450 Memoir of James Watt, Esq. F.R,S. 



where their manufactory was carried on, became a seminary for 

 engineers and mechanics. 



Amongst the persons who rose to eminence by their means is 

 Mr. Rennie, the engineer, who has so highly distinguished him- 

 self by the great works he has planned and executed. 



We must be permitted to digress a little on this occasion, as 

 the subject is important, and the opportunity one that is very 

 appropriate. 



It has often been regretted that we have not in this country a 

 regular school for civil engineers, as they liave long had in France ; 

 but if we may be permitted to judge of the tree by its fruit, this 

 is far from being a disadvantage. 



The School for Roads and Bridges {I'Ecole des Fonts et Chaus- 

 sees) has not produced any such men as Brindley, or Watt, or 

 Rennie, or Maudsley, or Brunei, all men who have been irregu- 

 larly bred. 



The bridges constructed in Paris in latter times are far inferior 

 to those constructed in London. The iron bridge, for example, 

 opposite the old Louvre, is ugly and ill built. Neither the design ■ 

 nor the execution are tolerable, and it is as far inferior to the 

 Southwark bridge as a cottage is to a palace, though the execu- 

 tion was far less diflicult, and there was a fine opportunity of 

 showing how a bridge of one single arch might have been thrown 

 over that narrow river, where the abutments at both ends were 

 of equal height of solid stone, and high above the river. 



As to the high-ways in France, they are not improved in the 

 least degree since Louis XV. ordered them to be made more than 

 twenty years ago. 



We can only account for this by engineers following a routine 

 wt»en bred in schools, and by youths being educated for a pro- 

 fession that requires genius, before it is known Vk'hether or not 

 they are possessed of the genius requisite. 



When there are no schools there is no routine to follow ; and 

 those only are employed as engineers who distinguish themselves 

 by their ability. 



Monsieur Rich de Prony, who has acted with such injustice to 

 Mr. Watt, in giving his invention to a man who never invented 

 any thing, is at the head of that department ; yet with all ap- 

 purtenances and rrcans to loot, he has produced nothing. The 

 bridge of Nuilly was built by Perronesy, and none of the bridges 

 built since over the Seine are any way equal to it. 



As to architecture, if we are to judge from the recent struc- 

 tures in Paris, it is on the decline. None of the new works are 

 equal to the old Louvre, or the Porte St. Martin and St. Dennis. 

 The triumphal arch of the Place de Carousel is a bad copy, from 



a work 



