employed by
Professor Leslie in making models and portions of apparatus required by
him for his lectures and philosophical investigations, and I had also
the inestimable good fortune to secure his friendship. His admirably
clear manner of communicating a knowledge of the fundamental principles
of mechanical science rendered my intercourse with him of the utmost
importance to myself. A hearty, cheerful, earnest desire to toil in
his service, caused him to take pleasure in instructing me by
occasional explanations of what might otherwise have remained obscure.

"About the years 1827 and 1828, the subject of steam-carriages for
common roads occupied much of the attention of the public. Many tried
to solve the problem. I made a working model of an engine which
performed so well that some friends determined to give me the means of
making one on a larger scale. This I did; and I shall never forget the
pleasure and the downright hard work I had in producing, in the autumn
of 1828, at an outlay of 60L., a complete steam-carriage, that ran many
a mile with eight persons on it. After keeping it in action two
months, to the satisfaction of all who were interested in it, my
friends allowed me to dispose of it, and I sold it a great bargain,
after which the engine was used in driving a small factory. I may
mention that in that engine I employed the waste steam to cause an
increased draught by its discharge up the chimney. This important use
of the waste steam had been introduced by George Stephenson some years
before, though entirely unknown to me.

"The earnest desire which I cherished of getting forward in the real
business of life induced me to turn my attention to obtaining
employment in some of the great engineering establishments of the day,
at the head of which, in my fancy as well as in reality, stood that of
Henry Maudslay, of London. It was the summit of my ambition to get
work in that establishment; but as my father had not the means of
paying a premium, I determined to try what I could do towards attaining
my object by submitting to Mr. Maudslay actual specimens of my
capability as a young workman and draughtsman. To this end I set to
work and made a small steam-engine, every part of which was the result
of my own handiwork, including the casting and the forging of the
several parts. This I turned out in such a style as I should even now
be proud of. My sample drawings were, I may say, highly respectable.