SKETCH OF JOHN ERICSSON. 113 



according to Mr. Church, she transmitted to her sons Nils and 

 John. She used to relate that an old man had prophesied to her 

 father that two boys would be born in the family who would be- 

 come famous. John manifested an aptitude for constructive 

 work at an early age. As a child he amused himself with draw- 

 ing, boring, and cutting. A little older, he watched the engines 

 at the mines, copied their models in his drawings, and studied 

 their motions. He traced the first suggestion of his future career 

 to the day when, in his seventh year, he dug a mine a foot deep 

 and made a ladder for the use of imaginary miners. When nine 

 years old he had learned the use of drawing instruments and the 

 art of preparing constructive plans. 



In the industrial disturbances occasioned by the war with 

 Russia Ericsson's father lost all his property and was thrown 

 out of business. In 1811 he obtained a responsible position in 

 connection with the construction of the Gotha Canal, in which he 

 gradually rose. John in the meantime was improving in the 

 exercise of his rare talents. In the deep forests, to which his 

 father had removed, drawing tools were hard to get. He had a 

 pen and pencil. He made compasses of wood, with needles for 

 the points ; contrived a drawing pen out of a pair of tweezers ; 

 and made brushes of the hairs of his mother's sable cloak. With 

 these home-made instruments he executed the drawings for a 

 pumping engine to be operated by a windmill. 



The best use was made for the Ericsson boys of the limited 

 educational advantages which the region afforded. A governess 

 was furnished them in the years 1811 and 1812. A draughts- 

 man, connected with the work on the canal, taught them how to 

 finish their drawings in a style which rivaled that of engraving. 

 They were given access to the draughtsman's office of the canal 

 company. John exhibited his first drawing to the scale when 

 eight years old, and he learned to sketch maps. One of the 

 superintending constructors of the canal was engaged to teach 

 the boys algebra and architectural drawing. Another tutor 

 " plagued them with lessons in Latin grammar," from whom also 

 John learned " chemistry and many other things," he says, " of 

 great use to me ; for instance, how to make and mix colors for my 

 drawings out of materials bought at the druggists for a few 

 cents." The curate at Fredsberg on the Lefsang was engaged 

 to teach them French. The most distinguished mechanical 

 draughtsman in the country gave them further perfection in his 

 art ; and other instructors, drawn also from the professional men 

 engaged on the canal, taught them algebra, field drawing, geom- 

 etry, and English. While John was naturally disposed to think 

 and act for himself, these lessons tended to promote and encour- 

 age his intellectual self-reliance. When a friend spoke to him 



TOL. XLIV. 10 



