighter prospect of success before me; though I knew that I had many
difficulties to contend against.  Did I throw away my chances in
declining the liberal proposal of Mr. Cragg?  The reader will be able
to judge from the following pages.  But to the last*
 [footnote...
Mr. Cragg died in 1853, aged 84.
 ...]                                                                                              
I continued a most friendly intercourse with my intended patron, while
he on his part took an almost paternal interest in my progress.

After my visit to Liverpool I passed on to Manchester.
I was fortunate in having introductions to some of the leading men
there,--to John Kennedy, William Fairbairn, the Grant Brothers, and
lastly, to that most admirable man, Benjamin Hick, engineer, Bolton.
To narrate in detail all the instances of warm and hospitable
kindnesses which I received from men in Lancashire, even from the
outset of my career there, would fill a volume.

I first went to see my friend Edward Tootal, who had given me so kind
a reception in 1830.  I was again cordially received; he now promised
to befriend me, which he did most effectually.  I next visited John
Chippendale, of the firm of Thomson, Chippendale, and Company, calico
printers.  I had met him at a friend's house in London, where he had
offered, if I ever visited Manchester, to introduce me to some of the
best men there.  I accordingly called upon him at his counting-house.
It happened to be Tuesday, the market day, when all the heads of
manufacturing establishments in and round Manchester met together at
the Exchange between 12 and 1; and thus all were brought to a focus in
a very convenient manner.

Mr. Chippendale first introduced me to Mr. John Kennedy, one of
the most distinguished men in Manchester.  I had a special letter
of introduction to him from Buchanan of Catrine, and his partner
Smith of Deanstone.  I explained to him the object of my visit to
Manchester, and he cordially entered into my views.  He left his
occupation at the time, and went with me to see a place which he
thought might be suitable for my workshop.  The building was new at
hand--in Dale Street, Piccadilly.  It had been used as a cotton mill,
but was abandoned by the owner in favour of more suitable and extensive
premises.  It was now let out in flats for manufacturing purposes.
Power was supplied to each flat from a shaft connected with a large
mill up the street, the owner of which had power to spare. The flat
shown to me was 130 feet long by 27 feet wide, and the rent was only
#50 a year.  I thought the premises very suitable, but I took a night
to sleep over it.  I thanked Mr. Kennedy very much for his kindness,
and for the trouble which he had taken on behalf of an unknown
stranger.

On this memorable day I had another introduction, through the kindness
of Mr. Chippendale, which proved of great service to me.  It was to the
Messrs. Grant, the famous "Brothers Cheeryble" of Dickens. I was taken
to their counting-house in Cannon Street, where I was introduced to
Daniel Grant.  Although business was at its full height, he gave me a
cordial reception.  But, to save time, he invited me to come after the
Exchange was over and take "tiffin" with him at his hospitable mansion
in Mosely Street.

There, he said, I should meet some of the most enterprising men in
Lancashire.  I was most happy, of course, to avail myself of his
invitation.  I went thither accordingly, and the first thing that
Daniel did was to present me in the most cordial manner to "his noble
brother William," as he always affectionately called him.  William was
the head of the firm, and he, too, gave me a warm and hearty welcome.
He asked me to sit beside him at the head of the table.

During dinner--for indeed it was such, being the survival of the
old-fashioned one o'clock dinner of a departing age--William entered
into conversation with me.  He took occasion to inquire into the object
of my visit to Manchester.  I told him, as briefly as I could,
that I intended to begin the business of a mechanical engineer on a
very moderate scale, and that I had been looking out for premises
wherein to commence operations.  He seemed interested, and asked more
questions.  I related to him my little history, and told him of my
desires, hopes, and aspirations.  What was my age?  "Twenty-six."
"That is a very young age at which to begin business on your own account"
"Yes; but I have plenty of work in me, and I am very economical."
Then he pressed his questions home.  "But what is your capital?"
I told him that my capital in cash was #63.  "What!" he said,
"that will do very little for you when Saturday nights come round."
"That's true," I answered; "but as there will be only myself and Archy
Torry to provide for, I think I can manage to get along very well until
profitable work comes in."