on a sheet of water in
the presence of the Hon. Capt. Anthony Maitland, son of the Earl of
Lauderdale. The experiment was successful--so successful, that when
the "stern paddles" were in 1828 used at Leith in a boat twenty-five
feet long, with two men to work the machinery, the boat was propelled
at an average speed of about ten miles an hour; and the Society of Arts
afterwards, in October, 1882, awarded Mr. Wilson their silver medal for
the "description, drawing, and models of stern paddles for propelling
steamboats, invented by him." The subject was, in 1833, brought by Sir
John Sinclair under the consideration of the Board of Admiralty; but
the report of the officials (Oliver Lang, Abethell, Lloyd, and
Kingston) was to the effect that "the plan proposed (independent of
practical difficulties) is objectionable, as it involves a greater loss
of power than the common mode of applying the wheels to the side." And
here ended the experiment, so far as Mr. Wilson's "stern paddles" were
concerned.

It will be observed, from what has been said, that the idea of a screw
propeller is a very old one. Watt, Bramah, Trevethick, and many more,
had given descriptions of the screw. Trevethick schemed a number of
its forms and applications, which have been the subject of many
subsequent patents. It has been so with many inventions. It is not
the man who gives the first idea of a machine who is entitled to the
merit of its introduction, or the man who repeats the idea, and
re-repeats it, but the man who is so deeply impressed with the
importance of the discovery, that he insists upon its adoption, will
take no denial, and at the risk of fame and fortune, pushes through all
opposition, and is determined that what he thinks he has discovered
shall not perish for want of a fair trial. And that this was the case
with the practical introducer of the screw propeller will be obvious
from the following statement.

Francis Pettit Smith was born at Hythe, in the county of Kent, in 1808.
His father was postmaster of the town, and a person of much zeal and
integrity. The boy was sent to school at Ashford, and there received a
fair amount of education, under the Rev. Alexander Power. Young Smith
displayed no special characteristic except a passion for constructing
models of boats. When he reached manhood, he adopted the business of a
grazing farmer on Romney Marsh. He afterwards removed to Hendon, north
of London, where he had plenty