The Eskdale mason was evidently getting on, as he deserved to do.
But he was not puffed up. To his Langholm friend he averred that
"he would rather have it said of him that he possessed one grain of
good nature or good sense than shine the finest puppet in
Christendom." "Let my mother know that I am well," he wrote to
Andrew Little, "and that I will print her a letter soon."*[7]
For it was a practice of this good son, down to the period of his
mother's death, no matter how much burdened he was with business,
to set apart occasional times for the careful penning of a letter
in printed characters, that she might the more easily be able to
decipher it with her old and dimmed eyes by her cottage fireside at
The Crooks. As a man's real disposition usually displays itself
most strikingly in small matters--like light, which gleams the
most brightly when seen through narrow chinks--it will probably
be admitted that this trait, trifling though it may appear, was
truly characteristic of the simple and affectionate nature of the
hero of our story.
The buildings at Portsmouth were finished by the end of 1786, when
Telford's duties there being at an end, and having no engagement
beyond the termination of the contract, he prepared to leave, and
began to look about him for other employment.
Footnotes for Chapter III.
*[1] Robert and John Adam were architects of considerable repute in
their day. Among their London erections were the Adelphi Buildings,
in the Strand; Lansdowne House, in Berkeley Square; Caen Wood
House, near Hampstead (Lord Mansfield's); Portland Place, Regent's
Park; and numerous West End streets and mansions. The screen of the
Admiralty and the ornaments of Draper's Hall were also designed by
them.
*[2] Long after Telford had become famous, he was passing over
Waterloo Bridge one day with a friend, when, pointing to some
finely-cut stones in the corner nearest the bridge, he said:
"You see those stones there; forty years since I hewed and laid them,
when working on that building as a common mason."
*[3]Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated London, July, 1783.
*[4] Mr., afterwards Sir William, Pulteney, was the second son of
Sir James Johnstone, of Wester Hall, and assumed the name of
Pulteney, on his marriage to Miss Pulteney, niece of the Earl of
Bath and of General Pulteney, by whom he succeeded to a large
fortune. He afterwards succeeded to the baronetcy of his elder
brother James, who died without issue in 1797. Sir William Pulteney
represented Cromarty, and afterwards Shrewsbury, where he usually
resided, in seven successive Parliaments. He was a great patron of
Telford's, as we shall afterwards find.
*[5] Letter to Andrew Little, Langholm, dated Portsmouth, July 23rd,
1784.
*[6] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated Portsmouth
Dockyard, Feb. 1, 1786.
*[7] Ibid
CHAPTER IV.
BECOMES SURVEYOR FOR THE COUNTY OF SALOP.
Mr. Pulteney, member for Shrewsbury, was the owner of extensive
estates in that neighbourhood by virtue of his marriage with the
niece of the last Earl of Bath. Having resolved to fit up the
Castle there as a residence, he bethought him of the young Eskdale
mason, who had, some years before, advised him as to the repairs of
the Johnstone mansion at Wester Hall. Telford was soon found, and
engaged to go down to Shrewsbury to superintend the necessary
alterations. Their execution occupied his attention for some time,
and during their progress he was so fortunate as to obtain the
appointment of Surveyor of Public Works for the county of Salop,
most probably through the influence of his patron. Indeed, Telford
was known to be so great a favourite with Mr. Pulteney that at
Shrewsbury he usually went by the name of "Young Pulteney."
Much of his attention was from this time occupied with the surveys
and repairs of roads, bridges, and gaols, and the supervision of
all public buildings under the control of the magistrates of the
county. He was also frequently called upon by the corporation of
the borough of Shrewsbury to furnish plans for the improvement of
the streets and buildings of that fine old town; and many
alterations were carried out under his direction during the period
of his residence there.
While the Castle repairs were in course of execution, Telford was
called upon by the justices to superintend the erection of a new
gaol, the plans for which had already been prepared and settled.
The benevolent Howard, who devoted himself with such zeal to gaol
improvement, on hearing of the intentions of the magistrates, made
a visit to Shrewsbury for the purpose of examining the plans; and
the circumstance is thus adverted to by Telford in one of his
letters to his Eskdale correspondent:--"About ten days ago I had a
visit from the celebrated John Howard, Esq. I say I, for he was on
his tour of gaols and infirmaries; and those of Shrewsbury being
both under my direction, this was, of course, the cause of my being
thus distinguished. I accompanied him through the infirmary and the
gaol. I showed him the plans of the proposed new buildings, and had
much conversation with him on both subjects. In consequence of his
suggestions as to the former, I have revised and amended the plans,
so as to carry out a thorough reformation; and my alterations
having been approved by a general board, they have been referred to
a committee to carry out. Mr. Howard also took objection to the
plan of the proposed gaol, and requested me to inform the
magistrates that, in his opinion, the interior courts were too
small, and not sufficiently ventilated; and the magistrates, having
approved his suggestions, ordered the plans to be amended
accordingly. You may easily conceive how I enjoyed the conversation
of this truly good man, and how much I would strive to possess his
good opinion. I regard him as the guardian angel of the miserable.
He travels into all parts of Europe with the sole object of doing
good, merely for its own sake, and not for the sake of men's praise.
To give an instance of his delicacy, and his desire to avoid public
notice, I may mention that, being a Presbyterian, he attended the
meeting-house of that denomination in Shrewsbury on Sunday morning,
on which occasion I accompanied him; but in the afternoon he
expressed a wish to attend another place of worship, his presence
in the town having excited considerable curiosity, though his wish
was to avoid public recognition. Nay, more, he assures me that he
hates travelling, and was born to be a domestic man. He never sees
his country-house but he says within himself, 'Oh! might I but rest
here, and never more travel three miles from home; then should I be
happy indeed!' But he has become so committed, and so pledged
himself to his own conscience to carry out his great work, that he
says he is doubtful whether he will ever be able to attain the
desire of his heart--life at home. He never dines out, and scarcely
takes time to dine at all: he says he is growing old, and has no
time to lose. His manner is simplicity itself. Indeed, I have
never yet met so noble a being. He is going abroad again shortly
on one of his long tours of mercy."*[1] The journey to which
Telford here refers was Howard's last. In the following year he
left England to return no more; and the great and good man died at
Cherson, on the shores of the Black Sea, less than two years after
his interview with the young engineer at Shrewsbury.
Telford writes to his Langholm friend at the same time that he is
working very hard, and studying to improve himself in branches of
knowledge in which he feels himself deficient. He is practising
very temperate habits: for half a year past he has taken to
drinking water only, avoiding all sweets, and eating no
"nick-nacks." He has "sowens and milk,' (oatmeal flummery) every
night for his supper. His friend having asked his opinion of
politics, he says he really knows nothing about them; he had been
so completely engrossed by his own business that he has not had
time to read even a newspaper. But, though an ignoramus in
politics, he has been studying lime, which is more to his purpose.
If his friend can give him any information about that, he will
promise to read a newspaper now and then in the ensuing session of
Parliament, for the purpose of forming some opinion of politics:
he adds, however, "not if it interfere with my business--mind that!',
His friend told him that he proposed translating a system of
chemistry. "Now you know," wrote Telford, "that I am chemistry mad;
and if I were near you, I would make you promise to communicate any
information on the subject that you thought would be of service to
your friend, especially about calcareous matters and the mode of
forming the best composition for building with, as well above as
below water. But not to be confined to that alone, for you must
know I have a book for the pocket,*[2] which I always carry with me,
into which I have extracted the essence of Fourcroy's Lectures,
Black on Quicklime, Scheele's Essays, Watson's Essays, and various
points from the letters of my respected friend Dr. Irving.*[3]
So much for chemistry. But I have also crammed into it facts
relating to mechanics, hydrostatics, pneumatics, and all manner of
stuff, to which I keep continually adding, and it will be a charity
to me if you will kindly contribute your mite."*[4] He says it
has been, and will continue to be, his aim to endeavour to unite
those "two frequently jarring pursuits, literature and business;"
and he does not see why a man should be less efficient in the
latter capacity because he has well informed, stored, and humanized
his mind by the cultivation of letters. There was both good sense
and sound practical wisdom in this view of Telford.
While the gaol was in course of erection, after the improved plans
suggested by Howard, a variety of important matters occupied the
county surveyor's attention. During the summer of 1788 he says he
is very much occupied, having about ten different jobs on hand:
roads, bridges, streets, drainage-works, gaol, and infirmary.
Yet he had time to write verses, copies of which he forwarded to his
Eskdale correspondent, inviting his criticism. Several of these
were elegiac lines, somewhat exaggerated in their praises of the
deceased, though doubtless sincere. One poem was in memory of
George Johnstone, Esq., a member of the Wester Hall family, and
another on the death of William Telford, an Eskdale farmer's son,
an intimate friend and schoolfellow of our engineer.*[5] These,
however, were but the votive offerings of private friendship,
persons more immediately about him knowing nothing of his stolen
pleasures in versemaking. He continued to be shy of strangers,
and was very "nice," as he calls it, as to those whom he admitted
to his bosom.
Two circumstances of considerable interest occurred in the course
of the same year (1788), which are worthy of passing notice.
The one was the fall of the church of St. Chad's, at Shrewsbury;
the other was the discovery of the ruins of the Roman city of
Uriconium, in the immediate neighbourhood. The church of St. Chad's
was about four centuries old, and stood greatly in need of repairs.
The roof let in the rain upon the congregation, and the parish
vestry met to settle the plans for mending it; but they could not
agree about the mode of procedure. In this emergency Telford was
sent for, and requested to advise what was best to he done. After a
rapid glance at the interior, which was in an exceedingly dangerous
state, he said to the churchwardens, "Gentlemen, we'll consult
together on the outside, if you please." He found that not only the
roof but the walls of the church were in a most decayed state.
It appeared that, in consequence of graves having been dug in the
loose soil close to the shallow foundation of the north-west pillar
of the tower, it had sunk so as to endanger the whole structure.
"I discovered," says he, "that there were large fractures in the
walls, on tracing which I found that the old building was in a most
shattered and decrepit condition, though until then it had been
scarcely noticed. Upon this I declined giving any recommendation as
to the repairs of the roof unless they would come to the resolution
to secure the more essential parts, as the fabric appeared to me
to be in a very alarming condition. I sent in a written report to
the same effect." *[6]
The parish vestry again met, and the report was read; but the
meeting exclaimed against so extensive a proposal, imputing mere
motives of self-interest to the surveyor. "Popular clamour," says
Telford, "overcame my report. 'These fractures,' exclaimed the
vestrymen, 'have been there from time immemorial;' and there were
some otherwise sensible persons, who remarked that professional men
always wanted to carve out employment for themselves, and that the
whole of the necessary repairs could be done at a comparatively
small expense."*[7] The vestry then called in another person,
a mason of the town, and directed him to cut away the injured part
of a particular pillar, in order to underbuild it. On the second
evening after the commencement of the operations, the sexton was
alarmed by a fail of lime-dust and mortar when he attempted to toll
the great bell, on which he immediately desisted and left the
church. Early next morning (on the 9th of July), while the workmen
were waiting at the church door for the key, the bell struck four,
and the vibration at once brought down the tower, which overwhelmed
the nave, demolishing all the pillars along the north side, and
shattering the rest. "The very parts I had pointed out," says
Telford, "were those which gave way, and down tumbled the tower,
forming a very remarkable ruin, which astonished and surprised the
vestry, and roused them from their infatuation, though they have
not yet recovered from the shock."*[8]
The other circumstance to which we have above referred was the
discovery of the Roman city of Uriconium, near Wroxeter, about five
miles from Shrewsbury, in the year 1788. The situation of the place
is extremely beautiful, the river Severn flowing along its western
margin, and forming a barrier against what were once the hostile
districts of West Britain. For many centuries the dead city had
slept under the irregular mounds of earth which covered it, like
those of Mossul and Nineveh. Farmers raised heavy crops of turnips
and grain from the surface and they scarcely ever ploughed or
harrowed the ground without turning up Roman coins or pieces of
pottery. They also observed that in certain places the corn was
more apt to be scorched in dry weather than in others--a sure sign
to them that there were ruins underneath; and their practice, when
they wished to find stones for building, was to set a mark upon the
scorched places when the corn was on the ground, and after harvest
to dig down, sure of finding the store of stones which they wanted
for walls, cottages, or farm-houses. In fact, the place came to be
regarded in the light of a quarry, rich in ready-worked materials
for building purposes. A quantity of stone being wanted for the
purpose of erecting a blacksmith's shop, on digging down upon one
of the marked places, the labourers came upon some ancient works of
a more perfect appearance than usual. Curiosity was excited
--antiquarians made their way to the spot--and lo! they pronounced
the ruins to be neither more nor less than a Roman bath, in a
remarkably perfect state of preservation. Mr. Telford was requested
to apply to Mr. Pulteney, the lord of the manor, to prevent the
destruction of these interesting remains, and also to permit the
excavations to proceed, with a view to the buildings being
completely explored. This was readily granted, and Mr. Pulteney
authorised Telford himself to conduct the necessary excavations at
his expense. This he promptly proceeded to do, and the result was,
that an extensive hypocaust apartment was brought to light, with
baths, sudatorium, dressing-room, and a number of tile pillars
--all forming parts of a Roman floor--sufficiently perfect to show
the manner in which the building had been constructed and used.*[9]
Among Telford's less agreeable duties about the same time was that
of keeping the felons at work. He had to devise the ways and means
of employing them without risk of their escaping, which gave him
much trouble and anxiety. "Really," he said, "my felons are a very
troublesome family. I have had a great deal of plague from them,
and I have not yet got things quite in the train that I could wish.
I have had a dress made for them of white and brown cloth, in such
a way that they are pye-bald. They have each a light chain about
one leg. Their allowance in food is a penny loaf and a halfpenny
worth of cheese for breakfast; a penny loaf, a quart of soup, and
half a pound of meat for dinner; and a penny loaf and a halfpenny
worth of cheese for supper; so that they have meat and clothes at
all events. I employ them in removing earth, serving masons or
bricklayers, or in any common labouring work on which they can be
employed; during which time, of course, I have them strictly
watched."
Much more pleasant was his first sight of Mrs. Jordan at the
Shrewsbury theatre, where he seems to have been worked up to a
pitch of rapturous enjoyment. She played for six nights there at
the race time, during which there were various other'
entertainments. On the second day there was what was called an
Infirmary Meeting, or an assemblage of the principal county
gentlemen in the infirmary, at which, as county surveyor, Telford
was present. They proceeded thence to church to hear a sermon
preached for the occasion; after which there was a dinner, followed
by a concert. He attended all. The sermon was preached in the new
pulpit, which had just been finished after his design, in the
Gothic style; and he confidentially informed his Langholm
correspondent that he believed the pulpit secured greater
admiration than the sermon, With the concert he was completely
disappointed, and he then became convinced that he had no ear for
music. Other people seemed very much pleased; but for the life of
him he could make nothing of it. The only difference that he
recognised between one tune and another was that there was a
difference in the noise. "It was all very fine," he said, "I have
no doubt; but I would not give a song of Jock Stewart *[10] for the
whole of them. The melody of sound is thrown away upon me. One
look, one word of Mrs. Jordan, has more effect upon me than all the
fiddlers in England. Yet I sat down and tried to be as attentive as
any mortal could be. I endeavoured, if possible, to get up an
interest in what was going on; but it was all of no use. I felt no
emotion whatever, excepting only a strong inclination to go to
sleep. It must be a defect; but it is a fact, and I cannot help it.
I suppose my ignorance of the subject, and the want of musical
experience in my youth, may be the cause of it."*[11] Telford's
mother was still living in her old cottage at The Crooks. Since he
had parted from her, he had written many printed letters to keep
her informed of his progress; and he never wrote to any of his
friends in the dale without including some message or other to his
mother. Like a good and dutiful son, he had taken care out of his
means to provide for her comfort in her declining years. "She has
been a good mother to me," he said, "and I will try and be a good
son to her." In a letter written from Shrewsbury about this time,
enclosing a ten pound note, seven pounds of which were to be given
to his mother, he said, "I have from time to time written William
Jackson [his cousin] and told him to furnish her with whatever she
wants to make her comfortable; but there may be many little things
she may wish to have, and yet not like to ask him for. You will
therefore agree with me that it is right she should have a little
cash to dispose of in her own way.... I am not rich yet; but it
will ease my mind to set my mother above the fear of want. That has
always been my first object; and next to that, to be the somebody
which you have always encouraged me to believe I might aspire to
become. Perhaps after all there may be something in it!" *[12]
He now seems to have occupied much of his leisure hours in
miscellaneous reading. Among the numerous books which he read, he
expressed the highest admiration for Sheridan's 'Life of Swift.'
But his Langholm friend, who was a great politician, having invited
his attention to politics, Telford's reading gradually extended in
that direction. Indeed the exciting events of the French
Revolution then tended to make all men more or less politicians.
The capture of the Bastille by the people of Paris in 1789 passed
like an electric thrill through Europe. Then followed the
Declaration of Rights; after which, in the course of six months,
all the institutions which had before existed in France were swept
away, and the reign of justice was fairly inaugurated upon earth!
In the spring of 1791 the first part of Paine's 'Rights of Man'
appeared, and Telford, like many others, read it, and was at once
carried away by it. Only a short time before, he had admitted with
truth that he knew nothing of politics; but no sooner had he read
Paine than he felt completely enlightened. He now suddenly
discovered how much reason he and everybody else in England had for
being miserable. While residing at Portsmouth, he had quoted to his
Langholm friend the lines from Cowper's 'Task,' then just
published, beginning "Slaves cannot breathe in England;" but lo!
Mr. Paine had filled his imagination with the idea that England was
nothing but a nation of bondmen and aristocrats. To his natural
mind, the kingdom had appeared to be one in which a man had pretty
fair play, could think and speak, and do the thing he would,--
tolerably happy, tolerably prosperous, and enjoying many blessings.
He himself had felt free to labour, to prosper, and to rise from
manual to head work. No one had hindered him; his personal liberty
had never been interfered with; and he had freely employed his
earnings as he thought proper. But now the whole thing appeared a
delusion. Those rosy-cheeked old country gentlemen who came riding
into Shrewsbury to quarter sessions, and were so fond of their
young Scotch surveyor occupying themselves in building bridges,
maintaining infirmaries, making roads, and regulating gaols--
those county magistrates and members of parliament, aristocrats all,
were the very men who, according to Paine, were carrying the
country headlong to ruin!
If Telford could not offer an opinion on politics before, because
he "knew nothing about them," he had now no such difficulty. Had
his advice been asked about the foundations of a bridge, or the
security of an arch, he would have read and studied much before
giving it; he would have carefully inquired into the chemical
qualities of different kinds of lime--into the mechanical
principles of weight and resistance, and such like; but he had no
such hesitation in giving an opinion about the foundations of a
constitution of more than a thousand years' growth. Here, like
other young politicians, with Paine's book before him, he felt
competent to pronounce a decisive judgment at once. "I am
convinced," said he, writing to his Langholm friend, "that the
situation of Great Britain is such, that nothing short of some
signal revolution can prevent her from sinking into bankruptcy,
slavery, and insignificancy." He held that the national expenditure
was so enormous,*[13] arising from the corrupt administration of
the country, that it was impossible the "bloated mass" could hold
together any longer; and as he could not expect that "a hundred
Pulteneys," such as his employer, could be found to restore it to
health, the conclusion he arrived at was that ruin was
"inevitable."*[14] Notwithstanding the theoretical ruin of England
which pressed so heavy on his mind at this time, we find Telford
strongly recommending his correspondent to send any good wrights he
could find in his neighbourhood to Bath, where they would be
enabled to earn twenty shillings or a guinea a week at piece-work--
the wages paid at Langholm for similar work being only about half
those amounts.
In the same letter in which these observations occur, Telford
alluded to the disgraceful riots at Birmingham, in the course of
which Dr. Priestley's house and library were destroyed. As the
outrages were the work of the mob, Telford could not charge the
aristocracy with them; but with equal injustice he laid the blame
at the door of "the clergy," who had still less to do with them,
winding up with the prayer, "May the Lord mend their hearts and
lessen their incomes!"
Fortunately for Telford, his intercourse with the townspeople of
Shrewsbury was so small that his views on these subjects were never
known; and we very shortly find him employed by the clergy
themselves in building for them a new church in the town of
Bridgenorth. His patron and employer, Mr. Pulteney, however, knew
of his extreme views, and the knowledge came to him quite
accidentally. He found that Telford had made use of his frank to
send through the post a copy of Paine's 'Rights of Man' to his
Langholm correspondent,*[15] where the pamphlet excited as much
fury in the minds of some of the people of that town as it had done
in that of Telford himself. The "Langholm patriots "broke out into
drinking revolutionary toasts at the Cross, and so disturbed the
peace of the little town that some of them were confined for six
weeks in the county gaol.
Mr. Pulteney was very indignant at the liberty Telford had taken
with his frank, and a rupture between them seemed likely to ensue;
but the former was forgiving, and the matter went no further. It is
only right to add, that as Telford grew older and wiser, he became
more careful in jumping at conclusions on political topics.
The events which shortly occurred in France tended in a great measure
to heal his mental distresses as to the future of England. When the
"liberty" won by the Parisians ran into riot, and the "Friends of Man"
occupied themselves in taking off the heads of those who differed
from them, he became wonderfully reconciled to the enjoyment of the
substantial freedom which, after all, was secured to him by the
English Constitution. At the same time, he was so much occupied in
carrying out his important works, that he found but little time to
devote either to political speculation or to versemaking.
While living at Shrewsbury, he had his poem of 'Eskdale' reprinted
for private circulation. We have also seen several MS. verses by
him, written about the same period, which do not appear ever to
have been printed. One of these--the best--is entitled 'Verses to
the Memory of James Thomson, author of "Liberty, a poem;"' another
is a translation from Buchanan, 'On the Spheres;' and a third,
written in April, 1792, is entitled 'To Robin Burns, being a
postscript to some verses addressed to him on the establishment of
an Agricultural Chair in Edinburgh.' It would unnecessarily occupy
our space to print these effusions; and, to tell the truth, they
exhibit few if any indications of poetic power. No amount of
perseverance will make a poet of a man in whom the divine gift is
not born. The true line of Telford's genius lay in building and
engineering, in which direction we now propose to follow him.
[Image] Shrewsbury Castle
Footnotes for Chapter IV.
*[1] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated Shrewsbury Castle,
21st Feb., 1788.
*[2] This practice of noting down information, the result of
reading and observation, was continued by Mr. Telford until the
close of his life; his last pocket memorandum book, containing a
large amount of valuable information on mechanical subjects--a sort
of engineer's vade mecum--being printed in the appendix to the 4to.
'Life of Telford' published by his executors in 1838, pp. 663-90.
*[3] A medical man, a native of Eskdale, of great promise, who died
comparatively young.
*[4] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm.
*[5] It would occupy unnecessary space to cite these poems.
The following, from the verses in memory of William Telford, relates
to schoolboy days, After alluding to the lofty Fell Hills, which
formed part of the sheep farm of his deceased friend's father, the
poet goes on to say:
"There 'mongst those rocks I'll form a rural seat,
And plant some ivy with its moss compleat;
I'll benches form of fragments from the stone,
Which, nicely pois'd, was by our hands o'erthrown,--
A simple frolic, but now dear to me,
Because, my Telford, 'twas performed with thee.
There, in the centre, sacred to his name,
I'll place an altar, where the lambent flame
Shall yearly rise, and every youth shall join
The willing voice, and sing the enraptured line.
But we, my friend, will often steal away
To this lone seat, and quiet pass the day;
Here oft recall the pleasing scenes we knew
In early youth, when every scene was new,
When rural happiness our moments blest,
And joys untainted rose in every breast."
*[6] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated 16th July, 1788.
*[7] Ibid.
*[8] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated 16th July, 1788.
*[9] The discovery formed the subject of a paper read before the
Society of Antiquaries in London on the 7th of May, 1789, published
in the 'Archaeologia,' together with a drawing of the remains
supplied by Mr. Telford.
*[10] An Eskdale crony. His son, Colonel Josias Stewart, rose to
eminence in the East India Company's service, having been for many
years Resident at Gwalior and Indore.
*[11] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated 3rd Sept. 1788.
*[12] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated Shrewsbury,
8th October, 1789.
*[13] It was then under seventeen millions sterling, or about a
fourth of what it is now.
*[14] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated 28th July, 1791.
*[15] The writer of a memoir of Telford, in the 'Encyclopedia
Britannica,' says:--"Andrew Little kept a private and very small
school at Langholm. Telford did not neglect to send him a copy of
Paine's 'Rights of Man;' and as he was totally blind, he employed
one of his scholars to read it in the evenings. Mr. Little had
received an academical education before he lost his sight; and,
aided by a memory of uncommon powers, he taught the classics, and
particularly Greek, with much higher reputation than any other
schoolmaster within a pretty extensive circuit. Two of his pupils
read all the Iliad, and all or the greater part of Sophocles.
After hearing a long sentence of Greek or Latin distinctly recited,
he could generally construe and translate it with little or no
hesitation. He was always much gratified by Telford's visits,
which were not infrequent, to his native district."
CHAPTER V.
TELFORD'S FIRST EMPLOYMENT AS AN ENGINEER.
As surveyor for the county, Telford was frequently called upon by
the magistrates to advise them as to the improvement of roads and
the building or repair of bridges. His early experience of
bridge-building in his native district now proved of much service
to him, and he used often to congratulate himself, even when he had
reached the highest rank in his profession, upon the circumstances
which had compelled him to begin his career by working with his own
hands. To be a thorough judge of work, he held that a man must
himself have been practically engaged in it.
"Not only," he said, "are the natural senses of seeing and feeling
requisite in the examination of materials, but also the practised
eye, and the hand which has had experience of the kind and
qualities of stone, of lime, of iron, of timber, and even of earth,
and of the effects of human ingenuity in applying and combining all
these substances, are necessary for arriving at mastery in the
profession; for, how can a man give judicious directions unless he
possesses personal knowledge of the details requisite to effect
his ultimate purpose in the best and cheapest manner? It has
happened to me more than once, when taking opportunities of being
useful to a young man of merit, that I have experienced opposition
in taking him from his books and drawings, and placing a mallet,
chisel, or trowel in his hand, till, rendered confident by the
solid knowledge which experience only can bestow, he was qualified
to insist on the due performance of workmanship, and to judge of
merit in the lower as well as the higher departments of a
profession in which no kind or degree of practical knowledge is
superfluous."
The first bridge designed and built under Telford's superintendence
was one of no great magnitude, across the river Severn at Montford,
about four miles west of Shrewsbury. It was a stone bridge of three
elliptical arches, one of 58 feet and two of 55 feet span each.
The Severn at that point is deep and narrow, and its bed and banks
are of alluvial earth. It was necessary to make the foundations
very secure, as the river is subject to high floods; and this was
effectuality accomplished by means of coffer-dams. The building
was substantially executed in red sandstone, and proved a very
serviceable bridge, forming part of the great high road from
Shrewsbury into Wales. It was finished in the year 1792.
In the same year, we find Telford engaged as an architect in
preparing the designs and superintending the construction of the
new parish church of St. Mary Magdalen at Bridgenorth. It stands at
the end of Castle Street, near to the old ruined fortress perched
upon the bold red sandstone bluff on which the upper part of the
town is built. The situation of the church is very fine, and an
extensive view of the beautiful vale of the Severn is obtained from it.
Telford's design is by no means striking; "being," as he said,
"a regular Tuscan elevation; the inside is as regularly Ionic: its
only merit is simplicity and uniformity; it is surmounted by a
Doric tower, which contains the bells and a clock." A graceful
Gothic church would have been more appropriate to the situation,
and a much finer object in the landscape; but Gothic was not then
in fashion--only a mongrel mixture of many styles, without regard
to either purity or gracefulness. The church, however, proved
comfortable and commodious, and these were doubtless the points to
which the architect paid most attention.
[Image] St. Mary Magdalen, Bridgenorth.
His completion of the church at Bridgenorth to the satisfaction of
the inhabitants, brought Telford a commission, in the following
year, to erect a similar edifice at Coalbrookdale. But in the mean
time, to enlarge his knowledge and increase his acquaintance with
the best forms of architecture, he determined to make a journey to
London and through some of the principal towns of the south of
England. He accordingly visited Gloucester, Worcester, and Bath,
remaining several days in the last-mentioned city. He was charmed
beyond expression by his journey through the manufacturing
districts of Gloucestershire, more particularly by the fine scenery
of the Vale of Stroud. The whole seemed to him a smiling scene of
prosperous industry and middle-class comfort.
But passing out of this "Paradise," as he styled it, another stage
brought him into a region the very opposite. "We stopped," says he,
"at a little alehouse on the side of a rough hill to water the
horses, and lo! the place was full of drunken blackguards,
bellowing out 'Church and King!' A poor ragged German Jew happened
to come up, whom those furious loyalists had set upon and accused
of being a Frenchman in disguise. He protested that he was only a
poor German who 'cut de corns,' and that all he wanted was to buy a
little bread and cheese. Nothing would serve them but they must
carry him before the Justice. The great brawny fellow of a landlord
swore he should have nothing in his house, and, being a, constable,
told him that he would carry him to gaol. I interfered, and
endeavoured to pacify the assailants of the poor man; when suddenly
the landlord, snatching up a long knife, sliced off about a pound
of raw bacon from a ham which hung overhead, and, presenting it to
the Jew, swore that if he did not swallow it down at once he should
not be allowed to go. The man was in a worse plight than ever.
He said he was a 'poor Shoe,' and durst not eat that. In the midst
of the uproar, Church and King were forgotten, and eventually I
prevailed upon the landlord to accept from me as much as enabled
poor little Moses to get his meal of bread and cheese; and by the
time the coach started they all seemed perfectly reconciled." *[1]
Telford was much gratified by his visit to Bath, and inspected its
fine buildings with admiration. But he thought that Mr. Wood,
who, he says, "created modern Bath," had left no worthy
successor. In the buildings then in progress he saw clumsy
designers at work, "blundering round about a meaning"--if, indeed,
there was any meaning at all in their designs, which he confessed
he failed to see. From Bath he went to London by coach, making the
journey in safety, "although," he says, the collectors had been
doing duty on Hounslow Heath." During his stay in London he
carefully examined the principal public buildings by the light of
the experience which he had gained since he last saw them. He also
spent a good deal of his time in studying rare and expensive works
on architecture--the use of which he could not elsewhere procure--
at the libraries of the Antiquarian Society and the British Museum.
There he perused the various editions of Vitruvius and Palladio,
as well as Wren's 'Parentalia.' He found a rich store of ancient
architectural remains in the British Museum, which he studied with
great care: antiquities from Athens, Baalbec, Palmyra, and
Herculaneum; "so that," he says, "what with the information I was
before possessed of, and that which I have now accumulated, I think
I have obtained a tolerably good general notion of architecture."
From London he proceeded to Oxford, where he carefully inspected
its colleges and churches, afterwards expressing the great delight
and profit which he had derived from his visit. He was entertained
while there by Mr. Robertson, an eminent mathematician, then
superintending the publication of an edition of the works of
Archimedes. The architectural designs of buildings that most
pleased him were those of Dr. Aldrich, Dean of Christchurch about
the time of Sir Christopher Wren. He tore himself from Oxford with
great regret, proceeding by Birmingham on his way home to
Shrewsbury: "Birmingham," he says, "famous for its buttons and
locks, its ignorance and barbarism--its prosperity increases with
the corruption of taste and morals. Its nicknacks, hardware, and
gilt gimcracks are proofs of the former; and its locks and bars,
and the recent barbarous conduct of its populace,*[2] are evidences
of the latter." His principal object in visiting the place was to
call upon a stained glass-maker respecting a window for the new
church at Bridgenorth.
On his return to Shrewsbury, Telford proposed to proceed with his
favourite study of architecture; but this, said he, "will probably
be very slowly, as I must attend to my every day employment,"
namely, the superintendence of the county road and bridge repairs,
and the direction of the convicts' labour. "If I keep my health,
however," he added, "and have no unforeseen hindrance, it shall not
be forgotten, but will be creeping on by degrees." An unforeseen
circumstance, though not a hindrance, did very shortly occur, which
launched Telford upon a new career, for which his unremitting
study, as well as his carefully improved experience, eminently
fitted him: we refer to his appointment as engineer to the
Ellesmere Canal Company.
The conscientious carefulness with which Telford performed the
duties entrusted to him, and the skill with which he directed the
works placed under his charge, had secured the general approbation
of the gentlemen of the county. His straightforward and outspoken
manner had further obtained for him the friendship of many of them.
At the meetings of quarter-sessions his plans had often to encounter
considerable opposition, and, when called upon to defend them, he
did so with such firmness, persuasiveness, and good temper, that he
usually carried his point. "Some of the magistrates are ignorant,"
he wrote in 1789, "and some are obstinate: though I must say that
on the whole there is a very respectable bench, and with the
sensible part I believe I am on good terms." This was amply proved
some four years later, when it became necessary to appoint an
engineer to the Ellesmere Canal, on which occasion the magistrates,
who were mainly the promoters of the undertaking, almost
unanimously solicited their Surveyor to accept the office.
Indeed, Telford had become a general favourite in the county.
He was cheerful and cordial in his manner, though somewhat brusque.
Though now thirty-five years old, he had not lost the humorousness
which had procured for him the sobriquet of "Laughing Tam."
He laughed at his own jokes as well as at others. He was spoken of
as jolly--a word then much more rarely as well as more choicely used
than it is now. Yet he had a manly spirit, and was very jealous of
his independence. All this made him none the less liked by
free-minded men. Speaking of the friendly support which he had
throughout received from Mr. Pulteney, he said, "His good opinion
has always been a great satisfaction to me; and the more so, as it
has neither been obtained nor preserved by deceit, cringing, nor
flattery. On the contrary, I believe I am almost the only man that
speaks out fairly to him, and who contradicts him the most.
In fact, between us, we sometimes quarrel like tinkers; but I hold
my ground, and when he sees I am right he quietly gives in."
Although Mr. Pulteney's influence had no doubt assisted Telford in
obtaining the appointment of surveyor, it had nothing to do with
the unsolicited invitation which now emanated from the county
gentlemen. Telford was not even a candidate for the engineership,
and had not dreamt of offering himself, so that the proposal came
upon him entirely by surprise. Though he admitted he had
self-confidence, he frankly confessed that he had not a sufficient
amount of it to justify him in aspiring to the office of engineer
to one of the most important undertakings of the day. The following
is his own account of the circumstance:--
"My literary project*[3] is at present at a stand, and may be
retarded for some time to come, as I was last Monday appointed sole
agent, architect, and engineer to the canal which is projected to
join the Mersey, the Dee, and the Severn. It is the greatest work,
I believe, now in hand in this kingdom, and will not be completed
for many years to come. You will be surprised that I have not
mentioned this to you before; but the fact is that I had no idea of
any such appointment until an application was made to me by some of
the leading gentlemen, and I was appointed, though many others had
made much interest for the place. This will be a great and
laborious undertaking, but the line which it opens is vast and
noble; and coming as the appointment does in this honourable way,
I thought it too great a opportunity to be neglected, especially as I
have stipulated for, and been allowed, the privilege of carrying on
my architectural profession. The work will require great labour
and exertions, but it is worthy of them all."*[4] Telford's
appointment was duly confirmed by the next general meeting of the
shareholders of the Ellesmere Canal. An attempt was made to get up
a party against him, but it failed. "I am fortunate," he said, "in
being on good terms with most of the leading men, both of property
and abilities; and on this occasion I had the decided support of
the great John Wilkinson, king of the ironmasters, himself a host.
I travelled in his carriage to the meeting, and found him much
disposed to be friendly."*[5] The salary at which Telford was
engaged was 500L. a year, out of which he had to pay one clerk and
one confidential foreman, besides defraying his own travelling
expenses. It would not appear that after making these
disbursements much would remain for Telford's own labour; but in
those days engineers were satisfied with comparatively small pay,
and did not dream of making large fortunes.
Though Telford intended to continue his architectural business,
he decided to give up his county surveyorship and other minor matters,
which, he said, "give a great deal of very unpleasant labour for
very little profit; in short they are like the calls of a country
surgeon." One part of his former business which he did not give up
was what related to the affairs of Mr. Pulteney and Lady Bath, with
whom he continued on intimate and friendly terms. He incidentally
mentions in one of his letters a graceful and charming act of her
Ladyship. On going into his room one day he found that, before
setting out for Buxton, she had left upon his table a copy of
Ferguson's 'Roman Republic,' in three quarto volumes, superbly
bound and gilt.
He now looked forward with anxiety to the commencement of the
canal, the execution of which would necessarily call for great
exertion on his part, as well as unremitting attention and
industry; "for," said he, "besides the actual labour which
necessarily attends so extensive a public work, there are
contentions, jealousies, and prejudices, stationed like gloomy
sentinels from one extremity of the line to the other. But, as I
have heard my mother say that an honest man might look the Devil in
the face without being afraid, so we must just trudge along in the
old way."*[6]
Footnotes for Chapter V.
*[1] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated Shrewsbury,
10th March, 1793
*[2] Referring to the burning of Dr. Priestley's library.
*[3] The preparation of some translations from Buchanan which he
had contemplated.
*[4] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated Shrewsbury,
29th September, 1793.
*[5] John Wilkinson and his brother William were the first of the
great class of ironmasters. They possessed iron forges at Bersham
near Chester, at Bradley, Brimbo, Merthyr Tydvil, and other places;
and became by far the largest iron manufacturers of their day.
For notice of them see 'Lives of Boulton and Watt,' p. 212.
*[6] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated Shrewsbury,
3rd November, 1793.
CHAPTER VI.
THE ELLESMERE CANAL.
The ellesmere canal consists of a series of navigations proceeding
from the river Dee in the vale of Llangollen. One branch passes
northward, near the towns of Ellesmere, Whitchurch, Nantwich, and
the city of Chester, to Ellesmere Port on the Mersey; another,
in a south-easterly direction, through the middle of Shropshire
towards Shrewsbury on the Severn; and a third, in a south-westerly
direction, by the town of Oswestry, to the Montgomeryshire Canal
near Llanymynech; its whole extent, including the Chester Canal,
incorporated with it, being about 112 miles.
[Image] Map of Ellesmere Canal
The success of the Duke of Bridgewater's Canal had awakened the
attention of the landowners throughout England, but more especially
in the districts immediately adjacent to the scene of the Duke's
operations, as they saw with their own eyes the extraordinary
benefits which had followed the opening up of the navigations.
The resistance of the landed gentry, which many of these schemes had
originally to encounter, had now completely given way, and, instead
of opposing canals, they were everywhere found anxious for their
construction. The navigations brought lime, coal, manure, and
merchandise, almost to the farmers' doors, and provided them at the
same time with ready means of conveyance for their produce to good
markets. Farms in remote situations were thus placed more on an
equality with those in the neighbourhood of large towns; rents rose
in consequence, and the owners of land everywhere became the
advocates and projectors of canals.
The dividends paid by the first companies were very high, and it
was well known that the Duke's property was bringing him in immense
wealth. There was, therefore, no difficulty in getting the shares
in new projects readily subscribed for: indeed Mr. Telford relates
that at the first meeting of the Ellesmere projectors, so eager
were the public, that four times the estimated expense was
subscribed without hesitation. Yet this navigation passed through
a difficult country, necessarily involving very costly works; and
as the district was but thinly inhabited, it did not present a very
inviting prospect of dividends.*[1] But the mania had fairly set
in, and it was determined that the canal should be made. And
whether the investment repaid the immediate proprietors or not, it
unquestionably proved of immense advantage to the population of the
districts through which it passed, and contributed to enhance the
value of most of the adjoining property.
The Act authorising the construction of the canal was obtained in
1793, and Telford commenced operations very shortly after his
appointment in October of the same year. His first business was to
go carefully over the whole of the proposed line, and make a careful
working survey, settling the levels of the different lengths,
and the position of the locks, embankments, cuttings, and aqueducts.
In all matters of masonry work he felt himself master of the
necessary details; but having had comparatively small experience of
earthwork, and none of canal-making, he determined to take the
advice of Mr. William Jessop on that part of the subject; and he
cordially acknowledges the obligations he was under to that eminent
engineer for the kind assistance which he received from him on many
occasions.
