MAUDSLAY. 83 



Maskelyne received his doctor's degree in the year 1777, he also 

 obtained the rare distinction of being made one of the eight foreign 

 associates of the French Academy of Science. In consequence of 

 an unsuccessful attempt made by Bouguer to measure the local 

 attraction of a mountain in .South America, Maskelyne determined, 

 in 1772, to ascertain that of Schehallien in Scotland; and this latter 

 undertaking, together with the determination of the lunar orbit 

 from observation, and its application to navigation, may be con- 

 sidered as his most important contributions to the cause of science. 



In character Dr. Maskelyne was modest and somewhat timid in 

 receiving the visits of strangers, but his ordinary conversation was 

 cheerful and often playful, with a fondness for point and classical 

 allusion. He inherited a good paternal property, and obtained 

 considerable preferment from his college ; somewhat late in life he 

 married the sister and co-heiress of Lady Booth of Northampton- 

 shire ; his sister was the wife of Robert Lord Clive, and the mother 

 of the Earl of Powis. Dr. Maskelyne died on the ninth of February, 

 1811, in his seventy -ninth year, leaving a widow and an only 

 daughter. Notice sur la vie et les travaux de M. MasTcelyne par 

 Delambre. London, 1813. Memoir by Dr. T. Young, Encyclopedia 

 Britannica. 



HENRY MAUDSLAY. 



Born Aug. 22, 1771. Died Feb. 14, 1831. 



This distinguished mechanical engineer was descended from an 

 eminent Lancashire family, who trace back their origin as far as 

 the year 1200. His father in early life enlisted in the Royal 

 Artillery at Norwich, and afterwards became store-keeper at the 

 Royal Dockyard of Woolwich, where his son Henry was born and 

 spent his boyhood, acquiring in the dockyard the first rudiments of 

 that mechanical knowledge which has since made him so justly 

 celebrated. 



After being employed for two years as a ' powder monkey' in the 

 dockyard, that is, in making and filling cartridges, Maudslay was 

 placed, at the age of fourteen, in the carpenter's shop. He however 

 infinitely preferred the blacksmith's shop, availing himself of every 

 opportunity to escape from his proper place, and steal off to the 

 smithy. His propensity was in fact so strong that it was thought 

 better to yield to it, and he 'was accordingly removed there in his 

 fifteenth year. He now made rapid progress, and soon became so 

 expert a smith and metal-worker as to attract considerable notice. 



