SILSOE AND LEIGHTON BUZZARD 135 



old. Both he and Mrs. Matthews were pleasant people, and 

 I felt that I should be comfortable with them. He had been 

 partly educated under Mr. Bevan, a civil engineer of some 

 reputation, who had made experiments on the strength of 

 materials, the holding power of glue and nails, etc., and had 

 invented an improved slide-rule. My brother had one of 

 these rules, which we found very useful in testing the areas 

 of fields, which at that time we obtained by calculating the 

 triangles into which each field was divided. To check these 

 calculations we used the slide-rule, which at once showed if 

 there were any error of importance in the result. This inter- 

 ested me, and I became expert in its use, and it also led me to 

 the comprehension of the nature of logarithms, and of their 

 use in various calculations. Mr. Matthews had also charge 

 of the town gas-works, which involved some knowledge of 

 practical chemistry, and a good deal of mechanical work. I 

 spent about nine months in his house, and during that time 

 learnt to take an ordinary watch to pieces, clean it properly, 

 and put it together again, and the same with a clock; to do 

 small repairs to jewelry ; and to make some attempts at engrav- 

 ing initials on silver. I also saw the general routine of gas 

 manufacture; but hardly any surveying, which was the work 

 I liked best. I was, therefore, very glad when circumstances, 

 not connected with myself, put an end to the arrange- 

 ment. 



Mr. Matthews received the offer of a partnership on very 

 favourable terms in an old-established wholesale watchmaking 

 firm in the city of London. Although he would have much 

 preferred the more varied interests of a country life, he could 

 not give up the certainty of a good income with prospect of 

 increase, and thus be able to provide for his wife and family. 

 Fortunately, about the same time my brother had engaged to 

 go to Kington, in Herefordshire, to assist the Messrs. Sayce, 

 with whom he had been articled, and who had a large busi- 

 ness in the surrounding districts. 



A younger brother of Mr. Matthews, who was an amateur 

 chemist, was to take over the management of the gas-works, 

 and this led to a thorough overhauling of the whole plant, 



