RESTING-PLACE. 395 



permission to go through the works to inquire into the 

 character of the experiments that had been tried, but 

 the working mechanics were glad to see the son of 

 Trevithick, and their wives and children joined in the 

 welcome as he passed through the small town. 



Trevithick's grave was among those of the poor 

 buried by the charitable ; no stone or mark distinguished 

 it from its neighbours. He is known by his works. 

 His high-pressure steam-engine was the pioneer of loco- 

 motion and its wide-spreading civilization. England's 

 mineral and mechanical wealth on land or sea are in- 

 debted to its expansive power, its applicability, and 

 durable economy. 



His comprehensive and ingenious designs, given to 

 the world seventy years ago, 1 are still instructive guides ; 

 and many of his works, dating from the dawn of the 

 present century, remained as active evidences of his 

 skill almost to the present day, with their three-score 

 years, 2 while some few reaching three-score years and 

 ten still remain good servants 3 in the solitude of the 

 Peruvian mountains, where no mechanical hand repairs 

 the errors of human skill or the wear and tear of time. 4 



If these material proofs fail to convince, the reader 

 has but to ponder on the bitterly natural reflections 

 written by himself a few months before his last illness 

 to his friend Davies Gilbert : 



" I have been branded with folly and madness for attempting 

 what the world calls impossibilities, and even from the great 

 engineer, the late Mr. James Watt, who said to an eminent 

 scientific character still living, 5 that I deserved hanging for 

 bringing into use the high-pressure engine. This so far has 



1 See 1802 patent, vol. i., p. 128. 2 See vol. i., pp. 222, 100, 82, 184. 

 3 Agricultural engine, vol. ii., p. G8. * See vol. ii., p. 220. 



6 Mr. John Isaac Hawkins. 



