Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 77 



Mr. Taylor was then requested to undertake the office of 

 Treasurer, which he held till Sept. 1861, when a letter was 

 read from his two sons, requesting, on the part of their aged 

 father, that he might be relieved from the office he had held 

 so long. This elicited a warm and unanimous expression of 

 respect for his character, and gratitude for his long and 

 valuable services to the cause of science. 



Mr. Taylor was also Treasurer of the London University 

 College for many years; a member of the Club of Social 

 Chemists, which then (about the year 1820) numbered among 

 its members Mr.Brande, Mr.Bingley (Master of the Mint), Dr. 

 Fitton, Dr. Paris, Mr. Richard Phillips, Mr. Haseldine Pepys, 

 John George Children, BartoValle,and other eminent chemists; 

 and also of the Smeatonian Club, to which the Rennies and 

 other eminent engineers belonged. The profession of Mining 

 Engineer was elevated by him, and the domain of mechanics 

 extended and enriched by the knowledge and application of 

 Geology, Mineralogy, Chemistry, and Metallurgy. 



He wrote little, for he had other and more enduring ways 

 of employing his peculiar talents, and he wrote only when 

 he had something to say which he wanted to make known. 

 His work, although always guided and enlightened by 

 science, was mainly practical, and consisted rather in the 

 application of scientific principles to methods, processes, and 

 machinery than in the discovery of the principles them- 

 selves. His writings have never been collected. Indeed he 

 seems to have attached little importance to them; and the 

 very existence of some was unknown to his family, — for in- 

 stance the excellent introduction to Risden's ' Survey of Devon/ 

 ed. 1811. This full and able paper treats of the soil, agri- 

 culture, manufactures, means of defence, and (more especially) 

 mineral products of the county. The only part relating to 

 himself and his own works is the description of the canal 

 which he cut from Tavistock to the river Tamar. Of this 

 work, including a long and difficult tunnel, he was the sole 

 engineer; and he had to encounter obstacles which at that 

 early period the experience of others had scarcely taught the 

 way to surmount. In this enterprise, and in all the more 

 difficult operations in which he was engaged, he had to a 

 considerable extent to invent his own methods. 



For a long time before his death his memory had been 

 failing, and disease had gradually impaired the higher faculties 

 of his mind. But, even amidst the decay of his intellectual 

 powers, the kindness of his heart, and the instinctive politeness 

 which struck and charmed all who approached him, did not 

 desert him. The gleams of his benevolent consideration for 



