66 following incident. He was not fourteen when his mother "brought him to Glasgow to visit a friend; his brother John "accompanied them: on Mrs. Watt's return to Glasgow some "weeks after, her friend said, 'you must take your son James "home; I cannot stand the state of excitement he keeps me "in; I am worn out with want of sleep; every evening before "❝ten o'clock, our usual hour of retiring to rest, he contrives "to engage me in conversation, then begins some striking 'tale, and, whether humorous or pathetic, the interest is so overpowering, that all the family listen to him with ""breathless attention; hour after hour strikes unheeded; in "vain his brother John scolds and pulls him by the arm, "Come to bed, James; you are inventing story after story "to keep us with you till after midnight, because you love "company, and your severe fits of toothache prevent your "sleeping at an earlier hour.' 66 6 66 6 66 6 66 Sitting one evening with his aunt Mrs. Muirheid at the "tea-table, she said: James Watt, I never saw such an idle 'boy: take a book or employ yourself usefully; for the last "hour you have not spoken one word, but taken off the lid "of that kettle and put it on again, holding now a cup ""and now a silver spoon over the steam, watching how it ""rises from the spout, and catching and connecting the 'drops of hot water it falls into. Are you not ashamed of "spending your time in this way?'" 666 66 "In the year 1750," said M. Arago, in addressing the assembled members of the Institute of France, "each one of us, in the same situation as Mrs. Muirheid, would perhaps "have used the same language. But the world has made a stride, and our knowledge has grown greater; and so, when "I shall immediately explain to you that the principal discovery of our fellow-member was a particular mode of converting steam into water," [the condensation of steam in a separate vessel from the boiler], "Mrs. Muirheid's reproof will "present itself to our minds under a totally different aspect: "the little James before the tea-kettle becomes the mighty engineer preluding to the discoveries which were to immor"talise him; and it will, by every one, undoubtedly be 66 "deemed worthy of remark, that the words CONDENSATION "OF STEAM should naturally have come to find a place in the history of Watt's early childhood." 66 Mrs. Campbell's narrative continues:-" It appears that "when thus blamed for idleness, his active mind was em 66 ployed in investigating the properties of steam: he was "then fifteen, and once in conversation he informed me that "before he was that age he had read twice, with great atten"tion, 'S'Gravesande's Elements of Natural Philosophy; 66 66 adding that it was the first book upon that subject put into "his hands, and that he still thought it one of the best. "When health permitted, his young ardent mind was constantly occupied, not with one but with many pursuits. Every new acquisition in science, languages, or general "literature, seemed made without an effort. While under "his father's roof, he went on with various chemical experi"ments, repeating them again and again until satisfied of "their accuracy from his own observations. He had made "for himself a small electrical machine, and sometimes "startled his young friends by giving them sudden shocks " from it." We pause here to remark that in point of novelty, and, indeed, also of the mental capacity required to apprehend its true nature and construction, an electrical machine was in those days a very different thing from one made or used at the present time. For young Watt's performance must have been about the years 1750-53; and, as many of our readers are aware, the Leyden phial had been invented not many years before, viz., in 1745-46.† "His early years were passed in Greenock; from the age "of fourteen he was often in Glasgow with his uncle Mr. Muirheid, and read and studied much on chemistry and "anatomy. He took a deep interest in this latter subject, "and in all connected with the medical art, and was once "observed carrying off a child's head that had died of some "uncommon complaint." Mr. Watt continued through life much attached to the medical art, and had deeply studied his own constitution. He treated his own complaints, and those of his family and friends, secundum artem; and told his son, that had he been able to bear the sight of the sufferings of patients, he would have been a surgeon. "Under Mr. Muirheid's roof he met with good society, and "formed friendships with several intelligent and well-educated "young men; they had frequent evening meetings to give or "receive information. These gentlemen acknowledged and "appreciated Mr. Watt's superior abilities; his manners were “so kind and unassuming that no jealous feelings were ever "excited; his warm affections and stern integrity commanded "their esteem and regard; yet they sometimes feared while they loved him, as he had no patience for folly, and could "be sarcastic. 66 66 66 66 "The agony he suffered from continued and violent head"aches often affected his nervous system, and left him for days-even weeks-languid, depressed, and fanciful; at "those times there was a roughness and asperity in his manner that softened with returning health. He often passed the summer months in Mr. Muirheid's family, on "the banks of Loch Lomond, near the spot where Buchanan "the historian was born, and the celebrated Napier of Mer"chistoun passed many years of his life. Mr. Watt was par"tial to the country, and, when health permitted, entered "with his young companions into its active sports and amuse"ments. Indefatigable in his habits of research and observa❝tion, every excursion he took extended his knowledge; not " contented with adding to his botanical and mineral treasures, " he entered the cottages of the poor to study their characters, "and listen for hours to their local traditions, popular ballads, "and wild superstitions. "He enjoyed society in a small select circle; his talents "for conversation were always remarkable; he seldom rose 66 66 early, but accomplished more in a few hours' study than ordinary minds do in many days. He never was in a hurry, " and always had leisure to give to his friends, to poetry, romance, and the publications of the day: he read indis"criminately almost every new book he could procure. On "a friend entreating him to be more select in his choice, "he replied, "I have never yet read a book, or conversed "with a companion, without gaining information, instruc66 6 tion, or amusement.' He was alternately very active, "or, apparently, very indolent; and was subject to occa❝sional fits of absence. He had a quick perception of the "beauties of nature, and delighted in exploring the wild "glens of his native land, and tracing to their source the "mountain torrents. Though modest and unpretending, yet, "like other great men, he was conscious of his own high "talents and superior attainments, and proudly looked for"ward to their raising him to future fame and honour." Such, with the exception of a short concluding portion relative to Mr. Watt's married life, which will hereafter be introduced in its proper place, is the whole of Mrs. Campbell's succinct, yet comprehensive narrative. We hope that "the "reverence of kindred" does not unduly influence our judg ment, when we venture to express a belief that it will always occupy an honourable place among the annals of the childhood and youth of great men. It is not often, indeed, that so forcible a sketch has been drawn of the early character of one afterwards so highly distinguished, by any artist favoured with such frequent opportunities of close observation of her subject, and at the same time, let us add, with so happy a command of her pencil. We feel well assured that the portrait she has given us of James Watt in his youth, distinct as are its features, and fresh and lively as are its tints, is neither painted in too glowing colours, nor in any way too highly varnished; and that by all who attentively consider it, it will be admitted to bear on its countenance the stamp of a self-evident fidelity. CHAPTER IV. HIS SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS OF JAMES WATT -ANECDOTES OF HIS BOYISH DURING the period to which Mrs. Campbell's memoranda chiefly apply, his father's house in Greenock was the headquarters of young Watt, from which he frequently made such excursions as she has described, to the homes of other kind relations and friends, either during his vacations, or when health rendered change of air and relaxation advisable. The commercial school of a Mr. Macadam he attended, though, as it is said, not very punctually, nor perhaps over diligently; a more than respectable proficiency in Latin, and some knowledge of the elements of Greek, he attained under the tuition of a learned and virtuous person of the name of Robert Arrol, master of the grammar-school of Greenock; mathematics he studied with far greater zest, and with proportionate success, under one John Marr, whose designation is given, in the attestation of some deeds of that date, 66 as mathematician in "Greenock." Whether our John Marr was any descendant or kinsman of that well-known "excellent mathematician and "geometrician" of the same name, "servant to King James "First and Charles First," mentioned by Lilly in his account of the meeting between John Napier of Merchistoun and Mr. Briggs of Oxford, we know not; although the similarity of name and pursuit seems to give some slight à priori reason for supposing that he may have been so. During the course of early education which he was thus receiving, the boy is said to have been often known to stand angling from a jetty which ran out into the sea, at the back |