iv DEDICATION. 



gifts in CONSTRUCTIVE INGENUITY, distinguishes him not 

 only amongst the illustrious descendants of Plantagenet, 

 but renders it impossible to name his compeer, either 

 among the highest nobility, or the most eminent scientific 

 celebrities of Europe, during the last two centuries. 

 Indeed, it may be justly said, that ancient lineage, 

 noble descent, illustrious titles, even when crowned 

 with all the glories of martial deeds, or senatorial 

 honours, fade into comparative insignificance before 

 the enduring renown, which it is alone the preroga 

 tive of original genius to confer on the memory of men 

 remarkable for their discoveries in arts conducive to 

 the elevation of mankind in the scale of being. 



The History of Science from the days of Archimedes 

 presents a vast phalanx of men mighty in genius ; but 

 foremost in this intellectual group ranks the Marquis of 

 Worcester, the originality, independence, and grandeur 

 of whose mechanical conceptions have acquired a 

 world-wide celebrity ; for he it was who first evoked 

 that Titanic power, which, through successive improve 

 ments, consequent on the accumulated ingenuity of two 

 hundred years, has given to the present age the modern 

 Steam-engine. 



It may be freely conceded that, stupendous as he 

 himself pronounced the parent engine to be, it was, 

 nevertheless, only as the acorn compared to the time- 

 honoured monarch of the forest. Just as the existence 

 of the plant is dependant on that of the seed, so, had 

 the Engine he constructed never existed, we might 

 have been unacquainted even to this day with the 

 mechanical application of steam. 



Living at a period when Civil War convulsed this 

 country, and unhappily brought severe suffering on 



