SKETCH OF SIB DAVID BREWSTER. 547 



was a plow-maker by trade, but was well versed in astronomical calcu- 

 lations and observations, having been the first discoverer of the great 

 comet of 1811, and was in his most congenial pursuit when he was 

 making telescopes, a work to which he brought much mechanical skill 

 and scientific accuracy. His " scientific workshop," on the Jedburgh 

 turnpike, " became a gathering-place for all the young men of intelli- 

 gence in the neighborhood, most of them being in training for the 

 ministry, for medicine, and other liberal pursuits. They had lessons 

 in mathematics and mechanics, but especially in the favorite science 

 of astronomy. The telescopes were tested in the day-time by the eyes 

 of the birds perching on the topmost branches of the ' King of the 

 Wood,' a noble relic of the past forest days, about half a mile from 

 Inchbonny, When the bright sparkle of the bird's eye was distinctly 

 visible by day, James Veitch's specula and lenses were considered fit 

 to show the glories of the sky by night." David " was the very young- 

 est," says his daughter, Mrs. Gordon, from whose book * we borrow 

 our anecdotes, " of the quaint and varied group. When he began his 

 visits I do not know, but we find that at the age of ten he finished the 

 construction of a telescope at Inchbonny, which had engaged his at- 

 tention at a very early period, and at which he worked indefatigably, 

 visiting the workshop daily, and often remaining till the dark hours 

 of midnight to see the starry wonders and test the powers of the tele- 

 scopes they had been making." 



Brewster gave faithful attention at the university to the studies 

 which wei-e assigned to him, having no intention as yet, nor for a con- 

 siderable time afterward, to allow them to be superseded by any other. 

 Yet all the time we find scientific questions prominent in his thoughts, 

 and growing in interest to him. At every holiday he would make the 

 journey to his home, a distance of forty-five miles, on foot, and then, 

 before the day had ended, of another half mile to Inchbonny, to have 

 a scientific chat with his friend Yeitch. His letters to Veitch during 

 this period are frequent, and full of references to scientific questions 

 and scientific men. He is making an electrical machine, and tells of 

 all his experiments and difficulties ; he has made a map of the stars 

 near our planet, and offers suggestions about grinding speculums ; he 

 is greatly satisfied with his telescope, to which, or any of Veitch's in- 

 struments, the great Newtonian reflector at the observatory can no 

 more be compared than " a dirty common refractor with a fine achro- 

 matic telescope " ; and he describes how a galvanic column may be 

 made by combining copper or silver coins and pieces of tin or zinc with 

 disks of card or leather soaked in water. These things were much 

 more novel in those days than they are now. " He had," says his 

 daughter, "a sincere attachment to the principles and constitution of 

 the Established Church of Scotland, and a thorough acceptance of her 

 doctrinal standards," and was duly licensed to preach. His first ser- 



* " Home-Life of Sir David Brewster," Edinburgh, 1869. 



