454 lUMXDLKVS LAST CANALS. I'AIIT Y. 



case, in which he was always found so fertile. He had 

 no treasury of past experience, as recorded in books, to 

 consult, for he could scarcely read English ; and cer- 

 tainly he could neither read French nor Italian, in 

 which languages the only engineering works of emi- 

 nence were then written ; nor had he any store of Eng- 

 lish experience to draw from, he himself being the first 

 of the English engineers of eminence, and having all 

 his experience to make for himself. It would doubtless 

 have been most interesting could we have had some 

 authentic record of this strong original man's struggles 

 with opposition and difficulty, and the methods by which 

 he contrived not only to win persons of high station to 

 support him with their influence but also with their 

 purses, at a time when money was comparatively a much 

 rarer commodity than it is now. " That want of records, 

 journals, and memoranda," says Mr. Hughes, " which is 

 ever to be deplored when we seek to review the pro- 

 gress of engineering works, is particularly felt when we 

 have to look back upon those undertakings which first 

 called for the exercise of engineering skill in many new 

 and untried departments. In Brindley's day, the entire 

 absence of experience derived from former works, the 

 obscure position which the engineer occupied in the 

 scale of society, the imperfect communication between 

 the profession in this country and the engineers and 

 works of other countries, and, lastly, the backward con- 

 dition of all the mechanical arts and of the physical 

 sciences connected with engineering, may all be ranked 

 in striking contrast with the vast appliances which are 

 placed at the command of modern engineers." 



Moreover, the great canal works upon which Brindley 

 was engaged during the later part of his career, were 

 as yet scarcely appreciated as respects the important 

 influences which they were calculated to exercise upon 



'Memoir,' by Samuel Hughes, C.K. \V wile's * Quarterly Paper*/ 1844. 



