The 'Great Eastern 5 was his crowning effort; and to the design 

 and execution of this gigantic vessel, far surpassing in dimensions 

 any ship hitherto constructed, he devoted all his energies. The 

 labour was, however, too great for his physical powers, and he broke 

 down under the wearying task ; leaving to Mr. Scott Russell and 

 Messrs. James Watt and Co., his cooperators in the construction of 

 the hull and engines, the actual completion of the work he had so 

 well and so perseveringly brought up to the day of starting on the 

 trial trip. 



The disasters attending the launch and the trial trip were perhaps 

 inseparable from so novel an experiment, on so gigantic a scale, but 

 the ultimate results may be looked forward to with confidence. 

 "Whatever they may be, the impulse given by Mr. Brunei to the 

 construction of large-sized vessels is already felt both in our mercan- 

 tile marine and in the Royal Navy. 



This sketch of the professional labours of Mr. Brunei is of neces- 

 sity brief and incomplete, nor can the details be given of the nume- 

 rous scientific investigations in which he was engaged ; but the 

 devotion, during ten years of considerable portions of his time, to 

 completing the experiments made by his father, to test the applica- 

 tion of carbonic acid gas as a motive power in engines, must be 

 mentioned. His special objects of study were mechanical problems 

 connected with railway traction and steam navigation ; and although 

 he was not, perhaps, so sound, or so practical a mechanic as his 

 friend, and, at the same time, constant opponent, Robert Stephen- 

 son, yet his intuitive skill and ready ingenuity enabled him to arrive 

 at satisfactory solutions. The characteristic feature of his works was 

 their size, and his besetting fault was a seeking for novelty, where 

 the adoption of a well-known model would have sufficed. This 

 defect has been unfairly magnified, wherever the pecuniary results of 

 an undertaking have not reached the preconceived standard ; and due 

 allowance has not been made for the difficulties encountered in the 

 prosecution of a new and bold enterprise. It might, perhaps, have 

 been as well if a uniform gauge had been originally established for 

 the United Kingdom, and such may still be the ultimate result ; 

 but we must still admire the indomitable energy and consummate 

 skill with which Mr. Brunei and his coadjutor, Mr. Saunders, pushed 

 the broad gauge and its tributaries westward to Bristol, Gloucester, 



