﻿XXXVI 
  TKOCEEDINGS 
  OE 
  THE 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SOCIETY. 
  

  

  Until 
  the 
  year 
  1812, 
  Mr. 
  Taylor 
  continued 
  to 
  reside 
  at 
  Tavistock, 
  

   occupied 
  with 
  the 
  introduction 
  of 
  arrangements 
  tending 
  to 
  the 
  well- 
  

   being 
  of 
  the 
  miners, 
  and 
  with 
  improvements 
  in 
  the 
  machinery. 
  He 
  

   was 
  on 
  intimate 
  terms 
  with 
  the 
  group 
  of 
  remarkable 
  men 
  who 
  were 
  

   at 
  that 
  time 
  perfecting 
  the 
  Cornish 
  pumping-enginc 
  and 
  its 
  boilers 
  ; 
  

   and 
  he 
  was 
  among 
  the 
  first 
  to 
  appreciate 
  and 
  apply 
  every 
  invention 
  

   for 
  avoiding 
  accidents, 
  and 
  increasing 
  the 
  " 
  duty 
  " 
  of 
  the 
  steam- 
  

   engine. 
  Moreover, 
  Wheal 
  Friendship, 
  contiguous 
  to 
  the 
  abundant 
  

   streams 
  of 
  Dartmoor, 
  offered 
  a 
  fine 
  field 
  for 
  the 
  application 
  of 
  

   hydraulic 
  power; 
  and, 
  under 
  the 
  fostering 
  care 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Taylor, 
  it 
  

   became, 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  still,' 
  the 
  most 
  notable 
  among 
  our 
  western 
  mines 
  for 
  

   its 
  powerful 
  water-wheels. 
  Meanwhile 
  his 
  unswerving 
  rectitude 
  

   and 
  cheerful 
  benevolence, 
  of 
  which 
  his 
  features 
  were 
  an 
  index, 
  had 
  

   endeared 
  him 
  alike 
  to 
  the 
  employers 
  and 
  employed 
  ; 
  and 
  rendered 
  it 
  

   feasible 
  (for 
  him) 
  after 
  several 
  years 
  passed 
  in 
  London 
  in 
  chemical 
  

   investigations, 
  to 
  launch 
  undertakings 
  of 
  a 
  far 
  greater 
  calibre. 
  He 
  

   had 
  proved 
  himself 
  a 
  skilful 
  engineer, 
  a 
  wise 
  manager, 
  and 
  a 
  judi- 
  

   cious 
  miner; 
  and 
  in 
  1819 
  he 
  succeeded 
  in 
  conjoining 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  

   mines 
  in 
  Gwcnnap, 
  under 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  Great 
  Consolidated 
  

   Mines, 
  into 
  a 
  vast 
  concern, 
  for 
  many 
  years 
  the 
  largest 
  and 
  most 
  

   profitable 
  mine 
  in 
  the 
  world. 
  In 
  1824, 
  led 
  by 
  the 
  popular 
  enthu- 
  

   siasm 
  for 
  the 
  Spanish 
  American 
  Republics, 
  and 
  by 
  Yon 
  Humboldt's 
  

   favourable 
  report 
  of 
  the 
  prospects 
  of 
  the 
  silver-mine, 
  he 
  undertook 
  

   the 
  direction 
  of 
  speculations 
  on 
  a 
  large 
  scale 
  in 
  Mexico, 
  where 
  the 
  

   attempt 
  to 
  introduce 
  English 
  machinery 
  and 
  methods, 
  coupled 
  with 
  

   the 
  difficulty 
  of 
  ensuring 
  good 
  management 
  at 
  so 
  great 
  a 
  distance 
  

   and 
  with 
  so 
  peculiar 
  a 
  native 
  race, 
  formed 
  no 
  ordinary 
  obstacles 
  

   to 
  success. 
  He 
  had 
  become 
  famous 
  as 
  an 
  administrator, 
  and, 
  

   placed 
  at 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  a 
  profession 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  in 
  fact 
  originated, 
  

   he 
  directed 
  from 
  his 
  London 
  offices, 
  with 
  the 
  aid 
  of 
  his 
  sons 
  and 
  

   carefully 
  selected 
  captains, 
  mining-adventures 
  in 
  all 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  

   globe. 
  Trusted 
  and 
  beloved 
  as 
  he 
  was 
  by 
  men 
  of 
  mark 
  both 
  in 
  the 
  

   scientific 
  and 
  commercial 
  world, 
  he 
  had 
  only 
  to 
  recommend 
  a 
  pro- 
  

   ject, 
  and 
  a 
  party 
  of 
  his 
  Mends 
  would 
  at 
  once 
  prepare 
  the 
  necessary 
  

   capital. 
  Nor 
  is 
  it 
  unsatisfactory 
  to 
  find 
  that, 
  in 
  despite 
  of 
  occasional 
  

   heavy 
  losses, 
  inseparable 
  from 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  work, 
  the 
  average 
  

   results 
  were, 
  on 
  tabulating 
  the 
  experience 
  of 
  forty-five 
  years, 
  highly 
  

   remunerative. 
  

  

  In 
  1825 
  Mr. 
  Taylor 
  became 
  a 
  Fellow 
  of 
  the 
  Royal 
  Society, 
  and 
  

   five 
  years 
  later 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  promoters 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  Associa- 
  

   tion, 
  of 
  which 
  body 
  he 
  was 
  appointed 
  Treasurer 
  and 
  Trustee. 
  To 
  

   its 
  volume 
  of 
  Reports 
  for 
  1833 
  he 
  contributed 
  a 
  valuable 
  and 
  

   laborious 
  Report 
  on 
  the 
  state 
  of 
  knowledge 
  respecting 
  mineral 
  

   veins. 
  

  

  The 
  liberal 
  bent 
  of 
  his 
  mind 
  induced 
  him 
  also 
  to 
  become 
  an 
  

   active 
  promoter 
  of 
  the 
  London 
  University 
  College, 
  where 
  he 
  fulfilled 
  

   the 
  duty 
  of 
  Treasurer 
  for 
  many 
  years. 
  

  

  Besides 
  contributing 
  several 
  papers 
  to 
  our 
  ' 
  Transactions 
  ' 
  and 
  

   - 
  Proceedings/ 
  and 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  Association, 
  Mr. 
  Taylor 
  

   laboured 
  in 
  other 
  directions 
  to 
  place 
  on 
  a 
  scientific 
  basis 
  the 
  practice 
  

  

  