geometry. So remarkable, indeed, was the peculiarity, that when we had occasion to recommend to him a young friend as a neophite in his office, and founded our recommendation on his having distinguished himself in mathematics, he did not hesitate to say, that he considered such acquirements as rather disqualifying than fitting him for the situation. That this opinion, which is far from being an uncommon one among engineers, is not utterly groundless, may be inferred from a comparison of the labours of some foreign engineers who were great mathematicians, with those of the distinguished men above enumerated; but we are clearly of opinion that such a doctrine cannot be gravely maintained by any person who has viewed the subject in all its phases. If sound practical knowledge and habits of accurate observation should be found incompatible with mathematical and physical attainments, we would at once pronounce in favour of science as the distinguishing quality of the engineer; but we bold both to be essentially requisite in the construction of works in which the materials are exposed to the disintegrations of chemical and atmospherical agentsto the superincumbent pressure of solid and fluid bodies-to the action of complicated mechanical forces-to the direct assaults of the lightning and the tempest, and to various contingent pressures which require to be foreseen and resisted. We cannot, indeed, conceive how the uninstructed engineer can bring to the aid of his own practical experience any other than a species of traditionary knowledge, the applicability of which he takes for granted, and the correctness of which he is not able to put to the test of a rigorous examination. The truth of these observations is especially manifested in the history of our Lighthouse engineering, which consisted of a succession of blunders, till the aid of mathematical and optical knowledge was reluctantly admitted into its service.

Now, though we have the highest opinion of the beauty and stability of most of the great works which adorn England, and cheerfully proffer our tribute of admiration to those who planned and constructed them; yet it remains to be seen how they resist those destructive agencies of which time is daily accumulating the effects: and the mathematical engineer may fairly enquire, in the progress of his art, whether or not these structures could, with equal efficiency, have been erected on a smaller and lighter model-with a less expenditure of money, and with the exposure of a narrower surface to the corrosion of the elements. Time alone can solve such problems: but whatever be the result, and we hope it will be a favourable one, we have no hesitation n asserting, that in the present advanced state of physical, me

chanical, and chemical knowledge, when the rapidly increasing wants of society have made new demands upon genius, an engineer who is not tolerably versant in mathematical science, and thoroughly instructed in mechanics, hydrodynamics, chemistry, optics, and mineralogy, is not qualified to superintend those national undertakings which are now altering the very 'form and 'pressure' of social life.

Setting aside the consideration of canals, harbours, roads, and bridges, as the structures of other days, we have now lighthouses on every headland and in every port-gas-works in every village-suspension bridges over every stream-steamers on every lake, frith, and ocean-and railways, like the gossamer paths of the spider, stretching their iron gradients over the length and breadth of the land. On these subjects our ancestors have bequeathed to us no traditionary knowledge, and experience has not yet revealed her trustworthy results. Experiments, therefore, and experiments conducted by scientific men, and combined with the precision of mathematical analysis, are absolutely necessary to supply these defects;-to determine the durability and cohesive strength of those solid materials which must soon whirl with new velocities, labour under new strains, and perform new functions in the world of meehanism. We must make our beams of timber invulnerable by plunging them in the Styx of mercurial solutions; we must demand from iron its adamantine strength by the due combination of its crystalline elements;-we must make one bar equal to two, by giving it scientific rigour; and, after exhausting every preventive device, we must provide adequate bulwarks to resist the explosive forces of gas and of steam.

That these views are well founded and generally entertained, is evident from the remarkable fact, that no fewer than four universities or colleges have, in the course of last winter, and apparently without any knowledge of each other's intentions, made arrangements for organizing courses for civil engineers ; and we have no doubt that in all of them these courses will be opened for students during the ensuing winter. If we demand from our lawyers a regular course of study in matters where our civil rights only are concerned, and claim from our medical advisers and religious instructors not only a long noviciate in their studies, but a positive proficiency in their professional pursuits, shall we not, with equal reason, insist upon a thorough and profound knowledge of civil engineering in cases where property on the largest scale is at stake, where millions of lives are in peril, and where the highest national interests are involved?

Our universities were all established in times when there were only three learned professions; and their modes of instruction were,

of course, accommodated to the condition of an age but little advanced in civilisation and knowledge. Attempts, indeed, have been occasionally made to adapt them to a change of circumstances; but, generally speaking, they have been feeble and ineffectual, and have not been sustained by adequate endowments on the part of the nation. Institutions resting on individual or corporate responsibility have, to a certain extent, supplied their defects and added to their number; bnt, unless our ancient colleges shall put forth their remaining strength, and, by combining the vigour of manhood with the respectability of age, shall recommend themselves to the patronage of the country, they will soon find themselves in the rear of younger and more active establishments. It is not required that they shall prostrate themselves before the equivocal wisdom of inexperienced commissioners. Additions and adaptations springing from themselves, aud fostered by the sovereign, are alone neccessary to give to the educated youth of the present day those instructions which will fit them for the numerous professions which have not been honoured with the appellation of learned. In such a change of system every class of the community is concerned. Thousands preserve their rights without the intervention of law; millions live and die without medical aid; and too many, we fear, wend their way to another world without the aid of the village pastor, or the blessing of the venerable diocesan. But there is not a man, woman, or child, who has the powers of mastication, deglutition, and locomotion, who is not interested in the present rapid progress of the useful arts, in the increasing anxiliaries to commercial enterprise, and in those magnificent undertakings which stimulate the industry, augment the resources, and exalt the character of the nation.

Having made these preliminary observations on the present state of civil engineering, we shall now proceed to give our readers some account of the life and labours of Mr Telford. The work placed at the head of this article, though entitled a 'Life,' is more properly an account, partly historical and partly descriptive, of the various practical operations connected with the important public works which he planned and conducted. These works may be arranged under the heads of Civil Architecture, Bridge-Building, Road-Making, Inland Navigation, Drainage, the Construction of Docks, and the Improvement of Harbours; and, in order to render his great experience in these important objects generally useful, he has illustrated his descriptions with numerous drawings and plans, executed on such a large scale as to furnish, by admeasurement, the exact dimensions of every part of the object. To Mr Telford's narrative is sujoined a short

supplement by Mr Rickman; containing some interesting biographical details, and an estimate, by no means exaggerated, of the moral and social character of his friend. This is followed by a long appendix of valuable documents, illustrative of the historical and descriptive details contained in the body of the volume. The whole work has been edited by Mr Rickman in a way most creditable to himself, and highly honourable to the memory of Mr Telford.

In perusing the narrative which this celebrated engineer has given of his own labours, every page gives us reason to regret that it possesses in so slight a degree the character of an autobiography. Mr Telford's great modesty has prevented him from speaking of himself as he ought, and recording those personal incidents and adventures whose lights and shadows would have so agreeably diversified the otherwise technical outline of his useful and lengthened career. His acquaintance with persons the most exalted in rank and official station, gave him opportunities of witnessing the conduct of public men in matters where party influence could not greatly sway them; while his knowledge of the world, and the independence of his political opinions, would have enabled him to execute many delineations of character with a discrimination and impartiality which we cannot expect from the ordinary moralist. We could have wished, too, to learn a little more of the private history of many of those great undertakings which our author conducted; to have obtained a glimpse of the machinery by which they were thwarted or put in operation; and to have admired the tact, which we know he eminently possessed, of reconciling conflicting interests, and removing those selfish obstructions which often stand in the way of the greatest enterprises. In the absence, however, of such personal details, which we still hope may be collected from his correspondence, we shall endeavour, from our own sources of information, to supply some of the more palpable deficiencies which occur in the general narrative.

Thomas Telford was born in the parish of Westerkirk, in the district of Eskdale, and county of Dumfries, on the 9th of August 1757. His father, who was a shepherd, died when his child was only a few months old, and the charge of his education was thus devolved upon his mother, who watched over his infancy with parental tenderness. He attended the parish school of Westerkirk along with Sir John and Sir Pulteney Malcolm; assisting his uncle as a shepherd's boy in the summer season, and spending his winter evenings in the perusal of a few books supplied from the scanty shelves of his village friends. His mother lived till 1794, so as to enjoy the elevation of her son to wealth and

station; and it deserves to be especially recorded, that he framed all his letters to her in printed characters, in order that she might read them without the assistance of friends.

6

Mr Telford's early life was spent as a mason; and he acquired a competent knowledge of his profession in working at the numerous small bridges which span the mountain streams of the district, and at the farm-houses and parish-churches of the neighbourhood. Regarding himself as master of his art, such as it was practised in his native county, he repaired to Edinburgh in 1780, where the splendid improvements which had commenced in that city opened up to bim a new and extensive field for observation. In our northern metropolis, where architecture was appropriated to the purpose of magnificence as well as of uti'lity,' he found practical illustrations of various styles of architecture, from the rude features of the ancient Pictish castle, to the attempts at Roman architecture in Heriot's Hospital and Holyrood-House. His practical acquaintance with architectural drawing enabled him to carry home the results of his observations; and in returning to Eskdale he visited the justly celebrated abbey of Melrose, which, though, as he remarks, it will not 'bear a comparison with the first class of magnificent English cathedrals, yet in regard to elegance of design or perfection ' of workmanship, it is not inferior to any in the most perfect era of Gothie architecture.' After remaining another year in his native county, he gives the following interesting account of his introduction to a new sphere of professional occupation:

In the year 1782, after having acquired the rudiments of my profession, I considered that my native country afforded few opportunities of exercising it to any extent, and therefore judged it advisable (like many of my countrymen) to proceed southward, where industry might find more employment, and be better rewarded.

With these views, I made my way direct to London, as the great mart for talents and ingenuity; and I was fortunate in getting employed at the quadrangle of Somerset Place buildings, where I acquired much practical information, both in the useful and ornamental branches of architecture; and, in the course of my two years' residence in London, I had an opportunity of examining the numerous public buildings of the metropolis of Great Britain, and I became known to Sir W. Chambers and Mr Robert Adam, the two most distinguished architects of that day; the former haughty and reserved, the latter affable and communicative; and a similar distinction of character pervaded their works, Sir William's being stiff and formal, those of Mr Adam playful and gay; and although from neither did I derive any direct advantage, yet so powerful is manner, that the latter left the most favourable impression, while the interviews with both convinced me that my safest plan was to endeavour to advance, if by slower degrees, yet by independent conduct.

The next step in my professional career was the superintendence of