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AND

THE EARLY ENGINEERS.

BY SAMUEL SMILES,

AUTHOR OF SELF-HELP,' ETC.

"Lord Bacon hath said truly, there be three things which make a nation great
and prosperous,-a fertile soil, busy workshops, and easy conveyance for men and
commodities from one place to another; to which let me add, knowledge and
freedom."-BISHOP HALL.

"The ineloquent Brindley, behold he has chained seas together; his ships do
visibly float over valleys, invisibly through the heart of mountains; and the
Mersey and the Thames, the Humber and the Severn have shaken hands."-
CARLYLE, Past and Present.

ABRIDGED FROM LIVES OF THE ENGINEERS.'

LONDON:

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.

1864.

The right of Translation is reserved.

1870, Aug.8. Bowelitch Bend.

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

STORY OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE STEPHENSON: A NEW EDITION THOROUGHLY REVISED, INCLUDING A MEMOIR OF ROBERT STEPHENSON. With Illustrations. Post 8vo. 6s.

INDUSTRIAL BIOGRAPHY: IRON-WORKERS AND TOOL-MAKERS. Post 8vo. 68.

SELF-HELP; WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OF CHARACTER AND CONDUCT. Post 8vo. 68.

LIVES OF THE ENGINEERS; comprising a HISTORY OF INLAND

COMMUNICATION IN BRITAIN.

First Series. 2 vols. 8vo. 42s. With Portraits and 200 Woodcuts.

Vol. I. SIR CORNelius Vermuyden—Sir Hugh MyDDELTON-JAMES Brindley.

Vol. II. JOHN SMEATON-JOHN RENNIE-THOMAS TELFORD.

Second Series. 1 vol. 8vo. 21s. With Portraits and 70 Woodcuts.

Vol. III. GEORGE AND ROBERT STEPHENSON.

WORKMEN'S EARNINGS,-SAVINGS,- -AND STRIKES; reprinted from the 'Quarterly Review.' Post 8vo. 1s. 67.

LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET,

AND CHARING CROSS.

PREFACE.

THE present book is for the most part a reproduction, in a cheaper and more compact form, of the Life of James Brindley originally published in the Lives of the Engineers.' It is offered to the public as a companion volume to the Story of the Life of George Stephenson,'—the characters and achievements of the two men being in many respects alike, the one having accomplished for Canals in England what the other did for Railways.

The volume also includes memoirs of the earlier engineers, more particularly Sir Cornelius Vermuyden, Sir Hugh Myddelton, and Captain Perry; whose works of drainage, water supply, and embankment, were amongst the wonders of their time.

The memoir of Pierre-Paul Riquet-by some styled "The French Brindley "-constructor of the Grand Canal of Languedoc, is appended, as prepared for the French edition of 'Self-Help.'

LONDON, October, 1864.

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